jennyarntzen.project

  Graphite, pencil crayon, ink, acrylic paint, wax on paper - 11" x 17" A crow is perched on an old iron monument, a relic of the industrial age. The iron relic symbolizes the deterioration of late stage capitalism and patriarchy. The crow is free to fly in any direction she chooses. The crow signifies our life force, our connection to nature and our indomitable will. We are in the midst of dynamic change to established social systems of organization. The rule of patriarchy is proving to be unsustainable. Those who have benefited from the privilege of patriarchal taxonomy are panicking to stay in power. The weakness and vulnerability of patriarchal systems of power are being exposed on a daily basis. We are extricating ourselves from thousands of years of domestic violence and abuse. Leaving an abusive relationship is the most dangerous time. We need help and outside support to safely transition out of domestic violence. In the process of extricating ourselves from abusive re...

  It was so dark this morning. Right past 8:03 am sunrise. The clouds are thick and low. There is a rainfall warning in effect starting this morning and lasting overnight. I was finally inspired to untangle my motley collection of Christmas lights and figure out an arrangement to bring winter coloured lights into our life. Each string of lights now has a few bulbs that don't light. I have tried to find and keep replacement bulbs, but have given up. Now I appreciate the dark bulbs as reminding me of lights that have gone out but are still with us: Matt's Mom and Dad, my Mom, Skipper, Jethro.  Last night I started learning Stan Roger's song, First Christmas, but finally had to stop because the sentiment in the lyrics and the sad melody were just opening up floodgates of grief. It felt good to get in touch with those feelings. To not try to pretend that they aren't part of the season. Many of us are facing our first Christmas without family, friends and cherished animal co...

  We are preparing the basement suite for short stay rentals. Mom passed on October 4. It has taken us this long to get ready to renovate the suite. Our goal is to have the photos up on the rental site by the end of this month. This is going to be a busy work schedule. There isn't going to be a lot of time for seasonal celebrations. We are hoping to have one or two small gatherings to strengthen family and friendship while keeping our budget focus on getting the suite done.

SUMMARY 1. Bring together a group of diverse stakeholders to form a learning cohort. Break the cohort into learning groups - it is important to have representatives from different functional work groups learn together - leadership, administration, management, front-line service; 2. Facilitate a process of cooperative critical inquiry where each learning group is comprised of representatives who have experience in specific dimensions of the system are brought together to identify pressure points and service gaps; 3. Facilitate a process of iterative system design wherein each learning group collaborates to achieve the smallest possible intervention to reduce pressure or fill a service gap; 4. Include a communication management protocol so that working group members have online communication connectivity - for sharing documents, brainstorming, group consultations; include spaces for individual learning group communication, but also inter-group communication, as well as space for individu...

  When it came time to renew my PMP certification I decided to let it go. I was working 500+ hours a month looking after Mom and her family caregiving operation. I had finished my last full time job a year ago and was not in a position to seek out another full time consulting appointment. I was working part time for Artist Response Team, that work did not relay on my continuing professional certification. Things changed this month because the Evidence Alliance activated the Strategic Patient Oriented Research (SPOR) research topic I had submitted in 2022. In my first meeting with the research team I was given two assignments: Project Manager and Researcher (Social Science discipline). After the meeting I realized I was not ready to retire my PMP certification. Today I went through the process of submitting all the professional development work I did between August 2, 2020 and August 1, 2023.  I have to admit, it was surprisingly satisfying to recap the work I did in that time....

I might be crazy but I am thinking of putting together an evening of folk music at the Laughing Bean Coffee Shop on Monday, December 18. One of my earliest memories is being laid down to sleep in the back room of a folk club beside crates of Coca-Cola. Mom and Dad were singing on the stage. Mom sang with her own trio in the style of Peter, Paul and Mary with Paul Phillips on 12-string guitar and Barry Hall on banjo. They would rehearse in our living room while we kids ran around outside playing Prisoner's Base and Hide and Seek with the neighbourhood kids. Mom and Dad had a regular folk singing spot on the Max Ferguson Show on the CBC Radio. Dad put together and taught folk songs to school children through a program on the CBC Radio. When I first moved back to Vancouver in 1996 I joined forces with my future husband, Matt, and his roomate Jeremy, to form a folk trio 'Terra Incognita'. Then, later, Matt and I sang for our supper at various Vancouver restaurants as a folk duo...

  Each day starts waking up in the morning. Each day is infinitely unique. Each day calls me to find a new perspective, a new point of view, a new way of looking at things. Each day presents infinite opportunities to rise above the challenges I face. Each day I look for inspiration to find solutions to those challenges for the good of all concerned. This cat drawing has been pinned to my drawing board for months waiting for it's next layer of colour. I was out walking my dog last summer and saw this neighbour cat sitting on the bottom step of the front stairs. I said, "Hello, Cat, how is it going?" It turned its gaze to me and looked calmly at both me and the dog. It looked at us with complete ease, while at the same time gathering necessary information and making ready to respond if the situation changed. I picked up my green pen, the ink was supposed to be archival and waterproof. I used the pen to re-visit the shapes of the cat sitting on the stairs, thinking about the...