was (is?) a functioning commune and organic farm. Some very interesting folks lived there.

I taught briefly at SLU. It was just a tough place to be for a young, single person!

I am a third-generation activist and I grew up during the Vietnam era surrounded by artists, poets, musicians and rabble-rousers, so I understand where you're coming from there...

just about made Richard weep...

Good times.

That was the fall food.  

Now we are into spring harvest--fresh handpicked lettuces, chicken and wild rice with juniper berry sauce, and on the odd chilly days we have the root vegetable puree soups with touches of mysterious Indian spices, fresh warm grilled bread rubbed with green garlic and spanish olive oil, the last of the winter pears poached with red wine and creme fraiche with honey from down the road.

Is Casey also a chef?!

Coincides with the opening of Saratoga.  Perfect, we'll go rub elbows with the swells, I can teach you how to handicap horses, and see Big Brown run!

but thank you for it. I wish you well. And thanks for the work you did on the Kerry campaign and all else. Edwards' health plan was far from what I wanted, too. Anybody remember Dennis K.? Good luck.

dpc, you're quite right--it is certainly possible to immigrate to Canada.

And there is more than one way to go about it.

Most people who consider immigrating to Canada find out about the rules for skilled immigrants, family members, and the like from the website.

Most provinces also have arrangements with Canada Immigration that allow the province to nominate people for immigration. The provincial government body that handles this usually works most closely with employers, not individual would-be immigrants. For people who have skills that are badly needed in a particular province, this may be a faster way to be accepted as a landed immigrant than the standard skilled worker application. The individual gains access to this process by finding a potential employer first, and then the employer works with the province to have the individual nominated to CIC.

And Quebec runs its own immigration program, along the same lines of--but not identical to--CIC.

I live in Alberta, where there is a desperate labor shortage in many, many areas.

Many people come to Alberta on two-year temporary work visas.

From what I understand, a person can start the process of applying for a temporary work visa directly (perhaps even on-line), and get approval in principle, and then can start looking for an employer. The employer has to show that there are no Canadians available to fill the job. However, since there is a shortage of everybody in Alberta, that should not be a major problem

There are a lot of abuses of this system, some of which are connected to the activities of brokers who find potential workers for employers. Americans who want to work in a place like Alberta would probably be better off just applying directly to potential employers, and perhaps visiting and making the rounds, rather than using a broker.

The temporary work visas are available in other places, too, but approval depends on the local situation. Alberta and B.C. both have labor shortages, so it is easier to get the visas in those two provinces.

So, I agree entirely with dpc--it is not only possible, but Canada is actually quite keen to attract new people.

From what I've heard through the media, new immigrants to Canada in recent years -- since November 2004, actually -- included a number of gay and lesbian couples who decided it was time to find a more welcoming environment. Canada's gain, America's loss.

and some people move other places.

Sometimes people who move to other places migrate back to the hometown later on.

Some people want the experience of living in different places, and even in different countries, and different cultures. Some like staying put in their own country.

Me, I grew up on a military base--so I didn't have a hometown to stay put in, and didn't have staying-put genes, either.

But for you, Thinking Fella, staying in one place lifelong obviously works well--which is just fine.

reread.

Yeah, I am. I'm also American. I think I'm one of the few people with a southern accent. I'm been getting the second Masters degree at UBC. It's a great school or at least I've enjoyed being here. Its like a small city actually (approx 40000) people.

I would highly recommend UBC to anyone. The only thing to be aware of is that there will be a bit of culture shock for the first semester or so up here. While the US and Canada are very very similar countries the little culture nuances take a bit of time to get used to.

Anyway I think UBC is great and Vancouver is lovely if a bit rainy at times.

we like our wide open spaces.

Actually, we moved 1100 miles east to come here!