About Me and the Family

My name is Idzie Desmarais, and I'm a 20 year old lifelong learner who lives in Montreal, Quebec with my wonderful family. 

Very short bio:  I'm an unschooling vegetarian animistic green-anarchist feminist hippie child.  I'm a writer, thinker, dreamer...  A woman, a sister, a daughter, a friend. I'm also an unschooling advocate/activist, a lover of food, and a radical.

Much longer bio:  I'm a kindergarten drop-out who, excluding those six months of kindergarten, has never been to school.  Instead, I grew up following my passions and figuring things out in my own time.  In my late teens I became fascinated with the education (often referred to as unschooling) I'd grown up with, and started reading everything I could about unschooling and freedom-based education, going to unschooling conferences, and writing the blog I'm Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write.  At this point, as well as still doing all of those things, I'm also very involved with the freedom-based education movement in my home city, as well as the wider unschooling/freedom-based education community through the making of connections and friendships with people scattered across North America (and beyond!).  Basically?  I think unschooling is really, really cool, and that the ideas found in that philosophy can be a powerful tool of both personal and social transformation.

I'm a radical creature, a green anarchist and feminist, who leans strongly towards anti-civ thought.  I'm against hierarchy and rulers, imposed authority, capitalism, patriarchy/kyrarchy, and similar nasty stuff.  I try to be as aware as I can of oppression and privilege (in the interest of knowing where I'm coming from in my writing, I'm a white, cisgender, able-bodied, lower-middle-class, not-quite-straight woman), and to basically just not be an asshole.  I'm currently super interested in radical sustainability; communal, cooperative, collective, and community-based living (especially intentional communities); queer and gender stuff; feminism; getting stuff for free/living on very little/no money...

I love food.  As in, REALLY love food!  I've never been very successful at actually doing so, but I am interested in growing food, foraging, and dumpster diving, as well as sharing and trading food, farmers markets, and basically anything that involves me getting food.  I love cooking, cooking for others, and eating.  I love trying new foods, new restaurants, and I even like doing food prep.  I'm vegetarian, and have been since age eight, but though I don't really plan to change my diet anytime soon, or start cooking with meat, I'm no longer as attached to the idea of always being vegetarian as I used to be (though I know if I do start eating meat at some point, I will be VERY picky.).

My spirituality is closely tied into to the realization that all life is of equal worth, that the Earth/Nature is sacred, and that humans are animals, and like all animals, we belong in functioning living communities.  Sometimes I use the term animist to refer to my spiritual beliefs.

I often say I'm a hippie, which isn't really a word with a clear definition, but when I use it it basically just means that I'm a radical, tree-hugging, non-shaving, organic-farm-loving person who sometimes likes to wear tie-dye.

I value honesty and genuine expression greatly, and only really feel comfortable when I feel I'm being genuine.  I seek to share my trials and difficulties in my writing, how I'm actually feeling about things and my true opinions, not just what will sound good, or what will get the best reactions.  I feel like I'm mostly successful in this, though not always.

I love getting comments, though I don't respond to them nearly as often as I should.  Same for emails: I can be contacted at unschooledwriter@gmail.com, and though I read every single email I get, I am VERY bad at responding to them (I usually respond eventually, but it takes me a very long time)!  If you really want to talk to me, the best way to do so is through Skype.  Just email me (unschooledwriter@gmail.com) to set up a specific time, or add me: idziee (two e's), and just poke me when I'm online.  I really like meeting and talking to new people, and I'm happy to answer questions!

I can also be found on:
Twitter
YouTube
Tumblr
I'm Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write. Facebook Page 

The Family

The Mom.  Debbie is an avid gardener, reader of both fiction and non-fiction, crafter, and learner-of-new-things.  She's interested in unschooling, sustainability, green building, houses, gardening, hanging out with her kids (and her kids friends--she's one of those "cool moms"), and many other things.  She's also an occasional baker, sometimes reluctant cook, and often taxi-driver.

The Father.  Richard loves all things mechanical: cars, airplanes, motorcycles, locomotives...  And these interests have always been a big part of his life.  He raced motorcycles and sidecars for years, works in the aircraft industry, built a car (a three-wheeled Morgan replica), and volunteers at a locomotive museum.  He also loves comedy (and has his own unique sense of humour!) and science-fiction novels.

The Sister.  Emi is a Ninja (really, she practices the martial art of Ninjitsu), a writer (mainly of fantasy fiction, though she's good at whatever she decides to write), a musician (she plays Highland snare drum in a Pipes and Drums band, as well as ukulele, a bit of tin whistle, and will be getting a mandolin soon), a plushie maker and seamstress, a feminist, an anarchist, and quite a few other things.  She likes Joss Whedon shows, Supernatural, and Doctor Who quite a bit. 

The Dog.  Winston is an Airedale Terrier who, despite being of a breed sometimes referred to as the King of  Terriers and weighing 70 pounds is still afraid of wind, thunder, blowing leaves and food wrappers, things that make metallic crackling sounds, and light reflections on the ceiling. Go figure. He loves playing and being petted, drooling a lot, and delightedly pestering the cats.

One of The Cats.  Henry is a very loving cat.  He "purrews" sweetly for attention, and loves cuddling, though he's prone to deciding abruptly that he no longer want to be petted and biting the hand that pets him!  He loves all things grainy and crunchy: bread, crackers, potato chips...  He also enjoys lying in wait and attacking his adopted sister Minni, though she usually ends up kicking his ass.

The Other Cat.  Minni is my baby.  Found outside in the cold years ago, she now quite enjoys warmth, and when it gets too cold she likes to sleep under the covers next to one of her humans.  She really likes shoes, and will roll around happily attacking them, as well as liking the more usual kitty toys of yarn balls, small fluffy plushies, and things tied to strings.