Clutter Beware!

I'm on a cleaning rampage. Seriously. I'm in every drawer, every cabinet, I've filled up another 2 bags of clothes for Goodwill, I've cleaned the fridge. I'm so tired of clutter and extra junk. I've got the same pair of jeans 5 times over, the same black t-shirt.. and just so much STUFF. Things I've saved, things I think I'll use.. It's ridiculous! The only thing I'm not touching is my books. I want this place not only to be clean.. but organized and minimized.. Gosh. I wonder how long this is going to last. *laughing* I made Bryan a freezer full of lasagnas and soup, I guess the domesticity must be carrying over. I even made my bed when I got out of it this morning. Maybe I'm sick...

Quote of the Day

A man is a god in ruins.

- Duke Ellington

Any Port in a Storm

This whole aquatic adventure that President Bush is swimming through is quite.. Amusing. The issue lies in the sale of Port Security to a company based in the United ..ahem.. Arab Emirates, and the fact that it wasn't really caught until the last minute, was flying, or swimming, under the radar. Now, I can understand (when I squint my eyes and pretend I'm in an alternate universe) Bush's claim that it is JUST another company that happens to have foreign ownership. I mean, it was run by a British company previously, right? They don't want to look like they're racist, or biased, right? Not like pulling Kareem off the airplane over Jane, right? So just give up a weak spot to a state that sponsors terrorism, and we'll prove that really, we don't think that all Arab states are the same! Great!

Huh. No wonder Bush is pleading ignorance to the problem. I would too.

Art o' the Day

Hugo Ball, 1916 at Cafe Voltaire

Amazingly Unofficially and Best Gallery Guide to D.C.

I've been entirely delightfully delinquent in my blogging lately, due largely to the fact that I've had no drive at all to sit in front of a keyboard when I have the galleries at my fingertips. I have been visiting about a gallery a day for the past week, and have been enjoying every single second of it. The amazing thing here, is that a lot of the galleries are state funded (read: free) and if they're not, they have this amazing student rate which has completely aided in my budgeting (read: poverty and not budgeting at all) .
As you can see below, I've been taking stealthily awful pictures of the amazing art that I've seen, if only to convince myself that I actually have seen it. Unfortunately, the camera batteries ran out on when I visited the National Womens Art Museum, so some of the amazing pieces there have gone entirely undocumented, and if not for the really cute Girl-Guide badge I picked up there for women's art appreciation, I might not believe I had actually been there.
So, for those of you intending to visit D.C., or those who just want to read my terribly witty account of how many marble steps I've tripped up and which paintings I've sneezed a little too close to.. read on!
*disclaimer - due to the fact that I was only here for a week, I only visited the biggest (though not necessarily the best) - galleries in D.C.. I am sure that there are innumerable independant galleries that have escaped me, and I encourage everyone to go out and find them. And tell me.


The Phillips Collection
Bryan and I went specifically to see the Degas, Sickert and Toulouse - Lautrec collection on view right now, but I've been here before and am always impressed by their permanent collection. They're known specifically for the impressionist works (basically all of them) that are on display, a really thourough collection of Modrian, Picasso, Degas, O'Keefe and Klee. The DSTL Exhibit was excellent, althought I thought it was a little slopping in its curation. I didn't particularily like the way they chose to group the paintings.. something about it made it very stop gap, very bumpy. I understood that the primary focus of the exhibit was to demonstrate the diffusion of the impressionist across Europe... but it felt like the painting had just been thrown up, instead of deliberately hung in deliberate order. Perhaps it was just me. They were really stunning, specifically the collection of Degas' dancers in various incarnations. Definately worth-while. The Collection building (half of it) has just completed construction, and looks amazing. I do prefer the older half, where the regular collection is housed in just a plain brownstone, but the new portion is definately function-oriented. Students do get a discount here. Funny thing was, though we both showed the docent university/college id's.. she gave Bryan a student ticket.. and me a child. Damnit.


Corcoran Gallery of Art
My feelings for the Corcoran are mixed. They have REALLY nice staff, and a really nice building.. But I always feel like it's a little empty in there. I'm not a fan of their regular collection, and the carpet always makes me feel like I'm in a public school boot room in the winter, kind of that industrial crap that gave everyone those weird little bumps at nap time. I don't know - I guess I just think it doesn't add too much. We went on the last day of the Warhol exhibit, which I still loved, and Bryan enjoyed too. They also had a rather strange exhibit on in the Corcoran Students Gallery.. "Fated Objects and Strange Projeny" by Ronald Gonzales. It was a collection of handmade "toys" created from various pieces that the artist had found in his native New York. Including a plastic covered rat. It was odd. They were really neat on first view, and upon futher inspection made me want to vomit. *shrug* It's a little pricey to get in here - 8$ even if you are a student, but it's nice. The security is pretty lax. I touched a Warhol last time I was there. Hehehehe...

National Gallery of Art
Yay! Free Gallery! I have to say that this was my favorite gallery. It's divided into two buildings, a West and East building, and the East building is more modern art. I fell in love with this gallery. The West building is all huge rotundas and staircases and gardens and big windows - just stunning. They have Dutch, American, Flemmish, French, Italian rooms, filled with beautiful collections of amazing paintings, Picasso's, Matisse, Degas, Homer, Whistler.. on and on and on. There are stunning, iconic paintings - It seems like every room I walked into there were paintings that I would never see in my lifetime. *Smile* It was amazing. The East building had an INCREDIBLE Dada exhibit, moving through the big cities of Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam.. God, it was amazing. Hannah Hoch, Hans Arp, Man Ray - it was mind blowing! And just as amazing was their regular collection, made up of Pollock, Rothko, Matisse, Warhol, O'Keefe - I was kind of stunned looking, I'm sure. Actually.. I was trying to figure out what this little plaque was for "Sprialling Color" etc etc, and was looking at a rather wide Rothko, backing up.. Until I realised that the plaque was for the entire wall that I was leaning against and had been drawn on by what looked like Crayons. Whoops. At least I didn't pee in Duchamp's urinal.. In the West building they had a huge Cezanne exhibit, which was equally as stunning as the Dada exhibit, although there were a lot of whiney Italian and French people with really tight pants and furs on. Hm. I would recommend a good deal of time to go through this gallery, they take minimun 2 hours for each of the buildings. But it's worth it! And free! Yay! Free! (A little warning - the marble stairs in the West building have been warn down a little, so they have kind of a concave middle. I never knew it was possible to simultaneously fall up, and down, stairs.)

National Museum of Women in the Arts
There are a few really worthwhile pieces in this museum/gallery, and they're SO kind. It's only 3$ for students, and the docents will tell you exactly what you should see, their favorites.. its really nice. The building is an old Masons hall, and it quite beautiful, the sweeping stairways are really impressive. They have a modern room, classical, neoclassical, on and on. Though small, the collections tend to pull some of the best and put them together. Some. I found that some of the pieces were really.. not very good at all, and I had a feeling that they were included just because they were women. Which is sort of dissapointing. On the other hand, they did have pieces by Lee Krasner (Pollocks wife) and Frida Kahlo that I wish could be more widely exhibited. It was a beautiful and quiet, though really regal collection. I suggest it to anyone. Doesn't take a lot of time to go through it, I think that the collection is only 3,000 pieces wide, and a very small portion are on display. Definately worth the time and effort.

So there you have it. Its completely worth visiting just these galleries, if you have no other time to visit others. Most of them are within walking distance of downtown D.C., depending on the weather - but cab drivers provide the best conversation, so don't pass up that option either! Next time I want to do the Textile Museum and the Postal Museum. Yay stamps and rugs!

Is this Irony?

So I'm sitting in Dupont Circle, waiting for Bryan to get off class, and flipping through a book of Bukowski poetry. Dupont Circle is where all the.. um.. homeless (is that still pc?) hang out, and to be honest, I always feel pretty safe there. The ratio of body building gay men to skinny homeless guys is pretty even, so I don't think they take much notice of me. Even if they did it might be in a strange, ornothological way.

This really kind looking black guy ambles up and introduces himself as "B.P" and shakes my hand, sits down and asks if I'm reading poetry, and then asks what I'm going to do with the book after. I answer (as honestly as I can, hearing how lame the words sound when this guy is pushing a grocery cart with his life in it..) that I'll probably put it on a shelf somewhere. B.P tells me he trades books around, so that he can read more. Also remarks that he just got out of jail, that they had a pretty good library there. I told him that if I finished my book by the weekend, that I would gladly trade him, for anything he had that he thought I might like.

B.P. says, with all the honesty in the world, "I'm just finishing this one book, it's really changed my life. I love it. But I'll trade it. It's about Feng Shui."

Art o' the Day

Photo by Mikaela McQuade, 2005.
(I'm the worst sister ever. I actually
spelt my sister's name wrong. I fixed it.
Please don't disown me!)

Pollock n' Rothko n' Van Gogh, Oh My!

Jackson Pollock - Lavender Mist
Vincent Van Gogh - Self Portrait
Mark Rothko - (I cannot find the name of this work!)

Quote of the Day

Me - "We don't have anything like this in Canada, nothing so extensive" (motioning to the gallery)

Gift Shop Lady- (surprised and shocked) "You don't have giftshops in Canada?"

Ms. Poshlust.. Still Does Washington

The Beautiful Library of Congress
The Beautiful Ms. P at the reflecting pool with the Washington Monument in the back
And the awesome Lincoln Memorial

Ms. Poshlust Does Washington.

Mr. Bryan and Ms. P hang out eating a pretzel by the white house..
Then went to see the Vietnam War Memorial (check out the horribly sad note left with the can of Budweiser..)
And Ms. P going for tea with George.

Art o' the Day

Sickert's "Minnie Cunningham"

Washington, Part Deux

So, I'm in Washington. The flight was unending - both the plane and those of the irritating butterflies that had taken up residence in my belly and chest - but Seattle was nice, and I bought a Starbucks coffee and sat and looked at Mt. Rainier just to say I had. (Which, apparently, is a rare thing to see, usually fogged up and invisible.)

Washington.. is good. The talking has been incessant, not all bad, not all good - but all right. I have a feeling of hope, and know that no matter what happens, that this was the right thing to do. I have a friend back, and for that, I'm eternally grateful. For now, I'll keep my cards to my proverbial chest - but I'm hopeful and happy and enjoying myself.

After the awkward momentary lapse of cool and calm at the airport, Bryan and I went out to have a drink at Merkado, and a little bite to eat. Merkado is such a treat - epicurian and theatrical; owed no doubt to the high number of boy-dates going on, it being located very intelligently next to the happenest gay club. The two, very funny, very sweet black gentlemen next to us were interested not in me, of course, but in Bryan's sexuality, and really, hadn't he given boys just a small thought? While Bryan assured them, amid my shouting laughter, that no, he was quite sure that he had no interest, they also asked our relation, our story etc. It was funny to tell it, and they were very encouraging, and the laughter carried on for a quarter of an hour. It was lovely, and I left warm and smiling. And fairly certain that even due to the plethora of new facial care products in the shower, that Bryan was not interested in men.

We went to get groceries yesterday, at the commissary at Bolling Airforce Base. Right next to the Director of National Intelligence HQ, and Naval Research... And all that entirely sinister stuff. It didn't help my spidey sense that it was all located opposite this dark and imposing forest that looked like it routinely ate small children and bunnies for dessert. Getting ON to the base was funny. In Indian, everyone at the Embassies carry these pre-Soviet era rifles that look just about as effective as and not nearly as intimidating as some of the BB guns out there. Here, they have those big nasty real shooting guns that stop cars and hearts. It was kinda neat. So I had to get my little pass and show them my humble Canadian ID. It wasn't a problem. Some part of me wanted to reach out and say "Gotch'er Nose!" to the poor marine.. but some part of me, the part that likes my fingers, said hey, sit back, eat another Krispy Kreme.

(Which, I have. By the by. Like, 10 of them. Because 12 is only 25 cents more than a dozen. And really - lets be cost consciencous shall we?)

Made dinner here last night and ate Hawaiian Burgers, started reading "Travels with Charley" outloud to Bryan. I picked it up at Goodwill before I left, and am really loving it. So much so that I went back to the beginning to start reading it outloud.. but also so that it wouldn't be over so quickly!!

Hung about home this morning, reading and listening to music, doing school work etc. Went out this afternoon to my #1 must-do while I was here.. The Degas, Sickert and Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit at the Phillips Collection. It was.. phenomenal. They had a huge slice of Degas' Dancers collection on loan from Tate London, as well as some that I had never even seen in books. It was amazing. All of Sicker's theatre scenes were phenomenal, I had to sit down on the bench to catch my breath between looking at them. Bryan really enjoyed it too, which was wonderful. I took him down to the regular collection to show him some of the Modrian and Modigliani works that I love, and just had a really nice time. Stopped for Ahi and Saporro beer at Raku on the way home.. and here we are. I hope to get to the Corcoran for one last look at the Warhol exhibit before it takes off - Bryan wants to go, and I would love to see it again.

I'm doing well - this is hard, but good, and right. That, and I think I've literally gained weight in Krispy Kremes. Damn.

Art o' the Day

Circa 1900
Unknown Artist
Watercolor on Ivory

Political.. and Emotional Sabotage?

So the whole issue of Hamas being a semi-legitamate political organ has been bothering me lately. (Can't you tell.. it's between the lines of useless prattle). It's not that they were elected - because that really was legitimate and ironic and comical - it's what's going to happen now. I've no doubt that what I've been hearing on CNN may be irrelevant and irreverant - but the notion that the US and Isreal are now working together on something other than films, and that it may be government toppling.. gives me cause for concern. This seems like history just repeating itself. While Hamas may not be our government of choice, it was theirs. And one can't ignore that with the lack of funds originating from the US and Isreal now that Hamas is flying the green flag that there is a definate economic vacuum going on. Who will fill in, be sucked in? I all but assume that it will be the other Middle Eastern States. Then they have one more state sponsoring "terrorism".. which just happens to be a legitimately elected government? I don't know. Somebody help me out.

On an entirely different and pseudo related note.. I'm leaving for Washington tomorrow morning to see Bryan. To talk. I don't know. I have half of my brain excited to see a friend, and the other half broken into inumerable slivers that include "Krispy Kreme" and "NO!" and "Maybe" and "run away" and "run to him" and .. a big sliver that says.. "You have to know". My mom says we all have lose ends. But wouldn't we all take the chance to tie them if we were given the opportunity?

Damn Americans.

Quote of the Day

"In a man's letters his soul lies naked."

-Samuel Johnson

Shot Through the Heart...

And Dick Cheney is to blame... (C'mon, you all know the Bon Jovi song, you can't pretend you don't...) It's kinda not so funny now that Wittingtonfield (right) has had a little bit of an myocardial infarction due to the bird pellets in his heart. It's a little harder to laugh now. But not much. I mean.. what if he's arrested for manslaughter? Hehehe... The indictment waters are rising.. Will Bush get his toes wet?

Hearts and Coffee and Tear Wet Phones

I had two fantastic kind friends give me fantastic kind gifts for Valentines - it really was spectacular. Ian gave me flowers and champagne and chocolate covered strawberries, I got Valentines under my door and in my mailbox - it was actually the first time I had a nice Valentines Day, a truly kind, sweet, candy heart day. Went for dinner with Steph, my brother, Ian, Peterson, Curtis - enjoyed it thouroughly.

Then Bryan and I talked. I don't know what more to say. I'm not sure if it made my day better or worse. But I can't really say for now to tell the truth. It's still.. fermenting?

I had a great morning - went to Phil. with Beach, then Laura and I went to Denny's with him for a couple hours and ate and had so many coffees that I think my eyes are jiggling. Had an awesome talk with him and Laura, and even more with Laura after. She's so wonderful - she centers me and makes my heart and my brain calm, she makes me believe that my life is worth living and that I really do matter to somebody. The fact that I matter to her... makes it worth it a million times over. I think they added sentimentality to that coffee.

Reading week next week. Yeeps. I'm spending it with Laura, whom I realise may be the one true love of my life. *smile* Looking forward to.. well.. reading. Imagine that.

ps - Look out, we're going to feature some of Laura's amazing drawings on here if she gets her butt in gear. Keep a look out.

Oh.. Happy Valentines Day.

Seriously? Is This a Metaphor?

Dick Cheney actually shot his friend in the face? That cracks me up. The official story is that Cheney shot "longtime friend" (and major campaign supporter) Harry Whittington in the face, neck and chest, after Harry returned to the hunting party unannounced. Cheney turned, and while aiming at a quail.... shot him in the head. Like seriously, in the face. Longtime friend. China, Britain... look out.

Stripes

Stripes of sun warm
bars
against my back
like new scratches or hot
laundry;
through bent blinds glows.

I can smell the warmth
heating my skin,
past perfumes
soaps
spit
kisses
bubbling like tar
in the dip of my back.

A burning five fingered
welt,
wrapped around my shoulder
blade, slicing heat underneath
and around,
beats.

-a.M

Sunday Morning Music

For bed and sunshine.

1. I Break Hearts - Leeroy Stagger
2. The City - Joe Purdy
3. Breathe Me - Sia Furler
4. Love Like Laughter - Beth Orton feat. Ben Harper
5. D'Angelo - Feel Like Makin' Love

Really.. that's all you'll need.

I did, I smiled.

I went to the farmers market, read Langston Hughes until I cried, ate sushi and laughed and played squash. I haven't washed my hair, I've read Bukowski and drank red wine and eaten a pie and had eggs benedict and earl grey and jasmine tea. I didn't put on make up and I bought robins egg blue stationary and I didn't check my messages and threw the window wine open and laid naked in the sunshine on the bed. I hid and laughed and mailed a letter and wore the same pair of jeans and looked at so many books and took off my jacket and tripped on cobblestones and drank vanilla soda with whipped cream and tried on huge hats and smiled at myself.

Slices of My Weekend

Slices

Slices

Wabi Sabi Bukowski

Beer and Poetry

Charles Bukowski, Captain of my pirate ship, and Captain of my Heart.

Beer

I don't know how many bottles of beer
I have consumed while waiting for things
to get better
I dont know how much wine and whisky
and beer
mostly beer
I have consumed after
splits with women-
waiting for the phone to ring
waiting for the sound of footsteps,
and the phone to ring
waiting for the sounds of footsteps,
and the phone never rings
until much later
and the footsteps never arrive
until much later
when my stomach is coming up
out of my mouth
they arrive as fresh as spring flowers:
"what the hell have you done to yourself?
it will be 3 days before you can fuck me!"

the female is durable
she lives seven and one half years longer
than the male, and she drinks very little beer
because she knows its bad for the figure.

while we are going mad
they are out
dancing and laughing
with horney cowboys.

well, there's beer
sacks and sacks of empty beer bottles
and when you pick one up
the bottle fall through the wet bottom
of the paper sack
rolling
clanking
spilling gray wet ash
and stale beer,
or the sacks fall over at 4 a.m.
in the morning
making the only sound in your life.

beer
rivers and seas of beer
the radio singing love songs
as the phone remains silent
and the walls stand
straight up and down
and beer is all there is.

-Charles Bukowski

Gardening the Friends

I don't know if it's just because I'm feeling pessimistic, or if Laura is right and this has been a bitch of a week, or because I actually have the RIGHT to feel grumpy and unloved and un-showered with kindness.. Or that as I'm typing this I realise I have a totally great couple of friends and an amazing family.. but this week.. sucked.

It seems like at every turn I had somebody complaining and whining and sick and mental at my door, in my inbox, on MSN, on the voicemail, plus layer upon layer of homework and reading and class and deadlines... It never ended. I want to be a good person, and I want to take care of them all, I want to get my assignments done and I need to go to class - but what happened to bringing a girl flowers, to saying thanks, to helping out? Now, I know that there are exceptions to this in my life (see - Ian, Laura, my brother) but as of late, it feels like the negative has overwhelmed the positive with amazing force and determination. My paltry complaints of having thighs that jiggle and jackass "friends" seem kind of... paltry. But don't you occasionally want to tell people to buck up and get a life? I've decided that I'm going to weed out the people in my life that contribute nothing and take everything, for once I'm going to take my own advice. I'm downsizing like Ford. There are people that no matter what the situation, always seem to take so much more from me than I have to offer, nevermind the fact that I needed something. I'm sure there is a witty psychological name for them. We'll go with Takers. (This does not assume I am a Giver. Do not make that mistake. ;-) So here I go. Weeding.

Given that I don't live in the West Bank, nor do I have a cleft palate and my name isn't Honey, I realise fully that I don't have a lot to complain about. It could be worse, I could be Danish. But damn it, I want flowers. And 21 red balloons and a bottle of good champagne. Is that so damn much to ask?

Quote of the Day

"Democracy. The sickness at the center of our souls."

- p.b

A Gumbo with Heineken

Went to Laura and Alejandro's place last night for dinner, had a nice time. Matt and Alejandro cooked a lovely meal for us, while we sat at the table and studied and wrote. It was really nice. Everyone of us has fairly different ideas about everything (politics, food, psychologists) so it was a wonderful conversation. Its so comfortable there, hanging out, eating, laughing. I needed it.

Quote of the Day

Out of nothing, nothing comes.
Unknown (to me.)

Paint Laid

I'm wrapped in sheets
of canvas paintings lying
across my chest.
Pine frames against my legs
legs of paintings, faded
worn and repainted
and blurred.

Layers of girls and stories
and dragons and crayonish suns
A tree pressed against
my throat;
wrists of roots against
my sternum.

his ribs of pine braces pressing
tight as the canvas breathes with
moisture
and the girls sweat as they pitch
against
my belly.

-a.M

No Route 66...

I'm getting the strangest hits.. So Paulo, Stavanger Norway, Korea, Singapore.. an "Unknown Country".. Odd yes?

Holy Hockey Game!

NOW I'm Canadian, or Gauche of the Goal

I went to my first hockey game today - no word of a lie. Ian took me to the Edmonton Oilers vs. the Anaheim Mighty Ducks game, (I was a little dismayed to learn that they don't ACTUALLY do the flying V move...) and I had so much fun! The beer was good and expensive and the pretzles were hot and the girls.. well.. the girls were REALLY dressed up, like pointy shoes and everything. It was weird. But the beer was so good! I missed the first two goals because I got excited and couldn't find the puck and got distracted by the flashing lights, but the rest of them I saw, and jumped up and cheered. And yelled a couple "kick 'em in the throat"s out to the boys in blue. (Ooo.. I can say that now! Yay!) It was a blast, thank you so much for taking me Ian. I've got my free life sized Chris Pronger poster to keep me warm tonight. Goal!

Elevator Ladies

Pebbles, No Stones.

Oooo.. did the entertainment industry really learn a lesson vis a vis Ms. Jackson? I'm watching the Superbowl Halftime Show, which is really the only part of the whole chili infested event that I'm interested in - and the Rolling Stones are a) still alive and b) rocking out PG13 style. They just sang "Rough Justice" .. with a self imposed little silent pause. See if you can figure out where it goes...

One time you were my baby chicken
Now you've grown into a fox
Once upon a time I was your little rooster
But am I just one of your cocks...

Oh Janet. One bad apple and I have to watch an 80 year old man mouth "cocks" instead of sing it. Too funny.

For Waitresses In Diners With Blisters

Was listening to Moon Pix this morning, an old Cat Power CD.. and my nifty iTunes tells me that there's a new album out.. Being poor and well.. poor, I just downloaded "The Greatest" off line. And honestly, I think it lives up to it's moniker. I'm all for the angst ridden American Flag Cat Power.. but The Greatest is beautiful in it's semi-Fleetwood/EmmyLou Harris opium way. A little more country ( like "What Would The Community Think" distilled).. its still very sexy and lyrically awesome. The title track has "Moon River" strings in it, and "Lived in Bars" was written for every waitress or alcoholic (pretty much the same thing) out there. Has enough melody for Sunday mornings.. but it doesn't wear underwear on Saturday night.

Play On

After a bit of research, it's been confirmed. Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab for Cutie will be playing together at the Shaw Conference Center on April 25th! Other than that, there are some pretty good concerts coming up...

March 1st - Controller Controller at the Starlite Room, 8pm 16$
March 3rd - We Are Wolves at Velvet Underground, 8pm 13$
March 4th - Bob Mould at the Starlite Room, 8pm 27$ (ouch!)
March 8th - Most Serene Republic at Powerplant, 7pm 13$
March 24th, Jason Collett at Powerplant, 8pm 10$

Now that you know, don't leave those essays to the last minute. I'm sure there are a lot of other concerts in between these.. don't worry, I'll keep you updated. *Smile*

Controversial Cartoons

Hmm.. So these are the cartoons causing so much heat. They're not published anywhere very clearly on the web, this is about as good as it gets. Funny how people get the angriest when something.. is true. (Interesting fact - this was published Sep. 30th - 2005 )

Country Music, Country Pies

Had a lovely Friday/Saturday. Spent Friday night with Ian, Steph, Josh, Laura, Alejandro, Carlynn and more.. At the Ridley Bent concert. It was fantastic. Had a great time drinking Strongbow and dancing and laughing. It was so great, he was a riot live. The band was so incredible, and Ridley was so into it - it made for an incredible concert.

Went to the Farmers Market this morning with Ian, it was smart to go early. We usually go mid afternoon, and there are a lot of stalls already sold out at that point, like "Mom's Pies". We always stand there and look at the empty table and the list of amazing sounding pies that we've missed out on. *laughing* But because we went early today, we got to sample the pies, it was great!!! We bought a deep dish apple and a raspberry rhubarb - and she gave us a turtle pie too! Chocolate and caramel and pecans.. she was so sweet. I love going there - everything is so healthy and fresh and everyone is so kind. It's a nice Saturday tradition.

Friday Fun

Wabi Sabi Playlist

Beautiful Imperfect Listening for a Beautifully Imperfect Day

1. East of Anywhere - Lamya
2. Visions of Johanna - Bob Dylan
3. I Found a Reason - Cat Power
4. Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young
5. Pocket Knife - PJ Harvey
6. Cannibal's Hymn - Nick Cave
7. Maple Leaves - Jens Lekman
8. Tusk - Fleetwood Mac
9. Where Cedar Nouns and Adverbs Walk - The Most Serene Republic
10. Golden Touch - Razorlight
11. Raw Sugar - Metric
12. Suicidewinder - Ridley Bent
13. That Heat - Sergio Mendes/ Erykah Badu

I Heard You Could Drown in a Teaspoon of Water...

Sports Injury!!!

I'm so proud of myself. I've been swimming, playing squash or working out at the gym for the past 6 days.. Steph and I have a squash court booked to play with Tyler and a friend tomorrow.. so that'll make a whole week! Unfortunately, I was on the little bicycle deal tonight, and adjusted the seat, and dropped it on that nice thick nerve beside your thumb. ARG! I managed to keep my cool and only yipped slightly, though the thumb was unusable for the next ten minutes. Ah well - now I'm macho.

Forgotten Funny.

Ian and I were at McDonalds a while back on a Sunday, when all the seniors and their various incarnations of hair pieces hang out and drink free-refill coffee. There was this table, partially obscured by fur coats and hats and gold lame and strange plastic broaches, surrounded by old (not elderly, not aged...Old) people. It's so easy to eavesdrop on their conversations, as they speak so loudly into each others faces that well.. I don't think it's eavesdropping anymore.

We follow this old man out in his fur cap, when he pauses by this big boat of a cadillac, covered in a thin amount of snow, and proceeds to write "Hi" upside down, readable to the driver. Then brushes of his hands, and moves on.

Guess you're never too old to order a Happy Meal.

Quote of the Day

"Practicing virtue ethics is like flying by the seat of your pants. So you better be a good pilot."


-A philosopher.. as passed along by P.B.