no blog

Dave's take on 2001

2011-10-28T00:29:00.001-07:00

1. "It's all really good until they kill off Hal. After that it's just one really long compilation of winamp equalizer visualizations circa 1995."

2. He hates how this type of Atheist science fiction author, in trying to write novels that are alternatives to biblical history only ever manage to come up with Space-Jesus stories.

On how George Lucas is a knob, and how I may be an alcoholic

2011-09-02T23:11:00.000-07:00

So, here's my theory.

Alec Guinness dies, right? He goes to heaven. Where else would he go, having spent his life working so hard to inspire and enlighten us with his work?

He's all like, "Hey God, look. I worked so hard down there at my craft, and all they care about is this stupid Star Wars movie. It's a bad movie, right? It's this really trope-ridden space drama with an uninspired script that the kids are just nuts for. It's all anyone remembers me for."

And God's all like, "Yeah, it's pretty tragic. You did such good work interpreting Shakespeare and all. Don't worry about it. I'll make it up to you. By the way, thanks for "Lady Killers" and "Kind Hearts and Coronets".

And that's how things like this happen.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

A conversation after having purchased a 1.75 liter bottle of gin and while I am mixing tasty, tasty drinks.

Dave: We don't look like alcoholics. We're just thrifty, right? Because we know that we'll use it within the year...

...or month...

...or week...

Me: Hour.

Captain's Table

2 oz gin
1 oz orange juice
1/2 oz Campari
1 tsp grenadine

Shake with ice. Strain into a collins glass half filled with ice. Add:

4 ounces of ginger beer

Or half a bottle. Fentiman's is best, but if you can't swing it, Presidents' Choice has a nice bite to it. Top with a maraschino cherry, but only if you have the real ones. The fake ones at the grocery store are nasty.

aaaaaand it's bedtime.

decadence

2011-07-03T20:06:00.001-07:00

We got a new oven the other day. Our "old" oven, which was only 5 years old or so, totally died. The computer controls weren't turning on the oven elements. It was very sad, because it wasn't under warranty and would have cost a lot of money to fix.
So we got a "new" oven for $30. Thank you, Cragslist! Our kitchen is looking more like the 70's every day.

The drawer isn't in yet, but LOOK! It has wheels so that we can clean around it! And it's tall enough for Dave to cook on without bending over! Brilliant.

We decided that we'd cook a simple meal tonight. Pasta with a pesto asparagus sauce. All you have to do is boil the asparagus for 5-10 minutes, transfer them to a pan, add some pesto from a jar, boil the pasta in the asparagus water, add the pasta to the sauce, and you're done.
We got a bit carried away, once I started. First off, Dave said he wanted some peppers and onions in the sauce, so I cooked those in the pan while the asparagus was boiling.

Then Dave decided that he wanted to barbecue some bread. We had some natural sourdough all ready to be kneaded a second time. Instead of kneading it, I flattened it onto a board covered in cornmeal and covered it in oregano, basil and olive oil.

Meanwhile, Dave got the barbecue heated up. He put it on a cast iron grill (because that's all we had) and smoked it.
We're going to have to pick up a pizza stone. The grill burned the bottom of the bread, but it was a very thin piece of burned bread that we had to slice off, and the rest of the bread was so amazingly tasty.
At this point, he asked me if I still had that chicken in the fridge ready to cook. He covered it in the oil, basil and oregano mix that I'd used to coat the bread and grilled it on the barbecue that was already hot from making the bread. We put it in with the pasta sauce once it was done. It was a brilliant idea.
For this recipe, I chose the giant rigatoni, because the sauce is big and chunky. It is so important to have a supply of many kinds of pastas for many kinds of sauces. For real. Trust me.
While the pasta was boiling in the pot, and the chicken was still grilling, we took a quick break for a rum and coke. We make a point of stocking up on cola that has sugar cane as apposed to corn syrup. Fentimans is preferred, but it's super pricey, so we take whatever we can find on sale at Winners.
That's right. They sell cane cola at Winners. If you're lucky.
When making a rum and coke, or Cuba Libre, I usually go for Gosling's rum, which has a lot of flavour. English Harbour is more subtle, I would say, but the results were just as satisfying.
There was no cheese. I was spoiled living with my parents, because they only ever bought nice parmesan. I either get the nice stuff or go without. It's too depressing to eat the cheap stuff.

As you can see, we have a long way to go with the decor, but at least we eat well. Very well.

I am so stuffed.

Mawwage!

2011-06-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

(This is a long post. If you don't intend to read it, just make sure you skip to the end for an amazing cocktail.)

I suddenly have time on my hands.

I don't really have a lot of time, because I've started 50 new projects, and really, I have a lot of things on the back burner that I need to really get a move on, but given the position I find myself in, I just might be able to do them.

However, I'm not interested in talking about those projects. Instead, I'd like to talk about two major lifestyle changes that I've made since my recent marriage that I find quite entertaining.

1. drinking

I like tea. I like it a lot. Several years ago we were at the Richmond Night Market and got a load of Chinese teas, including Jasmine, at crazy discount prices. Our favourite of the bunch was Yun Nan gold tea, which probably has a different name. Dave drove all the way to Richmond, found the tea shop, and talked to the owner for an hour about Yun Nan and came home with all kinds of stuff.
But I've told this story before.

I also like coffee. This is a more recent discovery that I made at a friends house. She made really, really good coffee in a coffee press. Since then, we've purchased a coffee press and 3 bialettis, including this one, which not only makes tasty coffee, but provides entertainment as well!

But now I drink alcohol. Now, I drank before marriage, it's true, but I didn't drink if I had to drive home afterwards, which was a good 99% of the time.
Now I have a glass of something every other day. We started with unique beers and some classic cocktail books, and have since branched out to wine and port. Dave's been buying prosecco and other fizzy wines recently (mainly to mix with absinthe). We watch for sales and we slowly have accumulated a decent bar. I'm in heaven.

2. Personal Upkeep.

Back when I was in school, I promised myself that when I graduated I'd do things like brush my hair in the morning BEFORE I got on the bus. Or at least brushing my hair every day. I never wore make-up. I might wax my legs once a year.

I graduated, but I didn't change my habits. It was just too much effort.

When I was getting married, however, I realized that if I didn't do something I'd end up in not only my own wedding pictures looking like a hag, but also in my brothers', and in the pictures of 4 other weddings I am to attend this year. So I watched at least 10 youtube videos, went to the drugstore, picked up the bare essentials, and got going.
My favourite discovery: Tinted moisturizer. Best idea ever.

After the wedding, I got gift cards for a department store and eventually, with Dave's encouragement, bought a hairdryer and hot curlers on sale.
Now, every morning, I comb my hair after my shower *GASP*, and then, I blow-dry it until it's almost dry. Not totally dry, because I don't have the patience yet. Yesterday I got mousse and applied it to get rid of the fly-aways, and THEN I put the curlers in to try them out.

---------------

So that's how I came to have an amazing day today. I started, eating Nutella on toast with my hair full of curlers, and I ended it with this amazing cocktail:

Port Whiskey Punch

1 1/2 ounces bourbon whiskey
1 1/2 ounces fresh-squeezed orange juice
3/4 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 ounce simple syrup (although, our port is so sweet, we should have skipped this, or at least used less. Also, agave syrup in a bottle is so much more convenient than making syrup all the time.)
1 ounce ruby port
orange slice, for garnish
lemon twist, for garnish

Combine the whiskey with the citrus juices as well as the syrup in a mixing glass and shake well. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Top with port and garnish with the orange slice and lemon twist.

The port settles on top and then slowly spirals down the glass, mixing into the rest of the drink. It looks amazing and tastes divine.

...but, seriously, I got a lot of housework and errands done today, too... Plus, I made a daffodil cake with duck eggs! HELL YES. That is going to be one rich and tasty cake.

No Update

2011-06-19T23:55:00.000-07:00

I have so many projects that I'm working on. Slowly they will come together and I will post them. Meanwhile, here is an exchange I had with a young student this week. He is one of my favourite students for saying craaaazy things.

Me: It's great that you did so well on your sight reading.
Student: Yes. Because I suck at sight reading.
Me: Well, you're really good at reading notes, you just have problems paying attention. And playing slowly. And staying calm.
Student: Yes. That is because I am so full of emotion. I am much more emotional than other people my age.

He also at one point, on the subject of classical piano music said, "I love the classics, because they are so beautiful and full of emotion. They are much more memorable than the beats of Justin Bieber."

So true. So true. The best part was that he was comparing Bieber to Clementi and Czerny. Pretty hilarious.

a million pictures of bread

2010-09-01T11:47:00.001-07:00

I swore not long ago that I would never buy bread ever again. This is why.

Now the headless figure dressed in an Alpine/Dolomite apron with adorable crochet lining is definitely me, and you might assume that I was the one who made this delicious bread. However, I was not the baker. I have always had a love of baking, and believe I have inspired the baker. In fact, on asking him why he felt that he needed to bake on that particular day, his answer was "you need bread!". Therefore I will leave this picture as it is.

cheese bread.

We also love sourdough. Not just for the tasty bread it can make, but for the tasty CRUMPETS.

Fresh sourdough crumpets grilled on a new fancy griddle. We made these together. They take very little prep time if you don't count all that leaving flour and water to go sour on the counter.

bubbles!

flipped!

served!

Sourdough crumpets consist of:
1 cup sourdough starter
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

fry in an egg ring. flip. spread with jam. eat.

Bringing Up Baby

2010-07-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

Cary Grant: (looking at dinosaur, bone in hand) I think this bone fits in the tail!

Alice: Nonsense, you tried the tail yesterday, and it didn't fit.

Cary Grant: Oh, that's right. I did, didn't I?

Em: I don't think Cary Grant is a very good Dinosaur Scientist.

Cary Grant: Look, a telegram! We're being sent the last bone we need to complete the Brontosaurus skeleton!

---------------------------------------

Psychiatrist: (to Catherine Hepburn) Don't worry, we'll take care of you...

me: electroshock therapy!

Em: Lobotomies for EVERYONE!

Grandma: Yes, including us!

soap snobbery

2010-07-11T23:41:00.001-07:00

A Dave that I may or may not know came to visit me with soap today. Now, this may not sound very exciting, but it IS exciting. It's internet soap. Internet soap from France that came in a brown package 3 years ago that we still haven't used up.

In the past, my family always used Pears. Pears is made with glycerin and does not froth very much. I was under the impression that in order to get a frothy cleansing product, I would have to use body wash or shower gel. So that's what I did. For many years I purchased bottles and bottles of the stuff, and it was kind of an expensive way to go, considering I was buying a product that consisted mostly of water, but I was unaware of the alternatives.

So, finally, about 3 or 4 years ago, Dave became interested in wet shaving and came across olive oil based soap, and on recommendation, went for a batch from Marseilles.

They come in giant cubes, and have to be purchased in bulk. He bought enough soap for 2 people to last 4 years, apparently, in several scents and a couple unscented. They lather like mad and smell amazing.

So today he brought two cubes over, one lavender, and one of rose. They went in the oven with a pan of water to soften before they were cut up.

The rose scented soap sliced up nicely, but the lavender was taken out too early and crumbled when the knife hit it. However, this problem was soon solved with the use of an oven safe ice cube tray I just happen to have. (For the life of me, I don't know why such a thing exists, but I'm supposing that it could alternately be used for chocolate. or soap?)

That's right. Heart shaped lavender soaps.

He says he's trying Syria next. Maybe they'll let him order in smaller amounts...

The theater, the theater. What's happened to the theater?

2010-06-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

I read a review for the A-Team on Rotten Tomatoes:

"Everything in this film runs on perfect timing built on insane assumptions"

Obviously this person never watched the show, which was a lot more impossible than the movie.

That being said, the movie itself was thoroughly enjoyable. There wasn't very much love interest, either.

I would update about other things, but I need to deal with my camera first.

Horrifying

2010-03-15T17:43:00.001-07:00

More Japanese jazz. This time, with blackface? weeeeeeeeird.

creeeeeeeepy

2010-03-08T10:26:00.001-08:00

wark wark wark

2010-01-30T15:17:00.000-08:00

I taught a 6 year old girl the other day who insisted on taking notes in class.

I played chords and asked her if they sounded happy or sad.

me: See, this one sounds happy. It sounds like Mary had a little lamb. And this one sounds sad. It sounds like Mary lost her little lamb. What about this one?

small serious child: Oh, that one sounds really sad. It sounds like Mary's lamb died.

me: uh... yeah, I guess... that would be sad.

Parnassus and Avatar

2010-01-24T13:47:00.000-08:00

Let me begin by saying that I had to see the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, because I make a point of watching all of Terry Gilliam's films. That being said, the Brothers Grimm was a HUGE disappointment, and Tideland is most likely the worst film ever made for various reasons which I will not go into because I was traumatized.

Also, the Baron Munchausen is my favourite film of all time, which happens to be mostly because I watched it incessantly as a child back to back with the Princess Bride. However, the plot is a little hard to follow, probably, as I like to theorize, due to the few sections of the movie that the studio MADE Gilliam cut if he wanted them to give the movie a proper release. (which they DIDN'T in the end....)

Also recognize that this is the same director behind such rambling, yet brilliant, works as "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and "Brazil"

That being said, this movie was like a remake of the Baron Munchausen. It had the same backbone for the story, a gorgeous stage as an excuse to build elaborate set pieces, great style, great acting, and mind blowing visual effects. It was not the same movie by any means, but it was equally entertaining and even easier to follow.

Many people are going to see Avatar right now, saying that it may be a barely watchable movie plotwise, but that the amazing visuals make up for it. At the same time, many reviewers are watching Parnassus and saying that the visuals are astounding, but that the plot is convoluted and weird, which makes the movie totally unwatchable. This is bogus. The only reason that Parnassus may seem convoluted is that it does not meet any hollywood style expectations of plot. You don't know who is in the wrong, or who will win out until the very end. If you wait for a formulaic plot twist, then you will be disappointed. And besides, CGI becomes dated so quickly.* Visuals like Gilliam's ( 1 2 3 ) never do.

So go watch it, dammit. It'll be good for you.

* This is not to say that Avatar isn't a good fim, as I have not seen it.

Boxing Day Breakfast

2009-12-30T23:03:00.000-08:00

I have a new phone, which means fast uploads and huge loss of quality when it comes to pictures.

This is what mummy made for us:

Citrus fruit salad with blueberry honey and greek yogurt, sprinkled with pomegranate.

orange french toast with warm cherry sauce and real maple syrup.

tasty.

FYI

2009-12-22T20:11:00.000-08:00

Jack Frost is a terrible movie. The script was written by two different people (each one taking a scene), all of the "biting wit" was overplayed and out of character. The acting was some of the worst I've ever seen. The plot made me want to claw out my eyes.

just saying.

It's already started

2009-12-20T14:01:00.001-08:00

Jake: MUUUUM! Dad called me fat AND ugly!

Dad: It was an accident!!!

not obsessed

2009-12-13T12:29:00.001-08:00

more Japanese Jazz

2009-12-13T12:18:00.001-08:00

I'll post real things someday.

Janken Musume

2009-12-04T11:33:00.001-08:00

last post on this subject. Seriously, somebody buy me this movie. It's fantastic.

Misora Hibari - a Japanese actress sings a French song translated into English

2009-12-04T11:14:00.001-08:00

...why?

free music/new blog

2009-10-28T12:47:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start publishing my arrangements on the internet for free, starting with a Minuet in G that's transposed to F, making the title totally confusing. That's what you get for choosing such a generic title, Johann.

For more on this nerdly musical adventure, click here

Good Question

2009-10-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

Oh, Yahoo Answers. I'm so happy that Henry put you to some good use.

Maxwell's Silver Hammer

2009-10-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

Entry from Wikipedia:

"The song took three days of overdubbing because McCartney imagined that it could be a future single. John Lennon later recalled, "he did everything to make it into a single, and it never was and it never could have been."
According to Lennon, the band spent more money on that song than any other on Abbey Road, and he derided the song at the time as a prime example of McCartney's "granny-style" writing.
George Harrison described it in 1969 as "one of those instant whistle-along tunes which some people hate, and other people really like. It's a fun song, but it's kind of a drag because Maxwell keeps on destroying everyone like his girlfriend then the school teacher, and then, finally, the judge." In 1977, Harrison would be less charitable, stating "I mean, my God, 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' was so fruity."
Even Ringo Starr recalled in an interview in early 2008: "The worst session ever was 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer.' It was the worst track we ever had to record. It went on for fucking weeks. I thought it was mad."

zombie cats

2009-10-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

For the first time ever, the cat actually slept all night, curled up by either my shoulder or elbow. And he only woke me up ONCE in the night, and only because he was muttering in his sleep. Sooooo cute.

Last night I saw Zombieland. It was a thoroughly enjoyable, terrible movie. The beginning was slow. They hired a guy who looked and acted like Michael Cera for the lead role. There were portions of it that went on for too long without any zombies and a lot of mushy heartfelt dialog disguised as plot development. The girls were terribly written, two-dimentional useless characters with too much eyeliner.

But at the half way point things picked up, and it ended up being worth watching. I wouldn't buy the movie or anything, but it made me laugh, and I was glad to have seen it.

So, late last night I had a dream that I lived on the first floor of a building (above the main floor, that is), and could therefore only be friends with other inhabitants of that floor, which were all jellybean coloured zombie cats. But then I discovered that there were zombie cats on stilts outside with whom I could also be friends, because they were tall enough to reach the first floor.

uhhh... yeah.

Bread Pudding

2009-10-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

Doesn't this look delicious? hmmmmm.... It's soy milk and eggs. and sugar.

And this is buttered bread, covered in that oh-so-tasty mixture, and layered with thin slices of sweet apple from the neighbour's tree.

Sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg,

raaaaaisins... This is the second layer.

and more bread and goopy mixture. And then it sits until the whole thing is super soggy.

1 hour and 10 minutes in the oven.

vanilla pecan ice cream.

yes.

an important message from Patrick Stewart

2009-09-14T13:23:00.001-07:00

Don't worry. This isn't a star trek blog.

I'll have something more interesting another day.

not much to say

2009-08-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

what it's really like to serve on the star ship Enterprise:

Each of these cats has 3 names.

2009-05-17T23:27:00.000-07:00

Box: Fish, and plankton, and sea greens, and protein from the sea!

Dave: Wouldn't it be great if he had a little drawer in the front that dispensed fish and chips?

Em: One gun would shoot lasers, and the other would dispense tartar sauce?

Dave: And sometimes he'd accidentally shoot from the wrong gun?

Em: But then he'd just want to shoot from that gun first, anyway. "First I will season you. Then, I will kill you!"

Me: He'd be the perfect bond villain that way!

Dave: Fish, plankton,

Em: And protein, Mr. Bond!

accurate product descriptions

2009-05-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

They are made with powdered milk product.
They are in biscuit form.
They taste like sand.

New Adventures in Tea Obsessions

2009-05-13T21:50:00.000-07:00

This is Chapter 2 regarding my interest Gong Fu Cha. That's right. I got a tea making set. And by me, I mean somebody else whose kitchen items I have weekly access to.

This is Yun Nan Ming Zhu Pu Erh. (third tea down on the link) It was dried in the moonlight, and its flavour gets better with age. This one can age for 10-20 years.

The same bowl with a lid for straining. This was a cheap mildly chipped set. This strainer is Ching Dynasty.

Using the grill as a water catching table is a stroke of genius, no?
Well, I was impressed.

Click the 'tea' tag to see the previous post and learn how to make tea. Keep in mind that the guy in the video is CRAZY.
And that listening to Chinese folk music is one of the steps.

Marlon Brando

2009-03-30T21:22:00.001-07:00

sleeps on his head, clutching his tail.

He's fat, too.

lessons in music theory

2009-03-16T23:06:00.000-07:00

I found an amazing site today with full scores of Chinese music. I'm a hack when it comes to playing Chinese music, and the only way I have to play in an ensemble is to play with other people who don't know what they're doing. That's why I'm really excited about this site; it gives me the opportunity to rewrite the scores and share them with people who don't actually play Chinese instruments, and wouldn't otherwise be able to play the music. Plus it gives me real music to practice on my gu zheng, instead of all these Christmas carols my teacher keeps giving me.

That's right. I can play Silent Night on the zheng.

So, here's how it works. This is the score I read from. It reads just like regular music: left to right, top to bottom. The 0's at the beginning mean that I don't have to play. Up at the top, it tells me that it's in 2/4 time and G=1. If G=1, then A=2, B=3, C=4 and so on. It's a musical code!

Of course, I always read D=1, because that's the key my instrument is tuned to, and I refuse to attempt playing in a different key until I'm a better player.

When the numbers have dots underneath them, you play the note an octave lower. When there is a dot on top, you play the note an octave higher. If there are two dots, you play two octaves higher, etc.

Just like eighth notes in Western music have flags that attach them to eachother, the numbers that are only an eighth note long have a line underneath them. If there are two lines, then they are sixteenth notes. If there is a dot beside it, then it's a dotted note.

The rest of it is pretty standard. (The er hu part even has 'arco' and 'pizz' written in.) Once you start playing it, it's a breeze to read. However, now that I've come this far, the prospect of trying to learn this on zheng hurts my head.

I'm going to re-write the parts for plucked instruments as guitar and banjo tab. It's going to rock.

I'm not obsessed. It just happened.

2009-02-16T22:28:00.001-08:00

Yes, I've been watching Sailor Moon. Yes, I find it mesmerizing. Yes, if I found a Sailor Moon sweatshirt in the men's section at Value Village, I would probably have to buy it regardless of whether it fit me or not. Which is what I might have done about a month ago.

But I'll have you know that I would have bought it at ANY point in my life, not just now that I've downloaded the later seasons and started watching them in Japanese. Which is much better than English, by the way. The English version is unbearable.

Anyway, I'm not crazy enough to wear the sweatshirt as pictured above. Furthermore, the inside felt like plastic against my skin, so at the very least it would have to be lined. See that blue sweatshirt I was wearing? That's where I'd get the lining from. It was perfect.

For the arms, I used a pair of HIDEOUS sweat pants. I was not going to take pictures of them. They had a zipper at the crotch. Sweatpants. With a zipper.

I got the mini Sailor Moon logo from the arms of the sweatshirt.

I got the hood and the edging from the blue sweatshirt, and I used some spare felt to make the arms of the lining, as I'd run out of fabric.
After sewing it all together, I realized that the front pieces weren't as long as the back, and that the edging wasn't going to be able to lengthen it enough. Also, these pockets were way too high. I sewed the whole thing together, picked it apart, and sewed it again. This meant 2 extra days spent fixing mistakes, and that there were crazy patchwork seams everywhere.

The lining was so easy. I remembered, once I had sewed everything to the zipper, to flip the entire thing inside out and sew along the neckline, so that there are no visible seams on this sucker. It's the most beautiful inside I've done, even though it ended up being patchy, too. I did cheat on the sleeves. But you can't tell, can you?

hott. Plus, it's the fuzziest, coziest, warmest sweatshirt ever.

Em says I look like the eighties. But it's all good. As long as I don't wear them with my running shoes.

Sailor Moon Sweatshirt = $10
blue sweatshirt, red sweatpants, notions = $10

My next sweatshirt is going to be made from two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirts. I have a colourful picture for the back, and a small white outline and logo for the front. I'll just have to buy an ooze-green sweatshirt for the sleeves and hood. whee!

more records

2009-02-13T12:05:00.001-08:00

These came in a box from the university. Mostly 78's. Some 45's

Rosemary Clooney. Sweet.

Most of the titles are bizarre.

There was one record by a ukulele playing comedienne. I'm going to record it once I find it again.

My mum has a different edition of this album on 10" 33!

Some good covers, too. Look! Liberace's first ever album! That's got to be worth a MINT. ha ha ha. ha.

But seriously, Nat King Cole? That's pretty sweet.

Highlights from Sailor Moon, seasons 1-3

2009-01-20T20:44:00.001-08:00

Highlights from Sailor Moon part 2

2009-01-20T20:43:00.001-08:00

The true identity of Santa Clause.

the ultimate Christmas tradition: Cookie Painting

2009-01-04T23:21:00.000-08:00

Every year, at my house, we bake gingerbread, spread white icing on top, and paint pictures using special food colouring.
Every year my mum says something along the lines of, "oh good. This year we'll have nice pictures. Do a nice job so that I can take the cookies to peoples houses this season."
Every year we draw pictures unrelated to Christmas, or too ugly for gift giving, and the few cookies that are appropriate for guests are too nice to be eaten, and are often eaten stale by their creators a month later.
This year was no exception. Though this time around there were considerably less severed legs and bullet wounds, we did come up with some new ideas. First off, there were complaints from people who felt that their artistic skill was lacking. Monochromatic cookies with catchphrases were therefore quite popular.

See the funny man in the girl guide outfit? That was my cousin's work. She had painted a bell green to be his 'pants', but I decided to give him a more colourful skirt to wear. Next year if we have more cookies, we'll continue this theme and make cookie dolls. (fish man in the corner is amazing. Seriously, what does my mother have against these non-winter themed masterpieces!?)

Notice the obese and anorexic reindeer? There was one with a leg bitten off with the speech bubble, "where's my other leg?" It was almost monochromatic, too. Classic.

At some point, we decided to have a guitar painting competition.

Unfortunately, there were only two entrants in the competition who completed their guitars: tree guitar,

and the "tea pot" guitar that inspired the competition in the first place.

The winner received a well deserved photo opp.

Happily, there was once again self-portraiture.

Sadly, there were no comical portraits of others at the table, and no puppet show involving said portraits giving eachother smooches.

Dang. Who has that video, anyway!?

Merry Christmas

2008-12-30T00:04:00.001-08:00

When you're surrounded by snow drifts and bad weather, and your power goes out for over 12 hours, there's only one way to entertain yourself and your guests. That's right: Chrismtas showtunes sightread by candle light!
Hear Jake fail at the keychange! Hear me fail at counterpoint! Turn off the video half way through when the lack of dynamic range drives you insane!

I really didn't know how to flip the video, either. At least this piece had a discernible melody.

Snowed In

2008-12-29T22:51:00.001-08:00

Our crazy new roof dumps snow almost as fast as it collects it, which means 6 foot snow drifts outside our house. Andrea was our gofer, demonstrating the height of the snow outside for the camera:

She went out voluntarily, I swear.

Poor little barbecue

I can't reach the top of the trellis when there isn't any snow. That has to be at least 5 feet of snow out there.

Then we went inside to play my new headline card game.

Not a bad hand. Wish it had been mine.

R2D-Tuque

2008-12-25T12:12:00.001-08:00

We decided that when he goes back to work, he's going to swivel in his swivel chair going "beep beep boop", and repeatedly download the blueprints to the office.

He's so getting fired.

the ghost of project past

2008-12-15T00:11:00.000-08:00

I've been doing so many Christmas crafts, but they're all presents, so I can't post them. It's driving me crazy.

So instead, I'm doing a creepy headless shot of a dress I made eons ago, and never posted. Not even on an older blog.

It's made from sari fabric, so it's got little gold things embroidered and painted all over it, and it's super shiny, too. I made up the pattern a bit, because the original was just a straight 6 piece dress. I gave it an empire waistline, cut the front open and put a skirt of a different colour underneath, and totally made up that whole red dress neckline thing. The blue was too low, and I couldn't figure out the pattern without reading the instructions, and couldn't be bothered to read the instructions in the first place... oh, how lazy I am.

Things I learned: Sari fabric frays like nothing else. Like brocade, I guess, actually, because they're both woven. So you need to do a zigzag stitch along the edge of each piece. I wasn't aware of that fact until after I made the dress, because it was a rush job and I did it in a week. It's now falling apart in the bottom of a closet. The fabric catches easily. If you have to unpick, you'll end up with giant holes where the needle went through. The dye runs when it gets wet, too. At least it only cost me $20 all told. Ha.

I have so many dresses that are hanging half finished in that same closet. Once Christmas is over I HAVE TO START ON THEM. *sad face here*

Oh, commercialism.

2008-11-29T23:01:00.000-08:00

Alan: Teacher, at home I have a robot that's... pirate ship, pirate space ship, hat with Spiderman, hat and gloves, that's what I want for Christmas. I asked Santa.

more compulsive internet shopping

2008-11-24T10:48:00.000-08:00

First, the rhinestone glasses:

(sparkles added with photoshop, but they DO actually sparkle like that. For real.)

Then I saw these and thought, "man, I could sooo rock librarian glasses."

Yes. that's right. Red zebra print and gold arms. Why not?

These cow print glasses were ordered for someone else.

as were the space glasses.

Unfortunately, after we placed the order, they came out with a whole bunch of new designs, including these:

Damn you, Zenni Optical! I'm going to be so poor. Unless my cousin buys these first.

Brubeck teaches you music composition

2008-11-17T07:52:00.000-08:00

I bought a book the other day by David Brubeck without having actually looked at the music much. Turns out there's a perfect gem of a song right in the middle of the book. It speaks to me.

I See, Satie

(words and music by Dave Brubeck)

When I sing a twelve tone row, I always think, "How strange.
(strange music.)
Must the notes stay in a row, and never, never change?"
(such music.)
Bela Bartok, Anton Webern, in the modern school,
wrote some melodies enchanting breaking every rule.
And Milhaud said, "We need not care.
Write music any way you dare.
Erik Satie shaped his music oval as a pear."
(what perfect form! I see, Satie.)

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T23:16:00.001-07:00

new obsessions in tea making

2008-10-30T20:15:00.001-07:00

I'm getting a table like this some day. Maybe with a prettier bucket underneath.

You can get lessons on this in Richmond, you know.

loose teeth

2008-10-24T19:04:00.000-07:00

The following exchange is brought to you by the same student who warned me to get married soon, lest I end up alone the rest of my life. And who also asked me at one point if I had a son.

*upon entering the studio*

Guram: Is there a bathroom around here?

Me: yep. Just down the hall.

Guram: Well, it better be close, because there will be blood.

for the record

2008-10-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

Yeah. That's right. I'm a smart ass.

And I'm not stating opinion this time.

"Example 1.29: Elegy No. 1, p. 121, m. 38–43

Accents: As does Liszt, Bartók differentiates his accents with varied markings. (The marking ^ is a stronger accent than the marking >. The sforzato marking is the strongest accent of the three.)"

Whoa! There's a table, too. Fancy that.

Which is great, because now I know that the examples you wrote on the board were not accurate, either. (And this excerpt is particularly funny, because underneath there's a description of how syncopation should be played! Ha! Remember that gaff?)

One more year.

Things I learned this week

2008-10-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

Me: Have you seen "Dan in Real Life"?

Jake: Yes. I cried.

...for Steve Carell.

----------------------------

mum and em: Next time someone wants sounds for their play, you should just give them a bunch of comedy noises.

Me: Yeah, just a cd with five zingers for all fifty cues. They'll just have to reuse them over and over again.

----------------------------

Pro-tools is the wost audio editing software on the planet. Macs are severely overrated. Cubase is amazing. My speakers are the best reference speakers I've worked with so far.

Apparently I'm a good sound designer. :)

---------------------------

I can't believe I've succumbed to using emoticons. All the time. *sigh*

This is me.

2008-10-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

I have issues with setting goals for myself. And I have organizational issues regarding those goals. This notepad is for me.

Unfortunately, I only got half of the things from today/tomorrow done. So it doesn't make me better at sticking to plans.

Also, if it's *maybe* never, it still means it's possible.

online shopping

2008-10-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

I love Pumas. Though I hate brandnames...

I also like Reebok. These remind me of Reeboks. And Tron. And Nintendo.

These Tron-Nintendo shoes fit me so well.

as do my new hunting boots! Thank you, internet!

note: Apparently, if you're a woman, and you want to buy men's shoes, just order a size smaller than you usually do.
i.e. men's size 8 is woman's size 9! It's that easy. Both these orders are proof that it works!

home alone breakfast

2008-10-06T22:23:00.001-07:00

The title may lead you to fear the worst.

However, I treat myself well, when it comes to food. These were the tastiest french toast ever.

basically something like this:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 pinch salt
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon white sugar
12 thick slices bread

in case you're interested.

Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss

2008-09-21T11:14:00.001-07:00

old dress/new dress

2008-07-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

I bought this sucker at Value Village years ago for 8 bucks. I wore it. I mean, come on: 8 bucks! But I didn't wear it often enough, because it looked like a huge -and unforgiving- bag.

Apparently I've lost weight since I bought it oh-so-many years ago, though, because it's looser on me, which means that my tummy doesn't bulge out anymore. It still looked like a bag, though, and so much weird square print makes my eyes go buggy. But I needed a summer dress, and didn't have any in the closet. I realized that all it really needed was a something to hold it into shape and cut it into sections.

bias tape, stolen from my mum: $0

I'm a big fan of the empire waistline, especially when the lower half doesn't bulge and make me look pregnant. (By the way, have I told you how much I hate that maternity-esque wear has been in fashion for the past couple years.) The fabric is super cheap feeling, but that means that it's very light and has a little give, so it was easy to pull into shape, and it's perfect for warm weather.

Also, this dress allows me to go one more hot, summery day without shaving my legs! BONUS!

Highlights from Jaman

2008-06-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

My own creation:

Guitar Josh's. Which I am stealing (contains swearing):

a team effort (Dave and I):

and one last one from me, though not as funny, and mildly inappropriate:

DONE!

feel free to post your own.

accidental record collections

2008-05-27T23:18:00.000-07:00

We got this record player from my aunt. It's pretty.

As you can see, it plays 78's by holding them in a stack and plopping them down. The AM radio works really well, but the record player scratches records, and stacking the records is bad anyway. My dad's going to rip out the tubes and turn it into a liquor cabinet or something. This makes me both happy and sad.

Among the millions of Italian Love Song albums, I found the following,

sort of cool:

interesting:

very very unfortunate:

oi.

Dear Diary,

2008-03-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

Em was going through her letters today. We both have kept boxes of correspondences from former pen-pals. She's chucking the ones that are redundant or meaningless and keeping the ones that are funny.

One of the ones that got dumped was a Christmas card that read, "Merry Christmas, your friend etc." She said that she would have kept it if it had read "You're ugly and I hate you", but as it was, the card misrepresented the sentiments they held for each other, and therefore wasn't worth saving.

I keep thinking about my box. I've decided, after this little reading session, that mine needs to be burned.

All of the letters I wrote when I was a kid were in the same vein. I'd start by saying what I was doing right that minute. Then I'd say what I'd been doing earlier that week. Then I'd list the books I'd read. Then I'd give a reason for ending the letter. I'd very seldom refer to previous letters or ask questions of the person I was writing to.

At the tender age of 8, my first pen-pal and I had so much in common. Usually we'd both have written that we were doing homework. We'd complain about things that our sisters did. We'd both have read a book. But as we grew older, and she got me a "Full House" paperback novel for Christmas, I realized that we didn't have a heck of a lot in common after all.

Pen-pal letters are particularly painful, because they aren't a conversation. Kids don't have conversations, they just tell you what they're interested in. They'll be friends with anyone who's willing to shut-up long enough for them to talk about their interests. They don't care about your interests or opinions. When kids write letters, they write to themselves, especially when those kids are 18 years old.

I slowed writing consecutive letters at some point in grade 11. Since then I've tried to write diaries instead, but they've always been so painful. If I'm writing the kind of thing I wouldn't want anyone else to read, why the hell would I want to read it, myself? It's taken me a long time to filter through the good and the bad that I write and only share what might be worth reading for blogging purposes. (and you wonder why there are so many pictures and so few updates! No, you don't. We both know how lazy I am.)

Though my lack of letter writing has caused a lull in letter reception, I have still managed to collect a good number diaries from people I've met throughout my years at school: 12 years of embarrassingly bad rants and laments written barely legibly and with unforgivable spelling errors, all of which are from people I can't relate to and have nothing in common with. I can't laugh at them, because that seems a little mean. Happily, in a couple weeks, they'll cease to exist, and I won't even have to think of them ever again.

By the way, I stretched the piercings in my ears a little wider today, and mended a pair of pants. I'm also embroidering an art-deco picture of Perseus holding a gorgon's head onto a pair of jeans that I bought from Value Village. You know. Just in case you care.

tales of musical adventure

2008-02-20T21:22:00.001-08:00

My cousin decided that she wanted to learn guitar. She said she had trouble remembering more than 2 chords. So I taught her the Two Chord Cool.

And then, sitting and listening to it, I realized that there are actually 3 chords. We transposed the mp3 to a key she could handle. --> em7 DMaj7 // Db7 DMaj7

and then we jammed. and good times were had.

(If you want to jam to the video, Which I highly suggest, you'll need to use Ebm7 DbMaj7 and C7. I don't know that it's worth watching, otherwise...)

Clapton Goes Jazz

2008-02-15T21:52:00.000-08:00

Yes, my posts are all directed at one person. But this might not be what you think it is.

There might be an add at the beginning, just to warn you. If you enjoyed this, you'll enjoy the rest of them. Thank you and goodnight.

Why I might have hated things about Juno maybe.

2008-02-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

Everybody loved Juno. I guess I had really high expectations for it after listening to all the hype. But so much of it made me angry and uncomfortable, as poorly written scripts do, that I couldn't stop whining about it after I left the theater.

This post is my attempt to organize my thoughts and opinions on the subject so that I can stop complaining about it out loud before I annoy too many people. It's not really meant for you to read. In my defense, this piece is spell checked and organized in a way that might not bore you. If you've seen the movie, and enjoyed it, you'll hate me by the end because I'm a cynical cow. If you haven't seen it, you probably won't understand anything I've written, and the movie will be ruined for you. But should you belong to either category, I have inserted a few links to entertain you without your having to read anything past this point.

The scriptwriter had a heck of a time coming up with characters for this movie. Juno herself, character wise, was all over the place. In the beginning, she had a conversation with her friend on the phone in which she used "modern teenager slang words" in every sentence, and then dropped them for the rest of the movie. Or, maybe everyone talked like each other. Her parents had the same vocabulary and sentence structure as she did, which didn't fit with their ages. Teens don't learn to talk cool from their parents; they mimic their peers.
Her reactions to major events weren't consistent and sometimes not believable. The sex scene was a little too awkward to be convincing, at least when I'd left the theater and thought about it (though I did enjoy the choice of Astrud Gilberto for the soundtrack.) Her reaction to being pregnant was initially a mixture of complicated emotions, some expressed, some suppressed, but soon turned to complete nonchalance. She had no reaction at the clinic to the pro-life speeches, or to the receptionist, and instead decided not to get the abortion because too many people were scratching their ears in the waiting room.

His method in coming up with the other characters seemed to be to come up with stereotypes, and give them all the same style of dialog as the main character. Each person seems to know what the other is going to say, as if the whole movie is one long self-indulgent monologue. Nobody has any conflicting opinions, or voices their opinions in a way that shows depth of character. The only person who is any different is Vanessa, who, though shown completely at ease with a 5 year old girl at one point in the movie, does not possess the social skills needed to deal with any other human being, whether a new born or a middle aged adult. For the entire movie, I felt like I was supposed to despair for her, which I did, and at the very end of the movie, they bring the step mom into the ward just in time to convince the adoptive mother that she'll be a great mom. Because that whole thing about Vanessa being psycho and domineering? That was a joke!* And now the baby is in good hands!

The only redeeming character in this movie was Michael Cera (1 2.) I feel like there was no part written for him and he was told to do whatever he wanted to. Without having many lines at all in the movie, you can tell where he's coming from. He's the only person with sane reactions to anything that goes on. The speech near the end where he talks about his heart being broken could have turned the whole thing into a WTN-made-for-tv-movie disaster if it weren't for his sincere delivery. Why wasn't he in the movie more? And how in the heck are we supposed to believe that Juno was in love with him?

The scriptwriter, instead of developing the relationship between the main couple, explaining how in the heck they were friends to begin with, and showing the tension that led to them not talking for 2-4 months of her pregnancy, wrote himself into the story so that he could talk about all the awesome music he listens to. Yes, Michael Bluth was the scriptwriter. The quirky cool guy that Juno relates to. They waste the viewers time by listing off their 10 favourite bands. And for some reason, though Juno is 16 and he is 30, they both have the same semi-limited knowledge of music.

Now, I was a 16 year old girl once. I knew a lot of 16 year old girls at that point in my life. I like to think that I know what these people are like. Yes, he got the rude, self centered, ignorant brat thing down, but the whole music aspect was all wrong. First off, for someone so obsessed with music, she barely talked about it to anyone else, and never listened to any. It was completely bizarre to dedicate whole scenes to her and Michael name dropping. Secondly, 16 year old girls don't have taste in music, and what taste they do have is completely limited by their knowledge. They also think less of people who listen to anything but the 3 or 4 good bands they are aware of, and are easily put to shame on this subject by anyone at least 4 years older than them.

aside

(If Juno had walked in and said, "Have you ever heard of Mott the Hoople!? THEY ARE AWESOME. This is the best song they ever wrote!", like she pretty much did, and he had said, "yeah, actually, this song was written for them by David Bowie." which it was, and she was put to shame then and there, realizing that she was out of her element, and not able to talk to him anymore, their whole relationship would have been much more plausible, and there would have been much more time to focus on PLOT.

See, I can be a pretentious music snob, too. It's not that hard.

On that subject: So many Moldy Peaches/Kimya Dawson songs? I really feel like you're trying to breathe life into the careers of your favourite indie groups. Like Garden State all over again. Sometimes the songs have nothing to do with what is going on, too. Couldn't there have been something less distracting, like instrumental guitar?

Incidentally, one of my favourite folk/guitar/song writers EVER is Sam Phillips, and not long ago, she got a gig doing all the music for the Gilmore Girls. However, they made it classy by having her strum her guitar and hum the melodies rather than sing the lyrics. See? It is possible to help out starving little known artists without being completely tacky. I do appreciate, however, that none of your characters mentioned Kimya at all. That probably would have made me yack.)

Basically, I felt like the movie was trying to touch the surface of what this one writer thought of teen pregnancy, without really knowing much about 16 year old girls, and without exploring any opposing theories or ideas on the subject. It was a self indulgent expose on how awesome his ideas and taste in music were.

As many times as I wanted to gauge out my eyes, I've seen worse movies. I feel like a cow dedicating so many paragraphs of hate toward a movie that didn't directly infuriate me and so many people enjoyed. However, I was pretty ticked, and I hope, after reading the following, you'll understand why.

Comments made about the film by people I know whom I can never trust again

5. This was the best film made this year.

Initially, this ticked me off. But then I remembered what movies have been like this year. I've only seen two that I've really enjoyed: One was "Live Free or Die Hard", which, though enjoyable, was not really a good movie, per se, and the other was "Jhoom Barabara Jhoom", which is not likely to have been seen by many white people in the GVRD, anyway.

4. The plot twists in ways you'd NEVER expect.

I hate Hollywood for making average movies look good. The only part that was totally crazy and unexpected was when Michael Bluth didn't completely hit on Juno and tell her that he loved her. That was more of a relief than anything.

3. The characters were so witty.

The script was mainly a bunch of inane put downs. They weren't out of character in Juno's case, because she was an average angsty teenager. But she was hardly Oscar Wilde.

2. There were so many laughs that for the first 15 minutes, I missed half the jokes. I'm going to see this movie again so that maybe I won't laugh as hard and I'll be able to catch them.

Really? One of the guys I went with had seen it once before and enjoyed it saying it was cute. The second time around he said he was hating people for laughing at or enjoying parts that weren't that funny, and then feeling bad remembering himself laughing at the same parts.

There were some funny parts. Mainly with Michael Cera. As a side note, I enjoyed the fact that he wasn't a very good guitar player.

1. This is the best movie I've EVER seen. There was NOTHING wrong with it.

You know, I dragged people to this movie because of comments like these. And then, in the movie theater, I felt horrible pangs of guilt. Particularly because, though most of these comments came from MEN, the movie was of none other than the dreaded "chick-flick" variety. There was one particular person in that theater for whom this was the third bad movie I had unwittingly dragged them to. However, he was kind enough to remind me afterwards in the lobby that it was his fault that I had sat through "Underworld: Evolution" and "Aliens V.S. Predator", and in the near future would be subjected to the inevitable pain of "Rambo IV". At least with movies like these, though, I know enough in advance whether I should bring my knitting.

*so safety.

EDIT: I assumed in the writing of this post that the screenwriter was a man, because of the pathetic way he wrote 16 year old girls. It turns out that the screenwriter was a woman. A former stripper who rose to stardom over a blog that she wrote chronicling her exploits, and then decided to write a script. It took her a couple months. Did I mention that she used to be married to a musician that she met over the internet, and then divorced him after three years.... Does that remind you of someone in the movie per chance!?!!? HMMMMMMM.

The script is up for an Oscar. I feel like I'm going crazy.

Coffee Breath

2008-02-06T21:25:00.000-08:00

There's a mum on Saturday who buys us teachers coffee in the morning every once in a while. I don't drink coffee, but I feel bad throwing it out.

I realized that if I put a lot of cream and sugar into it, it's fine. But every time I take a sip, all I can think about is how bad my breath is becoming. It's MADDENING.

eight dollar glasses.

2008-01-23T09:16:00.000-08:00

My last pair of glasses broke 2 weeks after I bought them. I was working in the service industry, and after a few trips from the oven to the freezer, the lens popped out onto the floor. The optometrist couldn't fix it.

I got contacts a few years later so that I wouldn't have to wear the glasses. When I went back for the test, they had changed my doctor, and I had some weird things happen. I decided that next time I got glasses or contacts, I was going to try somewhere else.

Now, more than 2 years later, I realized that I can't wear contacts all the time, and that I would really like to wear a working pair of glasses, if it weren't for the fact that they're so darned expensive. Browsing locally, I couldn't find a single pair that I liked, either. I'd almost given up when my sister sent me a link to Glassy Eyes.

First, I browsed some glasses stores at the mall and took pictures of myself wearing the glasses. I decided on what shapes and materials I liked best. Then, I checked out the arms of the glasses. On the inside arm, there is generally a series of numbers which lists the length of the lense, the bridge, and the arm. I got a general idea of what I needed size-wise and returned to the internet.

I ended up going to Zenni Optical, not because they were the cheapest, but because they had the nicest looking glasses. I figured if they were really bad and only $8, I wouldn't be too disappointed.

so I went for normal glasses and crazy glasses. To my surprise, they ended up looking a lot better in person than on the site.

That's red PLAID, by the way. They didn't end up being so crazy in the end... It cost me about $33 all together, and I'm really happy. The only problem was that the glasses were bent in the wrong shape (the green ones are still a little crooked), but on plastic glasses, you're supposed to heat them and gently change their shape anyway.

So, now I'm going to go back. Possibly to the other sites, too. Except I'm not spending hundreds of dollars on glasses, because that's what I came on the internet to avoid... I just need, say, 2 more pairs?

(It's an extra $5 to get a sunglasses tint in whatever colour you like, hey?)

Christmas ate me.

2008-01-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

I don't have anything new, but I want to post something old. I shared this on a forum recently, so I'll post it here.

I give you an awesome, simple, yet time consuming quilting pattern. My mother made this. I helped her. So did my brother. It was good times. It's fun to make the squares and keep them in a bin until one day you have enough time to put the whole thing together. It's a great way to use up scrap fabric that's too small for anything else as well.

Bubble Quilt

To make the bubbles:

Cut out one piece of 4X4 inch muslin. Cut out one piece of 5x5 inch fabric of your choice. Pin all four corners of fabric to muslin with right side of fabric facing up. Pinch the fabric in the middle along the edge and fold the excess fabric over, creating a triangle or dart. pin the dart down, and repeat on 2 more sides (make sure they are all folded in the same direction). Sew fabric to muslin along the 3 sides with the darts that you have created. You will now have a bulging pocket. Fill the pocket with batting. Create the final dart on the last remaining side and sew it up.

**When sewing the sides, remember to sew quite close to the edge. Make strips of fabric (1.5 or 2 inches) to sew in-between the bubbles. It's fastest to sew the bubbles together into long strips and then sew them all together instead of sewing everything one bubble at a time. **

Cut a piece of fabric for the back of the quilt (and a piece of quilting batting for the middle if you like, etc.), sew it inside out most of the way, turn it right side out and hand stitch the rest. Lay the quilt down flat carefully so that you can tell where the back and front of the quilt naturally want to be. Sew a piece of embroidery thread (We used the cross stitch kind, so there are several strands) through the front and back of the quilt at the corner of one of the bubbles. Tie a tight double knot and clip the threads so that they're still easily visible. Do this in regular intervals.

**The quilt that I helped to make had a tie for every fourth bubble or so.**

This is the quilt we made. It took about a year or so to come up with all the scraps and slowly sew them all together. We only did about a half hour or so of work at a time. My brother and I pinned all the squares together while watching movies on the couch.

If you have any questions about my convoluted instructions, feel free to post in the comments.

I bought a guzheng

2007-11-01T14:32:00.001-07:00

and this is what it is.

Marlon

2007-10-08T13:52:00.000-07:00

My sister's cat was sick this week. He was puking everywhere and refusing to eat. She brought him home for Thanksgiving so that she could keep an eye on him. He's been wandering around very sleepily, taking occasional sips from his water dish.

This morning he must have been feeling better, because he jumped onto the washing machine where his food was, and knocked the whole bag over so that it emptied out into the recycling bin. Poor cat.

the driveway

2007-09-12T14:07:00.000-07:00

I don't have any before pictures. It used to be concrete and mossy dirt. And then they dug everything up, and it was just dirt.

Then they drilled 3 holes in the ground, and clay sprayed everywhere leaving a big gray swamp outside the garage. The clay covered surrounding plants, too, and it still hasn't come off.
This is what our house looked like when we left on holiday. At least nobody could break in.

Ticket to Bollywood

2007-08-21T15:44:00.001-07:00

This is what I sing when I take carry my bollywood bag around. Or when I want to annoy people. Or just all the time.

I saw this movie over the summer. You have to forgive the main character for his bad facial hair; he's Amitabh Bachchan's son. You know. Amitabh. THE bollywood legend.

These are the three most important points of the ukulele

2007-08-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

Difficult chords can be changed to easy chords.
If you can't play a part, you can skip it. (see Chapter 6)
Sing loudly

(more details here.)

Green Lake: buffalo farm

2007-08-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

more Manning pictures

2007-08-11T09:37:00.000-07:00

I like the mountains,
I like the rolling hills,

I like the flowers,
I like the daffodils,

I like the campfire,
when all the lights are low,

Boom ti-ah-da, boom ti-ah-da, boom ti-ah-da, boom ti-ay...

My aunt made up her own version where she liked the silence when people stopped singing, and the ride home in the car, and the hot tub, and margaritas. But we didn't sing it. Because we're super serious about hiking.
super serious.

shrooms

2007-08-10T12:12:00.001-07:00

One of my zias picked these. She said that she's sure they're porcini, and she's taking them home to show them to an Italian man who'll know for sure.

Crazy woman.

YARRRRRRR

2007-08-10T12:02:00.001-07:00

The Mighty Pirate Hikemaster

ten finger blessings

2007-08-09T19:40:00.000-07:00

My uncle walks in the kitchen. He has his hands raised and turned upwards because they are dirty.

Zia: Oh, are you giving me a blessing?

He raises his eyebrows, stops in his tracks and gives her the finger. He proceeds to the washroom.

Me: ... For heaven's sake! He's supposed to be a PRIEST.

Zia: That's nothing. This morning, I asked him the same thing, and he said he was giving me the 10 finger blessing. As in, 10 one finger blessings.

Me: Shouldn't he be setting a good example?

Zia: Well, he wouldn't tease me if he didn't love me. That's how I know that YOU ALL love me, too!

We're all going on a summer holiday.

2007-08-05T15:00:00.001-07:00

I needed shorts for the coming week, but I HATE shorts, because they expose my knee caps and that ends up looking really bad. This is why I need shants, but that usually means clam diggers, as far as the current fashion is concerned, and they just end up looking like I bought pants the wrong size.

stupid 90's fashions that never went away...

So I took matters into my own hands.

Hmmm... $15 jeans from Value Village with a stain on one leg and hideous cuffs at the bottom. (I usually like cuffs. These ones were wrong.)

20 minutes. Not bad.

See my mum in the corner? She was stressing out all last week about how we needed to be spending the entire day packing. And then she started on the final Harry Potter book.

hee hee hee.

more moon - Green Lake

2007-08-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

full moon

2007-08-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

aquarium purse and citrus dress

2007-08-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of bright fabrics. A long time ago, I got this fish fabric in the kiddie section of Fabricana. I made a shirt that didn't work out. A week ago, I turned it into a purse with another fantastic Value Village pattern. (they upped the price to $1, and they package them so that you get one cool pattern, and one reject dress pattern from the eighties.)

Zipper on the front pocket for extra storage. I bought a strap and doctored it instead of making one from scratch. This one was $1 whereas making the strap would have taken me a couple hours and wouldn't have been made of as strong material.

Front pockets for wallet/cellphone, etc.

(I only carry the essentials.)
The shape holds better if I have books in it. Usually I just have random small objects in it, so it's really lumpy. I lined it with red waterproof fabric, so hopefully it keeps my stuff dry this year.

view from the back.

fabric was $15-$20, pattern $1, notions (strap, binding, zipper) probably came to $15.
But that's a fair price, right? Besides, it's so hard to find purses that aren't ugly these days. Especially if you only ever look for them in Winners or second hand stores.

And I've already started something else. Probably the loudest dress I've made so far. I'm excited.

electric pond and other pictures

2007-06-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

the pond in my backyard

2007-06-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, my dad made a pond out of a barrel by slicing it in half. Over the years, he's spent quite a bit on goldfish, because the raccoons keep stealing them. About a year ago, he put a wire around the edge of the pond with an electric current.

Today I watched a squirrel stand on the barrel's edge, lean back too far, touch the wire and do a crazy back flip to the ground below.

He was ok, but he sat there panting for a bit before he got up and moved cautiously away.

Kite Season '07

2007-05-30T10:56:00.000-07:00

This is Rodan. He's from Taiwan. We broke his tail, but he seems to fly better without it. (he doesn't like to fly as a general rule.)

Yarrr.

MouTa

See? He flies! Sort of. He needs tons and tons of wind.

The pirate kite flies better.

Rocking the Muumuu

2007-05-17T16:16:00.000-07:00

I have this multi-purpose pattern at my house.

It doesn't look like much. In fact, with the jacket and pants, this pattern looks pretty dated and horrible. But I've used it a few times because it's a basic dress in 7 pieces so that the darts in the front are actually seams going right down the dress. It's a classic look, and it's super easy to make it fit properly.

A couple months ago, I got a red muumuu from the second hand store. A huge bag with straps. Now, I have a friend who swears that the way to solve the world's problems is to wrap the whole world in a muumuu, but as much as the theory makes for a good folk/blues song with banjo accompaniment, I don't agree.
Muumuus are, however, awesome for cutting up and putting back together.

Before I present the images of the finished product, let me introduce you to the cast and crew. First up, my mother's dream machine.

This sucker sews through the plastic part of a quilting pin with ease. Its needle has precision that allows you to sew at breakneck speeds without anything catching on the bobbin. The little thingy underneath the fabric that's supposed to feed the fabric through actually grabs the fabric and scoots it through without any pulling. It has a nice even smooth sound when it's in use. On the other end of a phone it sounds like singing. Plus, it does several different stitches and has a card that you can use on the computer to download patterns that it will automatically embroider into the fabric of your choice. (I haven't used that function yet. But I WILL!)

This machine is possessed by the devil. It whines at you when you push down the pedal, refuses to move, and then all of a sudden starts sewing really fast, at which point, if you're not careful, the bobbin gets caught up and the whole thing jams. This is the machine I learned to use first, and I know how to take all the parts in the bobbin area apart. The tension doesn't work. It only really likes cotton. It doesn't feed. It goes "ca-chunk ca-chunk" when you sew. Every time I sit down to use it, it scares me to death. However, it's the only way I have of doing invisible zippers. The new machine just won't sew them. I've been putting off so many projects because of this fact.

But I SURVIVED! And so did the dress!

$4 for the muumuu, $5 for a meter of black cotton and some notions.
PLUS, Mum thought it was cute.

Port Renfrew - scenery

2007-05-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

Port Renfrew - Waves

2007-05-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

Port Renfrew - beach

2007-05-09T13:09:00.000-07:00

Whiffin' Spit

2007-05-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

Malahat Farm

2007-04-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

The Cottage we stayed in on our trip to Victoria.

It was on a large farm, and the eggs, homemade bread and jam were our complimentary breakfast on the first day. They were delicious.

Sewing Project no. 406

2007-04-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

In Grade 11, Tiki and I went to Value Village and picked up a black brocade le chateau dress for $10. I was going to split it up into a skirt and shirt, and we'd share it. We had many sewing projects in between, so this never ended up being finished. I wore the dress a couple times, but as cute as it was, it wasn't comfortable, and I couldn't move my legs around much in it. This meant that I couldn't play piano in it, which made the dress pretty useless.

I cut the top off and used it as a shirt for a while, but it was too short. I needed a skirt that matched and came up just high enough to hide my mid-section. Maybe a red skirt to match the red piping that ran across the bust.

A few months ago, Meris gave me a bunch of her clothes from highschool. Among these clothes was a shapeless red brocade-like skirt with a very high slit that was a bit too short on me, and a bit too high waisted. It also had really really high slits on either side.

I matched the pattern of the black skirt with that of the red skirt so that the cut was flattering, and then put a strip of black on the bottom of it to lengthen it and tie the whole thing together. Plus, I have lots of black fabric left over from the original dress to make a purse from if I ever find the right pattern. This is why it takes years to finish projects: because I'm waiting for the perfect final elements to fall in my lap.

I'm also lazy.

And in the meantime, I've found another brocade dress, this time for $5. And it's really uncomfortable to move around in, too. I can't even sit down in it properly.

If I had enough fabric, I'd like to make this with it.

But I really don't. So I guess it isn't happening.

Ah, Dream Dress, one of so many, I have no time or money for you.

THUNDERBIRDS

2007-04-30T10:36:00.001-07:00

There are so many things about this. I think I have to watch it again.

The car Dave should REALLY be buying

2007-04-30T10:25:00.001-07:00

My sister already posted this, but I'm going to have to post it as well. We watched this show on our trip to Victoria. Note the part where Supercar dives into the ocean of goldfish. And you can't see it on this blurry screen, but on a television, the strings holding the car up are very, very clear.

This is the first show that Gary Anderson (of Thunderbirds fame) ever did.
Did I mention that one of the characters is a really annoying monkey?

shop windows - Vancouver

2007-04-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

Close your eyes and try to think of the one thing that truly embodies Vancouver.

If you saw marble inukshuks playing hockey in the snow, you guessed right.

And completely unrelated, but equally offensive (and captured on the same day, too):
Our prices have stripped, and so have our mannequins!

It makes me want to cry.

Good Friday

2007-04-08T14:14:00.000-07:00

Jake: How long are you going to say it's been since your last confession?

Me: Why, were you going to lie?

Jake: No. I was just going to say "it's been a while".

Me: That makes it sound like you haven't been in years.

Jake: I should do that though. "Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It's been 3 months since my last confession. These are my sins: I just lied about how long it's been since my last confession,..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Me: I forgot to put crosses on the hot cross buns!

Em: That's ok. They can be not cross buns!

together: "not cross buns! not cross buns! One a penny, two a penny..."

Jake: "That's too expensive for me!"

We're so funny.

dollar store comb

2007-01-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

It's a nice comb, but it promises way more than it could possibly deliver.

best. song. ever.

2007-01-12T12:41:00.000-08:00

First listen to his song. (click on "cereal for dinner)

Then visit his blog.

Daniel is a six year old boy. Who never practices.

2007-01-10T17:41:00.000-08:00

Daniel:You still go to school??

Me:Yeah. I go to university.

Daniel:(with sarcastic questioning look)You mean, you're small?

Me:I'm not small! Just... maybe... young?

Daniel:How old are you?!

Me:22.

Daniel:(mumbles numbers and stares at his fingers)

...

Daniel: You're almost the same age as my brother!

Me: Why, how old is your brother?

Daniel: FOURTEEN!

...

Daniel:(glaring) If you don't stop laughing, I'm going to leave.

------------------

Another student this week asked me where the plug was for the (upright acoustic)piano, and if it was electric.

children's television

2007-01-04T10:43:00.001-08:00

Canadian shows about science are awesome.

2007-01-04T10:42:00.001-08:00

Math shows are awesome, too.

2007-01-04T10:41:00.001-08:00

this show was not awesome. But I LOVE IT ANYWAY.
This is where I first learned how to cook.

Modernettes Reunion Tour 2006

2006-12-30T16:24:00.000-08:00

Em: I think it's a rule of thumb that all drunk white men dance like Pollyanna... the prancing, the skipping... it's horrifying.

second post today. I'll stop now.

2006-12-27T10:20:00.000-08:00