Corrie Strikes Again!

I went to Nuit Blanche with some of my friends last night and was having a great time until I twisted my ankle stepping down off a curb and am pretty sure it’s sprained.   Definitely not as bad as the 2nd degree sprain on my left ankle of last year,  but it’s sore and swollen and just a huge pain in the ass as well as the ankle.  Ai yi yi.  Add this to the burn I got earlier this week on my oven, and my title of Queen of the Klutzes doesn’t seem to be in danger. It’s an unfortunate time for it to happen as well, as I’d just made the decision that I’m going to be doing the Resolution Run on January 1, and really need to get started on training.  Hopefully this will only hold me up for a few days though.

During a pre-Nuit Blanche shopping expedition, I spied a quilt that I loved and am pretty sure it will be the design I’ll use for my first attempt at quilting:

I would of course be using different fabrics, but I like the big squares and the needlework within each of them.  So the pattern has been decided, now I’ll have to check out fabrics and decide which way I’m going to go.  I also need to figure out how to get my hands on a sewing machine, since I don’t have one presently and although I know I could do it all by hand, I’m not sure that’s the way I want to go.

I haven’t done any further work on my plant pot, so it’s still bright red, I have a pattern in mind for it, but I’m going to practice drawing it on regular/tissue paper before doing the pot itself.  I will probably get started on the second one before proceeding with the first, as I definitely know what I’m going to be doing with it.

Also on the agenda:  fall photo shoots.  This is my favourite time of year to be out taking photographs, but unfortunately it’s been raining for the last six days or so  – hopefully that will clear up soon too so I can go out.  A friend will be visiting from Halifax next week and I’d really like to go down to the Guild Inn and get some shots of her down there.

Pics will follow, of course.

Monday.Monday.

I had the worst sleep in the history of civilization last night (my co-workers have accused me of being dramatic, by the way).  Couldn’t get to sleep and then couldn’t stay asleep, woke up multiple times including from around 3 – 4:30 a.m.  Once I got back to sleep the second time, I kept waking up again and had some crazy ass dreams.  Oh, and I had to stop about nine-freaking-thousand cat fights as well.  Cat fights are particularly annoying as when you are finally driven to the point that you get up to confront the furry bastards – they’re all like “Yay!  You’re awake.  Purr.Purr. “

I did some painting on the weekend – a terra cotta pot as I have to replant one of my Christmas Cactuses.  I’ve painted the pot crimson red and am going to paint some kind of tree silhouette with curly cue branches.  I’ll be doing it free-hand so it could turn out to be very interesting, but if I manage to pull off what I want to do, I think it will look pretty cool.   I also did some work on my first ever art journal project – I used water colour pencils on paper and did a stripy background.  Loved working with the water colours, but I actually found all of the painting very relaxing and felt very serene and zen.

Tonight – after four or five months of no TV, I’m getting cable hooked up again.   I love watching TCM, plus there’s a channel here in Canada called Drive-In which features those cheesy black and white horror movies from the 50s/60s which I am a huge fan of.   Because I have other services with the cable company, I am getting their full package for three months, then I decide what I want to keep.   This also means I’ll get my all time favourite, (non movie) channel, Discovery Civilization!

So it appears my winter will be full of black and white movies, painting and Civilization.  Sounds fun, huh?

Cravings……

Well, in one of the weirder cravings I’ve ever had, I’ve decided that I absolutely, positively, have to have hot and sour soup.   I’ve been checking out recipes and since they seem to all be in the same general vein I think I’ll try this one from All Recipes:  Chinese Spicy Hot and Sour Soup (although I think the “Hot” in the title generally refers to the spice factor already and thusly the “Spicy” is redundant).  I’ll be leaving out the ground pork (cause I don’t like it), have no idea what a wood ear mushroom even is and am pretty sure I won’t find tiger lily buds in Toronto, but the recipe looks pretty easy.  My science project for the weekend, I think.   I like the idea that soup is frequently eaten for breakfast in Asian countries (at least according to about.com it is) – it just seems a much more civilized way to start your day than cold cereal.

My birthday is quickly approaching, and I usually try to do something really nice for myself on that day.  This year however it needs to be really nice and really cheap so I think I’ll pick up some terra cotta pots and paint them, then transplant my Christmas Cactus’ (which are refusing to bloom in protest of their current housing), as well as a book(or two):  Tales of A Female Nomad  (which I read about on Susannah Conway’s website, Ink On My Fingers,  as an alternative to Eat, Pray Love) and  How to Be An Explorer of The World, by Keri Smith (this rec came from Magpie Girl), because the title of the book is GIVING ME THE SHIVERS.

I’m thinking that the pots, books and soup ingredients, will run me around $30 – $40, which I believe is an acceptable amount when buying oneself birthday presents.  I’d also buy myself flowers but one of my cats craves them, so that’s a no go.

On Friday I’m also going for Mexican food (and Margueritas), with my friend P, to celebrate her upcoming move aaalllll the way across Canada to British Columbia; which I’m sure will be fun and every so slightly bittersweet, like a delicious Lindt chocolate bar.

And that’s how it goes on this lovely September day.

I’m still in my pyjamas

This is pretty much me in a nutshell:  if it can be walked into, tripped over, slipped on or used to harm myself in some fashion, I’ll do it.   I’m a klutz.

Undoubtably, this will add increased layers of difficulty to my newly minted artistic endeavours, I’ve only just begun and I’ve already had an “interesting” experience with a glue stick, and lost the lid for my blue acrylic paint (as well as getting blue paint in my hair while trying to locate it).  I also found out that apparently gesso is made from catnip, since as soon as I opened the jar I had two out of the three cats I live with milling about, trying to lick the gesso off of the lid, and pretty much trying to get cat hair on everything (which they succeeded at).  But I perservered and the first page of my first ever art journal is gesso’d and painted, only awaiting the “from head to page” migration.

I’m trying to convince myself that there’s nothing wrong with an adult female creating art that an enterprising toddler could do in daycare, and photos of the completed project will be shown regardless of what I end up with, since I’ve decided that “putting myself out there” needs to be part of  this endeavour.

Ack.

In the immortal words of Pink, I am my own worst enemy.

8 Things – Musical History

The theme for Magpie Girl’s “8 Things”    today is 8 Songs That Shaped Your Life, which if you’ve read any of the previous entries in this blog, is pretty apropos for me.  I used some of her ideas and came up with a few of my own.

1. Song which most captures my love of music:   Absolutely the song “”Magic Power” by Triumph.   When I was a kid I used to lie in my room and listen to the radio the way some kids will lie around watching  TV.  The lyrics to this song encapsulate my whole relationship to/love of music perfectly.  I’ve posted them below (behind a cut), just in case you want to check them out.  I’d highly recommend checking the song out on YouTube as well, the song seems to do the same for a lot of other people that it did for me.

2. Song that Most Reminds me Of my Childhood Home: “Life in a Northern Town” by Dream Academy.  Because I grew up in a town in northern Ontario, and I just like the song.

 3. Favourite Driving Song:  “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” – Tears for Fears.  Also makes me feel like dancing.  As does the song “Moondance” by Van Morrison, by the way.

4. “My” Song: When I was a teenager, my friends and I all picked songs for each other that we thought best “represented” the person it was picked for.  Mine was “Refugee” by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers – I still identify with this song in a big way.

 5. Song  That Makes Me Think of an Old Love:  “White Flag” by Dido.  I am a woman on the losing end of an “it’s complicated”,  which I knew would not end well for me but I decided to go for it anyway – to go “down with the ship” so to speak.   Regrets, I have a few.

6. Song Which Stopped Me Dead In My Tracks The First Time I Heard It:  Downtown Train by Tom Waits.  While watching TV late one night the video for Waits’ version of this song came on.  I was struck by how so evocatively weird and beautiful it was- it set me off on the path of “alternative” music and turned me away from MOR, top 40 music forever. 

7. First Album You Owned:  The first album I ever bought in my life was a Jim Reeves album, when I was around seven years old.   I grew up in a house in which a lot of country music was played – I still love old school, twangy country (much to the chagrin of anyone who’s ever had to drive anywhere with me).  The first album I bought as a teenager was The Pretenders first as well.  Love Chrissie Hynde then, love her now.

8. First Live Performance:  Not my first by far, but the most significant.  A few years ago I went to see Eric Clapton play at the Air Canada Centre.  I have to confess up front I’m not a huge fan but at one point in the concert, Eric turned around and had a confab with his band.  They started to laugh, Eric turned around and hit the first few chords of “Layla”, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.  In that moment, I realized why he was a Big Deal and also that I would remember that instant forever.  First live performance was actually Tom Jones, which I was dragged to by my mother (I was a kid at the time).

“Magic Power” Lyrics

The goods…..

The trip to Midoco is a done deal, I went on Saturday afternoon and wandered around for an hour or so (it’s not a big store) and loved it.  I bought a couple of “kits” to get myself started, some paper I liked, and a book – which I realized will not work once I got it home.  Photographic representation of the weekend haul is here:

I picked up 24 watercolour pencils and a package of  12 Derwent coloursoft pencils – which should be more then enough to get me started.

I ‘m excited to get going, I spoke to my sister last night, who is very artistically inclined and talented and she was full of encouragement.  A good thing ’cause it’s always daunting to tackle something new, especially if you are not 100% confident in your ability(ies).  I have to remember though that this whole project is for me and it really doesn’t matter if I’m turning out works of art or things other people will like.  It’s my party, man.

My hair is still not red, I want to do more research before proceeding with the henna.

Finally, a story that does actually have relevance to my post:

I used to live within a couple of miles of the grounds where the Canadian National Exhibition is held on a yearly basis.  Every Labour Day without fail  my roomie and I would be en casa, when suddenly the house would start shaking to it’s very foundation.  We’d run from our rooms and ask each other “Did you feel that”?  ”What is that”?  After agreeing that we did both experience the shaking, we’d run outside to see what the heck was going on, to be greeted by the sight of jets flying very low overhead – close enough for us to clearly read the registration numbers written on the underbelly of the aircraft.  We’d look at each other and start laughing, feeling ever so slightly ridiculous because we’d forgotten once again that our house was on the flight path for the aircraft participating in the air show.

After I left Midoco and was walking back to the subway on Saturday, I heard the familiar whine and couldn’t resist looking into the sky as four fighter jets streaked by overhead – amazingly close to each other and in perfect formation.  It’s a pretty impressive sight and brought immediately to mind the mental image I have  of my roomie and I standing in the kitchen going “The house is shaking?  What could that be”.  D’oh indeed.

Another story of living in that house:  one year during the Molson Indy (now called the Honda Indy), I was speaking to my sister on the phone and she said “I’m sorry to be rude, but can you turn down the TV?  I can’t really hear you” .  To which I had to reply “I don’t have the TV on”.

It was a cool place to live.

Loooonnnnnggggg Weekend

I’m planning a weekend of food and alcohol – I am going to try to recreate Thai Express’ Shrimp Fried Rice and bought myself a couple of bottles of wine to try (I’m not a huge drinker so this will last me far longer than one weekend),  but I’ve upped the ante slightly by adding Russell Brand to the mix!

As a pay day treat, I bought myself a copy of his Booky Wook:

I’m pretty enamoured of Mr. Brand and have wanted to read this for awhile and am therefore quite pleased with this purchase. 

I also took a look at journals while I was at the bookstore but didn’t see any I liked so am still planning on heading downtown tomorrow to check out the stock at a few art shops, as well as  the other supplies for inspiration and ideas on what direction I want to go with the journal.

Sunday my wild and crazy plans are to use the cassia obovata on my hair (if I find some tonight), which will entail wearing saran wrap on my head for an extended period of time.  This means I’ll be homebound, and I’ll probably use that opportunity to read and sip wine.  I’m actually wishing I had a hammock ’cause I think that would be the perfect vehicle in which to read and sip tea while one has saran wrap and a towel on one’s head.  Although I am considering another solo movie excursion as I really want to see Inglorious Basterds so that might happen as well.

Monday I am planning on heading out with the Nikon D40 somewhere to take some photos, and then Tuesday (which I have off as well), will probably be relaxing/housework and maybe working on the journal if I do pick something up.

Fun, fun, fun.

Adventures in Hair…..

I’ve decided that I’m going to henna my hair.  My hair is fairly curly, kind of a dark blonde and just slightly above my shoulder blades.  I’ve adopted a “modified curly girl” routine and use a sulfate, paraben free shampoo every four days or so (right now I’m alternating between Aubrey Organics GPB and Island Natural shampoos), but condition every day (alternating between the GPB conditioner and Nexxus Humectress).   Following this routine has made a huge improvement in my hair, but I’m not digging the colour and since I’ve heard henna is both conditioning on hair but is also good for thickening it as well (and I have really fine hair), I’ve decided to go that route.

I decided to do a little recon/research because while I accept henna will give me some shade of red, it’s the hue/saturation I’m concerned with – I don’t want to look like the Riddler from Batman. 

So I did a search for henna in the Curl Talk boards at naturallycurly.com (the best website in the world if you have curly hair),  and found this fabulous site with tons of information:  The Henna Page.  Just chock-a-block with places to go and things to see,  including the Henna for Hair page which has before/after pictures (like this one) as well as the recipes used to create the colours obtained.  

Recipes?  Honestly, my heart started to pitter pat in excitement – different things like the henna and /or casia obovata, mixed with things like cammomile or raspberry zinger tea, lemon juice, red wine, cloves.  The whole endeavour was a “to do”, but after reading some of the things tried and the results, I think I’ll pick up the stuff and do it this weekend.  Perfect timing because not only is it the long weekend, I have Tuesday off and will have four days to muck about (and for damage control if I don’t like it).

I will definitely document the whole adventure and post my own before and after pics here.

My other plans for this long weekend include;  going to some art shops to see what kind of journals I think will suit my edeavours as well as supplies for my initial entry;  some house work/organization (never ending job); and maybe watching some X Files if I can’t resist the urge to buy another season.

‘citing!

8 Things I Need to Practise to Get Good At

While doing some ‘net surfing recently, I stumbled across Magpie Girl’s blog and her “8 Things” lists.  I loved the idea and decided to join in as well (you can do so here, if you’d like) – hereby presenting the following as my contribution for her most recent entry:

Organsing/Tidying: I lived the vast majority of my life as unrepetantly “messy” with the usual excuse of messy = creative.   I’ve kind of seen the light however regarding that whole your outside environment reflects what’s going on inside so I’m attempting a changeover to the land of the super neat and organised.  I’m about 90% better than I used to be (which is probably about 50% of where normal people are), which is a good thing and it really has made me a happier person.  Dammit.

Goal Setting/Acheiving: I’ve always been very good at thinking up new and wonderful things to do or things I wanted to acheive, but my follow through skills have been abysmal – I’m working on changing this but as above, I’m better than I was but still have a long way to go.

Budgetting: Another lifeskill in which I would score “below average” by anyone’s estimation – however as I am currently digging myself out of a very deep hole due to fiscal shenanigans on my part, it became something I needed to learn, fast.  Like being thrown into the deep end of a pool fast.   Ai yi yi, what do I do these things to myself?

Photography: While I love both my camera and taking photographs with it, photography and I have issues due to a bad case of “Fear of F Stops” as a result of rampant mathphobia on my part.   I’m determined to become a better photographer regardless and so gotta practise, practise, practise and laugh in the face of my Fear.

A Note (and a dilemma)

Note

Dear Sir (man who is part of the paving crew installing a new parking lot at my place of employ)

You are pretty freaking “fit” and pardon me for being all base here, but you have a great ass.   I really appreciate you standing outside of the window in front of me, while you are chatting on your phone. 

Yowsa!  Marry me?

The Dilemma

You’re already ten minutes late for work but when you pull into the parking lot, one of your favourite songs is on the radio.  Do you stay in the car until the song is over?

So yeah, I got to hear “Rain” by The Cult this morning.