It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life for Bunnies">It's a wonderful life, for bunnies

Christmas In Hollis

ho ho ho, I'm off to no-computer land for a few days. Happy Whatever You Celebrate.....

FO - wintery collage

Here's one of the cards I've made for an Art Heart sale. Cutting and pasting is a compulsive activity!

Xmas MEME

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
Soy white hot chocolate, no whipped please
(the white hot chocolate at Second Cup is apparently vegan)

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?
Wrapped or in gift bags

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Coloured outside, white inside

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No, but maybe I'll start

5. When do you put up your decorations?
When company's coming

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Seitan tourtiere from Le Commensal

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child?
My Mom made a pinata for me and all my cousins

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Yes

10. What kind of decorations are on your Christmas tree?
My favourites are pink and/or handmade

11. Snow! Love it or dread it?
LOVE

12. Can you ice skate?
Yes

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Paul Young tape (The Secret of Association)

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Not sure

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Homemade jam-jams (white cookie sandwich with jam between)

16 What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Getting outside

17. What tops your tree?
Not sure

18. What is your favorite holiday book?
"Holidays on Ice" by David Sedaris

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?
So many, "Christmas Wrapping" by The Waitresses, "Baby Come Home" by Death Cab for Cutie, "Maybe This Christmas" by Ron Sexsmith....

20. Candy canes?
Yes please!

snail mail from Kim!

My buddy Kim moved far, far away to Seattle and sent me this great parcel. Wha Guru Chew bars, so delicious and vegan and not available in Toronto! 1" buttons, a pink heart tin, she knows me well!
She made me a bracelet and knit a cozy for my iPod shuffle, also pink!

And this is sweet, she started knitting me a pink tie and sent it to my unfinished so I can finish it, it'll be a collaborative project from across the continent. That was her husband's idea, and it's a great one!

swap - Vegan Pal!

My Vegan Pal parcel came in!! My secret vegan pal is Simone, and she sent me a great package with super-nice Clover circular needles, Clover stitch markers, 2 heart stamps and 2 decadent dark chocolate bars from Trader Joe's! As you can see, I've already been into the chocolate!


And she sewed me a very pretty purse with lots of pink and hearts, just like I said I like! Isn't it awesome? Thanks Simone!

dancing with Dewey

I've been dancing with Melvil Dewey and his Dewey Decimal system of classification all week. I may never have to use Dewey professionally, but it's been kinda neat to get to understand it a bit more. I spent a few years at the beginning of my library career as a Shelving Page with Dewey, so I knew about the tens, but my main understanding was that the craft books are around 746 and the cook books are 641. What else do I really, really need to know? (ha ha)


Minnie Sears and I have done a few rounds on the dancefloor too.


Final exam tomorrow, wish me luck. After that, I can get at some neglected holiday crafting!

day of solidarity for Green Scare arrests

Today is the first anniversary of the FBI’s first round of arrests in Operation Backfire. Radical animal rights and environmental activists were the targets. It’s being called the Green Scare, like the McCarthy-era Red Scare.

All members of the SHAC 7 are in prison now, but they’re actually only 6 now because the charges against one member were dropped. Write letters to them while they're in the slammer! I don’t think they were part of Operation Backfire, but they’re also animal rights activists. SHAC is an acronym for Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty. Huntington Life Sciences is a company that conducts dreadful tests on sweet little creatures.

Why don’t we have radical animal rights activism like that in Canada? We have so many farms, circuses, rodeos and THE SEAL HUNT.

goodness report

Mishka's posting about goodness, so I will too. Here's one you Toronto folks might have already heard:

The Royal is reopening! It's a repertory theatre in Toronto that closed in the summer. December 15 seems to be opening night, with a screening of Monkey Warfare, which was filmed in Parkdale.

"make funny faces, not war"

I saw Kevin Clarke at Tim Hortons today, he was charming everyone, the most quotable gem was "make funny faces, not war."

Animal Rights 2

"everyone knows who P. Diddy is"

Ali G - Animal Rights
"what if someone pays you a hundred squid?"

Knittahood swap

I finally met Mel, after a couple years of being online craft buddies. She got my name in a Knittahood swap and was coming to Toronto for the weekend, so she gave me the loot in person. We hung out at McVeigh's and St. Lawrence Market, and her awesome friend Diane was there too.

Here's what I got (she remembered that I like pink and hearts!). The swap theme was to knit a small bag. Isn't it cute!? It puffs out spherical!

She's such a busy DIYer, she also threw in jam she made, salsa she made with vegetables she grew, a knit coin purse to match the bag, heart stickers, lip balm she made, and the cutest little purse-sized pink sewing kit!!!

Ages ago she got my name in a Supernaturale swap and made me this fab bag out of a recycled sweater. It's even lined, and I love it too!

FOs - paper, scissors and glue projects

One of my bosses retired so everyone in the department contributed to a scrapbook for her. This is my page:


And the verso:


Debbie is teaching me how to collage. Here's my best one so far, it's harder than it seems to get a balanced image:


Made this for a zine challenge swap awhile ago, mailed it late:

I was in a mail swap to list 10 favourite books, I made my list into a little zine. I chose Wacky Chicks, All About Love, Stitch n' Bitch Handbook, Oh, the Places You'll Go, C*nt, The New Why You Don't Need Meat, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Culture of Nature and The Missing Piece as my favourites for that.

cakettes

Yesterday, Stagflation and I went to a potluck with omnivores, he brought these delicious chocolate cake-ettes for us vegans, with about the smoothest, freshest fake cream cheeze icing I've ever had:

music to my ears

I set out to see at least 100 live bands in 2006. Got the idea from a scenester at work. I finally hit my goal last night!

The rules are: catch them play at least 3 songs (so opening bands can count), have to be paying attention (not chatting), and has to be in public space. Official rules also say DJs don't count, but I counted A-Trak, because he's a turntablist, and that takes more skill than just spinning records.

Most were in Toronto, a few were in Ottawa and a bunch were in Chicago. There are some that I saw more than once. I only saw one band that was truly terrible, I won't name names, but Tara knows what I'm talkin' about!

But the music isn't ending, tonight I'll see Hot Chip. Here's the list, chronologically:

1 - Justin Rutledge
2 - Great Lake Swimmers
3 - Akron Family
4 - Final Fantasy
5 - Golden Bulldozer
6 - Magneta Lane
7 - The Old Soul
8 - Cuff the Duke
9 - Whispertown 2000
10 - Jonathan Rice
11 - Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins
12 - The Basement Arms
13 - Shotgun and Jaybird
14 - Julie Doiron
16 - New Buffalo
17 - The Concretes
18 - A-Trak w. The Rub + Cosmos
19 - Barmitzvah Bros
20 - Barzin
21 - 2-Minute Miracles
22 - Great Lake Swimmers
23 - Fembots
24 - Amy Millan
25 - Hostage Life
26 - Stiff Little Fingers
27 - Run with the Kittens
28 - Bitch and the Exciting Conclusion
29 - Transcendence Gospel Choir
30 - Crackpuppy
31 - Erase Errata
32 - Seckou Keita Quartet
33 - Jamaica to Toronto
34 - The Two Bobs
35 - The Waking Eyes
36 - The Weakerthans
37 - Stars
38 - Ryan Adams
39 - Mates of State
40 - Iron + Wine
41 - Sleater-Kinney
42 - Death Cab for Cutie
43 - Rainer Maria
44 - Nada Surf
45 - Feist
46 - Oh No! Oh My!
47 - Built to Spill
48 - Calexico
49 - Wolfmother
50 - Sonic Youth
51 - Gnarls Barkley
52 - Disco Biscuits
53 - The Flaming Lips
54 - Thievery Corporation
55 - The New Pornographers
56 - Kanye West
57 - Manu Chao
58 - Peter DiStefano
59 - Perry Farrell
60 - Patti Smith
61 - Hot Chip
62 - Ben Kweller
63 - The New Amsterdams
64 - Matisyahu
65 - The Shins
66 - Of Montreal
67 - Wilco
68 - Broken Social Scene
69 - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
70 - April Verch
71 - Colleen Hodgson
72 - Kensington Hillbillies
73 - Prairie Oyster
74 - Great Lake Swimmers
75 - Amy Millan
76 - Telefauna
77 - Fritz Helder and the Phantoms
78 - The Hidden Cameras
79 - The Hylozoists
80 - Bell Orchestre
81 - Terror Lake
82 - Lipstick Machine
83 - Ken Whiteley
84 - Methuselah
85 - Soft Copy
86 - Sour Keys
87 - Starlight Mints
88 - Mates of State
89 - Corb Lund
90 - Kensington Hillbillies
91 - Les Breastfeeders
92 - Emily Haines & Soft Skeleton
93 - Les Trois Accords
94 - Joel Plaskett Emergency
95 - The Tragically Hip
96 - Prairie Oyster
97 - Dyniss
98 - Collette Savard
99 - The Swingin' Blackjacks
100 - Radius and Helena
101 - The Rural Alberta Advantage

World Vegan Day!

Happy Halloween!

TTC Knitalong: the Halloween edition

I finally took part in the TTC Knitalong, and what a great event! Knitters I already knew, and a bunch I'd never met before. Tara and I didn't think getting to the 9am checkpoint on a rainy Saturday morning was a smart idea at all, so we hooked up with the knitting rowdies a bit later. Here's the lovely team we joined:

All the knitalong teams congregated at the Red Room at the end of the day for the awards ceremony and general revelry. This gal won the prize for wearing the best knitted item, she knit her Elvis wig!

I got some nice green sock yarn, with my new + improved attitude toward impulse craft stash shopping (only buy stuff I'm sure I will use soon). Some of the knitters did a whole lot of stash expansion and are now on yarn diets. Sunday was CanZine, I spent way more money there than at the knitalong.

FO - pretend zine exhibit

Firstly, happy birthday today to the late Tommy Douglas!

I finally remembered to pick up an assignment I did last year in library school. The project was to make a catalogue for a book exhibit of my own imagination. I did "Zinesters for a Handmade Life" and my exhibit had zines about crafts, cooking and anything else domestic. Had fun doing it, got a good mark. The note from the prof said 'why did you focus so much on vegan cooking zines and knitting zines?' tee hee. Obviously my personal bias came through, but also there just happens to be a lot of zinesters who are vegans and knitters, thankfully!

celebrity sighting

I met Basil!

(edited to add link in case you don't know who he is)

30 something peer swap

Thanks to Kelly for the fantastic handmade treats!! The 30 something swap means the swappers are all in our 30s (not swapping 30 items).

A necklace with a pink fimo pendant (blurry, oops):














I love the CBC and she quilted me this bag with some polka dotted fabric and some DNTO swag. How did she know that DNTO is my favourite show? Lucky me!!

















































And she knit a nice soft pretty bag. It's not as wrinkly as it looks, it's a spherical shape so it folded over like that when I set it down.















To match with the bag, a double-knitted checkerboard in pretty colours!! Holy lots of work, grrl!! She made the checkers out of fimo, one team is strawberries, the other team is grapfruit slices!! How cute is that!!!! Thanks Kelly!

plan on getting lucky

Do you have friggatriskaidekaphobia? Not me, I'm counting on getting lucky in many ways this Friday the 13th. Just went back to the pottery sale, got a few more pieces and am feeling lucky already!

Necklace with a ceramic heart pendant:


And this bowl for me, me, me, with imprints of butterflies and bugs:

back from Quebec

This is Boo. She's a wild cat that lives out in the country and sometimes hangs around my parents' yard. She's so pretty!


I decorated cupcakes with my nieces and nephew, they're meant to look like pumpkins. See the stems (stick pretzels) and leaves (gumdrops)?


Whaaaaa? It's a huge plastic bag that looks like a cob of corn, stuffed with hay. It looked so funny I had to take a picture.

My nieces and nephew went at mini pumpkins with Sharpie markers.


My Mom, bless her, went all out and made lots of vegan things for me. Like pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, tofu-nut loaf and chocolate cake. I love fall food, like mashed turnips and tofu-nut loaf with homemade cranberry sauce. Thanks, Mom, yer the best.


I went to a pottery sale yesterday and actually got started on my Christmas shopping! Wowee! No pictures in case the intended recipient peeks in here. And last night I made pumpkin pie.

Have you seen the new BSS video? Lots of Amy in there, she's still my fave.

veggie snail mail crafty swap

Some gals are organizing a Vegan Pal Swap. Check it out! It's kinda like those "secret pal" swaps all the knitters are doing. Check it out, join in! (you don't have to be vegan)


Here's my questionnaire:

1.) What is your craft, & how long have you been doing it?
Knit, sew, papercrafts, bead, cook -- since ages ago but I'm not a pro at any of them

2.) Are you a vegan, vegetarian, veg-curious, veg-friendly or other?
Vegan

3.) What is your favorite color(s)? Do you particularly dislike a color(s)?
Pink and purple are lovely, and I like all colours

4.) Do you have any allergies (such as pets, foods or cigarette smoke)?
No

5.) Do you have any companion animals? If so, names and types?
No

6.) Do you collect anything?
Zines, hearts, pink kitchen things, tea towels, Lisa Simpson, anatomy images, librarian images, 1" buttons, fancy paper

7.) Do you have a favorite vegan food, snack or dish? If no fav that's vegan (for those who aren't vegan), what's your favorite food? (Hopefully your pal can find a vegan version!)
Any vegan candy or chocolate would be a nice treat. I love pad thai best, but you can't mail that!

8.) What tools/supplies/accessories for your craft(s) are you wishing you had but don't? Also, what do you have TOO many of? (basically a wish and anti-wish list)
Plastic or wood knitting needles of any size (no aluminum please), paper punch with fun shape, rubber stamps, stitch markers

9.) What type of handmade item would tickle your fancy? What don't you like? (Keep in mind this swap is open to all types of crafters.)
Earrings, stationary, mixed CD, zines, Christmas tree ornament, whatever!

10.) Is there anything else you would like your pal to know about you?
That's all!

let's spend the night together

Last night was the inugual Nuit Blanche in Toronto and it rocked! Loads of people were out and having a nice time. All the museums and artists and businesses were great hosts. I've had it in ink on my calendar since about May. I was surprised at how....mainstream? it was, meaning that there were soo many people there, who weren't necessarily part of the Toronto art elite or Toronto art subcultures. Museums, galleries and odd spots for art were open, with no admission charge, til 7am! I gave in about 3am but managed to hit several spots in each zone.



Supplies: Luna bars, pink glow sticks, gloves, hat and transit day pass
















It was rainy (Nuit Mouille?) but that didn't seem to slow anything down
















Wishes hanging from trees near UofT
















Outside the ROM















My vegan co-reveller at OCAD






























Note to the federal Conservative govt who might wonder why they don't have many seats in Ontario: cutting billions in museum funding last week didn't help matters at all. Last night was strong evidence of how much we value cultural institutions.