with a light heart that clicks

Happy New Year! Gott Ny År!

2011-01-11T07:16:00.001-05:00

Do you love Moleskines as much as I do? I use the unlined notebooks for my daily journals, and I get the minis for to do lists. I also have the Stockholm guide, which has awesome maps with clear things so I can write directions over the map without actually writing on the map. So cool, I use it almost every time I go somewhere new in Stockholm on my own. Subway map, pages to keep notes on directions or things I learn when I'm out and about. Awesome!

Check out this cute video, which stars 2011 Moleksine daytimers:

On New Year's Eve we went to a nice dinner party and at 11:45 we bundled up and ran out to a bridge with a bottle of champagne and glasses. Loads of other people were doing the same, and we all stood on the bridge looking at fireworks going off in all directions all over the city. It was snowing and so magical!

This isn't shot from the bridge we were on, but it shows that there were fireworks all over the city and when you're above street level you can see so much:

The julmust and pepparkarkar are all gone and I finally joined a gym for my time in Stockholm! Bring it on!

Julmarknad, snökaos, Jul i Sverige

2011-01-10T08:59:00.001-05:00

I love Christmassy things! We went to a few Christmas markets here in Stockholm, called Julmarknad. So snowy and festive! There was a record-breaking amount of snow in most of Europe, you probably heard about all the cancelled flights in Paris and England. We had trouble getting a train out of Stockholm before Christmas, but eventually after a few delays and detours we got to the smaller town we were aiming for. The Swedish papers were calling it "snökaos" ... which you can probably guess is 'snow chaos' ... so cute!

first night of hiatus in Sweden!

2010-12-30T08:33:00.002-05:00

Hejsan! I've taken 2.5 months leave from work and am spending it in Stockholm. I planned to be there before Christmas, then when I found out The Soundtrack of Our Lives were playing on December 16, I knew I had to get there on time for that. TSOOL is one of my very favourite Swedish rock bands, and seeing them 3 times in 3 nights in 2007 kinda kick-started my interest in Sweden. Now I have a lovely Swedish boyfriend and am temporarily living in Stockholm! funny

Today is the 14th day of visit! I vowed to take it real easy for the first two weeks because I was pretty burned out, and it worked! I'm just about 100% relaxed now!

crafty video game

2010-11-04T21:27:00.003-04:00

Check out this very cute Wii game, Kirby's Epic Yarn. Kirby is a cute little pink creature in a series of games, and at the beginning of this game, an evil tomato uses a sock to turn him into a yarn ball, and then the rest of the world turns into craft supplies too. Kirby swings on buttons to jump across obstacles, pulls zippers to expose new areas and collects beads for points. The layout looks like a quilted, embroidered scrapbook. So crafty! I rented it and suspect if I buy it I won't get much done at home, it's addictive!

rescued dog dance party

2010-09-29T21:31:00.004-04:00

I was in a bad mood tonight, repetitive strain in my fast-typing parts, and I was too tired to get to yoga but then when it was too late to get there on time I really wanted to go ... wah wah wah ... but then I came across this adorable video! Much better mood now!

OK GO is such a fun band, maybe you watched their other videos, esp Here It Goes Again, a million times on YouTube like I have.

Sometimes dogs being made to do tricks for a long time seems cruel but these pooches look joyful....am-I-right? They're all rescued dogs! And the band has a webpage supporting animal rescue.

One of the fun things I do for practicing Swedish is to count dogs when we're out walking, and try to describe them with the Swedish words I know ... so many dogs out there!

en hund, hunden är söt
två hundar, hunden är svart
tre hundar, hunden är liten

I still can't pronounce "sju" which means seven...just three letters but so tough to pronounce, you have to make a sound kind of like clearing your throat!

knitting

2010-09-25T13:53:00.002-04:00

hee hee, this cracks me up! It's from Indexed. So true in the summer. I'm happy that it's almost normal weather for sweaters now and time to get back to knitting!

I love this knitting video, a sweater all in one day with apple and coffee and people coming and going.

first veggie pride parade in Toronto!

2010-09-25T13:43:00.000-04:00

This is old news, but I'm dumping pictures off my camera and remembering a fun on a hot, happy summer afternoon .... June 5 was the first Veggie Pride Parade in Toronto!

Swedish Royal Wedding

2010-06-19T10:54:00.027-04:00

Just another reason that great things come from exercise .... the Swedish Crown Princess married her gym trainer a few minutes ago! I watched it online, it was beautiful!

Swedish phrase of the day: kungligt bröllop it means "royal wedding."

Arlanda is the "Official Love Airport" this year, ha ha. I got smooched when I was there last month, so I guess it's true!

A lot of the stores were brimming with Royal Wedding souvenirs .... china, tea towels, chocolates ...

Victoria and Daniel paper dolls:

lots of postcards ... I liked this cute one:

and this silly one, "how to become a Swedish Prince" ... the text describe's Daniel's upbrining, gym ownershop and royal romance leading to his becoming a prince:

temporary tattoos of the newest royal couple:

and coasters of the royal family:

glass knick knacks, there is a lot of Swedish glasswork:

Victoria wasn't always the Crown Princess. She's the eldest child of King Gustaf and Queen Silvia, but when she was born, the law stated that the first born son would be heir to the throne. That law was changed in 1979. Too bad for Prince Carl Philip! Strikes me as odd because the Swedes seem to have a "gender doesn't matter" approach to everything, but I guess that wasn't so before 1979. She has studied in different countries, supports Swedish public radio and struggles with an eating disorder. I'm just learning about things Swedish, and I don't live over there, so I'm not bored of or annoyed with the royal family yet!

Don't Panic!

2010-05-26T22:30:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was Towel Day, and Krissy's birthday!

Last summer the Young Swede and I went on a road trip. I was reading Hitchhiker's Guide so it was in the car and when we stopped in Ottawa to have lunch with Sienna, we passed Zaphod's, the nightclub at the end of the Universe!

Glad Påsk!

2010-04-01T11:21:00.004-04:00

Happy Easter! Glad Påsk!

double medalist in the Knitting Olympics

2010-03-15T11:16:00.012-04:00

Hiya! I got two projects done during the Knitting Olympics. I knit a cabled neckwarmer, in red for Team Canada. It's a bit too big so I'll probably re-knit it. I must have cast on too many stitches, which would make sense because I cast on in a rowdy bar with lots of knitters while watching the fantastic opening ceremonies! The cables are pretty cool and I love the true red colour. Then I found a fantastic wooden button shaped like a heart:

I sort of have dual loyalties with Canada and Sweden, so I also crocheted OS-mössa, the hat worn by the Swedish Olympians. The Swedes say "OS" for olympiska spel, which means Olympic games, and mössa means hat. Virka is crochet. This is the first time I saw the hats, I snapped a picture of the tv showing the Swedish Olympians in the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremonies. The mittens are really great too!

There were kits for sale in Sweden with the yarn and pattern to make these hats and there was a mad dash for them and they sold out fast. Here in Canada I bought the yarn randomly, used a pattern from a blog, and whipped it up in a couple nights, which was fantastic because it was the first real project I successfully crocheted! Crochet is so much faster than knitting!

Here I am wearing the hat and holding up a head of broccoli, because I thought the green flowers the medallists got looked a bit like broccoli, but they weren't.

I really loved the Olympics this time 'round. I always like them, but I got extra excited this time. The snowboarding! The freestyle skiing! THE HOCKEY! Both the Canadian women and men got gold again.

I got really into the curling, too. The Swedish women beat team Canada for the gold medal game. The Swedes had pink brooms! And they were in a rock video awhile ago. The band, Hammerfall, was in Toronto last week but I didn't go, but check out the video with the awesome curling team, it's pretty funny!

Knitting Olympics

2010-02-12T10:01:00.004-05:00

The Knitting Olympics are coming!

Tonight I'm going to a pub to watch the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics with a gaggle of knitters and we're going to cast on our Knitting Olympics projects. The idea is we have to finish our projects before the end of the Vancouver Games, in 17 days. There are rules of course.

I'm going to make the Tudora neckwarmer, in red for Team Canada. And a pair of mittens or wristwarmers after that.

Whoops my picture is all green, I'll have to snap a picture of my yarn in natural light!

Let the games begin!

I miss Christmas holiday, le sniff

2010-01-11T18:22:00.001-05:00

Oy! New Year's Resolutions haven't really worked yet, so can I pretend tomorrow is the first day? I meant to start eating clean again after the Swede left, but he left lots of candy behind.

Polkagris:

And Snöre! I like kola and jordbgubb flavours:

Winter wonderland in western Quebec:

Vegan gingerbread:
The Team Canada mittens are quite the hit! I got a pair too, I love them!

Wheeee! My Mom *loves* her skidoos! And I always forget how fun it is til I get on board:

Cookie and Cupcake, the country cats who aren't allowed in the house:

Two people who are trying to remember how to skate! Ha, I haven't skated in *years* but it was so much fun and I didn't break any bones!

Oh Mom .... I hope the thieves in town can't read English, or know what rubber boots are:

Spock is my co-pilot!

Crafts I made at the Swedish Christmas Fair:

Screenprinting-on-paper workshop I went to with Krissy, I made the Christmas ball with the heart:

Christmas at the bowling alley:

I made other crafts too, and did a bit of decorating at my place even though we were leaving for Christmas. Better go floss my teeth after all that candy!

nerdy Swedish crafts in San Francisco

2009-11-21T18:52:00.005-05:00

While I was in San Francisco there was an Etsy labs event at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art, connected to the Open Source Embroidery exhibit. I put it on my list of things I really wanted to do in our short time there, and yay, we made it happen! I spend a lot of time at etsy.com, so I knew I'd like something organized by Etsy people.

We got to the entrance and behind the desk there was this knitted poster:

We were looking at it with squinty eyes and the woman working there said "you won't be able to read it, it's in Swedish." ha ha haaaaa, because my guy is Swedish. He didn't get it because it is a knitting pattern, knit into the ..... knitting! I almost had it figured out before she said that.

Turns out that the exhibit came from Sweden! It was mixing fibre arts with technology. Here's a quilt of text messages embroidered onto different fabrics. The texts are in English, Swedish, Norwegian and Spanish:

So the picture quality isn't great, but I like them so I can practice. I like to read stuff that Swedish people write casually, because that helps me learn how they really speak, which I don't really get in my workbooks.

There was also an embroidered motherboard:

An HTML colour quilt, it was spectacular:

A chair you could embroider on while sitting in it, listening to the iPod woven into the armrest:

And other cute textile art, like this:

California Highway 1, suburban LA and Hermosa B

2009-11-21T18:34:00.000-05:00

Drove the fantastic highway between San Francisco and LA. It really is as gorgeous as they say. I miss it! I hope to spend more time at the ocean next year, or at least a lake or river. Water is so gorgeous.

Of course we had to take off our shoes!

November and they can play volleyball in bathing suits!

mmmmm veggie burger at beach-side pub, with avovado:

if you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair

2009-11-17T22:32:00.007-05:00

I went to California for about 5 days, I'd never been west of Winnipeg before then. The first cool thing that happened on my trip .... Wayne Coyne smiled at me! He so sexy, and always seems so amused. He was stopping over at Newark, and so was I. That's him:
I slept a lot in San Francisco, that's kinda boring, but the 3 hours jet lag knocked me off my feet. Good thing the hotel was cute! We had grand plans to see some bands and get out on the town early in the mornings, but .... zzzzzzzzzzz!

San Francisco really is as hilly as they say. Taking the city bus up and down those hills felt treacherous but the locals weren't fussed at all.
There were pretty houses all over town:

Thursday was our only full day in San Francisco. We went for a nice long walk in Golden Gate Park and then OMG we were sure to go to Amoeba Music, a fantastic music store in Haight-Ashbury!
More wanderings. The Castro during the day:
The Castro at night:
Not quite a cable car, not quite a street car, I love public transit!
We also went to a really great art show, but I'll make that a separate post, it was that cool.

The food! I didn't go food-crazy like other trips, but here are the highlights:
Lasagne from Herbivore:
Basil pesto from Herbivore:
Potato salad, also from Herbivore:
Soup and veg from Beautifull:
Soy ice cream sundae from Maggie Mudd:

Friday we had a late breakfast and picked up a rental car so we could drive the fantastic California Highway 1, and drove north to see the Golden Bridge before we headed south to LA. We couldn't see much of the bridge, though, because of the fog. Ah well, the rain didn't last long.

More trip pictures soon!

crispy fall weather

2009-11-01T12:44:00.008-05:00

Happy World Vegan Day!

And Happy Birthday to Hello Kitty today! She is 35 years old. I have lots of Hello Kitty things, unfortunately I had to return this Sigg yesterday because that series was found to have BPA in the liner. I got a new one but it doesn't have kitty on it.

Yesterday was Halloween so I made a Star Trek dress to go out in. Lieutenant Pink Vegan, Library Officer on the Starship Enterprise!

I used this tutorial:

Sienna was in town and stayed with me for a few days, she did some crafty shopping!

We did lots of fun things when she was here, including the Church of Craft night of Hyperbolic Crochet:

Swedish Cinnamon Bun Day! (Oct 4)

2009-10-06T09:25:00.005-04:00

Sunday was the 10th annual Kanelbullens Dag in Sweden, so I baked up a batch. Mine were vegan of course. It took a lot longer than I expected, you have to let the dough rise, twice! So give yourself half a day if you want to make some. Totally worth the time! Apparently the whole thing got started as a way to encourage people to bake at home more.

I used this recipe, mostly. I didn't have any vegan yogurt, and I didn't get cardamom because it cost $10/bottle. And I couldn't find pearl sugar. Have you seen it in Canada? It's just sugar, but it's in bigger chunks than granulated so it looks nice sprinkled on top. I'll have to get some next time I'm in Stockholm. They look prettier with the pearl sugar, and maybe I'll try a recipe with a glaze next time. And I guess I should shell out the $10 for cardamom next time!

I got my guy to take a picture of the pearl sugar (pärlsocker) at his grocery store in Stockholm, I was curious. He baked cinnamon buns on Sunday, too, of course!

Over there at ICA, the ingredients to bake cinnamon buns were on sale: "bake your own buns and celebrate cinnamon buns day on Sunday":

love me two times, Sweden two times

2009-09-29T09:14:00.032-04:00

Long time no blog....again! I've actually been to Sweden twice since I last blogged. I went for a week at Easter. I landed early in the morning and was greeted with fresh baked bread at his place.

The spring weather was a glorious 15 degrees every day. (Did you know it was a Swede who came up with centrigrade, by the way? It was a guy called Anders Celsius.) I rented a bike for a few days to zip around, that was super-fun.

I love this bike, which was not to rent...it was just ornamental, outside the Gudrun Sjödén store:

I'm cut off in this picture, but I still love it, it was a good day:

I gave him this awesome bike bell but it got stolen :-(
I loved it because it's a map of Toronto and it shows the Danforth, and we met at the Danforth Music Hall.

There's lots of guerilla knitting in Stockholm:

Then I went over again for almost 2 weeks in August. The weather was lovely then, too...about 20 degrees every day and no humidity! The climate in Stockholm really suits me.

Magnolia and Bobbie Dazzler liked to read Pippi Longstockings. Pippi is their favourite Swedish role model for adventure and sass:

We went to see the history of IKEA exhibit at Liljevalcjhs, that was really great!

I liked the denim room best:

But the kids craft room was fun too!

And all the old catalogues:

And a hex key mural:

Did lots of other things, didn't really take many pictures though.

long time no blog

2009-04-02T22:32:00.015-04:00

Wow, I haven't blogged in nearly a year! Since NXNE last June.

I've been trying to see more than 100 bands a year for the past few years, success again in 2008 ... I saw 110. (I met a really great guy at one of those shows!) Here's the list of bands I saw.

I went to Sweden in the fall .... that was super-fun. It's so clean and stylish there. I was in Stockholm and in a small town outside Stockholm. I'm slowly learning to speak and read Swedish. Here's a collage I made of some of my favourite trip pictures:

Magnolia and Bobbie Dazzler came too, they loved it! I just got Bobbie in August.

Föda! Here's a collage of some of the really great food I ate in Sweden and on my flights. I was so excited that there was a vegetarian food fair when I was there! I had no trouble eating vegan there at all:

I got a really cute pink mini computer! It's on Linux and it's 11"... teeny tiny, and PINK!

I had lots of visitors last year and went to a few weddings, still doing school, sort of still doing crafts. Hurt my ankle, which interrupted my Wii Fit fun.

I'm off to Sweden again, for Easter. So excited! I was bummed to learn that the Easter Bunny doesn't go to Sweden. But there's still candy though, there is always candy in Sweden!

A couple weeks ago I went to Påskbasar, an Easter fair at the Swedish Lutheran Church in Toronto. I've been poking away at learning to speak Swedish since August, do you think that when I got there I could remember how to say anything other than 'hi' and 'excuse me'? Now I know, next time I go to something like that I'll have to prepare a few sentences from scenarios that might come up so I can practice on Swedes. Hopefully I'll get to practice my Swedish in Sweden next week! But they all speak English so well.

I don't know much about Swedish Easter yet, but they have a soft drink especially made for Easter, called påskmust. And kids dress up like påskkäringar och påskgubbar, which are witches who fly to the mountains on broomsticks. But the kids don't go to the mountains, they draw pictures on cards and give them to adults, who give them candy or money. Sort of like what we do here for Halloween. There were kids at the Easter fair singing songs and walking around with brooms and collecting candy:

Here are some cute little folk art Easter witches I got there:

Whoever lives in this house must be really fun! I saw this while walking near Corktown last weekend:

Glad Påsk! Happy Easter!

eNn eX eNn eEe

2008-06-18T17:32:00.002-04:00

I caught 21 shows in 3 days! Pretty much all of them were great. Here are the terrible-quality pictures I took:

1. Steve Poltz
He was playing Silver Lining when I got there.

2. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists
He's vegan and rocks hard.

3. moja

I wonder how many times they get compared to the White Stripes.

4. Machetes

5. The Wet Secrets
"It's a crying shame you don't know just how hot you are..."

6. The Oholics
Very young and lovely Swedes.

7. New Odds
It was the suit that got them the gig...

8. Major Maker
It suddenly struck me that Lindy looks a teeny tiny bit like Sean Tully on Coronation Street, if Sean were 7 feet tall and straight. But not really. But sort of.

9. Semi Precious Weapons
It costs a lot of money to look this good, so we should buy swag from them.

10. White Cowbell Oklahoma
Madness! How have I not seen them play before?

11. Camp Radio

12. The Superfantastics
Sweet melodies, cute lyrics and check out that drum kit!

13. ironic HUE

14. Hugh Cornwell

15. Julie Doiron
Sweet as ever.

16. Evan Dando

17. Mannequin Men
Loved these guys

18. Foxfire
Shiny dancey fun!

19. Grimskunk
Loved them too

20. Redd Kross

21. The Oholics
Still not tired of Swedish rock.

22. Hilotrons

photo meme

2008-06-16T17:35:00.005-04:00

Yoinked from mjmknitting:

If you want to play too, here's how:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your Flickr name.

Earth Day 2008

2008-04-22T15:55:00.006-04:00

Magnolia likes to take out the recycling!

Check out this bike shaped wreath. It was on McCaul, just north of Queen:

International Record Store Day!

2008-04-20T18:25:00.000-04:00

Today is International Record Store Day, so I listened to some records then went shopping for more records. I didn't find what I set out for, but of course I didn't go home empty handed:

Lots going on at Canadian record stores. Have you seen or read High Fidelity?!

I love my hot pink slip mat! Magnolia likes to sit on the side space over the 8 track deck on my record player:

She collects records too:

Funny that there are so many media stories about how shocking it is that people are still buying vinyl, or going back to buying vinyl. It's a lot like all those media stories about knitting being back in the spotlight. Just a few:
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_21048.aspx
http://www.cnet.com/8301-13645_1-9849540-47.html?tag=nefd.blgs&tag=nl.e777
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/commentary/listeningpost/2007/10/listeningpost_1029

Easter in NJ + NYC

2008-03-27T20:15:00.005-04:00

Spring's coming, believe it or not! I took a little trip to the US for family Easter and jam packed a lot into 5 days. I've been there a few times, but this was a first for Magnolia.

The first night was to see Sahara Hotnights at The Knitting Factory:

I always eat at different places when I'm there, even though I usually like everything enough to go back, but I ate first night at Whole Foods, even though we have it in Toronto, just because it was right there when I needed it. The next morning though, I had the most delicious non-bacon, non-cheeseburger at Curly's Vegetartian Lunch. Thanks for that recommendation, Krissy! It's a small little place on the East Side, and the non-cheeze was was divine!

Then lemon spelt vegan cupcake at Babycakes!

And later a small bowl of French onion soup at Kate's Joint, I was in the 'hood looking for something that was closed but not hungry. It was alright but I think they could've put vegan cheeze on it, like I do when I make it.

Employees must brush teeth:

Black cat taking a nap on the bin for 7" at Generation Records:

Magnolia thought these Barbies looked ridiculous in fur coats.

I love peanut butter too much, so I had to hit this place! Not all vegan but vegan-friendly:

That was right across from Sacred Chow, where I met up with friends from here and there for a fabulous night:

Magnolia played a bit at FAO Schwarz:

Magnolia was very patient in the long line to get up the Empire State Building. She liked to see the Chrysler Building from way up high, because it's in the SaTC theme:

And later we saw a Chrysler Building replica made of Lego at Toys R Us in Times Square:

In New Jersey we visited lovely relatives, walked the Jersey Shore:

.... caught a peek of the Easter Bunny at the pub:

..... had an Easter Egg Hunt with chocolate hiding up high:

... and dog-safe treats down low. Daisy didn't know what to make of the rush for the Easter Egg Hunt:

And of course there was more eating (I didn't eat this but it's pretty):

Hoppy belated Easter!

FO: green stuff

2008-03-18T18:28:00.008-04:00

Months ago I painted some ceramics, here's how they turned out. Not the shade of green I expected. A rice bowl for me and a plate for Magnolia:

Magnolia went out for St. Patty's:

Speaking of green stuff...Amy Millan fans, check out She Brings Out the Broccoli, sung to the tune of He Brings Out the Whiskey in Me:

Vegan Pal 2 swap

2008-03-18T18:18:00.004-04:00

Check out the awesome loot I got from YowlYY! My Vegan Pal 2 partner flaked and YowlYY stepped in as a swap angel. Lucky me!

Blythe Halloween party

2007-10-31T13:29:00.001-04:00

Another Blythe meetup at Sweet Lulu. Some of the little grrlz came in Halloween costumes! Magnolia was a radical cheerleader.

Judy knit a pumpkin hat for Magnolia, isn't that the cutest thing! And she made friends with a Petite who has the same hat.

FO: knitted kool aid dying test

2007-10-02T07:45:00.000-04:00

One of my knitting friends hosted a yarn dying party last week. So generous of her to let a gang of gigglers drink wine AND handle hot water spiked with kool aid in her home!

I dyed Mission Falls 1824 cotton, which, FYI doesn't take the kool aid the same way wool does. I followed the usual recipe though, and used 4 packets of lime green kool aid. Looks like noodles:

It came out bright green:

But after I wrang it out and it dried a bit, it faded to a minty hue. Another gal did the same amount of green kool aid as me, except on wool, and hers came out brighter. I'd planned for electric lime, but I'm really happy with the mint. Any ideas? I dyed enough yarn for a tea pot cozy, but that could still change by the time I get to it...

Blythe Brunch + Nuit Blanche

2007-09-30T20:51:00.000-04:00

Yesterday there was another Toronto Blythe Gathering, what fun! We met at Sweet Lulu and had the whole upstairs to ourselves, great spot! Magnolia got to meet another Prima Dolly Violet and many more spectacular dolls:

And last night was the 2nd annual Nuit Blanche. I didn't take many photos, but I saw lots of neat stuff. Better time management needed for next year, plus I should've taken an afternoon nap. But we managed to stay out 'til a little after 4am, after a picnic of Fresh take out in Trinity Bellwoods Park. Here are some of the pom poms at Knit Cafe, snipped in the wee hours:

There was so much branding from a certain bank you know, and some of my student loans are with them. Glad to see they're using the interest I'm paying to fund some artsy things!

Norwegian faux-queer death punk saved me

2007-09-23T14:02:00.000-04:00

A spell was cast on me in June, I had the perfect rock show experience with epiphany-ous elements. I've seen about 60 bands since them, but none have really-really-really moved me. I apologize if anyone in any of the other bands saw me looking incredibly bored in the audience. Some of them were really great, like Stars and Eric's Trip! They just didn't get me in the zone. But Turbonegro broke the spell last night! The campy theatrics, the slutty, kitschy aggression and absolute love of the hard rock:

I have a soft spot for scrawny lead guitar players, this one with the added bonuses of being Scandinavian and wearing lipstick:

"Who shall receive this holy shroud of Turbonegro?" The guys had an endless supply of fresh white towels, and threw them to the audience when they were done sopping the sweat off their faces. Hank wiped his butt-crack and crotch with one one them, he's like that. Some of the towels had more makeup on them than others:

Retox is their new album, the opposite of "detox." I don't encourage or admire substance abuse, violence. military clothing or mean-spirited lyrics, but somehow I can dig it in the Turbonegro context. Can't explain it, what's gotten into me? (I still don't dig that they use animals on set for some of their videos though, tsk tsk.) It's like in You've Got Mail when Kathleen teases Frank for falling for a Republican, he says "I can't help myself."

Hey sailor. The fanboys were out in various hats, helmets and makeup, and especially sailor caps.

seeing stars

2007-09-19T18:19:00.000-04:00

Happy 25th birthday today to the emoticon! Do you know who said "there is no emoticon for what I am feeling" ....? Hint: he's on The Simpsons.

:-) @(*-*)@ //o-o\\ >^..^<

I want to keep up my blog but I don't know what to post about anymore, so I'll just ramble. I work v. close to Roy Thompson Hall so I was in the thick of TIFF for awhile, but I didn't see any stars out and about. I went to a screening of The Stone Angel and some of the actors were in attendance, including the fabulous Ellen Burstyn!

But I saw other Stars *three* times that week! They played a welcome week show at UofT, then V-Fest, then I creeped out of work for a few hours to see them at MTV (Canada) Live. That was a good week for my seeing-bands statistics (22 in 5 days!).

The UofT show was so great, everyone was singing along and the band seemed to be having a nice time. It took me a few listens to get into the new album, but then I didn't like SYoF right away either and it turned out to be my favourite for a long time. The new album is a bit rock-ier. There's a non-Stars-like, but awesome lead guitar solo at the end of Window Bird. And I love the falsetto in The Ghost of Genova Heights! And the drumming! My Favourite Book is super-sweet and cheery. This new album doesn't have as much of the strings and the horns that SYoF does.

The CD is around at shows, and the tracks are on iTunes. The physical album is officially in stores on Sep 25. They're touring with the new album so watch for them (3 Toronto shows in November at the Phoenix).

And just for the sake of it, I took a picture of this sweet little doggie waiting for someone at Shopper's. Cutie!

let's go to the Ex (oh baby)

2007-09-03T10:39:00.000-04:00

I didn't grow up in Toronto, so I don't have the strong feelings for the Canadian National Exhibition that some have, but it's tradition for the end of summer here. I've only gone twice ever. I thought there wouldn't be much for me to eat, but they have a Lick's counter in the Food Building so I got a Nature Burger!! (yes vegans think about food all the time!)

Lookie, The Princess Gates were in this version of The Soft City. There were lots of CNE spots in it, like ferris wheel and Tiny Tom donut stand.

Magnolia loved the Lego tower. It's 96 feet high and broke the World Record:

Someone's Bart was too tired to walk:

There were some nice vegetables on display:

Magnolia took a wee rest on the proposed new streetcars:

Labour Day is my vegetarian anniversary, today it makes 14 years!

quick trip to southern Ontario

2007-08-26T18:38:00.000-04:00

I had to hit Welland for a wedding, so made sure to find some diversions there before I left. Farmer's market of course, because I have a one track mind and that's supposed to be Foodland Ontario:

I met a knitter from Welland on Ravelry and he gave me the lo-down. You should check out his podcast! He told me about a vegetarian vendor at the farmer's market, but it wasn't there this week. He also told me about knitting and crafty places all over the area, I wish I could've made it to all those little towns! I did get to Broadway Textiles, and the main LYS in Welland though:

Nancy the Librarian Action Figure liked the Welland Zine Library best:

Hit a yard sale and scored some Coronation Street loot, what great luck! Oh how I wish Spider would come back to the show with a good storyline. I wasn't watching it when he was a regular, so I only know him from when he came back to nurse Emily back to health after Richard Hillman twacked her over the head with a crowbar. He runs a juice bar in London and made her beet juice to replenish her.

Just for fun we went to Casino Niagara. I spent $5 and won $12!

Then we went to look at Niagara Falls, they're pretty.

And Magnolia climbed a tree:

Back home now, just in time to do some laundry and get to the Camera Obscura show tonight, yowza!!

take me to the riot

2007-08-21T17:12:00.000-04:00

New Stars video for Take Me to the Riot. I bought the digital pre-release of their new album, thinking I'd be satisfied with that. It's great! But now they're saying the physical album will come with a DVD in September, so I guess I'll "have" to buy it again so I can watch the DVD. This quest to cut down on consuming plastic is really hard!

Did you hear that Propagandhi's record label went packaging-free!? Clever and daring vegan anarchists!

Speaking of riots, I actually spent a week at that resort in Montebello for a family reunion in the 1990s. There was no sense of politics there then.

Vegan Pal 2 - questionnaire

2007-08-14T11:19:00.000-04:00

I thought I was waiting until partners get assigned to post this, but I just got a reminder to post. It was already done anyhow, so here goes.

I've been taking a break from swaps because I was late on the last few, but I couldn't resist signing up for Vegan Pal 2. One of the organizers is the fabulous Ellie, she was who I sent a package to last time. She's awesome: a vegan crafty librarian who likes cats. No wonder I like her so much, we have so much in common. The other organizer for this round is Cass, and she might have the best funniest blog name ever: Shut Up I'm Counting. The counting thing is the only drawback of SnB, it's hard to count stitches while you're shooting the breeze with friends.

So here's my Questionnaire:

1. What is/are your craft(s), & how long have you been doing it/them?

Knitting, cooking, sewing, whatever. I've been doing them all for a long while, but I'm still at the beginner-intermediate level.

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

Vegan

3. Is this your first swap, or have you done previous swaps before? What makes a swap enjoyable for you?

I’ve done loads of swaps, just because it’s fun to get a package together. Nice to get something surprising back and see what other people made or got.

4. What is/are your favorite color(s)? Do you particularly dislike any color(s)?

Pink, purple, black are my favourites. Don’t really dislike any colours, but I don't really like "camouflage" print.

5. Do you have any allergies (such as pets, foods, fibers or cigarette smoke)?

No allergies, no pets, non-smoker.

6. Do you have any companion animals? If so, name(s) and type(s)?*

No animals, but I have a Blythe doll called Magnolia!

7. Do you collect anything?

Zines, music, tiny little things for Blythe dolls.

8. 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 chocolate or candy would be nice. Wha Guru Chews, Green & Black chocolate bar with the soft mint centres, whatever.

9. What are some of your favorite/least favorite tastes/flavors? (e.g. sweet, salty, chocolate, crunchy, smooth, tart, sour, spicy, thai, whatever - Help your pal get a feel for what kind of recipes you might like and/or never ever make.)

All of the above! Not overly picky, as long as it’s vegan of course. I like rice bowls, pad thai, easy fruity recipes.

10. 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)

I could use more 4.5 mm needles, because I have so many worsted weight UFOs!

11. Are you on Ravelry? What's your handle?

Got in last week! I'm "pinkvegan."

12. Is there anything else you would like your pal to know about you?

I'm an archivist / media librarian, big fan of Coronation Street, I like hearts (the cutesy kind and the anatomical kind)

13. What scents do you like/dislike?

I like the smells of coconut, vanilla and basil.

14. Do you prefer fall or Halloween or some other Autumn theme?

Halloween, but whatever!

15. Just for fun - tell your favorite Halloween or Autumn related memory.

No real memory, I just love going for walks on crisp fall days and having hot chocolate after that.

almost FO: painted ceramics

2007-08-12T19:12:00.000-04:00

One of my crafty groups had an outing to a paint-your-own-ceramics studio. The pieces are already made, and are blank white. I chose a rice bowl with a hole for chop sticks. I painted the base in splotches of pink and purple:

Let that dry, then put green over top:

Before the green dried, I etched. The pink and purple were hardened enough that they stayed when I scratched the designs into the green:

Magnolia supervised:

Then I painted a little plate for her, with the same idea:

The studio is glazing and firing them, I'll pick them up next weekend and see the actual FOs. The colours always change with the finishing. In the mean time, let me know a nice rice bowl recipe!

FO: a trilogy of boleros

2007-08-07T17:46:00.000-04:00

I'm still waiting to get let in to Ravelry. I signed up on June 16 and at this point there are 1592 people ahead of me, and 13,665 are behind me. If you signed up and want to see where you are, check the antsy page.

So I can get some knitting done before I start spending my knitting time there. Melinda got me these awesome stitch markers (and lots more great birthday loot). They were made by Robyn, who I met at the last TTC Knitalong.

I went to a wedding in July and decided to knit boleros for the bride, the matron of honour and myself. Boleros are quick and easy to knit, the only hard part is deciding the size. I guess boleros are supposed to look a bit small. The wedding had summery fire colours, so the bride got reddish orange Blue Sky cotton, the colour is called Ladybug. For myself, Mediterranean, also Blue Sky cotton. Yes, I missed a yarn over on mine:

The matron of honour, who introduced me to the bride, loves green so I knit hers with a nice green organic cotton dyed by the people at Lettuce Knit. I finished knitting it on the bus to Kingston, at last moment. here it is on my knee, with my fancy GoKnit Pouch hanging on the back of the seat:

I knit in the ceremony and at the reception!! When the minister said she had to ask the congregation to stop taking photos, I thought she was going to say "put your knitting away and pay attention" but she didn't!

Simcoe Day!

2007-08-06T13:46:00.000-04:00

It's Simcoe Day! And I didn't get to Lollapalooza. Ah well. John Graves Simcoe was the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (now called Ontario), and he did good things like abolishing slavery here and building Yonge Street.

I document my life in so many places: here, Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, a bunch of online forums. But I don't give away much. It's strangely good, and a little bit odd.

So many things I've meant to blog about this summer, but didn't get to them. I was sooo excited for The Simpsons Movie to open. I'm a serious fan and also it was opening on my birthday! I went with friends both human and Blythe:

Check out this list of music cameos on The Simpsons. One of my favourites:

I also meant to do an Ode to Manic Panic for their 30th anniversary, it was in July. I've been using it off and on for about 13 years, and these days I've got some Manic Panic streaks in Ultra Violet. Check out the song "if you suffer from a case of hum drum hair..." Not exactly a long-lasting dye, but it comes in good colours, it's vegan and it's tradition.

The bleaching was done by my friend Tyne over faux fish, while listening to The Go Gos. Not as shockingly purple as I'd hoped:

What else? Can't remember now. But here's something fun to click around: http://www.cbc.ca/artspots/craft/

who died?

2007-07-20T18:34:00.000-04:00

Been a long time since I blogged...and this one's a quickie. I don't have Harry Potter Fever myself, but I just love how much buzz there is about it. I went to see J.K. Rowling reading at the Skydome several years ago, and it was so great that so many kids were reading along with her, out loud! Books!!!

I'm on a mad dash to get out of town and little things are going wrong like running out of yarn and going to 3 yarns stores to find more, without success, the glass on the fancy beads I bought being spilled in so I couldn't thread it, but the lovely Sarah at The Rage had a marvelous sense of humour about my near meltdown and had a great time-saving idea...you should go buy something from her!

UPDATE: it wasn't really too terrible, fixed the yarn, bead and cookie conundrums. It was so neat to see so many young people out and about on Friday in Harry Potter costumes and I've been seeing adults solemnly reading the huge book in coffee shops and public transit all weekend. Plenty of ongoing media attention about it, but so far I've managed to avoid finding out who died! I don't want to know, in case I decide to read the series.

World Wide Knitting in Public Day 2007 and TTC Knitalong

2007-06-11T16:17:00.000-04:00

World Wide KIP Day was on Saturday, and a knitterly good time was had by all at the TTC Knitalong!

Thanks, Melinda, for paying my food bill when I had to backtrack quickly to retrieve my un-lost wallet. Too much yarn on the brain! And thanks to Fibre Floozie for vegan cookies!

NXN Ears ringing

2007-06-10T19:06:00.000-04:00

Did all your NXNE-dreams come true? I feel like I soaked a lot of live music out of my wrist band, even though I only saw 10 bands and a play. But I saw one of the bands play 3 times, so it was 12 separate shows, which is alright for three nights.

I didn't take many pictures, musicians move around too fast for my shutter finger. See:

Hey look, it's Mattias B's pick, placed directly into my hand by him. (See Kelly, I'm a fangrrl, too!) He's the one who goes all out with the Pete Townsend riffs and moves. There was an equipment problem at one of the shows, and he was actually polite and friendly with the guitar tech, I love that! I always wonder why most of them don't show the guitar techs a little more love.

"your kisses are wasted on me"

2007-06-04T18:46:00.000-04:00

Were you at The Pipettes' show on Friday? It was sooo great. They were so cute in polka dots, of course, and their backup band was a gang of guys in yellow knitted vests.

Monster Bobby was good too. He played solo, but he was also one of the dudes in a yellow vest later.

The other support was Smoosh, which is a duo, and sometimes trio, of teenaged grrlz. Check them out, they're pretty good. I did sort of worry about their safety, though, and hope they have strong, sensible adults around them while they're on tour.

p.s.
Officially the most unusual and unexpected search that someone came to my blog through:
"how long does it take to go into labor after your 50 percent effaced?"

knitsters storm mega bookstore

2007-05-27T15:50:00.000-04:00

Hi blogsters! MJM and I went to the Yarn Harlot book signing Friday night at a certain mega bookstore. Huge crowd assembled, and most of us were knitting while we waited:

Pierre Pettigrew wandered in, probably just to book browse. He was talking with a clerk and did knitting gestures and had that look on his face lots of non-knitters do when they recall with fondness watching their mother/grandmother/aunt knitting back in the day.

Here she is! She presented a solid hour of stand up comedy about knitters and knitting and CHOKE (cultural humiliation of knitters everywhere):

p.s.

meme: randomness times 7

2007-05-23T18:56:00.000-04:00

I got tagged by MJM to type 7 random things:

1 - I'm almost never happy with the endings of books or movies.

2 - Speaking of endings, I appreciate that some radio stations play the entire song, without overlapping the opening or ending with talk or another song.

3 -I just got Do You Trust Your Friends? yesterday. It's a Stars tribute CD, a bunch of musicians who are friends with Stars 'renovated' the songs from Set Yourself On Fire. Every track is re-done, and placed in order on the CD. The cover looks a lot like the original. Sweet liner notes. I was slightly shocked by the familiarity meeting the changes, in almost every song, but then I was all smiles after a few bars. Go get it!!

4 - My Mom grew up on a farm and my Dad grew up in a fishing area, but somehow I ended up vegan.

5 - My unread email is in the 4 digits. Too much information is not informative, so I'm starting to unsubscribe from lists and alerts.

6 - I love steamed cauliflower with a bit of Earth Balance melted into it.

7 - My friend Benny is a Liverpool FC fan. Two years ago they played an important game against Milan, and they won, after Benny and I had lunch at the Korean Grill House. So he insisted we do it again today before the Liverpool-Milan game, for good luck. But unfortunately Liverpool lost this time.

Going with the theme of 7, I'm supposed to tag 7 of you, I started out doing that but then I wimped out because some of y'all are so busy! So grab it if you like, I'd love to read your list!

there's a bug in my earball

2007-05-22T18:21:00.000-04:00

I spent part of the long weekend at my parents' cottage, my niece covered up to keep the bibites away, and said "there's a bug in my earball!"

Magnolia didn't mind the bugs:

I never thought of Lake Ontario as "mmm...so good," but someone's selling ice cubes with that promise:

In Ottawa, I kept seeing red, black and white flags on cars and thought, 'wow I didn't know there was so many people here from T+T.' But the flags are actually for the Senators hockey team:

Could've been the White Stripes, too, they're all about red, black and white. Speaking of, someone dressed up her Blythe doll like the gorgeous Meg White, exquisite!

Who watches Coronation Street? Charlie Stubbs is off his head! Quelle rat!

apparently I will laugh myself hysterically to death

2007-05-15T17:29:00.000-04:00

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

I try not to skulk around or be evil, but I do laugh hysterically a lot when I'm walking along listening to podcasts. "this band doesn't even have a name, they've written no songs, and they are thee most important band in Canada." No toll booth operators in my circle.

I didn't get my camera out fast enough to get a good shot. The woman behind the car was wearing nothing but a bikini and walking her dog in that torrential rain fall the other day! I love Parkdale.

Magnolia's first Blythe Gathering

2007-05-07T17:16:00.000-04:00

Some Blythe collectors met Saturday, what a hoot. I have so much to learn about Blythes, and so many things I'd like to make for Magnolia. There are so many customizations to do, and of course loads of knitting and sewing patterns. I whipped up this little sundress before the meet:

The other dolls were really decked out! There were some non-Blythes who were welcome, too.

There must've been a few thousands dollars worth of dolls and accessories!

And one nice gal brought treats for everyone!

After the sun went down, I hung out with some other gorgeous dolls:

"every little memory has a song"

2007-05-03T16:46:00.000-04:00

Went to see Ted Leo + the Pharmacists last night!! Love his music, and he's vegan! Before the show he came out to look over the equipment, someone in the audience thrust a container of cookies at him, they exchanged a few sentences then he just pulled out a cookie and started eating it all natural-like! Nice guy. (He'll go on crying for our animal friends, and he'll be crying til their suffering ends.) I'm not a gear head, but check out the great amp he has!

He has the same birthday as Moby, but a different year (Sep 11), and he did a PETA2 ad.

And lookie, my favourite Broken Social Scene fella has a new video for his other band, Apostle of Hustle:

back from the eastern part of La Belle Provence

2007-04-29T22:22:00.000-04:00

Hey hey blogsters! I just got back from a week away. Unfortunately I left by eco-fu*king airplane on Earth Day, of all days! Magnolia and I are trying to grrlcott excessive carbon emissions, but it's tough.

When we landed in Quebec City, the sun was shining bright but there were still snow banks! See the snow on the side? But still mild enough to skateboard in short sleeves.

Marvelous weather for being around Vieux Quebec, and the hotel was just 2 blocks from a Le Commensal. Learned lots at the conference I was there for, as did Nancy.

After the conference ended on Wednesday we went to Gaspe to visit my cutie grandparents. We took a very long bus ride, which was less eco-oppressive than flying, plus Magnolia loved to look out the window:

I just finished reading Lullabies for Little Criminals while I was away. What a sweet, sad story. It won Canada Reads this year and was defended by John K. Sampson (who is vegan and a brilliant songwriter, and has the magic touch for picking books). It's subtle, but it'll knock your socks off.

Here's my Grampa, he just turned 102 years old!! He didn't call me la bella Carla even once, which made me sad because he couldn't remember me. But we did have some grand chats and played cards.

There was lots of snow in Gaspe, but the weather was mild:

But there wasn't any snow or ice left at the beach:

A dude I met out there told me that the seal hunt would be different if seals would become vegetarians! He said there's less sympathy for the seals because they eat so much fish, and people want to make money from fishing. Hmmm. (Either way, the fish get eaten by predators, and some would still want seal pelts.)

Home today, and that's nice after a week of eating in restaurants and other people's houses. I was aching for some asparagus risotto, so that's what I had tonight, with lots of lemon, peas and pine nuts:

new duds for Magnolia

2007-04-18T17:22:00.000-04:00

I ordered this fabulous coordinated hat and coat set for Magnolia:

That's not her modeling, the photos are from the tailor, who is a really great gal in Ontario. Please visit her beautiful gallery at Blythe's Closet, you won't be sorry! The creativity and attention to detail are exquisite!

I wish every day was like Sunday

2007-04-15T18:24:00.000-04:00

RIP June Callwood. Watch her recent interview on The Hour.

I went to the Tijuana Bibles Retirement Show last night, what mayhem! Now I want to make Mexican wrestling masks for Blythe dolls! Blythes have ginormous heads and eyes, the masks would be funny. I don't know if Blythes like rough sports, but they do like to dress up.

Claire put on a fabulous spread today for crafty grrrlz brunch: vegan crepes, muffins, biscuits, fake bacon, hash browns, mimosas...

After brunch we did crafts and watched Shut Up and Sing. She made a beaded necklace for each guest. This is what she made for me:

A perfect way to spend a Sunday, thanks Claire!

tgi the long weekend!

2007-04-09T15:06:00.000-04:00

My workplace gets Friday AND Monday off for Easter, yee-haw! I rode my bike today for the first time in 2007, I'm exhilerated and a bit sweaty, my biking muscles are out of practice. What a great day to get back in saddle, the holiday traffic was light and easy.

This made me laugh out loud, it was in Eye this week:

"If Paul Revere rode through town today hollering that the British were coming, most people would roll their eyes and say, 'No sh*t, I saw the 84-page spread in the NME.'"

But I'm not making fun, I do love British music, it's just that Brit Pop is a constant.

Krissy's been MIBA (missing in blog action) but she's still around, I went out with her last night to see her guy's band do a show for Images. She's cute as ever of course!

I hope the bunny brought you some fair trade vegan chocolate! Here's a store window in Kensington Market with a whole community of bunnies in the window:

Also, there's a new-ish vegan knitting message board you might be interested in: http://vegknit.proboards98.com

prepare to waste some time

2007-04-04T21:58:00.000-04:00

If you need another place to loiter online, go here. It's not exactly archival or a primary document, but it's got value. You'll probably look up the name of everyone you know!

Magnolia was excited to see that her name was more popular at the turn of the 20th century. I didn't know that when I named her though. The Mates of State named their baby Magnolia and that name seemed to suit a Blythe with purply pink hair.

meme: It's very clear

2007-03-26T22:50:00.000-04:00

(I didn't get tagged, I just lifted this because I haven't posted in awhile)

Eight Songs I Am Diggin' On Right Now:

1. Hang On To Yourself (David Bowie)

2. Train in Vain (The Clash)

3. These Fangs (Say Hi To Your Mom)

4. I Like You Crazy (Mates of State)

5. Town Called Malice (The Jam)

6. Suffer for Fashion (Of Montreal)

7. Brothers (Tiga)

8. Debbie Loves Joey (Helen Love)

If money were no object, what would you be doing with your life?
I'd fund spare time and abundant beauty. I'd keep my job but work part-time, use the city as a playground the rest of the time. Every other night would be craft night.

Money is just that - an object, so why aren't you doing it?
I'm doing small but consistent amounts of the good stuff.

What's better: horses or cows?
Better at what?

What do you think the secret to happiness is?
Good support network of the right companions, enough money and whole foods.

When was the last time you had a dream that you either remember well or did not want to awake from? Can you share a bit?
I was dating someone in 30 Seconds to Mars. Not Jared Leto. I don't really even like that band, but the dream was super-sweet and rated G.

When you were a little kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Fashion designer, artist, lawyer.

Complete this statement: Love is…
A noun and verb that is both under-used and over-used.

Can you tell a good story?
*I* like my stories, but the hilarious parts usually get lost in my re-telling. I still laugh though.

Can you remember your last daydream? What was it about?
It was a few hours ago and was about doing another masters degree in something with more critical thinking and radical mind-expansion than library school.

If you were to thank someone today, who would you thank?
My parents.

tagged: six weird things about myself

2007-03-18T13:07:00.000-04:00

Sienna tagged me ages ago, and I had trouble thinking up 6 odd things about myself. But here goes:

1. I will not read library books in bed. Book germs!

2. I truly believe that chocolate soy milk cures headaches and bad days. Works for me!

3. I have a mechanical heart valve and it ticks out loud. You can actually hear it if you're sitting beside me when there isn't too much sound in the room!

4. I've never watched Buffy, but someone just loaned me the first 2 seasons on DVD so I can finally find out what all the fuss is about.

5. I named my computer Nora, after Nora Young, back when she was host of DNTO, because she's so smart.

6. I kinda like Frank and Gordon, even though they're corporate, and I don't like animals being used on film sets. (but they're animated, not real beavers)

we just want to emote til we're dead

2007-03-14T16:17:00.000-04:00

Magnolia went to her first rock show last night, she even got frisked. The band was Of Montreal.

Me to bouncer: "are you asking me for ID because I'm carrying a doll?"

women, knitting, silence, music

2007-03-10T19:01:00.000-05:00

I knit a hat and shrug for Magnolia for today's Women's March! Lovely weather for a march, and the good company of Vania, Joel and Mishka.

I saw Starter for 10 this week. I usually really, really love light British films, and HBO films, but this one was just okay. It's set in the Thatcher-era, so the music and clothes are great!! Does it seem that a lot of British movies have Christmas in them?

Best line in the movie: "the people who really care about you don't mind if you make mistakes, it's what you do next that matters."

Last night I went to a six-hour "noble silence." Spending time without talking is no big deal, but spending it in the same room as a bunch of other people and not making eye contact while we do sitting meditations, walking meditations, yoga and mindful eating...powerful stuff. Most of my mind wandering was in the domestic goddess category: things to knit and sew and make nicer.

Quick! Who has a spare ticket I can buy to go see The Pipettes play tonight??

IWD 2007 - bread and roses for all my sisters

2007-03-08T09:50:00.000-05:00

Today is Blythe's first International Women's Day, so I quickly stitched up a little dress for the occasion. It's a purple velvet mini dress with an ankh embroidered on it. And she has a "make crafts not war" placard, so she's ready to take to the streets. Happy Women's Day!

sweatin’ to the indies

2007-03-05T18:19:00.000-05:00

Any time I spend a Saturday night at home, I listen to the CBC Radio 3 broadcast, and the next couple Saturdays I hope to stay in because it's coming to an end! Sooner or later I'll have to get serious and get Sirius. The podcast will still be available to non-Sirius subscribers, but it's a lot shorter than the broadcast. This week's theme was "Sweatin' to the Indies." I love that because I'm always looking for a good playlist for the gym! They play way too much dude music, but I dig it anyway. I bet Krissy tuned in, if she was home!

Host Grant Lawrence usually has ridiculous tales of things that happen to him, and this week it was about getting the cord of his iPod caught on the handle of the stationary bike at the gym, then falling into a cactus and being upset that there are potted cacti in the gym. Hilarious!

And dang, it was the last time Nardwuar would be on while it's on analog radio. He told funny stories about the gym and gym attire, and played his band's song, "Get Off the Treadmill."

Here's Broken Social Scene working out (the boys only):

There’s a small contingent of scrawny indie rock guys at my gym, but Geddy Lee is never there critiquing their performance!

Anyone have any other song recommendations for working out? 4/4 timing is a must, and a faster tempo to get my heart rate in the 160 range. The tempo in some indie rock goes all over!

here comes the Blythe

2007-02-27T12:32:00.000-05:00

I finally got a Blythe doll! She's "prima dolly violet" and I call her Magnolia. We have so much in common: she prefers to wear skirts, she won't eat alfalfa sprouts and she loves Coronation Street.

Here she is at her first SnB. She likes to have handmade clothes but doesn't like to make them herself, so I'm making them. Here she is in the mod-a-go-go dress she came with and a scarf I knit:

Here she is at her first Oscars party. The other gal in the picture is Nancy, the Librarian Action Figure. The delicious tempeh and soba noodles with peanut sauce were made by Weibke, I just met her and she's great.

And the TVP tacos were made by Debbie. My lazy contribution was take out from Bo De Duyen.

snow woes*

2007-02-21T17:26:00.000-05:00

Linden MacIntyre is a good sport, check out this Rick Mercer Report clip!

Did you see what happened to The Revue?

(* I actually love snow)

happy valentines day

2007-02-14T09:18:00.000-05:00

I made chocolate peanut butter cups from Brenda's recipe:

"this is a library"

2007-02-13T16:12:00.000-05:00

Oh the odd questions a librarian gets. Funny, but I still don't want to buy a car. How many stereotypes can you see?

baby, it's still cold outside

2007-02-04T15:57:00.000-05:00

Brrrrrr! Holy moly, it's cold. I took off my mittens long enough to take a picture of this tree with big hearts in it. I don't know what it's for, but I dig it.

It's February so I'm back to listening to mixed gender music, and one of my favourite songs happens to have a wintery video!

baby it's cold outside

2007-01-26T20:45:00.000-05:00

Nice weather for soup. This is a bowl of sweet potato soup with a fancy herbed bread stick I had last night at Urban Herbivore. Stay warm people!

vegan brownies in unexpected places

2007-01-19T15:23:00.000-05:00

2nd Annual Month of Listening to Women's Music

2007-01-13T22:35:00.000-05:00

This is an idea I got last year while reading Inga Musico. It's hard to define "women's music" of course, but at mimum I'm listening to only female vocals for now. If women play the instruments and write the songs too, that's even better. I've got plenty to listen to, but let me know if you have some suggestions. I know Sandy will have lots of ideas!

(By the way, Inga Musico is giving a creative writing workshop in Toronto on Jan 19.)

Happy Gnu Year!

2007-01-12T18:26:00.000-05:00

The woman at the post office told me it's good etiquette to say "happy new year" for the first 2 weeks of January, so here I am. Happy 2007!

Cough into your sleeve!

Remove all doorknobs!

Check out the other public health tips from Rick Mercer.

It's a Wonderful Life

2006-12-22T14:44:00.000-05:00

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

2006-12-22T13:56:00.000-05:00

Christmas In Hollis

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

FO - wintery collage

2006-12-14T12:45:00.000-05:00

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

Xmas MEME

2006-12-13T12:22:00.000-05:00

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!

2006-12-12T11:23:00.000-05:00

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!

2006-12-12T11:03:00.000-05:00

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

2006-12-10T21:14:00.000-05:00

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

2006-12-07T20:47:00.000-05:00

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

2006-12-05T15:09:00.000-05:00

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.

2006-12-03T12:56:00.000-05:00

"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."

2006-12-01T12:08:00.000-05:00

Animal Rights 2

"everyone knows who P. Diddy is"

2006-12-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

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

Knittahood swap

2006-11-27T11:41:00.000-05:00

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

2006-11-18T10:04:00.000-05:00

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

2006-11-17T12:37:00.000-05:00

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

2006-11-06T10:53:00.000-05:00

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!

2006-11-01T07:03:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-31T13:36:00.000-05:00

TTC Knitalong: the Halloween edition

2006-10-30T18:04:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-20T18:17:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-19T14:26:00.000-04:00

I met Basil!

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

30 something peer swap

2006-10-17T21:05:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-13T13:07:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-12T14:07:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-06T12:39:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-01T14:37:00.000-04:00

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.

la la laaaaa!

2006-10-01T02:21:00.000-04:00

Today is UNESCO's International Music Day, so sing a glad song, make a joyful noise and all that. I'm celebrating later at the CBC Radio 3 + Bandepart show.

Hug a Vegetarian Day!

2006-09-29T13:13:00.000-04:00

Hug O' War

I will not play at tug o'war.
I'd rather play at hug o'war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.

Shel Silverstein
from Where the Sidewalk Ends

pretty red carrots

2006-09-29T11:37:00.000-04:00

gonna shine up my pleather boots

2006-09-25T16:23:00.000-04:00

I'm gonna shine up my boots

I'm gonna go into town

I'm gonna scrape up twenty dollars

I'm gonna throw it around

Stood in the rain and waited for a ticket for the Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans show at Lee's Palace to free up. It was worth the wait. Can you tell how cute his dimples are? I've never been surrounded by so many (presumably) 905ers. A guy walked by me *barfing* while he kept walking! Projectile vomit, and he kept walking. g-r-o-double-s gross! Gross, but also amazing, because when I barf I can't multi-task enough to walk.

Went to a clothing swap on Sunday and took home almost as much as I deposited!

This handsome little guy watched us sort through clothes and eat vegan ginger cookies:

Walked through Kensington Market, it was a Pedestrian Sunday and some folks were playing a giant game of Scrabble in the street:

Then went to see the Kensington Hilllbilly/ies, it was their 10th anniversary show. Giddy-up!

Powerful Wrist Protection

2006-09-19T13:38:00.000-04:00

Isabella and I did a 1x1 swap. We made each other a wrist cuff from the Powerful Wrist Protection pattern in SnB Handbook. The pattern was designed by Catherine Stinson, who used to be co-minister for the Toronto Church of Craft.

Isabella made mine with 2 stars (bonus! the pattern only calls for one star). The colours are great, camouflage background with purple stars!

I made hers with Mission Falls cotton. Instead of the star or the word "geek" from the pattern, I made an "i" for hers. And I made it way longer than the pattern suggested, because I have trouble conforming to patterns, just like recipes!

Thanks Isabella, I love it!