cold cold cold

Having cravings for brussel sprouts and beef, previously my two least favourites. I think it has something to do with Maddy coming around with her gung-ho family farm ethics. That woman may just change the world. I've been feeling extra-introverted lately. Or something. Anyway I've been hiding in the furthest corners of the  library, where they have forgotten to put seats.
Still obsessively taking pictures. Still waiting for inspiration to knock be down with regards to this research paper thing. Still wondering where these bruises came from. (subtle)

Broke Trust in Two- Now No-Ones Looking Out For You

Somewhere I got addicted to mashups.  Probably angry enough for how I feel about this material I'm supposed to be writing. I mean, how does he think anyone will care about how the sensibilities of the architectural firm changed after 1965?

I think I'm going to be the Log Lady for Halloni. Nice news, there could potentially be like five separate Halloween celebrations this year if people were to play the cards right (is that an ancient reference to tarot?)
Halloni is the pretentious art-side of Halloween, in which all the visual arts kids show off how much more creative they are than everyone else, the art historian snicker amongst themselves in the corner, the theatre kids get wildly drunk and pontificate and the music kids show up for ten minutes then go home to rest their voices/ bow fingers.
Last night I held the door to the humanities building for a man with multiple boxes and a bag with arrow tails sticking out. Today there were reports of poaching in the neighbourhood, by crossbow. Seems almost too ironic, but the arrows described were not the same as the ones sticking out of this boyos bag.

I think I am obsessed with developing photos. Going to take several day break from the darkroom to collect myself. Since I don't own a camera anyway. This is temporary Ritchie.

bah bah black sheep

I'm here now. After my 4 marimba gig weekend. Started friday with a gig at the Marine Biological Station. Remember going there back in the day for a field trip? Went back friday. Potluck was good and the view from the place at evening and night was down right beautiful. It's nice to see nanaimo from a different point of view. Kind of like seeing a new place in a area you thought you knew. Plus, as it is, I want to take Cyrus there too. There this miniature list of places I want to take him.

Now comes saturday and we played the market in qually. Got there just before 8 and played until 12:30. I had a... overpriced, but tasty none the less celery/ginger/apple something.... juice. Oh, and lime. It was weird tasting, but good tasting. Have you guys been buying things that have been too expensive but you buy them anyways?!?! The two people who were selling the stuff were nice smiling, young looking people. I thought I would support them.

Couple hours later, left for Quadra. Ever been to Quadra? The place is surprisingly breathtaking. Heriot Bay Rebecca spit :

We drove out far as we could and half the band went swimming. The water was cold, and as I am not so much a random, throw-it-to-the-wind swimmer, my entire body did not touch the clear water. Who cares though. The sunset was sooooo crazy nice and everything seemed perfect for the night it was. We billeted that night, and the family I stayed with (along with carm, nat and elizabeth) was Nathan and Amber and their three kids. They had a young baby and another along the way. The man of the house (nathan) was a pastor at the local church (but a young one) and we stayed up until 11 just talking. Talking about how they chose to move to quadra (they came from saskatchwan), how they met ( bible college in saskatchewan), they fed us nachos and ice tea  and we felt like a very special bunch of girls. I had a cold night sleep though and the morning came slower then I wanted it to. We woke up to fresh bread/coffee and a baby mimicking whatever we did.  That being said, all things come to an end, we packed up, and said our goodbyes. We made our way to our 930 show. 

This is the funny part. We played on this stage that author Ken Kesey built (one flies over the cuckoo's nest) and that the Grateful dead played on. The guys on Quadra, brought over the stage from Oregon or something. It was mighty windy though. So windy that you saw the clouds of dirt fly over everything else.

We left the island with hitchhiker from israel named Noah. She was hilarious and 25. She also forgot her water bottle full of tea in the van we later discovered. I'm maybe going to mail it down to her if I ever know where she is. She's was on her way to Victoria.

We played one more show in parksville, by the resorts. I had a weird tasting green tea latte and by the end of the day I'm feeling just out of it. Just closing my eyes from how heavy my eyelids were while playing and surprising myself with playing without mistakes. I'm going to be teaching senior and after school classes at the art center in parksville and I'm trying to nudge one of the other members to help me out. I don't want to do it alooooone. 

That's it. I'm here now at home, eating a bowl of cereal and wanting to record my weekend, so I thought I'd do it here.

Someones in the forest and the other is someplace else.

It's night time here in my little corner. I was just experimenting with this thing I heard that a chocolate cake mix and a can of pumpkin puree make some alright muffins. The test subjects are in the oven as I speak, the batter doesn't taste anything different though and I've been craving chocolate all night.

This last weekend we had an intense band day, so intense that my hands ended with blisters that pained me in the aftermath- shower (soap burns). Market in the morning and then straight to nanaimo to play on Newcastle Island for a wedding. We had to put all the instruments on a boat with this guy who seemed a bit broken hearted that he wasn't invited to the wedding, but boasted that he was neighbors with the family of the bride. He's one of those characters that you respect, because of his stance of an all around good guy. Retired firefighter, good smile and that will to just help out. I hope his life is a a good one. I really do. I meet people and I can just see that how they live their lives, that they just deserve a good one. Mind you, we're all blessed to be living in the life we all have, but I guess that's all by chance.

I wish I could do backflips off of shit

I hate guys who wear white pants, but love people who make french fries with seasoning salt.

Girls. It's been exciting in a weird way. The other night I got home from 6 nights of travelling around with the band. We busked in Richmond.. Kelowna and did three days at this festival in Penticton. We played in the VIP beer garden (because I don't think the organizers realized who we were and what we did) and it was satisfying knowing that there was people coming up to telling us that we should have been on the main stage. The same stage Sam Roberts, Jesse Cook and WAR played on. Felt good.

Both cars had problems during the trip. I ate the most baby tomatos I've ever had in my life. We met this young guy (young guy being our age) who played Flamenco Style guitar and I wanted to ask if he knew of Gareth. I'm convince that all young men who play guitar like that should know each other. Maybe they can become best friends.

 Didn't though. I might one day though. There's a chance that we're going back to Penticton next weekend to play another show( to play after/before 54/40?)  and work the market. Man, the farmers market there is huge. Do you know how rich I'll be after that?

 ALSO.Theses guys that sound pretty impressive and consider themselves "island rock" wants to collaborate with us.  That's the first the band ever encountered that question. We feel pretty fancy too, because they're putting Kumbana on the guestlist for their show in nanaimo? or victoria. Who knows.

What else... We played Kulth the weekend before last. The boom booms were good. I don't know if I'm in love with the voice of the lead singer man, but the stage presence is great. I wish I had that spirit.

"So we took apart a rat and rebuilt it as a jellyfish"

That is literally how the radio interview I was listening to just began. A bioengineering prof at Harvard has created a jellyfish that is, by all genetic accounts and purposes, a rat. It's called 'reverse engineering', and they have plans to try to attempt the same thing on stingrays, octopii, ect. Can you imagine how confused this  animal-thing would be, and how odd and surreal you would feel creating it in a lab setting? You would feel like Dr. Frankenstein, albeit with access to shinier, more sterile operating tools.

I'm at home right now, waiting for the shoulder to mend. I walked up a mountain two days ago and shared my lunch with a curious Grey Jay and my dog. Today I went to the local graveyard and walked around the tombstones and recognized all the local names and felt appropriately discombobulated for the setting. A week ago, I went to the National Energy Board hearing on Enbridge and listened to several moving speeches. Many Aboriginal elders, on shaky legs and wearing headdresses beaded in bright colours for them by their daughters and granddaughters, unfurled large genealogical charts and watershed maps. The room smelled like moosehide, and more than one person was in tears.

The photo above is of realgar, an arsenic compound. I didn't take the picture myself; it's available online. Realgar is jet-pink, with orange streaks; when exposed to light and air, it dissolves slowly into a dust called orpiment. This will streak your hands and boots and clothing with crayon-bright colour; it becomes an easy thing, to forget the more poisonous properties of realgar.

Hopefully, my shoulder assessment will be positive on Thursday, and I can do various horrible, destructive things to my shoulder brace and return to work.

I don't want to head back to school, man, and return to grey skies. It's been preying on my mind.

A man in Utah was spotted gamboling around on a cliff, dressed in a goat costume, surrounded by a herd of the real thing. It was assumed that he was eccentric and crazy, but he turned out to just be a hunter making sure that his outfit didn't scare off the animals during hunting season.
    



 

wanna get married?

June 18th was yesterday!

I wanted to draw a picture like this. Mostly because it reminded me of the printing room in the hospital I worked at in Montreal. I was given the job to run down there regularly to tell the lovely men we needed so many of the special posters printed by the head of the day. They recognized my broken french, and it always gave them the hit it was a perfect time to practice their English.

 This is the hospital. This really looks like this is an early morning picture, and what I don't understand is why there isn't the usual hoard of people, buses and whatnot. Because honestly, coming to work at 8/8:30 in the morning, was complete hell. I usually just took the long way, got off 15 minutes before the hospital and walked at the metro. It was good.  There was the prettiest buildings (or homes I guess) and a good park across the street.

How have things been for you? Friday night was spent at this block party in Qualicum which wasn't half bad.I invited Brett and  There was dancing, this cover band playing all the favorites and a bunch of rowdy middleage couples getting drunk off lucky. It was ridiculous. Then we headed out to natalies to paint this wall she wanted, and I painted a small city and slept squished against the wall, not able to stretch out my legs with fear of hitting someone in the head. Woke up, did a show in nanaimo dedicated to all the fathers out there, and then had some glorious coconut gelato while i watched our friends "slack line" across docks on the waterfront (where they crab fish you know?). Weird day, and for the majority of it, I felt gross.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyYrcLyJppE

Down The Burning Rope

I was supposed to be at this get together for this girl that is moving away an hour and a half ago. Instead I am stuck at home reading my textbook. Shit. Anyway I'm really on here so that I can record my dream, y'all. So last night I was in a shit mood when I went to bed because... just tired I guess. But I dreamed that I was still in this weird shit mood except it was the Super Moon again. Except in this case Super Moon meant that this was the night that the moon was going to crash into Earth, that this was the day finally, and every night the moon had been drawing nearer to the Earth, and everyone was going down to the beach to watch the insane waves and also see if they would survive. And so I was in a shopping mall with... someone. Can't remember. Anyway we were wandering around and then we were separated and the mall closed for the end of the world. And so I went to this crowded beach and that guy with the white shoes who was hitting on Frances at my party was there wearing these huge shiny studed sunglasses and everyone was gathered around him admiring him, and he was giving a speech or something. Either way, all of a sudden the attention was on me and people were yelling at me because I hadn't packed, and didn't I know it was the end of the world??? And I was all pissed off, because what is the point of worldly possessions in a time like that? I tried to tell Marketa about the dream but she was all pissed because I was cutting the cake and it gets dry when we cut it and when it's dry no one eats it so we have to throw it out. I think she was just tired from the buccaneer dance. Apparently it was surreal.