once more for the people in the cheap seats

I think I've told about 50 people how to find the bathroom today and maybe 35 people how to find the Enwave Theatre. I've been told that the gardens outside have tent caterpillars in them (I don't know why the hell I should care) and that the curator of this art gallery is "forgettable" and the work put on display within the past 7 years has been bad. Yesterday a man talked to me for 15 minutes about the benefits of tai chi. I had to tell two poorly dressed tourists that no they could not eat their ice cream cones in the gallery, at which point they stormed off pushing over a small child...seriously. Sigh, someone just spilled blue Gatorade all over the floor.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
"What is this place?" said in a southern drawl upon walking into the space and looking around confused. I should also add that the man who asked me this question was wearing a tye dyed shirt with a triceratops on it

"I thought I had to turn the crank to start the art, like at the science centre" said to me after I told a woman not to touch a sculpture

Maybe I'll make a hand out or publish a book for gallery/museum etiquette.....I'll make millions

here it goes

Working in a restaurant is a pretty interesting experience. I'm no seasoned pro but I have been in this industry for a couple years and I think I've got a few things figured out. I wanted to write about this when I was slipped a business card after serving a table last night. The man who did the slipping must have been at least 25 years my senior and out for drinks with his wife and her friends for her birthday. I'm not sure if he was giving me his contact information in the hopes that I would call him up for a steamy affair or if he genuinely thought I was in need of an investment broker. Either way I ended up confused, pissed off and a little hungry. This is not the first time this has happened to me, not saying that I'm getting picked up at work every night but when it does happen it seems completely inappropriate.

Last summer I was serving lunch to a mother and her son who was roughly my age. They were both really nice so in turn I was friendly and stopped to talk to them for a bit. Halfway through their meal I went back to check on them and suddenly got a weird vibe from the both of them. After clearing their table I was standing behind the bar when the son came up to me and told me that he really liked me and wanted to take me out. I told him I was flattered but "very, very taken". I brought the bill out to their table and tried to maintain my friendliness because I didn't want the son to feel awkward or embarrassed but his mother was very short with me and quite rude. After they had left I went to grab their bill wherein they had left me absolutely no tip.

Thanks a lot.

It seems that the people who go out to restaurants and try to pick up their server or bartender (whether out of desperation or sheer drunkenness) don't understand that we have to be nice to you, it's kind of our job. If not for the reputation of the establishment then in the hopes of getting a decent tip out of you (which, by the way, is at least 15% these days). It infuriates me when someone takes my kindness as a come on which may prompt them to leave me their number or try to hook me up with their friend (or son). I'm sure that I'm not speaking only on my behalf but it makes one feel like a tease and kind of like you need to take a long hot shower after someone particularly gross tries to give you bedroom eyes.

There are other pitfalls to working in this industry, working all night on weekends and making it out for last call at the dive bar down the road, if you're lucky, on a saturday night. Rampant workplace politics, drug use, alcoholism and dishonest managers or owners who treat you poorly (and sometimes steal your tips from you or make sexually inappropriate comments).

But the money is generally good and sometimes you find a great spot to work where you get along with your bosses and co-workers (ahem- JAMcafe). That's when all the creeps and jerks don't seem to matter quite so much.

cron

Summer is almost over which means a few different things:
- no more abundance of tasty local produce
- no more short shorts and flip flops
- no more tan lines on my feet from flip flops
- no more 9 o'clock sunsets
- no more picnics in the park

I'm stopping mid-list because this is just too depressing. Last year I promised myself I wouldn't be around Canada for another winter and here I am basking in it's looming glory.

I've also realized I work a lot and I need to simmer down. I've worked since I was 14 and at most times I'm working 2-3 jobs. Right now I work 2 jobs during the week and a third for a couple hours on Sundays and I was just asked to work a new job during the week. It's getting hard and the money is never that great, I think it's time to go back to school and get a degree that will allow me to get a real job...for real, real.

i miss everyone who has every gone away

I miss Aidas
I miss Meghan
I miss Marshall
I am going to Miss Florrie
I already miss Zoe
I miss Scotty and his ridiculous shit
I missed Brooke and Brad like crazy when they were away (but thankfully they're back in action)

send me some mail
give me a call
or just come back soon

I think it's time for me to find a studio space. Like a real studio with windows and/or other artists hanging around to motivate me to actually create work and maybe help out along the way of something.

Dear basement/home office/studio:

I love you because I pay rent to keep my stuff inside of you but I think we need to see other people. There are too many spiders hanging around and you're a little musty which is not the best environment to produce artwork in. Maybe we can be friends in a few months but right now I just need to find something more permanent and something that isn't afraid of a long term commitment.

Love always: Andrea

I feel like I've hit a big fat artist's block (similar to writer's block of course) and I think I need something to change in my life to help motivate me or something. I haven't truly produced any work since my thesis and although I'm working on my dead rapper cross-stitch work it's taking a long time. I went to art school for 4 years and they always said this is what happens once you graduate but damn girl it's depressing. I feel like I have so many plans and goals but I need some steam to make this stuff happen. I want to start a collective or find a studio space or begin a big project but get discouraged/side tracked easily.

Le sigh

exactly

I picked this little guy up the other day and for some reason every time I look at him I can't help but smile. I've never been one to buy toys from magic pony but this was right up my alley, it's part of a new collection (wish come true) from "friends with you" and I just thought I'd share the ridiculousness.

R.I.P digital camera, you were not long for this world.

I dropped my camera a couple weekends ago and alas, it is no longer. It might take awhile for me to scrounge up some money to replace it but in the meantime I'm using my holga to archive daily happenings. On my way home from lunch with Zoe today I noticed some leaves on a couple trees starting to turn colour which made me really quite sad. Summer is never long enough in Toronto and the winter overstays its welcome (in my humble opinion).

This weekend I'm doing a gallery tour with another intern at the Power Plant in relation to the summer show "Not Quite How I Remember It". The show features 14 artists from around the world that deal with issues of historical reenactment and remaking and we are focusing on 6 of the artists (Diane Borsato, Lee Walton, Sharon Hayes, Dario Robleto, Walid Raad and Michael Maranda) it free at 2pm on Sunday at the Power Plant so come on down if you're interested in hearing me talk!

for real, real

I work at an art gallery and it's great. What's not so great is how many times a day I have to tell people not to touch the artwork. Maybe those who visit the gallery around this time of year have never been to museums or galleries but come on. I just told a group of four teenagers not to touch an installation piece and got a ton of sass in return (or perhaps "sass-itude" would be a better term) but really, how dumb are you to start pulling on parts of something on display in a gallery? So for anyone who might be reading this or stumble upon this one day in the distant future...don't touch shit!

I will continue to seethe behind my desk.

them's the breaks

I dropped my digital camera last weekend thus breaking it and having to send it in for repairs. I've decided to apply to Ryerson this fall for their photographic preservation masters program, I will cross my fingers. Speaking of crossing fingers...my brother has had to go back for further chemo treatments and he will treated with some new stem cell therapy in a few months so cross your fingers and knock on wood along with me.

the tastiest treats

i just busted my way into my old livejournal account (from 2005) and it's like reading the diary i never kept, i will have to post some older stuff up here because it's too funny. on another unrelated note myself and a couple friends have just started searching for a cheap-ish studio place to rent out. i get the feeling that good studios are hard to find so if anyone can help us out that would be great! we could repay your kindness with a big ol' homemade cherry pie.

this is one of the fine images i found on the old livejournal "stuck in basement sittin' on a tricycle girl gettin on my mind. going out of mind cause i thought she was fine, don't know if her body is hers"

10/10 right there