Bad News

My computer has finally and completely crapped out on me. I've decided not to sink anymore money into the thing so I am currently sans computer until I get approved for OSAP, sell my cameras, my bike and other junk and save up the cash to buy myself a fancy new mac desktop. Farewell Powerbook! You were thinner, smarter and faster than I will ever be and now I will sell you parts and cross my fingers that I get more than $100 for your sorry ass. Blogging will be hard to do until I get myself a new computer but I will try my best. Thankfully I got all my info off the computer in the end so I have it all on an external hard drive. I'll write as often as I can but I'll definitely be back full force in September!

Baaaaack!

I got back from my big juicy trip on Friday and the jet lag has completely thrown me off. I fell asleep at 10 o'clock last night and woke up around 3am, read a little bit, fell back asleep and woke up again at 7 o'clock. This is not working well for me. I've been a little frazzled as Kyle and I now have to find an apartment to live in for July 1st and we both need to find jobs (or I need to pick up more hours at the restaurant I work at, time to start batting those lashes).

Let's not worry about those things and I'll tell you all about my trip. We started off in Ireland staying in a small cottage in a tiny little place called Ballinskelligs which is right on the southwest coast. The only thing in the town was a pub, which we frequented and met some pretty interesting folks. We were traveling with Kyle's mum and stepdad who also rented a car which Kyle drove like a pro on the left side of the horrifyingly bendy roads.

We took a few day trips to Kilarney, Cork and Valentia Island as well. Cork had a really nice market where we stocked up on french cured meats, some Irish cheese, olives, dried figs, anchovies in vinegar, organic cherry tomatoes and a frangipane tart, it was probably one of the best meals I had in Ireland. We visited Valentia Island twice and the second time around around we went on a hike up to an observation tower on the side of a hill. We decided to venture further and after walking though a pasture full of sheep (and sheep "debris) we ended up looking over the side of a cliff while laying on our bellies. We ended the day with some coffee and a rhubarb crumble at the nicest little cafe on the island and followed it up with dinner at a little seafood restaurant complete with screaming, ill-behaved children.

Guiness+damp+greenery = Ireland

From Ballinskelligs we drove up to Ennis were we parted ways with Kyle's parents and jumped in a train heading to Dublin. We spent a night in Dublin, had dinner at an awesome french restaurant and left the city super early the next morning and caught a plane headed to Seville, Spain.

The weather in Spain was a lot different (and in my opinion a lot better) than Ireland. We stayed in a sort of swanky hotel and as it turns out we arrived during the Seville Holy Week. The first night we were in town we saw a parade which we both thought was a funeral procession. Trying to explain it would be useless so I'm posting a video (that I found on youtube) so you have an idea of what we saw, I didn't have my camera on me so I didn't get any footage of the processions...I got lazy in Spain.



There is a band of just horns and drums in front of or behind the big sculpture that is carried along the procession path. Underneath the whole structure (a.k.a the "paso") is a team of men who carry it on their heads through town. It is kind of funny to see this huge, ornate object travelling though the streets with tons of little feet poking out the bottom. This video isn't the highest quality I could find but it has the best example of the music that we heard for two nights, I'm not sure why but whenever I would see one of these processions, and we saw 3 of them over 2 nights, I had an overwhelming urge to burst into tears.

The rest of Spain included a lot of eating and drinking. The top of our list was always Pedro Ximenez, jamon, cheese, bocarones, sangria, cruzcampo beer, olives, bread, more bread, flan, churros, espresso and anything else we could put in our mouths. I love the way the Spanish do things, they wake up early, have coffee and socialize, go to work, have siesta in the afternoon, go back to work and then eat dinner and drink after 9pm and stay up late. I'm getting hungry just thinking about all of this.

From Seville we rented a car and travelled along to Grenada and then ended up in a small town called Catell de Ferro which was right on the coast of the Mediterrainian ocean. We had a fabulous prix fixe dinner at one of the 3 restaurants in town and drank cheap wine on our patio (which I spilled all over the place, twice). From there we headed to Aguilas and then on to Murica to fly back to Shannon, Ireland and then Toronto. We were 15km away from the Murcia airport when we hit a wooded post that was in the middle of our lane on the highway and blew a tire on our rental car. Kyle changed the tire on the narrow shoulder of the highway while I watched on in horror thinking he was about to get flattened by a truck. We made it to the airport in one piece and then we found out that insurance doesn't cover flat tires....I'm still waiting for that charge on my credit card.

Now I'm jetlagged, happy to be back and I've kind of fallen in love with Toronto again, in a weird kinda way.

CB

The other day I was quite bored and stumbled upon a former cancer patient's blog called Lymph Notes (lymphnotes.blogspot.com). The author of said blog is a 50-something year-old man who lives in L.A and was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma a few years ago. I read through some of his posts over the weekend and found a lot of what he says applicable to everyday life. He was actually happy to be diagnosed with cancer as it gave him a chance to become closer to his friends and family on a deeper and much more meaningful level. It also gave him the opportunity to take some time off to reflect on his life and everyone involved in his healing. He approached his illness with a sense of humor which I completely admire.

In one of his earlier he posts he lists all the things that bring him joy and adds:

"Cleaning out old files yesterday, I found a list of things that I was proud that I have accomplished in my life. If you want a little joy, make the list. You'll surprise yourself. And you'll surprise yourself with the kinds of things that bring you pride."

I think everyone, rich or poor, healthy or ill should make a list like this and feel good about the things they have in their lives and the things they've accomplished. And that's my feel good moment of the year!

hungry/bored

orange meringue pie, salmon skin sushi rolls, macaroni salad**, sablefish, duck confit, bouillabaisse, patty pans, honeycomb, smoothies (no bananas), gin, french toast*, eggs benedict (hard poached), tuna sandwich, grilled chicken hearts with salt, lemonade, cider, maple syrup, jelly beans, creme brulee, chocolate covered strawberries (trashy but delicious), pumpkin pie, gulab jamun, peas, corn on the cob, ribs, cottage roll* (comfort food), rare steak, lasagna*, ice cream, brown sugar carrots*, yorkshire puddings, perogies** (homemade of course and perferably with some turkey gravy), cabbage rolls*, spaghetti with meat sauce, shittake mushrooms, pickled things, nachos with salsa, pupusas, sardines and anchovies, ice cream cake (also trashy but delicious), milkshakes, cheeseburgers, ceasar salad**, chicken wings, wine, pulled pork, crab legs with melted butter, brownies, peanut butter cups, mint chocolate girl guide cookies, mimosas, pizza hut (dirty), butter tarts**, pho, cold spring rolls with peanut dipping sauce, creamsicles, giant freezies, butter chicken, poori bread, martinis, fresh oysters, beets, scallops, skor chocolate bars, sweet potato fries, lemon tart, du puys lentils (when Av cooks them), blood oranges, gnocchi, head cheese, ritz crackers (either with cream cheese or...cheeze whiz, don't knock it til you've tried it), nutella (on saltines!), brussels sprouts, apple crisp with vanilla ice cream, "ice cream treat"**(a mum specialty), cupcakes, macaroni and cheese with hotdogs (throw a tickle of ranch dressing on there and you're good), peanut butter cookies, sloppy joes, sunchokes, zucchini bread, strawberry rhubarb pie, apple pie (make by Nana), punch**, fresh bread with butter or olive oil, bruschetta, fiddlehead ferns, mashed potatoes, coconut milkshakes, cookie dough, cake batter, pudding, octopus, grilled calamari, blood pudding, clam chowder, ussels, organic chocolate milk, sherry and port, broccoli (the way dad makes it with vinegar AND the way mum makes it as broccoli casserole), beef stew, bread salad, caprese salad, porkchops with apple sauce, lamb, serrano ham, pickled ramps, artichoke hearts, shrimp.....


*only if dad makes it
**only if mum makes it

working on it

I've really been slacking off on the blog front it seems.
Maybe on Monday or Tuesday I'll compile a great big list of things, throw in some photos, maybe a playlist or two and a few stories just to make up for my lack of commitment to this thing.

Get ready.

YES!

I heard back from Ryerson. I will be attending as a Master's student in September in the Photographic Preservation and Collections Management program! I've paid my tuition deposit and not I just have to register for classes, work my ass off to save up some money, apply for OSAP, move into a cheaper apartment and try to enjoy the summer.

Gross

This is laid out like a folded booklet, double click on it to read it at full size, read the "What's This Bug" page first, then mosey on down to the second image and come back up for the last page

I read this tract the other day at my studio and when I saw the biggest centipede on a plant pot in my bathroom. I didn't kill it (my favorite method is spraying not smashing bugs, or trapping them under cups and leaving them for someone else to deal with). I felt a little tickle of sympathy for the bug but it obviously didn't last long as I just crushed a baby centipede that ran across my desk. Another great bug killing tool is a padded envelope my weapon of choice.

Pickle Bonanza!

This summer I am going to try my hand at preserving and there's nothing you can do to stop me. I am a compulsive list maker and I've already compiled a list of everything I'd like to pickle and I hope to get all my fruits and veggies in season and from local farmer's markets.

What an exciting summer I have planned out!

On that note, Kyle and I decided yesterday that instead of relying on trains and buses to cart us around the south of Spain in May. We are going to rent a car and drive along the coast from Seville to Murcia and then fly out of Murcia, very exciting!

Our last day together with our little car we named "Trudy"

Last year I went on a west coast road trip with 3 friends (Brooke, Brad and Emily) and we covered a lot of terrain in a relatively short period of time. One of the best/worst stories from our trip happened in the little town of Crescent City (I know you're reading this Brooke and I know there's a smile on your face!)

BBQ'd oysters, not cool

Our original plan while on the west coast was to eat a lot of oysters. As it turns out the west coast generally yields really large oysters which aren't as nice to eat as the smaller east coast oysters. Also, Americans are paranoid about getting sued and they figure that by cooking the oysters (common methods are bbq-ing and deep frying) they won't get anyone sick and therefore no one can sue them for contracting food poisoning. As we drove up the coast of California all we could find were cooked oysters and we thought that if we found a seafood restaurant right on the coast we would be in luck and that's when we rolled into Crescent City.

Crescent City is kind of the last town before the coast of California turns into the coast of Oregon and we found a promising restaurant in town called "Fisherman's Restaurant". We parked the car and made our way into the horribly tacky establishment with our heads held high. The only oysters we could find on the menu were, of course, deep fried and after asking the waitress why they didn't have fresh oysters she told us about the legal implications of selling raw oysters blah, blah, blah. Emily, Brad and I decided to go the American way and try deep fried oysters while Brooke opted for a piece of trout (or salmon, I can't remember exactly). After our first course of clam chowder, which was quite tasty, our main courses were put in front of us and we all picked up a deep fried oyster and took a big, juicy bite.

I would never recommend eating a deep fried oyster, it was probably one of the most disgusting things I have ever tried and I eat some pretty weird stuff! I got through one and half of these things when we all decided it was time to send this "food" back.

We called the waitress over and explained that we were really embarassed to send our food back but it just wasn't what we expected and perhaps we could order something different. She seemed fine with this so Emily and I both ordered the same Brooke was having, which looked and smelled okay but tasted a little bland, and Brad ordered another type of battered fish.

As we were waiting for our fish to arrive Brooke suddenly felt very ill and had to excuse herself to the ladies room. She was still away from the table when our second round of main courses got to the table. After seeing Brooke run to the bathroom after eating her fish Emily and I weren't too sure we wanted to dive right in and Brad's "fish" smelled like garbage and was the soggiest, most disgusting piece of fish I've ever seen or smelled. There was no way any of this food was okay to eat. After Brad inspected his soggy mess of a meal we called the waitress over once more and told her that we all work in the restuarant industry, we all know what food is supposed to look and smell like, that the customer is always right and although we felt bad about it there was no way we could eat this food considering that our friend was throwing up in the bathroom from what she had just eaten.

That's when the waitress got mean. She told us that she didn't care if we ate our food or not but we had to pay for all of it and if we didn't she would call the cops. She felt that there was nothing she could do aside from calling her manager to come to the restaurant to deal with this or calling the cops. Apparently the kitchen would be happy to make us another round of main course meals and try to make us happy but by this point Brooke was pale and shivering and we just wanted to get the hell out of there.

We asked for the bill and paid it in cash leaving a toonie as our server's tip with a little note on the back that read "Come to Toronto and we'll show you how to eat oysters and show you some manners!" Again, I work as a server and I always tip above and beyond 15% but this experience was horrifying and this waitress didn't deserve a dime from us. If she had not charged us for the food we couldn't eat because it was inedible or had been thrown up, then she would have gotten a tip but this woman was just straight up difficult.

As we were leaving the restaurant we noticed a large family coming in for dinner, they looked like tourists and we thought we'd spare them the trouble we had just gone through so we let them know just how disgusting this place was. Brooke chimed in with "I just threw up in the bathroom!", I'm pretty sure that statement prompted the family to turn on their heels and leave with us. We told another couple in the parking lot not to eat at Fisherman's Restuarant" but they looked like locals and hell bent on the all you can eat deep fried oyster platter for two.

As we were getting into our car the waitress ran out after us holding up our toonie yelling "We don't accept Canadian money!!" and Brooke, again spot on, yelled back "Oh honey that's your tip!"

We drove off feeling sick to our stomachs and angry, there was a lot of swearing in that car after we pulled away from the restaurant and we decided that Crescent City is one place you don't stop in, you drive through it into lovely Oregon!

Emily and I did find raw oysters in Seattle though and they made me so sick I couldn't sleep all night and I threw up on the flight home! I love oysters but they obviously hated me last July.

The Wonder Years, sort of

Pink Hair courtesy of Manic Panic

Remember teenage angst? I found an album online that brings right back to that special moment in my life. You know, where you lock yourself in your bedroom, turn off the lights and blast the loudest music you can find just to piss off mum and dad who probably just told you that you can't get that tribal tattoo on your lower, lower back. Sigh, such hardships. Sitting on a patio today Kyle and I drank beer and exchanged stories from our early teenage years which made me feel a little nostalgic, why I'm not so sure.

I must have been 13 or 14 when my parents decided to punish me by blocking channel 29, also known as Much Music. I hated my life and I hated them for taking away such quality programming as Bevis and Butthead, Ed the Sock and The Wedge.

Now I'm having a heated environmental debate over facebook chat with a friend from this period of my life...how completely lame, I'm ashamed to even admit that I'm using facebook chat. The 13 year old version of myself would not be impressed.

Here's a playlist...

a couple of things...

So I applied to grad school in January and have yet to hear anything back. It's now early April and I'm wondering what to do with my life. Convinced I was going to get into the graduate program I fell in love with last year this waiting game and daily obsession with the mailbox is wearing on me and making me second guess my decision to pursue higher education.

A few opportunities have come up that I'd like to take advantage of but since I have no idea what is going on next year I'm sitting on the fence, big time. Feeling generally frustrated with employment at the moment and the "economic climate" has led me to consider other options. Perhaps my prospective business pursuits would prove to be failures but maybe taking out $30 000 in students loans to fund a MA which might not lead me anywhere would be a be fat failure in itself. Maybe I should invest in a life coach or just have a good ol' fashioned sit down with my go-to man on all things business related, dear old Dad.

Other than that junk, I've been busy planning (or at least trying to plan) my trip to Spain in May. We have a lot we want to see and very little time to see it all in. Finding transportation timetables has proven difficult as every website is in Spanish with no English language options. I just want to eat a lot of tapas, drink some sherry and sun myself for a few days.

Onwards and upwards...

Still from "Let the Right One In"

I watched the Swedish vampire film "Let the Right One In" the other night and was happy that Brooke had suggested it to me. The film is set in Sweden in 1982 and follows Oskar a very pale 12-year-old boy who is tormented at school by bullies and spends most of time in the courtyard of his housing co-op. This is where he meets Eli, a new neighbour who turns out to be a vampire.

Check out the New York Times Review here: http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/movies/24righ.html

Then go rent this film.

Finally, a nice little blog:

designismine.blogspot.com

AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE

AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
a one-night assemblage of small work by a multitude of artists

Friday April 24th, 6-10pm
minnow & bass gallery
a migrating artist run space
594 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON.

For more info or if you'd like to submit work to the one-night show please contact us at abrawd@gmail.com

If you're in Prague...

In May I will be part of a group show in Prague where two of my pieces from my thesis body of work "malignant' will be on display. Here are the details if you are kicking around Prague with nothing to do during May and June you can check out the show and tell me how it looks!

Identities
Gallery FAMU
Smetanovo nábřeží 1012/2
11000 Praha, Czech Republic
Opening Reception May 5th, 6pm
May - June 2009

Unfortunately I can't make it to Prague in time to check out the show as I have other travel plans during May and June but hopefully there will be another show in Prague in the fall that I will get to attend.

My first typewriter related injury.