12.30.2009

"everybody gets pinned with something, a reduction of them..."

Well tomorrow night will be the night to ring in the new year, the new decade. It will also be a time to say sayonara to the decade between me graduating high school and now. (whoa).

In my life and what I've gleaned from popular culture, the high school reunion (the 10 year mark) is the measuring stick. It's when you're supposed to be less fat, more successful, and better than anyone imagined, there by blowing them out of the water. For the past 7-8 years this hasn't been my real reality, especially since I've been able to maintain and rekindle the most amazing friendships from people in my grad class (and around it). I married someone who went to the same high school as me and my bestest friends went to high school with me. Those that matter/d have followed me to now so who cares what my "grad class" thinks? I'm happy to not want their validation or the validation of "rising above" high school and making my high schooler comrades wish they were nicer to me or revered me in a clique back then blah blah blah. So water under the bridge.

What's more interesting and present for me is that it's been 10 years since I've graduated high school, this year I will be 28! I'm so much the same and so much different, it's kind of fun to recall the transition and the adventures of the past 10 years. So many adventures that I feel like a different person completely. One thing that's different is that much of my life up to starting my MA//falling in love with stewart was that my life and my choices never felt like ME decisions or choices, they always seemed like I was either going with the flow or doing what I thought other people//"they" thought I should do. Whatever made me "click" in 2006 (the year I started my MA and fell in love with Stew) I owe my life to. I started to recognize what I wanted/desired/needed and how I could make those things happen.

The 101 in 1001 list was great in helping me orient myself around how to make positive change and accomplishment happen in my life and I've been sad to see it go over the past few months. Now it's like I have to be accountable to myself all over again. Eden said I should make a smaller list of goals and I bantered this around with myself, "will it ever be as good as 101 in 1001? will i be able to maintain it?" etc. But for some reason today I decided that with the coming of the new year I'd make a new list of goals for the next year (maybe it was the road sign that said, "have you made your new year's resolution yet? it was my LA story moment). I'll be putting them up on the left again and keeping track of them throughout the year and will hopefully blog about them in more detail and more often. So, without further ado, here is my small list:

1. reconstruct the bike in the garage. new paint, new breaks, panniers, new tires, lights, fixed gear, fenders, new handlebars.

2. figure out what i actually want to do with my life career-wise over the next decade (or shorter, whatevs): a) PhD, b) Teacher's Certificate so I can be a high school counsellor, c) find a long term permanent job that uses the skills I have now, or c) find a tattoo apprenticeship and be a tattoo artist

3. pay off the following debts: speeding ticket ($130), 4 credit cards ($4500), Line of Credit ($1530), and Outstanding Tuition ($1600).

Not that many but for me this is setting my sights high! I mean, pay off debt and decide what I want to do "with my life". I guess, because it's a little short that means that things are AWESOME in general. woop. (p.s. the link for the tutorial for the new year's garland above is here courtesy of the purl bee). xo

12.29.2009

"i'm old fashioned, i love the moonlight, i love the old fashioned things"

Not having a lot of money recently means that one of the things coming from the holidays (aside from new coping skills) is my brush with stuff. I unabashedly love stuff (but still think down with consumerism. hm.) I had a haul that I was ashamed of, considering our family did a swap this year, but did get a few things I'm excited about including the One Fast Move cd stewart got me (jay farrar and ben gibbard) with the accompanying DVD (super excited to actually consume it!), Gossip Girl season 2, and a sock knitting book my mom got me.

One thing that I didn't get to do this year was buy myself a holiday gift (or even a post-thesis or post-move gift or anything!) which I love to do. I think that I'll try to squeeze in a pair of shoes (stewart's bday is in january too!)... I've been really wanting a new pair of slip ons since the two pairs I've acquired from stew have gone by the wayside: the eyeball ones got puke on them (not mine, so i threw them away) and the leather ones fit stew's feet so well they fit mine weird. here are the ones I'm thinking of:
These sugar shoes booties!!! I love sugar, my favourite shoes ever are sugar shoes. But do I want sneakers or boots?








These DC Rebound Highs? I really like the colours, they had a black and lilac pair I really wanted but my size is sold out..boooo.

















I loves these vans!!!




















And, I love these para chukkas (also vans). in fact, i love all vans, and have a hard time buying shoes that aren't skate shoes. oi.

12.27.2009

tomorrow's on it's way, there's always new songs to sing...


well, i managed to finish eden's swallowtail shawl in time for xmas. just in the nick of time, actually. oi! it was a fun knit, though i know i definitely messed up a few times but it turned out great. and this colourway looks so great with this pattern, i'm kinda jealous i didn't keep it for myself. i also managed to knit my grandma a pair of socks, and finish up my post-thesis socks. i've worn the shit out of all my hand knit socks and will probably hand wash them here in a few minutes, hang them to dry, etc. i can't wait to wear them all over again. hahaha. i've been knitting plain socks at work the past two weeks and am excited to keep knitting this pair i'm working on with the yarn i bought in portland at yarnia. i think i'll hold off taking a picture until they're done (mainly b/c my charger is still mia) and i'd like to keep them a secret. i've also re-picked up my forestry cardigan and was working on it a bit today...and also will cast on for another pair of socks with KDG yarn. i just need to dig out one of my sock books and hunt down a pattern.

the holidays are over. thank heavens! sure my grandma's birthday is still tomorrow and it's new year's on thursday (3 day weekend coming up! woop!) but i'm definitely considering this run over. both stew and i are happy to have left prince george and are still settling in here, but the holidays definitely threw us for a loop. and both concurred we'd trade everything for a herkes-legere xmas any day! so less stressful! so much more fun! i love my family and love hanging with them and doing things with them, but "family" is definitely overrated. and "family gatherings" are also too much for me to handle. i just don't have the care or the ability to put on that face (the social one) for more than 2-4 hours. which, in all honesty, makes going to work somewhat hard (i wish i didn't have to work ever!). i need to remember that i'm not 16 anymore and can't just play all night. i need more me time! more me and stew time!

i'm going to lie down and maybe get my sanity back. i hope you all had a great holiday!! xo

12.09.2009

my heart may never beat again baby, have you got the best of me?

sunset from the living room window

rupert slept at my feet all night

it feels like today was a lazy day, but i accomplished a lot! and while i count the knitting days for some reason as accomplishing nothing (now that i'm actually accomplishing something), i need to remember that knitting is just as important as everything else! even as important as my thesis which i finally tackled today.

i haven't been looking forward to my revisions, mainly because i disagree with most of them. i spent 2 hours today merging all my separate chapters into one document, reformating most of it, adding page numbers, and getting ready to do the main edits (textual revisions) tomorrow-sunday. i have a lofty list of revisions to do (arg) but alas. this thesis looks less and less like a zine with every change. when the academic version is finished and submitted i'll provide the pdf up here for you to read, if you like, and i will also incorporate some aspects of the revisions into the zine which you'll get in january/february.

in other news, i got a job!! it's nothing to write home about, but they told me in my interview that there's opportunities for advancement, etc. i'm still looking for that dream, career gal job, preferably in victoria, so if you see anything, pls let me know!

well, i'm going to play nintendo until stew gets home in a bit and then work on eden's xmas knitting until glee!!! i can't believe both gossip girl and glee are off all winter. i'm going to spend the winter months catching up on mad men and true blood. any other shows i should check out?? xo

12.08.2009

my top 10 albums of the 2000s

So, a few people, including Pitchfork and all the rock mags in the world have done a best of 2000s list. Some have hundreds of albums, some are not restricted by number, but here are my top 10. I thought keeping it a short list would be easier to manage and leave lots of room for wondering, what was better? regardless, these 10, for me, are the shit of the 2000s. now, i'm not sure if i would readily put them on (I mean, I did play give up to death!!) but they marked times in my life! and made this decade better. they're not in order. (and in the manner from bryndis, they've got youtube videos attached for fun).

-robyn - robyn
-postal service - give up
-cut copy - bright like neon love
-death from above 1979 - you're a woman i'm a machine
-tegan and sara - so jealous
-julie doiron - goodnight nobody
-the blow - paper television
-mirah - you think it's like this, but really it's like this
-the organ - grab that gun
-the gossip - standing in the way of control

12.07.2009

A few recent FOs

I've been knitting my heart out for custom orders and am about to start on xmas gifts (which won't be posted here until after xmas, but will be on ravelry if they person they're for isn't on rav). I have a long list of things I am knitting for xmas, and this is even less than normal because we're doing our first family exchange this year, meaning that I only have one person: my sister, to knit for. Except, I'm knitting for stewart, his mom+sister, my dad, and a few friends, plus small things for the grandparents. wooo! I'm psyched to get started on them, though.

I'm even getting more into the holiday spirit, yay! We bought holiday cards today and a bit of a package for friends and their kiddo. We have more projects planned but need more time and $$. Doesn't everyone? Anyway, without further ado, here's a sampling of the custom orders, some of which haven't even made it to their recipients yet! (Going to the post office tomorrow).
Someone ordered two custom stockings from me. This is the "mommy" one, but there's another one in green. I was really impressed with my ability to come up with pattern on the fly and do a double knit top!!

Meret, pattern by wooly wormhead: using an angora I got at a craft swap. such nice soft yarn.

Another Meret made with cascade 220 Heathers. I've never worked with this yarn before and i love it.
These mitts were a custom order through etsy and they are the piece de resistance!!! I have leftovers enough to make a small person sweater but the yarns include Silk Garden, Merino from Moorhouse, Hempwol, a upcycled handdyed from BirthdayEveryday, and some blue moon fibre arts, and then lily chin with angora double held, and to top it off (not in the picture) my own handdyed merino. These are the softest and sturdiest mitts I have ever made and I can't wait to see someone's kidlette with a matching sweater.

Well, off to make quinoa salad. Stewart made a big vat of chicken wings with special hot sauce (yikes!) and I said I'd pair the salad. I hear nintendo calling toooooo... xo

12.06.2009

11.28.2009

Oh port!


Tonight we went to an all ages show just literally the mailboxes, a school parking lot, a street to cross, and a house away. It was at this all ages venue here called The Academy. It was super cheap ($8) and we were definitely in the oldest crowd there...but just like PG, i guess: if you want live music in a small town, you can't be choosy. The main reason we went was b/c stewart's co-worker is in the band above, Magically Beautiful. They sounded like more Avey Tare-style Animal Collective mushed together with some Dan Deacon. But at the end of the day we could all agree they're probably just an Animal Collective rip off? Regardless we were impressed by the level of coolness this group of teenagers exudes! Us oldies are already so uncool.

There were two other bands, The Perfect Trend (LAME) and another Port band who sounded like Tad and old Tool. Not too impressive. But, Yukon Blonde closed and their live show eclipses their recording by far. I felt like I was watching a 60s/70s revival band. It was surreal.

So now, it's late, again. Why am I staying up so late all the time now? I need to get this eye liner off and hit the hay. xo

11.26.2009

the official ohsweetie giveaway!

ohsweetie fall 2009 Giveaway

To celebrate the re-opening of the ohsweetie etsy shop I'm holding a small giveaway in time for the holidays! The lucky winner will get a small zipper pouch (lined) and ten hankies (four of which are shown above). All you need to do is leave a comment on the blog post (not the facebook post) sharing your favourite etsy shop! Bring on the etsy love!

The giveaway will close on Friday, December 4th at midnight and the winner will be selected by a random number generator!

I've also begun filling the ohsweetie shop, so take a look there for other holiday goodies !! There's FREE SHIPPING TO THE US AND WITHIN CANADA UNTIL NEW YEARS!!

xo

11.25.2009

FO: post-thesis make myself feel better hat

so you think you can hat

so you think you can hat

I made this hat using Diamond Luxury Alpaca Paint in a grey, pink, and white colour way. It was pretty riot-grrrl for me (the colours) and I love it. A. had the pattern lying around and has made a few of them to date, it's the So You Think You Can Hat pattern. RAVELRY link ## it's a free download, but you have to have a rav username.

I did the ribbing in a 4.5mm so it's super loose, I've been toying with dampening it and throwing it in the dryer for 20minutes or so. I also used a different yarn from the pattern so it's more "fluffy" looking than so lace-oriented. Regardless, I love it.

my work station

I also came home and organized my work space just a bit so I can get to those thesis revisions, internet in style, etc. I can't wait until we're in our own space and not just sharing a bedroom, but alas. xo

it's so many miles and so long since i've met you...

boston cream donut and mocha slice
so many things!!

1. Did you know that Amazon now has a vinyl store? for those of us (me/stew) that live in small towns without record stores (like Meow or Ditch or Scratch) this is the new answer!! You can check it out target="_blank">here.

2. i/my tattoos/handsome have been featured in the current issue of mixtape zine (#11) in an article on crafting and tattoos. You can buy the issue here. I have a PDF of the article (not the whole zine) and I'm just waiting to hear if I can distribute it. If you REALLY want to read it, email me, and then maybe I'll fwd it on to you when I know.

3. i defended my thesis in two hours. it felt like the most brutal defense in the world, but i passed, and have major revisions from my external which i hope to do next week. i've started taking pre-orders for a copy of the thesis/zine which will be shipped in the new year (first week or two of january). For now you can continue to download it, if you like!, but there will be a zine version you can buy out of my etsy store soon!

4. speaking of etsy, i'm going to update my shop tomorrow. promise. i'm kind of excited! that also means that tomorrow i'll be getting the giveaway up! yay!

must go and make dinner before glee is on at 9p. i have a bunch of new knitting projects to share too (when i get there). xo

11.17.2009

My Thesis!

cover for the whle shebang!

My defense is this Friday morning and I'm almost done my presentation (which I'll put up for reading/download when I get back from PG next week). Below are my chapters, in order, for you to download, read, and get ready to ask me the hard questions.

The actual defense is at UNBC in room 6-205 at 9:30am. They're providing coffee and water, I expect the audience to supply the snacks!! I'm so happy it's almost over! please note: this isn't the full zine copy that was done by hand, but the electronic version. it's missing page #s and the sassy porn images...

Standing in the Way of Control: Me + Third-Wave Feminism (intro)

Get off the internet: Third-wave feminism, techno-culture activism, and cyborg futures

Fuck the pain away: this third waver tackles porn

You make me want to crochet?: third-wave historiography and the DIY crafting movement

Soft shoulders are made for crying, but are these boots made for walking? my first voice and experience of the highway of tears

I want to be the girl with the most cake: epilogue and resource guide

11.11.2009

"you've been so far so long don't rush"

my ride home through cathedral grove
so, admittedly, i haven't really been *looking* for my camera charger. i've been pretty overwhelmed with looking for work and having kind of a poopy day today and yesterday, and continuously knitting orders for others that i just haven't made it a priority. but i need to find the charger because i have a huge shop update to do and a giveaway just in time for xmas. i also want to take pictures of my hair (i dyed it jet black) and of my trip next wednesday to prince george for my thesis defense.

my step dad is going to be here this weekend and i'll get him to set me up on our new webhost to upload pdfs of my thesis for pre-/free- reading for anyone that's coming to the defense or anyone that isn't but wants to read it anyway. i'm super nervous, but kind of excited! i'm going to read from a pre-written script AND use a powerpoint, both things i usually don't do, but i've been warned that it must be as formal as possible and as strong as possible. i figure i'll be winging questions from my ginormous committee and the gallery for at least an hour or more, so i can do something scripted and it won't be out of character. i'll put make up on and even deodorant: i'll be the perfect image of formality....or i'll try anyway. i already know that i'll be having minor revisions, too. so i don't have to stress about a clear pass.

in other news i went to errington for an appointment and to visit my aunt and uncle (dad's side) who live in errington on a cute farm (they have horses and chickens and live in a hexagonal house made from wood from their property..it's kind of sweet) and snapped this picture on my way home with my cell phone. the roads were a bit wet, but not slick, so it made the drive so fun! it's a pretty deadly stretch of highway but almost as fun as driving the nisga'a highway: almost.

11.06.2009

"the only time i wish you were gone is once a day, everyday, all day long"

my table at the port alberni craft fair part 1

i'm pooped and so full from dinner. must find a way to make room for water to take my vitamins, and find the energy to brush my teeth and physically make it across the house to the bed. REGARDLESS, the craft fair was fucking amazing and it was only day one.

1. i already made $80! and i have another custom order to do that hasn't been paid yet. today i realized that i do rely on the sale for self confidence so here's hoping tomorrow = more sales!

2. port alberni is an amazing little town! today i met so many wonderful people (including my first new friend AND my new stitch n bitch ladies, though neither PG versions are replaceable!!!). one person even drew me a map of all the good thrift stores (the ones with the fabric, she said) and told me where to find jobs (casual ones that pay well).

3. Aboriginal ladies (young and old) were selling REAL cowichan sweaters (but more of a northern island style...) and they actually were charging their value (hundreds) and they were the most amazing sweaters i've ever seen in my life. i wish i had the $$..

4. UM, sitting at my table looking around the hall and see a sign that says "please return your laces inside the boots of your ROLLERSKATES". and then i look at the floor and it's the nicest polished concrete i've ever seen. i turned to the woman at the table next to me who grew up in port in the 60s and 70s and i say, "did people rollerskate in here". and she said, "heavens yes!" so i said in return, "that means we can play rollerderby!" then she got excited and sat down on my purse next to me and said, "let me tell you about the time rollerderby came to port alberni in the 70s and how hard it was to skate on banked track." OMFGG!!!! fuck yes.

11.05.2009

changing my style



so i've been thinking for the past few months that it's time to change my style. i've had a really haphazard style over the past year or two (thanks pg!) kinda skater mixed with crafter? no more hipster, though yay! the recent nylon magazine had a lot of great ideas incl country style which i loved, but i think i'm going to go super urban (is that a style description anymore?) and am probably going to aim for black as my staple. a mix between rihanna and beth ditto? that would be my goal. i give myself definitely a few months to get this together, and i already have some of the major staples like my beyonce boots and my big military-style wool coat. also all the tights. and i have a few black shirts that'll fit. but i need to get black skirts (highwaist, secretary style), tight-ish pants (fitted instead of baggy?), a black scarf with fringe and a black tunic with a hoodie or a cowl. oh and knee high boots.

11.04.2009

pickle always avoids eye contact with the camera

ignoring me
pickle in the window

the last few days have been busy with crafting/knitting and today/tomorrow seem to be the same. i'm nursing a cup of now cold coffee and getting through my internets while i search through our boxes for craft stuff: fabric, zippers, thread, sewing machine, felt, etc. yikes! i have almost 5 pairs of mitts made!! wup! whatever doesn't sell this weekend will be uploaded to my shop. yes. other than crafting i've been hanging out with pickle and rupert, running errands (like new phone numbers, paying bills), and watching movies with stewart. there's a sweet video store near our house (Multi-Max Movie Store) with $3 new releases that are categorized by genre (no wading through shit when you know you want to watch a documentary, etc) and the catalogue is in storage with highlights out! ie. right now it's christmas movies! yay! it's such a tiny store, too, and they have the sweetest snacks and even edward cullen action figures! hahaha. we watched whatever works (new woody allen with larry david) and lyme life.

whatever works i slept through most of it. i get so annoyed and obviously tired of woody allen's penchance for young girls who throw themselves on old men movie shtick! evan rachel wood's character was all, "but i like you! blah blah blah" and completely justified the power dynamics that older men (sub)consciously take advantage of. is this your way mr allen of saying it's okay you married your daughter? weird!

and lyme life. i loved it. but then it skipped and froze a lot both on our playstation and on my mac book. so i'm going to get another copy today. i mean, i'd like to finish the film! the culkins are amazing in that movie. and the layers upon layers and the way that adults treat eachother is just deplorable. i know it's a young man coming of age story but at this point i feel it's a movie about adults who are assholes and liars and how it affects their kids and the way they treat eachother. regardless, a must see.

off to sew/knit/create! xo

11.01.2009

my gutt is full of okonomiyaki

the filled up car.
yesterday we relocated to vancouver island. i kind of can't believe it. we were on the ferry yesterday evening eating dinner (there's such good ferry food now, btw) and had stopped chatting and there was a lull. then i said, "did we just move half way across the province?" stewart looked at me funny and said, "yeeeeaaaaahhhh?" and here we are!

i have no pictures to post of today (though i took alot), but so far port alberni has been super busy. we've moved into my mom's house for the time being (and will be living in the brand new day-light basement suite when it's done in a few weeks!) and have unpacked our uhaul and hung out with the cats, washed laundry, and re-accustomed ourselves to living in a house with cable tv (there's lots of wasted space on cable! boring!). but today we got to hang out with my grandparents, have a semi-run in with the torch (bleck), go swimming at the pool, and i even made everyone okonomiyaki and rotted their gutts. yes!

for the rest of the evening i'm going to craft/knit and get ready for two craft fairs this month!! yay! and while tomorrow will involve more crafting the rest of the week i need to be job hunting and sorting out my laundry! hahaha. i miss pg terribly (i'm sure stewart does too, but we haven't talked about it) but i've been so tired that i can't really feel it yet. soon it will hit me. xo

10.21.2009

spin out!

cupcake monster
this is the cupcake that cruely and i tried to eat today. we almost got through it. and we had to share it with rocky's mans. and then we had a revwear meeting which was great. REV WEAR is happening in prince george on MARCH 4th!! it is a socially conscious fashion show that will fucking tear prince george apart. they're still looking for models, rappers, designers, performers, and volunteers!! email revwear (at) gmail.com

We're still packing and i have a lot of sorting to do. I've been fighting off the swine flu pretty bad and am so energy less. i mean, i was craving a real dinner and instead we're having smokies and chips, which is delicious...but i should be eating rice because i do prefer it! guh. oh well. so we're watching spinout with elvis and i'm dreading the sorting. at least i can sleep in a bit tomorrow morning: yay!

10.15.2009

whoa! where has the time gone?

well, it's gone to packing, lots of sleeping (change just wears me out), playing DS (i handed in my thesis), job hunting in port alberni, work work work, and hanging out with friends (who i won't see so much very soon). sadly, i've also misplaced my camera cord for uploading photos to my computer. lame. our house is a disaster as we get ready to move. yippee! we've already booked the uhaul, our appointment to get a trailer hitch, and our ferry ride! we even have all the money to pay for everything. yay! it's nice dealing with transition, but i'm just so pooped. i don't know how many times i can say that: i'm pooped.

still thinking about what now to put down the left side of this ol' blog, as well, thinking about new tegan and sara (two more weeks) and my thesis defence and present making for xmas! yippeee!!! xo

10.01.2009

woo!

today at work was really stressful but for some reason stewart's pulling out the old dance mix tapes from the early 90s saved me.. that and an extensive glee watching session with burritos (yum) and cat cuddles. yay! p.s. can you believe these videos came out in the same year?







9.29.2009

bah

tea time!
moving is so stressful. (duh). and paired with being sick, it's not the funnest time in the world. i also have the last little bit on my thesis to go (to submit it to the graduate studies department) and so much packing. on top of that, work has been I N S A N E and i haven't been able to take any of the time i'm owed (9 days). so all in all, shits. i came home from work and internetted for a few hours this afternoon, made dinner, finally did some dishes, and had a nap. i couldn't sleep much longer and really craved oysters (protein!) and then tea and cookies. i was so dopey in save on that i bought mussels (yuck) but did get these yummy peak freanes and some honey for tea. so, i'm going to spend the next 45 minutes with CTV on demand, my tea, cookies, and my knitting. then sleep until i can't no more (well, until work tomorrow). p.s. excited for whip it this weekend!

9.28.2009

it's over!

time's up on the list. i've accomplished (fully completed) 40 of them. 23 of them are in progress. i'm too tired for commentary now. pooped, actually. but i do feel like i've accomplished something, even if it is just seeing the list through to 1001 days. and i've accomplished 40 things i've set out to do in the last 2.65 years as well as started working on even more things. so, i guess that's good! and i feel like it's a success, so that does matter. not sure if i should remove the list from the left just yet: suggestions?

9.26.2009

working in a coal mine..part 934

made w/ love curses + hissy fits by loki + scissor tits
today was crazy. hands down pretty much insane. first, it's still super dry here (that'll never go away, obv) and i was super dried out/cranky when i woke up this morning. at 9a. and there was so much wind! windy windy windy! like typhoon strength wind. apples and newspapers everywhere (i'm not sure where the newspapers came from). and when i went into the kitchen to wash dishes (backlog) to make coffee there was a huge pile of cat puke on the kitchen floor. so i sulked away being so tired i'd vomit just from not sitting down and internetted for an hour before i got the strength to clean it up. my poor kitties. i bought them gastrointestinal food this afternoon.

anyway, a strange thing happened: i pulled something my mom does on busy days. i got in the car and went to get two venti americanos (so we don't have to make coffee) and a bag of Bagel BELTs from TimmyHos. we drank coffee and munched away while we packed. and packed. and packed. we cleaned out our "junk dresser" (just have a few things on top left) and i also cleaned off almost 98% of the dresser in the bedroom. i also went through my clothes and have decided what i'm keeping and what i'm not. same goes with craft supplies and almost all our books. and magazines. and pretty much everything else. including furniture. i think we're going down with four small shelves and two bedside tables and one kitchen table. that's it! insane. and boxes of course. but there's not that many so far. we might fit it all in a uhaul. that would be impressive.

over the past week loki and i have been working on this baby quilt for eve. and we're done! yay! above is the photo of the patch i embroidered for it. the quilt was the first time we've both done it and it was frustrating often. i think the best was when loki called it a cuntbuncher (when the fabric was bunching). enjoy!

9.17.2009

"you learned how to be a diver..."

so, i'm sitting outside of my house after just having devoured a bubble tea (mango slush with pearls) in the car waiting for someone with a key to come home. i'm listening to mirah kinda chilly outside and so hungry so tired from work today i didn't even have it in me to kill time somewhere. boo'urns. so really, i'm cranky! fun! dream job in port alberni came up. i need to write my letter tonight and put my resume together. wait! the fence! someone's here! xo

9.14.2009

"the mountain stood so large, we were humbled"

fancy kale at the famer's market
(fancy kale at the famer's market on saturday)

for whatever reason (partying too hard on saturday, too much going on, moving, money, blah) i'm super stressed today! and it's stupid. first off i blame my not having my vega shake lately. i need to buy apple juice (and am heading out to do so right after this) so i can take that gross tasting powder, but it is POWER, so i should just suck it up.

neon hat
(a hat i'm working on)
somehow since last week my life has just gotten so stressful. i need more coping mechanisms and more sleep, really. i can't maneuver with as much intensity as i usually prefer. whenever this happens i feel really shitty in my brains. i get all shitty down on myself and it's like "hey d! we all need rest!" WE ALL NEED REST.

other things to stress about because they're driving me crazy and i just need to get it out so i can move on:

1. house work. there is so much house work to do and i don't have time to do it. i hate this. even if stewart and i worked at it steadily all the time we could never get it done. no fun.

2. our cats: rupert's sick and all sketchy. and then i wake up to him cuddled between me and stewart...kneading my back. and then i wake up to him attacking a spider which leads to ...

3. spiders!! there are so many of those big semi-translucent spiders in our house. one-three a day and they're ranging from medium-big to massive. one was so big that when i vacuumed it up (they're too big for me to feel comfortable squishing with tissue) it THUMPED as it was going up the vacuum wandy-thing. yuck. i think i'd feel more comfortable in my home if there were no big spiders. and we've been here two summers, i don't remember having any last year at all.

4. i told everyone at work and in my work-community that i was moving last week. super stressful and emotionally draining because everyone wants to know the story wants to know why i'd leave them, blah blah. tiring.

5. the computer technicians at work LOST>DELETED>WIPED whatever was on my computer that i've done since march. they won't take responsibility b/c it should've been backed up, but dropping it off at the main Y and having it plugged into the wall should've been the back up. i guess that step got SKIPPED? anyway, now i have to rebuild everything. no fun.

6. i'm back on facebook. and i don't like it. i think i'm going to just not use it often. it makes me feel yucky.

well, so that's a long list bleck. but just to counter it here's a list of things i'm excited about:

1. i'm almost done kelly's scarf. it's taking me forever and i want to gouge out my eyes with the needles. i can't wait for it to be over!!

2. packing and moving. i like knowing i still have it in me to get rid of half of everything, restrict my craft supplies to one box (not yarn), and cleanse myself of objects! i guess this is what i get for reading so many books about buddhism when i was an adolescent. it's just intrinsically in me and who i am that i don't even recognize it as "odd" to just purge.

3. no more yarn purchases until it's all gone! the main reason for this is that i want more tattoossss and should save $$

4. gossip girl tonight! woop!

5. i sign my paper for my final draft tomorrow morning. we set a date for my defense over the next few days. OMFGG!!

6. caitee and her band get her on wednesday/thursday and are staying for 3-5 days! yay!

now, i'm all excited! i'm going to go find a sports bra, do a few dishes, and then go get vitamin water for the gossip girl party!

9.09.2009

another countdown

and it's not gossip girl this time

big news!!

first: my new hair!

dying my hair! bye bye blonde!

on to the news:

we're moving! to port alberni! woop!

it's hard telling people at work. it's sad and tense and i still have a few more people to tell in the office and then send out a larger email blast. four more actually. i've already told three people and i'm feeling nauseous about the whole thing. fuck. well, i should do work. i can't listen to cbc radio on my computer and it sucks.

9.08.2009

you don't have to wait until you die

WARNING: THIS IS GOING TO BE A REALLY LONG BLOG POST WITH LOTS OF PICTURES!! if you want to see more pictures (there's over a hundred) go to my flickr and search "portland trip with melissa" or click here.
hawthorne hostel portland OR
holy moly! what a weekend! i'm exhausted and have just dumped all my shit all over the floor and lined my laundry and bedding up in the laundry room as both of our hostels had BED BUGS, mother fuckers. i've got itchy red splotchy parts and am not that paranoid about their travel, but need to get my last load in the washer before night fall. or bed time. that's when they come out. *i have since received confirmation from the hostel that they found the bedbugs and dealt with it, so please still stay there it was a great hostel!

the main highlight of the trip, other than spending four days with the wonderful girl of the north country, was food. lots and lots of food. from diners, groceries, coffee shops, and food carts. we also did other cool things like go to the art gallery, go antique-ing, watch away we go, buy craft supplies, and in general drive around and listen to mirah. oh yeah, and eat doughnuts, we ate a lot of doughnuts.

melissa's awesome tattoo
girl and her new (fake) art tattoo.

voodoo doughnuts, portland OR
our twin portland creams from voodoo doughnuts. mine, on the left, is vegan. girl's is regular. they were so good. collectively we ate over a dozen doughnuts in 3 days. here are more doughnut pictures.

junior's cafe portland OR
junior's. we had breakfast here on sunday. i ate so fast.

sweet vintage finds, STARS antique mall portland
cool things from stars antique mall!

made in oregon!
made in oregon!!

9.01.2009

task #6: read 6 canadian fiction books

oh, how the tasks continue. since i made major headway with my thesis today/yesterday i just picked my 6 books! They may not be read in the following order, but i'll cross them off as i go. so if you want to follow this one, bookmark the post and keep track of it in your bloglines or something, i'll post little reviews, too!

1. never cry wolf by Farley Mowat
2. the diviners by Margaret Laurence
3. from stone orchard by timothy findley
4. the bewilderments of bernard willis by aaron peck
5. nikolski by nicolas dickner
6. turtle valley by gail anderson-dargatz shitty! the emotions and communications were boring and telling. you knew where the story would go though the twist at the end "got me" it made sense faster then it played out. romance was lame and protagonist was disappointing in her struggle.

and let me just close this by saying that i must thank the incredible vanoronto and KTkabOOom for hooking me up with books!

"part of me won't let me quit"

Good call, Apartment Therapy, good call. When Stewart works closes we both usually eat particularly shitty. Kraft dinner, frozen foods, bowls of popcorn, and slurpees. But, this week I've been trying to make it better. I'm not sure what's come over me? Probably ovulating or something.

Last Night: Leftover Eggplant Bharta, wild rice mix, peanut/cabbage salad, and tamarind sauce.
peanut slaw with leftover eggplant bharta, wild rice mix, and tamarind paste


Tonight: Leftover salad with a pizza or two. With goat cheese, chorizo, portabello, and homemade tomoato sauce (so easy!)
mini pizzas cooking

Reasons the new BC budget should piss you off

HOLY MOLY! Where to start? First, the whole Liberal Government sucks balls. i'm so full of rage i'm not really coherent, but below is a list of the things that are ridiculous. R I D I C U L O U S ! ! ! The general feeling of the whole shebang is 1. olympics = good and 2. let's make something better and more successful by taking money away from it! good job! NOTE: when I show budget cuts below I'm not ignoring any new programs/increases, there's a few there, but the cuts OUTWEIGH them by lightyears.

1. Min of Education hopes to raise the percentage of adults who can read successfully (literacy) from 66% to 67% within this fiscal. BUT: public libraries are seeing a funding decrease of 2.5M within this fiscal. I'm not sure if this includes the 1.6M cut of the adult literacy programs??

2. Education programs are being cut a total of 54.8M dollars in this fiscal. (Min of Ed document)

3. Culture and the Arts in BC are being cut (new stories). The Min of Tourism, Culture and the Arts sees arts/culture as restricted to the Olympics with this budget: "There are clear opportunities to boost the standing of arts and culture in the province, including the
2010 Cultural Olympiad, the final in a series of three multi-disciplinary cultural festivals that form the cultural pillar of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games."

4. There is actually a DECLINE in tourism revenues in the Ministry's Budget: 13.8B this fiscal to 13.3B next fiscal (you know, the one with the OLYMPICS??) (Min of Tourism document).

Other funding declines with their "Strategy":
>Arts and Culture 19.5M 08/09 fiscal >> 3.67M 09/10 fiscal
>Funding Transfers to other agencies 298M 08/09 fiscal >> 75.3M 09/10 fiscal
>BC Arts and Culture Endowment 8.3M 08/09 fiscal >> 1.5M 09/10 fiscal

5. Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport: Their "strategy" is here.
There is so much to report on in this one, so just read it! but, there's a total loss of 67.5M from their budgets with the highest cut at just under 50% to Population and Public Health Nurses. Here's a story about how it's affecting people in my community, both jobs and services.

6. There's an 82M reduction in payments to municipalities! Fuck!

7. Ministry of Housing and Social Development? An 80.2M increase in Community Living BC. A 1.5B increase in income assistance. A 4.1M decrease in Employment Insurance. A 66.3M decrease in Housing supports. So, more welfare, but less help with EI and getting stable housing so people can work to get off of welfare? Also an increase in the amount for # of people receiving disability, which is awesome, but perhaps they're just restructuring it and those on disability who received housing supports won't get it anymore? Read more rhetoric here.

OBVIOUSLY, i could go on and on and on about the cuts, but i'll leave you with some tidbits of the Minister's throne speech. and, if any of this pisses you off: call, visit, and write your MLA! speak out publically against them in student papers, city-based papers, staff meetings, etc. THIS ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH! WE NEED CHANGE!


> "Mr. Speaker. This government has always been committed to prudent fiscal management."

> "Of course, we have another great opportunity on the horizon as well. In less than six months’
time, B.C. will host the world at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
With 7,000 athletes and coaches; a quarter-million visitors; and three billion television viewers… we have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to showcase our strengths, our talents, our advantages.

Look what happened with Expo 86.

During the lead-up, we witnessed the same kinds of protests and doom-and-gloom predictions
we’ve seen in recent months from Olympic detractors. But today it’s crystal clear that Expo was a
critical turning point in B.C.’s history — supporting us to take our place on the world stage, and
serving as a catalyst for growth and prosperity. Hosting the Olympics will provide an even greater boost — just as the world economy is emerging from recession. "

going hundred miles per hour, with your radio on

cover drawing for diy chapter

cover for the whle shebang!

cover for the epilogue

8.30.2009

ba da da, da da shibu di doo

i have phantom planet in my head. suckers. my weekend has been good though it hasn't been full of much needed thesising. boo.

the table of food and copious amounts of wine
saturday night, dinner party. this was an epically amazing time with loud celebratory yelling about porn (and loving it), joking colonization with friends, talking about gossip girl, driving around at midnight playing music really loud (with girls singing in the back seat) and lots of seeing my ladies and their amazing food creations. i want to do that every day.

and then tonight we had a yarn swap. it was a small gathering and so fun. i stayed at carpenterknit's house until eleven! sangria and sweets and an incredible destash and acquisition. i love yarn swaps. they're my new favourite thing.

the yarn pile
the yarn up for grabs.

8.29.2009

THRIFT SCORE!!

i went to the hospital auxiliary this afternoon for the first time since it's moved to it's new location TWO YEARS AGO! i scored some sweet stuff. only $8.50 for all you see below (plus more buttons and a knitting pamphlet).

thrift score, buttons!
OMZzzG! Cutest buttons!! The hospital auxiliary thrift in PG is the best for craft supplies.

thrift score!
i wish my camera had a NEON setting so you could see how NEON that pink yarn on the left is. it's an eyesore for sure.

books!
books! i loved journey when i was a kid. and the volunteer at the store and i chatted about how awesome trudeau was and how much faith we have in his kid to rule the world and make it a better place.

thrift score, hankies
hankies! can never have too many. esp when we're both sick or we're having a dinner party. recently someone said, "you're the only other person i know that uses hankies" this i don't understand. i mean, why aren't others using hankies?

cork inside
cool canister. this was the first thing i picked up. i love the crossed pipes.

this evening i'm going to a potluck with a bunch of lovely ladies. excitement! and last night i stayed up really late and went to the drive in to see harry potter. it was so depressing! and the whole death/fight scene at the end was too short. and the way that the film was put together was awkward and rushed and it was a little obvious. and why was it so scary? anyway. i need to rest my headache'd head and then get stuff to make peanut sauce (rebar), wash some dishes, and put a cute dress on. i'd rather just knit all day. it's good having a day "off". xo

8.27.2009

task #95: go canoeing

canoeing on nukko lake at camp kananaq
a few of us staffers went to camp kananaq this week to build team spirit, go canoeing, etc. i went with cheryl from ccrr out in the canoe and we had a blast. i want one now.