speaking of locavores...

here's something from domino magazine's march 2008 issue, where i stumbled across an article written about one woman's adventure into becoming a locavore for two weeks. interesting and tough stuff to do! i'd love to give it a try except for the fact that it's not cheap. (it's incredibly tragic that the only reason why people don't make better/healthier/more sustainable choices is because of cost effectiveness!)

toronto just hosted the green living show and if it weren't for the fact that i was in waterloo for the weekend, i would have checked it out - particularly since they apparently had some info on affordable sustainable living. (ha - it almost comes out sounding like an oxymoron... affordable + sustainable.)

one of our student staff today recommended a book entitled 'the omnivore's dilemma' by michael pollan... i'd really love to check it out. that is, it's been put on my wish list... behind 12 other books, and i havent added eat pray love to it yet (but would really love to read it, i've heard nothing but good things AND she was spectacular on oprah.

locavore on a road trip

i love farmers markets. here are a few flicks i took of the st jacobs farmers market - even though it was a somewhat grey/rainy/somewhat chilly weekend, people still came out in hordes. the integration of more Slow philosophy into my life has really emphasized the need & importance for locally-grown and sustained food.. and since then i've become even more infatuated with them. it's like grocery shopping, but more exciting. i love walking through the deli/meat aisle and seeing all of the stuffed chops, steaks and kebabs... they're almost a work of art. (much moreso, i'd say, than the kind that comes from a box that originated at the bottom of your freezer and you need to cut open the airtight freezer bag and scrape the subsequent freezer burn too. this fresh stuff, not so much.

i loved the colours of some of their booths! so bright and vibrant despite the flat grey sky.

i got my candy dots in the mail this week! thanks julia! i'm making them into little magnets this week ... here's my work in progress... you can actually see the mixed media box that i'm making in the top left corner, which is almost done and ready for listing. wooot!

i'm in waterloo again this weekend, so i'll be going to the farmers market for sure tomorrow and hopefully will have a chance to snap some sweet photos.. and then will be back in toronto by sunday.

awesome post of the day

shyeah. read this post.

" I know that the details are our fabric. I know that the sum of our parts and moments and magics are everything. That's who I am. I move very fast, but I live very slowly "

amen sista! so true. she's one very wise person, that kal barteski. i want to buy her book. and hang out with her. and be her friend. and adopt her super-positive (but not saccharine fairy-tale) outlook on all things life.

it's a work in progess. i'll keep you updated.

today: work's still busy ... i'm lovin' it. listening to feist and working on all things training for our incoming student staff. (there's something about playing "sea-lion woman" on a sunny day when you're in a good mood that makes you feel like you're rockin' through all the work you have to do).

tonight: goin on a dinner (and hopefully bookstore?) date with mike tonight as i'm going back to st jacobs with my mom and my sister and her friend this weekend, so we wont get to hang out. then i've gotta do laundry and pack.

oh plus, i brought vanilla frozen yogurt, healthy brownies, sliced almonds and strawberries along with chocolate sauce and my coworkers and i are going to make brownie sundaes sans regret this afternoon. can this day get any better?!

updates galore

whoa. whooooooa. so much to say and update! i still havent managed to find a fix for the spontaneously-small text in my old posts. to be honest, i havent been searching that hard... i did a poor excuse for a look-around in a few blogger forums, then called it a day and moved on. the way i see it, is that it's fate. it's gotta be. oh well.

i'd mentioned in one of my previous posts that when i was in waterloo, i drove past an old amish graveyard and just *had* to stop and take some pictures of it - despite the creepy factor. i'd driven by it serendipitously when i got lost trying to look for the thai restaurant i was supposed to meet my colleague at for dinner.. and the way the setting sun fell on the all-white gravestones was absolutely gorgeous, so i made a mental note to go back the next day when i had more time (and my camera!). i returned the following morning after the conference's morning session, and before i was set to head home, to take some pictures of it. the effect wasn't quite the same as what i'd seen the evening before (as they dont call that time of day the 'magic hour' for nothing!) but i was intrigued nonetheless.

and here's a studio full of salvaged architectural pieces that i lovelove called artefacts. every single time i visit st jacobs, this studio has been closed... but i'm going again and i've kept in mind that the hours are shortened so i'll make a point to get in there and actually see it from the inside. if it looks anything as awesome as it does from outside, i'll be thrilled to bits.

i'd love to have a studio like this one day - just something huge and spacious that's right near my house, so i can pop over and make a mess without having to clean it up right away. i think my mom thinks that i have some sort of horizontal disorder -- i need to see things in front of me in order to know what i have and what i want to use next... which generally results in me spreading my supplies and ideas all over the table/floor/chairs/anything else that sits still and keeping it there til i feel i'm done. which can sometimes take weeks. ok, months. regardless. i'd kill for my own space to make a mess... plus it means i can decorate it all i like, however i like. i always see other etsy artists spaces and get super jealous that they've got something awesome and i've got... well... a dining room table. (for evidence, see moop's workspace here. warning: viewing this space is not for the faint of heart. be prepared to turn a shade of green.)

and now for some etsy lovin' : over the course of the past few weeks, i've been constantly finding new awesome sellers who are so incredibly talented and innovative, it just blows my mind.

this is a pendant from Gazzu, who makes super cool bamboo pendants that are actually pretty similar to an idea i had a few months ago ... but haven't listed yet. what's unique and individual about hers is the patterns she's used on them - i love the varying textures and colours!

this is a pendant from 2ReVert, an artist who makes kickin' jewelry from recycled skateboard decks. how incredibly awesome is that!?

last but certainly not least, couragemylove is quite possibly one of my most favourite new photographers that i've found on etsy. not only do her photos have a quiet awe-inspiring serenity, but they also have a sense of hopefulness that really fits with her name. not to mention the fact that it's echoed in everything she seems to write. seriously, check out her etsy profile or even her blog, persisting stars. man, this girl can write! plus she's canadian, *plus* (and oh yes, there are a lot of pluses!) she includes quotes in every single etsy listing that i've looked through thus far. which makes this particular quote junkie a newly devoted fan. i have a feeling that stumbling across her shop is the beginning of a very good new favourite thing.

so. weird. hm.

k, so i don't get it. blogger is being a weirdo. i have no clue about how i managed to change all of my previous blog posts to being teensy-weensy, but somehow blogger's changed it and i don't have the patience to change them all back one by one. i'm going to have to look that one up... i suspect there's something within the coding that i can put as a preset on each new message so i don't have to go fiddle with each and every one after i post, but i still need to figure that one out. and i just got the hang of < / div>, which is my cure-all for every possible problem in my post layout.

sorry - thrilling topic! does anyone else have this problem? or am i the only one with continuous blog post issues?

regroup

oy vey. all i can do is exhaaaaale.

it's a gorgeous day out, and things have been busy. can't wait until friday at 12 {cause it means i don't have to work on my paper anymore and i can focus on - different - fun things.} like making and listing more etsy stuff, finally payin some attention to my poor altered box that i've let fall by the wayside for weeks now.

two things i'm loving today:

01. marta's post on her ever-awesome blog. she's so insightful and charismatic. i love her paraphrase of a quote:

"we pull away from things that are not familiar to us because they are strange and difficult. new things aren't bad, they simply feel foreign to us. but if we always push unfamiliar things away, we will never know what could have been. we'll never push ourselves or test ourselves or get to know our strengths or understand our weaknesses. we will never build our muscles;
physically, emotionally or spiritually. that would surely be a shame. if we always push away what appears to be difficult, we may never treasure the challenging experiences that create who we are. which is what life is really, truly all about."

02) this super cool listing - i've been really big into mixed media art {again, still, whatever} even though i can't honestly say that i've given it a fair try yet. i've wandered into it, then quit 'cause it didnt look the way i'd pictured in my head - or half as good as what i've seen out there. but i'm still interested to keep pluggin' away, especially seeing kal barteski's tiny art. i'm not going to post it here 'cause i haven't asked her permission, but i'll highly recommend pretty much everything she makes. specifically, tiny art #37 and tiny art #34. honestly, seriously. i love the integration of words with colours and images - as a bookworm, i'm a big fan of words. a well-written book or poem {or anything} can be just as effective as a thousand words - if not more. don't get me wrong, i love photography and everything, but as i'd mentioned in a previous post, libraries and i go waaaaay back. we have a little thing, libraries and i. something about the proximity of new information excites me in a very very intense way.

sunshine sunday

back in toronto now. waterloo was great; i love st jacobs. had some of the best pad thai in my whole life while in waterloo. need to find comparable quality around here now.

found an old old (and i mean old) graveyard. super cool, kind of creepy. i even managed to muster up the nerve to walk through it a little bit and have a look at the dates. some of them were from the 1700's, with the engravings all but worn off. gorgeous and serene in a haunting way. will post pics when i'm done writing my paper.

i also went to visit a studio that i'd run across last time mike + i were there; salvaged goods sculpture stuff. super cool. but it was closed, so i sat in the parking lot and took pictures of the goodies outside. (again.) i'll post some of those pics too, when i'm done my paper.

scored a kickin' quiet study room to write in the gorgeous bright markham library and have the window open, letting in the spring breeze.

bought some of julia's candy dots and i can barely wait to get them.

all is good.

wiggle and giggle

i'm in waterloo for the weekend for the NODA Region 7 conference . drove down after work today, successfully managing to get lost once on the way down to the hotel, and then found my way here. hotel room's a bit chilly willy, but i can deal with that - apparently a chilly room helps your sleep. i'll guinea pig that theory tonight, then be sure to report back tomorrow.

i've been attempting to catch up on my blog reading (and writing) this past busy week, and here's some videos that were posted on kal barteski's blog (i friggin love that blog!) thet other day. well, the first video was on her blog, and the second two i'd found on my own.

they absolutely kill me. i cant pick which one makes me laugh harder, but each of them gets me every time.

priceless.

this one laughs like Fat Albert! it's incredible!

and last but not least... this one is just too hilarious to pass over. i think it's awesome how little kids get so worked up when you dont take them seriously. for some reason it wont let me embed the video, so honestly, check out the link. this kid is so cute and concerned and hilarious.

have an awesome weekend and i'll post some of my roadtrip photos tomorrow! it's supposed to be 12 degrees out!! woooot!

the first smell of spring

so today during a wonderful thaw of 10 degrees, with the snow all melting away (sort of), we've resorted to a funny mixture of muck and gritty grey remnants of snowbanks that are going through this yo-yo cycle of melting throughout the day and then refreezing overnight when the temperature drops.

but today... today was a different kind of feeling. i could smell something in the air. something foreign. something... mucky.

you know the smell; the mixture of old leaves and new growth, the smell of rain and melt and dirt, all mixed into one. not quite the warming smell of spring (as a matter of fact, it was ridiculously windy here today and therefore a bit on the chilly side), but just the fact that there was something to smell in the air at all today was a milestone. that's one thing that i really miss throughout the winter - there are no smells. aside from a fire burning in someone's fireplace, there's nothing really in the frozen air. but come that spring thaw... it just makes me want to breathe it all in before the temperature drops below 0 again tonight. ah well. it's better than 2 feet of snow.

(picture courtesy of kosmonautica)