March Book List

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain (non-fiction, library)
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen (re-read, e-book)
No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies by Naomi Klein (non-fiction)
Kidnapped in the Yukon by Lucy Burton Woodward (second-hand/Nicole)
Opus 100 by Isaac Asimov (non-fiction, second-hand/Value Village)
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (library)
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (re-read, e-book)
Beowulf (library)

Recommended // All! Well, maybe not Kidnapped in the Yukon. Sorry hun. Did you want it back?

GOAL SUCCESS // I can't believe I finished my three non-fiction books for the year this month! And they were all really good! I am always impressed with Isaac Asimov's writing style, and self-deprecating humour, and Opus 100 was full of great things. Essentially, he looks back at his writing until that point - one hundred books in total - and gives you little insights into how a lot of them came into being, mistakes that were made, etc. A lot of it is a fun look into the publishing business - as it existed back then - and how much he enjoyed writing! I didn't realize that most of the books he has written are non-fiction. I've got a whole bookshelf of sci-fi titles that I really want to tackle now. I have a whole post started that's dedicated to Quiet...I just have to figure out what I want to say!

Surprised Me // The Little Prince was amazing. I can't even begin to describe how wonderful, and moving it was, despite being a book written for children. I thought I would include some of my favourite passages here today.

"The fact is, I don't want my book to be taken lightly. Telling these memories is so painful for me. It's already been six years since my friend went away, taking his sheep with him. If I try to describe him here, it's so I won't forget him. It's sad to forget a friend. Not everyone has had a friend. And I might become like the grown-ups who are no longer interested in anything but numbers."
......
"The only things you learn are the things you tame," said the fox. "People haven't time to learn anything. They buy things ready-made in stores. But since there are no stores where you can buy friends, people no longer have friends. If you want a friend, tame me!"
......
"Good-bye," said the fox. "Here is my secret. It's quite simple: One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."

So Lame...I Just Gave Up // Jared Diamond's Guns Germs & Steel. Holy doodle, talk about boring. And I usually love this kind of stuff! He's looking back through the entirety of human history (and pre-history) and attempting to completely explain why development occurred where it did, and why people from some areas of the globe seemed to dominate history so much more than others. What factors lead to this, and blah blah blah. I just couldn't get in to it, so it went back to the library. I moved on to John Milton's Paradise Lost and am much happier for it!

And that is another month in books...

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Live & In Person

Date: Friday, January 25

Location: The Arden Theatre, St. Albert

Cast: Me & Dan (aka BFF)

The Why: Ben Sures IN CONCERT!

About a week or so before the show, I found out about the show thanks to an ad in the lovely Vue Weekly. I know Dan is a big fan of Ben Sures (thanks to the Irrelevant Show) and I am slowly becoming a fan (through ripping borrowed CDs from the library), and I thought it would be a real treat to go, so I ran it by him! Thankfully, he said yes so I called the Box Office - "your call is important to us, please stay on the line" - and picked up a couple of tickets.

There was another gentleman on the bill, and we joked that he "closed" for Ben, instead of what was obviously the case (Ben opened for him...semantics). We didn't enjoy Del Barber near as much. For one, he has no songs about magic ray guns, and revolutions in Bolivia. And also he wasn't as completely adorable and dorky as Mr. Sures. I mean, look at how cute he is! It isn't often that I can put my arm around the shoulder of a gentleman. And his glasses, well, you can guess how I feel about them.

Icing on Cake: Two days later he friend-requested me on Facebook with his personal account. And then messaged me to say it was nice meeting me at the concert! It was that skirt, I think....

Thanks for coming with me, BFF! And thanks for posing for a picture, even though I know how much you just hate that! (wink)

I can't wait for our next Arden Outing. If you wear your bow tie again I promise to wear my ridiculous skirt! Or perhaps that should be I promise not to wear it...hmmm (wink)

"Intimacy is the capacity to be rather weird with someone -- and finding that that's okay with them"
-Alain de Botton

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Real Life

We have been getting loads (and loads) of snow round these parts the past couple of days. Road closures, abandoned vehicles, two-week waiting lists for snow tires, and a revised "cm expected" tally from the weathermen on an hourly basis. The office looked like a ghost town the other day, with the patients cancelling last minute or arriving three hours late for their appointment! Turn back while you still have the chance!!

I am having a "deep thoughts" week, and I have not felt like blogging, or like reading any blogs even. It's been silent on the home front, that's for certain.

But I have not fallen off the face of the earth, never to be seen again. And I am not suffering from some creative writer's block, as my moleskine can readily attest to. I guess my mind has just been somewhere else.

The snow fall is tapering off today, but the roads are still a mess. I have a baby shower gift to make, and a weekend away for which I must pack. And a brain to turn off...and a tough email to send...wish me luck.

"Here he was, adrift in this great river of suns, halfway between the banked fires of the galactic core and the lonely, scattered sentinel stars of the rim. And here he wished to be on the far side of this chasm in the sky, this serpentine band of darkness, empty of all stars. He knew that this formless chaos, visible only by the glow that limned its edges from fire-mists far beyond, was the still unused stuff of creation, the raw material of evolutions yet to be. Here, Time had not begun; not until the suns that now burned were long since dead would light and life reshape this void."

- from 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

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Dorky Librarian Strikes Again

"When you have a baby, you grow eyes in the back of your head. That's what my grandma told me. Is that true?"

-Dude, just now

photos taken by me & my trusty self-timer. September 25, 2012

Thrifted // Cardigan, romper, button up tank

Joe Fresh // flats, tights

Sunglasses // Coastal

Gifted // CKUA button (BFF), plaid Lady Tie (R), earrings & bracelet (Nicole)

And to get your very own lady tie, please visit Flapper Girl! I got so many compliments on it at work, that I may have convinced a number of ladies there that lady ties are the way to go!

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p.s. Dude was very disappointed when he learned that it wasn't true. The eyes in the back of your head thing...

Sweet Dorky Spinster Librarian

That is how I would describe this outfit, and how I feel while wearing it. "Spinster" because I have learned from BFF that I could never be a (cool) bachelor, only a cat-lady spinster who buys pre-cooked chickens and tubs of ice cream from the neighbourhood Safeway before heading over the neighbouring liquor store to pick up a box of wine...

Librarian because they are awesome and probably own as many if not more cardigans than me.

So, I haven't been to the gym in awhile, and I have been lax with my "no-gluten" rule so my belly was not pleased with this shorter-than-average shirt the other day. I need to "road test" my outfits before I take them for an official spin to work on a Monday morning. But thank heavens for statement necklaces and best friends to send you these necklaces from afar. A.k.a. Lethbridge. Hi Kara!

I have an idea for a new "limited run" blog feature, featuring this type of outfit, of all things. It may or may not happen this month (or next)...

"He was, I suppose, somewhat like the teacher at the blackboard who explains and draws diagrams and gives examples, and then upon asking the question of understanding finds that no one has received his message - and fears in anger that everyone's time has been utterly wasted. Or, perhaps, it is merely the mistake that adults sometimes make in talking to children thinking that they are talking to other adults who share their knowledge and their views. Explaining the facts of life to those who have as yet no interest in such a subject, and who would probably be more interested in eating cookies."

- from No Great Mischief by Alistair McLeod

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Melancholy & the Infinite Wisdom

Rise & Shine Peeps! Time for a little Fashion Un-Able, on this fabulous Friday Morning! Well...it's Friday for me...so just go with it!

This is what you wear to run errands. Like to Safeway to buy meat. Or to Michaels to buy neon paint. Or to the library. This is also a catch-up-on-blogging outfit. I am a creature of many talents, but my skin stays the same.

"When we sleep at night -- when we walk across a field and see a tree full of sleeping birds -- when we tell small lies to our friends -- when we make love -- what acts of surgery are happening to our souls -- what damage and healing and shock are we going through that we will never be able to fathom? What films are generated that will never be shown?"

- from Shampoo Planet, by Douglas Coupland

Glasses // Clearly Contacts

Shoes // Saltwaters from Modcloth

Tee & Jeans & Purse // Thrifted

Headband // Leftover fabric from another fashion editorial

Bracelet // Made by me

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P.S. This was my BEST HAIR WEEK EVER! Oh such wonderousness.

Bright Eyes

 Gotta love those tan lines!

"But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts: and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs."
from Middlemarch by George Elliot

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p.s. for more awesome lines from awesome books, check out this photo-article.

June Book List

Can I just say that June disappeared in to the ether like nobody's business!? What the deuce!? I was celebrating Mother's Day, then all of a sudden it was Russ' birthday, with Father's Day creeping up on it. And then the last day of school hit my ass like a tonne of bricks. And now it's the end of the month, and I am on my way out west to revel in the beach and the rain forest and the sushi that is British Columbia.

Behind the Beyond by Stephen Leacock (borrowed from Dan)
Deadline (Newsflesh Book #2) by Mira Grant (iBook)
Blackout (Newsflesh Book #3) by Mira Grant (iBook)
Life, The Universe & Everything by Douglas Adams
The Time Machine by HG Wells (iBook)
So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish by Douglas Adams
War of the Worlds by HG Wells (iBook)

Everything was awesome! And I recommend it all! I'm going to do up a nice, full review of the Newsflesh Trilogy, and the Hitchhiker's "trilogy" (once I finish it).

The two HG Wells titles were amazing! I was genuinely spooked while reading War of the Worlds. And his insight into the future, as shown in The Time Machine was spot on. Great, timeless, classic short stories.

Have you ever just wanted to sit in the quiet of the day, and read? I had a bunch of those moments this month. Bunches and bunches. It was nice for my brain and my sanity, but not so nice for my to-do list! Ouch!

Also, I find reading at the gym really makes my workout fly right by. Whether this is a good or bad thing, I am still on the fence.

We leave on our big road trip today, which means more reading on the road...umm...yeah. Russ likes to drive, and I like to read and watch the scenery pass me by. And I have many quiet days on the beach "planned" so I hope to make quite a dent in my "to-read" list in July.

And can I also just say that I miss you...and can I borrow Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter for the next two weeks (or so)? Pretty please?

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p.s.

"Go West, young man, go West. There is health in the country, and room away from our crowds of idlers and imbeciles."

"That," I said, "is very frank advice, but it is medicine easier given than taken. It is a wide country, but I do not know just where to go."

Enjoying The Sun

It has been so warm and gorgeous out lately! Wowee! Instead of getting some lovely new outdoor chairs, I have been tasked as custodian for these simple fellas for the next two years. They were free, and they are comfier than they look.

And did I mention they were free? I mean, they're no awesome retro-looking ones, but a girl can dream eh!?

I love this time of year when I can start planning my garden, and buying plants, and watering things. My grass is still dead and brown...yuck...but I have loads of greenery bursting through in the other parts of my yard and that is giving me cause for hope!

Although I'm thinking of a serious revamping of the garden. I want to try and get some food plants in here this year. Oh my...wish me luck!
(Update: I planted tomatoes, lettuce and beans in containers out front and they are all doing very well!)

And now that I have four chairs, I have been thinking (more) about doing some outdoor entertaining! Maybe some patio lights are in order...really piss off my neighbours!

(more lights here Lisa...FYI)

And some food for thought on this fine Friday...

print from Small Talk Studio

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P.S. I don't know where I can get my hands on any blood oranges, but I have lots of mint growing on my front step, and I am always up for a trip to the liquor store...

Minty Whisky Sours from The Talking Kitchen

Squid v. Whale

It seemed to him that the atoms of his brain and the atoms of the cosmos were streaming through each other. 

It seemed to him that he was blown on the wind of the Universe, and the wind was him.

It seemed to him that he was one of the thoughts of the Universe and that the Universe was a thought of his.

(from Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams)

And so I bought a new shirt.

It's technically a "jersey tank" but I'm going to go ahead and call it a "muscle shirt" cause I got me a set of muscles now.

It's kind of an awesome shirt. And it led almost directly to my self-imposed online shopping freeze that will last the next couple of months or so.

This goes for in-person shopping as well. I have a problem.

Also...I need to work on my camera angles and zoom possibilities.

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On friendship...

"Friends build you up, they support you, they shine a light on your good qualities while looking past your not so good ones. They know that by building you up it doesn't take anything away from them." (from this post on Brenda's blog)

I have learned a lot of things about friendship lately...because of a dude. Go figure.

I have learned that you can do stupid shit, and it is forgiven. Or ignored. Whatever is most appropriate.

I have learned that what I think of as "stupid shit" may or may not be recognized as such.

I have learned that you can act like an idiot, and you will be laughed at accordingly, and your calls will still be returned.

I have learned what it means to just call someone and chat. Or text, as the case may be.

I have learned that if someone doesn't reply to your email right away it doesn't mean you're not friends any more. It just means you found someone even busier than you are.

Mae Chevrette's Blog

When I tell people that I am terrible at "normal social interactions", they laugh at me, and tell me that there is no way this can be true. Most people don't have this problem, so they don't understand. This type of thing is easy for most people, and therefore my little issue is a strange strange thing. Let's look at it this way. When people tell me that colour and art comes effortlessly to me and that they could never do that and that it is so not easy, I don't understand, because for me it is second nature. It comes naturally to me. And apparently dealing with people is the opposite of that for me.

I know that I am (usually) terrible with people. I am just wired wrong for that sort of thing.

Or maybe I was just waiting for the right time and the right person to come along and let me get some practice in!

Thank goodness for the people in my life that understand this about me, and have patience with me. And have stuck around to learn that I can be quite awesome, and that I am full of love, even though I don't know how to show it. And seem to love me in spite of it!

This was a post that I wasn't really sure about posting, and I scheduled it and un-scheduled it many times. But it's an honest look at a big part of my life, and I'm not afraid of sharing! And maybe someone out there will see a bit of herself in this post, and know she's not alone and that there's hope for us!!

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Crazy Gym Lady

I never ever ever thought I would be one of those people who loves going to the gym.

If I am feeling tired, or sad, or crappy, or cranky, or overwhelmed, or underwhelmed, or lonely, or freaked out I go to the gym. If I am spending too much time in my head, and those silly little things that I tend to obsess over are getting out of control, I go to the gym.

If I am feeling like I really really don't want to go to the gym, the best thing for me to do is go to the gym.

The gym may not fix all of my problems, but it makes a dent in some of the more obvious ones.

And it has make such a huge impact on my quality of life! I have more energy, and am feeling more positive and more inspired, and more in love with everything and everyone.

If I can recommend anything to anyone about all I have learned through all of this, is just to get moving! Get out there, get active, chase your kids (or your dog), go dancing. You don't need a gym membership to be active and feel good about yourself.

Because that's what this is all about, after all.

Birds flyin' high, you know how I feel.

Sun in the sky, you know how I feel.

Breeze drifting on by, you know how I feel.

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me

And I'm feeling good.

-Nina Simone

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Works for Me

I bought this dress ages ago, at a thrift store. It didn't fit me, but I figured I could cut it apart and make it into separates. But I never got around to it...thank goodness!

(photos taken May 17, 2012...ahh now I know why I look so happy!)


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I'm All Yours

"All the lives, always tempted to trade. Will they hate me for all the choices I made?...I can't stop now I know who I am. I'm all yours - I'm not afraid - and you're all mine, say what they may. And all your love I'll take to the grave.  They can't tear me down, they can't take you out of my thoughts. Under every scar there's a battle I've lost. And all my life starts now."

(From "Eclipse (All Yours)" by Metric. aka the only good thing to come out of the Twilight movie franchise.)

This is what you wear when you become an Auntie for the second time! And that profile shot was sort of a happy accident. Look how skinny I am from the side as well!

Life is not easy. Life throws shit at you, and you have to duck, dodge, dip, dive and dodge as best you can. And make it work. And make it wonderful. No matter how stinky, or foul, or difficult the Universe makes things for you, it also makes you stronger and tougher and smarter and better. I'm looking forward to that!!

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Stop Trying to Prove Something

"We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to learn to be content with what we are."
(Marjorie Hinckley, found on this post of Alisa's)

This is such a sweet sentiment It makes me feel calm way down deep in my soul. I know this. I have always known this. But it's good to have the words in front of my eyes to see and learn and take within.

I am not worried about proving anything to anyone but myself. I do not keep score.

I know what I am. I can laugh at myself, and I can let others laugh at me and with me. And I can over-analyze things, and I can feel two things at the same time that conflict with one another. I can be a contradiction and can be contradicted and corrected. I can be busy and busy and busy and busy, and I can take a moment off.

I am a shit storm of imperfections and that is kind of perfect. Just the way I like it.

I am colour and I am life and I am love.

But sometimes I am afraid...and unsure...(here...this night...this moment...)

And that's okay too. Because I am still moving and still figuring things out and still learning. And everyday I become more brave and more me!

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Kara might still have this dress in her shop, so contact her if you like it!! I've got this one coming this week! WOOT! And can I just say I love you girlie!!

Monday Monday, Sometimes it just turns out that way!

It is fine Monday morning at TM when I hear Scarlett's little voice say good morning. Or ask to see what's in my pocket...

 And then she wants to take my picture...oh my...

I made myself a bow this morning, to attach to my shirt. Like?

(photo by Self-Timer)

There's that darn comb-over again...

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p.s. Last Monday was all about VOTING DAY here in Alberta. Sigh.

"Government...is not so much a journey as a series of emergency stops and arguments over which way up to hold the map.”

“It is possible to put decent information into a Government Machine, have ordinary, good people running the thing, and a reasonable system in place, and still get utter idiocy out of the dispenser.”

(both quotes from The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway)

Embrace the Grey

 “Step off the path, and maybe you’d get back and maybe you wouldn’t, but you would be changed. Which sound like strange and awful until you realise that that’s actually pretty much how it’s always been, and if you think any different, it’s because you’ve never left that little stretch of comfort and gone someplace where what you know gets a bit thin on the ground.”

(from The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway)

 I cut off a lot of my hair. I was getting sick of it, and at the same time dreading the trip to the hair salon. So I took the $14 clippers to the back.

 I exposed the grey. The white. The whatever. And that's really okay, because I am only as old as I feel. And on a day like today, I don't feel very old at all!

Behind the scenes///Check out my tri-pod...

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A Watercolour Family

I have temporarily given up my watercolour pencils in favour of my new bottles of spray ink. Pop the lid, and they make wonderful and vibrant "water colours"...when you add water of course. And I do so with the aid and assistance of my new handy water brush. Handy, I tell you.

 And so I have made a little family for myself. These peeps will eventually end up in a journal or something. But for now they are happy to be gadabouts on this white page, chatting about the weather and about the latest news from out east, or down south, or wherever news comes from nowadays.

 They are bug-eyed and bushy-tailed, and some have leaves for hair. They are sufficiently creepy and I hear a grand susurrus stirring up from within their mix. Do not disturb the watercolour dolls, do not listen to their secrets.

"We all carry a multitude of ghosts around with us: impressions of other people, strong or weak, deep from long acquaintance or shallow with brevity. Those ghosts are maps, updated with each encounter, made detailed, judged, liked or disliked. They are, if you ask a philosopher, all we can ever really know of the other people in the world."

(from The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway)

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p.s. If you live in Alberta, I hope you go and vote today!