Prayer position

Kristi

Ten good things from this week:
1) Booking a getaway to somewhere I’ve been wanting to go for a long time. I’m very excited.
2) Seeing all the colourful leaves on the trees as we drove to and from the ferry on the island last weekend.
3) Catching up with Simone and Jacquie over dessert at Sweet Obsessions.
4) Wandering around at lunchtime with Christopher, freezing our behinds off as we searched for a hotdog vendor to feed us. The delicious Japadog was our reward.
5) Listening to the heavy rainfall outside my window as I lay in bed reading a good book.
6) Calling Hendrik at home and the humour of neither of us recognizing the other’s voice. The funniest part about it was that we’d talked as recently as that morning.
7) Going through my stuff and selecting all the photos, papers, and random bits and bobs I may use in the workshop I’m taking this evening.
8) Finding in my closet a brand new shirt I’d forgotten I had recently purchased, and wearing it with pleasure.
9) Fighting my Wednesday afternoon lethargy, with a long walk, a workout and then a twenty minute nap.
10) Enjoying (what seemed like) a bottomless bowl of thai yellow curry for dinner with Mandy.

Self portrait experiment - revised
Today I am spending some time reviewing my work, trying to figure out what I should do with cradle frames I bought to do heat transfers upon. It’s a good opportunity to create new work, but at the same time I’m torn because I’d like to use some older stuff that hasn’t been shown before.

I found the above image as I was going through my digital collage work, and decided to post it here. I think it may be the strangest self-portrait I’ve done because it is so abstract. I have a love/hate feeling about it because, though I like bits and pieces of the image, I’m not entirely convinced it works well as a whole.

Autumn red above my head

Autumn red above my head

Two things I have enjoyed very much lately, and think everyone else should check out:
1) Watching every episode of the wonderful shortlived series Firefly. Bloody hell it was a good show!
2) Eating a delicious Japanese-style hotdog from the “Japadog” vendor at Burrard and Haro Street. It comes loaded with things like terriyaki sauce, shredded daikon, dried seaweed, Japanese mayo, and other things I can’t remember.
Two thumbs way up to both of these things.

Woodland elf

Woodland elf

This weekend I was away on the second annual Travis Smith birthday sleep-over extravaganza on Vancouver Island. As I reminisced about last year’s event I was reminded of this photo, featuring Noriko as a woodland elf with giant leaf. It was the first time I met her and Jason, and they have since relocated to Toronto. When I think about this and other more personal things, I am amazed by how much can happen and change in one year…

Butterfly rain

Butterfly rain

On Tuesday afternoon, sometime between my arrival home after work and departure a few hours later for a movie, the weather took a decisive turn into autumn. There was rain, gale-force winds and the kind of penetrating damp that seems to cut through every layer of clothing straight to the bones. Today I am wishing that it rained butterflies, as illustrated in the above photo taken of Toronto graffiti. Wouldn’t that be pretty?

Tamed orchid

Orchid

From Free Will Astrology –

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Most flowers depend on pollinators to reproduce. Birds and insects brush up against a flower’s male parts, picking up pollen that they leave on the female parts of the next flower they visit. But nature has created an anomaly that doesn’t play by these rules. A wild orchid known as *Holcoglossum amesianum* fecundates itself. Its male bits actually move, carrying out a complicated maneuver to reach around and down to deposit pollen directly into its female portions. This orchid is your power symbol, Leo. I hope it encourages you to learn more about self-fertilization–to increase your mastery of the underappreciated art of inspiring and teaching and taking care of yourself. Halloween costume suggestion: a hermaphrodite carrying a wild orchid.

The best part about this horoscope is that I AM currently learning to “increase my mastery of the underappreciated art of inspiring and teaching and taking care” of myself. Sometimes Rob Brezsny is scary.

Five good things from this week:
1) Finding inspiration in the window of a random store on Broadway for a future photo shoot with Christopher. This time I get to be the model and he’ll be the photographer. The new idea made us both laugh very hard.
2) Freshly baked brownies baked and given to me by Jamie. He says that chocolate has healing properties, and after eating most of them today, I now think it’s true.
3) Standing on the Cypress lookout with Hendrik and enjoying the breath-taking view of the Lower Mainland buried in a sea of fog.
4) Coming to a very important realization, with Mandy’s help, that has put my mind more at ease about the resolution of an unhappy situation.
5) A long, but wonderful, conversation with Travis about the state of the world, relationships, and all points in between.

Dear internet:

Due to a staggering amount of emotional events over the past few weeks, I’ve decided to take a little break from my internet obligations for awhile. I think I may be back in a few days, so until then please enjoy this photo from sunnier times.

Carousel

Carousel

After a very full day of wandering, shopping and eating, Mandy and I went to experience the Ghost Train in Stanley Park. We both loved it because it was such a festive occasion, with colourful lights everywhere making it feel like a carnival. The B-movies theme for the train ride was fun, and we rode slowly through the dark and foggy forest passing by giant killer bees and mad scientists. It was the perfect evening to go.

Veiled

Veiled

Something to keep in mind this weekend is that tomorrow is World Toy Camera Day! I think I will take my holga out for a photo walk if it’s sunny enough, and celebrate by taking pictures.

If you have a moment, please take the time to go and sign an online petition concerning budget cuts to Canadian museums. “Save Museums!” is available here: www.petitiononline.com/MapCuts/petition.html

For further information on the cuts to museums in Canada and reactions go to: www.museums.ca

Siamese kitten

Siamese kitten
I took this photo at the end of August when I was visiting the Sunshine Coast with Gail. I can’t remember the kitten’s name, but she was a sweet one. I sometimes miss the feline company, the furry cuddles and happy purrs, but there are always cats I can visit for that. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Five great things from today:
1) A long overdue talk with a friend about our friendship
2) Conversation over homemade hot chocolate and apple crisp
3) Remembering how to reach out
4) Accepting that today was just not going to be the productive day I wanted it to be
5) Giving myself something creative to look forward to