return to senda

the week before Christmas we received a small envelope addressed to mimi maxwell. with all the pre holiday mail, we opened it up thinking it was a Christmas card for us - not seeing the mimi until afterwards. anyhow it was an invitation for drinks from an old friend, maybe even flame - norma jean. hmmm...upon further investigation it wasn't like they had the wrong address, everything was correct except the name. could this have been mail sent from the past, arriving late? what era is it from? is mimi maxwell a code name for a spy, artist or vagabond? it definitely sparks the imagination. i leave you with one question:

who is mimi maxwell?

all theories, evidence, and wild guesses accepted. gladly.

sugar plum fairies

may sugar plum fairies dance in your head and may your home be filled with laughter and joy. here's hoping 2007 is a lucky 7 kind of year.

absurdity witnessed: voice from within

went to the bank machine last night, couldn't figure out why there was someone at the outside one when the inside one was free. went in, pulled out my wallet, when a hand stretched down over the darkened screen from within. a voice said, Hey! i screamed and ran outside. i waited and used the outside machine but realized i needed a deposit envelope from inside. i finished up, went back inside and again - the hand and the voice. screamed again! and then i said, "just getting an evelope!" obviously it was a repair guy -- or maybe a robber! -- i didn't really stick around to find out, i will call the bank today just to be sure. the voice and the hand at that confidential moment really spooked me, i have to say. in hind sight, i should have asked more questions - after all he was pretty far away inside the machine and i am sure everything is on tape. maybe shouldn't have used the other machine. i wonder why they wouldn't lock the door when the machine was being serviced. an odd experience to be sure.

rooms with a view

here's proof our new windows are now blinking back at the street. check out them beauties. only the second floor so far.

[CM] Glico - Pocky Sesame feat. Satoshi Tsumabuki

had a pocky picnic today on the sunny front steps of our house. flavours du jour? milk+ honey and chocolate mouse.

brush with schmarminess: MUCH legend

so last night was a blast. went to a fabulous agency party hosted by Capital C, agency of the year no less. the theme was Sofia's Marie Antoinette meets chalkboard drawings as you can see from the invite. there were tiaras at the door and a tray of big flashy fake bling rings as you checked your coat at the door. welcome to fabulousness. anyhow the whole place was dripping with chandeliers, velvet curtains and amazing set design in the chalkboard sophisticated style. there were boas and silk dresses and waiters in costume. the food, one silver tray of deluxeness after another. i wish i could remember specifics, sorry foodies. i noticed this woman in a gwen stefani-esque outfit who wore her tiara well when i first arrived but we didn't chat much. anyhow, my gang convinced me to crash another party with them across town and i ended up beside the tiara girl once more. we both couldn't part with our tiaras so we bonded over the coincidence. i told her i had been eyeing her LAMB-esque get up at the other party with a fashion nod. she fold me it was one of those cheap fashion finds, not an original but she loved it too. turns out she runs a site called The Yummy Mummy Club. she handed me her card. i didn't look closely enough at the time. without missing a beat, we continued chatting about the web and yummy mummies in general. turns out, it was Eric Ehm herself.

another brush with schmarminess: bare naked

dN zipped into our local indie video store and who did he see with his wife and a gaggle of kids...Jim Creeggan, bass player of the barenaked ladies.

patience + prudence

fell in love with this charming little song from the 1950s called Tonight You Belong To Me by two sisters named Patience and Prudence. You can sample it here.

here are the lyrics.

I know (I know)
you belong
to somebody new
but tonight
you belong
to me.

Although (although)
we're apart
you're part
of my heart
and tonight
you belong
to me.

Way down
by the stream
how sweet
it will seem
once more
just to dream
in the moonlight...

my honey, I know (I know)
with the dawn
that you
will be gone
but tonight
you belong
to me.

Way down (way down)
along the stream
How very very sweet it will seem
Once more just to dream
In the silvery moonlight...

my honey, I know (I know)
with the dawn
that you
will be gone
but tonight you belong to me.
just to little old me.

another brush with schmarminess: metric

ate lunch at luna cafe next to Emily Haines from Metric. how cool is that? the whole time i kept admiring her lululemon yoga gear, didn't even know it was her! she was with this other dude who looked like a musician too but i couldn't place his face. the funny thing is they were playing some tunes from their first album and i was thinking to myself, this is the theme song for the cafe! this is the song i fell in love with last time i was here. in case you are a foodie and really don't care about the emily bit, but just what we had for lunch. it was divine. organic freerange chicken sandwich with sundried tomatoes and a side salad. dN had the pork sandwich special.

listen up

new fav, give it a listen. www.jimnoir.com

one man's trash

recycling day, garbage day, you know the drill. one week it's blue bin, the next trash. green bin every week. our neighbour, an older Portuguese gentleman had us cracking up this week. despite our efforts to clarify things for him, he is convinced there is a garbage conspiracy against him. every week he puts all his undivided trash out on the curb. every week he shakes his head when some of it is left behind. he noticed everyone's green bin was picked up every week. so he invested in 5 green bins and placed his trash in them, then placed them on the curb and watched.
so we witness him opening the neighbours green bins -- empty. and then opening his own -- still full of trash. couldn't figure out what the trash guys have against him. he looked accusingly at us, like we are somehow in on it.

now...chocolate?

first spinach, then carrots. now chocolate? i think i jinxed chocolate eaters with that first post. the convenience store on the corner was selling them 2 for 1. discount poison.

fortune teller: redux redux

again and again. pinged my friend about his baby, hadn't talked to him in ages. they are due in november but i had a hunch. anyhow, sure enough he messaged me from the hospital. his wife was in labour, they were due to have their baby within the hour.

a moment of silence

we observed a moment of silence at 11 o'clock for remembrance day today, it was the middle of my first laughing yoga class. it was such a contrast, the one moment everyone sat in stillness, reflection. the rest of the class was a comical succession of exercises meant to get people laughing, even fake laughter was encouraged because it leads to real laughter eventually. there doesn't have to be a reason. they even do a laughing meditation where the lights go down and people lie on the floor and then just laugh themselves silly, eventually ending in an ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. as crazy as it sounds it is oddly addictive, really makes you feel so great, full of happiness and appreciation for life. a lovely mix of people from all walks of life gathered, all united with the sole purpose of laughter. isn't that beautiful?

taxi cab wisdom: trinidad style

took another crazy cab ride yesterday, this cabbie was from trinidad. wild grey hair tucked under a ball cap, a blanket shawl coat, chucky e cheeze sketches of his grandkids and stories about his life in trinidad, divorce, friends lost over money issues, his flashy boat and time in prison. yes, it was a long cab ride but he had such a fire and wit to him i just had to smile and beg him to keep telling me stories. he went on and on about "people have no class" and how one of his friends who scrimped and saved to buy a house only to serve tiny, sour grapes when visitors came by. he said the greatest gift in life is contentment, whether you are rich or poor -- to be content in life, that's what it is all about. i've come to expect a dose of philosphy with every cab ride. sweet.

when a white cat crosses your path

is it good luck? well hopefully it makes up for the weekend. let's just say that it felt like the weekend gods were conspiring against us 80% of the time. though i met a friend for tea today and she told me about this yoga laughing class where people gather to laugh for healing. sounds new age-y but interesting. a social experiment. i wanna try it. apparently kids laugh 300 times a day, and adults only 19 times. she went to the class with a friend and felt so relaxed and happy afterwards. LOL X300, go ahead, I dare you.

if you carve it, they will come

(photo stolen from flickr) we went to fiesta and all that was left were the tiny pumpkins, so dN carved three crazed mini pumpkins, two were one eyed beasts with pointy teeth and we sat out on the front porch with our toques to hand out chocolate goodness to those who came looting.

this one kid said in mobster-style, hey what're you guys do-in? like we were up to no good or something, we said "renovations." the door was cranked open and behind us you could see our work.in.progress illuminated by construction lamps. the first crew had a cranky belle, who when asked who she was replied haughtily "Belle!" and stormed off. cranky belle, that is! it was pretty funny. there was one kid dressed as a bird, probably 3 or 4 years old. he happily declared "i'm a bird!" we also had cbc radio bellowing "the raven" by edgar allen poe for impact. quoth the raven, `nevermore.'


our street is a mix of over the top halloween houses with all the tricks, music, tomb stones, strange mood lighting and then the anti crew who don't turn their lights on, not even blinking at the parade in the hood.

trick or treat.

sopranos-athon

confession: we have been watching season upon season of the sopranos lately. everywhere we turn, we think we see mobsters. fugedabudit.

koco ny: the perfect card

koco ny: these are my favourite cards on the planet. art meets poetry = sublime

found this article about the company in my web travels today. how cool is that? i have a few friends that are anti-cards, but let me tell you...sometimes the card is the best part of the gift. long live the greeting card!

fisticuffs

fisticuffs - a fight with bare fists

on sunday i went to the movies in yorkville and there was a car stalled on the one-way street blocking car upon car with no end in sight. well, ok a two hour wait for a tow truck but almost no end in sight. apparently there were frozen brakes and the car couldn't even be pushed to the roadside. we found out the news from a fellow walking the sidewalk who told us some of the drivers almost got into "fisticuffs" over the issue. now, as rough and tumble as this sounds for us uber polite canadians -- i found the expression fisticuffs kind of sweet and old fashioned. i imagine two handsome gents getting into fisticuffs over some pretty lady. cartoon wounds, not real ones. the kind accompanied by Bam! Gadzooks! and a gigantic yellow starburst of some sort. as a lover of nostalgic words, i beg you to post some of your favs, pretty please. zesty, i know you have it in you.

a matching set

of twisted ankles! dN twisted his left foot at volleyball yesterday, he's on crutches. what a pair! unbelievable but true. hopefully the wicked winds of luck have blown thru town.

luck be a lady tonight

friday the 13th folks, beware the twists of fate.

first sight of snow

not even halloween yet and snowflakes were caught streaming across familiar skies. brrrrrrrrrr....feel the chilly.

water works

as we approach the luckiest day of the year, it seems every day there's a new catastrophe. yesterday, killer carrots. today, water fiasco. we had city water officials come by the office, two plumbers and my landlord camped out almost all day fixing some hairline fracture in a pipe. we were without water for about 4.5 hours. not exactly a catastrophe but still everything seems to be tending towards chaos lately.

what are you planning to do to ward off evil on friday the 13th? grab your clove of garlic and leave me a comment sharing tales of unluckiness near and far. i dare you.

killer carrots

first spinach, now carrot juice. who knew it could be so dangerous to be a health nut? i have bought this juice quite a few times and shudder to think if i accidentally, absent-mindedly had forgotten to refrigerate for a few hours. what kind of twisted world is it that millions of donut-eaters, chocolate addicts, & twinkie fans survived in true homer simpson bliss while the poor carrot juicers and spinach eaters suffer dire consequences?

such shocking symptoms:

Symptoms of botulism can include: double-vision, droopy eyelids, altered voice, trouble with speaking or swallowing, and paralysis on both sides of the body that progresses from the neck down, possibly followed by difficulty in breathing. Anyone experiencing these symptoms should seek immediate medical attention.

unbelievable but true. sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

give thanks

here's wishing everyone a happy thanksgiving. turkey, pumpkin pie, fall walks with tons of colour - hopefully minimal drama with the family. here's thanking the heavens for good health, good friends, and the sweet moments in life.

oh, the dish

ok folks, the story begins. last weekend our neighbour installed this eye sore of a satellite dish, pretty much as close as possible to the dividing line on our semi. we called the home owner to let her know her tenant had done so and asked nice and politely if she would mind asking the tenant to please move it. she seemed not to care. still feeling that chilly retort.

in addition to being an eye sore the satellite blocks part of the view from our front tiny window.



now as much as we respect their right to do as they please with their house, would it have been so terrible to install it in a less intrusive place, let's say one that does not block the view at all from my soon to be office?

are we over-reacting? feels so unreasonable and rude.

a little slice of heaven

flashback: sept 2003, laduree on rue bonaparte. we slid a note beneath the latest "collection" of delicate macaroons behind glass in the chocolate shop. tasted as many flavours as possible on the pont des arts strewn with student artists and distracted parisian locals. a little piece of heaven. established in 1862, no less. the french are so damn cool.

more taxi cab drama

took a cab today and we got a flat tire, on the gardiner just before the jameison exit. you can imagine with my swollen ankle that i wasn't about to walk from there. so the cabbie offered to drive us to king. it was the lumpiest ride ever but i am just glad we didn't end up in an accident. the moment we got out of the cab, another car sped thru the intersection almost hitting a school kid playing chicken with it. crazy day, i tell you.

hairspray

john waters has been around town shooting hairspray with john travolta and queen latifah. recently spotted the proof on dupont near bathurst, on dundas near palmerston, on queen, in roncesvales. this shot is from roncesvales near the mack's gym. basically they were hard to miss. the retro cars, massive 50s make-overs of non-descript patches of street, tons of detail. hollywood north.

brush with schmarminess: kos

a craving for a drake burger appeared today and wouldn't die, so we ventured to the drake and indulged. half way thru, kos walks in and sits with a bunch of the hipper than hip staffers at the table behind us. i didn't even notice. dN filled me in afterwards. i had burger on the brain, completely. anyhow, now that i think back, i remember thinking hey -- that guy is cool, without really recognizing him. anyhow, there you have it. another brush with schmarminess. a bit ho hum, i'm afraid. i will say that i thought he was British because he was dressed much cooler than everyone else.

o happy day

flashback: three years ago today, we walked down the makeshift aisle of french cafe chairs at Balzac's and exchanged I dos at sunset. there was a small crowd of family and a few friends. we took over the gallery space in the loft with our own photographs and at the end of the night there were polaroids of everyone splashed across the silver coffee bar. my crazy grandma wore a j.lo-esque number and danced everyone to shame. we have known each other almost 10 years. he is still my mcdreamy of mcdreamies. makes me laugh, carries me when i've fallen, the list goes on for miles.

she slips...

she falls. down the stairs. twists her ankle. now the proud owner of a silver pair of crutches and bizarre goose egged ankle with matching bruises. on the mend though. don't even think of calling me hop-a-long.

hot wheels

if kit had a makeover, this would be it. this is a car worthy of tricked out super heros. spotted here in a moment of uncharacteristic calm.

flashback: northern exposure

two weeks ago we ventured north in search of ...wait for it, filing cabinets. inherited from my dad's office. they are moving to a smaller space and he wanted us to have something from his business. passing the torch if you will. so we jumped in the car, hooked up the trailer and ventured north to my hometown.

once we got there, it was nostalgia city. it has been quite awhile since i had been back and so every bump in the road and silly anecdote from childhood came rushing back. we went to Deluxe, a family run burger joint known for their fries and this crazy orange bbq sauce. they have been across the street from McDonald's for as long as i can remember and they have this hilarious sign with one golden arch. kinda like -- take that, you double arched corporate giants!

some of my parents' friends and coworkers were around to chit chat and soak in the collective nostalgia. while we were there we also found my box from childhood -- the one with random notes to friends, old report cards, gymnastic medals and the like.

after a lunch of wild turkey surprize and blueberry pancakes at Eddie's (surprize! no turkey) -- we made our way back to the big village. the French River Trading Post was our only stop. got some fudge for my friend Sally whose middle name should be Fudge, she loves it so much. anyhow, that's when i snapped this shot and it brings back the flood of memories that were lurking about in a dusty attic at my dad's office. kinda funny how junk food was part of the nostalgia -- but you know, you need alittle grease to fuel such a long journey. hungry bears, i guess.

absurdity witnessed: salt

crazy chinese lady next door is up to new tricks. first a pile of salt appeared on the sidewalk out front her house, en route to our office/crash pad. today, another pyramid appeared on the road about 2 paces away from the first one. at first i though maybe someone was cleaning up from a party -- someone had tossed their cookies and this was the clean up solution. now that there are two, i am beginning to wonder if it is tied into the brooms and the water and the music. the piles seem to be somewhat aligned with her front walk, is this a feng shui magic?

theories anyone?

face lift

before: red paint



almost after: no red paint

yes, we gave ourselves a face lift at the work.in.progress house. when i say almost after, i mean that we are still planning to redo the trim and we'll be installing new windows and a double door so it's more like an in-between stage...but still -- huge change! i love the details in the brick above the windows and along the edge of the house. it's coming along!

dream life: just add pork

no pork before bed for me, my friends. brings on the strangest dreams. last night i dreamed that i went on a road trip on a tour bus with scarbie and a gaggle of girls from highschool. i had sofia (coppola) on the brain and she was there -- asked if she could go with one of our parents on their super bus because it had crazy bubble pods in their bus that you could lounge in and she was prone to car sickness. everyone looked at her like she was a diva. i actually rode a rinosaurus bareback facing his tail and was kicking myself for not taking pictures of the bears and elephants i saw stomping thru the river.

care to analyze anyone?

e-spy

read a creepy article recently that g-mail uses ad technology that scans the text in your emails and serves ads up that relate to your message. so much for privacy. i think yahoo must use something similar because i've seen ads related to the content of my mail there as well. this is the equivalent of bell wiretapping your phone and sending you brochures related to that camping trip they overheard you planning or even worse, anger management courses for the fight they overheard. is that the price we have to pay for free on the internet? we should boycott!

remember, remember

the 1st of september. i can't believe august is officially over. happy long weekend all!

twin peaks

been watching the ol'classic on DVD lately. who killed Laura Palmer? back in the day, i yearned to be mistaken for Audrey. who couldn't love Agent Cooper? i am actually not a fan of the red room with the dancing midget, though my brother in law thinks it is kill-ah. we tried to get thru the movie, but found it reached a new low in movie history -- am i missing something? the log lady, though...knows no comparison. she is quirky goodness, no doubt.

here's a great quote:

Dale Cooper: Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it. Don't wait for it. Just let it happen. It could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot black coffee.

...makes me wish for a piece of cherry pie right about now.

flatiron

why is it called a flatiron? i was searching online but came up empty handed. a few weeks ago, we wandered and snapped in the st. lawrence market hood. the curves of the flatiron seduced me. what a beauty.

film shoot witnessed: chase scene

the Trailer Park Boys are in town shooting a movie. dN dropped me off at my office yesterday after i had been out at a meeting and called to say, "The Trailer Park Boys are on Northcote street -- go check them out!" i half walked, half ran to see the action and happened to look right and then i saw the trio. Bubbles, Julian and Ricky goofing around waiting for the director to shout Action. there were a gaggle of girls in cheerleading outfits standing across the street. when i asked if they were in the scene, one of the guys who looked to be managing them joked -- "It's in their rider. the Trailer Park Boys MUST have cheerleaders on set." when the director yelled, ACTION, the trio ran down the sidewalk with a gang of goons chasing them.

sunflower soars

flowers from the hood caught kissing the sky.

blackberry

raided the garden today at the work.in.progress house for a feast of juicy blackberries. the best ones about to burst with moisture. sweet!

road trip find: abandoned drive-in

sweet birthday o' mine. went to picton in search of a deluxe lunch at harvest. we explored the town before lunch, loved the old theatre and the bookstore. afterwards we sought salvation in the sandbanks provincial park which has perfectly blissful, velvet sand. it wasn't empty but it wasn't packed. so lovely. we parked ourselves on our mexican green picnic blanket beneath some trees and lingered over the newspaper and snoozed. afterwards, we took the winding road back home and found a few more barns and fields to photograph, a cool abandonned drive-in and an uber modern winery.

brush with schmarminess: degrassi style

had tea at the drake this morning with magazines as patsy cline sweetly played in the background. looked to my left, did a double take and said, hey were you on degrassi? i loved that show. snake nodded, a yes, and continued to smoke. totally brought me back to a time in highschool when we saw Joey Jeremiah at a retro diner in downtown T.O and the group of giggling girls we were, we sent over a cherry coke as a manner of introduction. rumour has it he even considered coming to our new year's eve party in sudbury.

the big village

ah...pizza. had a lovely pizza dinner on a colourful patio at teronni's on queen with my family tonight. we were reminising about days past and my dad remembered when i was a little kid, rolling into toronto in our corvette in the evening. apparently i rubbed my eyes and in a sleepy voice said, are we in the big village yet? so that is how, toronto became the big village to our family. it was so cute to see the twinkle in my dad's eye as he told that story tonight.

closing time

just a quickie to say that a year ago Aug 12, we closed on our work.in.progress house. we've come a long way, baby! tomorrow we are going on a day trip to celebrate my birthday. stay tuned...

photo shoot + harvest wednesday

dN and I wandered Liberty village this past weekend, snapping shots of a warehouse neighbourhood in progress, it is becoming a destination and we were fascinated by the angles, the nooks, the crannies. more photo shoots are in order.

in a bid to savour the summer and to eat with the seasons, we checked out harvest wednesday at the glad. there was a tasting, live music, a collection of hippies and urban hipsters wandering and munching. sadly, the kids ran off with the duck but everything else i tried was delish.

the tax man

this is how i feel this week. i am in the he-double hockey stick world of GST adjustments etc this week. it is just paper and just money right? calgon take me away!

brush with schmarminess

had a nice lunch at one of my favourite neighbourhood cafes and asked what was playing on the player because it was so good. (answer: Calculation Theme) sounded like a cross between feist and metric. i mentioned in passing that apparently broken social scene used to live in the neighbourhood and the cafe waitresses said that in fact, the lead singer from metric lived upstairs. cool. knew this neighbourhood was cool. ;)

*think pink

there is one corner of heaven that looks like this i am certain. for some reason, these fancy balloons dancing in this window makes me think of a genuine grin ear to ear. it probably tastes like raspberry or blackberry gelato.

absurdity witnessed

the next door neighbour is a chinese woman who is prone to listening to the radio LOUD and running water from her second story window. she likes to sit right up into the screen of her front bay window. sally thinks she may play the loud music to drone out the voices in her head. i have yet to see them, but apparently she posts brooms in the window as well. is she fending off evil or inviting it in?

style.in.progress

caught a glimpse of this poster on queen street and thought it was fitting for the blog. ah, saturday. the day you pull your head out of every day routine to enjoy life. spent the day lazing around and wandering near chinatown, stopped for dim sum at the kim moon bakery. tomorrow we are planning a city photo shoot early in the morning. note to self: savour the summer it is coming to a close. the best is yet to come.

don't be cruel

elvis sighting, x100 downtown collingwood last weekend. we watched the parade and savoured the cheese.

lost package

it is funny how you can try to speed life up sometimes, and then it finds a way to slow things down anyhow. we have been waiting on a package mailed out on July 19th. express. still have not received it. have not received one notice. now we will likely have to drive to bramptom to pick it up. numerous hours spent tracking it to no end. confirmed the address several times, no problem. same one on my driver's license. ah... has it entered the ether? we are not destined to receive this package. sometimes the tortoise wins the race, if we sent it Canada Post we would have received 3 days later.

midsummer night

inventive crowd of cools at the drake patio on this midsummers' night eve. there was a rowdy bunch of artists beside me. the lounge singing entertainer was strumming his guitar, singing his version of old Beatles tunes all night. he had shades on well into the evening, was he hiding something? lemons stacked on ice, spilled twice, once witnessed. good company. there was a cop on a horse named sarge. (the hors was named sarge, not the cop.) there was an obnoxious suv limo parked on the sidewalk. lost cat screamed the poster art on the pole. was it a dream?

they say it's your blog day...

happy blog day dear prudence, happy blog day to you...

its been a crazy year recorded here. i need to keep from stressing and slipping back into the insanity.friends it is harder than it seems. focusing on the positive, there were some good artifacts found, good stories to be told. here's hoping this is a good year.

side profile

work.in.progress house update: we've been looking at tile lately and slabs of rock for the kitchen counter. wandering thru the warehouse, stacks of rock with names like white fantasy and black galaxy line the aisles. it is funny how something natural becomes a marketing dodad. more soon, off to yoga....

saturday night

snapshot: bliss. hot saturday evening spent in lawn chairs beneath the umbrella tree with a discount pizza, bottle of wine, newspaper, flipping between the jazz station and cbc vinyl tap on the radio.

travelling elves

1 part sweet, 2 parts sinister. just plain wacky. reminds me of amelie. these are the elves that gathered around the corner from the red windows below. you could almost hear them whispering to you in the wind, urging the pranksters to go the extra mile. there is something about lawn ornaments that is quintessentially summer. no flamingos here. from elvis to elves, freaky friday courtesy of work.in.progress.

elvis sighting

caught on film. elvis in leslieville, toronto. a sign of things to come. the countdown begins for the annual elvis weekend in collingwood. happening at the end of july. return to senda, address unknown, no such numba, no such zone. stay tuned.

open wide

more proof of my windows obsession. this photo was taken in appenzell in switzerland. magical elves were just around the corner, i kid you not.

artifact found: vintage bottle caps

check out the latest discovery from the work.in.progress house. dN uncovered these while i was away. apparently there was a dairy just around the corner. an artist has taken over the property and street where it resided and he renamed the alley, milky way.

the cap on the left is fuel for the imagination. the magestic peacock, the regal china lady, so many stories you wish it could tell. the cap on the right makes milk seem like cola. DRINK ME, it screams. i love how it reads -- Tuesday, is that the expiry date or the date it was delivered? Tuesday milk, so very lovely, especially since today is...

wish you were here

(flashback)
found this cafe on a side street in the old town in zurich, perfect place to while away a saturday over a lemonade.

(flash forward)
today, after hacking away at our unruly amazon, some call a garden, i headed with my sis to city hall to check out art in the park. then we went for dim sum in china town. kim moon bakery has reinvented itself. gone are the electric orange tiles out front and retro booths within. the food, however, remains solid yum. we drank tea in impossibly small cups and pondered the future while giggling at the past. it was one of those days that was so hot, it is like the sky yelled -- I am SUMMER, hear me ROAR! flip flops were the only salvation. now, i am listening to my kitchen dancing mix and dancing about the house. vive le weekend!

finally: the house

you've been asking and asking. finally, a picture of the work.in.progress house. inside snaps upon request. she's a beauty. a labour of love.

gatekeeper

wandering the back alleyways of Zurich, this gate seemed to beg to be captured on film. i was very obsessed with windows and doors the whole time. what do you think that means?

smoking gun

the official Camel smoking lounge, at Heathrow. damn that's cool. almost makes me wish i smoked. ah, the irony.

fly girl

here's a snapshot over greenland via London, taken on Sunday.

stars

so many stories to tell, will have to catch you up soon. here's a snapshot taken from a chinese restaurant in St. Gallen.

blackbird

blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these sunken eyes and learn to see. all your life, you were always waiting for this moment to be free.

blackbird
fly...

into the light of the dark black sky.

Ah...the Beatles.

the friday sky brimmed with humidity until it burst into a cathartic shower, just an hour ago. i am at a hospital in switzerland having more treatments for my eyes. it has been a good week, but a long, tiring one. two nights ago i snuck away into a small town nearby for a night walk past a church, nestled in the mountains. one of the other patients here was this svelte yoga guy in his 60s, total trip fontain material. it was a highlight of the week watching the dark sky fall, two nights ago. witnessed over a glass of red wine with the silohette of the onion shaped church top ofset by an almost full moon. there were four of us. a young opera singer age 23, a sporty dr. visiting from colorado, the yoga guy, and me

the last time i was here i could barely see my hand in front of me.

....take these sunken eyes and learn to see.

you were always waiting for this moment to arrive.

june bug

seems like life is permanently in fast forward lately. can you believe it is June already? note to self. don't let summer pass by without blinking. savour the moments.

saigon flower

late night chicken fried rice from Saigon Flower, the chinese place around the corner from the work.in.progress house. the sidewalks were full of party-ers from the Drake and the Beaconsfield -- that jubuliant, half drunk, stylish dance young 20 somethings do. i am happy to be almost done my damn taxes. (business deadline is the 15th of June) whatta week!

peonies in bloom

walked thru the hood and enjoyed the fragant deluxe peonies spilling over fences. a trio of birds swooped down on me from a rooftop above. the sun shone knowingly above. ahhh...summer is here.

trading spaces

first official post from my new office + crash pad up the street from the work.in.progress house. whohoo! the weekend was spent moving. ironically, the minute we had everything in the place, it stopped raining. on a side note, there was a dj hosted graffiti-athon in the alleyways in this hood on the weekend, in a full on thunderstorm, no less. complete with pot and toques.

artifact found: abandoned stereo

video killed the radio star and the bin killed the stereo kid. someone tossed an 80s boom box into the bin, complete with dual cassette feature for mixed master tape sessions.
posted by indigo herself @ 7:00 AM2 comments

m-eye o my!

check up: had my eyes tested today and the good news is that the inflamation and damage from January's madness wasn't permanent. they can't see signs of it in my left eye. my right eye is slowly on the mend from a similar attack two years ago. slowly, the big E is coming into focus. whohoo!

doors wide open

the drive-by...

to us -- means touring neighbourhoods checking out paint and window options on Toronto's loveliest victorians. we ended up meeting the director (must be a film-arty neighbourhood), two doors down today. bonded over our shared love of refurbished historic homes. he offered to let us come up to his house at any time to examine swatches and offered to give us a tour someday soon.

fortune teller: redux

she dreamed it, then it happened.

again.

i had a dream that my swedish friend messaged me and said "did you know already?" and in that moment, I knew she was pregnant again. anyhow, i woke up this morning and messaged her in real life about the dream. she asked what she knew, I said you were pregnant with your second child.

Then she wrote...

I am!

due in november!

two babies predicted and a first house. hmmm....now if only i could swing the stock market.

nicely is the new fugedabudit

did you ever see that scene from Donnie Brasco where Johnny Depp talks about the myriad of meanings when mobsters say "fugedabudit"? well, i have been crashing at my inlaws place all week and my father-in-law has about a dozen uses for the expression "nicely." he uses it to describe the way fibreglass is laid out in the attic, and to convey his enthusiasm for patio stones lining up just so. watch this space for more examples soon.

two slices in the same loaf

imagine going to your local phone book and inviting everyone with your last name to a cocktail party. a family reunion with extras. today, a friend googled me and i found another woman in a number of the top posts with my same full name. obviously that is the point, but still. it is a strange rush to wonder what her life is like, wonder who she is. we are two slices in the same loaf. a few years ago i stumbled upon her the same way, and actually sent her email. she is a professor or somehow affiliated with Penn University and never responded. i loved the idea of my name coming up in her inbox and for a split second, having her do a double take when she saw the from field. jinx!

a new lo

actually watched "Angel Eyes" with Jennifer Lopez last night. it was one of those bad movies that is oddly addictive-- you find yourself wanting to see what happens even though you think you know. sucked in by it. sad day for cinema, though definately not as bad as Gigli. there is this hilarious scene where she shows off her bullet proof bra. (she's a cop) in a trying to be seductive way. the vulnerable yet tough chick cop. puhleeze!

oh, j.lo what ever happened to you? did anyone else notice she is barely in the press any more? ever since Bennifer collapsed she is kind of old news.

o'elephant

look ma, there's an elephant in the yard.










he was the neighbourhood mascot. he voted for oliva chow. a small tea cup sat by his trunk. strangers left presents for him under the cover of night. one day he even sported a dr. seuss hat. i liked to imagine him with groucho marx glasses and a fake moustache. trying to go incognito. ah, the old hood, remembered.

the game

here's a taste of a recent road trip game that captured our imaginations for days.

would you rather...

have the ability to fly at the speed of light?

OR

have the ability to communicate in any language?

what about...

becoming famous for a mistake you made, but getting rich in the process

OR

winning the (insert meaningful award here for you) prize but living a life of poverty

ok, ok only one more...

would you choose to...

live a life without ever stopping in one place for more than a week

OR

live in a huge decadent mansion but never leave.

play along, if you dare.

director's day off

signs point to good that the director and his wife from next door have moved. they packed up a car and left more undesireables like mittens on their fence before driving into the sunset.

artifact found: script notes

the director next door, who is prone to depositing ash in his little pot of gold out the second story window left us some of his trash in our bin. along with random bags of dog doo, paint cans and sand paper, we found abandoned script notes, letters and papers from his film applications to various funding boards. along with a discarded pair of lace panties, ew., assorted recyclables like newspapers and bottles, and a bag full of ash. awhile ago we found an abandoned art history paper from his wife. never a dull moment. why did we inspect the trash? we have been trying to determine the culprit since every time we are away, the bin becomes a target for nasty surprizes. awhile ago, we had a mini war with the neighbours over garbage left on our curb that festered with bugs and old carpets. both neighbours played dumb but we suspected the film director since they were renovating their apartment under the radar. i guess we are sick of being dumped on.
posted by indigo herself @ 10:45 AM0 comments

wandering soul

three places to hang your hat. made the rounds this week as we finish up the new place with the basics -- like walls, floors and plumbing. i had the newly minted corner office with windows overlooking an old victorian beauty at the corner of ossington and queen, worked from a 2nd floor perch near Casa Loma and the starbucks in Forest Hill village. now we're in the wilds of bluewater beach. the sand dunes are calling. there were highs, there were lows, just need to keep on truckin'. words of encouragement appreciated.

light tattoos

short lapse in posts due to moving antics. i am either caught in nostalgia or feeling overwhelmed with things to do. here's one bit of nostalgia to share. i will miss the way the leaded glass window in the bedroom casts beautiful patterns, like tattoos on the walls. the tattoos shift as the light hits them at different angles during the day. it is art, light magic.

she's come undone

it is amazing how easy it is to undo your life. our apartment is slowly coming undone, like a tornado we whirled around this place collecting and packing and making the space devoid of character, a blank palette for the new tenants. meanwhile across town our raise high the roof beams project is in full swing. matrix style, there are wires hanging from the ceiling. the nervous system of the house rebuilt v.2.0. it is a rainy bleak day today, the kind of day that chills you to the bone. the blasts of sun from days this week have slipped into the cracks of the sidewalk. last night i toured the new hood with my good friend, sally. we braved the fierce winds and lisps of rain, the crazies and the drunks and ended up at our local ethiopian haunt where a soulful mellow jazz band made the evening shine. over a glass of house red, we laughed at our troubles and braved the uncertainty of the coming weeks together.

dream life

went to a party in an elaborate mansion filled with odd shaped pools and killer fish, long eels. i didn't notice the fish until i tried to stick my toe in one of the pools and one long silver eel lept, no snapped, 8 ft above the water and then dove back into the tempting pool. the pools were more like bathtubs and there was only one long killer fish per pool. there was an odd cast of characters at the party, set in seattle. my pal Roz had moved there with her parents and i thought to myself "of course, she fits in so perfectly here, it is meant to be." the host of the party was an eccentric millionaire prone to gold scarves and cheshire grins. anyone want to interpret?

the kitchen shuffle

snapshot of this moment: dN is designing our kitchen at our small silver table in the rumble of the living room. he actually jumped, no leapt, out of bed and starting working on it this morning. it was like his mind kicked into the footnote of last night's late night design session. we are on deadline to get the plans to the electrician and also the cabinet guys. the design is minimalist, sublime.

fortune cookie

cracked open my fortune cookie last night after a feast of take out, it read:

smile often and see what happens.

full moon } freak hail storm

maybe the full moon induced the restlessness in me last night. the earth must be unraveling, maybe it's the 8th and 9th signs. one minute it is 21C and outloud SUNNY and the next the sky is crinkling its' forehead, erupting with thunder and hurling marble sized hail at unsuspecting citizens below. all just moments before Good Friday, on the 13th day of the month. freaky voodoo. the universe roars with spring fever, officially.

to sleep, perchance to dream

been up off and on since 1:30am, it's now almost 6 and i am huddled on the kitchen floor to prevent waking the sleepers in the house. the birds are chirping. there is a yoga class down the street in 1 hour. this is a warning sign, this lack of sleep. i think the late night nutella crepe may be the culprit, partly. as well as a lack of steam-blowing activities, not enough food, and a hectic work day, small case of the blues and beiges. note to self: take care of yourself! any advice on taming the mind would be appreciated. i wish there was a perspective pill you could take when your mind starts diving deep into hampster cycles of adminstrivia. conquer this!

everybody wants in...

the bin. first it was the penultimate mumbler. an old, possibly italian, man with a swagger and more than a hint of gin on his breath. he came in search of wood for his garden vines. somewhere in the mumble we caught a story about how the man next door is crazy. there must be some love lost between them, stay tuned -- though we may need a custom made babblefish to decipher it.

second, bin diver -- a stylish 30-something asian guy who gutted a house a few streets over. he was looking for a small bit of ornate trim. you know what they say -- one man's trash is another man's treasure.

pigeon-fancier

wandering the back alley at the new place on a sunny sunday morning, one of the garage doors stretched wide open. screeches and trapped flutters. we poked our heads in and noticed cages upon cages lining the sides of the garage filled with a bevy of pigeons. more than a few ruffled feathers. centre stage sat a dusty 70s muscle car. the inside door in the garage was open to the back yard where more cages and birds appeared. the pigeon fancier remained out of sight.

motorcycle rolls thru town

snapshot: a low rider rolled past me today on Christie. an unexpected dose of rebellion in an otherwise tame neighbourhood. Johnny Cash's "I walk the line" blaring from his bike and a small Canadian flag waving from the handle bars. it was a slow rumble ride, smug even. you could hear Johnny Cash crooning from a few streets away. mothers, lock up your daughters. trouble has rolled into town.

if mac made a vacuum

it is the iPod of vacuum cleaners.

the product design, information design and marketing materials are very Tufte. who knew a vacuum could be so refined?

i am amazed at the power of design to elevate the mundane.

hogtown

strange snapshot: on the highway, we pulled up beside a truck carrying three levels of live pigs, in tiny apartments with windows for them to breathe. snouts and hoofs and curled tails peeked out at us. i'll take my pork chops with a hint of exhaust, please.

toronto: still bringing home the bacon!

scent of a woman

ah, the nose knows. i recently discovered some new scents from jo malone - lime blossom and wild fig. it's a curious addiction, perfume. on one hand it is the ultimate luxury. scented "water" -- a mini escape or pick me up. on the other hand, when you think of it as unnecessary chemicals on your skin with the sole purpose of smelling like something you're not meant to smell like. well, then it seems unwise. perfume makes a statement without words. better a whisper than a shout. i am really torn on the subject. wondering what it is about the stuff that appeals to me sometimes and doesn't at others.

imagine a bottle of "illusion" -- better than you seem to be. or realistic perfume names like "true sweat" or "toe jam" hmmmm...

awhile ago i took a ride with a crazy cabbie who had coated his seats in this overpowering seat cleaner, think febreeze meets men's cologne. anyhow, i got the stuff all over my coat, bag, etc and the damn cabbie stayed with me for days afterwards. he even left his mark in my closet.

somehow the idea of your scent lingering on someone you love seems romantic though -- a memory, a subconscious footnote.

jump! start

up start, start up, something about the cusp of spring makes you want to start -- something. here's hoping the light that spills into my apartment is full of determination. i think i'm going to take a walk around the block to kick start this monday.

one red paper clip

one red paper clip, can it "buy" you a house? check out this story about e-trading up and marvel.

it's friday, i'm in love

as the promise of the weekend settles into your step and your mind begins to wander past the practical to the indulgent...you know that friday has arrived.

it's friday, i'm in love.

ideas in art deco

the Design Exchange in Toronto = bliss. in case you have never been there, it's a renovated former Toronto Stock Exchange building in refined Art Deco style, downtown Toronto. it feels ultra deluxe. like nothing really bad could happen to you there. one corner of heaven must look like it.

last night as the trays of fancy bites swooped amid the New Media crowd at the Design Exchange, i caught myself reminising about the heady early days of life in Silicon Valley at the start of the internet boom. i worked for the founder of Alta Vista at the time and we used to sit in his office, watch the sunset, and collectively dream about the future of the web. it felt like we were part of something that was going to change the world.

i wish i could bottle that feeling. i'd call it "anything is possible."

cloud gazing

short but sweet. as my friend K. was leaving the house the other day, her son -- who is 2.5 years old, was sitting on the porch looking out the window. she asked him to come along, and he said "wait mum, i'm watching the clouds."

seems like everyone should make time for cloud gazing. that kid has his priorities straight.

fortune teller

buy me a hankerchief and a crystal ball, my future as a fortune teller is about to unfold.

the proof?

i had a dream a friend was taking me thru a tour of her new house. i sent her email about the dream, thinking it was an omen of good things to come. (she had just started looking for a place) turns out, she bought a house the night of the dream. hadn't told anyone yet. the funny thing is that on the weekend she showed me pictures of the place and my dream projected a modified version of that one. little did i know, that was the one. or did i?

a similar thing happened last year. i had a dream about another friend,K. in the dream she had two kids, a boy and a girl. so i told her about the dream, since she only had a boy at the time. turns out she was newly pregnant, hadn't even told her mother yet. as it turns out, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl last summer.

watch this space. this is the part of the movie where the heroine tries to nurture her newly discovered secret power.

foxtail fancy

weaving down the back alleyways and side streets in a mini van cab driven by a man from Trinidad, I say to him -"Hey what's that, your lucky rabbit's foot?" i point to a ratty tail hanging from his key chain. he smiled a cheshire grin and says, "No, man, that's me lucky fox tail." apparently it was twice the size in it's original form, and then for no reason it broke in half. the cab had an odd smell, maybe it was the rotting tail. we got to talking about the crazy things people do in the name of luck. he said in Trinidad people like to swim where the ocean meets the river, even though it's dangerous at high tide. my quirky grandma is famous for her four leaf clover finds. she has found dozens in her life. you know what they say, fortune smiles at some, laughs at others.

dancing in the aisles

went to rona and have begun a tradition of dancing in the aisles. they always have the cheekiest music on the loud speaker and for some reason i just break into geek dance. surrounded by toilets, sinks, and various gadgets what could be more entertaining? twice now i've been caught by staffers. try this, i dare you. it is quite liberating. i imagine somewhere in the depths of rona while viewing a security camera, someone else chuckles.

two brothers

you may remember our mafia guy, tony. he has a scratchy voice and his cell phone rings to the tune of Dallas. this week, we met his brother -- angelo. one brother nearly tears off your hand with a tight hand shake, the other has one of those soft dying, barely there shakes. he was an odd looking fellow., that angelo. his face was skinny but he had an enormous ass. (may sound like a mean observation, but it was really a surprizing feature on angelo -- made him seem like a cartoon character and significantly less tough than his mafia reputation would suggest) he looked like a cross between john cusack in being john malkovich and the guy from American Splendor. balding on top, long and stringy hair at the back. he liked to talk. we could barely sneak away, though he was charming. there is just one more brother in the family, left for us to meet. stay tuned...

lucky strike

she found her resting place in a few garbage bags in a recycling bin in the front yard. (i am sure the cat hearst will arrive to collect her any moment now) i couldn't bare to look, much less inhale as we pulled her from the window well. the fateful black corner is now empty. angels swooped in to carry her into her next life. her 9 here were well spent. rip, Lucky.

an appointment with god

he came into the waiting room wearing all white with white birkenstocks. the snow fell knowingly out the window. he smiled sweetly and his hands were warm. his office was minimalist with a touch of turquoise and a new age print of a sparkly blue circle hung on the wall behind his desk. the room smelled faintly like a spa. his eyes were intense. he pulled out a pair of pink glasses for me to wear. i was skeptical. i had the urge to burst out laughing, then a wave of my worst fears washed over me and manifested as tears down my cheek. take 7 drops of this potion in water, twice a day. heal, baby, heal.

packet o' spunk

rubbing her eyes from sleep, she stumbles into the kitchen to find a sky blue and electric yellow box on the impossibly clean counter.

the box declares boldly: Packet O'Spunk

moving in for a closer look, she sees the fine print on the back.

Remember how you felt after months of backpacking thru Europe? inspired. adventurous. irreverent. downright invinceable. Well then, grab 1 Packet o'Spunk(tm) daily with breakfast and you can achieve that same dose of inspiration without the Eurorail pass.

*Batteries sold separately, do not mix with Gin as it can cause hives.

there was a testimonial from Shirley in the far corner: (photo shows a wild eyed 78 year old with a cheeta print scarf.)

"Who knew there was a raging teenager within me! I haven't stopped dancing since I got started on Packet o'Spunk."

another one of life's mysteries, i'm afraid.

she's a supa freak

supa freak, she's supa freak-eh.

just as i decided to post tonight that song erupted from the telly. must have been a sign.

the biggest challenge since i got back is trying not to fall back into bad habits, lose my inner "kick in the pants", remembering the wisdom of philosphy read to me by hospital bedside...here's what the philosopher king read to me. (paraphrased)

life isn't too short, it's just we don't live it fully enough. we act like we have endless amounts of time when we should be very careful how and what we dole time out for. i think this is true for dreams too.

whenever i start to get a case of the mean reds, i'll have to sing my new athem.

she's supa freak-eh.

notice

we gave official 60 day notice today, so we are moving into our new place may 1st. in 60 days the walls will fill in, plumbing and electrical will fall into place. the count down begins. gentlemen, start your engines.

artifact found: black cat

warning: not for the faint of heart or cat lovers.

in that fateful corner of the basement, where the poetry was stashed, our plumber's crew found a dead black cat in the boarded up window well. poor thing, he was frozen stiff. hopefully, this is one of those reverse luck things. like a bird dropping on your shoulder is good luck. we need to call some kind of service to have Lucky removed. maybe that is what happens when you throw out your dead husband's poetry. someone in the heavens roared, and a sacrifice was made. our basement seems to be a magnet for strangeness. first the nativity set, then the journals, now this. stay tuned for more tales from the voodoo basement.

mystery revealed: polish journals

dN ran into thelma from next door as he arrived at the house to meet with the plumber today. we gave her the bag o' polish journals we found tucked into a corner of the basement. turns out her mother hid them there after her father died. they are filled with poetry. apparently her mother hated his poetry. i wonder what the real story is. anyone want to take a guess? maybe all the poems rhymed and were about past loves. that would drive any sane woman to stash her dead husband's books of poetry into a decaying corner in the basement. odd stash, i'll say that much.

strip naked we're fitting you for insoles

only in switzerland could they find a way to make something so geriatric, somehow sexy. it was surreal. my vision was slowly starting to come back as we headed on a train bound for a charming swiss town called Appenzell. my mum was my escort, seeing eye person. my dr recommended the orthopedic fitting from a small sports shop run by a former olympic skier. it's a long boring story unrelated to my eyes on why the custom insoles were needed. it's a bit like bringing the car into the shop for an oil change and fixing the squeaky brakes while you're at it.

anyhow, we find our way upstairs to the fitting area and there is a distracted fellow behind the desk who looks like the swiss version of robert redford though slightly more athletic. his female assistant is a 20 something bookish type who speaks more english than he does but that's not saying much. there is a large swiss woman in her 60s ahead of us, she sits beside the desk and flips thru a magazine in stocking feet as she waits for her insoles. seems mundane enough. i really wasn't expecting what happened next.

off to the side, there is a platform with stairs and a tv screen built into the top step that you have to walk up and step on before you begin, they take a few impressions, snapshots, whatever and then you go into a room around the corner. there's a curtain on the door, a few sleek modern chairs against the wall for waiting and then a computer and video camera on the other side of the room directly across from a black curtain and another tv screen that you step on. the assistant mimes to me to remove my clothes except the "pantalones and bikini." hmm...

in the muddle of half swiss german and half english i realize that i am supposed to face the black curtain (away from the room), there is a huge spotlight on me. I can see in my shadow that my shoulders are up around my ears so i take a deep breath, relax and conjure Karen Cain hoping my posture improves. next the bookish assistant tells me to remove the bikini and put on a headband (i am an aerobic queen from the 80s)...then please pull down the "pantalones" just enough so they can see the bottom of the spine. capture it on video. then this fan comes on from below, blowing luke warm air up at me. i am tricked into being the star of an orthopedic porn flick obviously.

i smirk to myself and say "Ah, black toe." Of course, my mother doesn't get the Lost in Translation reference and says, "Black door?"

across the room the assistant and robert are fussing at the computer, ignoring us in the quest for perfect insoles. what feels like 20 minutes pass. still facing the black curtain, I say "Can I get dressed now?" everyone else seems to have forgotten that i am nearly naked and still facing the black curtain. they wave me along, like "Sure, sure whatever." then two minutes later we are the ones casually flipping thru a magazine by the desk outside while new unsuspecting insole seekers arrive.

of course the insoles fit like a dream.

back from the edge

thank you zesty and not-a-poet for missing my blog and to everyone who checked up on me while I was away. i've missed blogging too. there's a good reason why there was a lapse in posts. i have just come back from the edge of blindness. it started at the end of september with a blurry paragraph from time to time. by early january, i couldn't see the toothpaste on my toothbrush or the tea in my cup, people's faces were missing, cars and signs on the street were a blur -no tvs or computer monitiors for me. after trying conventional approaches without much success, i ended up at a clinic in switzerland for treatment. they tested me for heavy metals and found high levels of palladium, mercury, lead and tin to name a few. using natural remedies, vitamins, detoxification methods, and neural therapy intensively for a month ---- my left eye is almost back to normal and my right eye is clearing too. (my right eye has been blurry for two years so it will take longer to recover) anyhow, i am grateful to be seeing these words as I type, for the gift of renewed vision and my ability to return to normal life again. it will take awhile to get rid of all the toxins completely but thankfully the dr's are optimistic for a full recovery over 1-2 years.