Vancouver, again

For the second time in 2011, me revoilà in Vancouver.

It's okay that it's raining. That's what Vancouver does. At least I get a break from winter boots for a while.

Inner voice: HEY! Stop that. Writing about the weather? Come on, you're above that. You hate it when people talk about the weather because they have nothing better to say.

Me: You're right, inner voice. Sorry about that.

Yesterday I had lunch with high school friends Jeremy and Meera. I found it interesting how we all kind of made excuses for what we were doing or not doing with our lives. I want to be more free-spirited and less attached to material things. I want to be able to take risks without making myself sick with fear. I want to re-learn how to live cheaply. I want to stop wanting and start doing.

slice of life

Amazes me the extent to which a sesame seed lodged intradentally can overshadow all.

Perception

Imagine how intolerably dull life would be if predictable. Measurable. Unvarying. Shake it up! Even when it's terrifying or unsettling. Especially when.

slice of life

As the cold season sets in, I'm finding myself relishing the quest for comfort. Fire in the fireplace, braised roast in the oven, Peter Gabriel on the stereo. Cocooning time! Love it.

News from New York, no. 5

Saturday: Montclair, NJ.
Playground has soft ground instead of concrete, which confused me no end. I guess kids don't want to break their arms anymore. Gee.
Nummy Ethiopian food at Mesob. Nummy.
Went to see "Copie conforme" and hated it.
Nummy gelato. Nummy.

Sunday: Legos with Noa, back to NYC too see the Prepare graduation. I am going to do that course.
Now for the music portion of the trip, jammed into one intense evening:
Sebadoh at Bowery Ballroom
Agitator in Brooklyn at some place that I should probably not advertise

Monday: I successfully resisted the temptation to spend more $$, ate tasty tacos with old Seattle pal Andrew "Treadmill" Blackwell, who has turned out to be a truly fascinating guy, and then I returned to Mtl.

Whew! What a trip. What a town. Must go more often.

News from New York, no. 4

um. Friday, April 8: Brooklyn. Ah Brooklyn. I really like it. Setting out relatively late, Urbanspoon told me where to go and so I went for a lovely brunch—Eggs Rothko: Easy-cooked egg in a slice of Amy's brioche and topped with Grafton cheddar. Served with broiled tomatoes and a side of meat or seasonal vegetables—at Egg. Oh my. Oh my my. I think I'm starting to understand this "comfort food" thing that's been going on. Yup. I like it. I do. Check this out!

So... I was determined to stay in Brooklyn. I had suffered too much. It was resting time. Me time. That brunch was a fabulous start. Now to feed the soul. Off to the Brooklyn Museum!

I found out from my knowledgeable and fabulous um... landlady, Ean, that Brooklyn would be one of the biggest cities in the U.S. if it weren't just a borough of New York. I dug a bit more, and it would in fact be #4! Right behind Chicago. In your face, Houston! You'd be number five! Sorry, that was uncalled for. All of this to say, Brooklyn is Big. So to get from Williamsburg to Prospect Heights (two Brooklyn neighbourhoods), the best way is to take the subway into Manhattan and another one back out again. I had vowed not to set food in Manhattan for the entire day. Oh bloody hell. It's just the damned subway.

The Brooklyn Museum was pretty damn cool. I really liked the Rodin sculptures and the gorgeous fabric canopies in the Great Hall. But what drew me there in the first place was the Lorna Simpson exhibition – it's there until August so check it out.

Huh?

What a great day. Now I head off to Montclair to hang out with the cutest family in New Jersey!!

News from New York, no. 3

Georges Dambier Marie-Helene Arnaud, Cap d'Antibes, Elle, 10 juin 1957
gelatin silver print
(I gawked at this one for a while. Wha?)

Georges Dambier
Marie-Helene Arnaud, Cap d'Antibes, Elle, 10 juin 1957

gelatin silver print

(I gawked at this one for a while. Wha?)

Here I am, nearing the end of my New York week. I need a break from Manhattan's noise and speed so today is a Brooklyn day. A relaxing Brooklyn day. My feet still ache from wandering around, with, of course, my bag loaded down with stuff. Today I take it easy.

Quick recap of Thursday: shoppin! Strand Bookstore and Dean and Deluca (hence the heavy bag), followed by more Soho wandering. Then I said to myself, I said, "Self, let's go relax and look at art!" So uptown I go. First the truly lovely but small George Dambier exhibit at the Bonni Benrubi Gallery on East 57th. That part of town makes me nuts. So I rush off to the Guggenheim. But it's closed on Thursdays. Bloody hell. Central Park is a bit muddy so I resist the urge to collapse in a heap, and drag my sorry self back to Brooklyn.

News from New York, no. 2

next installment. I don't even know if anyone is reading this. Monday was a fun shopping day in Williamsburg -- there are a lot of great thrift stores. A lot of good food stuffs. And a lot of people wearing skinny jeans ick. Tuesday... um, I can't remember. Oh yeah. I went to eat a late lunch at Momofuku Noodle Bar (WOW!), then the Jewish Museum, then the Marimekko store, where I essentially lost my mind. Met up with the fabulous David for dinner and drinks. We ended up at a really sweet piano bar called Marie's Crisis, where everyone belts out showtunes, including the waitstaff. I only knew about 3 songs, but the enthusiasm was infectious. Wednesday a bit of a write-off, slept most of the day. I'm on vacation, ok? What do you want from me? I'm glad I rested, because then I went to see a crazy loud, high energy, freekin unbelievably AMAZING show called Fuerza Bruta: Look Up, which I could not possibly begin to describe. Just go. Really. Trust me.

Yep, that's the kind of crazy you will see if you go to this show

K bedtime. Tomorrow is another day. I love New York.

News from New York, no. 1

aleau ! je suis à New York. Vendredi j'ai fini ma grande carrière illustrée chez Desjardins.

Ensuite samedi ma fille a quitté le nid pour aller vivre à NDG avec des amis, et j'ai conduit le camion. C'était débile. Moi à travers tout ça avais développé une infection urinaire, donc après cinquante million arrêts-pipis misérables au milieu du démènagement je suis allé passer qq heures dans une clinique pour avoir mon ordonnance de cipro. Whew. Et on retourne charrier des meubles super lourds et des boîtes mal paquetées. Entékas c'était un calvert de 12 heures solides, à la fin duquel je me sentais comme si j'avais passé la journée en-dessous du camion et non au volant.

Dimanche matin je me lève avec une mal de tête épouvantable, je fais mon sac rapidement (as well as I could with all of my clothing in plastic bags since I gave my bedroom set to Sophia) et je saute dans un taxi pour l'aéroport. Aussitôt assise dans l'avion la pression est tombée.

What the hell was I thinking? A woman can only handle so much.

Now I am happily ensconced in a little corner of a little apartment in wonderful Brooklyn. Yesterday we went out for beers and then ordered in burgers from... what the hell was that place called... Dumont? Yeah. OH MY GOD. So good. I told Patrice I needed to stop eating so many burgers, but how can I when such fabuliciousness exists in the world? Ah what the hell. I'm going to spend the week indulging myself. So there, Reasonable Eva. This week Indulgent Eva is in charge. heh.

Well I must sign off and go discover stuff. The sky is grey and the street is wet, but I am full of sunshine in my soul. Did I just write that? Wow. Better quit while I'm ahead.

Inspiration, where are you?

I'm at that stage of the report where I actually have to pay attention, and it shows. I'm finding ridiculous mistakes that never should have appeared in the first place. I am nervous. I can't wait for it to be sent to the printer and too late to do anything. I won't even look at the final product. I'm going to give all the previous years' copies away.

So here I am, cutting cutting cutting all those ridiculous excess words (there are so many of them!), mining the Synonym Finder, reading everything out loud in a singsongy voice to see if it has any damned impact or whether it rings false like it always does. I'm done with this blather. On to something else. Better? Maybe. Probably. Different. That's all. Deep sigh.

island

The word island comes from Middle English iland, from Old English igland (from ig, similarly meaning 'island' when used independently, and -land carrying its contemporary meaning; cf. Dutch eiland ("island"), German Eiland ("small island")). However, the spelling of the word was modified in the 15th century due to an incorrect association with the etymologically unrelated Old French loanword isle, which itself comes from the Latin word insula. Old English ig is actually a cognate of Latin aqua (water).

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island)

uh-huh

island
eye-land
I-Land