aozora blogspot

squamish meet up

2011-12-02T16:37:00.001-05:00

Trainer extraordinaire, Katherine and I met on the internet through our love of beagles and working with dogs that have 'issues'. Through our blogs we learned that we (including Andre) were into positive reinforcement training and that we also have dogs that require a bit of extra care.

Last year our schedules didn't mesh, but this year I made sure to contact Katherine well in advance and to ensure I could meet her cute beagles and herself in person!

She took us to some magical places in Squamish that I never even knew existed in my 25 years of living on the west coast.

10 year old Daizy!

Duke was too excited to stay still for even a second for a photo - this shot is a good example of how he was during most of our hike.

Thanks Katherine for sharing your beautiful hiking spots with us! I hope we can do it again soon!!

2011-12-02T16:32:00.001-05:00

more swimming updates

2011-06-03T18:26:00.005-04:00

I was looking at cute sloth videos when I stumbled upon a video of a sloth swimming (oh and I think it's pretty cool that they use Canadian, Kid Koala's song for the video)!! So I've decided to make the swimming sloth my mascot! I'm trying to keep this image of a calm sloth swimming while I swim so that I don't start panicking the minute I get a little bit of water in my mouth.

This swimming thing is going to be an uphill battle for me I think. AND a week after I get a 3 month pass for the length swim at my community, they post up notices that the pool is going to be closed for a little over 2 weeks for maintenance. Great.

The other thing is my extreme dry eyes flared up again because of all the showering with contacts I was doing last week so I swam without contacts today and I ended up regressing with my progress. In total I swam about 6 laps in 20 minutes with less down time between laps, but I went back to only being able to swim 0.5 laps doing the front crawl. Very frustrating.

Session	Date	No. of Laps at one go	Notes
1	Sat. May 21	0.5	totally winded at 1/2 way mark
2	Mon May 24	0.5	mental block stopping me from swimming more the 1/2 way
3	Fri May 27	1!!
4	Fri June 3	0.5	no swimming with contacts

To cheer myself up I'll watch this video too:

... to be continued ...

Swimming Log

2011-05-24T23:05:00.000-04:00

Andre, Shana and I have signed up to do a mini Triathlon in August.

The running part and biking part is easy!! 2.5 or 2 kms running and 10km biking on a flat terrain - with a little training, it will be doable and maybe even fun! .... BUT the swimming part (which comes first) is 350 metres. In Lake Ontario.

It wasn't until I visited Hawaii and tried snorkeling in the ocean with Andre that I realized that I have a drowning phobia. I almost had a panic attack when I swam out with Andre and lost a fin. Andre volunteered to dive down to get it but I freaked out when I saw how far it had fallen to and not only was I scared because I can't tread water, but I was worried that Andre would drown too. I lost the little logical mental capabilities I had and decided I had to leave the situation ASAP and swam on my back all the way back to the beach.

Not a good situation to be in for swimming in a lake that was once mistaken to be the Pacific, right?

So I went to the my local community centre pool on Saturday to try to get comfortable enough to be able to eventually swim more than 350 metres. I was talking to the life gaurd and she said that 350 metres is approx. 15 laps and that I should make it 20 laps if I'm going to be swimming in Lake Ontario. I think this summer I'll use this space to log my swimming progress.

Session	Date	No. of Laps at one go	Notes
1	Sat. May 21	0.5	totally winded at 1/2 way mark
2	Mon May 24	0.5	mental block stopping me from swimming more the 1/2 way

What I find really frustrating is that my community pool is frequented by seniors and old people, who if I saw them on the street wouldn't think they were in good shape, but they are! They can swim lap after lap without being too out of breath. And there I am, huffing and puffing at the end of the pool after one lap. wwwwhhhhhyy??

To be continued....

we're not very good at this

2011-05-07T09:17:00.002-04:00

... these days.

i've got a backlog of stuff i want to post, but can't seem to get to them. now with my taxes done and paid for, hopefully i'll return to poor aozora.ca

some R&R

2011-03-08T21:56:00.001-05:00

Petey and Duke are slowly starting to get used to each other and Petey is warming up to the idea that it's ok for Duke to touch him while they are napping.

These photos were processed through the online photo filter Rollip.

2011-03-04T18:07:00.004-05:00

It's starting up again this month! Now on to planning routes and contacting bakeries...

Hopefully the weather will cooperate!

Five good things for this week:

• last minutes plans and my parents are arriving for a visit next week!
• book club
• being able to walk past dogs with duke and not one howl
• being inspired by pugly pixel (and getting a lot of good resources)
• discovering gigi (thanks cbc radio 2)

I also have a special, 6th good thing.

On Monday, I biked up to my book club (a 10km ride one way). Things were great and I climbed the crazy hill on Poplar Plains Cres. After the dedicated bike lanes end, however, there is a part of the bike route that takes you through a park. The route is a bit rough here and the melting snow was starting to refreeze on the path.

I was being careful biking on the forming ice, but after being distracted by a cute beagle, I slipped and fell off my bike at the exit of the park. My basket fell off my bike and my bag that was in the basket fell into a puddle of ice water.

Cursing myself, I quickly put my basket back and angrily, tried to brush the water off of my bag. Then, I went over my bike for damage and after straightening my handle bars, I rushed back on my bike and sped off.

It wasn't until after my book club meeting that I realized my cell phone was missing. I checked the time on it while biking up so it should have been in my bag and with a sinking feeling, I realized it must have fallen out when I fell off my bike.

I cycled back to the scene of my accident with thoughts of hoping my phone would still be there interspersed with imagining a person finding my phone and promptly placing an ad on craiglist to sell it.

When I got back to the park, the phone, of course, was not there. A kind man even lent me his phone to call to see if we could hear the ringer. No luck. And I slowly and sadly rode home, thinking how 2011 was starting to become a really bad year.

I got home, sullenly told Andre about my fall and my missing phone and trudged upstairs to get ready for bed.

When I went to quickly checked my email, however, I discovered an email from a girl saying she had found my phone! She lived right by the park and was safe keeping it for me!!

Suddenly 2011 turned back around to being not as bad I was thought and my faith in Torontonians was restored.

a lovely visit

2011-02-27T15:31:00.002-05:00

my sister hannah's visit went by so quickly and i was so busy trying to soak up as much hannah-time as i could, that i forgot to take photos!

we mostly did home stuff and hung out with the dogs. hannah baked up such a storm (lemon-yogurt cake for a dinner party, chocolate cake for us, walnut cake and walnut muffins) and cooked so many delicious meals for us, we hardly had a chance to take her out for some toronto eats.

we even biked around together (although initially hannah didn't enjoy biking in toronto because of the parked cars on the college street bike lanes).

she was here for exactly a week and i don't know why i do this, but 2 days before her departure i started to think about how we'd be apart again and started to get really sad. i even took out my sadness on poor andre by being cranky the morning of hannah's flight.

it's getting harder and harder to part with my family ... so to try to stay positive and not so blue, i want to start a weekly good things (a la hello ... although i'm not sure if she's doing it anymore):

• we're all sick of winter right now, but the snow fall last night was beautiful
• petey and duke's giardia medication is finished
• playing fetch in the snow with the dogs
• sending a newsletter to print for a client
• making butternut squash soup

doggie treats

2011-02-12T21:03:00.003-05:00

over the holidays, shana baked some yummy doggie treats for duke and petey. with the treats she also gave us the recipe for the cookies and also a really cute bone shaped cookie cutter.

as a thank you for the support that we received from marna and erica from big on beagles, during petey's ordeal (that's a whole other blog post in itself), i decided i'd try shana's recipe to give as presents.

it was super easy to make and i also copied the way shana packaged the cookies because i was so impressed with the presentation of them. after packing up the present cookies, there were still enough for duke and petey!

a bike date

2011-01-30T17:54:00.006-05:00

biking through the bike lane in the new dufferin underpass

for a few days last week, the temperatures warmed up to around the 0 degree mark, so andre and i took the opportunity to ride our bikes to our lunch date.

with our groupon coupon in hand, we sat down for lunch at mildred's temple kitchen. and lucky for us, one of andre's past clients who is a chef at the restaurant was there and we were able to quickly catch up with him. he also sent over a delectable oxtail, gnocchi dish that just melted in our mouths. the meat was so tender!

a very cute bike mural - which i admired in the past but didn't remember the bike!

thanks for carrying those apples ms. pig

then we went off to mec and urbane cyclist to do some errands before returning home.

hopefully these almost spring-like temperatures will return soon!

me and my bike (that is getting a beating with all the salt this winter)

a new year's romp

2011-01-23T10:35:00.002-05:00

Duke and I (sans Andre, who was working on our bathroom and Petey who detests muddy textures under his paws) went for a hike through High Park. It was unseasonably warm on New Year's Day and most of the snow melted over night, creating a very misty, moist start to 2011.

made it through the super muddy trails

fetch!

eventually we just ended up walking, instead of playing fetch

looks more like an autumn shot, than a mid-winter photo!

see ya!

winter wonderful

2011-01-12T09:40:00.010-05:00

for christmas last year, i took the boys to the historic village of alton, just 1.5 hours outside of toronto, for a short holiday get-away.

alton is a picturesque mill town with many heritage buildings. because the village is old, despite being a small town, the streets are narrow and all the buildings are placed really close to the streets giving it an almost urban feel. a lot of buildings have heritage plaques stating they were built during the last couple of decades of the 19th century!

we stayed at the town's mill which has since been converted into a beautiful inn and spa.

the gorgeous waterfall right behind the dining hall

christmas decorations were everywhere

a very popular birdhouse with lots of feathery visitors in the mornings

the inn is dog friendly and our two-storey room had a great fireplace and an outdoor hot tub. because of duke and petey's separation-anxiety, we did room service for all our meals and we even brought our breakfasts back to our room (which felt more like a small townhouse). i must say that the food is quite delicious at the millcroft!

the main reason for choosing the millcroft inn was it's proximity to the bruce trail. what we didn't know until we arrived was that the inn is surrounded by hiking trails and we didn't have to leave the property to go for a hike with the beagles.

more often than not, these two were running around together

initally we let both duke and petey off leash. both have great recall at parks and urban hiking trails. we have no problems with going to parks that aren't fenced in. so we didn't think we'd have to worry about them wandering off.

the trails in alton, however, must have a tonne of exciting smells and duke soon took off, hopping like mad through the snow banks. it took a good 10 minutes of me trying to run after him in thigh-high snow before i could catch him, when he paused to drink in the the scent of something particularly good.

and with that, off-leash privileges were revoked for him and shortly after for petey as well, when he high-tailed it through the fields, returning only when duke started howling after him.

petey before his privileges were revoked - a good recall!

sniff, sniff

duke did a lot of pausing to listen carefully and sniff the air

the trails were really pretty, despite everything being in hibernation mode.

the hiking tired the boys out thoroughly and they were more than happy to pass out in front of the fire for the rest of the evening.

our little getaway was so relaxing and fun - if only, like all vacations, it could have been a little bit longer. it has, however, definitely given me ideas for another winter getaway. it was so nice to see duke and petey have fun in the snow and not get painful salty paws. for the humans it was also a relief not to have to worry about litter and gross discarded food that the beagles love to scavenge in the city.

while researching for this trip, i found quite a few dog friendly accommodations within easy driving distance from toronto. the only problem is that they are quite popular and for a holiday getaway, many were booked up by late november. here is a list of a few that i've ear-marked for future trips:

• The Little Inn
• Cedar Grove: you get your own detached log cabin with all meals included!
• Red Bay
• Millcroft Inn: where we stayed!

learning to pickle

2010-12-27T08:42:00.003-05:00

today i tried my first beet pickle that i pickled myself! earlier this month i was lucky enough to be invited over to shana and glenn's house to spend an afternoon learning how to pickle!

once we trimmed the beets of their greens, we plunked them into 2 big pots and started to boil them. while the beets were cooking, we sat down and enjoyed a beautiful lunch that shana prepared!

i think the soup that she served me was her famous immune booster soup - so delish!

but uh oh! mr. cooper (not to be confused with this cooper) got into the cookies and ate half of the plate - naughty beagle!

after lunch, while waiting for the beets to cool down, we started cleaning and sanitizing the jars.

then it was time to hunker down, cut the carrots and beets and then fill the jars!

once the jars were filled, shana did some quick math to get the right amount of brine for all the jars we had. then we filled the jars with brine and started to process them.

we processed the jars for about 10-15 min each and once the jars cooled and the lids popped they were ready!

i've given a lot of the jars away as christmas presents and hope to hear back soon about how everybody finds them!

thank you shana for teaching me how to pickle, letting me use your kitchen and your herbs and treating me to a delicious lunch :) maybe next year we can do a pickling session at my house and i can return the favour!

what do to - what to do!

2010-12-17T16:45:00.003-05:00

originally when i took this photo in august, i thought it looked very wintery. now that we are in the midst of winter, it feels very summery with all the green leaves

after a super crazy november, i'm now officially off - although i do still have a few projects to wrap up. and what seemed like a nice, long chunk of time off, now seems to be all too short.

a possibly too ambitious list for my 2 weeks off.

go to the ROM (to check out the Chopin exhibit)
go to the AGO (to check out the Chagall exhibit)
blog! i can't wait to get back to blogging again
hot yoga
enter in all my expenses for 2010 get started on my taxes
practice planned departures for the boys - one day hopefully, they can stay home alone outside of their crates without any anxiety!
train Duke to shake a paw
paint all the baseboards in the basement
finish painting the window trim
paint the unfinished patch in the living room
*gulp* update my outdated portfolio site
organize and give away clothes
set up guest room

some firsts

2010-12-03T11:47:00.000-05:00

holiday card sketches

why yes that is a beagle on a bicycle!

i have been insanely busy, in a very, very good way these past several weeks. this has made me feel very productive on the business front, but i am starting to feel a bit burnt out.

so for the first time in the history of freelancing full-time, i'm going to shut down happy D designs for a full two weeks. i'm so excited but i'm also a little nervous to do so.

my clients have been notified and i hope to get some relaxation and rejuvenation time in so that i'm itching and roaring to go in the new year.

until then there are a few big projects to tackle, lots of small jobs to complete, a holiday card to finish, christmas shopping to be done and lots of stuff to be mailed. ... but i'm feeling really good about everything, which is a first during this time of year!

i hope that this momentum continues for me in the new year!

ork posters

2010-12-01T23:27:00.005-05:00

i finally did it (now that vancouver is part of the ork poster line-up).

an ochre vancouver and a black and white toronto neighbourhood poster are on their way to the hashimoto-yeu residence! aren't they cool?

i like how there is just one designer behind all of these city posters and that she even turned down offers from urban outfitters and macy's to ensure she builds a business and not just sell out. read about designer, jenny beorkrem, in this toronto star article.

once i get them framed, along with my 'there's always room for ice cream' poster, i'll take some photos and post them up. finally, after 2 years, we'll have some artwork on our walls!

brrrrrrrr

2010-11-12T10:50:00.001-05:00

winter is definitely on it's way!

this little hound isn't scared of the cold, though. he revels in it because cool temps means he can play fetch for longer without getting overheated.

... and from the wise words of ross porter, "keep warm, stay cool and take care of the ones you love."

have a great weekend!

lucky!

2010-11-09T18:28:00.001-05:00

can you guess what i was for halloween?

broken social scene from only 5 feet away

i loved the pendant lamps at the venue

fellow cupcake rider, lee, entered a contest for a trip for two to san francisco. in addition to the trip, the top four contestants were invited to a private, VIP broken social scene concert and they were allowed to bring 11 of their friends!

lucky for andre and i, we were included in lee's group of 11 and had an absolutely amazing night of great food and an open bar. and because the audience was so small, when lee invited me to stand infront of her to get a better view of the band, people saw what she was doing and everyone around her let me sneak past them so that i could be right in front of the stage!

it was a night that i'll never forget.

more bike riding

2010-11-06T22:12:00.003-04:00

i'm so glad andre and i took an afternoon off to bike through the don valley ravine trail two weeks ago. that afternoon was one of the last nice, afternoons where we could take in all the fall colours.

today i drove down the don valley parkway and all the beautiful fall leaves were gone. the weather has turned colder these days too and now biking with gloves is a requirement.

i'm also glad that i lugged my camera around that day to record our epic ride (33kms!) so that during the grey days of winter, i can bring up these photos and remember how nice it used to be.

shhhhh

2010-10-26T21:59:00.005-04:00

i have a secret to share. i have a strange nickname - it's pickle.

andre gave me that nickname because i love pickles. all sorts of pickles.

in japan there are so many different types of pickles and so many different vegetables get pickled. but my love for pickles isn't exclusive to japanese ones, i even love the lightly picked radish and carrots that you get at pho restaurants. that being said, dill pickles are at the top of my list (but only when it's home made - i hate those mushy ones at delis or sandwich shops).

so when shana presented me with her homemade, canned dill pickles in exchange for my crab apples, i could have cried.

my mom used to make homemade dill pickles but for some reason when i got into high school she stopped canning things. shana's pickles remind me of my mom's recipe. yum yum. i've been eating them as a snack these past 2 days.

maybe next year, i can sweet talk my way to get shana to teach me how to pickle!

glorious weekend

2010-10-18T20:24:00.004-04:00

a weekend filled with lots of bike rides, dog walks, fall colours and poutine!

with the super crisp autumn air, it was a perfect fall weekend.

ambrosio evolution

2010-10-13T00:42:00.001-04:00

my new italian rims

blue rim tape!

i had a sad accident on my bike about a month ago. on my way to my freelance gig, i ran over a huge gap in sewer grate and POP! the rear wheel on my grocery-getter (so christened by andre) went flat. it was partially due to rider error - i should have taken caution to avoid that gap but the rush hour traffic was going fast and close and i didn't want to veer too much to the left - and partially because i didn't have my tires nicely inflated.

and because my tires were under-inflated my alex rim was bent and severely scratched when i hit that sewer grate. so much so that the mechanic at hoopdriver said that there was no way true the wheel. the damage was that bad.

removing the tires off of the old rims

removing the tube

i was initially sad that i had to shell out money on new rims, but after installing them (with help from andre ... no matter, with more practice i won't have to rely on him for help with my bike) i'm actually happy i made the investment.

when i first started riding with the new rims, it felt like i was pedaling a entirely new bicycle. it was so smooth it felt (and still feels) like butter. the aerodynamics on the rims must be so well designed that it just cuts through the air with little effort.

i love them <3

happy birthday mr. lennon

2010-10-09T00:48:00.002-04:00

it's john lennon's birthday today!

yoko ono is asking, "Let’s tweet a million wishes for peace for John’s birthday, October 9th http://bit.ly/IPTWISH"

i'm not a big tweeter - in fact i'm kind of perplexed by the whole phenom - but i'll try to think of something to tweet about.

autumn yummies

2010-10-03T12:17:00.004-04:00

as a child, i detested beets. i would describe the taste as the same as eating dirt. to me they were the equivalent of eating a mud pie.

thanks to the good food box, we always get beets in our hampers come late summer and fall...and now as an adult i love them! i feel like i have to make up for lost time and i buy them even when they aren't included in the box!

my fellow beagle friend and blogger shana recommended a citrus beet recipe that i tried earlier this fall. it was delicious.

this week, i made a variation on the shutterbean recipe above. here's my version:

• 5-6 medium sized beets (boiled and then skin removed by just rubbing it off! rubber gloves are recommended. sliced)
• 2 navel oranges (sliced along the boats)
• tons of parsley
• a fresh herb mix (mint, basil, lemon basil, dill)

dressing
• 2 tsp honey
• 2-3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• a pinch of sea salt and pepper

mix together and voila! a yummy salad that will last a week or two thanks to the apple cider vinegar.

my fresh herb mix was prepackaged. i picked it up from kind organic's booth at the dufferin grove market. the package wasn't labeled so i'm not sure of the exact contents but it was really delicious.

i tasted: basil, lemon basil, mint, a lemony mint (?) and parsley ... but can you identify any of the other leaves?

2010-09-23T08:31:00.002-04:00

finally! a web 2.0-y blog reader/tracker thingy: bloglovin'

i've included aozora: Follow my blog with bloglovin

on a walk with petey

2010-09-13T00:46:00.002-04:00

it was a super humid yet overcast day, but petey was ok with me taking lots of photos.

more from my little jungle

2010-09-04T00:56:00.003-04:00

who knew that 4 little tomato plants would produce so much fruit? i can't imagine how many more tomatoes i would have, if i had spaced them out properly and if the yellow tomato plants received more sunlight.

lately i've been harvesting tomatoes almost every other day. i've frozen a bunch and wanted to try drying them but partially thanks to reading no impact man, i can't get over the amount of energy that is required to oven dry them.

the bottom photo is the result of 1 hour of slicing, carmelizing and 2 hours of baking: heidi swanson's spiced tomato gratin.

i halved the recipe and it still was a lot of gratiny goodness for andre and i to devour over a week. sadly, i thought that by halfing the portion, i could bake for half the time but that was not so.

a small world

2010-09-02T20:57:00.004-04:00

when i first moved to toronto, i was trying to get as much info about local printers as i possibly could.

for the longest time i held onto a flyer from pixel print.

then three summers ago i met the girl behind the flyers through my friend the hungarian girl.

for almost all of my printing needs now, i go to pixel print and now she's opened up a store front just 3 blocks away from me!

what's more she's taken over the good food box program, so i get to go to her gorgeous store at least once every two weeks.

junctqin keyboard collective

2010-08-15T23:02:00.004-04:00

thanks to facebook i was able to reunite with a long lost high school friend. turns out she's a concert pianist now!

she is also part of a cool trio (a group of self-professed keyboard geeks) that performs contemporary music written for none other than toy pianos!

last week her group, junctqin keyboard collective, performed at a beautiful outdoor stage as part of the 'plein air concert series'.

the concert made me feel like i was transported into a live version of an episode of brave new waves or the signal. all the songs were unique and the trio gave us some background info on all the pieces the performed.

i loved all the songs (especially the ones that were duets or for trio), but the last song was performed by all three on table in perfect synchrony. here's a version that i've found on youtube:

the other amazing thing, in addition to the music? the plein air concert series, is a series that is organized and run by susan brown on a volunteer basis so that the artists can benefit from the ticket sales! ... i think that it's also her backyard and stage that is being used for the concert series. what an benefactor of the arts!

2010-08-10T22:22:00.004-04:00

i love yoko ono.

she has totally embraced social media and connects with her fans daily through her facebook and website. she is also a prolific tweeter! among her tweets for peace, she frequently proposes small actions or thoughts for her followers to try - mini, personal conceptual art projects for the masses.

what an amazing artist and activist. how she stays free of cynicism to keep on believing and fighting for world peace is beyond admirable. after decades of unwavering activism, she is still sending out messages and tips for attaining world peace.

and at the age of 66 she had her first song reach the top of the dance charts last year!

my little urban jungle

2010-08-05T22:37:00.003-04:00

as you can see, my little garden plot has grown into a mini jungle and since these photos were taken, it's kind of gotten out of hand. all the stems are growing over each other and despite the bamboo stakes they are toppling over.

last year, my little garden was a bit sad with very few tomatoes harvested. so this year, with the help of a lot of organic compost, the 4 tomato plants became large bushes with lots of tomatoes growing.

the basil is doing really well too and is probably 4 feet tall now.

lessons learned for next year:

leave waaaaay more space between the plants so that they don't end up growing on top of each other
get thicker stakes
trim the sucks

two for joy paper studio

2010-07-24T00:56:00.003-04:00

my package from the lovely two for joy paper studio arrived - all the way from london, england.

i ordered a super cute art print that i want to frame and hang in my kitchen and also a set of personalized notecards (that are made of 50% recycled fibres)!

... and because two for joy is run by the ever talented, miss bee, she included a beagle notebook that she created when she was still working at the national gallery just for me! her design even has silhouettes of two beagles howling in unison - too cute!

if you are getting married and need some invitation sets or want something thoughtful and cute to spruce up a room, you definitely need to get yourself over to two for joy paper studio.

a most satisfying weekend

2010-07-18T23:54:00.005-04:00

finally, despite questionable weather, we were able to have a cupcake ride on the day that it was originally planned for. i don't know why, but i get wracked with guilt when i have to call a rain date to postpone a ride ... it must be the japanese in me. so to have a ride on the set date felt like a big (weird) accomplishment.

i had such a relaxing, fun time with lovely ladies on the toronto islands. we fought the ferry crowds and landed at hanlan's point and then biked the width the of the island and also explored the residential area and some interesting nooks and crannies.

for more of the report, check out my blog post on the cupcake ride blog.

today, i hung out at andre's dog school in the morning and took photos of extremely cute puppies and smart dogs. and then in the evening hung out with some friends that are moving away from condo land on queen west into a house of their own by degrassi street!

i was also able to squeeze in some cleaning and reading.

i think i'm ready to face the work week!

happy 1 year, petey

2010-07-16T23:42:00.005-04:00

today marks the one year anniversary since petey came to live with us!

when we were still fostering everybody kept on saying how we would never let him be adopted and that we would eventually keep him. i guess all those people - friends and strangers - were correct!

thank you, petey, for teaching us:

to let sleeping dogs lie
that it is possible for dogs to sniff each other on the sidewalk without an altercation
to respect and be mindful of dog body language
that with positive reinforcement anything is possible - even teaching you a bite inhibition

we are so happy that we will be your forever home - we were always a bit worried about what would happen when/if you bit your new owners.

andre, duke and i are looking forward to growing older with you.

we love you!

melting

2010-07-08T00:23:00.005-04:00

a heatwave is hovering over ontario and south eastern quebec, making temperatures unbearable even for me!

we've had 3 consecutive days at 40+ with the humidex and all duke and petey can do is lie around and nap to cope with the heat.

everyday of the heat wave the weather network has been stringing us along, telling us that there is a chance for thundershowers in the afternoon. so far we've had none.

it looks like we will get a bit of a reprieve over the weekend, but the temperatures creep back up next week. power consumption from air conditioners working overtime has been putting pressure on the electric system. hopefully we won't have another major blackout (which i secretly wished for every summer when i used to be an employee).

an interesting article about how air conditioners seem to have a direct relationship with voting patterns in the USA.

photos: petey and duke, sunbathing before the heatwave

bianca's new art site

2010-06-22T19:23:00.003-04:00

bianca is modest and for some reason didn't want to share her new website here!

please visit her new site that showcases her beautiful work: bianca loves art

3rd toronto girls' cupcake ride!

2010-06-18T23:55:00.005-04:00

since my last cupcake ride report, my little facebook group has grown to 150+ now!

tonight on a bike month bike ride (andre and i participated in a west-end community gardens bike tour) i met a girl who saw the cupcake ride group back when there were only 6 members and decided not to join because she thought the group was created just for friends!

i gave her a promo card and asked her to join the group so that she can get details on our upcoming rides.

AND! in other exciting news, my friend has started a bay area cupcake ride as well! if you know of anyone in the san francisco, orinda or berkeley area, please send them the link!

an actual website is in the works and ms. sonya will be joining me in updating the site with cupcake ride news.

---
so the 3rd cupcake ride is this sunday!!

sadly we had to push the date back to be on father's day, because of thundershower forecasts, but hopefully we'll still have girls come out for a long, but fun ride!

it's ice-cream season!

2010-06-16T23:06:00.002-04:00

some of my favourites for this season!

madrid in february

2010-06-08T12:37:00.003-04:00

feels like a long time ago, but things i remember:

eating the most delicious tapas at the mercado (market) de san miguel
picasso's guernica and velazquez's las meninas (still can't believe i've seen them in the flesh, after studying them in books for so long!)
being asked to stay after the prado (the art museum) closed to take part in some promotional filming -- still no idea if we made the cut!
eating dinner at 9pm every night
the magnificent crystal palace in retiro park
dipping freshly made churros into thick hot chocolate -- the place to have it has to be the chocolateria de san gines, a dedicated chocolate con churro hang out

more photos here

cupcake ride press!

2010-06-04T16:38:00.002-04:00

wow! in less than 24 hours my little cupcake ride facebook group went from 16 to 54 members!

why?

we got some press in the toronto star!!

2nd cupcake ride report

2010-05-30T14:34:00.008-04:00

all photos courtesy of malena andrade of activitybubble.ca. of course i forget my camera on this special day

yesterday was my 2nd cupcake ride!

i pushed back the initial date by a week due to rain and it's a good thing i did! because we sandwiched the cupcake around bells on a bloor a massive ride-parade that is held annually to try to get the city to build bike lanes on bloor st.

we started at hot oven bakery where we all gulped down some scrumptious cupcakes and chatted with toronto star reporter chantal.

sadly we missed the star photographer by just a few minutes and our photo op with the hot oven bakery cupcakes, so the bakery gave us a pack of 4 complimentary cupcakes to take with us to high park (the meeting spot for 'bells on bloor').

at high park we got some flags for the ride/parade and then the group of maybe 1000 cyclists hit bloor street and we rode slowly eastbound to queens park (ontario's legislative assembly).

the 'bells on bloor' part of the ride took probably around 1 hour - 1.5 hours. there were so many people out: hardcore race cyclists in their spandex; lots of mountain bikes; families in crazy tandem bikes (one was a 6 seater bike with a chariot trailer and a child's seat so the whole family of 8 could bike together!!); lots of cyclists that played instruments while riding!

after the rally at queen's park, the cupcake girls left 'bells on bloor' and headed up to dessertlady to finish off our ride, where we indulged in a red velvet cupcake with creamcheese icing, but also some super yummy sorbets and ice creams. mmmm, earl grey chocolate ice cream with pear sorbet .... mmmmmmm

spring time in vancouver

2010-05-23T23:43:00.003-04:00

as we are definitely enjoying summer in toronto, i was thinking back to how i really got to enjoy springtime in vancouver this past april/may.

when i arrived, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom (満開 = mankai) and i finally got to see my beloved tree-lined streets all pink and happy for the first time since i left vancouver. what an absolute treat.

then as the cherry blossom finished my mom's wisteria started to bloom and i was lucky enough to enjoy these beautiful flowers during my stay as well.

i was definitely in flower bliss.

other vancouver highlights:

hanging out with b and the extra week we were able to have in vancouver, thanks to the icelandic volcano (which allowed andre, b and dom to hang out!! such a treat)
i ran the vancouver sun run and beat my goal by 8 minutes (i finished the 10km in 1 hour and 7 min)
spending time with my grandma
living with hannah and chris a week before their wedding
myae and i reading our teenage diaries together and realizing just how boy crazy we were ...
seeing lots and lots of friends and wanting to become a hermit after
beatles rock band with my fellow high-school era beatlemaniacs
unearthing the beatles mural lori and i painted 14 years ago
stuffing my face with awesome asian food
as mentioned earlier, biking in vancouver with my honey
but most of all, family

bike lanes are growing all over the city

2010-05-17T22:32:00.006-04:00

.... my bike specializes in the nitty-gritty
new york city never had an equality, it's reality
economic duality
sci-fi wasabi - cibo matto

i'm so jealous of bike riders in vancouver. the city is literally glowing with bike lanes and bicycle awareness. if a street isn't a designated bike lane, more often than not there are bike icons with chevrons painted on the street to remind drivers to 'share the road'.

when i was just planning my trip to vancouver, i asked one of my bicycle road race friends if he'd be up to do critical mass with me. his response was that vancouver doesn't really need critical mass to create awareness because people actually took the long route and went through city hall to create all the bike lanes that exist in the city. that being said, he was still up for 'the mass' because a lot of cute girls seem to always show up.

anyway, we didn't end up doing critical mass due to rain, but i now know what it feels like to cycle in a truly bike friendly city.

so now, how can we get this kind of bicycle infrastructure in toronto?

hannah and chris' wedding

2010-05-14T17:00:00.004-04:00

it was a fun celebration and a yummy luncheon. most importantly the bride and groom were happy with how the event unfolded and seemed to really enjoy themselves.

my amazing mother sewed the bridesmaid dresses and with the help of my aunt (who is a flower arrangement teacher in japan) arranged all the flowers, bouquets and boutonnieres.

and myae did the makeup!

she had maybe 3 hours of sleep at this point - but looks pretty nonetheless!

he is almost always this happy - seriously!

me and oba-chan (granny).

the talented make-up artist and her father.

i took a whopping 500+ photos - of which 50% aren't very good, but after uploading them all i can't be bothered to change the privacy levels. so if you'd like to view the photos email me and i'll add you as family on flickr!

2nd toronto girls' cupcake ride and other bike news

2010-05-04T02:09:00.004-04:00

i've just sent out an invite to the 2nd toronto girls' cupcake ride. ... i hope more girls come out this time!

my other bike news is that while in vancouver, andre and i both scored awesome 80's roadbikes. for me this is especially exciting because it's a boy's bike with a straight top tube that i can straddle ... and it's super light. i love it! also, andre's bike is triple butted (meaning the frame is skinnier in parts to make it even lighter).

although, i was super sad to have andre take my new bike back to toronto (i wanted to explore more of vancouver on this bike), i am really excited to see how the fixie conversion and transformation will turn out. did i already mention that this bike is the lightest bike i've ever ridden!

next up, a bike report about biking in vancouver. *sigh* bike lane network in vancouver, how i absolutely ADORE you. why does the bike lane network in toronto suck so much?

princess park, north vancouver

2010-04-30T03:30:00.004-04:00

we have been meeting up with quite a few doggy friends, although sadly i don't always have my camera with me.

today, however, i was prepared with my camera when duke and i met grace and dave (the humans) and zuzu and hampton (the puppies).

cute zuzu (top photo) is very much hampton's (the beagle) older sister and is very protective of her little baby brother. adorable hampton is very much a puppy, but is also quite the gentleman.

we had a great time playing fetch and hiking through the beautiful princess park in north vancouver.

thank you to the puppy jones crew for being great hosts and fun playmates!!

click here for a full set of photos.

i've been a bit busy

2010-04-28T02:52:00.003-04:00

... but i have a back log of photos to share so i hope to start posting more regularly soon!

time for a little recoup

2010-04-08T02:27:00.003-04:00

we've arrived!! ... and here duke is taking some well deserved rest.

after duke helps out as the welcoming committee for my sister's bridal shower, we'll contact some beagle people to meet up!

Inaugural Cupcake Ride 2010

2010-03-31T22:10:00.003-04:00

do you want to join me on a cross-toronto cupcake ride this weekend?

if so, join my event on facebook!

or if you have eastery things to do this weekend, join the toronto girls' cupcake ride group on facebook to get notice on the next ride!

just putting it out there, it's going to be 25 degrees this saturday.

escape!

2010-03-22T23:29:00.005-04:00

i'm heading back to vancouver soon and the homeward bound countdown has started.

i will be going back for 5 weeks and andre will join me for two of them. i'll be taking duke, but sadly especially since we are still looking for a home for petey, he will be staying here in toronto.

the aozora team will be reunited on the westcoast as well. i think a post that is co-authored maybe in order.

can't wait to drink in the moist, coastal air, to be surrounded by greenery and to take rambling walks in my old hometown with duke.

2010-03-12T00:35:00.004-05:00

last night we had a break through. duke learned how to 'stand' on command.

this after 2 years of not being able to get him to stand through, luring, tickling and prodding methods that we learned from the obedience school that we attended.

stand is the cue for a dog to stand on all four paws and is usually used for show dogs and is also used in rally obedience.

each time we enrolled in courses, there was always 1 or 2 commands that we just couldn't teach duke. in the first basic obedience course it was down. in fact, the instructor couldn't even get duke to go into down position and went through all of his different techniques to no avail when he was using duke as his demo dog.

during our 2nd more advanced class, we just couldn't get duke to 'stand'. last night, however, after 2 minutes he learned to 'stand' on cue from being in 'down' position.

what was the biggest difference? clicker training that didn't require me to touch his body to move into position or use a lure to bribe him into position. since duke already knew touch, we started with him being in down and then calling for a 'touch' on my hand. soon after, i started saying 'stand' before the touch command and in a few short minutes, he had transferred the 'touch' command to the 'stand' command.

so now that he has learned all of the basic obedience positions, it's time to polish them all up and hopefully we'll be able to debut duke at a rally obedience competition. i'm hoping we can get him a novice title by the end of the year!

cross-posted to baying beagle

over here

2010-03-05T07:33:00.003-05:00

i have to say the excitement and buzz over the winter olympics here, compared to four years ago, has been incredible. this increased frenzy and interest was helped by having multiple ways of tuning in: beyond the regular t.v. broadcast, there was extended coverage, live events, and highlights on digital t.v., as well as the bbc's iplayer, which is essentially catch-up t.v., on demand, on the internet. there has also been extensive newspaper and news reporting, mostly because london is due to host the 2012 summer olympics.

a friend from vancouver wrote to me to say she heard the british press had been ripping into the vancouver games. i can't say i had seen any great evidence of this -- in fact, quite the opposite. the overwhelming feeling has been that, despite the tragic start, the vancouver games have been incredibly successful and, possibly, the best winter games to date. most of all, the reporters have been repeatedly commenting on the spirit, enthusiasm and generosity of the vancouver people in welcoming the international community -- and the hope that grumpy londoners will similarly rise to the occasion in a few years.

winning the nomination for any host city was always going to be a poisoned chalice. if there was a referendum and the question was put, would you rather the government spend billions of dollars/pounds on improving education/social housing/healthcare/insert social cause of your choice, or spending on a sporting event, there is no question which way i would vote. but the options are rarely as straight-forward as "a" versus "b"; the social road is not always free of public opposition (reference vancouver spending "tax-payer money" to open safe-injection sites, or south of the border the lack of support for obama's healthcare reforms); nor do i think does the olympic road only benefit atheletes and the sponsoring corporations (i hope, for example, that the improvements on the sea-to-sky will mean fewer accidents; and i know my driving-addicted-mom is looking forward to giving up her car for improved public transport as she gets older).

in a media world saturated with celebrity gossip, philandering footballers, wars and collapsing banks (both of which have cost countries and the world the equivalent of who knows how many olympic games) i have to say it has been an exciting two weeks watching the athletes push themselves to the limit in the hope of achieving a very unique dream. from my dentist to my four-year-old niece, i know the games have inspired and touched everyone in my small social sphere in some way. people used to say to me "oh you must be used to months and months of snow and cold weather;" now they say, "well of course there's rain in vancouver, it's a mild coastal climate." instead of "oh yes, i've been to canada, toronto is nice" they say "it's SO beautiful, where you're from." i feel really blessed and lucky to have grown up in a place like vancouver, and now living in a city where no one has heard of wayne gretsky (what???), i'm proud that at last the world can see and share a bit of where i'm from.

i was pretty BAH-HUMBUG when vancouver won the nomination, and even more BAH-HUMBUG when london won its nomination (i mean, how on earth will the city cope with even more people???)... but now i've been inspired to take part, and hopefully will get the chance to volunteer in 2012.

some interesting bits:
read seb coe's (chairman of the london olympic committe) report from vancouver

watch the two versions of the bbc's cool animation (better with the music on):
the promo and the final opening sequence with vancouver skyline.

bye bye olympics! bye bye beautiful HD helicopter shots of vancouver! it's been fun watching.

say no to GMO

2010-03-03T22:19:00.006-05:00

my friend sam has recently gotten all activist on me and has started researching things that we can do to help limit genetically modified foods, seeds and organisms enter our food chain or at the very minimum to be labelled so that we as consumers can make choices about what we ingest.

it scares me that unless i purposely choose to eat organic food, anything from fresh produce to even processed food can be or may contain genetially modified (GM) organisms and i wouldn't even know it because manufacturers and producers aren't required to disclose GM food sources in north america.

and to think that it's mostly one company that is harnessing the power of GM to control the finances and crops of our farmers and slowly extend that power to take hold of our sustenance.

"Once they have established the norm that seed can be owned as their property and royalties can be collected, we will depend on them for every seed we grow of every crop we grow. If they control seed, they control food, they know it, its strategic. Its more powerful than bombs, its more powerful than guns. This is the best way to control the populations of the world."
dr. vandana shiva

well in canada we are getting another chance to change this!! it's a small step but a step in the right direction.

please write to your MP to vote in favour of bill c-370 - An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (mandatory labelling for genetically modified foods).

if you don't who your MP is, you can look them up based on your postal code here.

you can also handwrite a letter and send it via snailmail for free!

and if you need some help with drafting up a message, sam wrote a quick message that you can use too:

Dear ________________,
We all have the right to know what we are eating and the right to not eat GE foods. I support mandatory labelling of GE food, which is already practiced in over 40 countries in Europe and elsewhere. MP Alex Atamaneko’s Bill C-370 would allow implementation of mandatory labelling in Canada. I am asking you to vote in favour of Bill C-370. Please confirm your intention to support this important bill

let's harness this new found patriotism and love for canada that sprouted from the olympics and show harper that we care about all aspects of our home and native land - not just athletic part!

---
still need more convincing that GM labelling is imperative? i found a site where you can watch the world according to monsanto.

'say no to GMO' part deux coming soon! stay tuned.

happy end of the week

2010-02-26T00:56:00.004-05:00

happy fridee (as my old, old boss used to say).

perhaps with the olympics being held in my home town, perhaps the media coverage has been better than in previous years or perhaps there are more canadian athletes to cheer for, but for the first time in years i've been tuning in with regularity to watch the olympics (although, i think tonight will be the last night that i will be crying in front of the tv.)

despite my anti-olympics stance (what with my sadness over the use of tax-payer's money that only an elite group of people will have access to, the financial burden that the citizens in the GVRD will have to bear and the displacement of marginalized people) i can't help but feel giddy and excited whenever an announcer even mentions, the richmond oval, the pacific coliseum or cypress mountain.

and then actually seeing the landmarks on tv is like seeing someone you know flash onto the television for a moment and you want to point to everyone around you and say, 'hey, look! i know that person!'

hmm such mixed feelings i have towards this athletic spectacle. so i shall sign off with pedobear is a 2010 mascot?

have a great weekend and stay warm and cozy fellow torontonians!

the scribble project

2010-02-21T22:44:00.003-05:00

i stumbled upon a great collabo site called the the scribble project where people can download templates, draw on them and submit them to big team scribbles.

it is run by a cheery illustrator named oppy and she has been doing different collaborative projects every year.

last year it looks like over 100 people submitted their version of a totem pole.

now she is hosting a team scribble of carriages that will be put together to create a long train! my submissions are above.

you still have time if you want to participate! only 2 rules, it has to be black and white and it has to be hand-drawn - no digital drawings!

we're now a three beagle household!

2010-02-19T22:07:00.006-05:00

.... at least temporarily. cooper is staying with us (along with his parents) while his parents look for a home in toronto! he is finally reunited with his BFF duke.

after a day of getting used to his new surroundings it's back to wrestle mania with duke! but poor petey - he was probably never socialized as a puppy and doesn't know how to play with dogs. he can't engage with cooper when cooper tries to invite petey to play and howls and duke and cooper when their wrestling gets intense.

hopefully slowly, he will learn that wrestling isn't a bad thing.

welcome to toronto cooper! don't worry, those loud streetcars (aka trams) won't hurt you and you'll get used to them in no time.

---
in other doggie news, several months ago i noticed that my friend had a friend on facebook with a beagle in her profile photo. i just had to introduce myself! turns out she's a big doggie lover and we're going to meet up when duke and i are back in vancouver.

she has an incredibly cute website and a blog about her dogs that she updates frequently: puppy jones

2010-02-16T00:55:00.002-05:00

happy belated valentine's day and chinese new year!

scrum-diddly-umptious vegan cupcakes from omg bakery just a block south from us. don't let the vegan part fool you, this is one rich, delectable cupcake!

according to some reading i've been doing this year is the year of the white tiger. apparently the tiger's main element of wood can potentially clash with the metal element of white. this may mean that aggressive nature of the tiger can turn ferocious and cruel when suppressed by metal, creating tumultuous events. so take caution this year!

berlin in january

2010-02-06T07:47:00.004-05:00

i adore this city. berlin is one of the few cities i've been to recently where i felt, yah, it would be amazing to live here for a chunk of my life. (too bad i don't speak german!)

after all the claustrophobic rush-rush, push-push of the big smoke, i loved the wide open spaces of berlin, hushed under blankets of snow, colours dulled under grey skies. you get the feeling that people actually live in the centre of the city, so that between "touristic" areas of the embassies and grand buildings are tucked residential areas with schools and grocery stores. (in london, no one really lives in the centre -- we're all kind of spread out in concentric circles radiating out from the middle, so that if a friend lives on the opposite side of the circle to you, it can quite often take over an hour on the tube to visit them -- although it's all still "london").

berlin is an incredibly artistic city, blessed with many art galleries and museums, five of the big ones located on "museum island" and housing some of the best collections in europe; three opera houses and countless more theatres and music halls; and home to the famous berlin symphony (we were lucky enough to catch a performance). on the subway you so often see people carrying instrument cases, and the german friends we met were all in separate quartets, quintets or symphonies of their own.

recent and ancient history have given the city an eclectic mix of architecture, all amazing in very different ways. one of my favourite days was spent walking along karl marx allee in old east berlin, home to sprawling socialist-era apartment buildings and wide boulevards. at one end sits the east side gallery, a preserved part of the berlin wall now showing murals painted by artists from around the world.

the people were very... well, german! delightfully dead-pan sense of humour, exquisitely precise use of the english language (so precise i felt a bit bashful about my own linguistic inadequacies), a love of beautiful buildings / art / music, warm with a genuine curiosity about where you are from and a willingness (often eagerness) to help. everything runs on time. everything works. the subway runs 24 hours on the weekends, to accommodate all the serious late-night partying. the escalators only start to go when someone is standing on it, to save energy. everything feels well thought-out, well-planned.

maybe i should start taking german classes...!

more pics here

second last trip to endicott

2010-01-31T23:17:00.003-05:00

more exploring for duke and i during andre's second last workshop in endicott, new york. that saturday morning, the city and parks were foggy and magical.

and then i found this ziplock bag filled with messages that were frozen from the water that got into the bag. what a nice, analog way of communicating.

last time, this group of geese and ducks were hanging out in the same spot. they can get quite loud and are amazingly used to dogs and humans coming close to the shore of the river. i just don't understand how they don't freeze to death in the cold water!

spec work

2010-01-20T22:07:00.008-05:00

these are two graphic theme/logo mockups that i created for one of my clients that never ended up being used because they decided to stick with the same firm that they worked with in previous years.

as a rule, i never do spec work (speculative work) - ever. i always give the example, 'would you ask an accountant to do part of your taxes just to see how much money they can save you? or would you ask a lawyer to present strategies for a case and hire them only if they come up with something you like?"

this time, however, seeing that the request came from an existing client, i went ahead and did it. i don't regret doing it,i'm just not sure how i feel about taking on this type of spec work. especially since they are a client that i want to continue cultivating a relationship with.

either way, i enjoyed created these images and since they aren't being used, thought i'd share them. can you guess which books they represent? since the bottom one is more obvious, here is a hint for the top book: it's a giller prize winner.

anyway, here are some links on spec work:

AIGA's stance
RGD Ontario's policy
No!Spec a whole website dedicated to stopping designers from doing spec work

more on petey

2010-01-11T22:46:00.003-05:00

mr. petey has lived with us for 6 months now. although we were fully aware of his biting when we decided to foster him, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. mostly because duke, despite his on-leash aggression, has never even come close to biting us, we didn't have a fear of dog bites. duke is a dog that can be handled and touched in anyway - we can carry him around like a baby, he lets us begrudgingly clean his ears and we wipe his paws down after every walk. petey is very particular about how he is touched.

i am happy to report, however, that we are going onto 3 months now of no biting incidents! petey now lets us clean his paws (although not to the degree that i find clean) with tail wags. the tailwags show that he now has what behaviorists call a "conditioned emotional response" to being touched and cleaned - which means he's going from being scared of handling to actually looking forward to it.

when we first got him he would snap at us and one time, duke actually had to intervene to prevent petey from biting andre! with lots of praise, he even lets me clean his belly as well. also, another encouraging development is that petey is developing bite inhibition. before, if he'd snap at us, it would break skin every time. now, if we accidentally cross his threshold of handling intensity, he air bites, or mildly grazes our skin - not even leaving a mark. he's learning that humans will respect his wish for space and he doesn't need to use a hammer to squash a fly.

slowly but surely he is learning to trust us and hopefully he will be able to generalize this trust to all humans that come in contact with him. it is so important that we continue to work patiently and respect his limits and not damage the tiny sparkle of trust and safety that's starting to show.

aside from his biting, however, he is the perfect dog! he can happily meet all dogs on the sidewalk (even a giant schnauzer that was 4 times his size), will snuggle right up next to you on the couch and is totally house broken. he gives lots of kisses too.

check out some of the cool things petey has learned to do by being andre's demo dog for his karen pryor academy work:

we've also taught petey to not beg at the dining table. you can read andre's writeup on this here.

toronto girls' cupcake ride

2010-01-06T00:13:00.004-05:00

i want to start a cupcake ride in toronto, much like the ones in nashville and paris.

these rides (at least the nashville one) are comprised of cupcake eating and bike riding.

it's probably due to the weather, but finding members is harder than i thought. or perhaps there aren't a lot of fixie or single speed girl riders in toronto ... yet. either way, my dreams of having a ride before the first snowfall were dashed this past week.

so now i'm looking towards the spring for the inaugural ride. i wonder if the weather will cooperate and allow me to organize one cupcake ride before i head off to vancouver? keeping cranks crossed!

edit: it might help if i actually provided the link!

新年明けましておめでとうございます！

2010-01-03T23:28:00.008-05:00

happy new year!

may your new year be filled with excitement, joy and happiness. oh and i guess prosperity wouldn't hurt either.

a few 'ideas' for 2010 - as our friend sara would say:

grow my freelance business
cherish every day with duke - he's turning 7 this year!!
a clean desk
more veggies
watch and support andre's business as it grows
hannah's wedding
family
goal making

"if you look at life from a broad viewpoint, you naturally spot the way to solve any problem you may confront. this is true when we consider our own personal problems as well as those of society and even the future of the entire world"

- from a home-made fortune cookie that i recently received

devon in november

2010-01-01T10:43:00.004-05:00

i think i've mentioned the landmark trust before -- they are a charity that restores beautiful old buildings and then rents them out to the public. all profits return to the trust so that they can continue their work of rescuing architecturally amazing buildings.

"the library" was our third landmark (the first was "prospect tower" where we stayed after we were married; the second "woodsford castle" to celebrate dom's dad's 70th birthday). situated in sometimes stormy devon (heavy rain and winds for nearly three days straight!) we took advantage of the slashed winter prices and stayed for a relaxing long weekend.

set in the middle of the countryside -- no internet, phone reception, t.v., or music players of any kind -- there's gloriously nothing to do but snuggle up in front of the fire, snack on scones with clotted cream, and read a book (although confession: i did bring my ancient ibook so that we could listen to some music and watch some dvds!).

visiting this countryside in early winter, i'll always remember the trees with their bare branches stretching towards the sky at 45-degree angles, bent in the direction of the wind. and we did brave the weather to do a bit of sightseeing...

tintagel in cornwall and the remains of "merlin's castle"

it's incredible to think a castle once perched perilously amongst these rain-beaten hills while the sea raged close below. not a lot of pics, i'm afraid -- i was too wet and cold to bother -- but you can see the remains of the castle wall in the distance on the left cliff.

clovelly
a historic traffic-free fishing village clinging to the side of a cliff in north devon. the steep descent to the sea can be treacherous in the rain as all the streets are made of cobblestones, but it really was very charming!

i've finally started using my flickr, so you can see more here

endicott in december

2009-12-30T00:51:00.005-05:00

we went to endicott, new york over andre's birthday weekend. we hit a snowstorm mid-drive but still made good time! while andre and petey participated in workshops, duke and i went exploring.

after a day of exploring, sniffing, finding deer hoof prints and rabbit paw prints in the snow, duke was exhausted. thanks for exploring with me duke!

merry holidays!

2009-12-25T23:55:00.002-05:00

merry christmas!

as seems to be the case with me since september, things have been crazy here and despite making my christmas cards, i didn't end up sending any out. the good thing is, i have a tonne ready for next year. yippy!

i hope everyone had a great christmas.

hopefully back to regular postings starting next week!

2009-12-09T00:37:00.022-05:00

we're heading out to to endicott, new york again. this time for session two of andre's dog training course.

i can't wait to just hang out with duke all weekend - although i am planning on making my christmas cards in the motel - and just relax!

petey's progress has been so amazing these past few months. he actually has a bit inhibition now and neither andre nor i have gotten bit, let alone gotten open doggy bite wounds in the past 2 months. he's also quite desensitized to seeing dogs on the sidewalk now and can walk by other dogs without pulling and howling. on top of all this with the karen pryor academy work, he's learning a lot of cool tricks too!

random: the first snow fall in toronto is supposed to start tonight. this november toronto broke a record that was set in 1937 for no snow fall!

wipeout

2009-12-01T22:25:00.005-05:00

the dreaded streetcar tracks were my downfall (haha). last week i wiped out over the streetcard tracks on dundas st. riding to meet friends for dinner.

unfortunately due to watermain upgrade construction, cyclists need to merge over streetcar tracks into the left lane between shaw st. and dovercourt rd.

even after my close call on spadina and even after being told by the bicycle thief to always cross the tracks as close to 90 degrees as possible, in my rush to get to dinner, hopping back over to the right lane, i got a bit too cocky/lazy and crossed probably almost parallel to the tracks. big mistake.

i totally wiped out and slid onto construction gravel, hit both knees (skinned one) and banged up my left wrist. luckily for me, there weren't any cars right behind me. two concerned ladies rushed over to help me up.

today was the first day since my wipe out to ride my bike and now i get a bit panicky when crossing street car tracks. boooooo. i need to gain my confidence again by riding more, but with snow in the forecast it looks like i'll be putting my bike away for the winter.

oh well. i'll keep myself occupied with bike blogs.

i want to start a cupcake ride in toronto, perhaps in the spring!

why i'm addicted to the internet - part quatre

2009-11-24T20:16:00.007-05:00

so many 'collection' websites are cropping up. here are some of my favourites for a good dose of daily giggles:

latfh = look at this f*cking hipster
clients from hell - design clients that is
texts from last night

and then just some other sites that keep me hooked to the 'net:

artsy

daily drop cap - jessica hische creates drop cap art and shares it with the world. she publishes daily!javascript:void(0)
what i wore in drawings and the corresponding flickr group
mori yutaka - the cutest illos evar

photos

daikichi amano - a photographer with a great sense of humour
canelle et vanille - the most beautiful photos of food that she makes!
nico - photoblog of a girl who uses dslrs and lomos. plus she has three doxies

house project update - kitchen part III

2009-11-17T22:54:00.003-05:00

i keep on forgetting to post these photos. aside from a backsplash our kitchen has been completed for several months now and our hardwood floors are down as well. to think that just a year ago our kitchen looked like this and this.

this past weekend andre and i went to factory tile depot to pick out tiles for the bathroom. it is dry walled and painted!

our renovations are moving much faster than anticipated but there is still lots to do.... we're right on track to having a reno free house in 2012.

2009-11-12T22:42:00.012-05:00

some books that i've really loved reading the past several months. ...and just so you don't think i love everything, one that i absolutely detested:

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

rating: 5 out of 5

A modern story written in the 'gothic' tradition, I loved The Thirteenth Tale because of the main character's love and adoration of books, the dark mystery and the lush descriptions. The story line plot twist is amazingly smart.

Apparently the 'properness' and reserved nature of Margaret, the main character, didn't sit well with British readers and this book finally did well over the pond becoming a NY Times best seller in 2006.

This is Diane Setterfield's debut novel and I look forward to her sophomore
story.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

rating: 4 out of 5

Hosseini's second novel is by far, grittier and more heart wrenching than his first, which in my opinion had a story arch of a hollywood movie. This book made me rethink my position in Canada's involvement in Afghanistan.

What shines through, much like the Kite Runner, is his utter love of the Afghanistan people and what the country used to be before the many wars ravaged the landscape and cultures.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

rating: 5 out of 5

I bawled while turning the last few pages. BAWLED!! And I know that the movie, despite starring Viggo Mortenson will not even come close to how good this book is.

Like James Frey, this book is written without quotation marks, but unlike Frey, McCarthy writes in a way that makes quotation marks seem unnecessary.

The Shack by William P. Young

rating: -200 out of 5

Awful, awful. The author tries to explain how a loving and fair God can allow bad things to happen to good people. Apparently this book, published independently, has a huge following because of the way it helps people understand this point. I didn't like this book at all and found the author's reliance on race generalizations to be extremely offensive. And in the end the book doesn't offer an answer to the question, instead asks people to just 'trust' God because everything that happens to you happens for a reason. So basically, if you trust and love God you don't have to take any responsibilities for things that happen to you because it all happens for a reason. Trust God and you don't have to be accountable for anything! yay!

The writing becomes really bland and repetitive near the end as well. I hate this book and pushes me towards becoming an atheist.

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

rating: 5 out of 5

The amazing tale of Aminata Diallo, a young girl abducted from Africa during the slave trade and well, I don't want to give anything away. It is beautifully written and is hard to imagine with all the details that it was written in the 20th century.

i need some book recommendations for the winter season. do you have any?

endicott, ny

2009-11-05T23:04:00.004-05:00

over the weekend duke, petey, andre and i drove down to a small village in upstate new york: endicott. the reason? it was andre's first workshop for his course with the karen pryor academy.

while petey and andre attended the all day classroom session, duke and i wandered around the small city and visited parks. we stumbled upon a cute farmer's market and were stopped many times by old retirees telling me how they used beagles to hunt.

a big coup for us this weekend was when duke would stay howl free in the car waiting for us while we would dash into a super market.

the photos are from my excursions with duke.

black dice cafe

2009-10-28T22:17:00.006-04:00

our little neighbourhood is gentrifying at an alarming rate.

since we moved in last august, 2 hip cafés, a weekend brunch/weekday bar, a custom cake shop, a cheese shop and a cute clothing store selling only works by toronto designers have opened up along dundas west. not to mention my favourite health food store where i get my good food box and several galleries including a queen west transplant - things are changing fast in little portugal.

my favourite addition to our burgeoning neighbourhood, however, just opened up a month ago. it's the black dice cafe!

run by japanese ex-pat hidé, black dice cafe is a 50s themed bar with a jukebox that plays 45s. they even have an original beatles 45 in there.

the best thing about black dice, well aside from the fact that i can walk there in 30 seconds, is their extensive sake martinis and plum wine. mmmm umeshu how i love you!

but it's not all japanese drinks there, they have lots of beers on tap (if that's your thing. personally i don't know how people drink pee water...) and a full bar of the hard stuff.

if you decide to check it out, call me and i'll have a plum wine soda with you.

photo notes: the cafe is decked out in halloween decorations!

we are a sad lot

2009-10-21T22:25:00.002-04:00

duke broke a paw nail (again! argh) that had to be removed and i've come down with another stye (the 2nd in two years).

if misery loves company, i'm right where i belong!

i'm not sure how common styes are, but if you ever get one, apparently the best remedy is a hot compress applied several times a day since ointments and medicine don't work as well! for me, while working onsite, bringing a face cloth to the studio just didn't seem hygienic, so instead i just cupped my hands and repeatedly applied warm/hot water to the affected area.

please go away, please, please. i hate you, stye.

the little boots report

2009-10-18T23:59:00.003-04:00

i forgot my camera for the little boots concert, so i decided to draw a little report instead.

sadly her très cool tenori-on instrument malfunctioned and we couldn't see her use it live, but none the less the show was super fun.

what totally bugged me, though, is the number of people who insist on taking sh*tty photos with their iphones or use their flash with their point and shoot cameras. do they think that if they keep on trying to take photos without changing the setting of their camera, they'll magically get a different result the next time? excuse me, but you are totally obscuring the view for the vertically challenged!

i tried taking one photo with my cellphone and realized the futility of it:

anyway, i consider little boots an electronica genius of sorts. here is she is covering hot chip's 'ready for the floor' and recreating every element of the song except the vocals on her tenori-on:

and then!! check her out on jools holland, where she manages to play the baseline and other song elements all the while singing the melody of her song 'meddle' and play the piano. it's pretty amazing:

a crisp autumn morning

2009-10-14T00:09:00.003-04:00

despite temperatures being lower than seasonal, we are enjoying the onset of this new season.

this long weekend was the first weekend where i didn't have days of work to catch up on and so i spent a wonderful morning with duke at the park. thankfully the ticketers were also enjoying their weekend and so we hung out illegally off-leash at dufferin grove park.

so while i was off being a busy bee, i accumulated a backlog of things to blog about! please check back often for new posts about our home renos, little boots and fun links.

in the meantime, i wanted to share a new blog i've started. it's called thanks for your cooperation and requires reader participation. i want it to be a place where funny, weird, crazy, psycho office notes and memos are shared.

won't you submit something?

busy busy bee

2009-09-27T02:18:00.002-04:00

i've been working like a busy bee these past few weeks - onsite at a client's during the day and then coming home and doing my own client work until the wee hours.

this is one of my favourite clients that call me in to work at their studio. since i've been helping them out for the past 2 years, it's always nice to see all the familiar faces when i return.

last week, though, the onsite work became more than full time. on average i was onsite for 10 hours a day. being sleep deprived, i made some flubs (one was a miss cropping a panel for a showroom booth and the other was not sending some mockups to a client on the promised day, even though i had them done!!!) and the stress is starting to creep in.

there is an end in sight, though. can't wait to be able to sleep a full 8 hours! ... soon.

photo: my sunflowers in my tiny garden. sadly the seeds never matured because this happened again.

i'm going to have to devise some sort of cover or case for the sunflowers next year. i want to be able to plant the seeds at the off-leash park!

shamrocks galore

2009-09-20T16:19:00.003-04:00

a recent trip to ireland to visit the o'keefe's. photos courtesy dom.

dublin

kilkenny: kilkenny castle

the gardens behind the kilkenny arts centre -- a gorgeous complex of artists' studios, shops selling handcrafted goods designed and made in ireland, and galleries exhibiting local talent

galway: wind-swept and bohemian city, on the west coast of ireland

blarney castle in cork (i know it's incredibly unhygenic, but you can't go to ireland and not kiss the blarney stone!)

the young lad and the wee lass: our lovely hosts!

beagle photo spam!

2009-09-11T00:14:00.000-04:00

it took about a month, but petey is finally comfortable enough to share the dog sofa (aka the dirty sofa) with duke. previously, he would wait for duke to leave the couch to sleep on it or he'd hop up if duke was elsewhere.

two days ago, they were actually sharing a small dog bed together!

in other doggy news, andre has started his dog training business. it's called when hounds fly and while he is in training (he got accepted into the prestigious karen pryor academy, founded by the creator of clicker training - aka- modern animal training) he is donating his training fees to rescue organizations.

i'll share the business cards i created for him soon!

in the meantime, perhaps you'd be interested in reading about why andre is pursuing dog training?

2009-09-08T00:27:00.004-04:00

this year i went to the cne twice! aaah, i love the ex - even if it means the end of summer.

the first time was with my book club girls and it was a total fair grub binge! so i got my fill of tiny tom donuts (who knew they had a website!) and waffle ice cream sandwiches. we even shared a plate of the infamous chocolate covered bacon.

the second time was with andre and we went on all the rides - my favourite is still the mega drop but the bonzai (technically it should be spelled bAnzai...) was really fun and scary as well.

and of course, as it is an annual custom for andre and i, we went to the superdogs show and cheered our hearts out. especially since our teacher from duke's obedience class and our behaviourist were in the show with their dogs.

the new kid on the block

2009-09-03T23:51:00.003-04:00

a new free daily paper will hit toronto streets next tuesday, september 8th.

i had a little hand in creating the logo :)

here is more info on t.o.night, in several other media.

apparently evening free papers are popular and profitable in london and cities in australia (which is what t.o.night has been modeled after), despite the proliferation of handheld devices. i still like having actual printed mater to read from, so i hope this new daily beats the odds of the newspaper industry's recent trends in readership.

if you are in the downtown area, please pick up a copy or two ... or ten!

august critical mass

2009-08-28T02:56:00.003-04:00

these were ribbons that were passed out by two very cute siblings at the july critical mass in toronto.

the august critical mass is tonight! will you join andre and i?

aaah summer

2009-08-21T01:16:00.003-04:00

i am in love with all fruit golden.

last fall, my friend V introduced me to golden kiwis. the best kiwis on the planet.

and now this summer the little organics store just behind our house on dundas carried golden raspberries for one week. they are oh so delicious.

the thing with golden fruit is that they have all the characteristics of their regular counterparts but without the tartness. this makes them somehow creamier and richer in taste. so if you can imagine having a raspberry that is all fruity and floraly but without the tangy after taste, that is what these tasted like.

heaven!!

have a wonderful weekend!

the end of a (very short) era

2009-08-13T22:46:00.002-04:00

big sigh. sadly, ms. myae papaya has returned to vancouver due to some unforeseen circumstances. it's only been one day and i already miss her a lot.

but wallowing in my loneliness won't do me any good, so i'll keep myself busy and hopefully this 'busy-ness' will turn into something productive.

listening to: friendly fire by sean lennon

photos: a super windy, chilly day at the beaches

homemade pesto

2009-08-09T17:47:00.004-04:00

i had some left over walnuts and my two lemon basil plants had grown tremendously in the last month thanks to the rain, that i decided to make some pesto by substituting walnuts for pine nuts and voila! some yummy pesto! (lemon basil is more peppery in taste so i didn't add any pepper to this batch of pesto.)

and no, those aren't mutant basil leaves. my food processor is actually a mini chopper that my mom got for me, perfect for cooking for two. for my pesto making, though, i had to do it in two parts.

if we keep on getting more rain and more heat i should be able to make at least 2 more batches and next time, perhaps i'll have time to pick up some pine nuts.

walnut pesto
all measurements are approximate, since i never measure

2 cups packed basil leaves
1/2 cup walnuts (pre chop before adding basil leaves if they are whole)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large clove garlic
lots of parmesan
sea salt and pepper to taste

place all ingredients in food processor and process until desired consistency!

critical mass toronto

2009-07-31T23:38:00.003-04:00

after years of wanting to, andre and i finally joined critical mass - a massive, group bicycle ride that stops all traffic due to the sheer number of cyclists on the road. the event happens in many cities around the world on the same day. originally the movement was started to try to garner attention to the lack bike lanes in urban areas. in some cities like budapest, upwards of 50,000 cyclists come out!

it was so liberating to be able to bike in the middle of major thoroughfares during rush hour with no worries of getting cut off, having cars turn into you or 'door prizes'. also the sense of community was huge. there were cyclists of all sorts, from the spandex road bike riders, to the fixies, to people on vintage bikes and even kids - everybody happily bicycling together.

it was also interesting to watch as the veteran critical massers would ride ahead and block traffic for the safe passage of the rest of the group through intersections that had turned red. veteran critical massers were also quick to diffuse situations with angry drivers by performing trumpet solos or 'come on leave it alone, let's keep on riding.'

during the ride, we encountered a lot of smiles, some puzzled looks and even angry drivers. there was even an incident where a man rammed his nice honda fit into a cyclist! and sadly, despite police help through some intersections, a girl was later ticketed.

until riding with the group, i never realized what a politically charged event this was. some even calling it a 'protest' against cars. others call it a celebration of clean air and city living. either way it was great fun and hearing all our bike bells ringing through the streets was really nice.

when i'm back in vancouver, i definitely want to take part in critical mass! tonight, the expected turn out in vancouver is 3000 and police have basically told drivers to stay away from the downtown core.

some better photos of the event:
• while waiting at a light on yonge
• the talented trumpeter
• a panorama

more links to other critical masses:
• how a critical mass in new york became a violent encounter with police
• critical mass vancouver info
• history of critical mass and how to start one

2009-07-26T23:38:00.003-04:00

now that i don't do container gardening in a contained, well draining balcony, i've learned so much!

i know people don't like all the rain that we've been getting in toronto, but it has been great for my vegetable garden and my hydrangea (pictured above).

i did kill a 'nelly moser' climatis, but i'll try again because climatis flowers are so beautiful! i was heeding my mother's advice of shady root environment and sunny vine location, but i didn't realize just how sensitive this plant is to watering! during one of he heat waves in june, after not watering for 3 days, i noticed that the leaves had completely withered and despite being brought back to life, the damage was already done and my climatis died a slow and painful death of browning leaves.

not to worry, i think i'll purchase another plant and get it settled in the fall. hopefully if all goes well it will start growing in the spring next year!

we're a 2 beagle household again!

2009-07-22T15:43:00.003-04:00

petey was found as a stray up north, but due to a vet nipping incident couldn't return to the shelter that he was staying at while waiting for his forever home. the policy at the shelter is to not adopt out dogs that have a biting history.... but marna and the group at big on beagles knew that the nipping was probably due to stress and didn't want to give up on this little guy!

petey's time at the shelter was running out and a second urgent call for a foster family was sent out so andre and i jumped on the chance to be his foster parents.

and what a sweetie!! petey has no training whatsoever, but he has a lot of potential!

petey, we're going to teach you some house pet manners and find you a home that loves you as much as elmo's family loves him!

project kitchen

2009-07-18T13:15:00.004-04:00

before

i look back at this pic and i just have to laugh. i can't believe i lived like this for months! all credit to D -- while i was enjoying toronto and new york last autumn, he was cleaning out our loft (ie. attic?) to make space for all our kitchen stuff to go into storage, ripping out most of the cabinets, and steaming off years and layers of wallpaper on all the walls and the ceiling. we bought a cheap ikea bookshelf that was used to temporarily store our essentials -- kettle, toaster, microwave, rice cooker and some dishes and pots and pans.

starting work

once we had finally decided on our kitchen design and had put in the order for all the cabinets and materials, the builders came in to do some of the major work. in order to support the new cabinets, two of the (very curved and crooked!) walls were stripped back to the beams, new plaster board put up, and a skim coat of plaster applied over all walls and the ceiling.

here you can see the plaster board has gone up!

also, our new kitchen was going to have a tiled floor, but in order for the tiles to lie flat and not crack, our bumpy and sloping floor needed to be leveled off. this meant taking up years and layers of flooring (lino, cork, even (sadly) the original floorboards), taking it back to the beams. supports were then added in places where the beams were sloping, and once perfectly level a layer of plywood was applied.

here you can see the plywood has been applied (and we have a floor again, hurray!)

the original victorian fireplace was also taken out and sent off to be restored to its original glory -- this meant removing years and years and coats and coats of white paint, all of which had turned the fine detailing into lumps of paint.

the victorian "sash" window also needed to be repaired -- so D took this out, replaced the panes of glass, took out the rotting bits of wood, and repainted the frames. but this did mean for several weeks we had bubble wrap covering a whole in the wall...!

we were soooo lucky with our builders. because of the recession, big building projects are now harder to come by. our builders (who would normally work on huge posh developments) needed the income of working on smaller projects, like our little flat. they certainly lived up to the reputation of polish builders being hard-working, conscientious, and perfectionists. they would start the day at 7.30 and sometimes not finish until 6 or 6.30, doing really exhausting physical work, and then before going home would take the time to sweep up, vacuum and clean so that we weren't stepping on dust everywhere we went. the only time i was in a bad mood with them was when they showed up at 7.30 on a saturday morning! crazy.

anyway, most of the new kitchen is in now, thank goodness. more pics soon!

getting healthy

2009-07-07T23:50:00.002-04:00

my good food box arrived today and it was bursting with wonderful freshness! it's a super great program in toronto that delivers fresh produce on wednesdays to certain volunteer run drop off points all over the city! the produce changes from week to week, comes in different sizes and and has organic options as well!

i ordered the small box, non-organic option and i could hardly fit everything into my bike basket today! the contents were:

2 lbs potatoes (white)*
1/2 lbs tomatoes (plum)
1 cucumber (english)*
1/2 lbs bag apples (empire this week one of my favs)*
1 bunch bananas
6 oranges
1 bunch lettuce romaine*
1 bunch broccoli (more like 3)*
2 zucchinis*
1 bunch swiss chard*
* = local produce

plus it came with a mini newsletter talking about foodshare, the non-profit that organizes the good food box program, and 2 recipes for the feature of the week: zucchini.

foodshare was originally set up as an organization that helped food banks back in the 80s. now it is an organization that advocates healthy food for people of all income levels through education and a focus on food supply through local communities.

i found out about the good food box thanks to the nutritrionista's mailing list. the nutritrionista is a health food and organic store close to me on dundas street that opened up around the same time when we moved into this neighbourhood. ... and although, i can't eat a lot of the content this time because of a crazy homeopathic diet that i'm on (don't worry i'm doing it under the supervision of a naturopath) the box keeps my fridge stocked which means less take out and heading out to restaurants!

2009-07-01T23:55:00.000-04:00

happy birthday canada!!

my new bike - part II

2009-06-29T00:00:00.003-04:00

so after that first celebratory post about a new bike, i have another new one!

andre spent his whole saturday cleaning and converting this old 'freespirit' ladies' road bike to a single gear bicycle for me. riding my clunky ccm bike, i realized that riding upright is so nice! so my new bike has:

- a new flip flop rear wheel (it can be flipped to be either a fixie or a single gear
- newish front wheel
-new upright handle bars and grips

and now, instead of huffing and puffing trying to keep with andre on a super heavy bike (sorry ccm), or pedaling with little result (sorry mountain bike), i can smoothly keep up with him. yay!

i just have to make sure to be careful over the streetcar tracks. biking along queen st. the other day with myae, i almost wiped out crossing spadina. the cars behind me must have gasped as i slid sideways with my right leg up at 45 degrees trying not to hit the pavement.

some cool websites of girls who are into bikes (most seem to ride fixies - which i'm too scared to do):

- sayacafe - is staring a bike shop in japan
- charakichi (bike crazy in japanese): girls on bikes!
- paris cupcake girls ride
- fixed gear girl taiwan

a new bicycle

2009-06-22T02:04:00.003-04:00

my current $99 mountain bike has served me very well for the past 4 years. andre, however, recently purchased a new mountain bike and also made himself a very cool fixed gear road bike. and now he is obsessed with bikes and wants to make a fixed gear bike for me!

we were all set on trying to find a lightweight mountain bike frame (sadly i'm too short for a real road bike and kids' road bikes just aren't the same), but stumbled upon a garage sale today and on a whim purchased this 1967 CCM bike.

i'm still contemplating on whether i should spruce it up with new parts, or just clean it, get andre to tune it for me and ride it as is. in terms of weight and speed, so far it doesn't feel much different from my mountain bike. in terms of ride height and body position, however, there is a big difference.

either way, we've now added yet another hobby to our long list of recreational pastimes.

a blast from the past

2009-06-10T01:03:00.003-04:00

one of my most favourite past times is reminiscing. during my life long project called 'attempt at decluttering' i found some old 'i thee web' marketing collateral.

miz bee and i created these (well she did almost all the writing and designing, i did more of the production) over 6 years ago now. we were so hungry for any design work back then. we invested a lot of time and worked so hard, but it didn't feel like work ... probably because of the great company.

we sent those little handmade bags filled with handmade books, talking hearts and business cards to tv show producers, magazines and newspapers as press releases. we landed 2 tv interviews and a mention in the real weddings.

we also went to wedding shows where vendors could have tables for free and we stood outside the big wedding show at the westin bayshore and handed out cards describing our services to attendees heading into the hotel.

and the best part about reminiscing? you get that, wow it seems so long ago yet just like yesterday feeling.

can't. wait.

2009-06-03T23:19:00.006-04:00

warning: an image heavy post

as a beatles fanatic, the release of the beatles' rock band trailer totally made my day.

i am thoroughly impressed with the 3d models and the animation. the attention to detail, from the way they move to how rock band animated the exact way the beatles run into the budokan stadium is amazing. all the clothing and facial hair is perfect for each performance/concert. and to think that we can try to attempt and sing these songs in 3 part harmony!

the other bonus? the actual masters were used to create the game!!

so go check out the trailer yourself!!

my new toy

2009-05-30T20:06:00.004-04:00

finally 5 years after ms. bee inscribed the inside of the alicia keys' book that she gave me, i finally got a piano!

my old friend from my japanese school days - we've known each other for almost a quarter of a century! moved back to vancouver after a 12 year stint in toronto. she really didn't want to let go of her electric piano but with a drum kit and 5 guitars that she was shipping back, she had to.

now it's back to boring scales and finger strengthening exercises for me. it's amazing how much my fingers have atrophied in 5 years. not that i was ever at a concert pianist level but whatever dexterity i had, especially in my left hand, is gone. scales used to be more of an exercise of remembering all the sharps and flats, not an exercise for fingers!

i'm hoping that with lots of practice i can regain the strength in my fingers soon. and eventually (maybe in 3 years) if can play this piece, even at 1/3 of her speed, i will be quite happy:

our crab apple tree

2009-05-22T01:57:00.003-04:00

what used to be a wretched and evil looking crab apple tree, with branches growing in all directions and suckers sprouting from the base and all over the trunk, quite literally blossomed into a showy spring tree! for the past 2 weeks it has been, hands down, the prettiest tree on our street.

most of the blossoms fell off earlier this week with the wind storms, but andre's trimming work has paid off and our crab apple tree that looked like something from a tim burton movie now has a beautiful silhouette. the blossoms were SO fragrant too.

adopted

2009-05-12T15:51:00.004-04:00

i passed a kind of milestone in my life recently. my application for permanent residency in the UK was granted, and i can now remain indefinitely in the country, work and live without restriction, and in another two years apply for UK citizenship. if i do decide to apply for dual citizenship, my journey towards this will have cost about £3,000 over six years.

i realize now that i always took my canadian citizenship for granted. unless you actually go through the process of applying for numerous visas -- worrying about your ability to stay in a country, wondering about the worthwhile-ness of putting down roots (even decisions as simple as buying a toaster seem to take on greater consequence), or just the cost of the application process itself -- the right to live and stay in a place is not something that one would bother thinking about. i've felt for a long time now a renewed admiration for my parents, who immigrated to canada in their 20's with next to nothing, and for their adoptive country for having allowed them to stay.

perhaps, then, this idea of settling somewhere new and making my own way was something i inherited. i do remember, many years ago, back when hyedie and i were both still living in vancouver, we were encouraged by a friend to make a list of our top three "unattainables" -- not truly unattainable, but three things we wanted to experience in our lives but perhaps were not sure how to go about achieving or thought not possible at the time -- something to dream and work towards in the back of our minds. moving to a new country and spending a good chunk of time there was top of my list; as was learning to share my life with another person. strange how both "goals" have become so unexpectedly intertwined, and both are simultaneously everything and nothing that i could have expected and planned for.

the third on my list i will let you know if i ever achieve!

photo: a herb trough courtesy my father-in-law. he transplanted some rosemary, thyme and cilantro (here called coriander) already growing in his garden, and also planted basil and rocket which has started to sprout. hopefully we manage to keep everything alive for at least a few months!

2009-05-07T23:34:00.002-04:00

the weather has finally warmed up and thoughts have slowly turned to gardening. i better hurry up and make some decisions!

have a great weekend everybody! i'll leave you with some links to some lovely illustrators:

• evan b. harris and his photostream
• saelee oh's blog
• c.w. roelle's wire drawings

fixing my eyes

2009-05-06T23:04:00.007-04:00

for the past 2 months, i've been trying to cure my extreme dry eyes that have ruined the top layer, the tear film of my eyes. this breakdown of the tear film causes blurry vision that gets worse as the day goes on.

the onset of this condition was very sudden and scary. one day my contacts weren't sitting well on my eyes and the next day my vision was totally blurry even with my glasses on.

after visiting my optometrist i was told to just lubricate and patiently wait while the tear film regenerated itself. according to her, this tear film breakdown is quite common for people who wear contact lenses for many years and for prolonged periods. as i was explaining my symptoms, she nodded knowingly. this appeased my shock and i almost felt like this condition wasn't such a big deal after all.

initially she told me that my eyes would clear up in 2-3 weeks. after 2 weeks my eyes hadn't made any progress and she said that in extreme cases it could take 2-3 months for the tear film to regenerate. but just in case, i was referred to an ophthalmologist who ended up prescribing the same treatment: lubricate many times a day with artificial tears and wait. i was told that if i still had blurry vision at my one month followup appointment, then he would prescribe antibiotics.

frustrated from not seeing any progress after 7 weeks, i booked an acupuncture session with my traditional chinese medicine doctor, cindy. i'm happy to say that after 2 intensive sessions and daily doses of dry heave inducing herbal concoctions, i'm starting to see an improvement with my vision!

i also noticed a huge improvement after seeing a chiropractor who practices gentle chiropractic, which uses gentle touches to make adjustments to the spine, back and neck. she also uses the network spinal analysis to hone in on my eye problem. she believes that by having a healthy spine, you can release tension and stress build up in your body that affects the productivity, creativity and relationships in your life.

it all seems so new age-y and too good to be true, but after not seeing any improvement with my vision, the fact that i can see better in just 1 week of seeing these two doctors makes me a total believer.

western medicine: 0
eastern/alternative medicine: 1