Homemade Hugs

Just over a week ago, I celebrated my birthday. It was a great event. I was taken out to dinner with my friends and we played Apples to Apples in a drunken stupor. It was hilarious. I had a great - well, i was going to say day but it really lasted almost an entire week. It was, in a single word, fantastic. I had so much fun.

One of the most amazing things about this birthday was the homemade gifts I received. I LOVE homemade gift. I love giving them and I adore receiving them. So, I took some shots of my loot to make everyone else jealous - because it's all amazing.

My friend Erin cross-stitched me a vampire lime. Ash painted me a card with a hummingbird on the front. Kelly knitted me a Ninja Turtle (Raphael, to be exact). Shauna hand-painted a ceramic mug. And Darryl and Amanda made me a Luna Lovegood (one of my fav HP characters) tshirt for the midnight premier of The Half-Blood Prince. I just wanna say thanks to everyone, because it is all amazing, and I can't even tell you how much it means to me :)



Also, my Mom and Auntie Kerry made me beautiful cards as well, but unfortunately, as I went to take photos of them, my camera battery died. So, I'll add those as soon as possible.

Who Is John Galt?

If you haven't yet figured out the answer to this immortal query... I HIGHLY recommend that you run to the bookstore right now and pick up a copy of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.

There are books that we fall in love with for their pure entertainment value. There are some we pick up because of their popularity and controversy at the time (which I fully admit is why I started reading Harry Potter, and The Golden Compass). Some we chose to read because their cover catches our eye. Then there are those, like Atlas Shrugged that come recommended to us.

If you would have asked me last week what my favourite book was - I'd have told you I had two: The Odyssey by Homer and Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. Today I'd answer with no hesitation in my voice: Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. This book got to me. I started reading and was hooked - not only by the characters or the plot but because of the ideas, the philosophy, the beliefs. It all just seemed so right. I did not expect where the book was leading - but when it got there - I was thrilled and entranced. It made me feel like everything just went into alignment in my own life. As though, I understood my own morals and values better by reading it. I can't explain it and make others understand it - you just have to read it for yourself. Perhaps you'll disagree with me - and that's fine - as long as it makes you think.

That's what the story is about... what would happen if the world's leading thinker's went on strike? What if a man set out declaring that he would stop the motor of the world - and did? What if all human beings willingly gave up their minds and stopped thinking? This story is a mystery, not about the death of man's body but of his spirit...

"I swear - by my life and love of it - that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."

Ruby-throats

The other week I lost my computer.
Fully crashed.
My entire hard-drive.
gone.
It's a terrible feeling to lose all your work. Luckly, I only lost a small amount becuase I had backed mostly everything I had on it. So, until I get a new mac and am able to update my website, I thought I share a new image with you. Hope you enjoy my Ruby-throated hummingbirds :)

the BIG wall.

So, here's the thing. My sister just got a new house. She wanted to do something fun and a little different on a particular wall... I thought, 'that's cool. what do you want to do?' Jen asked if I had any ideas... of course I had ideas. I always have ideas. One day, I will come to the realisation that my ideas usually end up being a lot of work for me and cause a heck of a lot of hurtles to overcome in the process.
Anyway, I came up with a design. A checker board kind of pattern using the colours she was painting on the main floor, but also introducing the colours that will be upstairs (did I mention that the wall I was doing was a 84in. x 139in. landing on the staircase?!?!)
Hurtle 1. How the heck do you get straight lines, even if you are using tape to grid the wall and a level while up a ladder 139in. ?!?











Hurtle 2. How do you transfer a huge ladder from Burlington to Oakville on a brand new Cobalt?!
Hurtle 3. Even once you have the lines up, how do you draw the awesome circle patterns you designed in the upper squares of the wall when your ladder doesn't reach quite that high because the base is to large for the stairs?!








There were so many other things that went wrong, or were just dumb mistakes (like when I miscounted the row on my design and drew a circle in the wrong place and had to re plan the entire wall...), but all in all, the wall is looking pretty great so far and I'll be excited to pull the tape off in a few days and see it complete.








A lot of things also went really great. Like having a great little apprentice willing to help roll the colours and move the job along. Thanks Erin, for all the great work! Couldn't have gotten that far without you!

Creating this wall, reminded me of swim team in highschool where our coach use to tall us to keep pushing and you'll get over that wall... except this time the wall wasn't moving. But now, seeing it almost done, I understand what he meant and I just hope that Jen and Bog will like the final product.

Say 'Hi' to Clive

So, I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce Clive. I was really excited a few weeks ago, when my cousin Shannen got in touch with me and asked if I would help her out with a little project. I can't divulge what the project is yet, that will be up to Shan, but I was super excited to work with her. Shannen is SO talented and I'm constantly staring at her photography and reading up about life in Ottawa on her website.

The experience of working with friends and family is always interesting... and in some ways stressful. Shan was awesome. We just hit everything on the mark together. It was really amazing to realize how well you know someone even when you don't get to see them all the time. I'm always somewhat leery that the 'client' isn't telling me their complete opinions when it's someone I know. For the most part, I think they're usually happy with the results of whatever project, or else why would they be asking me in the first place (at least, that's what I tell myself). So, I hope you like little Clive...though I can't tell you his purpose yet.

ARRIVED!

They have officially arrived! I could not be more excited then I am to say that "A Blind Man Looks at the World" is finally printed and in my hands! Oh my goodness, the beauty of a finished product can not even be described. I can't wait to share this with everyone.

'A Blind Man' will always be special because it will always be my first book, but it also has a lot of personal attachment to it. Two major points being that my Pappy wrote the poems and that I started this all as a birthday gift for me mom. Now, its finally finished, and my mom has her gift in hand, and I think its safe to say that she really loves it.
I think that at the end of this, I've realised that this may have just started as a gift, but really, I did it for me. Perhaps to prove to myself that I could. Perhaps to share some beautiful words with the world from an extraordinary man. Perhaps so I could feel close to my grandparents again. Perhaps to keep his legacy alive. Or maybe, just maybe, I did it for all of us who love him. Thank you Pappy, for all your amazing words. I hope I did you proud.

Levi Blues - Dala

This is another one of those great posts where I give you a recommendation. I love light, folk, acoustic music - it just makes me happy. So happy infact, that I often catch myself smiling secretly when I'm all alone singing out loud. I've recently become a huge fan of Dala, a Canadian music duo that have the most beautiful harmonies. I caught them on Canada AM this week, and instantly fell in love. You should check them out.