Get to know me

One of the few forwards I actually participated in : ) I thought I would post it here too.

Welcome to the new 2009 edition of getting to know your family and friends. Here is what you are supposed to do, and try not to be lame and spoil the fun.

[edit: I don't really like the word "lame" in there... if you don't feel like replying it doesn't make you lame! : ) ]

Change all the answers so that they apply to you.. Then send this to a bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person who sent it to you. Some of you may get this several times; that means you have lots of friends. The easiest way to do it is to hit 'forward' so you can change the answers or copy and paste. Have fun and be truthful!

I want to see your answers!!

1. What is your occupation right now?
Part time at a desk, doing office-y things (ok) and part time in a little library doing bookish things (very nice!)

2. What color are your socks right now?
Grey

3. What are you listening to right now?
Nothing (I'm at the desk job right now)... but I have my ipod and am debating between Harry Potter on audiobook and the soundtrack to Amelie

4. What was the last thing that you ate?
Breakfast of toast with almond butter & blueberry jam, and a bowl of yogurt, muesli, fresh strawberries and cinnamon. Right now I am drinking a soy mocha.

5. Can you drive a stick shift?
Yes!

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone
My brother Terry

7. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
Very much : )

8. How old are you today?
32

9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV?
Sport? TV?

10. What is your favorite drink?
Um... totally depends. Fresh juice from my juicer (apple, carrot, beet, ginger) or a latte/mocha.... sometimes tea... somtimes a mojito... I like variety!

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?
Yes but.... too much work to maintain so not for a long time.

12. Favorite food?
Kind of seasonal... right now I love strawberries, and salads full of fresh stuff, maybe with some kind of fish on top... I eat a lot of avocados all year though... and everything is better with cheese. In the fall/winter butternut squash soup becomes a staple. I love custard tarts, pumpkin pie, mincemeat tarts... gingerbread. I would not kick an almond croissant out of bed. Hard to choose one favorite. I do enjoy eating though, that's for sure.

13. What is the last movie you watched?
"Up" on Friday, "The Wrestler" on Saturday.

14. Favorite day of the year?
Unpredictable.
(I'm stealing Elizabeth's answer. Who can know that ahead of time?)

15. How do you vent anger?
With tears, usually.
(again, stealing Elizabeth's answer)

16. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Um.... nothing stands out.. I always loved to read and draw. I did play with dolls, but mostly I liked designing houses and towns for them to live in. Oh! Lego.

17. What is your favorite season?
Autumn

18. Cherries or Blueberries?
Do I have to choose? Whichever one is in season.

19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back/respond with their own answers?
Yes please!!!

20. Who is the most likely to respond?
Andie... or Jackie...

21. Who is least likely to respond?
Cindy :)

(Ok, so now Elizabeth and I are ganging up on Cindy. But then maybe she will reply just to teach us a lesson!)

22. Living arrangements?
Lower-floor apartment (small, but cozy) with Adrien (the boy) and Griffin (the cat)

23. When was the last time you cried?
Friday ("Up" is SAD)

24. What is on the floor of your closet?
Shoes. Dust. Spiders, probably. Cat hair, definitely.

25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to?
Well, Leanne has been my cousin/friend since I was two weeks old, so probably her. Although Jackie (and my mom, for that matter) knew me BEFORE I was born. But if we aren't counting family, then Megan and Alissa.

26. What did you do last night?
Talked to my brother, cleaned out my fridge then put away the groceries, made a little supper and did laundry while watching Carnivale (we are in Season One).

27. What are you most afraid of?
Loss of independence (ex paralysis)

28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers?
Cindy's mustard-bean burgers (with cheese) (and avocado) (yum)

29. What is your favorite kind of dog?
big, friendly ones

30. Favorite day of the week?
Saturday.... sometimes Sunday... and the days I work at the library are pretty good too

31. How many Provinces have you lived in?
3

32. Diamonds or pearls?

Moonstones

33. What is your favorite flower?
Sweet Peas... but I also like tulips, chocolate cosmos (actually smells like chocoalte), lilacs, hydrengias, lavender, any little wildflowers, especially purple or blue ones

34. Favourite holiday destination?
A seaside (or lakeside, in a pinch) cottage, with a pile of books. Or else a new and interesting city, like Paris, New York, Lima, Venice or Tokyo.

*Photos from Google searches found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Krazy Kool

Krazy Kat (a club in Washington DC) circa 1920s
More info here

An unrelated, but equally awesome photo:

Apparently they are hopefulls in a "bathing costume contest"

Patchwork post

I have a serious crush on cut-away illustrations of houses (or in this case cloud-ships, whale-submarines, dinosaur homes and rockets). The style of this artist/illustrator

Scott C really appeals to me too.

Image from wikipedia

A lexicographer talking about dictionaries (from those famous TED talks). I love that she describes the way the dictionary is used (online), as steampunk (she puts it something like: Victorian technology with a {search} engine slapped on).

A nice article by Jeanette Winterson about gardening.

Illustration by Freya, discovered here.

Pretty in Pink

So, in the middle of March, I am usually pretty sick of Montréal. I really end up hating winter, and any dorky feelings of magical enchantment that might have welled up for those first snowfalls back in November/December are long gone. However.

Then there is SPRING!

Spring seems to happen overnight here. It was a while ago, maybe 2-3 weeks ago, but it did happen over one weekend. On Friday the trees were bare, almost autumnally so, and by Monday everything was green and starting to bloom. All it takes is one spike in temperature and the plants wake up in spectacular unsion.

All around my place there are lilacs in full flower (gorgeous PURPLE!!) and they smell great. Just across the street from where I work there is a cute little back walkway (cobblestone even) and it is in the shaddow of a pretty church courtyard, and lined with lovely old stone buildings. On my lunch break I like to stroll along it (it isn't very long... and there are usually people from nearby offices standing around there smoking... but still), and this week I remembered to bring my camera.

Hello, I have a blog

I kind of forgot.

But now it's spring, and I'm feeling inspired again.

So, I thought I would share a lucky find from some second-hand book shop purchases a little while ago. Masquerade by Kit Williams (who is also known for making curious clocks). I got it for the gorgeous art work, but I was delighted to discover that it was also involved in a secret treasure hunt and.... a scandal!

Besides... who wouldn't want to read a storybook written by this scruffy gentleman:


A few images from the book (taken from this lovely spot):

The book was meant to be a riddle, and if you could figure out the clues it would lead to buried treasure. The treasure was actually a beautiful filagree piece of jewelry made by the author, and hidden somewhere in England. And therein lies the scandal!

My camera has more to say lately than I do...

Highlights from a Sunday drive

We started with a late breakfast in Mile End (a mochacocochino = mocha made with coconut milk) and wound our way around the city, spending some time in Lachine walking along the canal. It wasn't a very bright day (excuse no.1) and so a lot of my pictures were a bit fuzzy. Also many were taken from the window of our car as we sped past the sights (excuse no.2). So, the last photo of the sunset would have been a lot nicer if I'd thought to get out of the car (um, we did pull over for that one) rather than take it through the cracked windshield. And then my batteries died (excuse no. 3). Anyway, it was a lovely day.