"My drafting table, where I drew 'The Far Side' for most of my career, faced a window that overlooked a beautiful garden; beyond the garden was a lake and beyond the lake Mount Rainier rose majestically into the Washington sky.
I worked at night."
Gary Larson
Creator of The Far Side
Just finished reading 'Amy, My Daughter' by Mitch Winehouse. Great book that offers some insight into the woman behind the tabloids and, of course, that voice. Oh, that voice! In my opinion, Back to Black is the most perfect song of the past 10 years. Just hauntingly beautiful.
Sad to think she was silenced:
It's that time again. The page turns to a new year and all foibles of the previous are erased with a clean slate. Here are some things I would like to achive in 2013:
1. Evolve photography project: A speaker at the PhotoPLUS Conference in October talked about the street portraiture process. He claimed the best results could be had by simply walking up to people and clicking the shutter on your camera. The end result would be honest, unrehearsed and infinitely more compelling than asking subjects to pose. While I'm sure this works in theory, I can't help but take pause before employing this method for my first resolution of 2013. I already get strange looks when I'm walking solo around my town and snapping pics of architecture and whatnot; whether this is a symptom of lack of civic pride or greater paranoia of Big Brother, I'm not sure. I don't think people here would be so receptive though. Having said that, I really want to evolve a photography project I am doing to document the characters that act on the stage that is YXE.
2. Learn basic French: I already did this from grades 1 - 10, so hopefully it all comes back to me with relative ease. Having said that, I can't recall most of my classmates names from this same period and they were far more interesting. Sacre bleu.
3. Lose 10lbs. Obligatory.
4. Renovate condo. Equal parts saving money and making a decision I am prepared to live with for the next while. The latter part being more difficult.
5. Write/Illustrate and possibly self-publish a children's book: Books have played such a huge part of my life since childhood that I would love to contribute something back in this artform, whether it be a one-off or something that is decent enough to share with others. The story I am playing around with is the bond between human and pet and is inspired by Reggie & Monty. I tend to be more detailed in my drawings, but I want this to be very simplistic. As I've been saying this for years, I wouldn't place bets on this resolution getting done but it's always motivational to have something in writing that can haunt me next December 31 in addition to the 10lbs that I never lost.
Here's to 2013!
There are 100 days, 8 hours and 35 minutes (as of me typing this) until my next big trip. I will be visiting a country that is rich in beauty, art, history and escargot: France. As you can tell, I am very excited. I've always been captivated by it, in particular Paris which I consider the most iconic city in the world.
I've had my airfare booked for months. I made a conscious decision not to fly with Air Canada because they are terrible. Truly the worst. It was just a bonus that Air France was cheaper AND set to fly an Airbus 380, a double-decker airplane and one of the biggest in the world! I've never been on one and was looking forward to this as much as I was taking in the view at the top of the Eiffel Tower. But alas, plans disappear; dreams take over (or something)...and I am now flying on a smaller plane. My upper deck window seat changed to the middle of the middle. And so begins this edition of first world problems: I am lamenting a 7-hour plane ride wherein my bladder will be tested like an Olympic sport and I will probably start snoring on the shoulder of one of the individuals sitting next to me. Hopefully they are cute. And under 40.
I also hate not having a window seat as my first glimpse of a new place is a memory that always stays with me forever. Travel is magical. The world we live in is magical! I remember landing at Heathrow back in '07 and watching the tiny double-decker buses power down the motorways lined with Georgian homes. I was definitely not in Canada anymore. I remember landing at PuDong in the same year and thinking to myself, "where the heck is Shanghai?", as all I saw were farmer's fields and an apocalyptic sky tinged red from pollution. Oh, what foreboding. This past October, I couldn't help but envision all of the characters - real and fictional - that were acting below on the stage that is New York City. From George Costanza to Carrie Bradshaw, Jay-Z to the Ramones, Scorsese to Allen, their art and influence has, over the years, made everyone feel like they knew that city intimately and were a part of something greater and now I would be too. The first glimpse of any city helps ignite that spark of imagination and sets the tone for impending adventure.
That first glimpse of a new place is the moment that everything changes. Especially the traveller.
And so I feel robbed that I will not have that moment with the city of light. I won't lose sleep over it until I'm on the plane though.
Landing at PuDong International Airport.
Landing at LaGuardia International Airport.
For more pictures of my beautiful city, follow me on Twitter @streetsofYXE
I love winter. I love snowflakes and hot cocoa and the spirit of the season that causes strangers to become friends and friends to become family (even if it only lasts until 11:59pm on December 25). Some of my fondest memories involve growing up in Winnipeg, a true winter city where the citizenry seem to thrive on temperatures below -40 degrees celcius. As a child, there were three things that I always looked forward to:
• Visiting Santa's Village at Eaton's Department Store: So iconic was this display that it is now permanently featured at the Children's Museum of Winnipeg. Mimicking a turn-of-the-century street with animated fairytale vignettes in every shop window, it was a place that enchanted both young and old alike. I believe I spent more time staring in wonder at Sleeping Beauty than I did asking Santa for bounty. The best part was afterwards when my mother would take me to the bakery on the 4th floor and purchase Italian tri-colour cookies. Best. Dessert. Ever. And so damn hard to find nowadays.
Coincidentally, it was the Eaton's Santa of 1986 that made me stop believing in the jolly fat man. After failing to deliver me a Puffalump on Christmas, I started to question the myths that society was coaxing me to believe as fact. I never told my parents that I stopped believing. I didn't want to hurt their feelings by admitting I was athiest at the age of six. I also didn't want to stop our seasonal visits to Santa's Village.
I found this picture online of the display, but it doesn't do it justice. You really had to be a child growing up in Winnipeg in the 80s to truly understand how magical a place this was.
• Skating and Sledding at St. Vital Park: By my father's account, I was a pretty good skater as a kid. I don't know why I dropped this hobby (the invention of Nintendo, perhaps?) but I do remember how much I enjoyed skating at St. Vital Park with my dad. And I know it meant a lot to him as well because skating was a huge part of his own young adulthood (he was a former hockey player who came thisclose to playing in the NHL). There never seemed to be anyone at this frozen over lake and I often felt as though the winter wonderland it presented belonged solely to me. Gliding under the stars like a whirling dirvish with snowflakes falling on my nose was a pursuit that connected me with Mother Nature in both a tangible and spiritual way. I would never stop believing in her like I did the dude who denied me the Puffalump.
Also at St. Vital Park was my favorite sled run. It was high and it was looooooonnnnngggg. Over the years I went through a variety of launch vehicles (tobaggan, magic carpet, saucer, sledge), each one left me believing that in the moment I was actually breaking the sound barrier. The icy track also made it's way through a forest. It doesn't sound safe, but I never got hurt while going down it. Key word: "down". One year when I was about five or six-years-old, I slipped and fell flat on my face while walking back up to the launch point. I immediately started wailing and when my dad came to get me up, the white snow was all hue-dyed red with blood. Lots of blood. I spent the remainder of the evening in the ER. In retrospect, it was okay though as we got hot chocolate and a maple dip donut on the way home.
Perhaps this post isn't about winter memories so much as it is about just desserts?
Behold, the Kate Moss of canines:
