Oh so quiet...

The house is so quiet... Dog is asleep... No music or TV in the background. Just the hum of a PC (horrid little machine).

As a lover of lists, I'm working on 2 in particular. Please feel free to send your feedback.

#1 - Where do you take a visiting mother in this city that doesn't involve gang fights, peeler bars or the Arcade Fire?

#2 - What neighborhood do you suggest an old high school friend moving here from the Maritimes set up her home in?

Well I should have my laptop in the next day or so. Wow... feels so weird to have all of my files resting on a hard drive in the studio (in the messiest studio ever known). My mom is coming to visit in a few weeks and there has GOT to be a huge clean up.

For years, the studio has been the repository for all that doesn't fit elsewhere in the house. Among other things, it holds pens stolen from banks,hats,books,boxes from appliances I never use, numerous computer parts and wires,CD's, creepy-looking stuffed toys, long-past paid bills, design and political science textbooks, dog toys and brake fluid containers. This room is like the junk drawer of the house...

Time to stop procrastinating and sort through this museum of miscellany.

Laptopless in Montreal

Anxiously awaiting my laptop (estimated ETA is Wednesday) - I can't wait to get an iLife! (I guess all this time, I've been having such a regular time of it all!) I wonder if Buddhists struggle with having an iBook, iPod, iLife, iCal... All this emphasis on the 'I'. Where is the concept of no-self with Apple products?

I am looking forward to trying my hand at podcasting so be on the lookout for that. Another bit of news is that I've thrown my hat in the ring to post on the Metroblogging Montreal Blog. It's a great incentive for me to write daily and use my purty digital camera to capture all that is to behold about this great city.

Is it just me or is there a lot of barking going on???

Everytime I turn on the TV I'm hearing dogs barking and I think I'm turning into what the secret behind this is.

My dog responds to any dog barking, whether it be in an ad for vodka coolers, Preperation H, banks, septic tanks, flea medicine... A woof elicits a freak out on his behalf. In turn, this causes a reverse Pavlovian reaction in me where I curse the TV ad causing the mayhem - BUT believe me- I remember the product they are advertising!!!

Am I alone in this???

MY EYES

I think I've grown allergic to my contact lens solution. Today after putting my little plastic films on my corneas, I noticed that the area under my eyes started to puff up quite a bit. This has been happening off and on for about a month or so and after rotating through several kinds of solutions, I've decided to try the peroxide-based cleaner.

My friend Andrea is always good for product advice and has enthusiastically expressed her love for this method of contact cleansing. Seems so complex - a little metal disc at the bottom of the storage case to which you add hydrogen peroxide to and let sit.


DO NOT put the contacts in your eyes before the 6 hour 'neutralizing' stage... I must use this as my new mantra.

Super Sized mac

Every so often I get antsy.. Like I need to create something (better than destroying stuff I guess!) I think this is spurred on by the fact that I've traded up my macbook and am awaiting it's arrival. In the meantime, I'm using a HUGE MONSTER macpro which makes my little laptop look like Mini Me (as opposed to Ying Mao).

I feel like I'm viewing the internet through a huge loft-sized window rather than a peephole and now I have big lap envy.

BUT... I don't think my thighs are big enough to support such a large machine and I'm sure after 10 minutes of sitting on me, the laptop would not only radiate my ovaries and fallopean tubes, but would render my legs immobile. I guess sometimes small is better.

When you like the people around you...

I have to count my lucky stars that I work with people I adore. It REALLY makes a difference in my life.

For the next 2 weeks- here's where I'll be

Oh gosh. It's that time of year again Ubisoft Presents Fantasia 2006

The song that won't leave my head....

Time for another earworm which has woven itself into my aural consciousness... The chorus to the new Billy Talent song 'Devil in a Midnight Mass' is trapped in my head.

I'll share it with you - Let me know if you are infected...

BILLY TALENT II

July Yulblog

Well I finally made it to a Yulblog monthly gathering. 2 months ago, Roxana and I made it out to Laika - only to have the Yulblog interrupted by some big conference thing going on at the SAT.

So we set out again and the night got off to an interesting start with some crazies fighting outside of a bar (probably a soccer-related altercation). Several police cruisers later, I think the situation was resolved. Made it to the charming watering hole known as La Quincaillerie and was greeted by the charming and glamourous floral-clad Vero B and we also got to meet Patrick- the founder of this Yulblog phenomenon...

I think we caught the Yulblog bug and will be regular attendees. The ice is broken, 3 shy little girls ('an anglo, a Quebecoise and a Parisian') have jumped in and look forward to meeting more local bloggers.

For some great recaps of the evening, check out:

L'île de Ebb et Hoedic

I Never Knew

Umbrella Inside Out

Given the crapp-o weather these days this contest is pretty timely.

Treehugger and ID Magazine have launched the Umbrella Inside Out Competitions.

1. Design a new umbrella that will conform to 'Cradle to Cradle' principles...

OR

2. Design a garmet made out of discarded umbrella fabric or parts...

HOW COOL IS THIS!!!

Umbrella Inside Out: How to Enter

Celebrated Summer

While shuffling through some MySpace pages I came across the page for some Husker Du fans and had a wistful set of memories come over me.

It's such a visceral feeling when the first few riffs of a 'CLASSIC' song tug away at your core... Such is the case with 'Celebrated Summer'. Whoa - that took me back really far down memory lane. Late night skate sessions behind the seniors residence - trying to teach myself to ollie and doing all I could to escape from my parents and my homework. Hanging out with Tobi, Tracey and Wendy - going to gigs and trying to make a difference with the short-lived East Coast 'Punx for Peace'.


Love and hate was in the air, like pollen from a flower
Somewhere in April time, they add another hour

I guess I'd better think up a way to spend my time
Just when I'm ready to sit inside, it's summer time
Should I go fishing or get a friend to hang around
It's back to summer, back to basics, hang around

Getting drunk out on the beach, or playing in a band
And getting out of school meant getting out of hand

Was this your celebrated summer? Was that your celebrated summer?

Then the sun disintegrates between a wall of clouds
I summer where I winter at, and no one is allowed there

Do you remember when the first snowfall fell
When summer barely had a snowball's chance in Hell?

www.myspace.com/flipyourwig

Ram Dass- Fierce Grace

I just finshed watching the documentary on Ram Dass 'Fierce Grace' Fascinating stuff.

Now in his later years, he is exploring the process of aging from a spiritual side.

Hearing him speak about the panic he felt when he first started to had the experience of 'no self' and likening it to the panic 'of a perceived psychological death' was something I identified with profoundly. I remember being in Halifax, sitting on the cushion and feeling lost, groundless, panicked, heart-racing and then realizing that I had to just go with it. (Timothy Leary told Ram Dass in this situation 'just to trust his nervous system'.)

Check out the PBS microsite to find out more and to read some selections from his books.
Independent Lens . RAM DASS FIERCE GRACE . Words & Wisdom | PBS