some of it:

Hmm I was going to wait and make a long epic post after I finished a lot of things that I have on the go, but I am too excited and really want to show you some of it now:

Andy helped me photograph this. Woop thanks Andy. I wanted to photograph it on a nice day, and I had researched it and everything, SATURDAY WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SUNNY! But it was overcast, but whatever, first day of spring, it's a hard day to live up to, so I understand Spring if you just weren't up to being awesome on your first day. You're still my favorite season hands down.

Aw my gawwwd, LITTLE HILLS WITH LITTLE BUNNIES! Okay Andy and I did the photos at Jericho and as many people in Vancouver know, there are many rabbits there, and in so many different colors (grey! white! caramel! dark brown!) and they are so incredibly cute and we watched them for a bit and I can't wait to go see them again. 

And hooray! The book I designed (Centrism) for Jared's collages is done! If you'd like a copy, you can contact Josh at strawbooks@gmail.com.

I am especially happy with the accompanying essay at the end and how it was treated:

Another project that I am working on for Straw. It's a pill bottle that treats...when you are walking down the stairs and you think there is another stair but there isn't. The whole idea stemmed from Jared and Josh when they were thinking of what to submit to a friends' magazine, Palimpsest for their second issue, Medicine. So it was kind of funny, we only needed 50 bottles for the project, but Shoppers Drug Mart (where I bought these from), would only give me...200. So the rest of them will be sold at the book launch for Jared's book which is happening April 2 at Comrad Sound in Calgary, AB. So yeah I am busy trying to get like 1oo of those done with my impatient and clumsy hands (but don't worry! They don't look shitty! I think at least!)

Okay that's it and I hope you are well as well.

No Country For Old Men

A few sentences from the first couple of pages of "No Country For Old Men" by Cormac McCarthy. Those pages absolutely kill. I read it like 50 times, it is so well done, time stops, it is just so good.

If you haven't read it, read it. If you've seen the movie, enjoyed it, read the book, the movie is missing so many things that make it so much better. 

BADASS.

vacation from a vacation.

So Josh came into town and this is what it kind of looked like:





Ah god my favorite mac and cheese recipe with kale salad (super good balanced combo!)

Josh and I must have gone to almost every possible used book store in Vancouver (which is my way to pass the time). Here is the stack that I ended up with. A sort of mission was to get all the Murakami books, nearly there, but not completely. I am most excited to read, Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami...the guy who sold me it told me he doesn't like Murakami in general, but this book, this book was fantastic. And also I am really looking forward to the Raymond Chandler books as well (inspiration for Bored to Death!)

I am pretty specific about what I buy in a used book store. Usually if it's a modern classic/classic, I will only buy it based on the cover, because those books are usually a dime a dozen, so might as well pick the best looking one. I loooove first editions. Especially if they are first editions designed by Chip Kidd. Some used book stores sell new books along the used books and you'll never see me buying those new books. I try at all costs to buy that book used, and really if I am too impatient and can't wait, I'd buy it on Amazon.

While in the bookstores the things I was looking for (aside from what you see here) were Shirley Jackson, L.P Hartley's "The Go Between", John Wyndham, and Chuck Klosterman's "Downtown Owl". A topic of conversation in many of the bookstores was the folding of Duthie's, and I just cannot get over the insane rent that the place had to pay, 16 THOUSAND DOLLARS! A! MONTH! What! WHAT! WHHHAAATTT!!! That's insane.

Anyways.
It's funny, Josh came here for a vacation, and I totally felt like I was on vacation as well (even though I've been on vacation since like October), and it felt really good and really nice and yeah if you didn't know it already, vacations rule.

Books Read 09:

Books I read in 2009 (in the order seen in the above image):

The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi
Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto
The New Kings of Nonfiction selected by Ira Glass
Shenzhen: A Travelogue by Guy Delisle
Good-bye by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell
Where I am Calling From by Raymond Carver
A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes From my Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg
Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
Comfort Me With Apples by Ruth Reichl
No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July
C by Josh Barsky
The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle
French Milk by Lucy Knisley
Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine
Lamb by Christopher Moore
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Out of all the books, the ones that I enjoyed the most and would tell you to take a gander at if you were in search of something to read: The New Kings of Nonfiction selected by Ira Glass, Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami, The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank (especially if you are a girl! One that is in love with romance! And don't worry this isn't a cloyingly cheesy book either), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind, Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine (best graphic novel I read this year), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (I recommend reading anything by this author...science fiction at it's best, totally awesome).

And hrm, out of all the books, the ones I would tell you to kind of stay away from (I only say kind of, because we probably have different tastes, and really none of the books I read were terrible, but I just didn't really enjoy these ones): Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell (really hard to get through, the author is slightly boring), French Milk by Lucy Knisley (a kind of blah graphic novel, the drawings are alright, and at times the observations were interesting, but for the most part, passable), ha hrm that's it.

Yeaaaah books!

Won't Ever/Won't Never

Whoosh! The days have gone by seriously fast.

A button from Dallin for Straw.

While in Calgary, Dallin, Josh and I worked on Dallin's Book:

This book will be available for purchase at Calgary's next Market Collective (Dec 6!) if you're in Calgary, GO! Dallin is hand binding these books and yes, that's cool yeah?

And also another book that I've been working on, Jared's collages...is almost done as well.


More of Calgary:

Oh man I didn't expect to be staying up this late. Must be all that bubble tea with Ms.Koo.
And I know I've already said it, but Calgary ain't so bad.
But, uh, Hey there Vancouver! Goodnight!

#17

Excerpt wridrawn (written+drawn) by myself from the book, History of Love by Nicole Krauss.

If you can't read it (I know people have a bit of hard time with my handwriting), here's what it says:

My brother and I used to play a game. I'd point to a chair. "THIS IS NOT A CHAIR," I'd say. Bird would point to the table. "THIS IS NOT A TABLE." "THIS IS NOT A WALL," I'd say. "THAT IS NOT A CEILING." We'd go on like that. "IT IS NOT RAINING OUT." "MY SHOE IS NOT UNTIED!" Bird would yell. I'd point to my elbow. "THIS IS NOT A SCRAPE." Bird would lift his knee. "THIS IS ALSO NOT A SCRAPE!" "THAT IS NOT A KETTLE!" "NOT A CUP!" "NOT A SPOON" "NOT DIRTY DISHES!" We deneid whole rooms, years, weathers. Once at the peak of our shouting, Bird took a deep breath. At the top of his lungs, he shrieked, "I! HAVE NOT! BEEN! UNHAPPY! MY WHOLE! LIFE!" "But you're only seven," I said.

And man this cough of mine is giving my upper abs or stomach a work out, COUGH OUT!

BOOKS READ.

I started a Tumblr that keeps a record of all the books I have been reading. Having buttloads of time at the book store has increased the amount of books I am reading, and I have all this information, and I feel like I need to do something with it. Hence, I present with excitement:

BOOKS READ.

I just post what books I read, sometimes do an accompanying illustration with my favorite sentence/passage from that book and the story of how I got to the book. It was inspired completely by Ken Tsui's tumblr, Habitual Viewer, where he documents what films he is watching. Seeing all the film stills in one place, it looked so beautiful, so important, even though it is so small and brief, it is so loaded! And most importantly, it made me want to see all the films he was watching. I wanted to do the same thing, just post the cover of the book I read and my then write my favorite sentence and leave it at that and let the viewer think whether or not the book seems interesting or not. But gah! I just couldn't! I feel this incredible need to tell people why I chose the book, how I got to the book, because I like knowing that kind of stuff, and I like telling that kind of stuff. I will kind of draw the line (even though I think I already kinda crossed it) at telling you whether or not the book is good and worthwhile. You can decide that for yourself because I did when I found all of these books.

Um, so unless kind of otherwise noted, the illustrations that accompany the book covers are done by myself. Um yep!

And we start Books Read with the lovely Dorothy Parker and Ms. Judith Jones.