New American Felines

So this show was the bane of my existence on and off this whole week:

It's being put on by the boys at Straw, and the show is drawings of felines. New ones. American ones. It was pretty open-ended for what the drawings should be and all that, and it was exciting and seemed like fun, but when it came time to actually draw something, I was completely stuck.

Andy drew one of the best cats known to man, Maru. Maru rules. And this drawing rules. Has that manga feeling to it which is totally fitting since Maru is the cutest Japanese cat alive.

I drew a cat that night that Andy drew Maru and it was met with some pretty subpar looks. I knew my drawing was pretty whatever too and that I should do something else. I had no idea what to do, but I remember having one kind of silly idea where a bunny has cat ears, and having no other interesting thing to do, I did it.

And jeeze, it's so cute. A BUNNY WITH CAT EARS! I am dying.

I used to have a loped ear bunny, it went through a variety of names, BB (people asked me if I named it after a competitor on Survivor, hrm no, it's a cute name), Lucky, Obi Wan Kenobi (I was in love with him at the time), and then finally just...Bunny. When the bunny was younger it would hump the large beanie baby frog that my brother owned. I don't know why it was so attracted to it, but he would always go to it.

Anyways, go to the show if you're in Calgary, should be cute/nice/fun.

#18

March so far:

Went to this place, Simply French (at Alma and W.10th) with Maggie. It was nice, you should go. 

Prints I have made and that are available in ma store.  The whole time I was making these prints, it was like, man what am I doing. I had these x's on a page that looked terrible, or a flower that looked like it was done in a junior high art class and I just couldn't make myself patient enough to just finish the thing before making such harsh judgements. I needed immediate satisfaction for every second of the process (and that never really happens, as I so often forget) and it took a lot to keep pushing myself and convincing myself that what I was doing wasn't completely dumb and to keep going. And here we are. And I'm pretty glad we're here.

back to the days of color

Day at the studio:

pencil crayons saying something on a wonderfully thick piece of paper:

I bought a new pencil sharpener today (1 dollar!) and it's been a long time since I've sharpened several pencils to a fine point (hello elementary school and prisma colors!) and it sure felt good. Speaking of sharpening and elementary school, I remember having this deluxe set of CRAYONS and in the back was a crayon sharpener that was terribly ineffective and I was always disappointed by how it never really seemed to sharpen the crayon but just make it even more dull. Crayola for you. 

I also got around to listening to Marissa Nadler's Little Hells. I really like the title track of the album and you should listen to it:

bread, pizza, fortune cookies, and volcanoes.

BEHOLD:

My first real loaf of homemade bread. As you can see I am very excited and entertained about how I am documenting this moment in photobooth.

I've always been scared to bake bread, the whole kneading, letting it rise thing was just too daunting, time consuming, and even though it's a basic skill that I think everyone should have (And they probably do possess, but seldom try) it's just way more convenient to buy it. But it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought (as with everything in life) and I'll probably do it again in like a year or something. The recipe I used is from this book, which I go to for a lot of my eating needs.

Also! First ever attempt at making no-knead pizza dough. You may notice my laziness when it comes to making bread like things, if there is an easy way, I will take that way. Again, I was scared to make this pizza dough because I had read that it's not as easy as it sounds and the thought of attempting something and possibly failing and having no dinner totally scared me off. Even though whenever I read about how people are scared to work with certain ingredients, I think, pusssyyy, but then I am a bigger pussy, and one of my New Years resolutions: not be a pussy. So I made this pizza and it worked out well and I am happy I did. Pays to not be a pussy.

The most asian thing I've ever done. When Josh was here he talked about wanting to make fortune cookies and he was kind of kidding and when I said we should do it for real, he said he only thought of it because it was ridiculous and probably impossible to make. I didn't think it was impossible and I wanted to prove that to him. So this is hahha...the result. They look more like teeth cookies, WISDOM TEETH COOKIES! And I like how very homemade it looks, they make me laugh each time I look at them, and I was kind of laughing to myself while I was making them as well...maybe that's why they look all misshapen. Anyways, the recipe is from Martha Stewart, nothing that woman can't teach you.

A serious photo of the teeth cookies.

Up close! ahahahahah. Oh gosh.

There are actual fortunes inside the cookies (set in Akkurat and typewritten lucky numbers on the back!), ones that were submitted to Josh, and if you have a desire to send in some fortunes, send them to him at: thestrawbooks@gmail.com. My favorite ones are, "Even War Won Tons want peace", "CAUTION: May contain traces of paper", "Help! I am being held prisoner in a Chinese bakery", and "luck is its own reward."

I felt like I've made a lot of weird/novel things in the past few days, or have documented in a weird/novel way, so here is something kinda serious that I've made that's been in my head for a long while. I've always been fascinated by the word "Volcanoes", it stemmed from the Feist song, "Past in Present" when she sings a bit about volcanoes, and I just loved that tension and explosion and I remember just putting the word on photos and it just made the image seem so much more heavier, like it was on the brink of something, like when the weather is threatening to rain but you weren't sure if it will.

Could go either way.

Whew.

how one is built.

Okay. So confession. Or not really even. I really like the movie Jerry Maguire. Yes it's cheesy and like, man Ellen, you have no taste, but there's something about it that completely kills me, especially one scene, which I wrote out above (you can read all of the key Jerry Maguire quotes here, the one that I wrote out is like the 2nd last one). I just love the characters, Cuba Gooding Jr. and his whole pursuit of "the kwan" and there are some things that are said in the movie that I completely take to heart! AND YOU SHOULD TOO! Or not. Free will!

I also really enjoy a song from the movie as well, "Secret Garden" by Bruce Springsteen, you don't have to watch the video (in fact I recommend that you don't cause it kills the good movie that is Jerry Maguire), just listen to it. Every time I do it really reminds me of junior high and sitting around and watching movies like this and guiltily/surprisingly (and thus indulgently) really enjoying it and almost saying/thinking, like screw anything that's "cool" this "terrible" movie rules and there's nothing no one can do to change that.

ode to the muji 0.3mm gel ink ballpoint hexagonal pen:

I love this pen! And I love it thin (0.3 mm or smaller!)

lol using muji pens.

DIAMONDS

An exploration of diamonds.



I was talking to this guy one time about how I really liked the one song by Broken Social Scene, Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day). And he's like, "Oh yeah, that one's great" and then sang a line from that song, and I don't know if he's completely misheard the song or if I misheard him, but I thought he sang, "Diamonds ain't never turning to dust." Even though it's completely wrong and I don't think there is a Broken Social Scene song with that line, it's quite beautiful to me nonetheless. I find that this happens often with Broken Social Scene (like with KC Accidental, I made up alll the lyrics to that song), but I know it's common to mishear songs and you end up with your own version of your lyrics that you grow to love but eventually forget once you learn the correct ones (and you try so hard to remember what you started with, but can never really get back to it).

Anyways.
Nice weather we've been having?

I saw this movie tonight:

A Serious Man. And there were some parts where I had no idea what was going on and why that scene was there and so forth. It was kind of a choppy experience, there's parts where I could understand and I enjoyed, then it would get kind of strange and I had no idea what the director was implying, and then it would go back to understanding, and maybe that was the whole idea of the film, I don't know. But um maybe if you've seen it you could explain the beginning, end, and a bunch of other parts to me?

#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!

mom and dad.

YEESH.

Funny drawings from my sketchbook:

haha.

i think i need more sleep, time, and patience. And a good sandwich.

and i think my mom and dad, especially my mom, is my anchor in deciding what is wrong and what is right and what is worth it and what isn't. if i think my mom would be okay with it, i'd be okay with it. cause well. i trust my mom. and you know, i love her too. and my dad, i love him too. i think i should say that more often. especially on the gigantic internet.