Oh my, this is funny! I'm a hardcore Mac user but this made me laugh! I heard about it on one of my favourite CBC radio programs: The Age of Persuasion (and here's the episode from which it came -- you can listen via web streaming if you wish). Brilliant program all about advertising. Anyhow, be ready to laugh (LOVE the last line!)!

I so want to live here! This is art dealer, Sabrina Buella's San Francisco loft. I don't much care for the book "shelves" (i.e. vertical stacks -- I'm a traditionalist when it comes to how to display books: horizontally) but the space is gorgeous! I'm particularly fond of the large windows and open concept. The brick and wood combo certainly does no harm. Drool..

Buell01

Buell04

I just was introduced to this amazing sculptor and his work: Patrick Dougherty. His massive, twig installations must be very impressive in real life because the photos themselves amaze. Here are a few of my favourites. And go here to see a slide show of how it's done (I tried to find a way to embed this but it didn't work).

Patrick Dougherty, "Trailheads" (2005)

I had an interesting conversation about money with Katka the other day. When my scholarship started trickling in last fall, I vowed I'd put some of it away, start paying off my student debt. This is the first time in a loooong time that I've had more money per month than I need to live. Actually, I don't know if I've ever really had any kind of surplus. And although I had great dreams of being responsible with the extra money, I haven't. I've been spending money hand-over-fist especially in the last two months (which, interestingly, might be connected to my grandmother's death or according to an article I read that linked fear of death with spending) and what little I had saved up until this point is gone. I really do want to pay off my debt particularly because I fear the day that I'll be saddled with that financial burden but apparently I don't want it so badly that I'm willing to stop being a shopaholic. Anyhow, the conversation with Katka made me realize that perhaps what I need to do is start really investing in my long-term goals & dreams, really getting attached to them so that they have as much weight as my short-term desires (like new shoes). First amongst these goals is buying an apartment. I reeeally reeeeally want my own place. My desire is so great that I've started cruising the MLS website on a regular basis and drooling/dreaming even though there's no chance in hell that I'll be given a mortgage by any bank. No way. Not with this kind of debt. 

Sometimes I feel guilty about how "free" my lifestyle is, especially at the moment. I have no major deadlines, I have no commitments (except the odd thing here and there), I have no one breathing down my neck wanting anything from me. And I'm still getting "paid" (i.e. my scholarship is still coming in). My life right now would be considered a vacation for most and yet I'm not on vacation. No, this is pretty much how things will be for me until January minus a few weeks of deadlines and conferences. I mean, I have work to do, things I must accomplish, many books I must read, but my lifestyle will pretty much stay this way. I should be happy about this but when I talk to my very hardworking friends (like steelie), I feel badly. I don't want to talk about my life because I feel guilty that they're working so hard and just scraping by and yet I'm doing nearly nothing and living just fine. It's not fair. But what can I do?

Jian

I went to see a taping of CBC radio's Q this evening. It was a live show (but not live to air) at the Société des arts technologiques (or the SAT as it's known) hosted by the one and only Jian Ghomeshi (I luuuv him!). The guests included the amazing and world-renowned jazz artists Joe Lovano and Hank Jones, the lively Gregory Charles, and the one and only Creature (my good friend's band)! It was a fantastic show! Lovano & Jones entranced the audience with a Lovano-original from their album, Kids, Charles wowed us all with his beaming personality and talent on both the keyboard and vocals, and Creature turned up the volume and the energy with two numbers from their debut album, No Sleep at All. 

Jones and lovano

Creature

I just discovered this gem on a blog. The entire sketchbook is available for view on flickr. Here are some of my favourite pages:

But my absolute favourite is this one (ha ha!):

Turn to academia

A friend just sent me a link to this site, jenspraet. It details a series of objects for the office made from shredded paper. The paper is bound together by resin and compressed in a mould. From the site:

Jenspraet, one day paper waste cabinet

"I was so shocked about the enormous office waste and amount of shredded documents, that I wanted to react to this by reusing those documents and to transform them into a usefull object with a new dignity.

One day paper waste is a little cabinet. Obtained by taking shredded confidential documents, mixing them with resin and compressing them into a strong mould... End result: a new interesting object that has the strength of wood."

It's an interesting idea: using waste from a site or space as the raw materials for things that site/space can use. I don't know if I care for the aesthetics of these pieces but I would buy one (if I had an office that produced shredded paper waste) anyway because it's a brilliant idea. Certainly a conversation piece! I wonder what other sites/spaces produce a kind of waste that could be transformed like this...

Jenspraet table detail

Jenspraet, one day paper waste table

This is a test. This is only a test. Remain calm! No, I'm kidding. This is silly, really. I'm testing using Vox on Safari to see how it goes. Some of you may recall that a while back I switched to Camino as my regular browser but lately I've been missing Safari and it's smart features. Missing it a lot. Like an old friend (is that pathetic?). So I'm testing it out again to see how it goes.