the great glebe garage sale

For those not in Ottawa, "The Glebe" is a neighbourhood in Ottawa and it is where I live - though I'm not a rich hippy/yuppie (the stereotype of the neighbourhood (which holds some truth)).

Last weekend the whole neighbourhood held a garage sale and of course I had to go. I didn't find much though. Here are the highlights:

* A funny sign of the times

* I bought these nearly new Addidas. They are "statement shoes" for sure though I'm not sure I speak their language... we'll see how the relationship works out.

* Eureka moment! I didn't buy this giant plastic light bulb but a nice lady did volunteer to hold it up over my head for this photo.

* Deal of the Day - Frye Boots. These don't actually fit me, I just couldn't resist them - so I bought them with a small friend in mind.

* Favourite purchase of the day - "The Therapeutic Uses of Adhesive Tape" (published by Johnson & Johnson in 1958). It has nice illustrations.

* Now I know how to bandage my middle finger when I've used it too much.

tenacious peas

My new balcony is much smaller than what I used to have so I had to limit the garden this year. It will be mostly salad greens and herbs... but I'm still growing snow peas because I really enjoyed watching them grow last year (and eating them too of course).

Those little fellas are eager to cling! I just put out a climbing structure last night and they are already wrapping around it this morning. So cool!

The only other big plant I'm growing this year is a sweet potato. I actually managed to get some small tubers in last year's containers but I think I started way too late this year. I'm mainly growing this because I think it's a pretty plant and I get a kick out starting things in my kitchen.

blogging and game-7 watching

It is rare, but I do sometimes leave my nest - usually with my partner in crime (not tonight though... tonight I stayed in to watch hockey - my team's not playing but it's a Game 7...)

Last weekend though a friend and avid camper convinced us to head out in canoes through Algonquin Park... and I don't regret that we did.

* I got to steer the canoe - which is harder than I thought... I think our canoe doubled the distance of the others.

* Algonquin Mug Shots: these orange posters mark the designated camping areas in the park. The hunt for the perfect spot is part of the fun.

* The Brothers who led the way into the woods. Appropriately, their last name is "Wood".

* Quintessential Pine

* My favourite part: reading on my rock overlooking calm water... also cookies and "Frontier Coffee"

(Recipe: Strong Coffee, Bulliet "Frontier" Bourbon, Cream)

* Reading Moby Dick is my personal white whale... there are some long stretches but the nuggets of goodness are well worth it.

("... with half a heart and half a lung...")

* And lastly, my bounty - a loon skull and some vertebrae. I found these whilst peeing behind a tree. TMI?

Daniel Romano

Now that I'm settled into the new place I'm trying to sort through a bunch of older pictures.

Here's a few unintentionally hipstamatic/instagrammy shots (taken with my regular point-n-clicker) of Daniel Romano playing at the Raw Sugar Cafe. And let's not forget to mention his lovely "Trilliums" - although we could hardly see them due to the strange stage situation. It's a lovely place but not really suitable for a 6-person band.

(I have nothing against those cool camera apps by the way. I think they make everything look special. But... they can be a bit overdone... or maybe somehow "inauthentic"? ... I don't always know how I feel about high-fi things being intentionally low-fied... Sometimes I like it. Sometimes it bugs me. But in reality, I have no strong opinions on this so I don't know why I'm belabouring it.)

Anyway, I like it when my little digi camera accidentally does weird things in low light...

Daniel Romano and Misha Bower's voices sound great together. Incidentally, I think they are married...

This video of them singing together is uber-sweet starting at exactly the 2:24 minute mark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-Ujf6ZvR_g

I should really learn how to embed a video...

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house stuff

As always, all pictures can be clicked on to see them bigger... if ya want...

* Gummies leftover from camping. The dome, from a cheese-plate-thing, fits perfectly on this dish I brought upstairs from my building's secret-awesome-give-away-spot.

* These guys are facing off on top a book about the heritage of the world. Yep, "different cultures fighting" pretty much sums it up...

* Bird skull and vertebrae I found while taking a piss in the woods while camping last weekend.

I think the skull might be a loon.

Not sure if the vertebrae are from the bird as there was another piece from a different skull at the same place. None of us could figure out what it was - possibly a lake monster. I didn't take it home but I probably should have.

Anyway, these are now outside getting sun-bleached...

* Isolated showers over Gatineau and maybe Westboro. Seen from my balcony. This was last Friday. I almost thought those rapture-people might be right when I was watching this. It looked like that scene from Ghostbusters.

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tent in the house

This is the current state of our livingroom. As you can see, there is a screened-dining-tent in there. Partly this is because we needed to dry it out after a recent rainy camping trip...

... but the other reason is that this is our "guestroom"...

We live in a two bedroom apartment but I've taken over the 2nd bedroom as a studio/workshop. By setting up the tent I can still work and compute in peace even when we have guest/guests... which we do, right now.

I tried to make it really cozy, almost cabin-like, in there so that our guests don't feel too uncomfortable about sleeping in a tent inside an apartment inside a high-rise.

The fold-down sides of this dining tent allow our guests some privacy (as opposed to having an air mattress in a wide open room and changing in the one and only bathroom all the time).

Also, it's a really tall tent - so you can stand at your full height.

It's got a nice rug, a quilt, a hudson bay blanket, etc.

I scored this little red table from the dumpster area of our building the night before our guest arrived. It was broken but easily fixed.

A trunk for putting the guest's stuff on. Also some light reading material and a fan. (There's also Lego in the trunk if one gets really bored!)

It's got twinkle lights!
(... and also our cheap Ikea light fixture that had to be moved to put the tent up... it looks sort of like a patio latern...)

I left one of the tent walls up (facing a real wall) so that it didn't feel too muggy or claustrophobic.

The Jack Bush poster on the real wall blends nicely with the Canadiana-cabin-feel. (He was a Canadian abstract painter... also, his name is just great: Jack like a Jack Pine, Bush like forest/wilderness/etc.)

So there you have it Potential Guests. This is where you'll stay if you come to visit. Hope you like it and I hope you will drop by!

(...but please note, I'm only setting up the tent for those staying more than one night!! haha!!)

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baby steps

Actually, I don't think these are even steps yet. I'm just crawling right now...

...but that's one way to get where you're going right?

I've started practicing some tattoo flash, trying to learn from the masters and all that. It's really different from the way I'm used to drawing - I've never really used ink or watercolour. I'm enjoying it but I know this stuff doesn't look very clean...

This stuff isn't great compared to some of the awesome flash I see on the internet however I don't think it's total shit either. I'm challenging myself to get better (faster) by posting my progress on the internet. Right now I'm just trying to figure out how to work with these new tools. I'll get better.

I'm pretty old compared to most people who dream of becoming a tattooist but this dream is well over a decade old now and if I don't go for it, I know I'll always regret it (in fact, I regret it already, not doing it earlier). It has taken me a long time to get wise to the fact that I'm not shackled to my conservative upbringing and can do what I want...

Anyway, as the old saying goes, "you're never too old..."

So finally, after asserting it quietly amongst my friends for a couple of years, I'm telling the world that I hope to become a tattoo artist. I want to do it the "proper" way with an apprenticeship and I've been saving my pennies to accommodate this... but I'm shy and I don't know any tattoo artists in this town yet.

But I'm willing to do the dirty work and the homework and the heavy-lifting for the chance to learn.

I'm responsible. I'm used to working with clients and deadlines. I'm shy and nervous about new things so I might seem "uncool" but I'm also earnest, likable, and fun. I'm loyal and helpful.

So... if you are someone or know someone who can help me with my quest, please get in touch. I'll help you in return.

*****

- Repaints of small Sailor Jerry flash.

- Merkaba based on part of a Chad Koeplinger tattoo (this was strictly for practice, I'm not trying to rip off any current tattoo artists...)

- Little Boxer from Stoney St. Clair.

- Roses from Tattoo Peter of Amsterdam.

- Horse head based loosely on Sailor Jerry.

- Horseshoe in Heart is a tattoo that my friend has on his leg, done by Bailey Hunter Robinson. It is based on very old military flash.

(FYI. I don't trace from the originals. I'm trying to train my eyes in terms of proportion... but I do trace from my own drawings when going from sketch to drawing.)

(Does anyone know if spit-shading is bad for your health?)

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Where I Live Now: Ottawa

Well, I moved to Ottawa. I didn't go alone - the man and the cats are here too. At first I wasn't too keen on the idea of moving here but this city is slowly growing on me, somewhat like a mold, but growing none-the-less.

I can't complain about the views in our new apartment. We look over Dow's Lake.

The sunsets are OK I guess...

I wasn't certain whether I would continue to blog. I haven't posted in over a month and I didn't hear an overwhelming outcry from my 4 or 5 readers. I briefly flirted with Tumblr but he dumped me for some 18-year-old fashionista who reblogs 100 pictures a day without crediting the artist. Good riddance I say.

But in the end I'm back because I can't resist sharing anecdotes of growing and scalping a Chia Pet with the internet world.





Oh yeah. There is a Tulip Festival going on in this city - right outside my windows in fact. There is absolutely no tip-toeing allowed though... sigh...