8.31.2010

making stuff...

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I have been really busy this week, as I've found the perfect craft to keep my hands occupied while I'm watching Project Runway (don't judge me) I've also made a few simple necklaces, but am working on some designs for some more complicated pieces... stay tuned!

8.30.2010

would somebody please buy this for me? please???

Edward Gorey's "lost" book, now found 

First published in 1965, written by Mel Juffe (aka hyacinthe Phyppe) and illustrated by Edward Gorey, this humorous etiquette guide was nearly forgotten until last year, when somebody posted the scanned pages on LiveJournal. It was recently reissued by Bloomsbury, and is now available on Amazon for a mere $9.60.  I would die to get my hands on a copy.  Are you taking notes?

8.28.2010

Back to Basics

Me, age 4
So, I've had this blog for just about one month, And I thought it was high time I told you a little bit about myself and what brought me to Albania, of all places.

I was born in Toronto and raised in Burlington, Ontario.  When I was 14, my dad got a job in The Netherlands, so we packed up and moved the family to Amsterdam, where I lived for 4 years until I graduated high school.  During those 4 years, I was extremely lucky to be able to travel to all sorts of places, from Japan to Paris to Tanzania.
Modeling kimonos in Japan, 1997
I spent one year at York University in Toronto, where I lived with a family and took care of their 2 children every day in exchange for room and board.  It was a tough year, as I had virtually no friends and very little free time.  By the end of the school year, I was ready for a big change.

Luckily, my parents had just learned that they would be moving to Bucharest, Romania, again because of my dad's work.

My mom and I in Budapest.  During the year I spent in Romania.
I decided it was a good time to take a year off from school and plan what I was going to do next.  My next move was back to Canada, and I spent the next 5 years in Hamilton, ON where I studied Art History at McMaster University. Hamilton was very good to me, it had (and still has) an exciting arts scene, and I was working at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, and even had the opportunity to take another year off from school for a curatorial internship, which allowed me to spend a month in Moscow working at the State History Museum and The Tretyakov Gallery.
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My view from behind the bar, at an opening at Loose Cannon Gallery in Hamilton

Once I was finished my degree, I felt that it was time for a change of scenery, so I once again packed everything up and moved, this time, to downtown Toronto.  I've lived in Toronto for the last 4 years, and really loved it, but I was starting to feel like the pace of life there was getting a bit too fast for me, and knew that I had to make some big decisions, yet again, about the path I was on and where I wanted to go next.
good times in Toronto.  At Les Savy Fav during nxne this summer
 In the meantime, my parents had moved from Bucharest to Prague, and then from prague to Tirana, Albania.  And once again, I was presented with the opportunity to join them in another country and figure stuff out.  The plan, while I am here, is to get to know myself again, and take the time to do the things I love to do that I had lost sight of in recent years.  This means being creative; making things, taking pictures, baking, starting to draw and write and blog again (I had a little knitting blog when I lived in Hamilton, but it is long gone...)  One of the blessings of this move is that I was forced to part with a lot of my stuff, and leave the rest in storage.  So I have the chance to start fresh, and filter out all of the distractions I once had, and really get back to the basics of what makes me, "me."
taking photos in Tirana
So there you have it.  An introduction, one month into my stay, and one month into my blog.  Thank you for being a part of this journey, I hope you stick around!

8.27.2010

"It stood headless and armless and legless...

1. typewriter, 2. Typewriter., 3. All hail the Royal typewriter!, 4. Royal typewriter


"It stood headless and armless and legless- brute shoulders merely: it might as well have been the torso of a broken god...The thing was large and black and glossy, and in height it ascended in tiers, like a stadium.  Each round key was shielded by glass and rimmed by a ring of metal."


-from Dictation, by Cynthia Ozick


Nostalgic Typewriter Thank You Cards (Set of 4)(dodelinedesign)



Typewriter Necklace 18K Gold Plated Brass(CuteAbility)


Love stoned Just my type(MeadowTea)




Initial Letter R Vintage Typewriter Key Pendant NecklaceGwenDelicious

 

8.26.2010

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I'm finally getting around to scanning images from my magazine collection!  These are from a pile of French Elles that I picked up at a flea market in The Netherlands 15 years ago.  I also have a bunch of French marie claire, but unfortunately their dimensions are larger than my scanner, so I'll have to scan them in two parts and stitch them together somehow... that might take a little longer.

8.21.2010

the palace of sports

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One of my favourite buildings, The Sports Palace was designed by architect Koço Miho and built in 1966









8.20.2010

panda brand

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I'm not really sure what to do with this can of sweetened condensed filled milk, but the lovely shade of robin's egg blue and the adorable panda just called out to me in the grocery store, how could I resist?  If anybody has any recipes they'd recommend, I'd love to hear them, because at the moment, spreading it on toast or using it in pizza, as the pictures on the back of the can appear to suggest, does not sound appealing to me in the slightest.  In the meantime, the can is just sitting on my desk, making me happy.

8.18.2010

don't forget the parsley (or your place)


"All of you who are young wives and homemakers would do well to forget this Women's Lib and put your mind and energy on doing such a pleasant and successful job of cooking and about a million other things that your deserving husbands will know that they couldn't live without you."

Nadine Knowles, you would do well to forget this giving advice to young wives and homemakers and put your energy and mind on remembering the parsley.
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