chameleon named lane.

one journey for you, but it's worth it.

2012-01-20T19:21:00.001-08:00

today is a significant day. 21 years ago the universe unleashed this amazing, lovely girl onto the world. and the people who know her have forever been changed. to know katie francis is to love katie francis. it's true. just ask anyone lucky enough to know her.

i mean, truly. she is the most beautiful, talented, whimsical person i know. she must be half faery. or more likely half elf. only because i don't think faeries like getting their feet dirty.

whenever i am down or bored i hang out with katie and we run around in a field or put our feet in the ocean and tell secret stories and suddenly, i am the best version of myself again.
because a friend is someone who always brings out the most awesome part of you. being around her means dancing like a fool and then jumping in the ocean with your clothes on. it means going to the store with your face painted like a zombie or walking around downtown dressed up as a doll and a teddy bear. and it's not even halloween. she is the best person to eat banana splits with till you want to hurl. and then go on three walks to work it off, and not bother wearing shoes while you do it. you can run around in a field till your legs are bleeding from the dry grass or discover a hidden magical area in the forest where gnomes clearly live. and in the summertime she will sit with you on the sidewalk and draw hearts and pirate ships and little animals with chalk on the pavement like you are in grade 2. a friend like her is as fun as a non scary roller coaster and as safe as the word 'home'.

thanks, katie.

this feeling follows me wherever i go...

2012-01-18T13:39:00.000-08:00

hello my friends. how's it going? it's snowing today and i am stuck at home. school is cancelled and work hates me so here i am. with cats and books and super mario to fill my day...yay? i used to like the snow...when i was a kid. you hang outside till you're sweaty inside your wintercoat and your snot is frozen and you have dug around in the snow so much that what was once white and pristine is now dirty and kind of...trashy looking. yesterday i bundled myself up to walk to the co-op. let me tell you that was a fucking chore...just to buy an overpriced pack of m&ms and some five alive. where's the magic of winter? i guess it's pretty enough when it's hanging on the trees and lacing power lines. but seriously, does it have to be all over the roads and my cute flats i left sitting out on the patio? even my cats are losing their brains. also, whenever it snows i sing christmas songs all day.

so to distract myself from christmas carols i am listening to fleetwood mac today...all day. do they have a single bad song?

seriously?

bye!

anything or anyone i want to be.

2011-10-02T16:49:00.000-07:00

happy october to everyone out there. just about my favourite time of year. and i say just about not because i have a more favourite time of year, but simply because i don't want to fully commit to fall and leave myself closed out to all the other wonders of the other seasons. you understand, i'm sure. i have been reading lots lately, it is the best and the fastest way to better one's self. sometimes at night i have dreams about margaret atwood or john donne...so maybe i've been reading too much. it is a wonderful way to become familiar with other worlds and lives and also the worst way to become unfamiliar with other worlds and lives. reading is not to be put in place of actually going out and living. i haven't been out much with the camera or painting at all. i haven't painted in months. i haven't blogged in forever. i am like lord voldemort at this point, slowly, in the darkness i'm gathering my strength. except that i have a nose, and other facial features that 'he who shall not be named' lacks.

i would really like to start up a tumblr. fresh place for a fresh start to blogging. i am very torn up about a new name so i am leaving it up for suggestions. please comment. i know i have been the worst blogger and internet friend lately. i is so sorry.

i love you love you love you i do.

2011-08-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

i've had a couple curious souls message me lately asking me if i have stopped blogging. my answer? yes, no, maybe so. i really have no idea. but here i am so i guess the answer is no, i have not stopped blogging. i have however cut down on my posting drastically, i'm no longer prolific...i'm like, barely here at all. most times in the past few months that i have come on here and attempted to write something i have failed miserably and frustrated i give up...or save it as a draft for another day. inspiration is low. this summer is a bummer. life is getting in the way of writing about life.

funny how that works.

so what have i been up to? not anything of interest really. work is work and even if i wanted to talk about it i couldn't. i like to drink palmbays now...they are my new favourite thing. my favourite flavour is ruby grapefruit followed by key lime cherry. sometimes i think i like the key lime cherry one better. it really just depends on my mood. i started watching a television series called 'republic of doyle' and now more then ever i want to go to newfoundland. dan and i will save our pennies and one day we will go. i think i would like to live there one day. in republic of doyle the houses are all bright colours. i would like a deep purple house or maybe a turquoise one with seashells in the garden. but really any house at all would be nice.

cheers to wednesdays!

tofino

2011-07-27T18:14:00.000-07:00

welcome to wind blown, whimsical tofino days. you go to breathe the salt air and walk the endless stretch of beach, you stay to reestablish your inner child.
3 days of sleeping in a tent, roasting marshmallows, collecting shells, feeling cold pacific water on your toes does the same amazing stuff to your spirit that would take 2 weeks in any other 'getaway place'. tofino forces you to relax...it's hard to focus on work and obligations with the salty wind pressing on your face.
not much else to say other then i love this place. and i hate to leave it every time.

go back to bed and cover your head.

2011-05-19T16:58:00.001-07:00

today i slathered on the spf 50 and laid in the sun where i finished off another one of the trashy suspense novels i can't seem to get away from these days. the cats were out in fine fashion as well. prowling the hillside, eating grass and sunning their fat bellies. i am increasingly paranoid about bug being outside after last summer and his sunburned nose and ears. cats can get skin cancer just like people do. i learn something new every day, or at the very least every week. the only difference between us and cats in this regard is that cats can't wear sunscreen and as much as i think he would look cute in one, i am sure bug would very much object to a sunhat.

days off are so boring around here. nanaimo is brimming with a lot more activities and places to go and things to see then crofton ever did. but what fun is that when you don't really have any friends to do things with? dan told me i need to go and make some friends. how do you even do that when you are a grown adult? do i go to a library in search of female companionship and when i find one ask her if i can braid her hair? i don't know how to attempt to make a friend without coming across as a complete mental case.

i guess all i can do is just let things happen. and maybe if the sun decides to actually stick around long enough i might be inclined to let him and i become fast friends. so long as he's not a fair weather one. we'll see how this all plays out...i'm hoping for a warm and long summer surrounded by my favourite people.

here's to wishing...:)

what's new?

2011-05-18T16:07:00.000-07:00

moody mondayssss

2011-04-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

hello hello hello hello. just in case you have forgotten who i am: my name is krista, i like to write and take photos and put them on the internet from time to time. except not much lately. except not really at all lately. i have become a ringleader in the circus of my life. handling two jobs and three cats and not enough time to put my head on a pillow. i juggle it well, but there are a couple things that end up on the cutting room floor. aka: blogging, photography, painting, EVERYTHING that makes me happy. so you might ask what's it all for then? living for tomorrow and not for today. that's the mantra of life right now.

however, today was beautiful and i happened to find myself upon a beach. not that hard to do around these parts. the sun was out and the air was cold and there was a man flying a kite wearing mechanic's greasy coveralls. everyone is sporting their wintercoats still and even the dogs are wearing jackets and i have to remind myself it is not summer yet... not by a long shot.

the trees even seemed happy today. i remember when i was a kid and i found out that trees are living. i thought to myself a lot about where their brains were and how they breathed. when you are little the world is this truly surprising, constantly amazing place where trees are just humans with roots. have you ever read the giving tree by shel silverstein? and if you have do you read it over and over again till the pages are bent and you have nearly memorized the story like i do? if that isn't a story that is relevent today then i don't know what is.

that's all i have for now. signing off. wishing you a magical, memorable, not so moody monday. love you all.

well you know, that ain't me. i like to rap animals from bc.

2011-04-02T18:30:00.000-07:00

just in case you haven't seen the links i have post repeatedly on my facebook. i want to share two music videos my brother (MC T) and his friend Ricky have put together for the worlds viewing pleasure.

they are hilarious and talented and have some pretty awesome dance moves to boot. these boys are going to be famous, i just know it. i expect you to buy me a cottage with ocean view when you make it big, baby bro.

and it's not my fault if these tunes are stuck in your head for weeks. they are just that catchy.

we won't have to drive too far...

2011-04-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

Dan and I hopped in our clunker and headed up to campbell river for a getaway with family last weekend. Our little bitty car is deceptively fast and we got there in no time after spending the morning taking forever to get out of the house (seriously, if i leave to go anywhere it's nearly impossible for me to leave my place) Anyways, my mom has moved back to Campbell River from Sparwood after living there for a year and a bit. I am happy she is back on the island and not living in a blizzard in the middle of the sticks. it is much easier to see her now as i live in nanaimo which is much closer to campbell river then crofton is. Life is nice when mom's are within smoke signal distance and can take care of you when your sick or hem your pants because you have the shortest legs in existence.
i think of the line in garden state when zach braff says that he is homesick for a place that doesn't exist. sometimes i feel like that too and then i come here and realize that the best cure for homesickness is my mom's home. the way it's decorated, the colours of the walls, the smells of her cooking. i always feel like i am where i belong.
we went for a riverside hike and i immediately lagged behind. i will always be bringing up the back of the line. i am the one in the horror movie that gets picked off first because i straggled too far behind.
i heart daffodils. they are always the first sign of life after a very long winter.
this sign is totally hilarious although maybe not so much given the recent events. although it has nothing to do with tsunami's or earthquakes. i think there is a dam that releases up the river.
i seriously have started a nail obsession. it will come to pass and i will be back to painting canvases instead of nails in no time. i need a creative outlet at all times and lately this has been all i've had time for.
maria being adorbs.
and bailey too.
this about sums up my family.
this picture of me is awful but dan is dreamy in it so there you go. my boyfriend is beautiful, your lucky i let you oggle him. ahaha. man oh man. the things i write on here.
bailey and i have matching lack of tans. actually bailey tans way more than i do and she is a red head. that is how sad my situation is.
we shot slow motion stuff in the woods. mostly jumping and dancing and flipping our hair and other awesome things. dan rolls his eyes because these are the things girls want to see in slow motion. not flipping toy cars or melons falling from buildings like he does.
sassafrass.
way to ruin the shot, dan.
Campbell River is the best place to hang out. maybe that's because it's all i've ever done there. But something about the whole town being stretched along the ocean side. it gives it this mellow, happy vibe. i want to have seaside bonfires and drink mojitos and be nostalgic there forever. you are always welcome to join me next time.

hearts on sleeves

2011-03-25T20:55:00.001-07:00

i totally suck. i spend so much time working and buying groceries and cleaning floors and watching lame shows like sisterwives and hoarders that i barely have the strength or motivation to put a couple words together and call it a blog post. i remember my english teacher telling me that the best way to be a writer is to write every day. i kind of dropped the ball on that. sorry, mrs. kelly. you'd be so disappointed. since i've been working endless hours i've decided to take a mini vacay with daniel. so we have left the furry kids at home. i will come back to work and writing refreshed, rejuvinated and free from all the squirrels that are currently nesting in my brain.

for now i've totally lost it. but it's never too late to get it back.

one life here, and it's magic.

2011-03-05T22:34:00.000-08:00

sometimes i sit at the table with my fingertips on the keys, grinding my teeth for minutes and sometimes hours at a time trying to think of something to begin with. it is my worst flaw as a blogger and a writer. i put so much emphasis on the first sentence, the opening line, the introduction. and i haven't changed at all because when i wrote stories as a kid how i started was just as important. i had to instantly bring them in, to get the reader interested. and after years of struggling with this i have finally accepted that it is not my strong point. it seems like the more i blog the harder it gets to start a post. what does this mean? do i spend too much in my head? or do i not have any more beginnings left in me?
anyways, lets just do this easy and begin at the beginning of the day. dan and i went to neck point to go for a walk. apparently everyone and their dog had the same idea because the place was packed with families and animals and little old couples going for strolls. it's a pretty fantastical way to spend a saturday morning so you can't blame them.
old, dead leaves are witches hands and will always be witches hands to me. don't you remember being a kid and everything being magical like that? well i refuse to let go of my childhood whims.
this is called me living in the moment. i don't do it very often. and chances are you don't either. maybe one day we can meet up and do it together.

dan never smiles in pictures. i have to force him too. sometimes a tit joke helps the process along.
the lighting today was perfect. not too sunny, not too dark. these days are rare and if you are a photographer you should take advantage of them. not doing so is like giving mother nature the finger.
and no one wants to upset mother nature. i don't need any more snow this year, thanks.
dan loved neck point. it was the first time he has actually been able to see it all. i was a tour guide to a place i barely know myself. we were lucky i didn't get us lost. but thankfully the paths were marked and easy to follow...so my lack of directional skills didn't really matter.
this is how i look as a tour guide.
seriously, i know what i'm doing.
we went to the beach and visited some sea monsters.
i think i am going to try to convince dan to go back tomorrow. there were some cliffs and bluffs and little jut outs we have yet to explore. and i am sure some tide pools and more sea monsters too.
saturdays are dreamy days when there is time for a walk on the beach with a cute boy. and there is a quiet comfort in knowing that everywhere else it's saturday too and you hope that other people are as lucky as you and are enjoying it just the same. goodnight, loves.

maybe together we can get somewhere.

2011-02-26T19:53:00.000-08:00

Dan and I made this pact that if we got most of the cleaning and packing done at the old place this morning that we would go to coombs as an afternoon getaway/adventure. yes, we make pacts because we are 10 and hang out in a tree fort. anyways, turns out the trip to coombs was kind of a joke because goats on the roof wasn't even open (and that's pretty much the whole reason to go to coombs) AND it started snowing. the universe is against us.

kidding!
i had to get this picture of icicles and in the process of capturing it i slipped on the icy pavement and fell. my camera went flying into a snowbank. i slammed my knees and my paws (yes i call my hands my paws). there was blood. and probably bruises now too, i haven't checked yet. i am not very clumsy, so when i fall i act like a total child. dan is wiping snow off the camera and all i want is for him to pay attention to me.

just so you know the photo so wasn't worth it.
welcome to the 'wet' coast.
coombs was dead. not a customer or rodeo gypsy in sight.
just beautiful pretentious things to hang in your backyard that have no actual purpose. sigh.
this surf store sticks out like a sore thumb in this little town. i guess people might come by on their way to tofino and pick up a surf board or over priced bathing suit. who knows. i don't know what the cool kids are into.
Dan humours me sometimes. and by sometimes i mean not much...his patience for having his picture taken is minimal. a lot of times i get the back of his head because he has already given up and walked away. boo.
Hey Krista, when are we going to get matching outfits here?

little lulu is one of my favourite characters of all time. she is adorable and so funny and doesn't take any crap from boys. my hero.
she also has stories that involve cats. i should have bought this.

i think i should have bought voyage to the bottom of the sea also. i love anything that involves ocean and submarines and sea monsters. and chances are if it's old enough that it reeks like cigarettes and old people's attics it's going to be an awesome read full of lots of politically incorrect stuff.
if i wasn't so accustomed to seeing naked people every day at work this room might make me feel awkward and uncomfortable.
i like this style of painting. whatever it is. if you feel like being a smart ass/art snob feel free to leave a comment telling me. the name is on the tip of my tongue. help me out here.
i think putting jewelery together like this is a bad idea. you can't even tell what you are looking at. how am i supposed to find something i like when i am just being blinded by all the sparkly?
yes your tits are amazing.
by the time we were leaving coombs it was beginning to snow. i am starting to really hate the snow. it's beautiful and dreamy but it makes it impossible for me to get where i need to go. welcome to adulthood, krista. i remember the blizzard of 95 (i think it was 95). my brother and i sledded off the roof of the garage.

times have changed. sometimes i wish i could go back. just for a week or so. enough to get in a bit more childhood.

but today was a good day in it's own right. and i still feel more like a kid then most people my age.

make me end where i begun.

2011-02-23T12:42:00.000-08:00

i need somebody i need someone

2011-02-21T19:21:00.000-08:00

it keeps starting to snow here and then changes it's mind. i hate that. weather is like a boyfriend that won't commit. it always keeps you on your toes. i tried to go to work today, but after hitting the road for about five minutes i decided to go back home and climb back into bed. it's just one of those days. head cold and cramps equals electric heating pads and vicks, not driving and working.

i feel like life has thrown out a lot of challenges lately. work schedules, moving, stress, it's a fine balance keeping things together. and on top of all that cats still need to be fed and laundry needs to be done. but finally, finally things seem to be starting to get better. pretty soon spring will be here. and life will be a million times better.

don't you love how people stuff all their hopes and dreams into one season? spring brings things like change, babies, cleaning your house top to bottom, 'fresh starts'. but really, baby lambs and new blooms don't necessarily mean a brand new life, do they?

and wow, i just realized it's still only february. we've still got a ways to go.

turn around, bright eyes

2011-02-06T15:40:00.001-08:00

whenever i take care of someone who is 100 or is turning 100 i ask them what the key is to a long life. just recently i asked a certain lady who will be 100 in may. her response was ''spend a lot of time outdoors and eat all the foods you hate". so that is my tip of the day from a very wise, experienced women: eat everything your mother fought with you to choke down at the kitchen table when you were six and you will live to see your great grandchildren.

just thought i would share.

That's me in the spotlight, I'm Losing my religion

2011-02-05T14:54:00.001-08:00

anxiety is like a rapid spreading cancer. but instead of infecting one part of your body and then the next like cancer, anxiety infects one part of your life, and eventually overflows into another part and so on and so forth until it leaves you completely consumed in your paralyzing worries.
this has been my experience. i have gotten better as i have gotten older. i have picked up a lot of coping skills and maybe a serotonin inhibitor along the way to smooth the road. but i will admit that sometimes there are unforeseen hazards and i am left totally mind fucked.
lately the stress has been getting to me. i have a lot on my plate right now. but i have learned that the best way to cope with the worry blues is to practice mindfulness. to be mentally present in the activity at hand AKA living in the moment. i have learned to make distractions for myself. to get out, to walk farther, to write better, to accomplish more.
anyways, yesterday i took mick to a park in cow bay to look at the creepy willow trees. they don't look like they should be from around here. they are beautiful and wise and make me feel very, very young.
i guess nobody gets to raking the leaves here. ahh they will just turn to sludge and then mud and then dirt anyways. what's the point?
sometimes i look at a field and pretend the green is actually an ocean. i can convince my mind of it almost every time.
next stop, cow bay beach.
liking to get out has turned into needing to get out. stuck in this tunnel vision place get's to my head fast. but things will be turned around soon enough.
i hope, i hope, i hope. don't you love saying something so many times it loses it's meaning completely?
i am a happy person most of the time but sometimes i lose sight of the good and i get all negative nancy. (which is seriously almost as bad as a downer debbie)
the stresses of life are always going to be there and sometimes they can be pretty overwhelming. everybody knows that. and i tell myself that the way i feel right now is not the way i am going to feel for the rest of my life.

it's all temporary, people.

i've got flowers and lots of hours to spend with you.

2011-02-02T19:10:00.000-08:00

i think reincarnation is the stupidest thing i have ever heard but i guess i would be ok with it if i got some sort of promise from god that i could come back as a house cat who sits under tiffany lamps and on window seats and eats expensive cat food and gets referred to as the 'furry child'. i think i would want to live with some old lady who would put a place mat under my food bowls and had a nice garden i could destroy. she would be sweet and flighty and wouldn't notice if i wanted to piss down the bathroom sink drain.

clearly i have put a lot of thought into this. it's what i want.

manic midnight

2011-01-29T23:44:00.000-08:00

i made the (not so) smart decision to take a three hour nap today. now it is 12:00 AM and dan is snoring and i am like ZING. ready to jog ten km's, solve world hunger and reorganize the sock drawer. this is what i like to call a manic midnight. anyways, today i bought an emery cat board for the furry kids. you've all seen them on tv. i am pretty sure in the infomercials they claim they are 'infused' with catnip. i guess infused now means providing you with a ziploc bag of catnip to sprinkle onto the surface of the board. the cats were wary, but benny got into it, which made me happy. i really hate footing the $20 nail trim bill at the vet's. so maybe this will cut down on cat manicure costs. bagheera wanted to stand on it and look at the stupid feather dangly thing, but didn't scratch her claws. dan forced bug to stand on it and now he is terrified of it and gives it cut eye from across the room. you can't make that cat do anything without scarring him for life. he used to be terrified of the litter box because i would put him into it when he didn't want to go in. now i have a new litter box which he loves hopping into because it doesn't have the negative vibes of the old one that i forced on him. if i was a cat i would be a lot like bug i think. all brain damaged and adorable. he has manic midnights too. so the conclusion is that 1-3 of my cats like the emery board. i would say that's a success, considering there was a good chance none of them would go for it.

we also bought some of that billy may's mighty putty stuff. is that the type of people we have become? suckers for crap like the slapchop and the snuggie? uggh, i can't think about this too much.

alright, that's all for now. time to turn off the light and lay here with my eyes wide open in the dark while my cats smother me.

dreamed a dream by the old canal

2011-01-26T14:24:00.000-08:00

i like sundays because everything is quiet and relaxing and sometimes, when i am lucky, friends come to visit. Krista, Brian and a dog named Ira were my visitors of the weekend. They came in a car that was leaking oil and off we went to explore all the fantastical things that nanaimo has to offer.

our plan to visit thrift stores and search for things we can't live without was destroyed by it being sunday. all the thrift stores are run by christians and therefore closed on sundays (except value village). it is a classic krista trait to not think things through. sighhh.
after a long discussion about how awesome mexican food is we decided to actually eat some. i have always wanted to go here, it hangs over a cliff in nanaimo and the bright colours make it stick out like a sore thumb (clearly).
i pretty much never go out for lunch unless i am with krista. krista you are the lunch date of my life.

this reminds me of how my bedroom was decorated when i lived with my mom. crazy colours, hibiscus flowers, twinkling lights galore. why sleep when you can have a fiesta?
if you look past krista and ira you can see how truly ugly the city of nanaimo is. all buildings and scabby apartment buildings and cement. esthetically, small towns beat cities any day. looking at that makes me miss crofton a little. a little a lot.

brian wanted to go into toy's r us. we searched out hello kitty goodness and came across the cheshire cat. we took a picture just for claire. she is a huge cheshire cat fan. so this one's for you, claire, who never reads my blog and probably won't see this anyways.
if i had a daughter i might actually buy her this barbie. she is ridiculous, but also smart and not as stacked and has really cute bangs. i also like her storm trooper helmet.
this i got a kick out of. because every canadian girl needs a statue of liberty barbie.

the drive from victoria to nanaimo is a long one. i appreciate krista, brian and ira coming for a visit. nanaimo is lonely. familiar faces are few and far between. i have more respect for friends then i used to. making the effort and putting in the time is important but when distance is added to the equation seeing each other can be next to impossible.

but sometimes krista's need to get their krista visit in. and next time, i promise i'll make the drive.

be better people.

2011-01-25T22:13:00.001-08:00

being happy has kind of felt like work lately. i take the time to do things i want to do, i put the effort in. but it's not as easy as it used to be. i hate to be this way...negative, down and out, blah. i criticize people like this all the time, so i really am hating this negative nancy attitude i have developed. really, what all started this feel of general unhappiness is the living situation dan, myself and the cats have found ourselves in these last few months. we found a place we thought was ideal, perfect for us and our lifestyle. and really it is. if you subtract the five people living above us. they are loud, rude, obnoxious, disrespectful and immature. they make our lives miserable on a daily basis. and sure, that is only one aspect of our lives. but when i would rather aimlessly wander the malls by myself on a day off, willing to do anything but be in my own home there is a problem. i feel frazzled and emotionally exhausted.

my landlord seems to be unable or unwilling to do anything about this issue despite my endless complaints. i am left feeling frustrated and most of all, devalidated in the way i feel. when i say i can't sleep at night, that my nerves are shattered and my landlord's response is that there are many different versions of the truth, i know that my words are getting nowhere.

so now i am going to spend the next few days figuring out our next step. dan and i have decisions to make. i unpacked all of my stuff less then two months ago, i would hate to turn around and pack everything up. it feels like treading water. but i suppose treading water is better then just straight up drowning.

i know things will get better soon. one must expect these road blocks from time to time. it's normal, it's life. it makes us better people.

had a heart of glass

2011-01-16T14:30:00.001-08:00

hello internet friends. i am blogging to you from my bed today. i am not sure what i did yesterday but my back is hurting. my guess is that it is just a pinched nerve but it is really bothering me and making it hard to do simple things. so here i am spending the afternoon relaxing, surrounded by cats with a heating pad on my back. so really, all things considered i really don't have it that bad. although it would be nice if i had a friend that was a massage therapist.

last night we drove down to see claire, jay and stephanie. i also got to meet claire's new kitten. his name is andy and he is amazing. although i think calling a cat amazing seems redundant. considering that i have never met a cat that isn't amazing.
he is so tiny and docile and sweet. he sleeps a lot and has huge ears just like all kittens do.
dan and jay playing wii. we played trivial pursuit, girls against boys. dan will tell jay the answer, jay will click it, it will be wrong and then dan will get mad at him. these twins, i never know if they are working together or working against each other.
haha, nice awful picture. it is very difficult to compose a shot when you are trying to fit yourself into it and claire refuses to get off the chair she's sitting on. the result is that i look like a giant and they look like little blurry dolls in the background.

andy has a funny eye. so maybe he will have to battle some adversity in life, but in the end it will just make him an even better kitty.
i give ryder loves too. he is feeling a little upset about the new kitten. but he will get over it and they will be completely indifferent to each other in no time.

i am thinking i want to do a series of posts on here about how to decorate your house for cheap. since i am the queen of stingy and have an obsession with interior design i think it could be fun. what do you all think? would this be a worthwhile thing for me to blog about? i am no expert but it is something that i have always been interested in ever since i watched today's special as a kid and because obsessed with muffy mouse's beautiful house. i love decorating, matching and mismatching, designing and rearranging. so lets see where this takes me.

oh and by the way, if you haven't rated and commented on my 60 second movie for the virgin radio fake film festival please do so!!! if you give us a 5 i will love you forever. thanks!

you dirty bird

2011-01-14T21:45:00.001-08:00

Dan and I heard about the fake film festival being put on by virgin radio a little while back and we couldn't not enter. it took us awhile to figure out what movie we wanted to recreate but we finally landed on the perfect idea. misery is one of our favourite movies, it is simple and so memorable. i remember the first time i watched it. i was sick and laying in my mom's bed and didn't expect much but misery blew me away. the movie changed my whole perception of the suspense genre. if you haven't seen it you are truly missing out.

and of course, if you haven't seen it and want a 60 second summary please check out our entry here! if you have seen the movie please watch it anyways too. give us a high rating if you like it and leave a comment to show your support. i will be so grateful. the prize is $10,000 and we could certainly use the money for future movie endeavours and cat food...you know, the essentials.

thank you!!!

she's gone too far. she's lost the sun.

2011-01-13T21:45:00.000-08:00

when i was 15 i went to christian summer camp where they made us pull brush, do team building exercises and read the bible A LOT. i like the bible okay, but not when it is forced down my throat. every day at this camp we had an hour with god. the hour could be spent praying, reading the bible, or just laying with our eyes closed thinking about how awesome god is. the rules were you had to be silent, still and most importantly you had to be 'with god'. i secretly spent my hour with dolores price. for anyone who is unaware, dolores is the protagonist of the novel 'she's come undone' written by wally lamb. my dog eared copy was stashed safely inside the confines of my giant new international version bible. dolores arguably taught me just as much as jesus taught me. and the most important lesson i learned from her is as follows: life's a shit sandwich. but only if you're a shithead.

if anyone i know is having a down day or a negative attitude i tell them these words: life's a shit sandwich, but only if you're a shithead. it's an attitude check. nobody wants to be a shithead and no one wants to look forward to swallowing down a shit sandwich of a life. people can be negative. people can be TERRIBLY negative. it nearly drives me up the bend. your parents are divorced, your job sucks, your too fat, you hate your hair...welcome to LIFE. it can be terrible...but get this: life is also AMAZING. completely and totally mind blowingly wonderful. and you are blessed.

your reflection of the world is a direct reflection of yourself, so the next time you catch yourself saying 'life sucks' i hope you realize that you are saying 'i suck'. and i know you don't suck. so have a better attitude, allow yourself to be happy, give the universe an opportunity to make a mistake once in awhile. afterall, the universe allows you to make mistakes all the time and you still come out alive. and for christ's sake, please listen to dolores price.

they fly in the air, as you comb your hair.

2011-01-08T16:57:00.000-08:00

i hate to be a pessimist, but it's hard not to be when i have spent every single day of 2011 sick so far. i feel like this year is not off to a good start at all. i spent the first week with a nasty cold and chest infection and now that i am over that i have a fun case of the flu. i hope that this is just my bodies way of getting through all of the sickness at once so i can spend the rest of the year healthy and happy. but we'll see...i don't want to get too ahead of myself here.

yesterday i started feeling a little queasy so i took a nap, watched a bunch of corner gas and then had a nice long shower where i spewed up a quesadilla all over the shower floor. it was not a pretty sight. soaking wet, standing in regurgitated salsa. ohhh i do apologize for this graphic description. i threw up seven times throughout the night. seven is my unlucky number and i knew once i got to that one that it wouldn't be good. after that i tossed and turned like there was a storm in my stomach but i couldn't throw up. it was so frustrating because i knew i would feel better once i threw up the 8th time. 8 is a good number. i can get behind the number 8.

this is my logic. i think i psych myself up for things that don't exist. i am just one self fulfilling prophecy after another. i knew i was going to get the flu because i told myself i would. anyone who spends as much time in their head as i do will understand.

anyways. i am looking forward to feeling better soon and getting out into the city so i can take some pictures, have some adventures and find something interesting to blog about. but for now i will take things one day at a time, and first things first, i think i need to get some solid food into my body before i can think of doing anything else.

time to buy a new calendar.

2011-01-01T15:29:00.000-08:00

first things first, i guess i should say happy new year to everyone. i liked 2010, a lot. so i am kind of sad to see it go. but change is change and we can't stop 2011 from coming just like we can't stop...well something unstoppable. like the bus from speed. which is kind of a bad example but lets move on.
i didn't do anything for new years this year except for sleep. i was/am pretty sick and i was supposed to work this morning at 7 but called in because i don't think i could have dragged myself to work. but i suppose this new years was better then the last. i seem to have a history of bad new years eves...last year we went to a friends and the party was lots of fun and everyone was all mafia'd up but i had worked the night before with no sleep and i was hallucinating birds and couldn't drink because i was the designated driver so dan drank for both of us and got really sick and threw up all over himself on the drive home and i had to have my window open and gulp fresh air the whole drive because his vomit was going to make me vomit. but at least i got to wear a flapper dress and curl my hair and see my friends. maybe next weekend when i am feeling better (hopefully) and have some time off i can do something fun and pretend it is new years and do things right. we will call it the new years krista should have had. yes, sounds good to me.

my new years resolutions would be to lose some weight, get smarter, read more books and make lots of money. i would also like to watch every season of corner gas, clip my toenails on a regular basis and go on a trip somewhere warm. these are my goals, lets start checking them off. happy 2011 all you nice people!

festivus for the rest of us.

2010-12-21T19:03:00.000-08:00

my brother came to stay last week. we were supposed to take our yearly sibling photo but i got lazy and it was really rainy out so this is the best one we got. it's alright, except for that tyler kind of looks like he should be driving a windowless van. oh, and i say that in the most loving way possible. he has this way of intentionally ruining photos. there are times where i have actually tried to crop his face out of a picture of us and add in a decent one of him because he looks like a total clown but i look adorable (what a waste!)

anyways, i started my new job yesterday and it is going pretty good so far. i am working christmas now, which is no big deal especially since dan is working that day too. we kind of made this pact to have a non-christmas christmas this year. we had this plan to not put up a tree and go out for chinese food. but now dan is working the evening and i am working the day and i will be spending christmas with dad and kim. so that is good, chinese food can wait for another day and the no-christmas tree is covered.

one day there will be little francis-phillips children and christmas will have to be christmasy every year. so let's enjoy festivus well we can still have it. the airing of grievances begins now.

under my umbrella.

2010-12-20T14:59:00.000-08:00

we ventured out to neck point today for about ten minutes, if that. the air was bitingly cold and the wind was howling so hard my little umbrella almost flew right out of my hands. it was actually even snowing at one point. i am stubborn though, and when i decide to walk by the ocean, a walk by the ocean is what we will have.
dan doesn't even have a proper coat. italia hoodie and my snowflake mittens and he is good. oh did i forget to mention a mandatory cup of coffee as well?
neck point has a very good view of shack island. my dad has a book on shack island, i have to brush up on my nanaimo history so maybe i will read it. i think you can hike it so maybe one day when i am brave and fit that will happen.
my newest painting. kind of a terrible, flashy picture but you get the idea. i painted it for my brother for christmas. alright, that's all for now.

wishing you a windy, traffic jammed, slushy monday.

child in the city.

2010-12-15T18:34:00.000-08:00

dan and i took a spontaneous trip downtown a couple days ago. i picked him up on his lunch break and we just drove and drove and ended up in the arts district. seriously, i live in a city with an art's district. oh man, i can just see myself turning into some pretentious hipster who wears fedora's and hangs out in starbucks writing in my moleskin. (this will never happen, i swear!)
dan told me to take lots of pictures of buildings, he is doing an animation and is adding all these building fronts into it. it looks pretty fantastical.
this zebra is adorable. he sits in front of a zebraish store with a zebra car parked out front. i saw a man drive away in the zebra car and was surprised that he wasn't wearing a zebra sweater. come on, man. commit fully to the theme.
dan with the camera that is permanently attached to his face. i feel sorry for all you people who have boyfriends who spend their time at home playing videogames and watching tv. dan gets up every morning at 7 AM and writes scripts for three hours before he goes to work. dan lives true to the idea that if you work hard at something you can't fail. it just won't happen.
this cafe belongs in toon town. there are a lot of places around here that roger rabbit would/should frequent, i think.
i didn't go into this store. i should have, but not enough time. the lunch break minutes were ticking down. any store with paper lanterns fascinates me. if i had things my way my whole house would be strung with a million different colours and shapes of paper lanterns. although i would probably never turn them on. paper lanterns make me paranoid about fires. paper and heat. who ever thought that was a good idea?
sigh, when i own a house can someone come and paint flowers outside my windows? i will make you lemonade and give you hugs.
i think that the city makes you see yourself in a different light. not so much who you are, but who you could be. the city makes me optimistic. it fills me with potential. yesterday i was in crofton thinking to myself it's time to go home. and it made me a little sad to realize that the little mill town by the sea wasn't my definition of home anymore. i guess no matter what, home will always be wherever my cats are sleeping.

a classy christmas

2010-12-14T16:25:00.000-08:00

christmas is near. time to string up lights and hang the wreath and drive like idiots. although i have to admit my house is anti-holiday season this year. after packing and moving and unpacking i find it hard to muster the energy to unpack christmas ornaments only to repack them up january 1st. so i have a couple things out but for the most part christmas remains tucked away in a rubbermaid in the back of the closet. i am in the city now, so all i need to do is put on my jacket and head downtown where there is christmasplosion everywhere anyways.
claire and jay hosted a classy christmas party this year. i say classy because we dressed classy, except for mook who wore his pajamas. and then gave me shit saying he didn't know it was classy. i didn't tell him because he wouldn't have worn anything classy anyways. someone gave him some pants at the party though so he was good.
we had to take pictures in front of the christmas tree because we are adorable. dan's mom asked for a copy of this picture, i knew she would. we are just that cute.
and then my dear friend krista showed up. you all know her. she made my night. just saying.
a twin portrait is a must. look at them both staring off in the same direction. i didn't even tell them to do that. i would like to call it the 'twin connection' but i actually think they were both just distracted by the hockey game.
the caption for this photo is 'merry kristamas!' i remember a girl came up with something like that one year in elementary school except her name was christal. i thought she was so full of herself putting that in all the christmas cards she handed out. like i remember reading merry christalmas and thinking seriously, what is so merry about that? i can't fucking stand you!
mook may have a small family of squirrels living on his chin. and i say that in the most loving way possible, i adore squirels.
it is nice to see two of my favourite people hit it off over and over again. look at the smiles...
people were taking pictures with this light all night. and by people i mean i was taking pictures of anyone who wanted to pose with it. i think claire ended up burning the crap out of her hand.
krista, did you burn your hand too?
these party's always turn into dance party's. the boys basically hide in the bedroom watching tv while the girls dance to beyonce songs. this is what always happens.

my ex neighbor and non ex friend perry showed up. he is supposed to be coming by tonight, perry where are you?

hideous christmas ties i stoles from my brothers storage. mine had santa in a swimming pool on it. classic? not so much.

see, more green light posing.
stephanie, the christmas tree fairy.
no mistletoe required.

so although there are only a few christmas decorations in my house my heart is filled with good holiday vibes already. parties and friends and christmas cookies and twinkly lights are good for this. i got the spirit of kristamas.

there are movie shows, down town.

2010-12-07T14:44:00.000-08:00

so the move is over and i am now a resident of nanaimo. it feels very surreal, like i should wake up tomorrow back in my apartment in crofton. all new, strange things feel that way for me. like that inventory job i had at the beginning of the year. sometimes i feel like that month i spent scanning toothbrushes and counting packs of condoms was just a very long, annoying dream that never really happened.

i love living in the city because there are endless things to do here. dan and i love to walk around in stores, it is our best source of entertainment. like last night. i bought coloured straws and this really bad jennifer love hewitt movie and we walked around forever. and then we drove down the road and went to bed. so. convenient. small town living is such a pain i have learned. an adorable, endearing pain that i do kind of miss a little.

it has been pouring with rain today but i plan to get out later and explore our neighborhood and see what kind of amazing things i can discover. i am crossing my fingers that there will be a swing set somewhere around here. because you know, somethings never change.

to lasts and firsts.

2010-11-28T20:34:00.000-08:00

this is my last night in crofton. kate and i went for a long walk in the freezing cold. my legs were ice but i didn't even notice because it was my official last walk living in crofton. my sentimentality beats out the cold any day. lasts are important, but even more important are firsts. and there are lots of those to come.

i am moving to a place so unfamiliar that i hardly know how to get there yet. i mean, i do. but i don't know the fastest way and i get confused easily. just yesterday i realized that the chinese restaurant we sometimes eat at in nanaimo is just up the road. i don't know if this is a good or bad thing yet. but i'll be sure to let you know.

so here's to lasts...and firsts.

the long and short of it.

2010-11-26T23:04:00.000-08:00

november has felt like the longest and the shortest month this year. i don't know how that is possible but it is. long because i have crammed so much into it and short because it seems like there is never enough time to do everything. ok that actually does make sense, right?

tomorrow we start moving boxes into the garage of our new place. great thing i have rip your fallopian tubes out type cramps. this is what i like to call mentalstration. it should be a hellish night ahead, but now that i have said that i will sleep like a baby (fingers crossed). sometimes you can jinx yourself in a positive way. like ohh i am so not going to pass that test and then you get 100% just to prove yourself wrong. i do this stuff all the time. except for sometimes the jinxing gods know you are just trying to be tricky and they don't let you get away with it.
in other (non)important news earlier this week my mom and i were at winners and i saw these guys. i don't care if they are made out of the holey sole material. they are lined with fuzz and most importantly they are cats. and i want them. if only they weren't for little girls. these were an aisle over from the overload of hello kitty pajamas they had on sale. why do little girls get to wear all the fun stuff while i am left dressing like an adult?

oh well, dressing like an adult has it's own benefits too. like not having a bed time and getting to eat all the candy i want. i have fooled everyone into believing i am an adult. sometimes i feel like it's all a big facade. like i am playing house and one day someone is going to figure out i am still a kid and take away my driver's license and send me back to grade three.

but at least then i can wear hello kitty pajamas.

snowing and sewing

2010-11-24T16:44:00.000-08:00

it is sewing day today. every year mom and i make a zillion things to give to people for christmas. it is hard work but it is nice to give something that took you a little (or sometimes a lot of) time to make. like here is this heartfelt gift and hey check out all the pin pricks i have to show for it.

then you know i really must love you.

it's starting to snow here right now and it is FREEZING. i basically wore a blanket all day today. and then i saw the mail lady and i felt like she needed to be wearing a blanket too. she looked like a human popsicle. mail deliverer people are my heroes. like the guy i saw yesterday marching through the snow in his shorts with a giant bag of mail. he must be from nunavut or something and be immune to the cold. or else delivering mail must make him really warm which i can see happening. delivering mail would be a rough job. like being a garbage man or being the guy who collects bull sperm. except maybe not as bad as that last one.

i have no idea how a blog post about sewing ended up being a blog post about mailmen. but that's just the type of day it is. the cold makes the rat in my brain stop running in his wheel.

snow falls, nature listens.

2010-11-23T12:47:00.000-08:00

for all you folks out there living in a dark cave here is a newsflash: winter is here. it took a good nine months off and now it's back with a nasty vengeance. last night it dipped to minus 9. minus 9 in these parts is pretty damn cold. it makes my throat burn and i start convulsing with shivers because i am a rainy day, sea breeze type of girl.
my mom is here for a visit and we drove through the neighborhood i grew up in. it is true that you can never go home again, but you can drive past and take pictures at least.

raise your hand if you want to be the little girl who gets to play in this. ahh, you don't even know how jealous i am.

we went to auntie wendy's and she fed us a million good things. including this brownie icecream thing that tasted like chocolate and heaven.

snowfalls make everything beautiful and power lines ruin it.

my cousins and i played in the snow. isn't it weird to watch someone grow up from a baby to a teenager? the realization that they are no longer little kids always seems to be an abrupt one. one day i just looked at them and realized i couldn't pull them in a wagon anymore. they tell me my sense of humour is silly and they have way better fashion sense then me. they are also beautiful and special.

and they are very good at making snowmen that look like john travolta. good job, girls.

the snow seemed colder then usual. does this make sense, or are my hands just more sensitive then they used to be? who knows.
bailey and maria toughed it because they are super models. push through the pain to get the shot. this sounds like something tyra banks would say/has said.

snow makes me a little giddy, but i don't care...because whether you are 10 or 30 or 90 snow is still magical.

snow days are ones that you remember a little longer then normal days. especially when you spend them with cousins and brownies and laughter and a john travolta snowman.

moving on up.

2010-11-21T22:48:00.000-08:00

today felt like the longest day ever. it felt long because of all the things i managed to cram into it. productive, fun, eventful days are pretty great. you go to bed at night feeling like you deserve to take a long sleep. am i the only one out there who feels bad for going to bed after a lazy day? maybe this is why i have so many manic cleaning sessions at 3 AM. the guilt keeps me awake.

anyways, my mom is here for a visit. so we spent the day doing lots of fun things like shopping and eating food and visiting people and laughing about ridiculous things because our sense of humour is nearly identical. then we came home and cleaned and packed my house. let's just say i feel a lot better about this moving situation. the boxes are neatly stacked against the wall, the oven is cleaned, i have a healthy supply of the industrial black garbage bags dexter uses to store body parts. i am pretty much set for this move. maybe tonight sugar plums will dance in my head instead of the thought of frantically throwing random shit into boxes and walmart grocery bags (which is how i usually move). being organized is nice...so, so nice.

and a little unfamiliar.

i think i am becoming a responsible adult. who still checks in her closet for monsters and sleeps with a teddy bear at night.

ok, so maybe i am not there quite yet.

snow way!

2010-11-20T12:43:00.000-08:00

it started to snow last night. every time it snows the cats discover it for the first time. they are timid with their paws in it. they want to sit up all night watching it fall outside the window. sometimes i notice bug staring intently at a single snowflake, or at least that's how it seems. he will watch it fall all the way down and then he bobs his head as it hits the ground and starts searching for another snowflake to watch.

i chalk all of this up to another reason why kitties are amazing. they view the world with new eyes, always.
the power was on and off all night. i know this is true because my microwave beeps every time the power comes back on. and last night, it beeped A LOT.
it was also out for a couple hours today. i took a shower in the dark, i ate a sandwich, i took pictures in the snow, i cleaned my house a little. there really are so many limitations to what you can do with the power out. but really, the truth is we are all just spoiled with our washing machines, blow dryers, microwaves and computers that having the power go out is just a reminder of all we take for granted.

the snow is melting away pretty quickly. it always does here. and we seem to know that well. so we build snowmen and sled down the biggest hill as fast as we can. because in no time it will be gone and we all know you can't make snow angels in the rain.

snowfalls, confusing dreams.

2010-11-19T22:34:00.001-08:00

it just started to snow. well not really, it started about two hours ago. but it's really sticking now. the kitties are sitting on the windowsill watching it fall, they think snow is magical. i think snow is magical too.

on another note: last night i had a dream perry and i went grocery shopping and the parking lot turned into an ocean and then i was like hey perry watch this and i turned into a whale and jumped in the ocean. perry said that he would be impressed but there is a giant submarine squid in this ocean. and just then i saw it lift it's terrifying head out of the water behind me and i swam away from it. and a friend saved me by putting velvet rope dividers around me to protect me from the submarine squid because even monsters like that can't jump the divider. then she told me that if we were ever shooting a movie, she would love to have an acting role in it.

the end.

my dreams confuse me. you can't even dream dictionary that shit.

goodnight.

nine lives, feelin' lucky

2010-11-18T21:30:00.001-08:00

Hello readers, Krista from Oceanaria here. We've been popping in and out of each other's blogs for the past year so if you're wondering if I'm lost or something don't you worry, this is all part of the plan. Krista invited me to write a post for her blog and I couldn't think of a more appropriate topic than to write about cats. All cats. Your cats. My cats. When we talk about our cats together it's like we are speaking our own secret language. Have you ever met anyone who didn't think their own cats were special? How their cats are the cutest and do the darndest thing and you just wouldn't understand? If you can't think of anyone who is like this let me help you: I am like this.

I have lived with cats my whole life, from barn cats to house cats, to indoor outdoor cats. Kittens and old timers have come and gone throughout the years and each cat had it's own impact on my own life. Being an adult with my own cat means responsibilities people without pets just don't know. If I want to take a trip the well-being of the cats come in my mind before figuring out what I can no longer avoid the litter box and hope that my mom will take care of it.

I need to pack. If I'm running out for groceries I will always check the food and litter situation to make sure they are well stocked before I check to see if I need more milk. When the door is left open I wonder if they got out, I wonder if they are okay and when I'm not around if they walk around on their hind legs and have tea parties.

Having cats is like having any pet, and normalcy and pet owner ship does not seem to go hand in hand. I talk to my cats like I would my friend because I think they understand me most times, and pick and chose to respond. I know it's crazy to have such a hold on a small little creature that walks on all fours and sleeps all day in the pile of clean laundry.

Don't judge the crazy cat lady before you get to know her. We're not as crazy or sad as you think. In fact we couldn't be happier to share a home with these little fuzzballs. I personally wouldn't trade my cats for anything in the world, not even for cat-hair free furniture.

living in a swampland

2010-11-18T11:12:00.000-08:00

i slept in this morning and woke up to some pretty nasty rain hitting the windows. this whole house feels like a swamp. the air in here, it's...very...moist. gross. i bleached the windows and windowsills and that helped for about five seconds. my house smelled like a swimming pool, which is fantastic, but not long after it resumed it's bog like smell. who builds houses/buildings on swampy land anyways? oh wait, pretty much everyone on the west coast.

my middle school used to sink an inch every year. (i think it was an inch, if you went to quamichan and know better feel free to correct me) our mascot was an alligator too. due to the swamp like status of our schools fields. disgusting.

i don't know what got me so inspired to start talking about swamps, but now that i am on it i can't seem to stop. oh well, except maybe for this:
have you ever eaten this stuff? i remember when i was a kid my friend bought me one of these and we sat on the swings in my backyard chewing the shit out of them until i wanted to puke. i always remembered the taste, because it is the taste of awesome. then years later i rediscovered it. and was like THAT'S the shit i mowed on my back lawn with the neighbor girl like 14 years ago!!

and it still tastes the same. except now i freeze it before i eat it. makes it last longer. it also gives it this really nice crunchy/chewiness. come on people, you know i know my candy.

anyways, have a nice blustery day.

seven confessions

2010-11-17T15:45:00.001-08:00

i was tagged to give 7 confessions. i think it's kind of self explanatory so here we go:

1. one time i peed in the bathroom sink when i was a kid. my brother found out and still tries to hold it over my head. hard to hold something over my head that i was never ashamed of to begin with. i did it to see if i could. was it satisfying? hell yes. until my mom made me bleach and scrub the sink out.

2. i don't own a cellphone. i don't need a cellphone. i don't want one. thank-you.

3. i have to feel each burner on my stove every time i leave the house even if i can see on the dials that they are all turned off. i also have to check the heat. even in the summer when the heat hasn't been on in months. sometimes i leave and have to come back to check again.

4. i can tie a knot in a cherry stem with my tongue. i feel disgusting telling you that.

5. i say 'for shilly nilly' about thirty times a day. i have no idea what it means. i made it up. you can use it.

6. i always wanted and still want dark hair and dark eyes. i was/am envious of christina ricci and other hauntingly beautiful girls. i am such a girl next door and it drives me crazy a little.

7. i told the first boy i kissed that i had kissed 'lots of boys before'. such a liar.

now, according to the rules i must tag 7 people so here they are:

Katie
Perry
Krista
James
Alicia
Danielle
Marlee

king of the idiots

2010-11-17T15:09:00.000-08:00

sometimes i meet people and i seriously think my cats may be smarter than that person. like today, i met this guy who is friends with someone in the building we live in. he is what i would like to call 'a king of the idiots'. i have only met a couple of these specific breed in my lifetime but damn are they annoying. let me explain:
a king of the idiots is an individual either male or female (if female, they are a queen of the idiots obviously) although usually male who has grown up surrounded by people who are incredibly stupid. the stupid people generally lack either education, morals or life lessons but usually it is all the above. the king is usually one of those 'lying in the gutters, eyes on the stars' type. they have some dreams and aspirations. but somewhere along the way drugs and alcohol and pretending to be a gangsta got in the way of them really succeeding. this is where the king part comes in. you see, a king of the idiots is someone who believes they are incredibly smart because the only people they surround themselves with are complete and total idiots. a king of the idiots is smarter then the idiots they grew up with and are familiar with, and maybe not by much, but enough to make a bit of a difference. because idiots are the only type of people they know they believe themselves to be super smart, einstein types who are just waiting to cure cancer when in reality they can't even pull their pants up properly.

once i met an idiot king who got in a huge debate with me about religion. because apparently he knew everything there was to know about all religions. (his words not mine) when i brought up mormonism and the discussion of whether or not it was morally right for a man to have more then one wife he came up with the conclusion that it must be, because if it wasn't why would god have invented this religion. seriously.

that was his response.

i learned after wards that his extensive knowledge of religion had been gained from one source: the simpsons.

the king of the idiots i spoke with today was telling me all about his goal to get a job at a care facility. even though he has no education to work in one. he wanted to take care of the old people, which is great. but then he proceeded to disagree with me about several things pertaining to that type of work citing that he knew everything about care homes because his mom was an rca. oh, i see. well if i only my mother was an rca instead of myself, maybe i would have something valid to say on the subject. oh and also, he is 22 years old. surely when i reached that age (I'm 24) i would understand. then he started to tell me about getting drunk and how it's like smoking or drinking coffee or eating lots of sugar but more intense. as if he was telling me about alcohol for the first time in my life.

i fought the urge to just get up and walk away.
i think maybe this post is a little harsh, but at the very least it is honest. i know you all know someone out there like this. i know you all steer clear of them. and maybe that is why they never really realize their true and real stupidity. because all the intelligent people avoid them like the plague. so do the king of the idiots person in your life a favour: set them straight. talk to them about quantum physics or recite old english poetry until their mind is blown and they go back to book learning ASAP.

future krista

2010-11-16T13:38:00.000-08:00

i helped my landlord plant daffodil bulbs today. bug looked on because he is the real apartment supervisor and even my landlord knows it. and that was when it kind of hit me. i am really going to miss this place. not so much the window sills that collect mold or the carpets that are at least twenty years old. but the people here. i am really going to miss the people. change is sad. change is necessary. but it's necessity doesn't negate it's sadness.

i guess the only solution is to stay positive. my decisions are the right ones, and i know that. only it doesn't always feel that way. i wish future krista could come talk to present krista and tell her everything is going to turn out fine.

but until future krista invents the technology to travel back in time (and trust me, she SO won't) i guess i am on my own.

the old bray of my heart. i am. i am.

2010-11-15T20:34:00.000-08:00

i decided to be proactive and bring my camera with me today. bringing my camera means having a better day. i want to find things to take pictures of, i do more, i see more. it's pretty simple, really. but sometimes i don't always think this way. luckily, today i did. and my day was pretty fun. thank-you camera. you are my best friend forevs. (until i sell you) downtown duncan adventures. first stop the red balloon toy shop. oh wait, first stop was liquidation world, but no one wants to hear about that. the red balloon is filled with lots of overpriced toys that i want. but i can't have them. because i am an adult. (or so they tell me)
downtown duncan is pretty beautiful with all of it's old buildings. lots of brick. you don't see brick much anymore, do you?
i love it when people don't sweep away leaves. leaves make good ground art. until they turn to mush of course.
we went to art mann park to feed the ducks and seagulls some crusty old bun i found in the back of my fridge.
they follow you wherever you go. you feel like a celebrity or something.
as you can probably guess, with one bun, there just wasn't enough to go around. next time i will bring more eats, i promise.
sepia is kind of ridiculous and endearing. it makes me think of beautiful wedding photos and trailer park boys at the same time.
this is the cutest duck in the entire world. when i was feeding them i kept spotting certain ones that i had to make sure got some bread. this was one of them. he couldn't catch worth shit. but he got some stale bun into his cute little beak eventually.
then a float plane passed by and we all stopped to watch. yes, even the ducks watched.
we kind of have a tradition around here of lining the road into town with our discarded pumpkins after hallowen. on that same note, the teens have a tradition of throwing them all onto the road because they are shitheads and like to see cars slide through pumpkin guts, i guess.
i hadn't visited a graveyard lately and i figured that today was the day. so our next stop was to one of my favourite ones.
i love this graveyard. i love most graveyards. and usually my love for each one is for a completely different reason. this graveyard is filled with fake flowers, virgin mary's with the paint chipped off, and graves with iron fences.
i love how this graveyard is mixed with so much history but still feels so new. i think by new i mean undiscovered. it feels undiscovered, even though i have been here twenty times at least. i just keep on discovering it, i suppose.
and on a different note. i need a tan. somebody send me somewhere warm and all inclusive please? k thanks.
there is a huge pile of plastic flowers behind the church. it is kind of horrifying for some reason. the graves don't bother me, but hundreds of old plastic bouquets make my skin crawl. figure that one out.
and virgin mary, you are a lovely way to end this post. i have learned that sometimes a day isn't a good day until you make the conscious effort to make it one. today was one of those days. lesson learned. tomorrow, i will try to approach you in the same manner. you are just waiting to be awesome, i know it.

what if your soul has no sunday?

2010-11-14T11:21:00.000-08:00

obsession.

2010-11-13T20:32:00.001-08:00

i feel like if it wouldn't make people mental (including myself) i could very easily have a blog dedicated solely to things i find with cats on them. can you imagine? my obsession would really start to spiral out of control. anyways, here is my find of the week:

a tiny cat notebook for 97 cents at kotini's. cutest. notebook. ever. you will be so very happy in my purse, tiny cat.

ahh, everything's coming up cute.

lazy thursday everyone.

2010-11-11T12:20:00.000-08:00

welcome to lazy thursday. i am trying to pack. but that gets redundant pretty quick. plus, i only have one box left and benny is currently living in it. dan kind of fuels benny cat being a spoiled prince because wherever benny's new sleeping spot is is where dan starts feeding him. so benny is currently laying in his box sprawled out on top of his empty plate waiting for his lunch. or wait, let me rephrase that, his SECOND lunch.

dan, you are such an enabler.
my crayons got spilled out everywhere. what a disaster. i have tons of them. and they were all over the place. i blame dan. today is blame dan day, sorry dan. just be happy you are at work and not at home where i can be blaming you to your face. it took me like ten minutes to clean them all up and i don't even think i found all of them. then i felt inspired to draw the most stupid picture in existence:
i am a classic 'if you give a moose a muffin' type. one thing always leads to another always leads to another, nother, nother. wait, isn't there another name for that? like A.d.d?
i was going to go for a walk and take pictures of the leaves. ugh, but i have done that like five thousand times already this fall. and it is pouring. even bug doesn't want to be outside. he pawed at the sliding glass door for a good ten minutes while i took pictures of him because i am awful. now i am going to eat a sandwich and read call of the wild. and it will be delicious. although i don't think the book will be delicious. i was more talking about the sandwich...but we'll see. good day, good day!

meowmeow

2010-11-10T13:08:00.000-08:00

best five bucks i've spent in awhile.

i asked all my friends who you were and your story.

2010-11-09T18:39:00.000-08:00

i slept like a baby last night. dan can home at midnight and found me wrapped up tightly in my dreams, surrounded by cats. it was nice to finally sleep. my own bed, my own sheets, sea breeze humming through the crack of my bedroom window. i felt alive today. awake. aware of my surroundings. it's good to be home.

i miss so much when i am away. and dan says our place isn't a home without me. so i guess that means i should never go away again. never. never. ever. ok. maybe that's going a bit far.
but you know, it's really, really hard being away from this cute face.
my boss brought me home an apple ornament. it is pretty and i have no idea where to put it. but it will find a place to live in good time.
i wanted to go to nanaimo today and so did perry and james. so we drove up through the pouring rain to visit the city. i would like to conclude that rainy days = busy malls. do you ever find yourself mentally criticizing all the people in the malls on these days without realizing that you, yourself are just as bad? we are drones. we are consumers. we best get over that fact.

i bought this. it is a dress/shirt. i don't know. i can wear it with leggings or jeans or knee high socks because i am five years old.
i saw this in winners and it made me think of brittney. mostly because the girl has a cupcake on her head. and everything to do with cupcakes makes me think of brittney. i wanted to buy it for her but then i realized that brittney is not a five year old like i am.
perry took us to the soap shop. i want to eat this soap. i want to eat it all. except for the soap that smelled like ocean. we have to draw the line somewhere, people.
we stopped by a ridiculous hat stand and the girl made me try on every hat and awwed at me. i don't know if she genuinely thought i was cute or if she just wanted me to buy a hat. probably the latter. perry took a picture of me with a bear hat and i did not post it because i think i look ridiculous. i thought of katie when i saw these hats. i think she would love them all.

being in nanaimo today makes me excited about moving there. there is just so much more to do in the city. places to go. things to see. and most importantly endless opportunities for photos.

and stories also.

just a little bit i can't wait.

we long to make music that will melt the stars

2010-11-08T16:30:00.000-08:00

i came home from my 10 days at work this afternoon. i should have felt excited but i didn't really feel much of anything at all. i think i am exhausted. i think i am numb and i have given so much of myself for too long that there is nothing left for me. when i came in the door i realized that my dryer is still in fact broken. you know, one assumes that when gone that long the repairman fairy kind of just takes care of things for you. but i am wrong...so, so wrong. so here i am with a pile of sopping wet sheets, wearing dan's underwear because i don't have any clean pairs. but these are the trials of life, and there are doors and curtain rods wet laundry can be hung on. so i will make it through another day.

i am mostly counting down the hours till dan gets home. we need groceries. i started writing a list today and to be funny i added 'sedatives' to the list.

i need to sleep. i need catnip tea. i need an atavan. i need a tranquilizer gun.
i managed to finish reading madame bovary today. it was my goal to finish it by the time i was done work. and i did. i am flying through the classics so much that i am starting to forget which ones i have read. i make it a goal to read about the novel and the author after i am done reading the actual book so that i will remember it better. i think it is very important to be able to have intelligent conversations about books. don't i sound entitled? but really, books are like little lanterns into the darkness of the past.

wow, the pretentiousness of that sentence is a good sign that i am completely lacking in sleep. so good night all. it is 5 pm. it is bedtime.

whose woods these are i think i know.

2010-11-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

the sky feels very low today, i'm trapped in by clouds. the rain is my background music. i hate these days. i love the rain, but too much. too much is never a good thing. the fallen leaves outside are sloppy and soaked. that makes me think of soggy cornflakes. which is something no one likes. every time i come in from outside i have to warm my boots by the fire. be prepared. we are in for a long winter everyone... i felt a little lost the last couple of days. being at work non stop i don't get out to do what i want. when you don't have time for yourself it is easy to go a little weird in the brain. i finally got dan to bring me my camera yesterday and now i feel a little more normal. whatever normal is. i don't think i am going to feel completely like myself until i am back home with my kitties. life is not life when i don't require a sticky roller to remove the cat fur from my shirt every five seconds.

claire gave me this. she gets rid of everything. this is to my benefit. claire is the anti-pack rat. i am a pack rat. best friends forevs.

i remember when we were kids she threw out her snow white and the seven dwarves figurines and i wanted to cry....like how cccccoulllddd you? they are plastic. they have faces. they have SOULS....

now i think being able to get rid of crap is such an admirable trait. and one i seriously lack.

i think it is very appropriate that the changes of fall seem to be coinciding with the changes going on in my life right now. out with the old, in with the new. by the time 2010 comes to an end i hope to have my shit together. for real.

have i ever told you that november is my favourite month? probably because it is my grandpa's birthday month. i want at least one of my kids to be born in november. plus, i feel like november has the prettiest name of all the months.

but just because i want one of my kids to be born in november means that none of them will.

it is 3 and it is already starting to get dark. i think about that commercial where it is 4:00 o'clock on the ladies computer at work and she looks outside and it's pitch black and she bursts into sobs.

like i said, a long, long winter.

homesickness

2010-11-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

i feel like i have keeping a secret. except it's not really a secret. it just never feels like the right time to tell anyone. the story is that i am moving. sometimes life becomes very tangled and the best way to deal is to find the ends and start unlooping the mess. this is the first step. the step is moving away.

it is kind of heart wrenching. i am not a small town girl, but small town life is what i chose and continued to choose for many years. i did not grow up here and when high school/college finished and everyone moved to the bigger cities i moved to a seaside town with a diner and a post office. and a view from the bottom of the town right to the very tip.

most of the time i am happy here. but sometimes happy isn't what best. being challenged is sometimes better. and right now. it is what i need. don't you hate making the best decisions for yourself? because sometimes what is best isn't what is most comfortable. and sometimes best kind of wrenches at your guts and makes you feel absolutely nauseous about the future.

so to the city we will go. we have a place. it has a yard and hardwood floors and no bathtub. we will leave our little, blue building with our sweet landlord and his geranium gardens and over ripened tomatoes. we will leave our alley overgrown with blackberry bushes and populated by chickens. we will leave family. friends. smokestacks and the docks kate and i spend hours on with our feet in the water, sun or rain.

i am excited and scared and homesick for a place i have not even left yet.

another story another day.

2010-11-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

things in my life always come in extremes. too much or not enough. for someone who has great balance i certainly don't have much in my life right now. things can go from 0-60 in a flash. and that's what has happened. not enough butter spread over too much bread. bilbo baggins knows exactly how i feel.
halloween came and went. we celebrated by wearing ridiculous costumes, drinking too much alcohol and eating candy apples. i climbed in a rock filled ditch in the pitch black and nearly broke my ankle trying to get to the park too. but that is another story for another day...
dan was supposed to go as an old man. but of course, this is the twist he put on it. old man zombie. he kept shaking his fist screaming "KIDS THESE DAYS!" classic...
i would post more pictures. but i am not on my own computer which is making things difficult. if you want to see more halloween photos then you can check them out on my facebook. or you can wait till get around to posting in another two weeks...haha, kidding. hopefully it will be much sooner then that.

yes, i hope.

<3

wordless monday

2010-10-25T20:30:00.000-07:00

love me, love me.

2010-10-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

new coat = new girl. this jacket technically isn't new since i got it in the summer for ten bucks at superstore. but i have only worn it once before, so it's new damn it! and yes it's wrinkled. i do not own an ironing board for your information. my mother shakes her head in shame. anyways, i like sky blue even though it isn't a colour i would have worn very much before. i think because my eyes are blue i always opt for something that doesn't match my eyes. make sense? it does to me. i wore the coat with one of dan's belts but it got annoying because i kept taking it off and everytime i had to take the coat off i had to take the belt off. but it worked really well in a fashiony sort of way.

oh who am i kidding? i have no clue what i am talking about.

have a good, rainy sunday everyone!

clear away the cobwebs and the sorrow...

2010-10-22T15:56:00.000-07:00

Dan's day off today. we went to stocking creek park this morning and i didn't bring my camera but it was really beautiful there and i hope to go back again soon. i always see the sign to the park before i go to work but i have never actually been there before. there are lots of little signs throughout the forest with information on all of the plants there. i learned a lot about skunk cabbage today.

if you don't learn one thing every day then what was the point of that day?
oh and did i mention it's benny's day off today too? oh wait...that's EVERYDAY. the life of a cat, sometimes i hope reincarnation exists and i can come back as a friendly lap cat in a house with a nice window seat where i can pick up sunbeams all day.

anyways, kate and i went for a walk and we ran into:
two leaves going steady. adorable.
fall colours.
the park was out of commission for a long time while they updated it. since it has reopened kate and i have used it more then most of the kids in the neighborhood. come on people, these swings aren't going to swing themselves.
two little boys were watching us. actually, they weren't really little, they were about 11-12. boys that age are the worst. if they aren't being bratty they are sleeping or eating.
cute worm with nothing better to do then hang out on a leaf. i am sorry i disturbed you.
onwards towards the beach.
i am not carving a pumpkin this year. dan can carve one if he wants but i am awful at it. all i will end up with is a botched cat face on a pumpkin and a bleeding thumb. it just isn't worth it.

katie presenting me with an awesome leaf that i did not accept. it reminds me of a story i read in elementary school about a leaf that looked like a witches hand. some kids started a rumour it was a witches hand and of course in the end it was just a dead, gnarly leaf. moral of the story: don't believe a word your dirty liar friends tell you.
i think i have exhausted photographing this harbour. it is never different. i must have 50 identical shots of it all taken on different days. all that changes is the colour of the sky and the smokestack clouds.
if crows are such disgusting creatures then why are they so cute and fuzzy up close?
poor jellyfish. i hate seeing these big beautiful ones laying out on the shore. and then kids come along and poke them with sticks or throw rocks at them. respect the dead, children. respect the dead.
i swear this is the same bird we see every time we come down to the water. he has a very distinct look. i call him 'benny bird'.
there were at least five otters hanging around the docks. they must have been a family. katie and i were very excited and kind of scared. they were swimming around and jumping up onto the docks and then splashing back into the water. otters are like kids in the summer time, in the water, out of the water, in the water, out, in, out, in. make up your mind already.
the otter family eventually swam off into the distance so we were finally able to sit on the dock without worrying about getting our toes bitten off by those vicious, little creatures.
i love you, ocean. with all your beauty and cool creatures that i am mostly terrified of.
heading home i had to stop at the public washrooms to take a picture of this. which i have been meaning to do forever. i don't know why i find this so hilarious. but i do. the little quip on the bottom has been there for awhile and the caretakers have not taken it down yet. maybe because there is some truth to it?
sometimes i realize how much of a one note pony i am. life is becoming one long walk, i think. it sure seems like it in my recent blog posts anyways. time to spice things up a bit. tomorrow, i promise.

kitties = so nice.

2010-10-21T19:53:00.001-07:00

this has been my life the last couple of days. poor, scared kitties looking for love and places to hide. these two...they hate each other. but look at how they band together in a mutual hatred for that badly behaved dog that has been staying here. It's kind of amazing. kitties are amazing.

no shocker there.

listen as the wind blows across the great divide.

2010-10-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

i wish there was an easy way to start a blog post. i never know where to begin. life has been a bit of a zoo lately. prison mike is staying with us for awhile and the cats hate it. they fluff up at the sight of him, they cry and hiss and eat his food. and he mopes around like the puppy dog that he is. so i take him for walks and that seems to cheer him up and give the cats a break. we took him to the beach yesterday and he watched an otter swim to shore. exciting stuff, prison mike. these are the things dreams are made of.
my house is getting darker and darker as winter approaches. seasonal effective disorder, anyone? i think i need to go lay in a sunbeam while they are still around. pretty soon it will be dark at four and life just won't be the same. until next spring that is...
i have been thinking a little bit about halloween. and by a little bit i mean hardly at all. it's almost here and i am so uninspired. it seems like this year has gone by so fast and maybe i am a bit in denial that it is already october. are the years going to start going by faster and faster? is this how life works? the older you get the faster you pick up speed?
at least i am not a leaf. i would already be long gone.
but at least people would want to step on me and make a crunching noise. which is hands down the best part of the fall.
i don't know what to say about this picture. i looks like i am giving a lecture to the weeds in my garden. i am fairly confident my neighbours think i am totally insane.
one day this car is just going to drive itself away and the world will collapse in on itself.
painted my nails last night, conclusion: pink is not my colour. in my defense this looked more like peach in the bottle. it was in claire's getting rid of stuff and i grabbed it. it is now in my trash can. there wasn't much left anyways. i am not wasteful like that. if there was a lot left i would have worn it whether i liked it or not.
i want to roll around in the grass. with kitties. and babies. and bunnies.

ok and prison mike too.
the next little while should prove to be interesting for Dan and I. I may have something to post other then pictures of leaves and chem-trails. you never know. right now it is all about the waiting...but once the waiting is over some interesting things should start happening. my doctor told me that 2010 would go down as a year of change for me. i don't know how he would know that, but my doctor...he's a pretty smart guy. so we'll see...

here comes the sun, and i say it's alright.

2010-10-17T15:56:00.000-07:00

weekends don't really feel like weekends in my world. i don't work a lot, but when i do it's usually when everyone else is eating brunch and praising jesus. that's why i get so irritated when i listen to a radio station and it's a friday and they say something like "I hope all you folks heading home from the office have a safe weekend." Like for one, everyone works 9-5 monday-friday, and two everyone works in an office. this is the world we live in, ignorant and small minded. but a nice place nontheless. i walked from work to the place dan and i are house-sitting today. 5 kms of sunshine, ocean and sweaty winter boots. nevermind the hairpin turns where the sidewalks dissapears into vines. walking in unfamiliar areas can be sketchy.

i wore my knapsack because i figured i needed all the necessities until Dan comes by to pick me up tonight. camera, e-reader, sd stick...i am what dan would call a 'creature'. a creature is someone who needs technology to survive. but then again, aren't we all creatures?

the hairpin turn is right over there.

this is mikey who i am responsible for for a couple weeks while the step-grandparents are away. he is pretty easy to take care of. except he growls at me when i call him prison-mike. that's my nickname for him. and he hates it.

these pictures really aren't in order but who cares? we went to claire's birthday fire party last night. claire got drunk. and when claire gets drunk she wants to do the kissy face. and i oblige. and dan hates it. sorry, dan.

it was a cold night, and i was chilly, except for my knees which were on fire.

no matter how far i moved away, my legs would slowly start burning again. i think claire's boots were melting to her legs. nice. champagne and orange juice. i don't call it a mimosa because it feels pretentious, plus mimosa's are drank out of pretty fluted glasses with french toast, champagne and orange juice mixed in a bottle go with dirty campfire stench.

Happy Birthday Claire! i still remember your birthday when we were like...8 maybe. and we watched ernest scared stupid and everyone slept over at your house and i ate a bagel with cream cheese for the first time and i thought it was totally disgusting. we have come a long way since then!

since i am stuck in a different town for the day i think i better get out and do something instead of holing myself up in this place. there are adventures to be had. prison-mike to be walked. winter boots to be refilled with sweat. enjoy your sunday!

around the world.

2010-10-13T18:25:00.000-07:00

fall walking today. i didn't really know how to dress. shorts? wintercoat? i went the wintercoat/toque route and once i hit the sun regretted it. i felt so overdressed. the day was beautiful. the skateboarders were everywhere. i love the skateboarders. they are not bratty like the ones i have known in the past, the small towners are nice boys, they say hello when you see them, they pet the neighborhood cats. good boys.
a couple days ago i saw a little girl carrying a leaf twice the size of this. i was like 'score!'
first rule of being happy: take joy in little things. like giant, amazing maple leaves.
unnecessary toque. but it's my colour. so it's worth it. plus it completes the ensemble. (like anyone is looking)
i used to work at a care home over that direction. i find it ruins this beautiful view. look at the water, the mountains, the miserable place i spent a year of my life working as a glorified slave!
oh, hi.
i have been reading a lot lately. especially adventure novels. first it was 20,000 leagues under the sea, then the lost world, now i am working on around the world in 80 days. the next one i want to read i forget the name of...now it's going to drive me crazy. oh right, the sea wolf. at the rate i am going it won't be long and i will have read all the classics on there except for jane austen and i will have to actually start buying books for it.

it's getting dark. time to wrangle the kitties inside, find something to eat and finish my trip around the world in 80 days...if i am lucky it should only take me another 4 hours.

happy autumn day.

the very (not so) magical facecloth

2010-10-12T16:01:00.000-07:00

my mom gave me a ton of olympic stuff after the olympics were over and everything was on sale. she knows how quatchi obsessed i am. so one of the things she sent to me was this magical facecloth. i have been saving it away in a drawer for months now. waiting for the perfect day to take it out and watch it do it's magical thing. well, today was that day. i don't know what took me so long. i just like to procrastinate on things and hold onto them. this is why i still have a cat in the hat lollipop i got like ten easter's ago.

it makes me think of that time in elementary school when we got to put a gummy bear in water and watch him expand. i loved it. i made my guy expand until he was so bloated he was starting to break off at the limbs. i think we put them in water? i thought it was vinegar but i just looked it up and apparently vinegar makes gummy bears dissolve. anyways!!! stuff like that thrills me. it makes my life amazing.

so i am sure by now you have guessed that this is one of those facecloths that expands when you put it in warm water. just like the ones you can get at disneyland that come in little pucks and have characters like belle or cinderella on them. you know what i am talking about.
so here it is. magic towel. oh sorry, i thought it was a facecloth, my bad.
opened it up. i can see all their little faces already.
warm(ish) water.
putting it into the warm water. oh geez i live for this stuff.
adding more water. it just wasnt deep enough.
yeah basically at this point i realize that the facecloth was just kind of crinkled up and the water just uncrinkled it. this is so not like the gummy bear experiment!!!
but i am too excited to care because look at the cuteness.
i wonder if it will survive a run through the washing machine?? we will soon find out!!!!

now i am thinking of recreating the gummy bear experiment. yes? no? i remember i wanted to eat the gummy bear at school but i felt like all the kids would judge me so i didn't.

anyways, that's all for today.

crayon people

2010-10-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

i don't draw people well. animals are supposed to be goofy and adorable, and i can do that. people are supposed to look like people. i can't make people look like people. so don't be too critical. i coloured my little heart out and this is what i came up with. i totally copied it from a painting i found of sylvia plath. i don't plan on always copying. i just need to reference people before i can start just drawing them out of my own brain.
see. nice painting right? sigh....

i have been reading the lost world and am thinking of painting a pterodactyl today. i also came up with a pterodactyl zombie movie idea. it is called pterombies.

i also dreamt i was a really cute zombie. i looked like wednesday from the adam's family. too bad dan had to blow my brains out with a shotgun. we lived on a farm. there was blood everywhere. what a shame.

through green-tinted glasses.

2010-10-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

happy thanksgiving everyone. i ate turkey last night at my dad's. today i am taking it easy. fighting off a stomach bug that has lasted a couple days longer then i would have liked it to. thanksgiving has this way of sneaking up on me and this year it was no different. i get all transfixed with the dying leaves and thinking about halloween costumes that thanksgiving has this way of creeping up when i am not noticing.
gingerale to ease my sore stomach. dan did a quick stop on our way to thanksgiving dinner yesterday to pick me this up. he says he bought me it so i would stop whining.

thank-you understanding boyfriend, love of my life.
the newspaper this weekend had an article titled 'can atheists be grateful?' in full thanksgiving spirit someone has to write the most idiotic, bigoted news article ever. dan read it and the conclusion is that, yes, atheists can in fact be grateful. apparently they appreciate life for what it is, not what it is going to be after they kick the bucket. what a surprise, i thought all atheists were sociopaths.
you learn something new every day you know.
the alley is overgrown as ever. sometimes cars zoom down and you can see the stupid look they have on their face as they do so. i call this the look of regret.
life is nice, you know.
alley walking.
Bug loves to be outside, and when he isn't outside he is plotting his next escape. He would go out in a snowstorm. this kitty was made for adventuring.
i am not sure where these photos are taking me but i am going with it. this is a jumbled up post.

your welcome.
i am not afraid of spiders like everyone else i seem to know. they are not creepy. sometimes at night i feel them crawl across my face or arm. and i let it happen. better to let the spider pass then freak out and end up with a squished one in bed with me.
my street is lined with these red maples. what are they called? red maples?

so what am i thankful for? i can name all the obvious: family, friends, pets, health. but what about the things i forget to be grateful for. like heat. i still think back to the year dan and i lived in that old house and the inside of the window's froze. so i would like to clarify that i am very thankful for heat. because without it, life can be pretty miserable.

and i am thankful for cheesesticks with pepperoni inside. those are awesome.

i am thankful i have a job i like. and that my awful neighbours are moving away. i am thankful for yoga pants. because they are comfy and they make your ass look good.

i am thankful for people who post videos of cute cats on youtube.

and i am thankful for you. thanks for reading.

give it up, get it all.

2010-10-08T21:57:00.000-07:00

it is friday night. i am washing my windows in the dark in my pajamas. it's entertaining that way. because i have no idea if i am actually getting them clean or not. that's the fun. tomorrow i will see if there is any improvement whatsoever.

i also finally got around to cleaning up a smashed vase behind my night stand. i have been avoiding it. because i loved that vase and because there was a daddy long legs living in it. having the pieces there meant it was still alive. and the daddy long legs living in it meant it had a purpose. that vase was fifty cents at the sassy lion.

goodbye vase. you were always worth more then fifty cents to me. you were worth closer to a dollar.

don't you love how bath leg pictures make your legs look fat? my legs are not fat. i know this to be true. although i can see how the photo evidence points to my legs being HUGE. this is an illusion.

best part of my day yesterday: hello kitty stickers. i bought a notepad today just so i could decorate it with hello kitty goodness.

i wish i knew were my sticker collection is from my childhood. i don't throw anything away, so it's gotta be around here somewhere.

night night night night night.

love thy neighbour?

2010-10-06T11:39:00.000-07:00

my neighbour is driving me totally crazy. she is nice enough when she is sober but boy oh boy when she starts drinking she gets mean. she used to be alright, when she was drunk she would slur her words, drunken gift me things and sometimes she would quietly sob to me about how hard her life is. these are things i can handle, but slamming doors, giving me shit for no reason, making up stories, complaining about tenants who have done nothing wrong and mostly just embarassing herself is where i need to draw the line. she thinks she's queen of the building or something and she can just throw her little bit of weight around whenever she feels like it with no repercussions. how do you deal with someone like this? see, there is this part of me that knows that i should just ignore her because i do have to live beside her and the other part of me just wants to go out there right now and give her a piece of my mind. i just need to prepare myself, because i know there is an apology coming today. there is always a half-hearted 'i'm sorry' and a limp handshake the day after. and i always, always accept this disingenuous attempt at asking forgiveness . i accept because i like to think people are mostly good, and that they won't do it again, and that they mean it. most of all, i accept because i am stupid enough to think that a person is going to change.

so please give me some advice. have you ever dealt with a difficult neighbour? what did you do? and how would you change it if you could? and most importantly what would you do if you were me?

have a fantastic, drama-free day everyone!

live your life to the beautifullest.

2010-10-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

today is the day i buck up. i haven't been able to write or paint lately, have been dealing with some weird brain zaps and other strange things and as a result have felt really moody and lacking in motivation. but today is the day i start feeling better. i had a perfect sleep last night, the sun is out, the air is crisp and god damn it i live by the beach. i am lucky. no. i am one of the luckiest.

katie, perry, kelsey and i went down to the seawalk. the dock was being repaired so we couldn't put our feet in the water. although i am not sure i would have anyways. it may be sunny, but that doesn't mean it's summer anymore. i am one of those people who adheres to the rules of the seasons.
mellow yellow.
kelsey is a living doll. she did not like me taking her picture. but one day i want to do a photoshoot with her and she will just have to suck it up.
and oh yeah, katie. ruining pictures intentionally.
but i still love you.
they were thinking about swimming. perry and i were thinking about staying dry like smart people.

we always pass this garden on our walks. it makes my heart swell...mostly because it is stuffed with every different colour of dahlias.
i always feel like bringing a pair of scissors for a walk and snipping one off as i walk by. but they are not mine to take. and they need to stay together in their little dahlia family.

i lagged behind in the march. too many pictures. too many flowers. too much beauty. i feel like the only person who knows exactly how i feel is ricky fitts from american beauty.
and the powerlines can be beautiful-ish.
and leaves in the gutter are beautiful too. looking at the stars. clearly.
and friends. yes, they are much more beautiful then the ocean and the flowers and the leaves and the powerlines combined. they are the most beautiful. the beautifullest.

goodnight nobody.

2010-10-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

goodnight comb, goodnight brush, goodnight nobody, goodnight mush.

fallen over fall.

2010-09-26T12:53:00.000-07:00

yesterday dan, perry and i headed to victoria to pick up the lovely krista b and spend the day with her in beautiful victoria. it was the perfect day to do so, not a cloud in the sky. i partially attribute that to me wearing my winter boots, i knew if i did the sun would come out.

we got to krista's around 10 and headed downtown to check out this crazy t-shirt store.
this one made me laugh. ahhh spiderman. even superheroes have to wash their underwear.
love this t-shirt but i would never wear it. way too much going on. and the fact that the cat is wearing glasses is just wayyy too obnoxiously hipster.
krista and i went to our duck store. i didn't take pictures of the rubber ducks because i figured it is kind of been there, done that. althought i have never taken a picture of this sleep mask and i always notice it when i go in there. i need a sleep mask. i need this one. unfortunately it was like 20 dollars or something ridiculous. i guess pulling the sheet over my face will just have to do for now.

if i am ever rich i will fritter it all away on ridiculous things like sleep masks and rubber ducks and hipster t-shirts.
went to the cat and dog store so perry could buy some fish skins and saw this awesome guy. way to have an awesome life living in a specialty pet food store you lucky boy. he had enough fur on him to cover the bodies of three cats quite comfortably.
reunited and it feels so good.
part of the plan of the day was going to see a matinee of 'the town'. the theatre was empty. my love for matinees stems from my hatred of being around people i don't know. there is no one in matinees anymore and when people come they steer clear of everyone else. it's nice.
waiting for the movie to start. these are my ridiculous nails. cherry red with silver sparkles on top that turn pink in sunlight. can you say tacky?

anyways, 'the town' was great. we all loved it. go see it. unless you like shitty movies, then i would recommend 'devil'. which i actually haven't seen...but just assume is awful.
it's weird leaving a theatre in the middle of the day. you expect it to be night time...and rainy. but instead it's sunny and not even dinner time. like you just got all this unexpected time on your hands....but not really.
went to a comic book shop and noticed this giant rack of...well...germ/virus/disease creatures. this one was pox. there were so many others like pneumonia, ringworm and lyme disease but the one that really took the cake was the hiv/aids creature. how insensitive can you be? awful. like i said to dan, imagine someone coming in who had hiv or aids and seeing a stuffed toy making a mockery of their suffering. way to make an awful joke of some very serious diseases.

definitely not the type of toy you want to tuck into bed with your kid sister.

on a much more positive note, i love how that dress matches that wall. i have always wanted a purple house. purple isn't even my favourite colour. but yes, a purple house is what i want. i think i like purple as a house colour because so many flowers look pretty with purple. so i would never have to worry that my garden didn't match my house.

ok, wow.

mandatory fantan alley visit.
chinatownnnn

hello kitty. i am becoming kind of hello kitty obsessed. kind of late in the game but whatever.
dan accidentally took this one and krista and i both ended up liking it. i always seem to stand with my hand on my hip. i think it makes me look slimmer.
pretending to be too good to have our pictures taken....we all know this so isn't true.
dan waiting for krista and perry who were inside the tea store. tea just isn't dan's thing. i love the tea store, they give you little tea samples and then come fluttering around after you in their cute aprons taking your cup and giving you some other fancy tea to try. i have to smell the tea before i drink it, like a fine wine.
why do i get so shocked when i see flowers in september. i am always surprised, like shouldn't you all be dead? as if flowers can't exist beyond september 22nd or something.

what a beautiful day. what fall should always be like. sunny, crisp, breezy.
tacky whale. why are the paintings on these whales so hit or miss?? i would like to paint one of those whales to look like a transformer. which is why i will probably never, ever get to paint one.
i told perry these were called fire flowers and he believed me. but really..what is the name for these? i used to have them in my garden.
market day in downtown victoria.
dan and perry on their 'man date'.

a couple took our picture in exchange for us taking their picture. aww.
hera is my fav girl. look at that face. JUST LOOK AT IT!
after a day in victoria we went back to Krista's. i was starving so Krista made us some good foods and i helped. we watched some ridiculous movie with weird al in it that Krista didn't even know she owned. good find, boys.
hera was all over the boys. she must miss brian so much.

anyways, all in all it was a great day spent with some special people. and fantastic cats. sometimes i think we don't realize how much we really need to just spend a day doing fun things with good people. people that are good for the brain and good for the soul. it is too bad i need to get over the malahat to do it.

move closer to me, krista b!

kid selves

2010-09-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

it is pretty much the best day to be alive ever. the sun is out, the air is crisp. my life has felt kind of plagued by negativity lately...sometimes the easiest way to get rid of it is to just allow yourself to let go. the hardest part of life for me is learning to let the distractions in. i have such a focus, i live in my head. my old psychiatrist told me to never do yoga, she said i needed to get out of my head. not go further into it.

so here i am. colouring the day away. it keeps me mindful, it makes me happy. i think we should all go back to kindergarten in our mid-twenties. learn to reconnect with our kid selves. i am sure it would make us all better workers, better parents, better people.
and that is my painfully pretentious post of the day.

topsy turvy tuesday!

2010-09-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

this is going to be the most jumbled post ever. all i have is random pictures and little comments to say about them. whatever. let's just call it topsy turvy tuesday.
i am attempting to dry dahlia's. never have i tried drying dahlia's before but it's worth a go. i looked it up online and apparently they dry better then most flowers. but i think i have waited too long and a lot of petals will fall off. i used to always dry flowers as a kid, after dance recitals i would get roses and once they started to fade i would use ribbon to hang them from my ceiling or the corner of my bookshelf. i can't let go of anything, not even dying roses. i probably have most of them still, tucked away in a box. i am such a romantic.
bought this necklace yesterday. walmart, five bucks. they had so many pretty ones, it was between this one and one that was a coppery colour and had a picture of a blue butterfly and a little key hanging off of it. i want to go back and get it. no i don't. yes i do.
my dad and kim got me a kobo e-reader for my birthday. i am not a gadget person. i don't even own a cellphone, but this is one gadget i have wanted since the first time i saw one. it is loaded with 100 classics which is what i read most of the time. it even has 20,000 leagues under the sea which i have wanted to read forever and for some reason i have not been able to find anywhere else. it actually had the scarlet letter on it too, which is what i was reading before i got the e-reader. so i just picked up on the e-reader where i left off in the old-school book. awesome. i am technologically advanced.
sometimes i change the font size to super huge just so i can have the satisfaction of turning the pages more often. gah. i am going to read every single book on this baby. i also have national geographic on this and i found a star wars book on their website for free. score.

if you are looking for me i will be reading my life away. bye!

lucky

2010-09-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

i am stuck in a rut right now between doing everything and doing nothing today. it's a day off, dan is at work, what to do? these are the best opportunities to gut and clean the house, because i don't have the human tornado running around behind me. i am sorry dan, but i hope our children are the exact opposite of you when it comes to organization and cleanliness.

if not then i am afraid for my future, and for the house i may one day own.

my birthday was wonderful this year. lots of birthday wishes, lots of good food, lots of me getting spoiled. my birthday is a reminder of how blessed and truly loved i am. i feel so lucky.

ok, that's it. i'm either getting out my mop and broom or else i am lighting a match and burning this place down. (don't worry Perry, I will be sure to get Isis out of your apartment first)

tis ma birthday!

2010-09-16T10:26:00.000-07:00

my birthday present from danny:
there is a little bit cropped out, my fault.
i love it so much. now....where to hang it?

you're over the atlantic, baby.

2010-09-14T15:49:00.000-07:00

i am pretty sure some people around town are going to be pissed off. kate and i spent the morning using chalk to deface the sidewalk with octopuses, boobs, bloody knives, people with lobster hands and icecream cones. no big deal. just an ordinary day for us. people were getting in near car accidents trying to catch a glimpse of our amazing art.
we basically obliterated kate's brand new box of sidewalk chalk. it was all pretty and dusty and brand spanking new. i hate ruining new, pretty things. and i just know it is going to rain tonight and by tomorrow all that will be left to show for it are some colourful smudges in the gutter.
owls are just too obvious now. i need a new animal. i love the chalk colours though, they are like BLAM. way more popping then the colours i had as a kid.
true love.
kate drew a unicorn striking a centaur down with a lightning bolt.
and i drew an octopus attacking a ship.

and we drew a lot of other stuff too that i am not going to post pictures of.
after the chalk frenzy we went for a hike to the lake. the lake is so secretive. people can live here for years and not even know about it. a secret lake. a secret, magical lake of wonderment.
mook biked because he can't walk. well...he can. but he chooses not to. ever. he even bikes down to our house which is less then a hundred steps away. i wanted to ride on the handlebars.

i was denied.
you never know where the hike will take you when tim is the guide. well...we knew we were going to eventually get to the lake, but from point a to point b there can be a hell of a lot of hills, bushwacking and climbing over fallen trees in between.
katie with her bear fighting stick. i carry one too. we also clap, make beeping noises and hit our sticks against trees just in case there are bears hidden near by. we are the most obnoxious hikers known to man.

we got to the lake to find that it was very low and sludgy. i guess that's what happens after a warm summer.

we caught some dragonflies hugging with their pants off. at least we think that's what they were doing.

this is my 'i conquered the lake' pose.
then a helicopter came and landed and that was pretty exciting and we worried for a minute that a blade would fly off and chop our heads clean off.

fortunately that didn't happen.

and that is my day in a nutshell.

the brightest crayon in the box

2010-09-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

i am colouring with crayons claire gave me for my birthday last year. she had called me from superstore saying that she didn't know what she was going to get me for my birthday so as a joke she said she was buying me crayons. i took that very seriously and was pretty excited about it. so in the end the joke became not so much a joke and crayons is what i got. it's been almost a year since then and i basically forgot i had them until dan whipped them out yesterday. i have been listening to salt 'n' pepa and colouring the rainy day away. salt 'n' pepa's dance moves are killer. for serious. i watch them in a trance like state.
that colour on the top confused me with the acidic orange and the grey. there wasn't even a colour name on it all it said was 'awesome'. what happened to names like sea green and robin's egg blue?
technicolour owl on a power line. that's just how i roll.
this kitty is having a sangria sunday. i am jealous and a little bitter....

mostly because i don't even think cats like sangria's.

rainy day sundays...

2010-09-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

happy rainy day everyone! (except to benny cat, who clearly is miserable in the rain)

dan headed back to work after 9 days off this morning. i gave him a sugar cookie, fixed his uniform's collar and sent him on his way. i watched him drive out of the parking lot....a single tear running down my cheek. ok, the tear is a lie, but the rest is true. dan's 9 days off were so much fun. camping and hanging out watching movies and lots of beach walks. i would say dan is my best friend, but people get sick of their best friends when they hang out with them for too long and i never get sick of dan. even when he pisses me off...i still want to see him five minutes later.

the kitties have been in and out all morning. benny went out and got a case of the insta-regrets. he forgets that he hates the rain, or maybe he doesn't realize it's raining till he gets outside. i am a mean mother because sometimes i make him stay out there for a few minutes. usually he starts crazily pawing at the sliding glass door and as mean as i feel i am being not letting him in right away, it is also the only exercise he gets...
hope everyone enjoys their sunday. benny cat included.

goodbye summer

2010-09-09T16:16:00.000-07:00

i am finding it hard to believe that summer is coming to an end. the kids were laughing and screaming on the playground today and it took me a second to put all the pieces together and realize that school is back in. i keep waiting for it to warm up so that i can go swimming at the river and then i realized today that there aren't anymore opportunities for that. summer is over, girl. it went by in a flash it seems. now my birthday has shown up on the expiry date of the milk. and that is when it hits me like a ton of bricks, autuum burning, wind blown nights here we come...

Dan loves camping this much...

2010-09-08T16:06:00.000-07:00

down to the sea again, for the call of the running tide.

2010-09-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

We just got home from two nights camping in Tofino. It was a long time planning and replanning and organizing and reorganizing but we finally made it up. the trip was needed, sometimes it's just nice to get away from everything. and there is nothing better for your soul then endless beach and a leaky tent.
You really have to go to Long Beach to understand it's beauty. Pictures do not do it justice. People's moods are instantly lifted once they step onto the sand.
we found the sunglasses kate is wearing on the beach the moment we got there. an omen of the good things to come? definitely!

Katie is brave, she went shoeless pretty much the whole trip. I did a couple of times but my feet got chilly awfully quick. no matter how much sun there is, the water there is always cold.

i got this awesome deal on a four man tent that really wasn't much of a four man tent afterall. tim slept in the back of the suburban while dan, kate, mook and i were crammed into the 'four man' tent.
there was room for nothing but beds in there. everything else was stowed away in the truck. which is probably the best thing anyways, i am paranoid of bears busting through tents to devour bottles of perfume or deodorant. you never know what they will sniff out and come after.

in the end, the leak in the roof ended up being more of a concern then bears. i woke up to my top blanket soaked in water. there was water pooling on the roof and dripping through. mook and i kept waking up to drain the roof so that we wouldn't get rained on. finally i put three plastic bags on the roof and that seemed to keep us dry for the rest of the night.

we had to buy a stove on the way up because the one we brought was busted. brand new stoves are awesome. we cooked chilli in ten minutes. it was ready before we were even hungry.

i love beach walks five times a day. i also love being one of those romantical, obnoxious couples from time to time.
we found this secret forest path that led to this amazing view of the ocean. i love secret places. totally untainted by society. no phones, no tv, no computers. facebook feels like the most stupid thing in the world when i am out in nature, i begin to realize how little i need all these things i have, that fill up space and time but really don't give you anything substantial.
i could live here. i think that is my mantra whenever i am in long beach. one day, one day. once all the annoying hipsters clear out...
someone told me that these are not camping shoes. haha, no they are not. but they are my version of camping shoes. i don't even own running shoes and my hiking boots are missing. plus these shoes are awesome because when they get full of sand and dirt i can just rinse them out and they are dry ten minutes later. love it.
we went and did a mandatory visit to the Roy Vicker's gallery. absolutely beautiful and so inspiring. This is what i aspire to, art that is completely my own. His style is so unique and true to himself.
yes scary, huge bird, you always get my attention. i have a hate-on for birds that can eat my cats, is that a crime? to know me is to hear my story about how if an eagle ate my cat i would climb into his nest and punch him in the face...it is a long-winded story with lots of details of how i would get it done.
if you need to read the surf etiquette sign at the beach, i don't think you should be surfing.
i put this picture up because kate really likes it. there was this fog over the beach yesterday. at one point i just walked for five minutes with my eyes closed just to see if i could. there was nothing ahead of me except fog and sand.
i tried to convince perry to come on the trip by telling him that we were bringing a frisbee. it was a joke, but it ended up being a big hit. frisbee on the beach is way too much fun.
i don't really know what is going on in this picture.

Dan gets pretty annoyed with me hanging on his shoulder taking pictures of us. do i care? maybe about 5 percent of the time.
Kate ran out into the water in her jeans and kind of just forgot to stop. she got soaked. the water was so chilly, i went in to my knees and that was more than enough for me. kate is a brave soul.
i am sure kate had a lot of fun getting those jeans off afterwards.
windblown beach hair. the best or the worst?
i think everyone wore this toque at one point. it's dan's toque but everyone else wanted to wear it. Tim kind of looked like a hobo/hippie man. perfect for the tofino scene.

awkward family photos? i love how lacking in affection everyone is in these pictures.
it's like it's our first day of kindergarten and our mom's lined us up in front of the class to get this shot. look at kate's smile and dan's stoic expression. priceless.

our last day we got up early to visit one more beach before we headed out.
mook and kate frisbeed it up, dan shot some footage and i climbed up on a big rock looking for tidal pools but all i found was a really boring, sludgy one.
this sign is all about the whales that are common in the area. i love whales. but i have never seen one. it's sad and i have no excuse for it.
last shot of the beach. i always have a kind of sad moment when i take it. like i am saying goodbye to a friend that i won't see for awhile. i have to snap the picture and then walk away without looking back.
we stopped by cathedral grove on the way home. it was so busy, filled with german tourists.
they have signs all over the place telling you to be aware at all times because any tree could fall at any moment. way to put a downer on the forest, but i guess it's there for a reason because look at what happened there. hopefully no one was on that bridge when that happened.

is it weird that when i see a fallen tree i get worried for all the animals living inside it? like i hope there isn't some squirrel out there with brain damage because he fell 50 feet inside a tree?
this tree is hugenormous. and that is an understatement.
see, it's way bigger than the leaner tower of pisa even!!

being home is bittersweet. i always feel like something is missing when i am away from my cats and home, so i am glad to be back, but at the same time i feel like there is a part of me i leave behind on the beach. my name etched on the sand, and the beach etched on my soul.