I flit, I float, I fleetly flee, I fly

158.365 – Catch Yourself by nikilynn

I can't believe the skill and creativity of some of the photographers on flickr. The girl who took this photo is only 15! It is pretty neat to view the progression from her first photos to the last ones.

I have been pretty interested in photos where the subject is floating in midair lately. Here are some more that have caught my attention.

32.365 The Misarranged Mary Poppins by nikilynn

Week Eight. by darcyface
(another 15 year old photographer)

One Day I Floated Away by steph_who

Floating Away by 'Stephen Beadles

I'd like to recreate some photos like this soon. I need to find a model for this however... Perhaps one of the girls from work.

Rainy Toronto

Rainy Toronto
Originally uploaded by Gemna

I was waiting to meet a friend for coffee and I took this photo. The tree was not a perfect shelter, but it worked well enough!

Step Two

I wanted to make an update on how I am doing with falling in love with London. So the first step in this process was to figure out what London has to offer me that I would most appreciate. I realized that I greatly value outdoor spaces, such as parks. As well, in the summertime I like to do a lot of biking, so I enjoy having paths to bike on. :P Combining these two interests and discovering locations that would appeal to them was step two.

There are lots of bike paths along the Thames River and through the city. Today I explored this area a little better and took pictures! This is also the way I get to work! (up until the second-last photo)



So everything is going very well with London! I knew I could find more than a little beauty in London! This city gets such a bad rap with people! There is a lot of beauty here and there are a lot of things going on! :) That is all for now.

Salvador Dali's Birthdate

He is one of my favourite painters. Because who can come up with this stuff? Really! You have to be incredibly creative to think this stuff up or -well, Salvador Dali!

Dali was a Spanish surrealist painter who lived during the 20th century. His most famous painting is one that you may know as "Melting Clocks", but he actually titled it "The Persistence of Memory".

If you took a first year film class you may have watched Un Chien andalou (1928), one of the best known surrealist films. Dali and the first-time director Luis Buñuel produced the film with Dali co-writing and acting in for the film. The poignant opening scene where an eye is slit with a razor is an indelible scar in my mind. *shudders*Oh dear, and now we move on...

Dali was influenced by Sigmund Freud's writing about the "erotic significance of subconscious imagery", which subsequently influenced his paintings. To access the images of his subconscious, he would cause himself to go into a hallucinatatory state. The paintings in this state are his most well regarded paintings and made him the "world's best-known Surrealist artist". The following are some of my favourite Dali works...

When I was in Madrid, I spent a day in Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sophia where a number of Salvador Dali's works are displayed (and Un Chien andalou is played). It was really neat to see one of my favourite artist's paintings for real! (I saw Picasso's Guernica too!)

In recent Salvador Dali News... Little Ashes, a film about Dali's just came out on May 8th. Robert Pattinson (you may know him as Edward Cullin in Twilight) plays Dali. would like to see it, but perhaps I'll wait till it's on DVD or something

To finish off this post on Dali, here are two amusing quotes by Dali:

"I don't do drugs; I am drugs."

&

"The only difference between myself and a madman is that I am not mad."

Update: After posting this I received an email from someone in the PR dept. at Time Inc. and who is in charge of communications for Life. She stumbled upon my blog post in the press for Salvador Dali for today and suggested that I might appreciate a series of photos of Dali from Life Magazine's website. Have a "look-see"! You'll see what an eccentric character Dali was!

Work Cited: "Salvador Dalí." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 11 May. 2009 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/150173/Salvador-Dali>.
All photos and direct quotes will take you to their original site by clicking on them.

Water-Juice

When I was a child, I was my mother's right hand. That's what happens when you're the oldest. I did what I could to help my mum with my siblings. One instance was then Ainsley wouldn't drink water for supper because she wanted juice. But it was the rule to have a glass of juice then if you wanted more to drink, you would get water. But she was putting up a big fight about it this one time, so I told her that this jug of water in the fridge was actually "water-juice". Water-juice looked like water, but tasted like juice. Mom poured her a glass and she drank it. It worked for a while! hehe She was a gullible kid!

So there is this Baby Blue comic that my mother sent me saying it was very much like me as a kid. And this is what prompted me to tell the "water-juice" story...

Bicyclettes on the mind!

I found this and couldn't help but put it up! What a cute bicycle! For those without good balance AND a desire to stay very close! heh hehh

Also, does it look like they're in front of the White House?

Oh dear... Bicycles are on my mind! Hm, I need a basket for mine now... Bookbags on the back are never good in the summer. Especially black ones. I shall go to Talize tomorrow and hope for the perfect one! Orrr maybe I'll go to the really far, ginormous Value Village... I suppose it all depends on the weather. It's raining now. I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow. I want sunshine again!

Falling in Love with London

As well as falling in love with reading books again, I also plan on falling in love with London. One of the ways that I plan to fall in love with this city is to explore it. There are many, many bike trails and paths by the river throughout the city and I think that they are the key to discovering the beauty that this city holds! :) And so, to aid in my discovery of these paths I intend to employ at least two friends; my camera and a bike!

I have been antsy to ride since the weather became nice! Unfortunately, on the first nice day, I discovered that my bike was not in the shed. It was one of the most anxious feelings I have ever experienced! I consoled myself by pretending that I imagined bringing the bike to London- that it was all "in my head". I attempted to trick myself. As well, I told myself that if I really did bring the bike to London then the person who took it must have needed it more than me. Within a few days the feeling was gone.

There is a plus side to this! It gave me an excuse to seek out the bike I have always wanted: A cruiser! I've always wanted a cruiser bicycle for two reasons; because they are classic and because they are better for my posture (a more upright position while seated). I mentioned to Gen that I was looking for a cruiser which informed her of the name of the bike that she had always wanted! With the name in hand/mind, she searched craiglist and kijiji for a cruiser bicycle and purchased one within hours! I was so-so jealous! But I kept patiently checking the online classifieds for mine.

So here we are two days later and I now have my bike! I toured all over London today! I have yet to name my bicycle, but I think I shall go with Norco (the company name) for now. I will probably to paint him, because black is just too gloomy! But here he is!


So with my trusty "steed" and camera companion I shall explore all the beauties and secrets that are held by London! I will fall in love with this city and come to value all that it offers while enjoying sunny days in between chaotic, busy shifts at the pub!

Sunny Summer Sundays

Sunday was one of those fabulous summer days! Although this blog is not meant to be journalistic, I can't help but write about it! And this shall also be in response to Genevieve's blog entry...

It began with a lazy Sunday morning and a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with banana (this is a quintesential part to beginning most good days! :P). At about 12:30 I left the house with the intent to walk to downtown in about an hour -surprisingly it only took me thirty minutes!

I had brought Maxwell (my camera) along with me, so we were able to spend the better part of the early afternoon taking photos! I was inspired by the lovely buildings and homes to make a follow-up blog posting to the one on interesting homes. The difference is that these photos will be my own. The following are some of the buildings that always catch my eye and the houses that stood out from the others around them. Of course, none of these are quite as unique as the ones seen two posts before, but they do have characters of their own.

During my photo spree I came across a box of fabric by the side of the road (don't read "garbage"). It appears that in a former life some of these pieces of fabric were samples... for couch fabric perhaps? It is quite durable stuff! I have been planning on making a new bag- so this fell perfectly into my plan! Free stuff!

Not too long after that I met Juliana in Victoria park to play frisbee! It was beautiful! So many people were at the park- a lovely Sunday afternoon... :) We also went for ice cream at Marble Slab and people-watched -you know, like bird watching!

We walked around downtown for a bit and then ran into John, Juliana's boyfriend's brother. We ended up going to John and Spencer's (Juliana's boyfriend) house for dinner. After dinner we had some interesting conversations about identity, nationality, and our experiences with ghosts. And then I went home! It was such a lovely day!

Falling Back in Love

This is the summer I will get back in to reading for sheer pleasure! :) It's been a long time since I would just pick up a book and consume it all in one day or be so enthralled that I had the greatest difficulty putting it down. I intend to make me fall back in love with books!

Whenever I finish a book, I will write a review of sorts as a blog posting. I'll also talk about how I came to that book. My aim is to read a book a week, but at the start I'm not to worried about filling that quota since my first priority is to learn a full menu at my new job (which I am incredibly excited for!).
I have a few books on my list thus far:

• Metamorphosis by Kafka
• In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
• Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote 
• In the Beauty of Lilies by John Updike 
• Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
• The Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan
  

I will take suggestions for books too! Oh, also I want to read something by Jane Austen. What should I read by Austen? Pride and Prejudice? Sense and Sensibility?

I've started with Wild Boy by Jill Dawson. I won't say anything more about it now; you'll hear about it once I'm finished!

Something New

Time for some thing a little different; a series of gathered photos with a theme. Today's theme is..

Interesting Homes

Something I posted on facebook a little while back... By ~sleepyhead

By arekev

By ali eminov

By shutrbugr

By Somewhere In Toronto

By Shawna

By Wonderlane

Sad Friends