Admireabilia

Canada Votes 2011

2011-05-01T23:37:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is election day!

I cant tell you how excited I am about the potential for a real change in canadian government and hopefully a turnaround of voters who have come to feel that their votes don't count. Voters who have learned that if they are going to vote they had better do it strategically or in effect vote against the leader they dislike most instead of voting for someone that they want representing their interests and their country on the national stage.

I love my country and I love voting, making my mark. The truth is that for all the democratic jostling of our political system, we are a GREAT country but I want to help us be better still. This is why i vote.

Canada is one of the heaviest polluters by population in the world, we have a deficit in our national retirement plan that threatens quality of life for our entire population, we have racism along the lines of language and reserve boundaries, classism between our urban and rural population, pressure cracks in our canadian healthcare system, and a history of miserly international aid.

All of these issues that float under the sightlines of our international reputation are not things to be ashamed or afraid of, they are opportunities to be resourceful, to lead by example, to really astound the world with our potential. I believe in canada and I think we should be champions in far more than international olympic hockey!

We constantly compare our country to the united states, but the comparison weakens us. Its not enough that we have healthcare, that doesn't equate to the superior attitude i sometimes witness by canadians towards our greatest trade partner to the south.

We also can't be fairly compared to other european nations that are so much smaller physically and larger by density than we are. They have developed systems of efficient transit, and resource management out of necessity.

Our diverse and sprawling nation, is its own challenge, an example of this is the fact that we have 2 official languages and 6 official federal parties. We need to balance our tradition of accommodating difference with the importance of working together, choosing a government and not leaving those elected to their own devices until the next election.

A good friend told me that he sends handwritten letters to his government because the weight of one such letter is so much greater than emails and signatures on petitions. I think as a nation we owe it to our country and to the success of our economy, to our families, to our future selves who will be the benefactors of the choices made in parliament today to be involved.

The federal government belongs to us as citizens, it is our responsibility and our legacy. We are the ones who give them the power. If we don't remind our politicians who we are as individuals how can we expect them to see us as anything more than a number.

Voting is just the beginning.

Voting is the LEAST we can do for the love of our country.

Dreary Schmeary!

2011-01-19T22:26:00.000-08:00

SO:

I had a little revelation recently.

I have NOT Been taking enough pictures of my city.

I have not been treating it the way i did seattle and i am guessing that has something to do with the fact that i always compare and prefer that souf of the border city to the one i must definitely now start calling my own.

The winter here is a time for hibernation.

For most people.

In fact, for me it is a bit of a tedious balance between being uninspired in my usually challenging and inspiring full-time career, and being swamped with long and vibrant nights at my part-time evening job at the fantastic local theatre 'the cultch'.

You can read the interview they did with me just before i made the switch from volunteer to actual employee on the cultch blog here:

http://blog.thecultch.com/2010/08/volunteer-profile-meet-kiki-hastings/

I want to hibernate, the dark and the rain make me linger home on mornings when i know i should have already left for work, and equally keep me at work longer because i know i'll have to face the elements again when i do leave.

I've decided that i'm going to relish the last few months of winter by doing a little more winter exploring... i'm going to endeavour to

- go out snowshoing with some friends (finally!)

- Have a cheese fondue valentine making night

- Make blood orange and spice winter sangria

- take long exposure night photographs of this city's year round greenery and only take sepia daytime photos. Grey is depressing.

Thank goodness for vitamin d capsules!

Being the butcher

2011-01-09T00:38:00.000-08:00

http://vimeo.com/7192517

I watched/listened to this talk from 43 folders about a year ago. Its something that i've come to really honor in my own fledgeling career.

The key tidbit is this:

'You can't take a course to learn all the skills and become an expert at something, you can't become the butcher with 30 years experience, until you ARE the butcher with 30 years experience.

I also liked how Ira Glass of This american life put it, let me paraphrase; Its nice to be recognized as being good at what i do now, the radio, but its not like that happened all of a sudden. For a long time i really sucked at it.

So, yes, its been almost 2 years since i've started work in my chosen field, and i'm still loving it.

I got to repair clock springs on a kaiser euphonium today, and repad 2 clarinets.

I got to playtest some mouthpieces and i learn every day little things, like 'i like deep cupped mouthpieces'.

So in the interest of constant improvement, i think its important that i start to post some of the great experiences i'm having in my life/work that are in fact related to the work i do.

My new years resolutions this year were almost entirely career centric:

1: play all the instruments i repair

I have copped out on this for too long and already after just a week i'm feeling so much more comfortable and learning so much more quickly what impact adjustments actually make, what 'feel' means, and i'm getting over my stage fright and building an embouchure. YAY!

2. Get the Buffing Room up and running.

This year i had several projects that would have benefitted immensely by having buffing equipement available. I am the one who would benefit most from this, i need to make it a priority.

3. Learn to do Removable French Bell Conversions

This is such a cool/lucrative thing to be able to do. Luckily i have a plethora of french horns that are inactive and some time before may that i can spend learning this.

4. Research and Publish relevant articles in trade magazines about the decorative/craft elements and history of musical instruments.

I have my pitch in the outbox waiting for me to groom it a little more before i send it to SNAG, but i'm also planning some spin-off articles that are loosely woven around the chance i have to spend time with Jason DuMars this year and learn about him and his saxophone engraving.

5. Learn Chasing and REpousse and some engraving

I would like to build a bit of a business making decorative bell wreaths for large brass and i guess some other brass as well. I'm trying to think of a jewellery/craft object i could make and sell to develop the skills i'll need to do intricate work. I feel like this is a great focus for my creative self, it even incorporates my love of radial symmetry and hammering. :)

P.S. Sweet 'Naked Lady' engraving no?!

So here's to a great year! 2011, lets make music together!

'S' Cookies taste like christmas to me!

2010-12-07T20:50:00.000-08:00

Mina on Soumalinen!

I am now a finn citizen and although my attempts to learn language are in fits and starts there are things that i feel i do truly connect with in the mother culture.
I love 'S' Cookies.

My mummu used to make them for me when i was little, and then my mom and i attempted several versions before we finally came to a version that satisfied and was measured in cups and not grams, including one batch of 'z' cookies which were a memorable accident.

I thought i'd share the memory and the recipie here. I took this last batch to work and its the second year in a row, becoming a tradition?!

I think i'll be making a second helping of these for my christmas day feast!

You will need:
150 g butter 1/3 lb...
125 ml sugar 1/2 cup
3 eggs
175 ml sugar (yes, more!) 3/4 cup
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp of baking powder
650 ml flour or 2.5 cups

Cinnamon Coating:
3 tbsp. sugar per 1 tbsp. of cinnamon=cinnamon sugar coating

Whip eggs and sugar. Whip sugar and soft butter. Blend the two. Mix flour, cinnamon and baking powder. Add it to the butter/egg/sugar mixture. Roll some of the dough at a time into half inch thick rod and cut into 4 inch long pieces. Dip pieces into sugar/cinnamon mixture and form them into letter S. Bake at 350 F for 10 to 15 minutes.

Note: Kneading the dough with your hand is encouraged.

are you CRACKERS?! why yes sir, i beleive i will!

2010-09-12T19:48:00.001-07:00

I spent today ~~slaving~~ salivating over a hot stove.

On the menu:
Bison Meatballs with Corsican Mint, Miniquiche Muffins,

and most impressively: Whole wheat Crackers!

I made them from the bicycle ground whole wheat flour i bought at the market back in june from the flour peddler at the vancouver wednesday farmers market. Its chunky and too coarse for cakes or cookies and i hardly ever make breads… so i chose it for some seriously nubbley crackers.
Used some flat beer from my refrigerator as the binder in the mix rather than water to give it a little punch.

I’m pretty happy with these although i know that the next time i’m making them with more ‘toppings on them. these are a little plat.

Also, today was the day that i learned to really appreciate the need for twist top wine bottles. How else can you simultaneously drink a bottle of red AND use it as a rolling pin!?

Last night was so GREAT!

2010-08-28T07:50:00.001-07:00

I worked the cash at bar B1 at the stadium last night and had THE BEST time!

I was remembering faces, drink orders and helping people out left right and centre, making chitchat and garnering some tips on top of it all.

We shared our tips out so it didn’t turn out to be that much after it was split 6 ways, but heck, last night gave me confidence that i could more than do that at a real bar and be successful.

Mixed drinks be damned. I’ll learn as i go and skip bartending school. maybe i’d barback for a while to get my feet wet, but it would be super cool to do more work in this industry.
I had 5 hours of FUN!

'plotting' continues

2010-07-04T17:40:00.001-07:00

i spent much of today (the part i didn’t spend sorting worms from my fresh compost mulch) re-arranging yet again as things have bloomed and spread at their own paces.

I am not sure why somethings are just killing and others are sort of stopped, but i’m trying to pay attention to the rythms of the plants as we go. My cherry Tomatoes are absolutely rocking house. So many flowers, soon i know i will be flush with little balls of sunshine!

Found a new planter on my way home today and i had built one the other day so i was able to spread my pepper plants into the bigger of the two to keep them out of the way of slugs.

I have resolved my slug issues at least with the bigger stemmed plants like squash by cutting the bottoms out of plastic containers and putting them around the stems and a little into the soil. I think because the plastic is a little jaggedy they don’t go up and over, or at least they haven’t yet and its been a few weeks.

I’ve seen some flowers on my biggest squash plant and am hoping the trend continues on the other four!

strawberries are getting busy and i’ve moved them up into the windowboxgarden where they get more consistent sun and they have more area to droop… go everbearing!

my beets now take up a whole 2ft section of the garden and should get lots of sun. its too bad i waited to figure that out until now, but at least i’ll have them in the fall… same with the chard, looking forward to some winter greens!

Pepper plants look well and are shiny green.

The big topsy turvy planter is surprising me by growing up along the outside edge of the ‘planter’ bag.. but it too is flowering now.

i put in a section of carrots today and popped a couple radish seeds in between the cucumber plants to take up the room around those roots as they grow. I don’t love radishes but i can appreciate them for their practicality.

scarlet runners are all flowery so soon there will be beans.
sor of wish i had grown sweet peas instead of wax beans. next year or maybe even edamame?

i replanted my cilantro and dill because they got weird and stringy and never filled in. i have them in a planter where the roots will be more concentrated and where i can keep a better eye on them so they don’t flower out.

i also razed and replanted salad mixes in the box and reclaimed the old strawberry pot for spinach. i would eat spinach all the time i don’t know why i have let that tarry. soon i will.

anyway, i’m content that i am done mucking about for the next few weeks. hopefully my next garden task will be to pick!

-love kiki!

A month later: Happy worms, happy kitchen, happy garden! Happier Kiki!

2010-06-13T16:50:00.001-07:00

We are doing so well me and my little wigglers!

I am happy to say that my first compost harvest shows some GREAT signs!

The yield is very woody because there were lots of yardwaste-scraps in there to begin with.
There were lots of flakes of what i suspect were yam skins that had been picked completely clean.I found an avacado pit picked clean too… i would like to imagine that one day a worm will just eat right through it, but those suckers are tough, so i’m going to leave that one out and heck, maybe plant it!
There were some rather big chunks of Carrot that my roommate tossed in, and which i pulled out and chopped so they get broken down a bit more easily by the worms and their helpers

My worm bag is home to:

-Millipedes
-Centipedes
-Pill Bugs
-A few ants
-All sizes of wigglers including some new almost translucent baby wigglers (ISNT THAT COOL!!!) and some yellowey young wigglers too.-lots of mites that i can’t see but i know they

are there
-very little moldiness mostly in the mushier fruits and only if you start mucking around in there.. that’s part of the breaking down process!
-almost NO SMELL other than a kind of earthiness. Because of the bedding that covers the scraps, unless you turn it over (which you shouldn’t probably be doing anyway).

Things i have learned so far:

-Worms are my favourite pet! (sorry manny)-I don’t have that many scraps in my kitchen but it smells way better in here anyway because there isn’t much left in the trash that could rot.
-those suckers work FAST!
-The bag tends to dry out even in our humid climate so i water it whenever i need to water the yarden and its been okay.

This is what my wormbag looks like, its on drawer rollers and slides in an out. the bottom is tied and when i harvest it i let it fall out the bottom and then pick out the wormcitas!

Soon i will insulate and put a front on this bin so for the fall/winter, to keep out the cold and rain. Hooray!

There is also room enough that i can add a second bag if we outgrow the size in the fall when i start restocking the soup library and have more than our approximate 1lb of scraps per week.

I’m so glad i finally did this!

Woot Woot Vermiculture!

2010-05-21T08:14:00.001-07:00

I received my worms in the mail last week, and made a worm bag a la: Instructables using my friend kims old Polar Fleece sweater. The worms live in a wooden frame with roof that lives just outside my front door, and they are in a pull out drawer so i can easily toss in my scraps once in a while.

I saved some yard waste, leaves, sand and added to that some of my ‘sea soil’ from gardening and topped that off with shredded newspaper bedding.

Its been 3 days since the worms moved in and things seem to be going along swimmingly. They are cool, calm, and collected and next week i’m going to start adding scraps for them once they are used to their house.

This is exciting times and i feel its the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

COMPOST WORMS:
http://compostworms.ca

WORM BAG PLANS:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Worm-bin-bag-for-indoor-vermicomposting-and-easy-s/

Soon i’ll post some pictures, i promise!

May 6th dream

2010-05-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

Okay this ones a doozie.

Dream part A:

There is a body.

I beleive its my 'boss' and i'm sure he's just about dead... been hit by a truck in the road and mostly demolished but we (my 'cousin' and I) managed to get him into the van and onto he road.

The safest place to take him is the nearby church but i'm having issues going in there.

He's not making any noises which is more troubling than if he were for absolute certain.

So we go in. (Wow, that's the shortest sentence i've ever written. I'm sure of it.) Priest tries to help us but just moving him into the triage is enough to kill him. Dead.

Dream part B:

Investigation.

My 'father' is called in. And the 'wife' comes too, along with my 'brother'.

Somehow, all of this, the body, the 'boss', the death, the driving a van (for the church) and the priest are all central in my own secret psycho-drama and the priest thinks it necessary to unravel my issues to get down to the core of the crime. (its all about me.. surprise! Its my dream afterall).

My 'family' all go into the rectory and my 'father', priest and I are in the chapel, where it is suitably dark and foreboding (#8?). I end up divulging a secret ring of high calibre pornographic filmmaking taking place within the walls of the church that revolves around the sale of drugs and other black market shenanigans. I of course (being my actual self for a moment of subconsciousness) have nothing to do with the drugs but have a serious shopping addiction which has me in serious debt. the key phrase i recall is 'Buck a Part', which i must only assume means per scene...? (momma needs some new red shoes!)

In any case the 'boss' is an undesirable fellow and it seems the psycho-anlaysis of my explicit part-time work in front of my distraught 'father' in the chapel is punishment enough for (possibly?) running dude down like a distracted deer and turning his insides into stew.

Okay, but here's where it gets weird;

'Father' is super unhooked over the whole thing, and convinced that I too am involved in drugs. 'Cousin' is most certainly implicated and likely with cause, but doesn't especially care unless the police become involved (tough madonna from suddenly susan type) and my 'brother' (who i assume is younger than my 'cousin' and I) has a life threatening "air pressure" problem which entails him carrying around a big squeeze bottle (like anesthesiologists use) that is connected to a direct line to his lungs... and mostly he lets it drag on the ground behind him like a little kids blanket. Sometimes he nearly passes out because his lungs start collapsing. Things in dreams don't have to make sense.

So yeah. 'Father' is pissed, 'Wife' is distraught and confused, 'cousin' is defiant and quiet and brother is mostly untroubled but perhaps less than a top notch student. We're all sitting on the roof of the church listening to our thoughts. Next thing you know a Witch swoops in all broom-like and knocks 'father' out of dispair and into a three story fall. His head is bleeding. We all go down to rescue him but one after the other fall victim to minor injuries in the process... (giant spiral staircase made of computer breadboards) When confirming that 'priest' is on his way and 'father' will be alright i start to notice that fathers blood tastes somewhat delicious. Like gravy. It is gravy!

It seems the witch for whatever reason has seen fit to turn us into a walking buffet, while 'wife' fusses over 'brother's' air pump her hair becomes mashed potatoes, etcetera and well all end up eating big handfulls of one another for dinner. I think I had corn abs.

Please let this dream be my subconscious livin' it up and not a sign of things to come.

People turning into food scares me more than zombies. But not as much as clowns.

Fin.

April 28 dream

2010-05-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

Hi there.

so i just woke up from dreaming that i was a member of a team that was orbiting a foreign inhabited planet for observation before first contact.

It was the end of our 3 year shift and i was flying back in our little pod to earth. there was a dog on the station and his owner was super cool and thought about letting him go back with us but he didn't come through the door when it pressure locked.

most of us were sort of ragtag.

we understand the basic science and everyone has a specialty but in general we are just regular folk with a sincere interest in people and most of us were super positive which perhaps was our skill.

there were two other girls around my age on the pod with me back and it seemed like our little crew was pretty tight, we even lived together on earth in a common apartment and part of our pod talk involved who might have condoms left since we had sublet to the other rotation.

I like the visual aspect of this dream it was REALLY involved and i especially like that there were these pad sized 'post cards' (lol spellcheckker just deleted the i infront of pad) that were supposedly technology gleaned from the colony we were observing and they allowed us to make contact to our earthbased families while in faster than light travel… pretty rad no?

Also, have you seen 'moon'. best movie of 2009… in my opinion.

Also Also, don't bother watching Leviathan. Lame-i-thon.

100 things that make me happy Spring 2010:

2010-04-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

1. Peanut Butter

2. Sitting on my new Zafu

3. Freshly trimmed ends

4. Tuba Dents that i can actually reach (until i get magnets and then i'm dents unlimited)

5. North American Long Distance Calling

6. Sun Breaks!

7. Coffee, even the gross work kind.

8. The Tyee's arts section

9. Text message invitations

10. People who 'pop by' my work and brighten my day!

11. Wednesday Chats with my coworker

12. My GARDEN!!!

13. Zee, the best roadbike i've ever loved. Free, and she shifts even though the cables nearly cut right through!

14. Mclaughlin group and smoothie sundays

15. Walk/Talks with mom in the afternoon.

16. Bumping into people I know in Vancouver!

17. Pop Radio Thursdays

18. my wallet sized photo of the Harasewich Family.

19. The Brittania Centre & Pool!

20. The Pogues

21. Cheap wine from south of the border.

22. Magazines. Still, yes, i know...

23. Spray Tanner, i think dyeing my skin is still better than dying of skin cancer.

24. Legumes. I hardly eat meat anymore at all... and i'm down with that. Lentils are my fave.

25. Okay, Mole Salami from Salumi in Seattle.. MOST AWESOMENESS

26. Grandville Island Winter Ale.

27. Skype

28. Being friends with my childhood friends parents.

29. Helping people with their bags, holding doors, being kind.

30. High Fives with the print music kids.

31. The mountains! They are my neighbors.

32. Roadtrips to Seattle and Environs to visit my favourite americans!

33. Lardizabol.

34. Cookie Day!

35. When the rain chases me home on my bike and I win!

36. Thinking up new ways to use all my free time

37. Making lists

38. Nesting in my new home city

39. Checking out local bands and co-workers shows.

40. A good americano.

41. Kissin'

42. Football... you know what i mean! And the american kind, mostly the superbowl.

43. My fur earmuffs

44. Bert my workplant

45. Yamaha chrome plated conical dent roller

46. Scifi reads

47. Facebook, and the people it has brought into my life unexpectedly!

48. The luck i have finding just what i need and what i didn't know i needed.

49. my long hair!

50. being an independent woman, with lots of support.

51. Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it! and my project

52. Lapping the old folks in the swim lanes!

53. Playing my brass' (tbone/euphonium/trumpet)

54. Grey's Anatomy nights with girlfriends.

55. Dance Parties with the Maddams Family Gang

56. Seattle! I love that city.

57. Evrott HiJinks!

58. Renting a car for the weekend.

59. Sarah Brett and Jimmy!

60. Getting letters/postcards and emails from loved ones.

61. Popcorn and SoyaSauce

62. Wintersoup Library.

63. The library's selection of dvd's

64. Power Yoga once in a while

65. Blackberry Season

66. Mountain Snowboarding

67. Wes Anderson Movies.

68. Cereal Anarchy

69. My L A B E L M A K E R

70. Red Shoes

71. High Thread count Sheets

72. My rock collection

73. Starfishes! Orange, Gold, Red and Purple!

74. Ballet and modern Dance.

75. My theatre, the cultch!

76. RTC Bakery, You Complete me.

77. Orange Hand Cleaner with Pumice

78. Sleeping in!

79. Biking downhill to work.

80. Camping in the rainforest

81. Moss on EVERYTHING

82. Flip Flops.

83. My fish Manny

84. Singing to myself.

85. Freezing things.

86. RUST

87. Cephelopods, as always. (except humboldt squid, they're bitches)

88. My family. Coolest EVER.

89. Partying during the 2010 olympics, i will NEVER forget it!

90. My Crazy and Crazier Dreamscapes.

91. Babies. They're cool. Because they're people.

92. The Canucks! Inspiring me to actually enjoy hockey.

93. Barack Freaking Obama and the new left realism.

94. My soon-to-be-city bike! (Blight! Short for Blue-Lightning)

95. Slippers.

96. Accents, and boys who have them.

97. Menswear. Good Tailoring. Bowties, Neckties, Cumberbunds, Suit Jackets, Suspenders, Hats, Moustaches and snappy shoes.

98. Romance.

99. The beach, tide pools, tide flats and old men tanning.

100. Sunshine, Glorious, Beautiful Uninhibited Sunshine!

Toaster Tarts are good enough for Jazz!

2010-04-07T19:45:00.001-07:00

I like pastries… maybe too much, and i like making them too.. enough that i could happily keep this recipie in circulation and never buy a bakery version again! I know what’s in these at least. :)

They are intended to bear similarity to pop tarts or frozen strudels, and i would say that they are more like the latter.

I used the fruit compote we had left over from a dinner party as the filling but it was a little runny even after i thickened it and simmered it down for an hour or so.. so the goo was leaking out the sides as i was assembling the two halves of pastry, but once they were baked they held tight. I reccomend using your absolutely favouritist jam… My next batch will be filled with apricot&brandy jam.

Indulgence!
Oh yeah, and they keep really well in the freezer and are ready in the minute or two they take to toast, but are crispy and delicious!

SO MANY LEMONS!

2010-04-07T19:31:00.001-07:00

My roommate half-arsed the master cleanse.

I love her, but somehow she wasn’t able to sell all 30 on craigslist even for the bargain basement price of 6.75, and she wasn’t willing to cut back on her level of physical activity while cleansing. I totally get it. But its been driving me nuts to see all these lemons sitting on the table getting old. Its sort of heartbreaking.

I had an idea that what i could do is use them to make yellow snow cones to distribute during the downtown spring olympics madness here in vancouver, alas, my plans were much more complicated by the details such as lacking a snow machine.

Anyhoo, there are rather a few recipies in the JPC and i opted to make enough lemonzestvodka to make a double batch of both Limoncello liquor and Limoncrema.

I juiced all the lemons after zesting them and wound up making a lemonade sirop that i’ve frozen for the summer, I froze 6 icecubes worth in the icetray and will try making individual lemonades by adding a cube to a glass of water. its about 4TBSP of sugar to 1.5 cups of lemonjuice and seems to be about the right amount to add to a pitcher of water. :) Hooray for useful.

I will update on the progress of the liquers as they progress, pretty good work for a sunny sunday!

Yogurt Cheese is my new staple food!

2010-04-07T19:29:00.001-07:00

So easy and wonderfully rich and light at the same time.

All you gotta do is hang up some yogurt in a piece of clean jersey or a teatowel overnight and you end up with this amazing spreadable wonder. Its better for you and tangier than cream cheese on a bagel.
My current favourite is adding rosemary to it… mmm… rosemary yogurt cheese on a raisin muffin! :)

Jammin' in Vancouver!!!

2010-04-05T23:10:00.000-07:00

Kiki:
Hey blog: How do you feel about being re-directed for a while towards my newest obsession?

Blahg:
Sure! I'm game, write all over me!

K:
Cool! Well I finally bought my very own copy of 'Jam it, Pickle it Cure it!' By Karen Solomon and in so doing broke my debt repayment rule of 'NO book's until the debt's gone'... but it was a conditional rule break.

I broke the rule because: I have a plan.

B: -Oh no, not another plan!

K:
Oh yeah, I'm gonna work my way through every recipie in this book, not unlike the whole julie/julia thing... but well... cooler because this book is cooler. To me. Seriously, Curing my own bacon... SO THERE!

B:
Is that sanitary?!

K:
Well wether or not it is, i'm darn well going to do that, and the rest of the recipies/projects in this book and expand my repetoire of things even further because in life, i am the jill of all trades and master of none.. and darn proud of it!

B:
That certainly is true.

K:
Great, so you're on board! Its up to you to record my wins and losses in this particular trail of kitchen related escapades and even when its feeling tough, and as though there isn't any point in making yet another batch of homemade toaster tarts, (less salty this time) there is a magical outcome that doesn't involve a movie deal or a hug from meryl streep... although you know how much i like hugging famous people and discretely clipping a lock of their hair for DNA analysis and later genetic mapping.

B:
Ok, GO! Whats the magical culmination of this forlorn and somewhat pre-emptively self-depricating goal?

K:
I'm going to San Francisco!
Not only has Ms. Solomon Written an awesome book that is so well photographed and typeset i want to lick the pages, she's tucked away her personal secrets and scores in 'The Cheapskates Guide to San Francisco'. Wouldn't you know it, i've never been there as an adult... and i'm broke.

B:
Sounds formidable.. but surprisingly well considered.

K:
Thanks self-talking encouragement voice that i have so far called 'blog' (or Blahg in this printing)!!! Lets Get Cracking!

B:
Indeed!

Note to self:
The next few posts will be backdated to relfect their original entry on the interweb.

GO ME!

My new and deeper dreamscape

2010-01-05T04:22:00.001-08:00

It has been a few months now since the change in my body chemistry and i'm now a victim/winner of fantastically vivid dreams.
I have yet to decide how i feel about them, but i'm going to use this blog since i hardly use it for anything anymore as a dreamblog, I will record as i remember these events.

Oh, yes.
I woke up just now 3:48 or so after a dream about being a school mistress (a la jane ayre) and our funding decreased drastically, which meant closure until further notice. At this point many of the teachers i oversaw mostly young women all went out to the playground of my childhood and tried to enjoy each other (non-sexually) for the last time before going home. The atmosphere was of desperation and I apparently also dealing pot on the side took full advantage. I found myself commiserating with two young cooks at same school... brothers and hiding out in back of the cafeteria kitchen hot boxing the storage room. Unfortunately, there was a vent down into an alley and the smoke wafted out and then up into the quarters of two very young south american dudes who were acutely offended and made haste, gun in the hand of the younger one, somehow holstered so as too be kept a distance from the body. I watched horrified half way to escape out of a side door as he panicked, gun against the throat of my comrade, whose brother swept back in after evading the other south american and the two of them pulled the trigger in a struggle. Next the body of my friend although well-stoned slumped further into the box he sat on blood trickling from his fatal wound and the tables turned. His brother managed to wrestle the gun out of its strange forcefield, turn it on the south american who was no more than 16 and use it to push him out the door away from the corpse. I pleaded with him: 'They're brother's too.,Don't be hasty!'

That's pretty much the end.
Woke up shaken, not stirred with a trickle of tears and the feeling of clenched jaw.

Poolapalooza

2009-11-16T10:57:00.000-08:00

Its been a lot of years of feeling well, plump.

Its been a lot of feeling like 'i don't like to exercise' and now I think I'm getting it, because I have found my 'thing'.

There is nothing better than setting the pace in the lengths lane at the pool, even if it is an evening swim attended primarily by seniors from my hood.

I love doing this, and I absolutely love the resulting toning in my body. I am wearing all the same clothes but they just fit better now.

I wore a (cutest) little hepburnesque gingham silk top to the Gala event at the Cultch the other day. I put it on and thought; 'this has never looked right, I bulge out of it' and yet, to my surprise; It fit BEAUTIFULLY!

I relished the occasional top shelf reach because it showed off my smoother than ever tum!

Hooray for having a pool down the street! I won't go back to frumpy when fabulous is so fun!!!

Kiki

2009-07-12T23:23:00.000-07:00

A little over a year ago I was just readying myself for the thrust into a whole new life, culture and career.

A little over a year ago, I was spent at working a job that had helped me through, but become like an overbearing parent, full of weighty obligations and numbing patience as i waited to finally move on.

I loved that life I lived, the freedom i had learned to cultivate for myself there. I loved knowing every inch of that city, and still finding something new every day. I loved to be held warm and close by the friends who I loved, knew and who I trusted felt the same for me.

I leapt.

I leapt into a new kind of patience, one that required me to encourage myself and be satisfied with the possibilities that lay ahead. I reveled in the opportunity to introduce myself to the new people I met, and to myself since afterall such a change does change a person to a degree.

So in the spirit of re-introductions, and fresh steps I began to wear the nickname I never knew I wanted as my own.

I felt this springy fresh name was oppressively optimistic at times, and even unduly sexual on occasion in the context of business but somehow I wore it well, it emboldened me to a degree, and I was secretly shifting it towards a more confident and wise reading.

Kiki, rooted in my Finnish name 'Kirsi' is easier to pronounce, is sweet and memorable, is unorthodox...but who isn't, it references a new area of growth on an orchid, its Happy.

Kiki is my friend, is fantastic, is still figuring it out

Kiki lives in the Pacific Northwest and loves the green rainforests and grey riverbeds and teal lakes.

Kiki cherishes her family and all of her wonderful good friends spread all over this planet.

Kiki is helpful, a bit shy, a boisterous party animal, a sharp witted comrade, a considerate debater.

Kiki is a willing student of home cooking, musicianship, instrument repair and life in general.

Kiki is well loved, certain of her intentions if not her course of action, eloquent, and dedicated to doing good everyday.

Kiki is who I am becoming, without losing sight of my pasts, I feel like I have become a grown up these past few years, it feels good.

YAMMY BROWNIES!!!

2009-06-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

So, I am not a baker, but i am learning to be, and i especially love making things that are delicious and not especially bad for me. :)

I found this recette for sweet potato brownies in a magazine and tweaked it (as i am fond of doing) and they actually worked out GREAT! They are made like so:

Ingredients

* 1 1/3 cups dark unsweetened cocoa
* 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 cups (orange!) sweet potato baked and mashed about 2 average s.pots (remove skin)
* 2 lg eggs
* 1 Tbsp vanilla
* 1 cup of coffee (rooibos tea would totally work too)
* 2 Tbsp of olive oil or melted butter
* 1/2 cup of chocolate chips or walnuts if you want.

Directions
1A. Poke some holes in the s.pots, and bake in the oven/toaster oven for 1/2 hour or so until the skins start to look 'saggy' or there are juices dripping (put them on a pan silly!) cool, cut in half and squeeze out of the skins and mash with a fork.

1. Mix wet: coffee, vanilla, eggs and olive oil together in a bowl and add sweet potato mashup

2. Mix dry: flour, sugar, salt, BPowder and Cocoa together in a smaller bowl, add to wet mix.

3. The mixture should blend to be silky and even. If its still chunky add more coffee or water.

4. Grease a 16x8 inch cake pan and pour mixture into it, it should be gloopy and settle into a

5. Bake in a 350F oven about 20 mins or brownies appear set

6. Cool and cut

This recipe makes enough brownies to share with friends/roommates and co-workers!

They are YAMMY and fantastic, hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

BIRT is my actual life now!

2009-06-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

My certificateish and boobies

I finished my program a few weeks ago, and now have been working as a real live instrument repair technician!

I don't mind the mundane-ness of my job of late, in fact i enjoy working in all its varied forms and the more mundane the work, the more good quality 'thinking' i can do while i'm working.
Last week, my first week on the job, i processed 49 rental trumpets the great majority of them, yamaha ytr1335 and ytr2335's.

Its funny the things you notice about a model as you work your way through a cloud of them!

Me tossing the euphonium ring on the last day of school!

I am looking forward to a busy summer and a rather quick learning curve, as this august i'll be needing to make a decision about where to move/work/stay.
I'm pretty content here, especially with the lucky situation i found myself in, roomate wise. I've started spending some time to practice and learn the french horn, more specifically 'Lars' who was once 'Larry the dirty old french horn' but was my final project at school and is transformed into something playable from something that was on ebay for 10.00. I actually love that horn, and am looking forward to being much more capable of controlling him. :) Maybe one day i could play in a community band or something local to where i'm living... yep, that question of where again.Me in my rental car on the drive to Vancouver from Seattle! Hooray!
For the time being though, i'm absolutely loving my chance to explore Vancouver, to stick around the 'Northwest' for a non-humid summer and to absorb as much as i can from my colleagues, to adapt myself to the mechanics of the shop, and to make myself as efficient as possible at my job!

Water Tornado and KidsQuest Museum, in general.

2009-02-24T20:36:00.000-08:00

Last week I fixed a water tornado at the kids museum where i volunteer. The exhibit is basically a big clear acrylic cylinder with a drain in the bottom on the ‘waterworks’ table and a tube that fills the tornado with water and pushes it clockwise until the pressure from the drain focuses the flow into a tornado. Its a lot like a pop bottle tornado if you’ve seen one of those, only perpetual.
The thing about this is that when i got to the museum my friend Sarah who does maintenance with me now each monday, was already starting to disassemble it because it was draining too much and wasn’t making a very good tornado at all. We had to calibrate the system, which took a good while, and then wait for it to fill up before we could see if it was working, and then we had to re-calibrate it so that it stopped filling up and just kept going without overflow.

I love this volunteer work because its

A: Crazy what adult gets to hang out in a treehouse and fix a knot board, or rewire a shoe-sole keyboard!?

B: Its a challenge to me, not to damage anything further, and to outwit the six year olds who can systematically rip apart gorilla glue and snap apart silver brazed steel components WEEK after WEEK!!!

C: Its a regularly scheduled ‘something’ the likes of which i actually really miss in my life!

I’m like the tornado. If you follow me for a minute.
When i first got here to Seattle, i didn’t know anyone which was a heck of a shock since i had lived in toronto for fully 8 years and had created lots and lots and lots of good friends and memories and places to go for lunch where you know exactly what you’re in for, which really do make a difference.
Familiarity in general is really VERY comforting in a generally familiar sense.

So yeah, now that i’ve been here for a few months, i have been struggling to calibrate things. To fill my life up with friends and familiarity and happiness. I’ve been lonely and irresponsible and overcautious, the whole bit. Its been a real struggle but its really all worth it. It feels good to know that i have people locally to call if i want to chat, people counting on me to be there for them, and things that i am a part of out here.

(Being Chased by Robots is something that i've started to do, since moving here.)

Things were a bit overwhelming at first because everything seemed to come together all at once and i started having such a good time that the impulse to fully enjoy it was really hard to ignore. I was overflowing and have just recently had to re-calibrate.

I love it here, I love a lot of the people i have met and hope to stay friends with as many of them as is reasonable.

Things are a sort of wonderful quixotic balance now. No more sitting at the window table at restaurants by myself, not unless that’s what i want to do anyway.

I know that if/when i move again when school is over in a few months it will all go back to zero and i’ll go through that loneliness again in a new place without a Linda’s restaurant where i drank bad coffee and talked about mothers with marie, or a discovery beach littered with barnacle rocks where my cousin and i walked and got to know each other again after several years, or the magnolia bridge that i walked over and back again while discovering how totally and completely confusedly lost I was in a city i felt like i was just starting to know.

The place is another thing i’m starting to really love.
The longer i’m here and the more i do, the more things i add to my list ‘to explore’. There is so much to do outside here and i’ve only just scratched the surface. Its very much a place of parks, now that i’m not clinging so tightly to the urban-ness of the place (that reminded me of my home in toronto i guess) I think i will really miss the different kind of opportunities I have here, after i’m gone.

I am so proud of me, and have a renewed appreciation for the beautiful science of just living life.

Thanks!

MAG Part Deux

2009-01-09T07:35:00.000-08:00

I went home at christmas and brought back the copy of MAGazine that had been forwarded to my mom. Its the copy with MY ARTICLE on Lily Yung in it. :) Now i'm a doubly published national magazine contributing writer!

How cool.

Its been a lot of months since I wrote that article and I'm proud to say that i'm very proud of it, its good!

GO ME!

Metal Arts Guild MAGazine!

2008-11-08T08:26:00.000-08:00

Its been a busy month for my CV bibliography!

A few days ago i got my copy of the Fall issue of Metal Arts Guild's MAGazine in the mail, the issue that my article on Stephen Fox Clarinets is in! So exciting!!!!

A few days later i was asked to contribute another (more technical) article on Lily Yung which was a lot of fun to do because not only did i get to do more writing for a professional-type organization of my peers, but i learned lots of stuff as well... particularly about 'rapid prototype technology'. Look out for that one in the winter issue of MAGazine.

P.S. I couldn't have done it without my LOVELY and mildly threatening editor and best friend Maegan. :) Thanks babe!

Anyhoo, i'm proud of my little article, its on newsstands now!

Halloween Haggle

2008-10-25T17:22:00.000-07:00

This time of year is often made easier for me by my friend Shilo's tendency to have a themed halloween/birthday party, thus narrowing down my options for costume choices each year and taming my unruly thought process.

This year, alas... I'm going it alone, despite trying to enlist new friends here in renton to agree on a group of costumes I was once again stranded on an island of uncertainty.

UNTIL!:

I found the best website for halloween costume ideas at

http://costumeideazone.com

Its awesome.

There are so many clever and classy ideas for costumes that all i need to do now is narrow down my favourites. I have T-minus one week to make this happen and i'm very excited to go to the city with the girls and check out the Fremont parade and go samba dancing by the Troll. :)

Happy haunting everyone! (I'll add pictures of our first seattle halloween after the big day!).

POST HALLOWEEN UPDATE!:

For my costume I wore: GRAPES and Wrathy type things like devil horns and a mask made of purple glitter and had a 'wrath stick' with grape leaves all over it. :) Duh, i was GRAPES OF WRATH!

We had an AWESOME time and ROBOT (Marie) stole the show.. litterally! She jumped on stage at one point during the narrative performance at the Troll Birthday Party and cut in on the two main characters dancing together after the crowd chanted 'robot' 'robot' 'robot'. What a hit!

It was FUN WITH ROBOT night, and we even scored a free organic pumpkin from a guy at the supermarket who thought we were hilarious!

Mary Poppin's went looking for two children among the crowd with the help of a british tommy and his friend 'guy from the amazing race'.

ALSO: I SAW TRON!

IT WAS AWESOME!

Sorry, i didn't get a picture but i did get a really limp high five. That guy probably worked for Microsoft. I love living in a town full of geeks!

After the parade and aerobic's (hen we wandered the festive streets of Fremont and found among other things, my counterpart of the night 'Deviled Eggs' and Mary Poppin's got some facetime with Sarah Palin on the way back to the car!

So Much Fun!

My secret is purple!

2008-10-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

In the last year i have started to seriously accumulate a life full of the colour PURPLE.

It has become VERY apparent recently when without realizing it I ordered 3 things from Zappos.com in the very same colour.

Things that are purple:

Eyeglasses

Sneakers

Striped cardigan

toque

polka dot pj pants

watch

binder

Sparkle Eyeshadow

ball point pens

shoulderbag

So whats is it about colour that attracts? Perhaps in this case it was a subconscious shift. Purple traditionally signifies power and royalty, maybe its a nod to my ineffable confidence of late? Wiki also says that Hendrix favourite colour was Psychadelic purple... maybe the fact that i go to school across the street form his gravesite is having an effect: or more possibly, that i'm drinking beer with musicians that we aquire from the Chevron across the street from Hendrix's grave! :)

Anyway.

I'm proud to tell ya: I LOVE PURPLE. Its my new power colour.

Green didn't even see it coming.

P.S. I'm listening to Gogol's 'Start Wearing Purple' right now!

MAGAZINE HEAVEN!!!!

2008-09-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

I love living in the u.s. right at this moment.

I just spent 40.00 and am now subscribed to:

GQ,

(Yup, that's the pic of Judd Apatow (and crew) for GQ man of the year)

Marie Claire

AND Domino

(DELICIOUS DELICIOUS HOME DEC!)

... Ahh... Thats 34 Magazines at just 1.25/magazine!!!!

I feel all powerful right now.

Magazines are my eye candy, my inspiration and my FAVOURITE distraction from reality, and right now, the reality is that i'm BROKE. Instead of taking the plunge and going 'window shopping' because it always ends up hurting my wallet, i will have to stay home on my free days just to be able to get through the stack of magazine articles that await me.

I am so excited to live vicariously through the glossy images of other peoples fantastic lives/homes/boyfriends. Okay, that sounds lame, but its true.

My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Yay Yay Yay!!!

Repair s'COOL!!!

2008-09-07T08:45:00.000-07:00

BIRT stands for Band Instrument Repair Technician, and that is what i am going to be!

I have been putting this off for a few years to make sure that its what i want to do.

I came out here to Renton, WA (15 minutes south of Seattle) last june to check out the area and meet Darryl Hickman the instructor of Renton Technical College's program.

Now that i'm finally here, and it feels so RIGHT.

This week has been primarily introductory, lots about the syllabus, safety and info about the industry. We are the number 1 program right now (out of four in north america) and Darryl is the president of the NAPBIRT association which is pretty helpful come december when we start looking for jobs.

The other day Darryl was explaining some of the components of the tuba and then fully hauled off and THREW IT INTO THE FLOOR!!!! He was like: 'It used to be hard for me to wreck instruments so that you guys could fix them... now its kind of FUN!!!'

Dude.

I'm pumped for some dent removal, and some serious brazing and re-padding challenges. The one thing that i'm sort of wary of is of re-learning to play. We have play-tests on 5 instruments: Clarinet, Trumpet, Trombone, Alto Sax and Flute.

I went and got all my mouthpieces/reeds yesterday and have started to re-learn on the Clarinet that i dis and re-assembled in fridays class.

One thing that is an unofficial part of the curricula is to go out and get involved in the music community. I'd like to build some competency and play with the community band in Ballard if i can, but a bunch of the guys are already starting up plans for gig's and that.

We went out friday night and hung out at a jazz show as a group... its cool how diverse our backgrounds all are (musicians/anthropologists/metalsmiths/music teachers/tinkerers) and its good to know that we have people who play the playtesting instruments as their primary instruments because i'll know who to ask for help!

Monday my half of the class is starting with brasswind and chem-cleaning.

We have a whole new instructor named Dan and our classes will rotate back and forth to do woodwind with him after 3 weeks.

I just ordered a stopwatch so that i can time myself, speed is a big advantage in this industry and I'm going to do my best. In nine months, I hope to be on top of the pile!

Can't wait for monday!

Wrapperoo!!!

2008-08-14T06:26:00.000-07:00

A multi-amazing dress...

Always one for the mutli-functional solution, i decided that i could use a new addition to the wardrobe that is comfy and doubles/triples the practical space it takes up in my suitcase.

This is it!

Its the wrapperoo...

Can be worn in oh, so many ways!

Or as a long fall skirt!

Or as a suspender top dress with a t-shirt!

I'm so happy with how this turned out, i think the next one i make will be reversable:)

DOGS?: Bully me why don't you?

2008-07-31T19:04:00.000-07:00

I tried the whole 'pet thing' with Squishy Ristimaki my late and terminally depressed beta fish and despite this particular 'flop', i'm not discouraged.

I think i would like to be a dog person. Again.

I would like some responsibility in my life and 'dog responsibility' suits me fine. I miss it in fact. Used to have both an Irish Setter and a Golden Retriever in my younger days.

I know that right now, i'm excited for the new and different in my upcoming move and the school that is taking me there... but i also know 'me'.

I am going to put this down in writing:

When i'm done school, and can move to a job that will hopefully hold the promise of a few years consistent work to pay off student loans which i'm about to accumulate, i would VERY MUCH like to have a real companion to keep my company through the whole 'working for a living' process until i can start thinking about having time for a creative career again, or working towards being a business owner, or towards getting an MFA or other Post Grad Degree.

I have always fancied a Pot-Bellied Pig,

but i am also seriously considering dogs, and some of the breeds i'm thinking are:

Great Dane

English Bulldog

French Bulldog

or a mutt of some kind, i'm most likely to adopt a dog but in the meantime, i'll dream shall I!?!

Is it true that the dogs people choose reflect somewhat their 'look'? If so, um, I look forward to a lazy, emotionally demanding, shorthaired, and sleepy eyed lifestyle!

Sounds kind of good really.

They came, They Cuccumbed, They went!

2008-07-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

I had such a great time last night.

I had been planning to have a 'come have a drink on me, and leave with something that i don't then need to throw out/donate' cocktail party, and last night was the night.

It was wonderful to be surrounded by great people, and to munch on good foods and drink up, in my OWN HOME!

Here's the recepie of the spotlight cocktail of the evening; The CUCCUMBER FIZZ

Infuse Gin, preferably Hendricks in a jar with a whole peeled Cuke, cut into peices and leave to muddle for at least 3 hours.

Strain back into the bottle.

Fill a glass with ice.

Add juice of one half of a lime.

2 squeezed/chopped mint leaves

One part Cuccumber Gin

One part Tonic

Garnish with a Cuccumber spear

Mmm... My new favourite summer drink!

Like a duck

2008-07-17T06:11:00.000-07:00

Michael Caine once said:

Be like a duck. Calm on the Surface but always paddling like the dickens underneath.

What I have NOT been able to do lately is to stay calm.

I had an interesting discussion last night with a friend and it lead me to the realization that the pattern of switching tasks often is something that i have inherited from my job.

Luckily i will be leaving that job soon, but in the meantime, i am tired of feeling 'panic-y' and 'anxious' and 'scattered' all the time. I'm the kind of person who moves through the world oblivious to immediate realities because i'm often thinking on two tracks. I get around on auto pilot and think myself to distraction.

Key loser

Push door puller

muffin burner

I have a new trick to help stay focused and retrain my brain to focus more clearly on the present.

Its called 'NOTEPAD'

It goes like this:

-Do stuff (a task)

-When you inevitably get distracted, stop yourself

-Don't change course, just write down the thought that came to mind on a NOTEPAD and let the idea drift away

-When you've completed the task at hand look to NOTEPAD to find your next task

-Now begin resolving the most important task first.

-Repeat as symptoms of distraction arise

I'm seriously considering the hipster pda as my format for NOTEPAD.

I especially like that the binder clip that holds the assembly together will also be helpful in clipping the thing to my pocket so that it doesn't slide out when i'm riding my bicycle.

Oh, how hipster i have become.

Ahh.... Its a difficult job, but someone has to reprogram me, and it might as well be me.

Also, when i wrote 'like a duck' i sang it to the chevy truck 'like a rock' jingle.

Toronto Vs. Nagoya Artfight at the Nagoya Arts festival

2008-06-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

So about a month ago, i was on the phone with the poison control peeps looking for confirmation that i hadn't absorbed an unhealthy amount of wintergreen oil (which i had to sign for at the pharmacy) by doing the photo transfers for this call for entry.

It was a very hair-raising learning curve but mostly it was fun.

I watched the first two Rambo movies whilst embroidering explosions on pictures of a 'dream home' and 'fantasy castle' in this 'FAIRY TALE ENDINGS' series.

It was one of those opportunities that comes up to challenge yourself to make something spontaneous and capturing where you are at that one particular moment.

I'm glad that i did it, but it isn't my proudest achievement.

Also, i named my stapler 'RAMBO' as a result of this weekend.

Weight Control

2008-06-04T19:01:00.000-07:00

This is the scene of my wednesday night reality check.

I've been 'thinking light' for the past well... i won't say how many months but i can tell you this; i've got wardrobe compaction, down to a science!!!!

Tonight i tried to squeeze all my sweet and wonderful favourites/staples into the suitcase i plan to take with me to seattle.

I will be flying internationally and therefore i can bring with me two bags each weighing under 50 lbs.

It turns out that that won't be as difficult as i expected.

All of my careful and perhaps neurotic planning is going to good use and i will arrive, well dressed, and comfortably within the 'average weight for my economy class flying self. I'm going to make a master manifest tonite of what i am bringing. It will make the non-test run of packing a breeze.

I'm just going to say it, I'm very proud of my ingenuity.

This truly feels like a TRIUMPH!

Also... I'm going to be the one woman force bringing back SHOE CLIPS!!!

You heard it here first.

How else will one pair of grey shoes go with silver/gold/navy AND black!!!!

Journals

2008-06-01T06:36:00.000-07:00

Journaling is so much more than recording details, or keeping track of the order of events. (I have Ical for that!)

While waiting for the shipment of my favourite journals (GALISON, Write On! style) I have just had a week of 'GASP' not journalling. Yesterday I even considered NOT journalling anymore at all because it wasn't really that difficult, but why would I DO such a thing!

Never have I been more aware of how important that process has been in my life.

I guess, looking back, that i have always kept a journal of some kind. I think it started when i was a preteen, just after my parents divorce and just in time to start recording my outlandish first dealings with boyfriends and the women they drive crazy!

I've gone through some phases to be sure, college years were less journal, more 'little black book of to do lists'. I actually managed to keep it all in one journal for my thesis year of university, and since graduation, i've been using the Galison's to keep in touch with myself. To spur myself forward and really think out my wants/needs/goals.

I love journaling, I love that element of twenty/twenty hindsight that comes with being blatantly honest with yourself, and putting it in writing.

These are more than JUST journals, these are love letters to myself.

Instead of calling an end to this love affair, we're going to some couples therapy, me and my journal are going to be adventurous, try new things: Mindmapping, ToDoList Inclusions, Sketches, Poetry, wherever my mind and body lead me!

new CALLING CARDS

2008-05-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

Tomorow is the gallery opening for a show i'm involved in.

Every time i put work into a show i think to myself... you should have a business/contact card like all the other professionals here so people ca

n contact you if they would like to... or so they can see what a great artist you are in other media.

So,

I've been hulling and cutting 'header cards' from work for a week or two in preparation becasue i don't beleive in buying something you can reclaim. They're cute and have a hole in them already in case i need to hang them from a cup hook or tie them onto a gift box. Then, last week i took my expert artist freind to get a three line self inking stamp from business depot, and tonite while

watching the top model finale, (YAY WHITNEY!) i cut out the stamp for the back side of my new cards.

Tonite, i printed them, so that they will be dry and beautiful for tomorow's opening and i'm very impressed... Things like this don't usually work the FIRST time, but i guess after years of buggering up and putting a word/all the letters in reverse i've somehow LEARNED to do a good job. Who knew!

What i've been up to lately:

2008-05-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

Come check out the 'BEND/FOLD/MANIPULATE' exhibition online, or to the opening next thursday evening between 6:30 and 9:30. The work will be on display at A.C.A. Gallery at 183 Queen Street East Wednesdays through Saturdays from May 14th to May 28th, 2008.

My work in this show is entitled 'Inhale';

The concepts of 'nature' and 'humanity' are perhaps nowhere more closely intertwined than in medical technologies. We use machines and drug that seem so far removed from the natural world, yet these are often made from natural substances. 'Inhale' begins with oxygen masks, parts of machines used for breathing and administering anesthesia. In this way they preserve the most natural, animal parts of us: beating hearts and breathing lungs. The local wildflowers that adorn this series (Purple Cone Flower, New England Aster and Butterfly Milkweed) each contribute to the health of the environment here in Ontario. They provide shelter and nourishment to insect pollinators necessary for maintenance of biodiversity in the broader environmental context.

With each breath, as with each of our decisions we contribute change to our surroundings. As we re-think the cultural logic of our place in the world let us consider what it is we are exhaling.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm really proud to be a part of this show, and to be on my way to becoming a 'for real' artist. It feels good because i'll just make stuff anyway.

http://www.bendfoldmanipulate_for_peace.cachelan.com

100 things that make me happy Spring 2008

2008-04-19T04:40:00.000-07:00

1. Bouffantes

2. Listening to people speaking Finn (and not understanding)

3. Falling asleep peacefully

4. Under dressing for the Ballet/Symphony

5. Over dressing for a house party.

6. A clean, Gin and Tonic with lime.

7. Sneakers, No socks.

8. Getting my eyebrows waxed.

9. Pepe's from the Scandinavian Bakery, Sudbury ON.

10. The colour 'French Ivory'.

11. Bee's and Beekeeping.

12. Family Get-togethers.

13. Long frank talks with mom.

14. Coffee; Dark Roast, Black, Body Temperature.

15. Street Vendor Okonomiyaki

16. A night of dancing like a fool.

17. Earpops...

18. Tupperware collapseables.

19. Pineapple.

20. The Drew Carrey Show.

21. Vanilla, YUM!

22. Ronnie Burkett

23. Neices and Nephews, freeze tag and vaccum kisses.

24. Short stories

25. Remembering only the best parts of high school.

26. Mass Transit.

27. Growing up a small town girl.

28. Juggling. (even though i'm mediocre)

29. Thrift Shopping.

30. Multi-functional Design.

31. Soup

32. Toddlers that aren't mine.

33. Permaculture

34. Chatting with my best girl friends.

35. Designing and making stuff.

36. Being GOOD at what i do.

37. Kitchen dancin'

38. Pundits (esp. McLaugchlin Group Sundays)

39. Mindless Video Games ie: tetris/poppit

40. Traveling Alone.

41. Journalling.

42. The luxury of staying in.

43. Waking up in friendly arms.

44. Singing

45. Riding my bicycle... Wheezie!!!

46. Learning ALWAYS

47. Taking Compliments Gracefully

48. The excitement of meeting new people.

49. Cutting to the chase.

50. Curly Hair

51. Toronto Island Summers

52. Science Fiction (enders game, Baxter, Mary Doria-Russel!, Ronald Moore)

53. Driving with dad, while he tells me stories

54. Flying solo at the movies.

55. Non-fiction interest writers

56. Uniforms, and systemization

57. Being Early.

58. Going on adventures whilst 'waiting' for people/events.

59. Alchemy

60. Brit-pubs and football...(soccer), liverpool, arsenal, tfc, france (international league).

61. Rob Brezney's Horoscopes.

62. John Steinbeck

63. The guy who plays guitar downstairs

64. Long walks, to a distant destination with no time pressure.

65. Re-visiting old poems of mine... old selves.

66. My home.

67. Warm bath + Cool glass of water.

68. Funny Laughers

69.Spicy Dark Chocolate

70. *HUGS*

71. Japan, i love it there... i would/might move there, it just feels good.

72. Crushing/Flirting

73. Snowboarding

74. Folk Festivals

75.TRUMPET

76. Silversmithing

77. Sing alongs

78. Swimming in a lake/river.

79. St. Johnsbury Vermont in Early March.

80. Radial Imagery

81. Quinoa (SPIRALS!!!!)

82. My Kenmore Sewing Machine.

83. Symmetry.

84. Alexander Calder and tinker's at large.

85. Tea in bed.

86. Danish Modern Furniture

87. Michael Caine Movies

88. Cedar Trees

89. Sauna

90. Sound Art.

91. Fine Art that means it

92. Rich Nutty Amber Beers

93. Singer Songwriters

94. Being a student and appealing to experts in my search for breadth and knowledge.

95. The Zissou

96. Being a mentor and setting positive examples by living my ideal life

97. Bookstores on sundays

98. Cooking for people i love.

99. Waking up to crisp bright mornings while on trail or canoe trips

100. Me. I'm my own best friend/enemy/critic/lover.

ahh... i love BOBBINS!

2008-04-08T17:22:00.000-07:00

Ok..

So i've been having issues with my sewing machine and i realized its probably because i've never ONCE cleaned it in all the seven years i've used it, and its well used!

So today i hoped to clean it and have that fix my crappy tension problem.

no dice.

The tension wasn't fixed so i fuddled and muddled and surfed for information on the webbernet.

Turns out that there is a little tiny screw on the bobbin case to set the bobbin tension!

Note to self:

1. Clean your machine more often, and show it you care!

2. If this ever happens again, check the bobbin case tension screw!

now i'm gonna go and sew my brains out!

Le Tarte Tatin

2008-04-04T22:40:00.000-07:00

Mmm.... I think this is more of a fall dish, but someone i know is dying to make the perfect one, and on the implication that his recette is a bit salle, here goes:

Pastry:

In a bowl:

-1 cup of flour

-1/3 cup of chilled, chopped, unsalted butter.

Rub together with your fingers until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs..

(think: 'tuppin's tuppin's' , i like to sing that song while i do it which i think helps)

Now add:

-1 1/2 Tbsp of Sugar

Mix

Using a round blade cut the mixture while adding in:

-2 Lg. Egg Yolks (or one whole egg if you just don't give a yolk)

When the ingredients come together into a ball, knead on a floured surface until its all well blended.

Then wrap it up in some plastic and put it in the frigo to chill for a half hour while you chop apples.

Filling:

-5 reasonable apples

Core, peel and quarter the apples. (or sixth them, i like sixthing)

(these will bake down quite a bit so if it looks like too much for your skillet, don't fret.)

Make the glaze:

Use a skillet you can bake in (i like cast iron) but enamel works too, or at worst do this in a frying pan and transfer it to a pie pan after...

-3 TBSP of unsalted butter

-1/2 cup of sugar

Mingle over medium heat until it gets to be syrup-ish, just swish it, no stirring. and if it starts to smoke remove from the heat and start again.

Combine:

Arrange the apples in the skillet and turn off the burner.

Fire up the oven to 400 degrees (farenheit)

When the dough is g'done chilling, roll it out a bit bigger than the pan/skillet you're baking in and lay the dough over the apples tucking in the edges gingerly.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes,

Reudce heat to 250 degrees

Bake some more for another 20 minutes.

Removed when slightly browned

Turn out of skillet on to heat resistant plate and cool before eating.

After removing it from the oven, loosen the pastry from the edges of the pan by skimming arround it with a tool of your choice, then overturn the tarte onto a heat resistant plate and remove the skillet.

Voila!

I like to add ginger to this, because i like to add ginger to most things... but secret surprise option, try adding in finely chopped candied ginger pieces to the tarte crust... its unexpected and cuts down the sting of the ginger.

I'll have to make an other one soon so i can post up a pikture!

Lappi-slug!!!!

2008-03-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

YAY!

I'm loving my new home-made laptop tote/sleeve.

I used some iron-on vinyl to protect the wicked vintage fabric from the elements.

I lined it with hi-dense foam shipping leaves punked from work.

Its got a pocket on the side that holds either my notebook or the power block.

Next, i'm gonna make the 'KIRSI CASE'

The ultimate multifunctional briefcase/purse/fold-over shoulderbag.... now, WHAT COLOUR SHOULD A BAG THAT DOES EVERYTHING BE????

Mmmm.... LUNCH!

2008-03-14T05:28:00.001-07:00

My Soup Library

03/14/2008

There is nothing like a freezer stocked full of frozen soup ready to defrost en-route to lunch. :)

some of the soups pictured:

Smokey Split Pea

Beet Torrent

Leek+Potato=Love

Carrot-ginger stew

Coconut Chili

Squash that Apple

Garlic/Ginger/Feel better soba

My log has something to say to you....

2008-03-07T21:08:00.001-08:00

It says.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIRSI!!!! YOU'RE 25!!!

(now don't screw it up!)

"Footed Pot" ....my ass!

2008-02-26T16:16:00.000-08:00

ART/CRAFT

THE subject of contention for a bunch of my friends who are craft.. lovers and makers.

Last week i found a book called: 'Crafts Canada The useful arts' (1974).

Its full of local hero's like Lois Betbridge-Etherington (silversmithing queen) and even Andrew goss (i love his NEW work in concrete).

Using a few of the most interesting pictures from my find, i intend to demonstrate how I see as the phases in what many view as contradictory terms and why i feel like they are all components of a healthy career as a 'craftsperson'. To me classification is made easy if you view it all from the p.o.v. of "intention".

Footed pot by Bailey Leslie, Toronto. (NICE well made bong... no?)

A. Craft to me is about the end user. Craft is something that is made to be functional by a skilled craftsperson who has thoroughly considered all aspects of the design before beginning work. To me this could include industrially produced objects where the designer really cared about the object, its use, storage, durability, aesthetics, and life span. Something that is well crafted is essentially a pleasure to use.

Tie-Dye, Eric Nyros. I love this work, i've never seen tie-dye executed like this, its beautiful no?! Reminds me of being in the back country, if you look closely its all tree's and marshlands!

B. Art is about the concept or impulse of an artist. Art is the implementation of an artists skills in successfully conveying their personal vision.

'Fibre Sculpture' by Hilde Shreier, Ottawa. This is interesting because it attempts to re-interpret textile techniques into a new form, but who wants that in thier house, really? I sometimes wish we could just write off craft from the seventies as what it was, experimental.

C. Production is anything else, continuing work in a series after the inspiration fades, making things because you know they sell, experimenting with new techniques unsuccessfully etc. This is essential to a makers process too, because well... sometimes its good to make some cash doing what you love, and sometimes you just need to burn out before you can start again, all the while improving on skills.

To me all of these elements are viable and important aspects of the career of a craftsperson. I consider myself an artist and a maker and i'm getting better at moving through the phases of this cycle without questioning my own motives and goals all the time.

If you can find answers to the 'why' of material arts, it is easy to characterize where it sits on the horizon of the 'Art vs. Craft' debate.

Booyah.

HOODWINK

2008-02-22T20:55:00.000-08:00

Hoodwink is a new hat i JUST finished but have been thinking about for a while. Its sort of a maiden hat, but reminds me of Finnish Christmas elves. It has earflaps to keep lobes warm and an elastic back strap so that you can wear it with your hair tied back. I am really excited about finally making this pattern and putting it together as it is something i've been thinking about for a while... a little nervous about the reception it will get the next few days though... maybe its over the top 'pointy'.

This hat kind of has a story too... i designed it because i cut a fringe of bangs in front which was supposed to help me stop tying my hair back all the time but i still do... I like the fringe and i think i look cute and chipmunky with it... but when i wear a regular toque i look like a roadkill chipmunk.

So yeah, when I become a style icon in the future (accidentally of course, who.. moi??)

this may be one of the objects that led to my greatness... all credit due to vanity!

Look for it on the Oscar's red carpet this weekend...

Hope everyone likes it as much as i do.

If you want to protect it, WRAP IT UP!!!

2008-02-02T05:47:00.000-08:00

That was my grade eight teacher's favourite saying... i wonder how she really meant it back then, but nevertheless it bears relevance!

I love these Furoshiki wraps.... the traditional japanese way to carry parcels... usually in a square of cotton/silk. YEAH! i wish i could get my groceries wrapped up like this, but alas... i'll just have to save these instructions (from the japanese ministry of the environment) for wrapping presents.

One more way to get rid of left over fabrics!

So for a while now i've been wanting to make something for myself... and i NEEDED an apron, so i got on a kick last night.

This one is for the kitchen!

Its modeled on the apron i scrounged from my grandmothers house, an apron my mom thinks she made back in finland in the early sixties for a school project!

This one is for Metalwork and other messy non-food things..

Its got a big pocket on the front, its flowery and sort of country which is a nice contrast to using hardcore rotary tools.... its also got a square neck sort of a fifties touch. I love this one, and i love that i can now get to some of my grinding projects and stay crud-free!

Oh, and i put grommets in the bottom corners to allow me to hook it onto cup hooks under my table and catch all the metalbits for recasting.

BIG SMILE!

Toronto sings to me!

2008-01-23T05:50:00.000-08:00

For years, 6 to be precise... the chimes of the toronto transit system have lulled me into a happy little song that i have happily hummed as i exit into the cool breezes of the city.

Only this week did i give it anymore thought... I read someone elses musing on the little three tone chime (apparently they use the same one in chicago on the people mover) and it got me thinking... WHAT IS THAT SONG>????

(dude, this 'sax shaped trumpet is awesome don't you think!)

So, i scanned and scanned through trumpet voluntaries, sonatas, the whole lot knowing that trumpets must be key (this is my brain after all!!!)

Finally i found it:

Vivaldi, Concerto for two trumpets, C Major, R537.

The three 'chime' notes are the falling A minor Chord.

That's the central chord in the concerto and my adorable little mind just extrapolates from there.

Cool eh?

P.s. When i do stuff its usually for some strange mini-reason... maybe this means i'm destined for chicago!?!?

Mixed emmotions

2008-01-18T20:42:00.000-08:00

My mummu passed away last week (wednesday) and i went up there to be with family over the weekend.

Being in the sault, (st. Marie) was refreshing in a lot of ways i hadn't expected. I helped to sort through some of mummu's things in her apartment in the retirement residence and found out how many quirky little 'likes' we have in common.

I brought back some momento's of her life, she loved bright colours and bold patterns. Here's a picture:

One of the things i found was a book of knitting patterns for mittens... they are so detailed that i'm thinking of translating them into 'blackwork' patterns and maybe using them to embroider a new piece.

Oh, and theres a rosebowl that i'm going to use to house a new pet golfish. its about time i had some company in my little apartment. I think i'll name it 'Ristimakki' her maiden name.

To Mummu, who was always pleasent and slyly funny, who stashed EVERYTHING sentimental away, who knew exactly what she liked and went with it, who always had her hands busy (usually knitting but also crocheting lace), who was my mothers mother.

Everyone told me how 'un-finnish' i looked when i was up there.

Now i have to go to finland... to unravel this mysterious part of my family history. To know what it means to be 5o% Finn.

Apple Pie Muffins!

2008-01-16T19:49:00.000-08:00

OH YEAH!

I made two pans of these tonight and could've made one whole pie, but i love the convenience factor of these awesome treats.

I'm gonna freeze them. Its a good week when my biggest problem is that i'm running out of room in the fridge.

Here's the recipie

Preheat the oven to 350' f

Mix in a bowl:

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1/3 cup butter (melted)

2 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup of orange juice or water

cinnamon to taste (I like 1/2 tsp)

2 cups of diced apples (you could substitute pears, strawberries, plums or other dense fruit)

later you'll need

1/2 cup of rolled oats

-Pour the mixture into greased muffin tins or into a pie pan for a 'crustless pie'

-shake on rolled oats for crispy topping

-bake for approximately 45 minutes or until browned

Let these little sucka's cool. and then dig ins!

They're a succulent mix of chewy and crisp with tender fruity insides.

Hope you like them!

MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS!

2008-01-02T17:45:00.000-08:00

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

This magical top hat (as modeled by my freindly 'vasehead') made one five year old boy pretty darn happy!

I'm so pleased to have 'gotten' him. He wore it to the grocery store and all through the performance of 'dirty dancing live' that we went to after our christmas lunch. :)

I'm exhausted now, and my studio is a MESS.... but i think there's something to this toys thing. I think i'm going to do some more prototyping and see if i can get it together to apply for the 'toronto outdoor art exhibition'.. i've got things up my sleeve.

Also, i think the reception that my very generic and maybe overly simple 'fleurs' was good enought to encourage some real design r&d. I'd like to get a batch of them out into a store someplace for a valentines day gift launch.... and then continue producing them into the spring season.

Ok... for now, i take a bath and stay away from the studio for at least a week!

HOLA! HOLIDAYS!

2007-12-30T00:47:00.000-08:00

Pulla, tutu and magic top hat... all at once! no i wasn't wearing this while baking.. although the sewing/baking did happen simultaneously!

All in good time!

Today was a fabulous day of making/working/playing!

I just got back from dancing the night away but after work and before going out to party, i:

-made 3 loaves of pulla

-finished the magic pop-top hat for my nephew

-made a fairy tutu for my neice

What a crazy busy, awesomely productive time...

now hopefully i don't crash at an in-opportune moment tomorow during family christmas!

I'll post pictures once i get back from new years'ing with my family in barrie.

zzzaaaaaaa

2007-12-23T08:18:00.000-08:00

Tonight i homemade pizza... delish

Here's my favourite 'Yeast free' crust... its like an easy ass thin crust!

2 c. Flour

1 tsp. Salt

2 tsp. Baking powder

2/3 c. water

Mix together in a bowl until it gathers into a ball.

Knead on a floured surface until workable and spreadable.. 2 minutes ish.

Put on pizza pan, i use a stone but whatever is good for you. Spread oil on crust.

1/4 vegetable oil

(helps keep tomato sauce from absorbing into the crust)

Add yummy toppings

Bake at 425 f. for 20 minutes.

Fleurs D'a Fare

2007-12-20T11:51:00.000-08:00

A long schemed project of mine is finally filing my apartment and my heart with the happiness of success!

I've just finished stenciling and cutting out all the 'fleurs D'a Fare' for the holidays... and as prototypes for something i might try to sell to some shops arround..

They are waxed fabric flowers that you we

ar as a lappel pin, and they fold up to hold fifty cents for a phone call or a transit token... hence the name.

I am in love with them... and i know tha

t the first incarnation will be great as gifts and will help me work out the kinks... i'm going to draw instructions that i can

photocopy and include with them... and i still need to make pinbacks for them.

(This is me in my p.j.'s, behind me hangs the freshly stenciled cottons drying before waxing.)

Anyhoo, happy to be getting on with

christmas making.

Pulla 2: Electric Boogaloo

2007-12-19T17:49:00.000-08:00

Eh, Yo,... so i tried making GLUTEN FREE Pulla last night and well, i learned a lot.

No sequel is ever as exciting so i'll keep this short...

-I used KAMUT flour which you really need to knead better because it is a funny consistency.

-I used about 1tsp of Xanthum Gum per cup of flour which helped make the dough feel light even though it didn't want to be.

Two things happened aside from the projected 'dryness' that is a component of gluten-free breads.

#1: The dough rose really well before baking, but didn't seam together like the wheat bread and thus, my attempt at a braided loaf turned into a mess of three very thin peices trying to act as one but really not sticking at all.

#2: The bread tastes much better than it looks, but could use more 'sweet' to cancel out the 'nutty' taste of the Kamut. Man am i ever glad i put raisins in or i would just pitch this loaf altogether.

NEXT TIME:

-Use 1/4 cup more sugar for the recipie

-Only let the dough rise once for about 1hour and 15min's before baking.

-Skip the 'braiding' and make a loaf or 'pukkopulla-muffins' instead. Less crust=more fluffy!

GRABSAC's!!!!

2007-12-16T07:11:00.000-08:00

I have been pondering the design of reusable bags for some months now. I use them almost every day... at least twice a week when picking up food and other fun stuff at the shops on my street.

I have one 'reisenthal' bag, which is large enough for a whole trip and hangs nicely from my shoulder but has a silly little pouch that you're supposed to use to carry it in which is useless.

I started planning my pattern, wanting to make the most economy of the material i had, and intending to include an inside pocket that, like those on a k-way jacket would also serve as a little built in 'pocket-ita' to store the bag while it isn't being used.

I think i've got it down now, after several failed attempts.

I'm just trying to decide what to print on the bags... something kind of fun and or witty would be great... but failing that, just something pretty would do.

I'm off to google quotes about sustainability.

I think my fall back will be 'Hold Me'

I'll be giving these as christmas presents this year... and as with the Fleurs D'a Fare, intend to use the feedback about them as fodder to perhaps start making them to sell in some of the shops arround town.

Happy to be 'in production'!

This is the final design folded up into the inside pocket its about 5" square. :)

Hoorah Hanukkah

2007-12-07T21:51:00.000-08:00

More than anything... this has been the marking of a deadline for one of my personal projects, my stepmother is jewish and i've been planning to make the table runners she requested last year for her hanukkah/christmas present this year.

Its almost one in the morning and i'm glad to be finished.

In the spirit of burning midnight oil, i'm also glad to have learned WHAT TENSION IS FOR on my sewing machine.

Note to self: Lower number = less dense/resistant materials!

I'll see if i can get a picture of them on her table and post that later on... for now i'd rather not look at any more blue silk for a while.

P.S. I think i'm a sucker because i made a storage/gift bag too...

Ok. Sleepytime.

(two days later, my father phoned to say... 'we love them', i asked him to send me a photo by email so i'll post it when/if that happens. either way, i'm glad to have done it!

I'm a Card...

2007-12-04T21:11:00.001-08:00

Its funny all of a sudden to feel like 'I'm an adult and so should act like one!' I'll be sending christmas cards this year, and will try to write in them too... What a great way to check in and let people know that you think of them! I'm actually excited!

I printed sixty christmas cards on sunday... it was fun, and i hung them all along the walls of the living room like a garland!

They're a lino engraving of my bike (wheezie) with a wreath on the basket in front of my building.... SO ME RIGHT NOW!

I got the idea from my mom 'a picture of that would make a great holiday card!'.

Now all i have to do is write stuff in them and send them out, i'm accumulating addresses as we speak!

I'm off to warm up my gold and silver ink pens!!!

P-tainstuff... and pommanders.

2007-11-22T17:58:00.000-08:00

PROBLEM:
I'm a messy messy girl... i stand to close to the stove when i'm frying bacon, i rip tiny holes in sleeves, i destroy cuffs and collars so that otherwise simple, wearable shirts become near-rags.

SOLUTION!:
Active surplus has fabric paints on sale for 1.00 each! and i've got some silk paint sitting arround waiting for a call to action... Paint the Stains Away! Camofloaging the crummy parts of shirt and getting to out some old doodles at the same time.

Today i did four shirts:
1.HAIRBRAINED

2.BEWARE: JAZZHANDS

3.Feotal-flutter-fly

Today was a pretty productive early morning day (got up at six to make jb coffee before he left for the airport to see relatives for thanksgiving.) I window shopped after dropping off my application for finnish citizenship and it was the first snow.

Those things all make me think of family and holidays so when i spied a near-death tangerine in the fruit bowl i pulled out the cloves and got to work.
I can't really smell it now, but i think it will welcome me home with some pumpkinpie spice and cardamom

Yum, Happy Thanksgiving part II 2007!!!!

Pop-overs!

2007-11-14T05:19:00.000-08:00

I love these, a freind of mine let me examen her new pair trademarked ear pop-overs which cover your ears like earmuffs but without the silly band. I was able to re-create them pretty easily for gifts and I made myself a pair too because headbands and bikehelmets don't mix (i look like a head trauma victim). I love them! They hide nicely under my hairs and keep me warm and undorkerated.

I had some 'clear flexible cutting boards' arround for the 'pop' part that. Any thicker flexible plastic will do, i often use binder covers or plastic placemats (not the laminated kind) for hat brims and these work with the same consistency.

-cut out an ovals of paper, big enough to cover your ear
-cut a c'shaped pattern from the oval as shown in picture.
-cut out two ovals each of one thicker fabric for the outside of the pop-over and one flannel or thin fleece for the inside
-make opposing cuts into the 'c' shaped plastic peices about 1/4'' in from the ends. This should make the plastic 'dome' enough to pop into place.
-push a long pin in across the overlapping plastic ends and stitch back and forth with a thick sharp machine needle to weave together.
-sew the two layers face to face
-cut a hole through the flannel layer, about one inch long vertically (in the longer direction) a little more to one side than the other. flip the good sides out through the hole.
-gently fold the plastic oval and fit it into the hole, work with fingers until it is in the right place.
-fit the pop-over onto ear and confirm the fit if you need to trim, do it now!
-once the pop-over fits, trim the 'hole' on the flannel side until its just about 1/4'' bigger than the hole in the plastic oval.
-coat the inside rim of plastic with rubber cement and let set for approximately 2 minutes until tacky, then fold flannel arround the inside edges of the plastic.

place over ear and 'pop into place.

Pulla Power

2007-11-12T20:59:00.000-08:00

Last weekend (well, two weekends ago now), i went up to sault st. marie to celebrate my finnish mummu (grandmother's) birthday.

I was incredulous to find that once there, i was swimming in the smells of my childhood.
-My uncle smelling of sawdust, a carpenter just like my grandfather,
-Blueberry soup
-Muddy finnish coffee
-Gingerbread
and most of all... Pulla.

Me about age 7 with my mummu and bapa... looking hard done by... or practicing my finnish 'depressed' face!

Pulla is a kind of finnish sweet bread, very good with coffee. Not too sweet so as to be an actual cake, but deliciously buttery.
I thought i would try making it, not only because its delicious, but because i figured it would be a good introduction to baking breads. Its new to me and i've had some
It is lightly flavoured with cardomom, which gives it a warm aroma.
The recipie that i'm including is a variation of the basic one from www.allrecipies.com.

You'll need:
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 teaspoon cardamom ground (fresh ground is best)
2 eggs, beaten
5 1/2 cups all purpous flour
1/3 cup butter, melted
and
2 packages of active dry yeast (16g) or 2.5 tsps + 1/2 cup warm water and (2tsp) sugar as per directions for yeast

For the Egg/sugar glaze:
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Egg beaten

Things to do:
A: Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles then remove from heat.

B: Proof the yeast as directed.

C: Stir the following together, in a mixing bowl.
-warmed milk
-sugar
-salt
-cardamom
-eggs

D: When the yeast has doubled, add it, to the mixture.

E: Add 1 1/2 cups of flour and mix to a pancake like batter.

F: melt the butter

G: Add another cup of flour and whisk until smooth and glossy.

H: Mix in butter .

I: Add remaining flour until the dough is elastic and stiff. (It should hold together when pressed into a ball not gloopy).

J: Flip bowl over onto a floured surface and let it rest for 15 minutes.

K: Knead dough until satiny smooth.

L: Clean and dry mixing bowl, add a splash of oil

M1: Place dough back into the mixing bowl and flip to coat the top with oil
cover with a teatowel and let rest in a warm place for one hour until doubled.

M2: Punch dough down and let rise again until doubled, yup, another hour.

N: Preheat the oven to 425'C (or your oven's equivalent).

O: Turn dough out onto floured surface and devide into 3 balls of equal size for regular size loaves. Then devide, roll out and braid together into two elegant free standing loaves or 4 small loaves (that fit into ziplock freezer bags for easy freezey storage).
Bake for 5 minutes and then turn down the temp to 375' and continue to bake approx: 15 minutes

O.2: If making pukkopulla, (little pullas) roll the dough into golf ball sized peices these are kind of a cross between a doughnut and a muffin, best with dried fruit, cheese or jam baked inside. cook these for a shorter time, 20 minutes or so.

I made a rollup loaf (think long cinnamon bun loaf before its cut into rounds) in my new loafpan and filled it with fresh pomegranate seeds...

P: Beat egg and slather it over the top of each loaf and then sprinkle with sugar.

O: Give the loaves room
(i didn't and made some siamese pulla)

Siamese Pulla.

I plan to make this for my mom using spelt flower and honey instead of sugar so that she can eat it and stay on her vegan diet. Maybe for christmas!

YUM my apartment smells like all the best parts of my finnish heritage.
I'm late to bed... but it was worth it.

prodding myself forward into productivity

2007-11-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

I'm starting this blog as both a record and a way of encouraging myself to make some of the things that float through my head.
Crafting for me is a hobby, separate from my art practice. Its a relaxing method of working out fuzzy ideas and making presents and surprises for freinds and family too!

Its november, and this month has flown by so far, leaving in the dust many of the things i had intended to strike off my craft to do list.

I have so much to do before the holidays that i hope to use this to get myself started on bulk projects and then i can leave the special goodies for afterwards thus minimizing potential freak-outs!
This year i vouched to make all my presents, and to use 80% materials that i have stock piled arround the house. I'll be moving cross country this summer and need to purge the boxes/closets before i go and would hate to have to get rid of it so here's to two birds with one stone!