Green Room: The Colour Crisis

*was supposed to be posted Christmas Eve*

Apologies for obsessively talking about this room.  I don’t really have much to report on the Christmas front and everything else is business as usual.

So, colours.  It was quite the crisis and after days of thinking and researching and looking at paint chips I decided to go back to that comforting of colours: Green.  I know, green for green? How boring. But we already had blue in the living room and yellow was too… yellow and orange seemed too much with the wood and I wasn’t too fond of red or purple or beige though for a short period of time I thought about white… so… green it is.  “Cabbage patch” to be precise. But after putting one coating on the wall and looking at it at all times of the day, it just didn’t feel right so today, while doing last minute Christmassy errands like buying the pork for a pulled pork Christmas dinner, M and I drove to Home Depot and got another colour: Napa Valley.

Green is green is green. But what amazing names they have! Spring Thaw, Farm Life, Cabbage Patch, Serengeti Plain, Napa Valley, Ludlow Falls… I always thought it would be a fun job coming up with and naming colours.

So as of today, room is still not done.  Hoping to complete on Sunday.

Merry Christmas Friends!

I’m not really one to celebrate Christmas or other religious holidays but I do recognize others do. So, whatever you are doing right now, whether it be spending time with family, opening up presents, watching a movie at the theatres (I think that’s the only think open today), laying out on a beach somewhere sunny, waiting at an airport, or watching episode after episode of Dexter (as I did last night), I wish you all the best.

Green Room: The Sanding

So I’m on a fairly tight schedule here.  I’m trying to get as much done as possible before Christmas as I’m sure the neighbours wouldn’t want to hear any hammering, sanding, swearing, and the like. Yesterday, I got the plastic sheets down, edges taped up, window ledge thing dismantled (thanks M!), and holes and imperfections patched up.  Today is sanding day, the most miserable of all light home renovations.  I decided to get to iy sans goggles and face mask which was a big mistake as now I feel like I have a ball of something something that can’t be spat or blown out (sorry for the graphic).  M was a lot smarter and prepared for the dust storm:

Watch out walls! There’s a sanding ninja around!

Green Room: Prep

The green room has been green for close to 10 years now.  That’s a long time.  So, on a bit of a whim I decided that I didn’t want it green anymore and started to prep the room for some painting. I packed all our stuff in boxes and moved the big furniture to the middle of the room.  The rabbits are staying in the hallway for now and Mustard Cat’s scratching post is in the living room.  The apartment is in a bigger mess than usual but that’s ok. All the more reason to get this done right away.

Here’s a pic of the room at the end of prepping:

I haven’t yet decided what colour I want it to be so if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear it!

SFU love

Ah… look at it.  The concrete matches the grey skies nicely, doesn’t it?

Honestly though, I think I love SFU. Only went there for a year and was in a specific program but had a great time. The program, the profs, the courses… great experience overall.  I even liked the commute there!  Seriously, while other people were packing it in the downtown bound skytrains or onto B-Line busses heading to UBC, I was relaxed and sitting pretty, going the other direction. Ofcourse, I’ve never been stuck up on the mountain when it snows so…

Anyway, I handed in my final project the other day and as a nice end to my time at SFU, a prof of mine gave me a t-shirt that said this:

Never got anything this thoughtful from Faculty in the 5 years I was at the other university which shall remain nameless (UBC).

My Rally Song

It’s been a busy week.  Fun and a little stressful.  To be honest, I quite like being very busy with very little time to think about anything else except the task at hand and the deliciously satisfying feeling of accomplishment that’s awaiting me at the end.  Ironically, I’m also prone to extreme laziness. It’s one or the other; all or nothing. Go figure. :p

So I’ve been giving ‘er all I got the last week or so. It’s been pretty good with only occassional drops in energy and focus.  It’s when those dips occur that this song starts to play in my head:

Yeah! That song from the Karate Kid soundtrack. I don’t know the lyrics at all and I don’t even know the beat of the verses.  All I know is that the chorus has been my life and work’s sountrack these last few days.

Oh yeah, and that it makes me want to do lightning fast punches in the air. haha

Regional Assembly of Text, Vancouver

Last night I decided to check out the Letter Writing Club at the Regional Assembly of Text near Main and 23rd Ave.  As I walked through the door, all I could hear was the punching of typewriter keys— busy fingers intently typing away letters to be sent to loved ones and friends.  Everything you need to type your letter is provided for here — typewriter, paper, envelopes, inkstamps, even tea and cookies.  There were about 15 people typing away at any given time.   Everyone was friendly, though conversations seemed pretty minimal. While there, I couldn’t help but think about old black and white films, big televisions in wooden cases, and old crackly radio shows.  I also thought about when I was a kid and I used to play with my grandparents old typewriter.  I used to want to put my fingers in the way of the typebars to try to stamp my fingers with letters.  I was always a little scared.

Aside from the Letter Writing Club, the Regional Assembly of Text sells lovely cards, inkstamps, paper, buttons, and all things stationery.  They even have a little reading room and gallery.

The Letter Writing Club takes place the first Thursday of each month. So if you’re feeling a little nostalgic… maybe even romantic… go check it out.

Japanese Style Risotto

Very recently (two weeks ago) I got into making and eating risotto. Risottos are great as it only requires some sort of liquid, rice, and whatever else you have on hand.  Risottos are nice and creamy and a great comfort food.  The picture above isn’t so creamy as I decided to eat a bowl before photographing and it dried out a little! I didn’t have any chicken or veggie broth but had miso paste so I decided to make a Japanese inspired risotto.

Ingredients:

• 5 cups miso broth (about 1tbsp of miso paste to 1.5 cups of water)
• 1.5 cups of medium to short grain rice (I have arborio so that’s what I used)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup finely diced onions
• 2-3 cups roughly chopped button mushrooms
• 1tbsp finely chopped ginger root
• chopped green onions for garnish and colour
• 1/2 tbsp dashi (optional- I didn’t have it so I didn’t use it)
• 1/4 cup saki (optional – I didn’t have it so I didn’t use it)

Directions:

1. In a medium-size pot, make miso broth and leave to simmer.  Add dashi if available.
2. In a large pot, melt butter on medium heat.  Add onions and ginger and saute until onions are soft.  Add mushrooms.  Cook until soft about 8-10 minutes.
3. Add rice and stir.  Add sake if available and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.
4. Add 1/2 cup of broth and stir.  Keep stirring for about a minute or two or until most of the liquid has been absorbed.  Add another 1/2 cup of broth and stir until absorbed. Repeat process until rice is al dente – soft but not mushy.  This should take about 20-30 minutes.
5. When it’s done it should look creamy. Spoon into bowls, add green onion on top and enjoy!

Serves 4 as a meal, and maybe 6 as a side dish.

Pecha Kucha Vancouver

Last night I had the good fortune of going to Pecha Kucha, an event where multiple presenters from the world of art and design get on stage and talk about whatever – their jobs, interests, motivations, projects, etc.  They have 20 images to share and 20 seconds to talk about each image.  Topics ranged from advertising to dance to graphic design to whatever they want.  It was my first time going to this event and I really enjoyed it.  It was quite inspirational to hear some of the wonderful things that people have their hands in.  Makes me want to get in on it too. Personal faves from the night included Elvy del Bianco from VanCity Credit Union who talked about the need to invest in the social economy and not just the monetary one; Su-Feh Lee, artistic director of battery opera, whose art appeals to me both visually and intellectually (not to mention her interest in the human body and collection of organs in formaldehyde are facinating); and David Duprey, an entrepreneur who takes run down old buildings and makes them into art spaces.  Can’t wait for the next one!

This is why you’re fat – Um, no… definitely not the reason

ok, so I don’t really think I’m fat but I know I could firm up a bit more.

Anyway, This Is Why You’re Fat is a website where people submit photos of fatty creations.  I admit, some of the stuff posted on there look quite tasty to me and I would definitely not hesitate to eat it.  Most of it I think are just uninspired, and a handful are just not right. Case in point: The Picnic Popsicle.

Why??? It looks like vomit on a stick.  Apparently, it’s made up of “bacon cheese burger chunks, ketchup, mustard, and onion, in strawberry kool-aid.” I suspect these people submitted this picture more as an I-want-to-be-on-that-website-this-is-gross submission than anything they would actually eat and get fat on.

If I were to submit something to the website it would be the Reggie Deluxe.