33 films of the open road

time for another list, as per number 33 on my list:


with all this warm weather, my mind wanders toward the open road...

road trips are perhaps my favourite form of travel, for the spontaneity and the infinite possibility that they embody. but if you're not able to drop everything and drive into the sunset (and are not on the run from the fuzz), then the next best thing is to watch somebody else do it :) try one of my favourite road movies (in no particular order):

1) Y Tu Mama Tambien (yum)

2) Thelma & Louise (duh)

3) Shag: The Movie (80s does 50s)

4) Cannonball Run (Burt, Dom, Dean, Farrah, Sammy...)

5) It Happened One Night (1934, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert)

6) National Lampoon’s Vacation (classic)

7) Little Miss Sunshine (charming)

8) Planes Trains & Automobiles ("you're going the wrong way!")

9) Easy Rider (easy choice)

10) Highway 61 / Roadkill (Canadian odysseys)

11) Sideways (wine)

12) The Blues Brothers (tunes)

13) Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (wacky)

14) The Sure Thing (classic Cusak)

15) Into the wild (harrowing)

16) Two Lane Blacktop (James Taylor acts)

17) The Straight Story (not a car, but still a road movie)

18) Lolita (1962 version, not Jeremy Irons version. he creeps me out.)

19) Motorcycle Diaries (viva la revolucion!)

20) Leaving Normal (Thelma & Louise sans cops)

21) The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (fabulous)

22) Vanishing Point (fast)

23) Five Easy Pieces (Nicholson's best)

24) Race With the Devil (70's RV horror)

25) Leningrad Cowboys Go America (oh those crazy Finns)

26) Mystery Train (Jim Jarmusch does Elvis)

27) Bonnie and Clyde (they're young. they're in love. they rob banks.)

28) Dream With the Fishes (uplifting) (and nude bowling!)

29) Boys On the Side (corny, I know, but i've a soft spot for it)

30) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Gilliam's a bloody genius)

31) Follow That Bird (laugh all you want, but this movie is friggin' awesome)

32) Two for the Road (Audrey Hepburn & Albert Finney. 'nuff said.)

33) Weekend (Godard) (the anti road trip)

there. and believe me, it was a difficult task narrowing this one down to thirty three.

how 'bout you? do you have any favourite road movies?

pioneer village - a photo essay :)

i hope you all had a restful and luxurious weekend!  my husband and i went to pioneer village on saturday (so i can cross that one off my list).  i took reams and reams of photos, but these ones are my favourites:

and these are the goodies i brought home with me: a sack of flour from the mill, a clothes peg doll kit, and an old copy of poe's tales of mystery and imagination!

channeling my inner boxer

image from vi.sualize.us

I've been working on number nine from my list. Joined a gym type thing and am trying to eat a little healthier. Tonight I'm taking my first boxercise class and I'm actually excited! I'm finding that it actually feels good to take care of myself for a change. Who knew?

the day's adventures

on this, the last day of my four day weekend, my buddy rudy and i went on a 2 hour walkabout in our fair city, to take pictures of the new spring blooms, and to find a new copy of watership down cuz the one we rented yesterday skipped a bunch.  

in place of this, we found these:

we also saw this beautiful blue brownstone:

and some other treasures:

rudy enjoyed it, although she got a wee bit nackered toward the end :)

oh and i almost forgot, i got new glasses on friday! (which was one of the things on my 33 things list).  

old eyes:

new eyes:

which ones do you like the best?

33 things i love about Toronto

i live in a big city. a crowded city. a concrete city.
i enjoy all of the comforts and outlets that my big concrete city provides. but sometimes -and it's usually about this time of year, when the winter has lost what little charm it came in with - my city begins to feel cold and mean and dreary. this is usually the time of year that i begin to dream of nature and green stuff and wide open spaces; of clean air, starlit skies and animals other than squirrels and pigeons. and it is during this period, when winter seems interminable, that i've a tendency to be a bit grumbly n negative, which can't be much fun for those i share my life with. SO... in the interest of positivity, and to remind myself that the proverbial grass on my own side of the fence may also be green, even when it's brown and frozen, here is a list of 33 things i love about Toronto:

1) wanna here some live tunes? rock, bluegrass, punk, gregorian chants, whatever turns your crank, it’s here. any day of the bloomin’ week.
2) Gandhi Roti at Queen n Bathurst. saag paneer roti? good gawd! just thinkin about that sh*t makes me drool.
3) Queen Video. wanna watch an obscure experimental film, or a 1980 Kristie McNichol flick? it’s here. and they’re so nice about late charges too.

4) china town, greek town, korea town, little india, little italy, little portugal etc. etc. etc.

5) anyone can get married here. any bloomin’ day of the week.
6) world class festivals and parades (toronto international film festival, pride, caribana, tastes of the danforth etc. etc.)
7) have you ever been to the Toronto Reference Library? it’s awesome.
8) watchin’ the kids do tricks at the skatepark at dundas n bathurst with my husband, who explains what they're doing for me :)
9) as soon as the temperature gets up around 7 degrees, people start sportin silly shorts and silly grins
10) sometimes we see hawks from our balcony
11) we can also hear the soccer fans cheering from BMO field when there's a TFC game on. when we watch the games on tv we leave the balcony door open and it sounds like we're all watching together :)
12) the green houses at Toronto Botanical Gardens where you can sit on a bench and sweat with the butterflies in the middle of winter
13) the Toronto Zoo has world renowned habitat and conservation programs and you can learn what it feels like to be a turtle :)

14) Ontario Place. concerts, the lantern festival, the cinesphere. still fun.
15) pushin buttons n touchin’ stuff at the Ontario Science Centre.
16) smellin' all those yummy rustic smells and pettin' hairy Scottish cows at Black Creek Pioneer Village.
17) the air show shakes my condo once a year, and turns my husband into an excited little boy.
18) the basement treasures at Honest Ed's.
19) watchin the fit people play volleyball at Cherry Beach (while i watch people put their kids in the water and think ‘ i wouldn't do that if i were you’)
20) they got restaurants on boats here. i’ve never eaten on one, but i could if i wanted too.
21) Nuit Blanche. i’ve only been to one of these, cuz last time i was in Vietnam instead, but I’ll never forget seeing my city’s streets all full of wonder and dripping with inspiration.
22) biking around Toronto Island and wishing i lived there.
23) seeing the skyline as you drive home after a long absence.
24) the secret swing hidden in an alleyway near queen n spadina
25) eating the best ice cream in the city while soaking up the wacky décor at Dutch Dreams
26) the smell of cinabon at Eglinton subway station
27) the obscenely fallic CN Tower light show
28) gallery hopping on Queen street
29) the spicy food festival and free concerts at harbourfront
30) vintage clothing and the cheeses of the world at Kensington Market
31) eating sh*t i could never otherwise afford at Winter/Summerlicious
32) watchin skid couples put there hands in the back pockets of each others’ acid-wash jeans at the CNE
33) try and pry this city's residents off the patios come first sign of spring

33 ways to feel like a little kid

1. run out in a thunder storm with your bathing suit on

2. sleep with your bum in the air
3. play 2 minutes in the closet with your husband
4. build a snow/bush fort (or better yet 2 and wage war between parties)

5. get drunk n play 'I never' with your friends (i know kids shouldn't get drunk, but as adults the game works much better this way)
6. go to goony attractions like the Science Centre and Pioneer Village
7. crank call somone you know
8. make a piñata, or a hobby horse
9. play pin the tail on the donkey, only make it a picture of something funnier like james vanderbeek or something
10. hide pennies in your cake
11. wear your hair in a side ponytail
12. climb out on your roof
13. lay on the grass and stare at the sky
14. put your shoes on the wrong feet
15. wear your pjs to a restaurant
16. start a food fight (try launching things with your spoon)
17. play truth or dare (even if you’ve no one around to play it with)
18. fake sick
19. climb trees and jump in puddles

20. eat pudding with your finger
21. make out with your pillow
22. make peanut butter balls for the birdies
23. cut n paste
24. go to your mom’s house n help her bake
25. spin around until you fall down
26. blow bubbles in your milk
27. take a bubble bath and make yourself a big bubble beehive

28. paint your nails with liquid paper
29. gulp a big glass of grape juice with both hands and don't wipe off the purple moustache

30. bowl between your legs
31. play hide n go seek in the woods (this one is actually really fun still)
32. draw on the walls
33. say "I can", then spell "cup" (tee hee hee)

33 things that make my heart beat faster

one of the items on my list of ’33 things to do in my 33rd year’ was to write 33 lists of 33 things. this first list is one that could easily have been 333 things, but a girl’s gotta have boundaries, so here it is:

33 things that make my heart beat faster:
1. walking past a laundromat at night and seeing people washing their clothes
2. the sound of my husband’s key in the door
3. bird sounds in the sunshine after a long winter
4. the first crocus
5. a cold lake in the hot summer
6. getting a package in the mail
7. checking my lottery tickets
8. realizing i have left something behind
9. laying my head on the pillow the night before leaving on a trip
10. making my friends laugh
11. getting caught in the rain (do you like pina coladas?)
12. thunder and lightning
13. the open road
14. hotel rooms
15. seeing my order on it’s way to my table at a restaurant
16. a familiar smell
17. misplaced glasses (panic also makes the heart beat faster)
18. arrivals
19. watching Obama’s inauguration
20. rockabilly music (the old kind, not the new ca-ca)
21. when little kids meet my dog
22. thinking of my wedding day (so sublimely perfect)
23. phone calls from faraway friends
24. taking off in airplanes
25. really good cheese (both literally and figuratively)
26. new red shoes (and old ones too)
27. fresh blank paper
28. the smell of a bakery when i’m out and about
29. my husband’s touch
30. bees at a picnic (‘nother panic one)
31. jose cuervo (tee hee)
32. little tiny pickled onions
33. getting my first comment on my blog (which hasn’t happened yet – hint hint.)

i’d love to know what makes your heart beat faster. will you tell me?

can't talk. comin' down.

turned 33 yesterday. had a magnificent birthday weekend. so very hungover. been rendered too dumb to write. need one of these.

thirty three things to do in my thirty third year

(inspired by this awesome list posted by Hula Seventy)
(pink = done!)
1. turn my little drawerings into a web comic

2. visit the science centre and pioneer village

3. read at least 2 books (i hardly read at all these days)

4. go to a museum by myself

5. finish painting my apartment

6. take a road trip

7. finish the series of paintings i started

8. get new glasses

9. lose 20 lbs.

10. work on my children's alphabet book and accompanying dolls

11. think a bit more before i act

12. see the ocean again

13. learn html and css

14. go to elvis bossanova

15. send postcards to my friends

16. own a lomo/holga

17. start a photography project

18. make a new friend

19. go camping

20. visit the east coast

21. watch less tv

22. make some guerilla art

23. write more

24. take a self portrait sans clothing

25. eat something new and different

26. make homemade eggnog

27. brush my kitty everyday

28. surprise my husband

29. write a script

30. drink more water

31. win the lottery

32. make 33 people smile (at least)

33. make 33 lists of 33 things (4/33)