go get shot

i am almost almost over H1N1! i have been one of those lucky ones who managed to get the flu before the vaccine was available. so for the last six days, i have been doing almost nothing except whining, watching tv (both real and internet types), napping, wandering around mom and dad's, and (most often of all) re-filling my hot water bottle.

i do not recommend you get swine flu. swine flu is no fun. it makes you hurt tons. also, if you have a job which only pays you if you're there, it causes brokeness. lame!

however. i am now caught up on: glee, dexter, dollhouse, fringe, season 1 of weeds, season 5 of sex and the city, so you think you can dance dance dance (and s.y.t.y.c.d.d.d. canada), project runway, grey's anatomy, criminal minds, and gossip girl.
also: the september issue (which i watched twice, cause i thought mom should see it too...), waitress, half of synecdote new york, and rachel getting married.

AND i get codeine at night.



that is all there is to report. now go get your shot.

who to be or who not to be

halloween is super close. what should i dress up as?

karl lagerfeld?



lady gaga?



coraline's other mother?



other?

i think i'm on heroin...

*

most people were trained to do the jobs they do. like. properly trained. in school. for many years. if you go to med school, you probably will end up working as a doctor doing just what it is that you have studied to do. and people will give you money to do that job. not so for those of us with fine arts degrees.

we are lucky if we make money a few times a year from what we've been trained to do. sell a painting here. sell a painting there. don't ever expect to be able to pay your BILLS with money made from same sales...

but twice - TWICE - in this past month i have been given money (good money!) to do EXACTLY what i have studied to do. I have been paid to sit in a room and draw people's faces. face after face, person after person, draw draw draw... for a scheduled, pre-determined amount of time for a pre-determined hourly rate.

and it might be the best thing ever. i've just finished a couple hours doing just that. drawing people for money. and i'm pretty sure this is what doing drugs feels like. do other people with more practical degrees feel this way when THEY get work? i doubt it. maybe that's why i don't have a more practical degree... anyways! back to the drugs!

i am EXHAUSTED, but there's no way in hell i'll be capable of sleeping for a good while - tooooo much left over adrenaline. i am a mental mess. i'm not sure this post will make any sense, i'm not sure any of the conversations i had while drawing made any sense. my brain is shot. and i am SOOOOO PUMPED! i couldn't be happier! i'm giddy and goofy and wishing i had someone i could chest bump out my enthusiam with. MAN this is rad.

and the whole time i'm actually DOING the work, two things go through my head over and over:
1 'holy craptowns, this is STRESSSSSSFULLLL/do NOT mess up, oh GOD!'
2 'you suckers. you are paying me right now. and i am having the most fun time i've ever had in my whole life. chumps!'

oh, and sometimes i also think:
3 'goodgod it is hot. is it really this hot? MAN i am hot...'

anyways. it's pretty awesome. just saying.

* photo-relevance is, of course, that kate moss was the postergirl for heroin chic. which is strange. because she was totes into cocaine. but i guess that was later on anyways. ahem. photo by corinne day.

fashion town, 2009!

in a somewhat awesome, somewhat worrying twist of circumstances (???), i have ended up applying for a REAL job. in fashion retail. in a lot of ways i'm not technically qualified for this job - having no real retail experience, and no real management credentials. but in the ways that matter i'm HECKA qualified. like. i love clothes. a lot. i love fashion, and the fashioney world, and all it's fashioney bits. and i like working with people. so. that's great!

but the real point of this post is this: all i've been thinking about since i applied is FASHIONFASHIONCLOTHESFASHIONRETAILCLOTHES!

which is so much awesome funness. i want it forever! i want this job! i want this skirt... from the store... where i've applied... oh i hope! only one or two more interviews to go!



with all my thinking about fashionclothes, i've been looking at a lot of fashionclothes. and here are some things i think!:

these balenciaga tights are pretty great. and wearable. and you can get very similar ones from Joe Fresh (superstore) for $8.00!!! rad!



alexander mcqueen's show is my favorite of his in a while... houndstooth!? escher-esque birds?! flouncy poofy good times!? good work mr. mcqueen. thanks for being super-great.



lanvin's alber elbaz is as awesome as ever. don't worry. he still looks kind of like a penguin, and he sitll is always all tilty. phew! he says of his clothes: 'it's almost like if the coat is hugging you... i love the sensation of clothes that are hugging you.' (thanks, style.com).

tell all your friends!

i'm home in the canada. and i need a job!

all of the places i was HOPING to maybe work aren't hiring - darn you El Nino!

but i was thinking about the past-days. when i was a nanny that one time. and that was pretty awesome. AND. the girl that i nannied has since graduated highschool with some sort of super-smart-awesome-award. so. i think that was probably because of me.

if YOU need a nanny or a babysitter, or you know of anyone who does, please PLEASE contact me! i have an awesome resume, too, which you could see. if you wanted to.



pass around the word!

adventuring

with all this travel here and there, and here and there, i don't have much time for writing a proper, longer entry. so i'll have to write a quick one instead. recap-style.

vienna


highlights:
- the SECESSION!!! klimt and schiele work up close and personal.
- ballet! oh, oh, oh! anna karenina at the state opera house. best train-death-staging.
- opera! hilariously german with german subtitles. and we got to sit in boxes! different boxes, mind, but boxes all the same.
- HUNTERTWASSER!!! i have been dying to see that house since ma-em's visit all them years ago.
- the chance to have a non-uk hangout session with emma. first one since spain? (france doesn't count cause mom-dad were there...)
-cakes, doughnuts, croissants for breakfast.

lowlights:
- there were a FEW museum/galleries which weren't worth their entry fee. and the modern art museum charged me for the MANDATORY bag check. can you even DO that? charge admission, then charge more for the bag check?! and it wasn't even a big bag.
- meat soup!!! okay. not SO much of a lowlight for me. more hilarious. emma ordered a mystery dinner, which turned out to be liver soup... gross. i did feel bad, though. for her. i gave her part of my roll...



side by side

a little secret-show of the first year MFA drawing and painting kids. we would normally be allowed to show as part of the degree show which is all up and upons the college. but this year 'they' decided not to let the first years show. because. people might be confused? lame! so we put on a guerilla show in a little side room. it opened to a decent crowd on monday evening, complete with a musical performance by alexa hare. it was a nice way to end the year with my homies.



orkney


highlights:
- tiny plane!!! oh, i love a tiny plane. watching the coastline approach. and we got coffee and biscuits!
- my rental bike! heavier than a road bike, but with significantly less-knobbly tires than the mongoose. we had a good time, me and that bike. i rode out of kirkwall on the highway (luckily a very small highway, as highways go) and along the coast past many cows and sheep.
- it never ever got completely dark. the sky stayed that sort of sapphire blue from sunset (around 11pm) till sunrise (around 2:30am).
- SEALS! i don't think i've ever seen for-reals seals before. non-zoo seals. because of the rain, they were just floating a few meters off the beach, little grey heads bobbing, staring at me all alone on the rocks. eerie and beautiful and amazing.
- orkney ice cream. i had a double cone. one scoop apple crumble, one scoop rhubarb and cream. amazing. SOOOOOO good. ooooof.

lowlights:
- the news that grandma h. passed away suddenly in ottawa on tuesday. not only am i saddened to have lost her, it also means there are no more grandparents left. there was some poetry in hearing the news while standing in a quite laneway, looking out at an amazing sunset over kirkwall and the fields and fields. i couldn't have asked for a better place to sit and think about all of my amazing grandparents, and how lucky i have been to have had them in my life. i would love to be able to be in ottawa with the family right now, and remember grandma h. with everyone, but since that isn't possible, orkney was a beautiful alternative. i smiled remembering last time i got to hang out with her, and her telling me about all the boys she had after her before she met grandpa. sassy woman. you are well loved and well missed grandma.

BP 2009

it's here! the exhibition is on in London, and even though i'm not in it, it's still hecka cool.

check it out!
http://www.npg.org.uk/bp-portrait-award-20091/the-exhibition.php


white linen by Jennifer Anderson