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Showing posts from August, 2011

Microwave Might

Today a fuse blew in the staffroom, on the first day of school. Not only did the coffee machine not provide the staff with their much-needed boost, but the microwaves in the kitchen were also affected. For a staff of over 30, lunchtime became a bit chaotic. A slew of people lined their food up on the counter next to a single functioning microwave. A slight panic was felt.  The two others were out.  Everyone kept a light-hearted attitude about it, and even became constuctive.  A student teacher switched the plug of microwave 3 into functioning 2's outlet, but once it got turned out, that fuse blew too.  The lights in the hall even went out.  Meanwhile, across the ceramic tiled-kitchen, a very poised, elegant teacher physically moved a heavy microwave onto another counter to use the stove's plug, all this going on while a few other staffers are arranging their food in the oven.  It was like a perfectly executed lunchtime-fiasco choreography.  Sheer magic.  I was washing my dish

How to Fail Gracefully

Nobody likes to accept defeat.  Especially when you've set something up for yourself and also broadcast it to several people.  A few, dozens, hundreds, whatever the case may be, the hardest person it is to admit defeat to, is yourself.  This blog acts as a sounding board for me sometimes.  I don't always think about who might be reading it, I usually just let the words come out and then revise if it's too risqué.  Notice I've never posted anything that controversial, I'm a people pleaser to the core and my angry rants are saved for actual paper.  Besides, this blog is supposed to be all happy-go-lucky 'n stuff, nobody wants to hear about my depresso days. Every now and then though, I like to recommit to my falability as a human.  I also don't ever want to project the image of perfection or act as though I've got it together on a daily basis, that would be inhuman, and nobody can relate to that. So, let it be known, friends, family and strangers ali

Merkall

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Wedding photos

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I had some fun editing photos from the wedding.. Here are a few.

BEES TAKE FLIGHT

Some bands are able to pack you up and take you on a ride with each album that is put out.   And you'll go anywhere they take you, because you're faithfully devoted to joining them on a new journey, especially with well-respected, reputable musicians.   Collections of Colonies of Bees' most recent work, Birds (2008; Polyvinyl Records), starts off with the promise that you're on your way somewhere interesting, unexplored and spontaneous.   To the untrained ear however, Flocks I soon goes into loop-mode and you feel like your cochleae are stuck in traffic and you're not getting anywhere at all. For a non-connoisseur, Chris Rosenau's riffs sound repetitive and overdrawn, and the album comes across as improvised and all over the map, like something they lazily recorded in a wood-paneled basement, surrounded by Jameson empties and sedative capsules.   But much like a map, music is all about connection, it just depends where you’re going.   If you're looking for s

ChooChoo Yoga

The yoga train has arrived.  It has stationed itself in my life and I'm ready to get on-board.  It's a trip I've put off for years, for fear of the unknown, fear of going deeper in myself and my spirit, but I'm ready.  Yoga has kind of been in-my-face lately.  I went on a great retreat yesterday, with Sasha Matthew, a Sivananda instructor (forgive me if I get the language wrong), and I took the opportunity to open up about my resistance.  He told me what I already knew, that when I'll be ready it will happen and that sometimes you just have to dive in, like one of my co-workers did on the lunchtime break.  Well he dove into the pool, without testing the water.  I've been testing the water for 3 years.  Time for a swim! Sometime next week, probably after pay-day, I'm going to sign up for a week of Moksha.  I think it's 20 dollars and it's unlimited.  If it works out and I like it, then I'll put my name down for the Trades. You put in 5 hours o

Under Pressure TWO

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I've decided that volunteering for Under Pressure was a gateway drug. Now all I see is graffiti, all I want to listen to is hip-hop, and all I've been watching are videos related to those two things, non-stop.  Facebook makes it really easy to connect to all these people, places and things as well.  I'm hooked. Thinking back to when most people get interested in this subculture, my teens, I had great disdain for everything hip-hop.  I decided I had an indie spirit and Wu Tang were gangsters, Eminem was a sell-out and rap sucked.  I even had a poster that said so.  Mind you, I always liked old school tunes, but my awareness consisted of my sister's Rap Traxx compilation tape.  It featured songs from Public Enemy, Tone Loc, and Fresh Prince, among others.  And just so you know, I had to google who sang Funky Cold Medina, so that just goes to show you I still have a lot of learning to do.  But back in high school, something about the late nineties' alternative inf

Under Pressure ONE.

I'm still trying to process everything that went on this weekend, I'm not even sure how I'm still awake at 10:45, the auto-pilot in me is currently in control. Under Pressure, was, if I may use the expression, off the hook.  For those of you who may not know, Under Pressure is Montreal's annual graffiti convention, and an international one at that.  It's also the oldest in North America, if I'm not mistaken.  So, pretty rad right? My friend Joe helps run the whole thing and has been my link into the scene.  I've always had a great appreciation for graffiti but it really took off when I bumped into him serendipitously one day in 2006 when I'd planned to do a small tour and take pictures of Montreal's street art.  I started in the Old Port for some dumb reason but as fate should have it, there he was and a few of us started a long walk that took us across the city and into some pretty awesome spots. Skip ahead 5 years and I finally have gotten ar

High on Light

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I love when a trip to the dog park turns into a mood-altering experience. I've been kind of crabby of late.  Perhaps it's the fact that I'm trying to accept that my 5-week summer vacation is over and I must now return to the daily grind, or maybe simply having nothing to do in particular every day for five weeks has made me a bit bonkers.  I confess it was a heck of a summer, the best I've had since I was a reckless teenager, and I got a lot done.  Went to Winnipeg, did some camping, took a day trip for a car show, all with a smile: it was awesome! But what gives- why the bad mood Katie? Since going on vacation, I pretty much gave up all sense of daily structure, including getting up at a decent hour, forgoing coffee and of course: eating well. I took a vacation from a healthy diet, so what. But now I'm stuck with the miserable wheaty cheesy blahs and I have to admit I'm kind of grateful to be returning to my regular scheduled programming. Part of me, li

Feel The Vibration

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I believe in vibes.  I get them from people, from places, music, from situations and from moments I can't otherwise describe.  Vibes.  There are good vibes, and bad vibes, and that's about as complicated as it gets. What about the vibe we send out into the universe?  The whole "law of attraction" thing.  The way we live our lives, the habits we feed, the actions and behaviors that make us who we are, how do they impact what the universe reflects back to us? I went camping again this weekend and for the first time in a while or maybe ever I felt the universe speaking to me. We spent the night in the gazebo, by the water, laughing over beers, totally overpowering the incredible silence of our surroundings.  I decided to check out early, and on my way to the tent I strained my neck as I stared at the beautiful bright stars above. The sky seemed rounded, alive and pulsating, almost.  I saw a shooting star, made a wish and felt like my night was perfectly complete.