fashion disaffectation

Disaffectation, originally uploaded by jill y.

take off your top hat and gloves

top hat and gloves, originally uploaded by jill y.

I got an email today saying the Hat was closing. The Hat, as was generally known, was the longest operating restaurant in Edmonton, having opened its art deco door in 1912. According to this, it was also the longest cafe in Alberta. And I believe it having schlepped burgers and milkshakes there for a while. I wish I had a good shot of the inside. It went straight back. Booths lined the wall each with a little juke box. Back then they also had all these original old movie posters that they restaurant would get from the Paramount theatre next door. I bet it was really something something back in the 40's and 50's. Go see a flick at the Paramount and then grab a booth at the Hat. Jeannie was the tea leaf reader for probably 20 years. And that was the thing to do: Go to the Hat and have a plate of fries and get your leaves read.

I was a waitress there when I was about 19 or 20. I had the back 20 booths or so. It was dive. A real sketchy sketcherama. I remember these insanely steep stairs that went down into the basement where the bathrooms were. No amount of scrubbing would ever get that place clean. Even the spoons were greasy but people ate there all the time. Regulars would come in for coffee. Punk and teenagers sharing plates of fries and ketchup. Breakfast was served all day. I'll never forget the time I ate a burger on my break and ended up in the hospital a week later with E-Coli bacteria. I got fired for being "unreliable" because I had been sedated with Demerol, close to death and unable to call in.

I used to know these 2 guys that would come in and have fried egg sandwiches and a side of pancakes every Saturday. Once they wrote me a poem on a napkin as a tip. I kept it all these years:

Ode to the Hat

Haven, sweet haven
this chicken tastes like raven.
And the soup, oh the soup
such a swill, I am craving'.
Pour me a coffee.
Cut me a pie.
Fill my troph in this sty.
Let the music fill my heart
as I vomit up a tart.
No, but really we just jest
for in our eternal restaurant quest
for fine cuisine and service best:
We found a place our soul may rest.
But that was never so before,
this place pack then was such a bore.
A dreary luncheon it sure was
and that is so because because
there wasn't Jill and her cute fuzz
Oh, such a girly there never was.
Thank you Silk, for your warm magnesium milk.

Kisses, Brett and Geoff

and on the back:

In a world that can do nothing but hurt,
these pancakes will exist with a quick squirt.

That pretty much sums it up. So long Silk Hat.

travel plans

transportation, originally uploaded by jill y.

I'd like to start June off by saying my legs really hurt. Today I woke up to find they had been reconstructed out of Popsicle sticks and rocks. Very inflexible and heavy. However, according to my commute logs on The Bike to Work website, I have travelled 64.63 km this week. So, I'll try to ignore the fact that my joints feel like they've been glued shut.

Wish list: a pair of cyling gloves to ward off the gallons of sweat pouring out between my fingers and the useless attempts to wipe them off on my shorts.

tiny worlds

tiny worlds, originally uploaded by jill y.

knick knack

I promise to never to this to Ruby.

Speaking of taxidermy, I almost rode over squirrel roadkill on the way home. Another gem or a reason why i should avoid the bus as much as possible. You never know what you're going to see.

An that leads me to my other point.. you should always be a faithful visitor to More Kisses Please because you never know what you're going to read..

switched

Mom: If you want to come and stay that would be awesome.

Me: I can't believe you used the word 'awesome'.

Mom: So what is strange about the work "awesome". Is it old fashioned???

Um, no, not exactly. I would just have felt like I was talking to my mother if you had said 'wonderful' or 'great'. Awesome is just a lingo that seemed reserved for pals, friends, or..kids. I just got this awesome glimpse of how as we get older, you get hipper and I get more formal. At least there's hope for me as don't 'they' say you eventually turn into your parents??

2 wheels will travel

Some thoughts and reflections on the the first full on bike to work.

• I passed a Hasidic Jew riding a bike going in the other direction. What the hell? I doubt I would have ever seen that on the bus. It was a scene from a movie and the set almost looked like Brooklyn.
  
• I travelled through neighborhood streets I have never seen before. Definitely not.
  
• I got sore muscles but the day's stress was gone.
• Mr. Man with the backpack didn't hit me in the side of the head.
• I didn't have to wait at the side of the freeway on Marine Drive and wait for the shitty 100 Bus, all the while breathing in exhaust fumes.
• I didn't get to wear jeans to work.
• I didn't have to seethe in anger over why people refuse to move to the back of the bus as you stand packed like lemmings at the front.
• I loved all the trees and flowers bushes and shaded paths.
• Riding in special lanes kept especially for bikes felt cool.
• I didn't have to stand and grip a handrail, bracing myself whenever the bus screamed to a halt.
• Riding over speedbumps is funner on a bike.
• I passed 4 idling cars and realized it's my new frustration instead of screaming in my head, "Move to the back of the bus people!'
  
• I got trapped in a cemetery and thought about the days I spent in the Paris cemeteries. In contrast the Paris ones are crammed, crowded and infinitely more interesting. We are so under populated in North America (except for the buses).
• I got to work faster than taking the bus.
  

Catherine

Please reread the instructions. You are not 'annonymous'.

xoxo
Picky

Not your birthday present, Sonia.

I have to shake my head at the glory horror of Doug and Randy bobble headed hunters bouncing along as a deer that has been hog tied to the hood of a jeep sings 'Sweet Home Alabama'. I mean I didn't even think that would be possible with a bullet through the neck, would you? Not to mention, its a 'great gift for your favorite hunter' (I mean I have so many to choose from) 'or anyone'. I can't imagine how I would decide who I would give this too. It bobbles, bounces AND flashes!!

"This motion-activated deer lifts his head and sings “Low Rider” and “Sweet Home Alabama”! Watch the hunters BOBBLE their heads to the beat as the car BOUNCES and headlights FLASH!! A great gift for your favorite hunter, or anyone! Requires 4 AA batteries (included)."

Happy Birthday Sonia

in my bathtub, originally uploaded by jill y.

For your birthday today, I rode my bike to work in tribute to the many countless hours you have spent fearlessly getting your cardio rate up.

I'm posting this picture because it's my favorite from the recent trip to the Aquarium but more importantly, it symbolizes to me the some of the things I think about you.

Like the way you walk. You kind of drift. I think it has to do with the music you listen to which is always something different than what I've heard of.

Or the way your fingers are like tentacles, reaching out and sticking your fingers into all sorts of things. (Like the pizza we gouged on the other day- HA).

And like the jellyfish, you are beautiful, mysterious, exotic and deadly when crossed wrong.

Not to mention, that when looking closer at this picture, there is a warm yellow glowing center. This represents your heart and how warm and inviting it is. Like a big egg yolk on Sunday morning when you are famished and everything is PERFECT and it's delicious.

Thank you for being my lovely friend. Happy happy birthday.

xoxo
Jill

Bess let me hold her perfect little baby

jill and bub, originally uploaded by bess grant.

I took a bunch of photos of little Desiree, too.

An adventure in aquatics

One rainy Saturday, Michael and I went to the Vancouver Aquarium. Never again. That sort of activity should be reserved for playing hooky from work on Wednesday's when NO ONE is there. I did have a lot of fun at the jelly fish tank though and I got a good snap of some alligators. Check it out:

Straight

Straight, originally uploaded by jill y.

I saw this guy sleeping on his bike this morning. I couldn't help but snap this.

my friend Sonia finds the best videos

my laptop crashed again

Dear Tech Support:
Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance -- Particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0. In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5 and then installed undesirable programs such as NFL 5.0, NBA 3.0, and Golf Clubs 4.1. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.

I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do?
Signed, Desperate

Dear Desperate:
First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, While Husband 1.0 is an Operating System. Please enter the command: 'http: I Thought You Loved Me.HTML' and try to download Tears 6.2 and don't forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources). Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0. In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Food 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck,
Tech Support

prize for the best comment

"I love how every Nickleback song sounds EXACTLY the same.

I also really love Chad Kroeger's great sense of style, and ultra sexy haircut. It really turns me on.

Where can I find a Kroeger for myself???

Oh yeah - on the 99B - Line.

Jill, thanks for the tip."

-Sonia

to avoid any confusion....

The shop where I bought my new bike is swapping parts from one frame to the frame I bought. Therefore, my foray into bicycle commuting does not start until the boyfriend drops me off on Saturday and we race back. Me on my bike, him in his truck. On Sunday, I do a trial run and see how far I go. I don't seriously think I can just start riding 20k a day out of no where and not hurt myself.

Thus, I was on the bus yesterday. And likely will be again because the buses in Vancouver have bike racks!!

no one cares if a rock star rides the bus

I swear to god Chad Kroeger from Nickleback got on the 99 B-Line at Main and Broadway today. He got on with some other guy that I couldn't see because Mr. Nickleback is 9 feet tall. He was wearing the usual "I'm a rock star" uniform and seemed to be looking around for the non existent clicks of cell phone cameras going off.


He got off on Broadway and Commercial. Obviously, he was looking for drugs because in this shot he's clearly wearing a Blunt Brothers tshirt and everyone knows Blunt Brothers is where you go in Vancouver to kit yourself to smoke pot. I think the trajectory is obvious, don't you?

The bus has really been getting to me.

Me: Hi Mom. I bought a bike (the one pictured!!) with the inheritance you gave me.

Mom: Did you buy a helmet too?

Yes I did. And a lock, and a set of fenders and a bike rack and at the end of it all, I told the man behind the counter if he through in a water bottle and holder, it was a deal. I also made the boyfriend promise that we would cycle Stanley Park regularly this summer.

All this is just in time for the Bike to Work Week. Wish me luck. It's a 10km commute each way. By the way, if you can't tell, it's a Brodie Infinity and I got a sweet deal because I chose a less expensive bike and the shop agreeed to swap the parts from that bike on to the lighter and better Infinity frame. At 1/2 hr to close, I also got them to cut a deal on the fenders, rack, and helmet. They threw in a water bottle and holder for free.

PS Mom: I love the color.
PPS: Brodie Bikes were created in Vancouver. Gotta support the local shops, right?
PPPS A Certain Jane: I get the bike on Saturday May 25 and bike to work week starts on Monday the 28.

Spencer Tunick nude photo shoot

Spencer Tunick nude photo shoot, originally uploaded by SaintsAsylum.

Spencer Tunick is the artist that gets all those naked people together for photographs. You know the ones. You think to yourself, "Mmn..looks like fun." Why don't you sign up for the next project in Amsterdam? I think he should do one of people shopping on Robson Street but it would probably do better on Rodeo Drive. Here's one he did in Brugge, of which I have just visited: