I LOVE this hat

It's from this Etsy site. By the way, my head size is medium and I like it in Eggplant, Black linen, and Black and White herringbone.

I think it would go really great with my new necklace.

chainlink

Take the day off and be gay.

Go shopping

Have a cute overload.

away

IMGP2252.JPG, originally uploaded by jill y.

just in case you forgot...

no milk for you

I'm excited about the new Sean Penn movie about Harvey Milk.



I know there's a bunch of people out there that may see this and I think you should pass this on.

Please do not go see Milk at a Cinemark Theatre. You can go to this website and type in your city to find the theatre to avoid spending a single dollar at. Go by a quart of milk instead and make hot chocky at home and wait for the video.

"The CEO of Cinemark, Alan Stock, donated $9,999 to the Yes on 8Campaign, but will now profit from showing MILK in his theaters."

So, you know.. look for your local Indie theatre or wait for it to come out on video cause it's wrong to deny a human being the right to marry based on their race, age, religion or sexual orientation.

on the list

Thanksgiving Day Parade, originally uploaded by t_a_i_s.

On year, I would like to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in NY first hand. This shit is trippy.

for sale in Havana

flower cart, originally uploaded by jill y.

guess what??

IMGP4893, originally uploaded by jill y.

go boom

Shelley came to my door this morning. We normally meet in the park.

"I wiped out."

"Oh my god, are you OK?"

"Ya. everything is fine. It's slippery in some spots. Wear your rain coat. If you fall, you'll slide instead of fleece hitting the pavement."

I just looked at her grimly.

We spent the morning commute talking about wipeouts and injuries. All la-de-da. And then just before going down a hill, and around a roundabout, my rear wheel slide out under me and down I went.

PS. I always wear a helmet and gloves.

I don't menstruate, so I don't know how I could smell like I'm menstruating.

Michael, Rene and I went to see Synecdoche, New York tonight. It's the new Phillip Seymour Hoffman movie.

All I can say is the movie is a meta film rife with sub plots, surrealism, and double meanings. I'm not even to sure i can summarize this movie..

Death of a Salesman and the redundant and meaningless themes of Willy Loman fly overhead in wafts while Caden, played by Hoffman disintegrates slowly both physically and emotionally as he looses his wife (who leaves him for the fame of her microscopic art in Berlin) and launches into a grand production of the mundane by creating a life size version of New York inside a warehouse, with a cast of hundreds, instructed to play their roles based on slips of paper he gives them. Symbolic geatures of dopplegangers, the microscopic art he peers at with magnifying lenses and the overwhelming production of his larger than life play remind us that life is not all that it seems to be or is exactly as mundane as we feared.

Synecdoche (pronounced "si-nek-duh-kee", meaning "simultaneous understanding")

is a figure of speech in which:
* a term denoting a part of something is used to refer to the whole thing, or
* a term denoting a thing (a "whole") is used to refer to part of it, or
* a term denoting a specific class of thing is used to refer to a larger, more general class, or
* a term denoting a general class of thing is used to refer to a smaller, more specific class, or
* a term denoting a material is used to refer to an object composed of that material.
"http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/11/o_synecdoche_my_synecdoche.html"

Go see it.

the crawl update

I don't know why I torture myself with the Crawl. I go every year to find myself wandering into studios, to quickly spin on my heels. I know what I like and it's often not abstract, garish, or $2000. And if it's not for the bad art, it's the crowds of people and ones who linger in the entrance ways of studios that make me want to body slam my way out.

No seriously. I'm picky. I like simple things. Things that have a lot of negative space. Things with sinewy lines.

I'm not in the market for beautiful wood furniture or paintings 8 feet tall. I saw some beautiful things though but why torture myself with long gazing admirings? And when I did, it was sold!

What I do really enjoy is seeing the personal objects and presence in the studios. I gaze over them. The items pinned to the walls for inspiration, the paint splattered floors and old thrift store furniture, the notes. When I go into the live/work studios of the ARC, I coyly look at the items pinned to the refrigerators, look at the beds and contemplate opening the cupboards under the guise of "looking for art".

I do. I honestly prefer the voyeuristic aspects to the Crawl more than the art.

BUT: I did find 2 somethings wonderful.

I found a beautiful black wool shawl with woven flowers of pinks and blues with vibrant shades of green leaves. It reminded me of a painting I have.

I found a website and was drawn to the images of one photographer. When I found the studio, the image was for sale and I bought it. It's the image of birds on the 1st page of the website for Clayton Cooper. I should have bought the old abandoned farmhouse shot as well.

What would you imagine?

IMGP2367.JPG, originally uploaded by jill y.

learning to Crawl

Today is the East Vancouver Culture Crawl. The weekend when all the artists studios are opened to the public and you wander around looking at what they make and forraging at the bowls of licorice and chocolate, chips and carafes of hot cider.

It almost always rains being as it's held in late November and it's cold. So it's good to have a plan.

One thing is for sure is I'm headed to the Arc for this photographer

Me and Whylie back in the day

for the Prairies

once upon a time

deitrus, originally uploaded by jill y.

I took my uncle Wiley for a drive in the countryside he grew up in. I saw something out in a treeline that caught my eye. As I am prone to do, I took off in search of the photo, leaving my Grandmother and her brother in the car.

As they are prone to do- they worried and strained in sight to make sure I didn't get caught in a coyote trap or something.

I snapped this photo.

Last night, Wiley died. He was 91. I liked to go visit him because he had a mischievous smile, wore plaid farmer shirts and suspenders, smelled old and reminded me of a black and white photo from the 30's. He was a charmer, a kind soul, and a helpful hand.

When I was small, we would visit his farm, down the road, from my grandmothers. His wife was a singer and would sit at the piano. They had kittens or some other kind of small farm animal that appeals to children. I distinctly remember sitting on some carpeted stairs trying to keep a kitten or two hostage with me, while I escaped the towering figures of the adults in the house.

Good bye Wiley. I'm sorry we won't have any more opportunities to go for a drive in the countryside.

xoJill

My Root Canal- the saga continues

That big long white line in the middle of my tooth- that's all fake. It's filling baby. As in drill that root out and fill 'er up with something else.

Fascinated- aren't you?

just in case

In case you missed the awesomeness of Baked Raspberry French Toast that I enjoyed at a recent stay at Penelope's B& B in Maple Ridge (courtesy of my mom and with my sister).. I found the recipe. I wouldn't dare not make this, unless you're a vegan.

Makes: 2 servings
– 4 slices day-old Italian bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
– 1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries or blueberries
– 2 oz. cream cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
– 3 eggs
– 1 cup milk
– 1 Tbsp maple syrup
– 1/4 tsp poppy seeds

The night before: Grease two 8-ounce ramekins or large muffin tins. Line bottom half of tins with bread cubes. Cover with raspberries or blueberries and cream cheese cubes and top with remaining bread. Mix eggs, milk and syrup and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Pour mixture over bread, cover and let soak overnight in refrigerator.

In the morning: Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes or until puffy and golden. Remove French toast from ramekins and top with Berry Compote or Lemon Sauce (see recipes below).

Berry Compote

– zest and juice of 1 lemon
– 1 Tbsp water
– 4 cups fresh or frozen berries
– 1 Tbsp maple syrup
– 1/8 tsp cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over medium heat until berries begin to break down and sauce starts to thicken. Serve over French toast.

Lemon Sauce

– 1 egg
– 3/4 cup sugar
– 4 Tbsp lemon juice
– zest of 1 large lemon
– 1 Tbsp butter

Whisk together first four ingredients and cook over low heat, stirring constantly. After sauce begins to thicken, stir in butter just to combine. Serve warm over French toast as an alternative to the berry compote.

did I miss a day

Of my Nablopomo challenge?

I went out of town.

My mom came to town and with my sister, we drove out to Kilby. It was pretty interesting but we got there about 10 minutes before it closed. Next time I'll know how far it actually is from Vancouver.


View Larger Map

We stayed in a really sweet B&B in Maple Ridge where we had bread pudding french toast for breakfast with raspberries and lemon sauce (which I got to take the rest home) and with a little googling.. I found the recipe.

We drove my mom to the Abbotsford International Airport and learned all about clepsydres, where one of the few is on display. Odd.

knit or crotchet me

You know you want to. Think of it as a pillow. I'll think of it as a possible Christmas present.



Of if you can't bear the thought of my kindergarten school portrait etched in embroidery floss, you can make your own.