En Vogue - My Lovin'

Another under-rated musical act.

Soul II Soul - Keep on Movin'

What can I say? Even before high school, I knew influential music when I heard it.

Wise Up

Graphic Design porn

Short Letterpress Documentary

As discovered on Drawn!.

Sick like dog

I've spent the past three days sleeping erratically and having various off-coloured fluids escape through my mouth and nose.

On Monday, I stepped into the elevator in the apartment building and, before hitting any buttons, felt a sharp, stabbing pain in my abdomen. As it didn't subside quickly, I decided that it would be prudent to call in sick. The lack of relapse over the next few hours led me to believe that a trip to the grocery store and a bread-making session with Frank wouldn't cause any harm. The bread turned out beautifully, but the trip to the grocery store ended in a fit of sniffles and sneezes. I napped almost immediately upon returning home, only to find that my mildly-irritated throat had erupted into a full-blown, sore, scratchy throat. I slept fitfully on Monday night, and woke on Tuesday, feeling worse than I had the previous day. I spent most of the day watching She-Ra episodes and napping sporadically. While I had the energy in the morning, I made a chicken soup with Campbell's Organic Vegetable Broth, chicken leg and thigh meat, onion, garlic, ginger, fresh tarragon (thanks, Caty!), carrot and portobello mushroom. Feeling better on Tuesday night, I was optimistic that I'd spend most of Wednesday finishing my recuperation, so that I could return to work on Thursday.

This was before I discovered that the construction for the condo being built next door had knocked out not only the power to our building, but phone service as well. For the hour that power was restored, I managed to reheat the leftover soup and make myself a pot of tea. I was hesitant to venture outside of the apartment after we lost power again, knowing that I'd eventually — in my already respiratorily-distressed state — have to climb the stairs back up. Around 7pm (about 8 hours after my previous meal), I asked Matt to go to the local "Mom and Pop" to pick me up a dinner, distressed to discover that my voice had deteriorated from almost-normal in the morning, to barely audible and wavering in the evening. I also had dizzy spells while Matt was out getting my dinner.

Power was fully restored at about 7:30, with phone service returning about 2 hours later, but I suspect that the inconveniences of the day have set my recovery back by at least a day.

As a sidenote, whoever authorized construction on these condos also approved the destruction of at least a half-dozen of the near-mature trees our building had lining our walkway. This reckless disregard for nature came as news was breaking that more trees are to be planted in the community to better meet the Kyoto Accord requirements.

That's two strikes against them, in my book.

The big 3-0



Saturday was spent at Sibbald Point Provincial Park, as per tradition, in celebration of my newly-acquired "triple-decades of existence" status. I've uploaded pics (yay! underwater camera case!) to a new Flickr photoset.

As always, it was a good time with yummy food and great company.

At a loss for words...

I'm still struggling with the question of what I share of what life has been like lately, and with whom. Before this year, I was of the opinion that I was as open a person as you'd ever meet. I thought that asking a "personal" question of me would always elicit an honest and direct response. A blog, while not necessarily broadcasting the details of my life and personal history, was just a way of effectively sharing what's been on my mind with friends and family.

Before blogging, you simply communicated directly with whomever you wished to speak with, about whichever topic or topics you chose. With blogging, you're withholding details about your day-to-day existence, and when that existence is practically filled-to-the-brim with intensely sensitive, personal issues, you find yourself at a loss for words.

Success! Vegan Coconut Ice Cream

Much appreciation goes to A Vegan Ice Cream Paradise for providing the basic recipe I needed to get a rich and creamy non-dairy ice cream out of my ice cream maker.

I modified her Coconut Squared recipe, using 2 cans of Y&Y brand unsweetened, sulphite-free coconut milk from Thailand (at a hefty 34g of fat/200mL serving), Bob's Red Mill's Arrowroot Starch (which my local Loblaws currently stocks), omitting the coconut extract and coconut flakes, and adding chocolate chunks. The chocolate chunks were surprisingly overpowering, and I think I won't be using them again. Perhaps next time I'll add some frozen strawberry chunks from my recent picking-adventures instead.