dreamland

sonja ahlers

sweet thing

i can't lie, like a lot of other crafty people right now i really really would love to save up for a piece of Wiksten clothing. probably the Orchard House dress (see the sweet red thing below). realistically, the chances of me having that sort of expendable cash at the exact right moment another one of those goes on sale are slim to none. i very much love all of Jenny Gordy's designs. i want to sew so detailed! she inspired me to order the autumn Toast catalogue (all the way from the UK for freeeeee) which i am happy about because it is just the perfect combination of melancholy and pretty. and printed with vegatable ink on recycled paper. little things, right? little momentary recognitions of feeling happy.

hrmhrm.

in other news i just fixed up an old serger and i'm having a creative FREAK OUT!!!!

autumn in iceland

i might drown in rain and falling maple leaves listening to this song by Ólöf Arnalds which you can hear too by clicking on the 'this' and downloading the first song by her off this other blog i have linked to the 'this'. but listen with caution; otherwise come spring there will be dozens of half frozen music lovers thawing with the snow and poking through the paritally rotten ruffage.

in other news, i wanted a piano picture for the last post and i wish i had found this one earlier
"salt & sea piano keys" - evan b. harris

i would write a song

if i could do it so that i could start conversations about things i've known forever but rarely remember. should i release them one at a time or just put together a big list right away? one at a time would probably deliver a little more punch. though they're mostly soft things so such an aggressive turn of phrase is sort of an inaccurate way to speak about them.

1. sitting down at the piano and tired of playing but stay just touching and looking at it. you go to shut it but hold the key door (what are those things called?) hovering just above them so that you can see the numbers at the top of each key. yup, 88 just like there's supposed to be. someone said eighty-eight this morning and i remembered each key's red stamped number.

2. here's another because that was maybe a bad one to start off with. when was the last time you remembered that bears actually sleep for six months of the year!

3. i've now officially decided against the original gradual-release plan. what about caterpillars wrapping themselves up in a homemade cocoon and becoming something entirely different two weeks later.

4. blue whales are so so big.

5. there are cougars in southern ontario. this is not really supposed to be on the list but i forget the rest right now and just remembered about the cougar sighting in lindsay a couple of days ago.

self-portrait (I tried to leave you on the plane)

instead i had a new friend look at my energies and take all that was left calcified on my diaphragm and kidneys with six shudders and a weird sort of smile.

where do all the birds go to die

i wonder. all the urban critters really. it's not too often i glance down a montreal alleyway to see a bloated raccoon belly up between the garbage and recycling. where are they all hiding?

i had a lot of thoughts on death on my 15 hour train ride to croatia a couple of days ago. there's been more death around me then ever before recently...how can i help to not think about it so much? what an absurd response to life. but i've decided not to write about it anymore. maybe another time. 

in other news. i wanted to clarify the rather flippant europe-is-so-europe comment. what i meant was, traveling europe on a budget is so traveling europe on a budget. a hostel in any city could be the same one somewhere else. same people as far as you can see, really. and once you've used up all your friendly european resources and have started to regret your methods of traveling (unplanned and random, limited opportunities to couchsurf) you are stuck with second rate hostels and people trying to get you on pub crawls. all the time. i would move to berlin or budapest but please, no more hostels. 

going to a wine and brine

yes, pickled cheese is available as a side dish to your pilsner urquell in the Czech Republic. and it is delicious.

liz you sure are hilarious and i wish you the best of luck with all your upcoming food endeavors. note: i probably am a liar with regards to toronto. second note: may live in sweet loft in montreal. won't that be a nice place to stay when you visit me? sub-second note: how sweet would it be if i transfered my skills to aux vivres?
i could whip up some vegelox for us when you stay with me. eh? eh? aux vivres miso gravy might trump fresh's if i may say so. if i may.

third note: i am ready to stop being in europe. it is so europe, you know what i mean? i am tired of defending and undefending canada, dispelling myths and all of that, taunted by americans with regards my accent, too many 18 year olds, etc. etc.
4th: going to croatia should be fun though. will avoid hills and all hidden land mines present.
5th: may pick berries on the west side of our-home-on-native-land for august + septemberish...any one looking for work? come with!
6th: swimming in confusing sentiment most of the time, i am. will anything ever straighten out. i sure wonder.

i've seen so much nathalie djurberg this summer.