Yes, I'm Thankful

I'm also thankful that I have such wonderful friends and family, who have supported, helped, nurtured and cajoled me in countless ways.
THANK YOU!
I LOVE YOU!
un beso ❤

Bright in Gastown

Davie Day Street Festival 2011

Yesterday was the Davie Day Street Festival. Davie was closed from Burrard to Broughton and all manner of kiosks were set up to trade all kinds of wares and opinions. I wandered from end to end. There were loads of art, local one of a kind handmade bags and dresses, food stalls and the usual hawkers of scarves, peasant dresses, paraphernalia and hats. I'm not much for main stage performances at street festivals so I didn't stick around to watch.

Here's a tour of what did catch my eye:


I loved the eccentric energy of these guys from Bowen Island called the Black Sheep Morris Dancers.

Waiting By The Sea

A photo of me taken by my friend, Sarah Allen, on Salt Spring Island. Post production done by me.

Madeline?

Someone pointed this out to me today, the second time it's happened since I moved to Vancouver. It's true. I haven't had any sort of fashion plan. No flags I've been meaning to wave. I simply put on clothes that please me viscerally. Most are hand me downs from friends (and so remind me of them), value village scores (for the win), or gifts from a fashionable brother (which makes me feel lucky). My yellow pea coat has followed me from Edmonton to Victoria to Calgary to Winnipeg, Madrid, London, and Vancouver. The mary janes are newer, I got them during the famed Spanish rebajas (sales) in Madrid last summer. I love wearing my black Camper boots in the winter and black mary janes the rest of the time. The combination of coat and shoes was inevitable. Little did I know I would be unwittingly channeling the charmingly impetuous, irrepressibly mischievous, Madeline, the feisty French girl created by Ludwig Bemelmans. I did not grow up with the stories. I have never seen nor read any of the classic Madeline. How I've gone this long without knowing this character, astonishes me! That I happen to now dress (unknowingly) like her gives me a thrilling shiver of amusement. I must find her stories and devour them! I need to know about this girl. I have a feeling I'm going to be smittened. I don't know why I'm channelling the fashion sense of a little Parisian girl but that's what I've done and it's damn hilarious.

Mindfulness 2.0 – The Future Of Mood Management?

Nancy Dougherty, an engineer at Proteus Biomedical, made her own set of "mindfulness pills" with embedded sensors that transmits signals to her phone, recording each time she took a different pill. By playing with technology and the placebo effect, she has found a way to manage her mood through mindfulness and quantified feedback via her phone. For example, she found that taking the "energy" pill actually made her bike harder, and a "focus" pill made her do more work. As a result, she found she didn't need to use the "calm" or "happy" pills. Watch this fascinating video for more details.

Vancouver Zombie Walk 2011

All photos by Shehani Kay.