Misnomered

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

So my dream of avocados being 66¢ is pennies away from coming true.

On my way home yesterday I stopped a small local grocery store and saw that they had avocados for 69¢ each. In another grocery store a few weeks ago they were selling them 3 for $1.60-something.

Maybe dreams can come true.

Labels: food, March 2010

posted by Vanessa at 7:25 PM

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

I wish I'd written this down earlier because my memory has faded a bit...

My boyfriend is a musician. For New Year's Eve he and other local musicians played a night of covers. It was really fun,and between sets he would come see me, but for much of the evening I ended up just dancing with myself.

After our kiss at midnight he had to rush back to the stage to play the first song of the new year, a slow song. I was left standing there rather awkwardly as couples around me paired off. Into the song, he gestured for me to meet him just off stage left. He proceeded to kiss me while continuing to play the song. He later admitted it was actually really difficult. It's the sweetest thing he's ever done for me!

When that song ended, the finale was a cover of the Beatles' Hey Jude, which he pulled me on stage to sing along with the band.

Labels: February 2010, memories, music, photos

posted by Vanessa at 8:43 AM

Friday, January 15, 2010

With my impending graduation this May, I've been singing this song to myself the past few days. While I haven't been thinking of the rest of my life so much in the sense of settling down and getting married, I wonder what I'll do in terms of work/a career after I finish university.

I started thinkin’ bout
The rest of my life
I found my selfish looking out for
Trouble and strife
Someone with whom I’ll spend
The rest of my days
But if I ever said I wasn’t
Set in my ways
Then I guess you caught me
Lying to myself

What kind of fool
Doesn’t think about it?
What kind of fool
Doesn’t think about it?
You’d have to be a fool
Not to think about it

Am I gonna settle down
Am I gonna be
Someone who has to take
The rest of my life
To settle down?
Then I guess you caught me
Lying to myself

Who’ll make a man out of me?

One thing I know about
The rest of my life
I know that I’ll be
Living it in Canada
I know I said I’ll share
The rest of my days
But I was only
Going through a phase

Am I gonna settle down
Am I gonna be
Someone who has to take
The rest of my life
To settle down?
Then I guess you caught me
Lying to myself

What kind of fool
Doesn’t think about it?
What kind of fool
Doesn’t think about it?
You’d have to be a fool
Not to think about it?

Am I gonna settle down
Am I gonna be
Someone who has to take
The rest of my life

Am I gonna settle down
Am I gonna be
Someone who has to take
The rest of my life
To settle down?
Then I guess you caught me
Lying to myself

Am I gonna settle down
Am I gonna be
Someone who has to take
The rest of my life
To settle down?
Then I guess you caught me
Lying to myself

--Sloan, The Rest of My Life

Labels: introspection, January 2010, music

posted by Vanessa at 3:11 PM

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

I've blogged about missed connections before. I came across this one and thought it was cute.

I never check the missed connections on Craigslist so if someone was trying to get a hold of me it wouldn't work. I guess you take a chance when you post on missed connections. I wonder how often connections are made. Do you check missed connections?

Labels: January 2010, links

posted by Vanessa at 11:20 AM

Friday, December 18, 2009

2009 Polaris Music Prize winners Fucked Up have released a version of Do They Know It's Christmas?

Along with a portion of their $20,000 prize winnings, the band will donate the proceeds from this song to Canadian charities supporting women from Vancouver's Downtown East Side and Aboriginal women.

Give the song a listen here then buy the song for 99¢ from iTunes.

Labels: December 2009, links, music

posted by Vanessa at 4:41 PM

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

I made yogurt this past weekend. It was surprisingly easy!

I read around on the internet about how to make yogurt without a yogurt maker. I found this Epicurious article to be a helpful guide.

There are two ways to make yogurt, either with a bacteria starter or with a few spoonfuls of yogurt you already have so long as it has "active cultures." I decided to go the former route. I bought this Yogourmet yogurt bacteria starter at a health food store but have since seen at grocery stores.

The only other ingredient necessary is a litre of milk. Although I don't drink 2% milk, I used it for yogurt because I like my yogurt thicker. I got a good consistency with 2% milk.

The first sterilized a two glass jars and their lids I had by boiling them in a big pot for 15 mintues and then set them aside. Next I brought my milk to a boil, stirring occasionally so it didn't stick to the bottom of the pot. The milk needs to reach 180°F (a thermometre is helpful for this) to kill any bacteria that might be in it. As I don't have a microwave (like Megan does) and hadn't been using my oven that day, I turned it on low to heat it up while I was waiting for the milk to reach 180°F. After the milk has reached 180°F it needs to cool down to about 110°F.

The milk is cooling down

Once the milk has cooled to 110°F ladle a small amount into one of the sterilized jars and dissolve the yogurt starter bacteria in it. The milk mustn't be to hot when the starter bacteria is added or else it will kill them. For this reason, after my oven was warm I turned the oven off. Stir the dissolved bacteria into the larger pot of milk. Once the bacteria has been well stirred in the larger pot the only thing left to do is to ladle it into the sterilized jars and incubate the jars.

The yogurt incubating in my oven

To incubate the yogurt I place the jars in a casserole dish, wrapped them with dish towels and placed them in the oven with the light on. The Yogourmet package says that your yogurt can be ready in as little as 4.5 hours, but the longer you incubate the yogurt the thicker it will be. I left it incubating over night and went to see Ohbijou play.

The next morning I checked the consistency of my yogurt. Deciding it was amply thick I put it in the fridge for a little over an hour to set the yogurt and had it as part of my breakfast later that morning. It was delicious!

Homemade yogurt

I tend to go through yogurt really fast. Next time I'm going to try making it using a few spoonfuls of this batch as a starter.

A friend of mine who can buy farm-fresh organic yogurt for $5.25/900mL asked me about the cost. The food thermometre I bought was $6.71 but it's reusable again and again. The Yogourmet starter bacteria was $4.28 for six 5mL packages that can make 1L of yogurt each, which works out to 71¢ per packet. Therefore the cost of 1L of yogurt (not counting the thermometre, electricity, time etc.) is equal to the cost of the starter (which would be a one-time cost if you then used yogurt as a starter), 71¢, plus the cost of milk you buy for a total cost of about $2.50-$4.00/1L depending on the milk you buy.

Labels: food, music, November 2009, photos

posted by Vanessa at 11:04 PM

Friday, October 30, 2009

It's always interesting when you get to the point where you can't tell if what you're writing is genius or just the sleep-deprived drivel.

Labels: introspection, October 2009, school

posted by Vanessa at 12:25 AM

Monday, September 14, 2009

Scene: Walking back from breakfast Sunday morning.

Vanessa: "So there's this rhinoceros I really want to buy..."

Hayley: "What are you? An eccentric billionaire?"

Vanessa: "No! It's this porcelain rhinoceros I saw at Front that I really want."

And I've found him on the internet!

But at $38 I think I would like him better if I found him at a thrift store. If I did spring for it and buy him I would give him a good home on my bedroom ledge and use him as one half of a bookend or display him prominently in my home some other way.

Labels: art, decor + design, links, photos, quotes, September 2009

posted by Vanessa at 10:49 PM

Sunday, September 13, 2009

So along with probably every other woman in North America and the blogosphere, I saw Julie & Julia.

I really enjoyed everything about the experience of seeing Julie & Julia. I saw it with my best friend Hayley a few days after it came out in theatres. It was really funny to walk up to the box office just shortly before the movie time and see a long line of women with a few husbands and boyfriends in tow. There were women (and men) from all age brackets in attendance, which really enhanced the experience as the older ladies would laugh at Meryl Streep's re-enactments of Julia Child's cooking show; for them there was an added layer to laugh at because many of them had likely seen Julia Child's cooking show. Meryl Streep did such a phenomenal job as Julia Child, I'm sure she'll at least get a nod for Best Actress.

It was hard to leave Julie & Julia not feeling excited about cooking. Cooking has become a greater interest of mine in the last year or so. I really enjoy cooking well for myself and others. A few culinary projects of mine that I've been meaning to get to are:

- learn to roast vegetables properly (last winter I tried to roast yam but I burnt it/dried it out instead and it didn't really taste cooked);

- cook fennel. I've been coming across this vegetable at the grocery store and at markets so I want to learn how to cook it.

Julie & Julia also had me thinking about my dream kitchen. Julia Child's kitchens were so spacious. I would love to have a kitchen large enough for me to have a work table like the one pictured above. I would also love for that table to be able to double as a harvest kitchen table, but I would also want to have a dining room as an option too.

I love my place. The kitchen, however, has very little counter space. I have two small counters. The main counter space is about 2 feet wide by 3 feet deep and is where most of the chopping and food preparation happens. It can really get cluttered if dishes are not done right after a meal. The other counter is maybe only 1.5 feet wide and holds a dish rack, a block of knives, paper towel (which I use sparingly) and dish soap. My room mate has a chest of wicker baskets which holds kitchen things, the top of which gives us another surface.

We didn't have a kitchen table for nearly two weeks when we moved in (I wasn't bothered, I was on vacation for a week). We decided that to maximize our living space (our kitchen and living room are one big open concept room) a drop-leaf table was ideal. On Craigslist I found the perfect vintage arborite drop-leaf table--the pattern of the arborite even matched that of my grandmaman's kitchen tables. The nice thing about the drop-leaf table is how compact it is when the leaves are down. We now have enough surface space to cook and I will continue dreaming of my future kitchen when watching Julie & Julia when it comes out on DVD.

Labels: decor + design, food, movies, photos, quotes, September 2009

posted by Vanessa at 6:17 PM

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

The boy and I left early Sunday morning and made it across the United States border in record time.

Although American culture inundates Canada so much so that it's nearly impossible to avoid, I anticipated culture shock. The first instance of culture shock came less than half an hour into the trip. We stopped to fuel at the first gas station we passed. We also decided to pick up some apples and bananas to eat in the car during the drive. I'd seen a self-checkout before, but only one at the Home Depot or Canadian Tire, not a dozen at once. It was strange. We didn't use it and instead let the lonely cashier ring our order.

We stopped for lunch in the Seattle neighbourhood of Fremont, where we'd gone to see the Lenin Statue. We ate a a funky diner that reminded me a lot of Sophie's and indulged in a weekend tradition I love, that of all-day breakfast. I had Eggs Benny and was mildly disappointed when I got hashbrowns instead of home fries--I prefer my breakfast potatoes cubed rather than slawed.

We walked around Fremont a bit after lunch and passed through a Sunday street market. I would like to have been able to check Pike Place Market, but we had to hit the road because or destination for the day was Portland. I saw the Space Needle from the car--I think it was my first time seeing it in person.

To be continued...

Labels: food, history, photos, September 2009, travelling

posted by Vanessa at 9:18 PM

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

I'm pretty much settled after my latest move August 1st. In a city with a less than 1 percent vacancy rate, I find moving quite a stressful ordeal. This move, however, was rather serendipitous.

As I knew of many people who did not find places for September 1 last year, I began my search early. Initially I was looking for a bachelor or one bedroom, but this would have stretched my finances. In June I found a room mate, a girl I've taken four classes with at university. I wasn't going to start looking for places until she returned from her trip to Africa in mid-July but it so happened that I decided to browse Craiglist out of curiosity a few days before July 1. I came across a great sounding listing: a two bedroom suite in my preferred neighbourhood, which happens to be a transit hub, with on-site laundry, utilities, internet (and basic cable) included. As my boyfriend and room mate were out of town, I called up a friend who used to live in the neighbourhood and asked her to come see it. As luck would have it, this was her old place (she lived here in 2007/08). The landlady recognized her immediately and I got the place!

Apparently I have a penchant for travelling on the heels of momentous events. My boy and I moved my stuff August 1st and left the next day on a road trip down the Oregon Coast to San Francisco--a trip I've wanted to take for four or five years.

To be continued...

Labels: September 2009, travelling

posted by Vanessa at 8:32 PM

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Although I had read Nineteen Eighty-Four in high school, I did not consider George Orwell a favourite author of mine until I had read his essay Politics and the English Language. I liked the essay so much that I've decided that if I ever find myself in a teaching position, I'll will assign it as mandatory reading. As I recall, my mentor had lent me her copy of the volume of The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letter of George Orwell (judging from volumes three and four that she lent me, this is an excellent series that I must acquire myself) containing the essay because in third year a prof had returned a paper of mine bleeding with edits (I've been told several times thus far throughout my academic career that I write well). This was probably a year and a half ago and as I am in the midst of packing to move, I've come across these tomes again.

Before returning them, however, I peaked inside and rediscovered my appreciation for Orwell's clear, frank writing style. I read the essay Books v. Cigarettes, which was originally published in the Tribune February 8, 1946. The premise of the article is to debunk the notion that books are too expensive a hobby for the average person. His argument intrigued me as I was told, growing up, that books were expensive and it was better to borrow them from a library. I don't often buy new books for myself, but I have given books as gifts. The idea that it is better to borrow than buy books is so ingrained in me that last month during my last book purchase I actually debated whether or not to buy the book or just request it at the library and wait x months to get it. However, similar to Orwell, I concluded there were a lot worse things that I could spend $13 than a paperback.

To determine the cost of owning and reading books, Orwell estimates the cost of his own collection. To approximate how much he's spent on books, Orwell first determines how he appropriated his books. His categories are: "Bought (mostly second-hand); Given to me or bought with book tokens; Review copies and complimentary copies; Borrowed and not returned; Temporarily on loan." Orwell is very insightful in his discussion of how he acquired his books -- methods that are applicable to all and summarised into one of my favourite sentences of the essay: "This is because book-giving, book-borrowing and book-stealing more or less even out." I like this sentence because it reminds me that I've obtained certain of the books on my shelves by prolonged borrowing or book-stealing (and, come to think of it, that I'm exonerated for doing so). The first that comes to mind is a book I borrowed two years ago and have thus far kept and hope to keep. The second is my copy of Albert Camus' L'étranger, which I got from a friend who still had his copy from high school. To be fair, I've given back into the system, by way of forgetting my paperback copy of The Da Vinci Code I had bought for the flight to Britain under the bed at a friend of a friend's house in Eastbourne -- fortunately I'd finished it the night before.

Amusingly, Orwell concludes that reading, whether one purchases new, second-hand, or borrows books is a cheaper pass-time, although perhaps less exciting, than the more widespread hobbies of smoking and drinking.

Labels: books, July 2009

posted by Vanessa at 11:07 PM

Sunday, July 26, 2009

My boyfriend caught The Daredevil Christopher Wright at NXNE, where they played three shows. Apparently they hadn't brought (enough) merch and so they called their mom and she drove up from Wisconsin with more -- how sweet! Anyways, my boy gave raved about these guys and their musicianship as he played their record for me. He even went so far as to say they "sing like angels." Check it out! I especially recommend giving the song A Conversation About Cancer a listen.

Labels: July 2009, music

posted by Vanessa at 9:41 PM

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

I came across this Jamie Oliver recipe for minted pea yogourt dip via Frolic. I made it for lunch today with mint leaves from my own potted garden. It is yummy and the perfect dish on a hot summer day.

Labels: food, July 2009, links, photos

posted by Vanessa at 1:39 PM

Thursday, July 16, 2009

My invitation arrived in the mail yesterday morning. It was a good start to the day, primarily because I'd already seen the design, absolutely loved it, and couldn't wait to get it in the mail!

The bride's sister-in-law-to-be, a graphic design student, designed the invitations.

The wedding is taking place the Friday of Thanksgiving weekend, so the tree with autumn leaves fits perfectly.

I love how the leaves carry throughout the invitation as though the wind is blowing them. I really like the choice of a shimmery brown envelope for the RSVP, it ties in nicely with the brown tree trunk.

As not everyone who will be invited to the ceremony will be invited to the reception, I think the separate little "and the celebration continues..." card with the reception information is an ingenious idea! The bride and groom met at a swing dancing club, so they will be having swing dancing at the reception and are providing a dance lesson before dinner -- an excellent idea!

Only three more month until the wedding; I'm really looking forward to it!

Labels: art, July 2009, photos

posted by Vanessa at 4:08 PM

Monday, June 29, 2009

I came across this blog, Missed Connections via Frolic. Brooklyn-based Sophie Blackall finds inspiration in New York's Craigslist Missed Connection postings and creates these lovely illustrations.

Cursive by Sophie Blackall

I was reminded of a sort of missed connection experience of my own. When I was about 16 I was heading to work at the movie theatre one winter evening on the bus. After I had returned home, I dumped out my messenger bag and found a little note folded in half written on the torn off corner of a piece of white paper. "Read me," one of the folded sides said. Inside the note it said something like "E-mail me [and then whatever his e-mail address was] from the cute boy sitting behind you on the bus." He had somehow managed to slip the note into my purse. I wasn't interested, but out of curiosity I added the guy to MSN messenger. He ended up being goth type guy (judging by his profile picture) about ten years older me. I didn't find him cute, nor a "boy." He was very embarrassed about the age difference and apologetic about the note. After that brief chat we never talked again. I think I blocked and deleted him as a contact.

Labels: art, June 2009, links, observations

posted by Vanessa at 2:04 PM

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Public transit is one of those environments that lends itself to interaction with strangers. Sometimes it's a conversation about the weather, other times the interaction is non-verbal. The latter is often more interesting.

Returning home after dinner with a friend earlier this evening, I noticed a rainbow in the sky just as the bus was pulling out of uptown. I naturally put my book down to admire it.

The rainbow formed a perfect arc in the sky. I wondered if the handsome guy sitting in the row in front of me, who had been courteous enough to ask me if reclining his seat would disturb me, could see the rainbow. It was then that the handsome guy sitting in the row in front of me started photographing the rainbow with his camera phone. I myself had been thinking of doing the same thing. Encouraged, I pulled out my camera and snapped a few shots.

Labels: June 2009, observations, transit

posted by Vanessa at 10:12 PM

Monday, June 22, 2009

I've taken to cycling after dinner around the town that I grew up to hate and have found a lot to love about it in its architecture. I think next time I'll bring my camera to capture it all.

* * *
After work the Saturday before last, I met one of my best friends and ran a couple of errands on Main, including buying nice stationary so that I would stop procrastinating and get something in the mail to my cousin while she's still teaching English in Korea. We unexpectedly came across a sidewalk sale as we walked down the street to the restaurant where we planned to have dinner. She found a nice skirt, while I admired the geometric patterned umbrellas.

Aside from meeting a friend from drinks, last weekend I was sure to enjoy the nice weather while it lasts. One of the best parts was enjoying fresh, local berries.

On Saturday I had some delicious blueberries. I have a very particular memory associated with blueberries. This particular childhood memory consists of visiting my Grandpapa in Québec during the summer. I don't remember what kind of car her had, but it was an older model from the 70s or 80s and had the option of seating three in the front seat. My Grandpapa lived in the Québec countryside. Grandpapa, dad, sisters, cousins and I would pile into the car and drive up a gravel country road to our ancestral lands. I remember it was a bumpy ride and occasionally a small rock would ping the side of the car, as happens when driving on gravel roads. My Grandpapa would then lead the way and show us to where the wild blueberry bushes were and we would pick blueberries. So many blueberries. This is one of my fondest childhood memories and I recall it whenever I eat plain blueberries.

On Sunday, I went to a local farm and picked gorgeous red strawberries. This is something I haven't done in years, but greatly enjoy. I was amused when a mum told her children, who were picking next to me, to leave the small ones and to come with her to find the nice, big red ones. There was a variation in the size of the berries, but overall they were generally smaller and less symmetrical than store bought strawberries imported from California. The added bonus of these local berries was that instead of being white on the inside and bland, they were juicy, red and much better tasting. It reminded me of having discovered a small strawberry plant in the front yard of my sublet last summer. The plant yielded about half a dozen fingernail-sized berries. Despite being puny, the berries were exponentially more flavourful than its imported cousins several times their size.

I don't eat anything near a 100 per cent organic, but it's something I strive for. Generally this was because there was no uniform regulation governing what produce could and could not be labeled as organic in Canada. In a few days, however, eating organic in Canada will become much easier as new regulations governing organic produce will come into force.

Labels: food, introspection, June 2009, memories, observations, photos

posted by Vanessa at 11:38 PM

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been a threat to the arts long before his comments during the last federal election about “rich galas” for artists.

When he announced the axing of [plans for the] the National Portrait Gallery in Ottawa, it prompted the editors at Art Threat to launch a national portrait contest. “Framing Harper” was a call-out to artists and activists across Canada to create a portrait of Stephen Harper that would capture the PM’s “appreciation” of arts and culture in Canada.

My friend submitted the portrait on the left and made it into the top 23 finalists: