five fun (chocolate) things #08

In honor of my chocolate diamond ring, here are some unexpected and original uses for chocolate.

1. Root Beer Bundt Cake

   Root Beer has always been my favourite soda flavour, since I was a wee girl, and my parents have the photos to prove my adoration for chocolate cake (everybody has one of those cake-smeared first birthday pictures somewhere, right?). This recipe has me salivating at the very concept of combining the two, and does what the Baked boys do best - capture the joy of childhood in cake form.

2. Chocolate Beer Cupcakes

   Beer. Chocolate.

   Chocolate. Beer.

   Nuff said, am I right?

   Actually, this whole Superbowl menu sounds pretty awesome. I might just find an excuse to have a Superbowl party, even though I can’t stand sports.

3. Chocolate Truffle Tart with Creme Brule

   I am Amelie when it comes to Creme Brule. A meal out just isn’t complete without it - and shame on those fancy chefs out there screwing with the classic and adding all manner of flavoring to overpower it’s simple, sweet, creamy, custardy, caramely glory.

   But this? Placing a classic creme brule on top of a truffle tart? Keeping both flavors distinct, but delightfully paired? I approve. Carry on.

4. Guinness Chocolate Ice Cream

   More beer. More chocolate. This time involving Guinness and ice cream. There is no no. There is only YES!

5. New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie

   This is the one recipe on this list I have tried and loved - and boy did I love. This recipe has been thoroughly making the rounds on the ol’ blogosphere - and for good reason. It’s a revolutionary way of making and old favourite that just might turn your world a little tipsy turvy. Although one needn’t buy into the hype of using special flour, and fancy chips. Just use whatever you have around, the real important part is to let the dough sit in the fridge for at least 24 hours, and to salt the tops before you pop them in the oven. Then prepare for heaven on earth, inside of your mouth.

five fun things #3

A few more things I’d like to share:

1. Small Magazine

   I tend to swoon over adorable, high-end childrens magazines. This one is free and on the internet, so I don’t have to feel weird about paying money for a magazine about something I don’t have (yet).

   And really, I would wear every last outfit in there if they made it adult sizes. There is some gorgeous, swoon-worthy stuff. Check it out.

2. Pumpkin Recipes

   It’s a pumpkiny season, and there is a bumper crop of squashes out there to be scooped up at discounted prices, so a New York Times collection of pumpkin based recipes is pretty timely. Plus, pumpkins are delicous.

3. Ombre Crafts

   Ombre is pretty. Crafts are fun. These pretty and fun ombre crafts live in that unique Martha Stewart universe where crafty projects end up looking high end, and elegant. You know, as opposed our own dimension where the words “Crafty” and “Elegant” are often mutually exclusive.

4. Typocalypse

   Diagnose your font use. Figure out what your typography choices say about you (I like to dance on the ceiling, it turns out).

5. the candi factory

   Karen over at Say It With Pie has long sung the praises of these hand made, artisinal undies. They went on sale, so I finally broke down and bought a set - a days of the weeks set, to be specific - because who doesn’t love an adorable days of the weeks set of underwear? And they’re typographic underwear, no less! Monday is Cooper Black!

   Karen says, on top of being really cute, they last forever, and are super comfy. So far I’ve already found the latter to be inordinately true. These things are heaven. Plus, I am strongly behind any operation that simply does not believe in thongs. Sing it, sister.

how my garden grows

These are some of the things I shall be planting over the next couple weeks (May 9th is the no-frost date around here, and there are no more zero degrees celsius lows on the weather report). I’m worried we won’t have enough space for everything.

There’s been a little cold snap here, so my gardening has been temporarily postponed up until… Well, today actually - and today I have to go get allergy tests, so boo. No gardening yet. Soon though.

For the record there is:

1. rainbow swiss chard
2. purple basil
3. mixed, multi coloured heirloom tomatoes
4. golden pear mini-tomatoes
5. scarlet red carrots
6. sugar snap peas
7. spaghetti squash
8. yellow courgettes
9. icebox watermelon
10. poppies

As well as the chocolate mint, yellow strawberries, thyme, oregano, and sage I already have going.

These are my little heirloom tomato sprouts. I am very proud of them. Fingers crossed that they’ll get big and strong in time for Victoria day (also known as official tomato planting day).

Yesterday I made french onion soup using organic onions from the food box and fresh thyme and sage from the garden. It was pretty wonderful.

finding inspiration

I have been feeling unmotivated (as I occasionally do). Without the spark of life that leads to ideas and work. Granted, things are pretty understandably out of sorts right now - all the things I normally run to in situations like this are getting packed into boxes, and I’m trying to avoid buying or finding any new things, because it’s just more to lug to the other side of town (as it is, I’m trying to eat my way through my pantry just so that I don’t have to bring that with me).

But it made me think about the things that get me going, get me working, get me coming up with new ideas and exploring them.

And so I started writing a list of those things, in lieu of actually being able to have them… And then expanding and expounding on that list… And then the list took on a life of it’s own and became:

creative sparks

Go, check it out. It will probably grow as time goes on (I left out some things - plays and fiction and tv and music - they will find their way on there eventually, but the thing is massive as it is).

I tried to include things that were instrumental in how I approach life, art, the universe and everything - as well as some things I am constantly hearing have helped fellow artists and friends get those friendly lightning bolts of imagination.

I hope it’s helpful to more than just me.

growing dreams

Things I am dreaming of growing in my garden when I have one (very soon!):

1. black, red, purple and yellow carrots
2. heirloom and cherry tomatoes
3. pink, purple and blue potatoes
4. tiny chilli peppers
5. stringbeans
6. patty-pan and spaghetti squash
7. lettuce
8. neon coloured “bright lights” chard
9. strawberries
10. raspberries
11. chocolate mint
12. basil
13. rosemary
14. chives
15. strawberry, coconut, lime and almond scented geraniums
16. lilly of the valley
17. tulips
18. snapdragons
19. petunias
20. poppies

I am also dreaming about pink trowels, chartreuse clogs, electric-blue patio furniture and red-rubber wellies.

state of the living room

As you may have guessed from my ravings over Eames rockers, I think I’m going through a nesting phase. I went through one last spring, and it resulted in a single purchase of a very, very expensive -sofa (although I did get it on sale). I really agree with the concept that you should buy things that

a) you love
b) are the very best quality
c) you desperately need

So, even though I could have gone to Ikea and bought a whole household of things for the same price, I knew I would be much, much happier in the long run if I bought that couch and so far I have been (when I’m not foiling the cats best attempts to destroy it). It’s going to last forever, and it will be simple to re-cover.

The problem being, of course, that the rest of my apartment kinda pales in comparison. Pretty much everything else came from cleaning out my grandfather’s house.

So this is going to be the year of fixing that problem, I think.

Some of the inheritance will stay - my grandparents had pretty funky taste. They were cocktail grandparents, with an sixties/oriental/hollywood-regency style. Much of their furniture came from auctions and estate sales and their many travels. Todd Oldham and Jonathan Adler would have LOVED them.

Which is cool by me, cause I love Todd Oldham and Jonathan Adler.

Right now my living room is warm white and grey with touches of rich Moroccan colours - paprika, turquoise and olive. So I’m thinking some Moroccan pouffes like these (in pale turquoise, or maybe white) could be added. They have multiple uses - footstool, additional seating, cat perch. I’ve found them for a really good price on Ebay, and they ship cheaply too, as they can come to you un-stuffed. Ideal, right?

Plus pouffe is a fun word to say.

Pouffe pouffe pouffe.

Other than that I’m thinking the following for my living room:

1. Paint the walls very pale turquoise
2. Procure an Eames rocker (preferably in dark grey to match the couch)
3. Pick up yet another inheritance from my parents - a small secretary - and re-finish it and my thonet chairs (can’t decide what colour - Dark walnut? Black? White?)
4. Find white area rug (I would love shag, but I think it’s too much to ask with cats - cheap and washable cotton is more like it)
5. Figure out a better solution for the TV than the cheap Ikea thing it is currently sitting on (ideally I’d like a Danish credenza, but I doubt I’ll find a nice one anytime soon)

That is all.

Pouffe.

reasons

Reasons why this is a good weekend so far:

1. We just bought a new little pocket camera that takes pictures like the above (^)
2. We just got back from the local farmers market in the neat, old, reclaimed factory district a block away (where I bought tiny pattypans)
3. We also bought homemade cherry-buttermilk muffins
4. We also got cafe au lait and freshly squeezed lemonade from the local parisian style cafe
5. We are leaving for london in LESS than one week

now taking your suggestions

So, I am going to London in about a weeks time. London as in England.

Any suggestions?

Here’s my list of Must-Dos (most of them involve food and booze):

1. Harrod’s food court
2. High tea - the works (clotted cream and scones and cucumber sandwiches)
3. Bangers and mash
4. Pint in a pub
5. Fish and chips (will substitute with anything else deep fried that probably shouldn’t be).
6. Curry
7. Pim’s Punch
8. Ride Tube
9. Savile Row, High Street, Portobello… Shopping! (Even just of the window variety.)
10. Tate modern, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Victoria and Albert, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, etcetera, etcetera, blah blah blah, yeah we’ll see if we have time after the eating…

make fun of me, please

The following is a list of the most awful things I have ever owned:

1. “Northern Star” (By Melanie C)
2. “Happiness is Not a Fish You Can Catch” (by Our Lady Peace)
3. “Jesus Freak” (by DC Talk)
4. An completely unread copy of “The Two Towers” (by JRR Tolkien)
5. A completely read copy of “Fall on Your Knees”, an Oprah Book club book (by Ann Marie McDonald)
6. A VHS copy of “Ever After”
7. A VHS copy of “Steven Curtis Chapman: LIVE”
8. At least 3 clown themed music boxes (one of which played “Send in the Clowns”, another which played “Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head”)
9. A year long subscription to Focus on the Family’s magazine for teen girls: “Brio”
10. Two pleather skirts. One pair of pleather pants. One pleather jacket.
11. Psychadelic Daffy Duck Keds
12. Fake Doc Martens
13. Navy blue, yellow, lime green, pearly blue, black and at least 4 varieties of sparkly (multi, silver, purple, red, etc) nail polish. Often worn all at once.
14. A logo t-shirt from American Eagle
15. A fuzzy Elmo shaped backback.

I just thought you should know what you’re getting yourself into.

P.S. I also watch Grey’s Anatomy religiously.

confuzzled

I am researching books right now. Books of the instructional, non-fictional variety, to be specific. Books in lieu of art school (as previously discussed).

I recall reading Brian Lee O’Malley at some point say how awesome Understanding Comics is (which is a very well respected compendium of basic comic knowledge - done up, rather inspiredly, in comic book format), so I grabbed a copy at the Beguiling this weekend.

It came highly reccomended, and it remains highly reccomended. Good stuff there indeed. Some of the references are getting a little old, but for the most part Mr. Scott McCloud sticks to the classics (Herge, Spiegelman, Tezuka, Marvel) and they hold up excellently.

But now that I understand “sequential art” I feel the urge to sharpen my drawing skills, drastically. So I look to yet more books of the non-fiction variety. Unfortunately, it seems most instructional art books are not terribly advanced, not terribly sexy, and worst of all: pretty hippy-dippy-new-agey at times. Ick.

Here are some of the one’s I’ve seen most recommended, and the reasons I haven’t brought myself to purchase them yet:

1. Drawing on the Right Side
   From what I’ve heard this book steals most of what’s good about it from another, better book, and the rest is bad science - right brain/left brain drivel that was largely disproved years ago. I hate faux-science. I hate it when laymen, without following any actual scientific method or process come up with lame, simplistic theories and expound them for undiscerning housewives. This is why I don’t care for carb-free diets, or self help books.

2. The Natural Way to Draw
   This is apparently the much better and much more thorough workbook that the “Right Side” one took most of it’s exercises from. It’s apparently a classic, and and largely outlines the traditional method of learning to draw - the one most of us who’ve ever taken an art class have already been taught. The problem here, of course, is that in the 9 plus years of art training my little brain has experienced, I’ve likely worked my way through most of the stuff multiple times already. Grids? Blind contour drawings? No thanks. I had my fill in the ninth grade.

3. The Artist’s Way to Spiritual Creativity
   This book is definitely one of the ‘hippy-dippy-new-agey’ ones. It’s even got the word “spiritual” in the title. I’m far too pragmatic for that sort of thing, I’m afraid. I just end up mocking it whenever I skim it at the bookstore.

   Besides, it’s really a writing guide. And I write fine, and quite prolifically. I even have a pretty strong and definite literary voice.

   And of course, I am an illustrator (who sometimes writes) not a writer. I understand that it might help me ‘embrace my creative side’ and every-time I decide “no way, not for me,” internally, I find myself looking at it again just to see why so many people highly recommend it… But the same people who recommend it also like Sark a whole lot. And I’m not a fan. She’s like a middle age women’s answer to R. Crumb (who I’m not a fan of either. But I respect Crumb more. At least he’s a bit more irreverent).

   Basically, I just wish there was something along the lines of this book that would allow me to keep my street cred (”The Indie Way to Being Cool,” maybe…? Yes…? No…?).

   But above all else, this book DOES NOT teach you how to draw good. It doesn’t teach you to draw, at all. It’s not, actually a drawing manual. So all this is moot. Nope. No good.

4. Creative License
   Again, this one is a bit too self-helpy for my liking… and a bit unfounded… and too inspirational: You can do it! Hang in there!. With some (as in very limited) drawing advice thrown in.

   I like Danny Gregory, I really do, he’s a nice guy and a good illustrator, and a great blogger - but I’ve read a good chunk of his blog, and I’m not sure there’s much in this book I couldn’t glean from the blog itself. Or that there’s much left for me to learn from him in general.

   From reading his blog, I’ve found that he doesn’t seem terribly open to change or advancement in style or technique. I’ve often read him railing against those who would dare to tell him that he could improve himself in one way or another. And I just don’t think that’s the attitude I want right now.

   I’m a highly critical person. I beleive in constructive criticism. I thrive on lots of in depth discussion and nit-picking. I mean, my boyfriend reviews Sorkin on Ain’t it cool, for goodness sake. Besides, there seems to be far too much discussion of WHY to draw, and not nearly enough on HOW to draw, and that’s what I’m really aiming for. More instructional, less inspirational.

So, anyone out there got any better ideas?

Or am I just being a stubborn, snobby, stick-in-the-mud?

(All in all, I think for now it seems like lots more life drawing is the way to go.)