Category Archives: Feel Good

Bookish Gals Seek More Books

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Yesterday, I had my second luncheon get-together with the Montreal Book Bloggers, which was good fun. We were a small group, with maybe only ten of us in attendance, but of course we shared plenty of book talk, and most of us walked away with a bunch of ‘new to us’ books, since one of the big features of these get-togethers is to trade books among ourselves. Amanda from Tales and Treats (in the red top) listed loads of literary fiction, with many titles already on my wishlist, so I greedily reserved everything I thought might appeal to me. We got together in the same restaurant as last time, i.e. in downtown Montreal right next to Indigo book store. After lunch, many of us went over to have a look at what’s new and hot, and take advantage of their sales, though Avis (from She Reads and Reads, on my left) and I got stalled with the new titles on the ground floor and lost the others. Afterward, she and I crossed the street over to Kiehl’s so that I could pick up a free lip balm they had on promotion along with a bunch of free samples. I’m on their email list and they often have give-aways to attract clients into their stores, though there is never any pressure to buy. The staff is genuinely friendly and I always end up conversing with them. When Ashley, the young woman helping me found out we were part of a book club, she asked for some recommendations. Right off the top of my head I suggested The Night Circus and The Paris Wife as two easy and fun ‘sure bets’ and she in turn ended up giving us a bunch of great recommendations too. On LibraryThing, where we’re constantly picking up book recommendations, we have a term which is ‘getting hit by a book bullet’ when a title appeals to us and we’re prompted to add it to the wishlist or purchase it right away. Anyway, I got hit with a few of those, because of course, as every avid reader knows, one can never have too many books…

Here is my loot:

From Amanda
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver – I’ve heard great things about this novel, which takes us to Mexico in the world of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin – this Southern murder mystery got so much positive feedback on LT that I must discover it for myself
Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante – a literary thriller? Count me in!
The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis – Canadian Politics, set in Ottawa? Big yawn. But it’s supposed to be funny and won Canada Reads this year, so there must be something to it.
Hanna’s Daughters by Marianne Fredriksson – takes us through one hundred years of Scandinavian history
Twilight Sleep by Edith Wharton – A satire of the Jazz Age by one of the greatest American authors of the 20th century—couldn’t resist.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman – am very intrigued about this one, although (because?) it got mixed reviews and nobody seems to agree on whether it’s brilliant or bunk.
The Bastard of Istanbul Elif Şafak – I had The Flea Palace on my wishlist, but may as well start out with the more popular of the two
American Pastoral by Philip Roth – Many seem to very much dislike Roth… only one way to find out how I feel about him. It’s a Pulitzer prize winner (1998), for what it’s worth.
Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler – truth is, I got this one purely because it won the Pulitzer prize (1989) and is on the Guardian 1000 list.
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warran – yeah sure, there’s the Pulitzer prize again (1947), but more importantly, it’s on Esquire’s 75 Books Every Man Should Read list!
The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri – an intriguing story about an elderly man called Vishnu who revisits his life in his dying moments while he slowly slips into an alcoholic coma. Was on the Booker Prize long list Longlist in 2001.
From Avis
The Book of Lies by Mary Horlock – A teenage girl on the channel island of Guernsey may or may not have killed her best friend. An advance reader copy to which an LT friend of mine gave it a glowing review.

From Cat (from Beyond Books)
Goliath by Scott Westerfeld – Book 3 in the popular Leviathan young adult trilogy. Never mind that I haven’t read the first book Leviathan yet, but I’ll get there soon enough!

From Indigo
The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures by Caroline Preston – Avis found this one. A novel told in scrapbook form with stunning vintage 50s visuals. May or may not work, so if I don’t get into it in the first few pages, I’ll either return it or gift it. It got a very high appreciation score by readers on LibraryThing.

Book Suggestions from Ashley at Kiehl’s
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin – set in 50s Paris, a young man at grips with his homosexuality
Italian Shoes - I think she meant the Henning Mankell novel, but it more likely to be the novel by Frank Paci.
Women, Food and God and Feeding the Hungry Heart by Geneen Roth – “I don’t like self-help books, but Geneen Roth is really different” she said.

I’ve got a huge amount of reviews I wrote for LT which I’ve been meaning to post here. The only problem is I don’t know where to start! Suggestions?

Under a thick blanket…

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The view from my kitchen today.

I woke up in the early hours this morning to a gorgeous thick blanket of snow outside. Then I got back into bed and slept like a baby—so good to sleep when it’s snowing outside (better than inside, that’s for sure). First snow of the season, and I can hear the snow removal trucks going up and down the streets already. It’s a very fine powder that keeps floating down ever so gently but persistently. If I was still a skier I’d be heading for the hills right now, but now my snowy-weather treat is watching Coco jump around like a mad hare in the stuff, looking like the happiest dog in the world.

I’ll be heading off to the McClure Gallery this afternoon. It’s the art gallery that is part of the Visual Arts Centre where I take my art classes. They’re having a fundraising affair that I think I may have mentioned before. They’re calling it Square Affair, as they’ve distributed square blocks of wood to all the advanced students, teachers and any professional artists that wanted to participate, asking us to use it to contribute a work of art, which will be on going on sale this evening at 6 p.m. I haven’t invited anyone for today because there’s a large entry fee and it’s going to be packed solid, and to be perfectly honest, I didn’t even think of it, but the show is on till the 26th, and I’d like to go back with my camera to take some pictures, so will invite my dad to come with me, and whoever else would like to see it. They apparently got over 300 contributions, most of them in the same smallish format, though professional artists had the option of working on larger (still square) surfaces. 75% of the proceeds go to the school, which is a non-profit organization, and the other quarter goes to the artist. Our watercolours teacher, who is a sweetie with a mean sense of humour warned us not to be too disappointed—”if your work doesn’t sell, you’ll know what it feels like to be a real professional artist!” lol. I don’t mind either way. If it doesn’t sell, I get to add it to my Cabinet of Natural Curiosities series I intend to keep working on. If it does sell though, it’ll be good for me as far as income taxes go, because my accountant has been deducting all my art expenses after I promised him I would eventually start selling my artwork…

Off right this moment to edit the photos I’ve taken of the pieces from the CoNC series I’ve completed so far, and publishing them on the other blog as soon as I’m done, i.e. within the hour, hopefully.

The McClure Gallery 
350 Victoria Avenue
Montreal (QC)
T 514.488.9558
E galeriemclure@visualartscentre.ca

 

Tea & Company

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Today was a very fun day. When I finally did manage to drag myself out of bed (at nearly 3 o’clock in the afternoon!—med adjustment making me drowsy again) I got myself a bowl of cereal and sat in front of the computer to read my email, and thank goodness I did, because I had a reminder that I was supposed to meet a friend at 3 on the dot at a café a few blocks away. I don’t think I ever got ready so fast in my life before. Somehow I managed to get there just 5 minutes late. It’s this place called Lili & Oli which is really laid back; they allow dogs and I just love the casual and warm ambiance. I took these photos a few weeks ago when it was uncharacteristically quiet, but gives an idea of the place. I like to go there with Coco after a trip to the library which is practically next door, and sometimes bring my laptop with me too like most people there do as well.

I was meeting a brand new friend, a girl I met at a bookstore a couple of weeks ago. She and her partner had arrived from England a week or two before as he’s gotten recruited for a big job in the aeronautics industry. She was a sociology teacher and is going through the motions of finding a job here. Really lovely girl with a beautiful attitude and very chatty like me, which makes for a pleasant time. We talked about everything but books somehow, though she did tell me she’s getting together with a book group tomorrow. When I met her, she was looking for Let the Great World Spin by Column McCann, which I heard great things of and which is what they’ll be discussing tomorrow. Michelle told me if this group seems interesting she’ll bring me along next time they get together, which is something I might really enjoy. Continue reading →

The Maples Blazed and Smouldered

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Fall 2011_9330

“The long storm was followed by a north-west gale, and when it was over, the hills took on their first umber tints, the sky grew more densely blue, and the big white clouds lay against the hills like snow-banks. The first crisp maple-leaves began to spin across Miss Hatchard’s lawn, and the Virginia creeper on the Memorial splashed the white porch with scarlet. It was a golden triumphant September. Day by day the flame of the Virginia creeper spread to the hillsides in wider waves of carmine and crimson, the larches glowed like the thin yellow halo about a fire, the maples blazed and smouldered, and the black hemlocks turned to indigo against the incandescence of the forest” – Edith Wharton, Summer

My friend Kimmy had offered me as a birthday present an outing in the Eastern Townships when the fall colours would make their appearance; the idea being to go do some wine tasting, and so we set out last Wednesday morning to drive down the small roads in and around Frelighsburg. Our timing was perfect as the scenery all about us was glorious. Of course, pictures can never reproduce the feeling one has when surrounded by all those rich colours, but my camera was at the ready and we stopped often to take it all in. Kim and I share similar sensibilities and together we can just stay in one spot and marvel at the beauty before us. It’s so wonderful to be able to share those things with such a good friend. The young cows were in their pasture by the side of the road, and when I approached them, camera at the ready, they became just as curious about me. Kimmy stayed with Coco in the car, and told me afterward that he had started barking furiously, but when he saw the bovines approach, he switched to low growling instead—no doubt about it, my little stray is a city dog. We had lunch in the small town and continued on our way, again, making frequent stops, until eventually we realized we didn’t have much time left to visit vineyards. That was fine by me as I had no great impulse to discover Quebec wines, and those we did try, two whites, two reds, a rosé, then fortified wines, left much to be desired, with an acidity level that made my mouth pucker up for minutes after the initial sip. The ice wines were quite nice, but I was all too happy to leave the vino behind and bring home wonderful impressions and memories and a few snapshots so I could share some of our local natural splendours.

Playing at a Train Station Near You

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I just love these flash mob videos. Here’s a flash mob at Copenhagen Central Station with the Copenhagen Philharmonic playing Ravel’s Bolero on May 2nd 2011. Conductor is Jesper Nordin. Just sent to me from my uncle in Israel. Music never needs a passport to get around. Watch it full screen if you can to get the full effect.

Meet: Mouse

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I’ve been seriously considering renaming my little Coco since Saturday, when he got shorn for the rest of the summer. I forget just how tiny he is when he grows his big teddy bear coat and now he seems so small I just can’t stop cooing. Can be annoying, I’m sure, which is why it’s nice to have all that one-on-one time with him, that way everyone’s happy, especially Coco who just loves having attention lavished on him. I took a bunch of pics today, so here’s a little slideshow. For some reason, as soon as I take out any camera-like tool, he does this funny squinty thing with his eyes. Too bad because they’re big and brown and beautiful and you’ll just have to take my word for it!

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A (really) Good Day

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Today has been a grrrrreat day!

Tomorrow, I’ll be doing a tryout as an Art Therapist in training (sort of). I took a volunteering course a while ago at the Royal Victoria, the hospital where I had previously attended a programme as an outpatient to help me after I had my nervous breakdown. I wanted to help in the Occupational Therapy department—which had been particular helpful to me during my stay there. They have a workshop session every Wednesday morning where patients can do whatever creative projects they like. About six months ago the woman who runs the OT department, J said I could be their “Artist in Residence” after I had expressed my interest. Anyway, long story short, I had an appointment at the hospital today which ended up being cancelled, but then ran into J, who was just on her way out with some patients to take a walk on Mount Royal (our little bit of nature in the centre of the city), so I joined in. I ended up chatting up a storm with a woman who said she would love to have someone like me to help her explore her creativity, and that was just the little extra spark I needed to encourage me to get over my fear of… well of a lot of things actually, and start using some of my experience as a creative to help other people.

Tomorrow, I shall get up bright and early to attend with my most faithful companion, because J even agreed that I bring Coco with me for the first day as an additional tryout. Coco is an absolute angel and he always brings joy to people wherever he goes, so he could end up being more in demand than me. Fine by me. Best of all, there’s no pressure. J said that I should treat my time there as an opportunity to work on projects of my own, and then help those who show an interest in trying any kind of art project—as opposed to woodworking, for which another volunteer, has been sharing his expertise for many years.

I’ve been getting lots of migraines lately, but, I’ve decided that if I have a migraine tomorrow, I’ll go anyway. Wish me luck.

(good) News

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Yesterday, met with my neurologist Dr. Aubé who had all my test results from the MRI and both ECG tests we did, and he said everything looked in perfect order. He even showed me my MRI images on the computer, and it was neat seeing my own brain from all these different angles in cross sections. So there we have it. I was not surprised that everything looked normal, but now it’s officially confirmed. He said the seizure I had last summer was probably a side effect of my general migraine condition which can cause all kinds of strange events (it seems there is a general consensus among the medical establishment that Joan of Arc suffered from migraines too, which were probably responsible for her visions and whatnot, as were St-Paul and a bunch of others. Not to say that I’m anything like Joan of Arc or likely to ever be canonized, Lord should know.). As Dr. A is one of the most respected neurologist in the city (every other doctor or specialist I’ve ever talked to nods respectfully at the mention of his name), I’ll take his word for it.

Don’t know if this is related to the above or not, but I’m feeling much better today after a night of restorative and restful sleep. This had not been the case the last week or so, when I was waking up at all hours in a state of abject terror. For some reason, the only thing that seemed to calm me down was a good dose of sweets, like, oh, say… Lemon Häagen-Dazs half-fat ice cream with Sarah Lee freezer chocolate chip cheesecake and slices of fresh strawberries, all eaten out of the ice cream carton. Somehow, I happened to have all that on hand, which was a good thing too, since it seems a good hearty dose of sugar and half-fat therapy was just what was needed to soothe my frayed nerves.

My lovely friend K is coming over shortly. We’re getting pedicures together, which I had suggested we do on my b-day as a girlie outing for both of us. She’s never had one before, which makes it extra special. She just called me now and told me she had a surprise for me. One of my absolute favourites she said, which, at this time of year, can only be one of her amazingly fabulous and incredibly delectable strawberry shortcakes, a specialty my mum used to make for me too. What more can a 27-year-old* girl ask for?

* My official age since 1996. ;-)

Show & Tell

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"My" wall 08/06/11. Comments received: "innovation, bold & bright, fearless, your love for colour shows", "wonderful energy", "dynamism. strong sense of linking colour and expression", "scattered yet structured, Raunchy pinkness" (was my comment), "Belle exploration abstraite. Bon mariage du signe et de la couleur dans l'espace.", "clean. direct. conflict & resolution. pure" (was teacher's comment), "Black forms very strong", "heartfelt, Natural, ORDER folklore (connecting direction)", "STRONG—BOLD + BEAUTIFUL"

3 small paintings (left) are missing from “my” wall in pic above. This was an exercise in monotone + complementary colour.

It was a BIG day for me today. Was our last Abstract Watercolours class of the session, and the teacher had said that we wouldn’t do any painting today, but instead, she would start by showing us a Powerpoint presentation of some abstract works by various artist she pulled together, then each of us would display the work we did during the course, like a little private show that we each got to put up on the wall in turn. I got up extra early this morning (night-bird that I am) to put the finishing touches on a couple of paintings, then made my way to class with what I thought were all my pieces, in astoundingly hot weather (the kind that makes you sweat when you’re just sitting still).

Once in class, I was running around helping people put up their work, photographing it with my iPhone, then taking it down, and acting as timekeeper too, to make sure everyone got a decent allotment of time up on the wall. Once the work was up, teacher asked us each to write a couple of words that came to mind, then she read all the comments out loud to the student/artists. It was really moving. I went last, and I was surprised at how emotional the experience was. Quite a few comments about my colour sense, but “Bold” was a word that came up a lot. Go figure. I was mostly surprised at just how bold my work was in fact, considering that I always set out to do delicate and seemingly fragile—quiet strength-type things—but teacher said that was a side of my work I could take my time discovering over the summer maybe.

Then, after class I had a bunch of errands to run. The Visual Arts Centre is on Victoria street in Westmount, a very quaint little street with all kinds of interesting shops and cafés in one of the more posh parts of town, and somehow I went absolutely crazy and ended up buying two pairs of sandals (the kind with really great support, like the Israeli brand, Naot), plus a pair of ballerinas from Pretty Ballerina… handmade in Italy… but on sale! And really, I swear, they had my name written all over.

Then I got home and instantly realized that I had left my three FAVOURITE watercolour paintings on the coffee table in the living room this morning, even though I’d taken my time yesterday pulling all my pieces together. Oy.

Oh well…

Above, I’ve posted a pic of what my wall looked like, along with the comments I received. Close-ups on the individual pieces as well as photos of the works of the other students will end up on createthreesixtyfive.com eventually/soon. And yes, photos from our now long past student show in April are coming up soon too.

Also, almost forgot to mention that a lady from our class offered her place for a monotype workshop this weekend at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, which I jumped on. Should be fun.

That Kind of Day

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Today is a real Spring day. Sunny. Kind of warm. Warm in the sun, in any case. Coco and I went for a walk along Lachine Canal, which I avoid in the winter since the constant wind in that area makes it beyond unbearably cold. But today, I took my coat off, took off Coco’s sweater which he needs these days having been recently shorn of his own fleece. I let him run around free; there were lots of dogs around which used to prompt my little lamb to run off as far as his surprisingly fast little legs would take him. But today, with some prompting and gentle reminders, he calmly followed me near and only went to sniff potential buddies with my permission. It’s hard to explain how much contentment I derive from such easy walks with him. Both of us free, yet attentive to each other, with this woman’s best friend doing what he does best.

Along the way, I was listening to Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day, by Winifred Watson, a 1938 novel here narrated by Frances McDormand. It’s charming little story about a hard on her luck spinster who, applying for a job as a governess, knocks at the wrong door. Instead of the disagreeable housewife she usually must contend with, she meets with a beautiful vision of a girl, just as glamorous and delightful as the ones Guinevere Pettigrew has seen at the movies, her one greatest guilty pleasure. In less than twenty-four hours filled with thrilling events the likes of which Guinevere has never experienced before, this straight-laced vicar’s daughter discovers things about herself she never knew she had in her.

In the wrong hands, this kind of story might have been a sickeningly-sweet kind of affair, which is absolutely not the case here. I had stumbled on the movie version as I switched the television on for a quick perusal one day and experienced my first brief love affair with Miss Pettigrew, again portrayed by the remarkably talented Frances McDormand. The novel had even greater delights to offer, if only because one gets to spend more time with this unlikely heroine who serendipitously sees her life transformed, a 1930s middle-aged Cinderella. The world needs more stories like that. In my version, Cinderella would probably not be a virgin, though I admit that aspect lends our champion even greater charm in this case.

Coming home, I just had to listen to Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, which to me is a joyful affair. I’ve been listening to So What over and over again. A perfect soundtrack for today.