Category Archives: Events

May 2, 2010 · 11:02 pm

Copious Amounts of Sugar: CupcakeCamp Toronto

Cupcakes: those yummy, tiny little personal-sized cakes that are, without a doubt, the most popular sweet in the world. How do I know this? I know this because there are no fewer than 16 cupcakes shops in downtown Toronto alone (and those are just the ones I know about). I also know this because of an event I attended today; an event that was all about cupcakes, sold all 150 tickets, and had more than 40 volunteer bakers. The event? CupcakeCampToronto!

Born in San Francisco, the second annual CupcakeCamp Toronto was held today at a way cool space called 52 McCaul. The gallery was amazing — open, bright, and full of wicked original street and contemporary art. While the space was fantastic, the word “fantastic” doesn’t even begin to describe the cupcakes. For a mere $10 donation, part of which went to the Daily Bread Food Bank, more than 2,200 cupcakes were brought by bakers from across southern Ontario. The cupcakes were in every imaginable shape and size. There were mini cupcakes, regular-sized cupcakes, cupcakes in chocolate “glasses”, cupcakes in flower pots, and every conceivable flavour: half baked (part cookie dough, part cupcake), blue curacao, strawberry daiquiri, “cheeseburger”, lemon curd, monks tea*, s’mores, blood orange with olive oil, and about 30 other delicious flavours. There were even cupcakes with bacon and Spam** sprinkled on top! Starbucks donated coffee, and bottles of water — an absolute requirement — were only $1 (proceeds which also went to the DBFB).

My personal favourites were the lemon rhubarb red velvet and orange dreamsicle cupcakes. I reeeally wanted to try the s’mores cupcake, but by the time they came around in group nine of eleven (!), I may or may not have hit the proverbial wall and gone into the proverbial sugar coma. Seriously — I never thought I’d see a day where I’d eat too much sugar, but today was that day. I started to feel weird, left early and, by the time I got home, my head was pounding. I was on a serious sugar high! I just wish there had been doggie bags because, even though I practically OD’d on sugar this afternoon, a key lime cupcake sure does sound good right about now!

Check out my Flickr set from CupcakeCamp Toronto here.

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February 28, 2010 · 8:19 pm

PodCamp Wickedness: The Unconference

You’ve heard of unconferences, right? Those participant-driven geek affairs that have effectively saved the world from having to take out second mortgages on their homes in order to enjoy a good conference now and then.

Unconferences were actually born back in the mid-80′s when Harrison Owen developed the concept of Open Space Technology. The term “unconference”, though, wasn’t popularized until BarCamp and BloggerCon came onto the scene in 2005-ish. They’re typically centered around new and social media events and are organized for its participants, by its participants, and definitely aren’t filled with a bunch of stuffy, talking heads. The community is ultimately responsible for the success, or failure, of an event, which requires that you be an active participant rather than just an attendee – but active in making real progress and not just status quo. The sessions facilitate this type of interaction: they’re experiential; they often foster lively discussions and collaborative solutions that ultimately create truly sustainable communities; and require new tools, new perspectives, and better collaboration.

PodCamp Toronto is just one of these unconferences. You’ve probably heard of, and hopefully listened to, a podcast; PodCamp, though, shouldn’t be confused as being for podcasters only. In fact, PodCamp is for anyone interested in new media, including bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, and social media networking whores. What you definitely won’t find at PodCamp are suits and ties, that’s for sure. One of the unique things about PodCamp is the use of the “law of two feet”, meaning that if you aren’t getting anything out of the session you’re in, it’s not at all considered rude to walk out and go to a session you might deem more useful. Don’t you wish we could do that all the time^^? But I digress.

I attended nine sessions over the two day conference^ and, because I know you’re dying to know what I thought, I’ll review some of the wicked highlights here. You’re welcome.

1) Integration, Integration, Integration: Communications in the New Social Media Ecosystem by Dave Fleet. An excellent and lively

Photo credit:

discussion about social media and how it integrates with traditional media. Dave talked about the three types of media: owned, paid, and earned, as well as about the “ecosystem of communications” and how to manage the sum of those media reactions. We all decided that Molson had done an amazing job embracing and weaving social media in with its traditional media, especially with the Molson Canadian Hockey House at the Olympics, but decided that their success could also be due to their delicious Canadian beer. Anyway.

2) Lunch! My friend Chris, with whom I attended, and I ate Chinese-style burritos at Chino Locos. Pan-fried noodles and guacamole, anyone?

3) The Inside Scoop on Social Media Analytics by Aubrey Podolsky. An analytics girl, I am not. I’m fairly certain my blog isn’t going to make me a zillionaire, so what’s the point? I don’t pore over stats about who came to my blog and how many times, because I just don’t care. That said, I thought it would be good to get some high-level ideas on how people measure as I realize it’s a vital part of growing the channel. This particular session didn’t cut it for me with the exception of one thing: the deck style he used was amazing! It’s called Prezi.com and is fabulous! I saw two people use that style of presentation deck over the weekend and I could hardly get home to download it fast enough. PowerPoint, you’ve met your match.

4) Is Email Marketing Dead? This session was close to my heart as it may or may not have something to do with my day job. Nevertheless, I’m fairly certain I could have given the session myself, unfortunately. For example, the presenter suggested that you add someone to your email newsletter just by virtue of them leaving a comment on your blog. EGADS! I can assure you that that is *not* best practice and would advise you not do it — ever — unless you want to end up on every blacklist out there. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

5) Twitter and Dating by Jeremy Wright and Melissa Smich. No unconference would be complete these days without a session on Twitter and dating, coined as #twating by these delightful presenters. The session was lively and amusing, and included some great tales of major DM fails, but also some major DM loves. Much discussion was had around the creative uses for hashtags. The best part of this session, though? Red velvet cupcakes. FTW.

6) Tod Maffin’s “Awesome-Izing Your Podcast: Secrets from Radio by Tod Maffin. My last session of the weekend was a highlight of PodCamp. A podcaster, I’m not, but a public radio fan, I *definitely* am. I have pretty much shirked all music in favour of all public radio, all the time*, so when I found out one of the grandfathers*** of podcasting, Tod Maffin, was presenting, I kicked the “law of two feet” into overdrive and practically hurdled myself into a frenzy by sprinting to his session as fast as I could. I’m really glad I did, too. His presentation style was totally engaging, his material was clear and concise, and he articulated a ton of detailed information rather than just more of the tree-top ideas I’d seen throughout the weekend. He’s obviously been around the public radio block, so to speak, and offered us a smorgasbord of do’s and don’ts, along with live audio examples that brought it all to life. In fact, if you have any interest in writing, podcasting, public radio, or any combination thereof, you might want to check out Tod’s book, Idea to Air, where you can peruse his awesome tips at your own, non-PodCamp pace.

Overall, my first PodCamp was awesome. I learned a lot of stuff, some great and some not so great. I learned that you should not be a keener and sit in the front row; it’s difficult to take advantage of the “law of two feet” when you’re practically sitting on top of the speaker. I learned a lot about social media, the analytics of it, and how to (better) figure out what’s valuable and what isn’t in the digital space. I learned a lot of goodness over the weekend, but do you know the biggest thing I learned? I want a Mac. :-)

^Because I am a keener geek. Apparently, the “real” PodCamp networking happens in the hallways while the sessions are going on and is affectionately known as “LobbyCamp”. Next year!
*Also, I’m 94.
** Kidding.
^^ Like work, or people going on and on about the pains of their  childbirth. Gawd.
*** Although he certainly doesn’t look like a grandfather. ;-)

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February 23, 2010 · 7:40 pm

Sexy Cool: The Event

Every once in a while, you get the opportunity to hang out with the cool kids. Count yourself lucky because the iYellow Wine Club “Sexy Cool” event this Thursday, February 25 at 8pm is one of those times. If you’ve never heard of iYellow Wine Club, a Toronto -based social wine club with more than 5,000 members, or attended an iYellow event, you don’t know what you’re missing: socializing with the in-crowd, shaking what your momma gave you to the tunes of some of Toronto’s hippest DJs, noshing on seriously good apps, and, more importantly, sipping wine you can’t get anywhere else (no, not even at the LCBO).

Sexy Cool will feature more than 12 yummy (and seriously sexy) Australian wines, so if you’re feeling like you need to take a break from the frozen wasteland that is Toronto and take a quick trip to the Outback, Sexy Cool’s your gig. Head west to the hip Edward Day Gallery on Queen Street West at Shaw and experience a winegasm like none you’ve had in a while. Trust me — I’ve seen God and it’s in the form of an iYellow Wine Club event.

If you want to witness Angela Aiello single- handedly bringing sexy back, go here to buy your ticket…and be sure to say hi to me as my eyes roll into the back of my head from the sheer wine goodness! See y’all there.

Note: if you’re planning to drink (which I certainly hope you are), take transit, a cab, or find a designated driver. Period.

Update: within two hours of my post, Sexy Cool sold out. I don’t know that my wicked blog skills had anything to do with it, but I’m just sayin’ — SOLD OUT. ;-)

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November 26, 2009 · 12:30 pm

Happy Thanksgiving! (Day 26)

I had every intention of penning a verbose message this Thanksgiving, but the immobilization caused by the tryptophanic residue in my bloodstream has currently hurled me inexorably couchward.

I wanted to say a lot today. I am sure that some of you are more than tired of me and my vapid, but cheerful(!), blog posts, and while I’m sorry you’re bored, you must surely have a cold, shriveled little heart that cannot tolerate my gratitude! I feel like I have a lot to be grateful for, like my amazingly loving and supportive parents who, even though I packed up an moved 1,600 miles away, still love me just like I was sitting in their house being the demanding princess I can occasionally be. :-) I am grateful for being able to live in Canada and, while I know I won’t be here forever, I have fallen in love with this beautiful country and its fantastic peeps — I wouldn’t trade a single, solitary moment of my time here and will always say only excellent things about the country, even when they continue making fun of my accent. :-) But what I really wanted to do today was to show some love to YOU, my blog readers. You, the people who take the time to stop by here and read my drivel, to leave comments, to send emails, and reply to tweets. Those of you who stop by, lurk, and say nothing at all.

When I started blogging a few years ago, I loved it, but did it really just for myself. I never took it seriously. Then people actually started finding me and reading me, and I had no idea that my site would grow into a community of people I love and treasure—not just online, but offline, too.

My blog friends have sent me some of the nicest emails I’ve ever received. They have encouraged me in the midst of relationship issues, the ending of friendships and worries about my future. They have made me laugh and cry all at the same time. Some of them have crossed the line from “e-friends” to just plain friends. Friends I speak with regularly, friends I can’t wait to see again. Friends who fill my email box, my Facebook wall, and my snail mail box with love and care and friendship.

Blogging has reconnected me to old friends and to people I had no idea were reading or paying attention. It has opened my eyes to people and alternate points of view points and goals and books and careers and ideas and plans. And for that, I can never write an adequate post.

So, if you’re here, on this page, I just want to say Thank You. I am thankful for you. I am grateful for all of the little things, with seemingly insignificant moments that make my life so much sweeter.

I wanted to say all that, but all I can really manage at this moment is a giant Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I love, and am so thankful for, you all!

xo.

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November 24, 2009 · 11:13 pm

Thank You For The Mammaries (Day 24)

Admit it — you love breasts. We all love breasts, really. It’s possible that breasts could be called an American obsession and, in fact, I would venture to say that men everywhere take great lengths to recognize the hypnotic allure of a shapely breast. Big ones, small ones, fake ones, real ones, round ones, square er, semi-round ones — it’s all good stuff. For some women, breasts could easily qualify as their most enthusiastic component, if you’re picking up what I’m putting down.

So what’s *not* to love about breasts? I’ll tell you what — that bitch  breast cancer. Sure, we all love prostrates and ovaries and skin and throats and brains and lungs and all those other body parts that contract cancer too but, being a woman who doesn’t have, say, a prostrate, I worry more about breast cancer than I do about any of the other varieties. Which means you get to hear about this subject today. You’re welcome! Not to mention, breast cancer statistics1 are nothing short of grim. Consider these applicable to the U.S. in 2008 alone:

- 250,230 new cases
- a 1 in 8 incidence
- 40,480 women died from the disease. In one year. And people are pissed about the 4,3652 troops who have died in six and a half years in Afghanistan??
- the highest rate of cancer only after lung cancer

Thanksbeto the Twitter, I found out about a little project going on in Toronto called ProjectPink!. The idea, started by Darryl Koster of BusterRhinos Southern BBQ3 in Whitby, Ontario, was this: talk about how every woman should have a dash of pink in their hair at some point in their life which then manifested into his agreement that he’d dye his hair pink if Torontonians purchased 1,500 BBQ sandwiches4 between now and December 18. Most importantly, though, 50 cents of every sandwich purchased would be donated to the Breast Cancert Society. Sweet! Some of the way cool Toronto bloggers and tweeters I follow — karmacake.ca and cakeordeath.ca5 — decided that if the number was met, they too would put pink in their hair, and so on and so forth, and, let’s just say that a little viral revolution was born. Of course, never one to be left out when it has to do with a mini-revolution, and because I have always, always, always wanted pink streaks in my hair, I jumped on the proverbial bandwagon.

You may remember those research studies they do on kids where they put deliciously yummy candies on a table and tell the poor, drooling four year-old that if they can wait five minutes without eating the candy, they get them all, but if they can’t wait the allotted time, then they’re basically headed for a life of unhappiness and destruction? ;-) Well, I fall into the latter category. I have gotten much better as I’ve gotten older, but my OCD6 tends to kick in when I’m excited about something and I just simply cannot. wait. Yes, I have zero patience and yes, I have negative 500 willpower. Your point?

What I’m getting at is this: my very favourite colour is pink. You could say that I am somewhat of a pink fanatic; my Twitter page is pink, my NaBloPoMo page is pink, my iPhone case is pink, I only use pink file folders at work and now, thanks to ProjectPink! my hair is now pink. No, I am not channeling my inner Avril Lavigne rocker girrl, despite the fact that I live in Ontario from whence she came. I like to think that I’m just taking this opportunity to promote ProjectPink! in my own little way before December 18, as well as fulfilling yet another item on my lengthy Canadian bucket list. Of course, the pink hair also most certainly qualifies under ”Things that would never have happened in Houston, Texas”. ;-)

I’ve gotten mixed reactions. I see people glancing at it like “does she have pink in her hair?” or, alternatively, probably thinking “talk about age-inappropriate!”. The cool, hip people I know are like “omg, I lurve it so much!”. The uncool, non-hip people I know7 are like “hmmm, okay”. When I tell them it’s for breast cancer, they get it, but really, they don’t. It washes out in six to eight weeks, but I honestly don’t care one iota what people think – I love it. And, every time someone asks me about it, I tell them it’s for ProjectPink.  If I can do a teeny, tiny part *and* have pink hair, then I’m one happy girl!

Now that this long post has come to an end, I can say in conclusion, fuck cancer and support ProjectPink!

P.S. You may have heard that the United States Preventive Services Task Force recently suggested that women begin to wait until they’re 50 to receive a mammogram. Well, my message to USPSTF is this: you should get out of my way because if you persist with these guidelines, you can assume that I’ll promptly be donning my 4-inch heels and paying you a visit! Also, you should know that I think about you when I touch myself. ;-)

1 Source: breastcancer.org
2 As of 11/22/09 at 1:25pm EST. Source: antiwar.com
3 OMG. Southern BBQ in Canada?! Cornbread, sweet tea and baked beans? Yes, please!
4 By which I do not mean Canadian BBQ or “hamburgers”. I mean real BBQ sandwiches. You know, like brisket.
5 Does anyone else see the pattern here?
6 I don’t really have OCD, but I like to blame my impatientness on OCD rather than the fact that I just simply have a lack of willpower. :-(
7 You know who you are.

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November 23, 2009 · 11:25 pm

Four Times The Fun! (Day 23)

Summers in Toronto are filled with every kind of show, festival, art crawl, exhibit, and exhibition you can imagine. In fact, coming to Toronto in the summer is like hitting the motherlode of outdoor activity. Then, November comes — that dreary, wet, gray month – and everyone packs it in and goes a) home and b) inside.

This year, though, we had an unusually cool Summer and, naturally, an unusually warm Fall. I’m practically dying of heatstroke in my now-that-it’s-fall-the-A/C-is-off-and-sweltering  condo, although the warmth means fewer days I’m required to wear my down feather coat in which I look fiercely hot1. But I digress. What does this have to do with Toronto’s activities? I don’t really know — my funny is out for a smoke break tonight, but my point is that I had an awesome weekend that can be summed up in four short words: photography, food, wine, and sex2. What could be better than that, you ask? Well, for me, not much. Not much at all. 

The Royal Ontario Museum has an exhibit of Vanity Fair portraits and photographs from 1913-2008 which I could hardly wait to see. Relentless in my own personal quest for documentation, not to mention a 14-year subscriber to the mag, meant that a trip to brush up against photos taken by Annie Liebowitz, Edward Steichen, Helmut Newton, Nan Goldin, Cecil Beaton and Man Ray <swoon> was a requirement. And were there photographs! Indeed! Seeing the stars in photos doesn’t really do it for me — I find them infinitely uninteresting. The photo that sticks out in my mind turned out to be a small portrait of  Claus von Bülow, who infamously posed for the Vanity Fair photos mere days after he was accused of attempting to kill his wife, Sonny. Von Bülow was ultimately acquitted on all charges and Sonny lived in a permanent vegetative state for 28 years until her death. The film “Reversal of Fortune” eventually told the story of the von Bülow family and is one that has always fascinated me. Also, because, being a 14-year subscriber means that I’d already seen many of the photos they exhibited, so I was kinda b-o-r-e-d3. A trip to Hemingways for drinks and appys followed and a lovely evening was had by all.

The monolithic Gourmet Food and Wine Expo rolled into Toronto this week, which usually means two things: I’ll be tipsy the majority of the weekend and will inevitably spill red wine on,and ruin, a perfectly good silk blouse. Good news, though — neither of those things happened this year! Yay me! Rather than going three nights in a row this year, I refrained and attended only on Saturday night to help my friend Angela Aiello of iYellow Wine Group fame. Ange happened to be on a press trip to Chile (yes, she leads a tough life, doesn’t she?!) and therefore needed lots and lots of help to ensure that iYellow got the mad props it deserved during the show. Props, indeed! The show was packed — literally — and ended up selling out. I tasted quite a bit of good food (lobster! thai shrimp!), wine (madeira! riesling! icewine!), olive oils (can’t remember the names!), but my favourite food/drinkstuff was a “mini ice cream cone”: think ice cream cone lined with a hard chocolate shell, filled with a (very strong) french vanilla liqueur and topped with chocolate whipped cream. Zomg. It was sinful. The party itself was basically controlled chaos and you could hardly move without stepping on the 4″ heel of the whorishly dressed well-dressed girl in front of you. In fact, when I gracefully departed around 10pm, things were just getting into full swing. The Gourmet Food and Wine Expo was a definite “see and be seen” scene. And one that should *not* be missed.

That takes care of photography, food and wine. And now, the sex. (Warning: parental units, the squirmish, and/or the +60 set, you may want to skip this part altogether) Ahem. The Everything To Do With Sex show is apparently as Canadian an institution as maple syrup, roaming moose and igloo-living. There may be shows like this in the States, but shows like this in Houston, TX, there are not. Therefore, being the consummate Canadian tourist, I felt like it was something I could not miss during my time in Toronto. ;-) Also, because what else does a Texas girl do on a Sunday in November? 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I arrived, but was surprised to see *every* kind of person there — young, old, gay, straight, preppy, goth, fat, thin, tall, short. There were the typical vendors you’d expect to see at a show about being intimate, like masseuses, photographers, hair straighteners, body painters, tattoo artists4,  and the ubiquitous firefighter’s calendar (!!!). Then, of course, there werer those unexpected vendors such as Cowboys of the Caribbean, Straptease, the Sexerciseme Ball, and Orgasmatron. I saw things that angelic Texas girls like me could only imagine (and then some) including, but not limited to, penis-shaped ice cube trays, chocolate-dipped penises5, things that vibrate in time with songs on your iPod (incidentally called “iBod”), and other varied and assorted accoutrements, at which time I decided that the motto of the show should be ”come one, come all6“!

Photography wasn’t allowed, although I can assure you that as soon as the fashion show began, cameras were whipped out at breakneck speed. Always playing by the rules, I, of course, took only one photo inside (and only after I asked permission), so I have nothing to show you other than the chocolate-dipped privates. ;-)

Needless to say, my weekend was filled with food, wine, friends, and debauchery. My prior method of operation has always been “fear and loathing” of November; after this weekend o’fun, however, it has officially changed to ”bring it on, baby”! 
 
 

 

 

1 By which I mean the Stay-Puf Marshmellow Girl. Yes, I know it’s an image you can’t get out of your heads, but try to restrain yourselves, gentlemen. ;-)
2 Not what you think!
3 But not from the company. Lisa, you rock as a ROM date!
4 Called the “Nude Buddha Tattoo Studio”, natch, and where people were actually getting tattoos. If I was planning to get a tattoo, I don’t think I’d wait for the portable booth set-up at the Everything To Do With Sex show to get it. But maybe that’s just me.
5 Made out of strawberries and bananas – clever, if you ask me.
6 But is actually “Admit it. You’re Curious”.

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November 17, 2009 · 8:13 pm

Let’s Bowl, Let’s Bowl, Let’s Rock and Roll! (Day 17)

Today, I did something I haven’t done in at least 15 years — I went bowling. I know it may be hard to believe that it’s been such a long time, what with my youthful, fresh faced good looks and all, but don’t be fooled; I shall be turning another year older in less than a month, and I will now be able to say I’ve bowled with the help of computerized scorekeeping, as opposed to my prior bowling experience where we kept score with rocks and chisels. Anyway. 

My team went bowling as an exercise in futility teambuilding, and teambuilding it was, as in “I’ll beat your azz with my mad strike skills” or “If you don’t send me that deck1 post haste, I’m going to whack you upside your head with this giant ball”.  Speaking of bowling euphemisms, I may or may not have committed a serious freudian slip when I uttered ”man, I reeeally don’t want to touch these dirty balls2“. But that’s neither here nor there.

There are 17 people on my team, but only three of the female persuasion, so, of course, we had some serious girl power to spread and representin’ to accomplish. I’m happy to report that I, along with my fierce female colleagues, scored some serious pointage and bowled surprisingly well. We even beat most of the boys (natch). Think perfectly straight lines down the lanes and and breaking 100. In fact, it would probably be fair to say that my bowling skills brought all the boys to the yard.

As an aside, I do not recall bowling being quite so strenous. I’d guess that’s because I was just a wee tyke the last time I partook in the activity, but I nearly threw my back out today. Sadly, I was one of the youngest people in the joint3, too. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go cuddle my soaker tub along with about twenty-two gallons4 of epsom salts. ;-)

1 I’ve been using the word “deck” since the wayback machine that was my first job out of university. It means “powerpoint presentation”, as in “decks of cards”, or “decks of paper”, as it were.
2 I said it due to the pig flu going around. I did, dammit!
3 True story. There was a group of seniors next to us bowling the everliving daylights out of the ball and I’m not joking when I tell you that they were at least 70. God bless ‘em.
4 Or, for my Canadian friends, about 82.5 litres of epsom salt goodness.

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August 28, 2009 · 6:45 pm

That's The Way

TOAE 006The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition (TOAE) is just what it says: an outdoor art festival in Toronto that showcases contemporary art and craft of Canadian artists at Nathan Phillips Square each July. Celebrating its 48th year, TOAE showcases more than 500 artists, hosts an estimated 100,000 visitors, and is the largest outdoor art exhibition in Canada.  This means that all the cool Canadian kids flock from far and wide to the coolest city in Canada for one glorious weekend of art and to sell their wares.  And wares, there are plenty.  
 
Summers in Toronto are spectacular. Add in art by superb Canadian artists, and, well, it doesn’t get any better. I stumbled across TOAE while wandering around the first year I lived here and, in an attempt to fulfill a promise to myself to buy as much Canadian art as I could afford to buy, quicky snapped up a piece from a Peterborough, Ontario-based artist. I still love that piece much today as on the rainy day I bought it. I’ve managed to pick up a few pieces here and there, but my new favourite piece is one I just bought at this year’s TOAE from a way cool printmaker and artist named Agata Ostrowska.hohoto 003
 
Art is a funny thing. It’s certainly a personal thing. I have been privileged to know some amazing artists, especially my fabulous Houston friend and artist William Miller of whimdesigns.com.  One of my favourite things to do when I’m walking through any kind of art festival, crawl, gallery or museum (all of which I do often) is ask myself what I’m feeling when I’m looking at any given piece.  I’m often surprised at what a particular piece may invoke — sometimes shock, sometimes anger, sometimes happiness, sometimes sadness — but almost always something. I am also a word harlot. That’s probably not a surprise to you, since you’re reading my little slice of the intertubes where I, oh, write. And if you came to my house, you’d trip over books strewn about. Books I buy with every intention of reading, but never do. Books that I bought when I went to Chapters, or the now-defunct Pages (RIP!), or Book City; books that I couldn’t get enough of; the smell of the paper; or the rows upon rows in which to get lost; or hearing people quietly chat (or sometimes people talking loudly on their phone — so much so that I am required by law to give theTOAE 025m the stink-eye). My calendar is one of those tear-off Word-of-the-day ones so I can sound smrt at least one time a day.  So when I was walking through TOAE and spotted Agata’s work, I was immediately smitten. It was art all about – wait for it — words. Agata is a printmaker, and incidentally won the award for Honourable Mention, Printmaking at this year’s TOAE — most well-deserved. Her art is made of what were essentially long-form poems, which she then types using antique typewriters (so you can see the mistakes — awesome!), and then mirrors the “poem” on the opposite side of the canvas. Pure word harlot awesomeness.
 
Not wanting to act hastily, I jetted through the exhibition again to see if I saw anything else I liked as much. I stumbled upon a few other things, like this from an artist named Carmen Schroeder who won the Mayor’s Purchase Award, but I kept going back to Agata’s work. I knew I had to have one. She’d done one piece that was broken into quadrants and that spun around. I was literally turning around to tell her I wanted it when another person came up and said “I’ve been thinking abTOAE 027out that piece all day and I want to buy it”. D’oh! Luckily, I’d had my eye on another piece called “That’s The Way”, which was inspired by the Tom Waits song <swoon> of the same name, and that’s the one I bought.  It’s hanging lovingly in my den and I still find myself stopping to read it every few days…and I still discover new little idiosyncracies about the piece that I hadn’t previously noticed.
 
Agata ended up selling every piece she’d brought to the show with the exception of one — a feat not many artists ever realize. Not only is her art brilliant, but she is, too. And That’s The Way it’s supposed to be.

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July 25, 2009 · 12:53 pm

Score!

Driveway Challenge 015Sometimes work can be a giant bore. Cubicle life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, that’s for sure.  Sometimes.  Sometimes, though, it’s like gravy and sprinkles, and this week was one of those times.

Anyone who knows anything about (Canadian) sports knows Cabral Richards.  Who?  You probably better know him as Cabbie, as in The Score’s Cabbie on the Street. (I think The Score’s site might have been borked because it looks like crap.)  Being a new Torontonian, I had no clue who he was.  But I quickly discovered him to be hip and cool (traits I *also* share) and I developed a giant sports crush on him.  Cabbie likes to say that he’s “taking the sports interview game down a level”, which is not to say that his interviews are either stupid, or for stupid people.  Rather, he just cracks you the hell up!  I started Tivo’ing his show, Cabbie Unlimited, and fell in love with his bits with famous athletes like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.  His love affair interviews with Kobe are hilariously funny and quasi-legendary.  Because my blog isn’t yet self-hosted (but will be as soon as I can figure out what the hell ”DNS propogation” and “domain mapping” are — *then* my days of renting will be done. DONE!), you can view said interviews on Cabbie’s You Tube page rather than me wasting my valuable time and space embedding the vids here. ;-)     Driveway Challenge 022

So when I heard the awesome news that he would be hosting this event a second time, I was giddy!  GIDDY!  Forget the fact that Chris Bosh was the star of the day…I was going to meet Cabbie.  And, of course, as soon as he arrived, he was mobbed.  Which, of course, I’m used to and is why I had to procure my own security straight from the Air Canada Centre, as illlustrated above.  Ahem.

The event was getting ready to start and Cabbie hadn’t yet been freed up since every John, Paul and Larry within five miles were there to take his picture.  Thank goodness for my friend Cat who barged right up to him and said “hey Cabbie, I have your biggest fan here!” And he proceeded to do this (please turn your attention to the photo to the top of the page and to the left)!!!!!!!  Because he’s eleventy-thousand kinds of awesome.

Driveway Challenge 016I managed to stop hyperventilating long enough to blurt out some drivel about how I was so excited to meet him and about how I’d seen him at this same event last year but, being new to Canada and all, didn’t yet know who he was, but that I loved the stuff he’d done with Kobe and how I was his biggest girl fan.  You can see me going on and on and on, and how completely riveted he looks, when you turn your attention to the photo above and to your left. (!!!) 

And because he couldn’t get enough of me, we then took the photo of all photos, and one that I’m sure he’s already downloaded off of my Flickr page and has taken to Kinko’s to blow up into a wall-sized portrait for his office. Well, at least I like to think that’s what he did.  In reality, that was the end of that.  But it made my day…hell, it made my year!  I haven’t taken a shower yet.  :-) Driveway Challenge 017

And now for the shameless plug for which I am not getting one single penny: the new season of Cabbie Unlimited premieres September 1 at 7pm ET on The Score.  Check it out.  Trust me, you won’t be sorry.  Just prepare your insides for the insane jiggling around they will experience from the non-stop laughter.

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