BEDA 15: The Perfect Reading Tree and The Sorceress on sale May 2009

Hello fellow bloggers

I went for a 30 minute walk at lunch today and found the perfect reading tree.

Yes I have a reading tree. Actually I have more than one. One in this little park in the west end, I rarely go there anymore since I moved downtown. Two along the rideau canal and they are weeping willows. And now one so close to work meaning I can go for a walk, take my lunch and sit under this perfect tree to read during my lunch break.

On another news front, I just googled Michael Scott, for those of you who would not know who this is, he is the author of a really great book serie. First book is The Alchemyst. Second is The Magician. And the third is The Sorceress.

Why am I so excited? Simple. I just found out that The Sorceress is schedule to be released May 2009!!!!!

I have been waiting for this book ever since I finished The Magician. I love this story. I think I got interested by this serie because of this sentence I read on the cover of the books: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. Ever since there was a mention of that in Harry Potter, I needed to read more books talking about this.

The Sorceress cover is release, check it out:
http://www.dillonscott.com/the-alchemyst/the-sorceress.htm

If you loved The magick of Harry Potter and fantasy in general, you will love this book. I totally recommend this serie of books to any Harry Potter fans or anyone who loves fantasy and magick stories.

I have this little application on my google page that displays fat loss tip of the day so I decided to share one every day right here on this blog. Thought I will call it healthy tip of the day.

Healthy tip of the day:

Drink 8 glasses of ice water every day. Cold water speeds up your metabolism while keeping you hydrated.

WOW! I can't believe I kept this blog every day April initiative for half a month already. Okay I admit two or three times I posted two blogs a day since I forgot the previous day or did not have time, but I am still proud of my accomplishment considering I blogged way less before.

See you tomorrow.

*Edit: A funny and weird thing just happened as I was writing up the keywords for this post. I was writing or wanted to write "walk" as one of the keywords and somehow without meaning to or noticing I ended up writing "haunted walk". Hmmm... was my subconcious trying to tell me something or perhaps it was just coincidence, funny how sometimes things like this happen.

Current weight: 107.4lbs

(though my scale early this morning said 105.4lbs, my scale is messed up, it kind of does not make sense to lose 2 lbs already only after one day of healthy eating does it?)

BEDA 14: Speeding of metabolism and taking better care of myself

Hello everyone

Today is back to work day. It is all right, can't always be on holidays.

I have been noticing lately that I tend to gain weight a lot faster these days. Perhaps due to lack of exercise which slowed down my metabolism. So I decided to do some research on what is best to eat and how to speed up one's metabolism.

I found that one of the best way is to make sure not to skip breakfast, after all it is the most important meal of the day. Lately I have been a lot more tired which also can slow down metabolism and keep hitting the snooze on my alarm and waking up later and rushing to get to work thus failing to eat a proper breakfast that can sustain me throughout the day. Sometimes I grabbed a muffin, mind you not the worst muffin of all, it had oats and chocolate chips of course not all that healthy.

I figured that the fact I have been tired has been going to bed too late as a result of chatting on msn.

I have decided first and foremost to stop it and go to bed at a reasonable hour (9pm 9:30pm) to try and catch up on the sleep that I have missed. It is good since I wake up really early to get to work at 8am.

Hopefully this will help give me back all the lost energy.

I also decided to make sure I set aside time to eat a proper breakfast.

A sample of the food that I found, from my research, are likely to help boost the metabolism and speed it up:

Spinach, plain yogurt, berries, beans (lima, kidney beans, lentils, quinoa, etc.), eggs (they say we should apparently eat some every day), and of course a lot of vegetables, chicken, turkey.

Drinking green tea at least five times a day, I have a little trouble scheduling a fifth cup though. breakfast, lunch, dinner, evening. When else can I drink another one? :) Apparently green tea, I already knew that, is great to help burn fat consumed and also speeds up the metabolism.

They also said coffee. Yuk. Sorry that is something I just won't commit to. I hate the taste. Plus it may have the speeding up the metabolism good point but has other negative aspects that I just don't like.

Drinking a lot of water! That is something I NEED to commit to. I always start to but then I find that it is just too much water, always need to go pee. That is good to get your kidneys functioning well but man is that a lot of water, eight glasses a day. They say really cold water helps speed up the metabolism, emphasis on COLD or REALLY COLD.

I am also going to get back to my morning Yoga and possibly running (on the Wii). Of course I have a 10 minute walk every morning to the bus stop and sometimes, when weather permits, an hour walk from work to home. Now that the weather is finally nice, I plan to hop on my rollerblades and go every day after work when weather permits of course. And soccer, possibly twice a week now that the weather is looing better.

I found a lot of speed your metabolism diet but I won't follow a specific diet. THEY DO NOT WORK. Instead I am just incorporating the list of food that are said to speed one's metabolism into my regular daily food intake.

That way there is no giving up of favourite food for a certain time that only makes people want to binge later on and gain the weight twice as fast.

Knowing what you are eating and eating proper food that are sure to sustain you for the entire day without making you crave the junk, is the way to go. It is easy, just incorporating more vegetables in your diet, some spinach, plain yogurt, nuts after workouts, etc.

Something from every food group, giving you the proteins and vitamins your body needs. And also doing simple exercise that you love and that are fun rather than forcing yourself to do an exercise for the sole purpose of exercising.

I choose rollerblading, soccer and walking simply because that is what I do anyway. Or rather what I used to do a lot more. It does not feel like exercising since it is all things I quite enjoy.

I know most people reading this will say that I have nothing to lose since I am 5'1" and 107lbs as of tonight.

But the thing is I used to keep my weight easily around a 100lbs. I found I had more energy and now if I exercise I am more out of breath than I used to be. And the fact that I gain faster than I used to whenever I ate something.

I think it is time to take better care of myself and get back to my healthy weight and therefore my more energetic self.

Some of the links I found with my research, might be of interests to others as well:

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/dietweightloss/a/12ways.htm
http://daytimetalk.com/2008/03/17/seven-ways-to-boost-metabolism-today/

http://www.myfit.ca/foods_that_speed_metabolism.asp

http://www.quick-weightloss-results.com/negative-calorie-foods.html

http://www.uweightloss.com/3secrets.aspx

Current weight: 107.8lbs

That is it for today's fourteenth day of BEDA. Off to dreamland.

See you tomorrow.

BEDA 13: No soccer game, House MD and TV is bleh

Hello everyone

The long weekend is over, I am sad. When is the next one? Can't wait. ;) I drove four hours to get back to Ottawa today. I don't mind the long drive, most people might find it long but I like driving.

No soccer game today as it is easter monday. I am a little sad but at the same time I am happy that I got to watch House MD. I always miss it since they decided to put the show on mondays, why? *sniff*

I don't know if it is just me but TV has gotten bleh wouldn't you agree? My TV has pretty much been off for at least a year now, aside from the times I play some Wii or the occasional simpsons or family guy episode and House MD of course whenever there is no soccer that monday.

I used to watch a lot of TV growing up, when I say a lot I mean an insane amount. I watched all the sitcoms, on NBC, ABC, CBS. Blossom, Full House, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Matters, etc.

Do you remember the TGIF line-up? Every friday it was like a religiously experience for me I swear. I never missed a single TGIF. I taped the shows as well and watched over and over and over again.

That is how I actually learned english as a second language. Who said TV is not good and you cannot learn anything from it. lol

Unfortunately now, ever since seinfeld and friends wave their goodbyes, TV for me has not been the same. I have yet to find a sitcom or drama that I MUST sit and watch religiously. Aside from House MD of course, it would be a lot easier if they switched days. Grrrr.

I used to love Gimore Girls and watch that and not want to be interrupted. A lot of people thought I was nuts for liking this saying that the fact that they spoke so fast was annoying. That is actually what I loved the most about the show. I know I am odd.

Another show I loved was smallville, I know it still is playing, but they switched channels and timeslots so much on me that I have no idea when it plays anymore and missed so many episode that at some point I will need to buy the dvds and start to watch the serie all over again.

Don't you just hate it when you love a certain show and the network decide to switch the time and day on you?

I also loved the charmed serie and followed that without missing an episode, but yet again they switched day and time on me so much that I got confused and never knew when it was playing resulting in missing a lot of episodes.

I loved this monday's House though. House thinking that one of his old team member wanted back on the team when she canceled plans with her boyfriend - the cutest one on this show btw with the british accent - because she found a ring and knew he was thinking of proposing but she did not want him to propose as a result of what happened last time, the guy on the team who committed suicide. And House thinking she was falling for him.

I loved the case with the greenpeace activist who tried to get up and couldn't walk, turns out the cause was him buying flowers for his wife and the pesticides made him sick... good news for him since now it gave him even more reason to protest and bad news for his wife, she wanted him to be there for their son more.

What TV shows are you addicted to or have to watch on a daily basis?

Do you find TV has indeed gotten Bleh lately?

Did you use to watch the 80s sitcoms, and if so which were your favourite? I would love to now.

Remember the TGIF line-up?

Allright that is about it for this thirteenth day of BEDA.

See you tomorrow.

BEDA 12: Egg day at the Sugar shack and a visit with the giants

hello everyone

On day twelve of BEDA I went to the sugar shack as it has been tradition in my family for years. You know religion is losing its touch when all churches are empty on easter and you see people reserving a year in advance to go to the sugar shack.

The sugar shack is basically a restaurant in a shack in a country setting. The food is typical Quebec (french canadian) meal, we usually go for brunch or rather bruncher (breakfast-lunch-dinner), i invented a new word, since it is so easy to over eat that you don't get that hungry for dinner after.

The meal start with traditional french canadian pea soup, some sugar shack now have vegetable soup. I suppose for the ones who do not like pea soup. than people dressed in old time clothing bring eggs (omelette), ham, mini sausages (it depends on the sugar shack some may not have that), potatoes (some sugar shack the potatoes are cooked with onions making it even yummier). beans. And it is all you can eat, usually it is an occasion for families to get together and therefore people reserve for big groups, since it is all you can eat you can always ask for more of one of the things they bring.

Some sugar shack also make their own home made ketchup, this is made of awesome, not all of them do it though. And you put maple syrup on everything. For dessert, my favourite is the crepes, the sugar shack i go to and most quebec sugar shack, the crepes are fried and crispy, I prefer that to the traditional american pancakes. Simply delicious.

At the sugar shack we went to this year, they also had another traditional french canadian thing, galette sarrazin, this is made with a different kind of flour and is flat. We usually put butter and molasse on it. And they also had maple syrup pie.

I ate one galette sarrazin and of course pancakes, this is one of the main reason I love going to the sugar shack, that and the taffy.

Taffy is amazing. They usually boil the sap to make maple syrup and boil it some more and you have taffy, they pour the mixture on snow, and yes there were still some snow where my parents live, though they manage to find some snow in the summer somehow because some sugar shacks are open in the summer, people from france actually came to experience this in the summer.

If you want the true experience of sugar shack I would suggest the province of Quebec, I went to one in Ontario and no offense but it WAS NOT the same, perhaps because I am used to the ones in Quebec and am picky.



I took a picture of myself replacing my face with the Paper Towns book. I received an email from Hank Green that he was asking everyone to take Paper Towns everywhere we go and take a picture with the book, in a way to celebrate the release of paper towns and send it to him. It said he would write a song and use the pictures that people sent him. I received this because i once signed on to the mailing list to receive news concerning the project for awesome.

Here my picture of sad margo at the sugar shack in Mont-Carmel.



After the sugar shack, I went to visit some giants. Not really giants just cousins but they are so tall that they look like giants compared to me, 5'1", I shook their hands and was afraid mine would be crushed. It was great to see them, I hadn't seen them in forever, the last time I believe I was perhaps 16. I didn't recognized them at all.

Well, since egg day is over, tomorrow I take a four hour trip back to Ottawa. As much as I love visiting my family, I can't wait to go back because I love Ottawa. It also means back to work but that is ok.

Day 12 of BEDA done, see you tomorrow.

BEDA 11: Easter, a celebration of new life

Hello everyone

Today will be a short picture blog. I went to the mall because every easter is a tradition, I need to see the little easter farm. With easter comes spring and new life, newborn rabbits, birds, poney, goats, etc.

Easter has to do with the celebration of new life, as the easter egg represents the beginning of new life and the easter bunny represents the creation of new life since bunnies reproduced quite quickly to multiply and proliferate their kind.

Here are some pictures of the animals including me holding  the cutest little black baby bunny with my favourite store in the background (garage clothing).

That is it for the eleventh day of BEDA.
See you tomorrow.

BEDA 10: Nerds vs Geeks

Hello everyone

I had a conversation with my boyfriend and we were trying to figure out whether there was a difference between a geek and a nerd. Which type of people can be label as geeks and which would be better labeled as nerds.

Our personal opinion consisted of:

Geeks being the ones who are into video games, comic books, dress up as their favourite characters and go to conventions, etc.

Nerds would be the bookworms, programmer, etc.

I did some research online and found out it is actually a lot different. Check out my findings:

Geeks are about fantasy, technology, sci-fi in a general manner and also bare the brunt of all stereotypes. While nerds are all about learning whatever the passion. Of course a computer nerd is sharing the same stereotypes as a computer geek, but for the nerds there is a lot more passion about how technology works. However because the passion is spent in their pursuit to gain knowledge, socializing gets thrust on the back burner.

There is a lot of overlap and as a result a geeks can become a nerd and therefore have issues with socializing which can hurt them in the long run.

All in all both are passionate people but have to be careful in making sure they do not end up neglecting the social aspect of life. I would have to create a new category called hybrids.

Hybrids would be the type to be passionate and want to learn more about their specific interests and enjoy what they love without sacrificing the social aspect of their life.

I would say I fall in the hybrid category. I love fantasy, technology, some sci-fi (not star trek though) but also like to be social. It was not always the case, I believe when I was younger I would say I was more of a nerd than a geek or hybrid.

As I got older I realized the importance of being social, we are human beings and all human beings need to interact with others in order to grow and learn new things helping us in our quest to be better people.

So based on this, what type are you? I would love to hear your comments and suggestions on this.

That is about it for this 10th day of BEDA.

I will see you tomorrow.

Embrace your geekness, nerdiness or hybridness whatever the case maybe and

DFTBA.

Fat loss tip of the day:

Chill soups, gravies, and stews in the refrigerator, then skim the fat off the top.

BEDA 8: Time Capsule - Letter to my future self

Hello everyone

Someone on youtube made a video time capsule sending a letter to her future self five so that when she watches it five years from now, she can see the changes that happened to her life. I thought it was a fantastic idea and decided to do one for day 8 of blog every day april. Hopefully it will inspire other people to do the same and start some interesting activity. A lot can change in five years you would be amazed, and I thought it would be nice to send a letter to your future self in a way to remind yourself of the things you planned to accomplish and see if you have.

So here is the time capsule letter to my future self.

Dear future self,

Hey you, yes you future self, I am talking to you and you need to listen.

How is life treating you these days?

Are you still in love with that special guy you call your precious treasure and handsome prince? I hope so because he is really good for you. The best. Make sure you always treat him well and keep expressing how much you love him. You two are meant to be.

Did you finally accomplish that goal you set for yourself five years ago about learning Actionscript? It seems like an interminable goal at the moment, but I believe I will succeed. All I need to do is keep believing in you.

How is your health these days? You are not sick? Still eating healthy and keeping up with the exercise? Are you still enjoying Yoga on the Wii fit and rollerblade?

Are you keeping up with soccer? Still enjoying it? I want to tell you how proud I am of you for trying something new and in the process making new friends. I know it hasn't always been easy and you have always been a little afraid of meeting new people, but keep it up. Life is a journey and everyone you meet in the process are there to help you learn more about yourself.

I am really proud of you.

Have you kept the good habit of drinking green tea every morning and after meals, in a way to stay healthy? If so that is fantastic, keep it up. Treating your body right is an awesome thing.

Oh by the way, I almost forgot, have you finally taken that disney trip you and the one you loved were planning on? If not, what are you waiting for? You only live once, save some money and go. Realize that long time dream of yours. I don't doubt for a minute that you will enjoy it. And stop being so fearful of taking a plane for the first time if you haven't experienced that yet. There is a first time for everything and everyone is telling you that being on a plane you are safer than in a car. Go for it.

Remember all the other first you were terrified to experienced and how good it felt once you did? I promise it will be the same for for this I am sure.

How is the learning to play guitar going? Are you able to actually play a song now? I hope you decided to stick with it even if now it seems so hard to learn. You love it, you should stick with this hobby.

How many books are you reading at the moment? You always were a little nut when it came to reading, starting more than one book at once and sometimes having to re-read. Are you still re-reading the Harry Potter serie? That was always your favourite, you couldn't stop making references to it, possibly at the risk of annoying your friends. hehe. I know the movies are all done by now, and please please please don't tell me that they decided to come back and make another sequel with the lame happy ending of the third book in which it is the turn of our three heroes children to go to hogwarts. :(

Are your parents still healthy and in good shape? How is your cat, still healthy and just as great as ever?

Are you still making youtube videos or rather have you finally figured out what you wanted to do with the youtube account you set up?

Are you still blogging?

Do you still live in Ottawa? You always loved this city, not too big, not too small? Same job?

I know you always wanted to take a trip to Toronto and possibly go back to boston or wildwood, have you done that? How was that?

Are you still friends with Anna and Nick? Are you guys still talking? If not give them a call and schedule a time to hang out ok. It is not nice to forget your friends no matter how busy you are?

Is Steven Harper still prime minister or do we have someone better? I sincerely hope so. And to keep going on the same train of thought, did Obama get re-elected ? How is the economy, better?

Did the New Kids on the Block make any other albums? I know how excited you were to see them come back after 15 years. Despite what everyone thought you never stopped believing they would be back.

I guess that is about all I had to tell you and ask. Oh yes, do not forget to write another letter for YOUR future self and so on. One: becasue it is fun. And two: becsue it can make you realize what you accomplish in life and what you have yet to accomplish.

Take care and enjoy every day as if it was your last., life is short live it to the fullest.

Sincerely,
Your past self
(written five years ago)

Well that is it for day eigth of BEDA. I will see you tomorrow. This blog every day april is easier than I thought, I am really glad that I decided to participate.

Art tip of the day

USE GESSO BEFORE YOU MAKE A MESS
If you are new to oil painting and you're finding that your colors are making a big mess on the canvas by turning muddy and not flowing smoothly, you need to know about gesso.

When you apply oil paints to a dry canvas, they won't blend well or flow naturally due to the coarseness of your canvas. A good way to avoid making a mess of your colors is to apply some gesso to your canvas. Gesso is a clear, water-based medium that will allow you to apply your colors more easily. Once you use gesso, you will probably never want to go back to painting on an unprepared surface.
- John Cleary

BEDA 7: Actionscripting, Snow in April (RAWR) and rush hour protesti

Hello everyone

BEDA day seven. I am quite proud of myself for committing to this activity started by Maureen Johnson.

I want to talk about three things again today:

1- Actionscripting
2- Snow in April Yuk
3- Rush hour protest

Actionscripting: Recently I set myself a new goal or challenge, which consist in teaching myself actionscript. Flash programming language. It is going well, slowly but surely. I was extremely proud of myself last friday during lunch at work when I was able to figure out how to create a dropdown menu using actionscript 2.0. So proud that I almost was jumping up and down, well I was quietly still sitting on my chair but desperately felt like standing up and celebrate my new accomplishment. Unfortunately I did not, not wanting to disrupt my coworkers.

I am starting with version 2.0 before I move on to the 3.0 version as it is quite different and I figure I need to know the basics first.

I know for a lot of you, if you are a programmer, this may not be the biggest accomplishment but it is a big breakthrough for me. You see I am an artist and therefore have the artist mind primarily, although I also have a big part of the logical mind useful when programming, sometimes both minds collide generates a fight in my brain. Thus resulting in a blank expression on my face as if I am somewhere totally different. I believe the reason my expression gets like this especially after having looked at code for too long, is my artist mind saying: "enough, need creativity NOW!". I just basically end up looking like this programming thing is over my head as you can see in the picture below.

Blank face = mind going blank after looking at code for too long

I do understand programming and know I can overcome the difficulties and understand everything about actionscript, I just need to give it time and practice a little every day. I am a stong-minded strong-willed girl, not to say stubborn here as it sounds a little negative, and I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. I am confident I will for this as well.

The second thing I want to talk about is this snow we have been getting in April. RAWR. It is technically spring and this morning I woke up and mother nature is up to her silly tricks again, a fresh blanket of snow. Grrrr. Okay it was not a lot of snow but still, in April I don't want snow. Don't get me wrong I love snow and (March, April) I have had enough and want warm weather, especially if we get such a beautiful sunny and warm day as last Thursday.

I know, I know I live in Canada, and Ottawa to be exact. I should be used to winter and know that it is normal to get snow in April, but I cannot help being sick of it and wishing for warmer weather and being all excited about spring and summer.

Rush hour protests: When I walked home from the bus stop I noticed traffic jams caused by protesters calling for an immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka. It appears to be a worldwide effect as the same thing apparently happened in Britain.

Protesters were sitting down in front of buses blocking Wellington street Tuesday evening and today was at the corner of Elgin and Albert streets. It was a good thing I was just walking home from dowtown rather than have to drive, traffic was stopped and extremely slow. The protest seem to have been peaceful according to the news.

I don't mind protests to get the protesters point across as long as they don't get so violent that it would threatened the safety of innocent people.

I hate wars why can't we all get along and help one another, we are all human regardless of race, skin colors, religious belief. We are supposed to be civilized and be able to communicate and yet at hte first sign of conflict what do we do? Bring out the guns and weapons of all kinds. Say what you want but sometimes I don't believe that humans have really evolved that much, especially when I see actions such as this in order to resolve conflicts.

And now I will leave you with my art tip of the day.

Art tip of the day:

DRAWING ACCURATE LINES
Having trouble drawing straight lines? Here is a great way to do just that. First, you will need some tape, a T-square, and a triangular square.

Place your paper on your table, then take your T-square to line up the bottom edge of your paper so that it's straight. Tape the four corners of your paper down to your art table. Now you can slide the T-square up and down to draw your horizontal lines. Placing the triangular square on top of the T-square will allow you to draw your vertical lines. If you follow this method, you will always have accurate, straight lines.
- John Cleary

See you tomorrow.

BEDA 6: Haunted Apartment, Snow and Soccer

Hello everyone

Day six of Blog Every Day April.

I want to talk about three things today:

1- Haunted apartment
2- Snow
3- Soccer

Haunted apartment: A while back this weird thing happened when I was chatting on the internet with my boyfriend. Webcam was on and when I stepped away from the camera he saw this white shadowy ghostly figure. Since then not that much has happened except that this morning I woke up to the sounds of water flowing in my kitchen, well in truth I heard that only after I got out of the shower.

There is this dishwasher in my apartment, which I have never really used. I don't have that much dishes plus I can always managed to wash it by hand.

So I get out of the shower and I hear the sound of water running, at first I thought it might be someone in another apartment taking his/her shower and I heard the noise, but it seemed way too close. I decide to investigate and make my way to the kitchen, to my surprise I saw water coming out of the side of the dishwasher. And looking inside the dishwasher and it was filling itself with water. That is not the oddest part though, I looked at the knob and it was set to the OFF position.

Now I take it I don't know much about dishwashers but can a dishwasher just fill itself up? It could be that it was broken, but I do find it odd that it was filled with water when it was clearly OFF.

I emailed the landlord and they came over today and fixed it as it was fine when I got home, but I still find this bizarre.

Snow: It was snowing today. RAWR! In april, ok I know it is Canada and bound to happen but last thursday was so beautiful, warm and nice out, I cannot handle snow anymore. Spring please get here SOON.

Soccer: I started playing soccer at the beginning of this year with OSSC, Ottawa Sports and social Club, and I love it. I had a game today and we WON 11-8! Yes I am overly excited because we don't win that much but I think we played much better today and I seemed to be a better goalie.

GO BLUE DEVILS! I also designed the logo for our team shirts.

Check it out here and at the same time you can see my excitement: http://dailybooth.com/SweetyGirl/168620

I practiced in my apartment, kicking the ball and stopping it.



I definitely need to practice more. I am going to play spring soccer, this time it will be outdoors. Indoor soccer is great, the rules are quite different but being outdoor when it is beautiful and sunny, enjoying summer will be great.

Beda day 6 down... I feel accomplished.

See you tomorrow and in the meantime enjoy this:

Art tip of the day

TRACING THROUGH A WINDOW
Tracing implies the act of copying someone else's artwork or outright stealing. However, tracing can also serve as a valuable resource for artists. Perhaps you have a photo of a car that you just can't get right by simply drawing it out by sight. Well, there is nothing wrong with tracing the form of your image, then finishing it freehand to add all the details and originality. Tracing also has many other benefits, since it gives you the ability to overlay images, change an object, and locate your perspective.

Let's say you have something to trace, but you don't want to buy a trace-box. Well, here is a great idea for tracing through a window. Simply tape the image you want to trace on a window, and then tape your paper over that. The sunlight creates an instant trace-box.
- John Cleary

BEDA 5: The Orphanage and necessary errands

Hello everyone

Today started better then the previous two, weather-wise, even got to see the sun. I don't know why that is but I feel more tired and lazy when it gray and rainy outside and don't feel like doing much. I need the sun's energy to revitalize me.

Ran a couple much needed errands, I desperately needed to get a new brake for my rollerblade. I went for a ride last week and noticed that it was time to replace the break, I was a little afraid I wouldn't be able to stop at some point which would not be good.

I also got myself new wrist guards, again much needed, as my old ones were not looking too good, I have had them for at least 3 years now so it was time for a change.

Now I am all ready for rollerblading season if only the weather would cooperate and the rainy, windy, coldish days would end. RAWR.

I stopped by a game store, and I tried the rock band that was only display. To my dismay it was xBox. Ewww Microsoft product, had to wash my hands more than once to remove any microsoft germs and traces that I actually touched this system. lol RAWR. By this comment, I am sure you can guess that I am not a fan of anything microsoft. I mean it really showed it was microsoft too, it took forever to load just like Windows and I bet it is subject to viruses and those updates and re-updates and re-re-updates.

Despite the microsoft system, I found rock band kind of fun as in an awesome party game but I am not certain I would really want to own that game. I am not the greatest musically-speaking. Mind you I am trying to teach myself guitar but it is going at a snail-pace, still love guitar though.

I thought I was doing good until I realized that we are required to sing along. I did not want to do that especially since I was in a store and let's face it I cannot carry a tune to save my life which would have probably resulted in customers running out of the store. :) LOL

I made this Easy basil sesame noodles for dinner, found on an old blog, check out the recipe here:
http://recipe-binder.blogspot.com/2009/03/recipe-9-easy-basil-sesame-noodles.html
It was pretty good and quite healthy, I added some chicken, cauliflower, green onion and mushrooms. I rarely follow the recipe as it is written, always like to experiment and add something new to it. All in all it turned out pretty good aside from the fact that I miscalculated the chicken-veggies-noodles ratio and ended up with more noodles than chicken and veggies. It was still good.

I finally watches The orphanage by Guillermo Del toro.

I have been saying I wanted to see this film ever since I saw the first movie poster about it and never got around to it. I am uber glad I finally watched it.

For those of you who would not have heard of Guillermo Del Toro, he is a mexican film-maker who directed the fantastic fantasy movie: Pan's Labyrinthe or El labyrinto del fauno. A brillant movie with some references to Alice in wonderland.

Unfortunetaly for the ones who are not fast readers the movie is in spanish with english subtitles, meaning you need to pay attention and read a lot or may need to pause in order to make sure you do not miss any important details.

I cannot recommend this movie enough especially to anyone who likes Del Toro's style. The Orphanage, same as pan's labyrinthe, forces you to go back and reexamine the plot to wonder what is real and what isn't. There is also a reference to peter pan (peter and wendy) and the lost children. As in pan's labyrinthe he used Alice in wonderland references. Genius. It makes it quite interesting.

Del Toro keeps the viewer in suspense until the end of the movie, and leaves much of the true reality or unreality of the plot open to interpretation and creates an experience that lingers in your mind long after you have watched the film, making you think, wonder and talk about your own interpretations.

The film is considered horror but not the free blood, gore and violence that we normally see and I personally find it refreshing to see a true gem of a film, such as this one, keep you on the edge o f your seat wanting to know what will happen next.

I especially liked the fact that it dealt with some paranormal aspect and skeptic characters along with believers.

In retrospect, I absolutely loved the film and I would recommend this to anyone who loves or even has never heard of guillermo del toro. Simply brilliant and fantastic.

I was going to put more specific things about the movie, but I realize some people may not have watched it and I did not want to spoil it for anyone would would want to see it.

As I promised I would always add my art tip of the day here it is:

Art tip of the day:

PROPER WAY TO HOLD A PENCIL WHILE DRAWING
The pencil is the artist's main tool of expression, and by applying varying degrees of pressure, the artist can make a wide variety of lines. When you write, you hold the end of the pencil to make small marks of similar size. When you draw, however, you must be able to make small marks as well as long, free-flowing lines. Resting your hand on the paper and holding the pencil near the middle is a more conventional and correct way to do detailed drawing. If you want to make a broader range of marks, you should hold the pencil near the blunt end. Doing this will leave you free to draw from the elbow.

If you want to draw a more sweeping line, just grasp the pencil comfortably with your hand relaxed. The fingers should loosely support rather than grip the pencil. Try not to force the movement; let it occur naturally. Use the method that feels most natural and comfortable for you.
- John Cleary

BEDA day 5 down, see you tomorrow.

BEDA 4: Lazy day , getting ready for party

Hello everyone

Fourth day of blog every day april.

As yesterday, it was again pouring rain, we woke up late as there is not so much to do when the weather is not cooperating. RAWR.

Where did the sunny warm weather of thursday go? I want spring and summer now!

We just basically lazed around and got ready for Nat's party, birthday party even if her birthday was on april 1st.

I don't know if I would be so happy to have my birthday on a day where people play pranks, that is just asking for trouble. But guess you cannot choose which day you are born so you get stuck with it. Yesterday we walked around downtown and went to exchange a bob marley hoodie that we realized we bought the same as last year, oups. :)

The party was great. We played this game called "Things". It basically consists in one person picks a card and reads what it asks us to write, like: things you shouldn't do at a party, things that would keep you out of heaven, etc.

Then everyone writes down his answer on a piece of paper, folds it and we put it in a hat or container. The person who picked the cared reads the answers out loud and each player, taking turn tries to guess, answer by answer, who wrote it. If the player guesses right he keeps guessing until he misses then the next player tries to guess.

It is a fantastic game especially when a lot of people are playing, the answers you get can be quite funny, it gets people talking, laughing and having fun. Awesome game. And great party.

Day four a BEDA down, so far so good.

Since I love art, I thought I would add a section to these blogs called Art tip of the day. Here is my first art tip, enjoy.

Art tip of the day

WHAT KIND OF PAPER?
There are many different kinds of paper that can be used in art. The texture of the paper can totally change the effect that a drawing might produce, so it is very important to familiarize yourself with the wide variety of paper available. Smooth paper is recommended for detailed work and for thin-line work. It's particularly suitable for pencil, pen and ink work. Textured paper is ideally used for charcoal and pastels. The textured groove on this type of paper makes it possible for the charcoal and pastels to grip the paper. Most art stores will allow you to try some samples. Just experiment and find out what works best for the effect you want.
- John Cleary

BEDA 2: Games of the only child

Hello everyone

It is April 2 and time for a new BEDA post. I was reading Maureen Johnson post yesterday where she talked about only children being forced to come up with ways to entertain themselves. She was thinking back on some of the games she used to invent as a child and shared with everyone so I decided to do something similar since I too am an only child and I too used to invent games and storied as a means to keep myself entertain.

You see, when you are an only child, you don't have a brother or a sister that is always or or mostly around all the time to play with therefore you are forced to be creative and invent ways to entertain yourself and keep from being bored and have nothing to do.

I don't remember inventing GAMES movies as a kid and later on pretend I was the main character and that the story was real and I was the one having those adventures. I could spend hours and hours in my imagination land.

Some of my favourite movie to recreate while in imagination land:

Annie

I must have watched that movie a thousand times, so much that I could say the lines even before the character on the screen said it.

La grenouille et la baleine

This one is french and part of the Conte pour tous series. I am sure everyone will say what is this movie, but you see I grew up in Quebec, in a smaller town where at first cable didn't get through our area, not enough people therefore not worth it. Boo. So I mainly watch french television. That movie was one of my favourite to recreate mainly because the main character had the natural tight curls that I wanted to have so I pretended I was her, she lived by the water and had a pert dolphin if you can say and could hear whales singing, and her hearing was more sensitive than most she could hear them when anyone else wouldn't.

Pas de repit pour melanie

That was another favourite and another one I liked to pretend that I was the main character and had the adventures they had. She also had a pet llama which I thought was so cute and even wished i had one for real until I found out they spit in your face that is.

The wizard of oz

That one was a classic that I pretended I arrived in the land of oz and had all those adventures.

Bach et bottine

I always tried to pretend I was Fanny, mainly because she had this pet skunk obviously it had an operation so he would not spray but I thought it was so cute, for the longest I wished I had one so much. And also because the story took place in Quebec city and I absolutely love this place.

Vincent et moi

This one was a story of a girl who loved to draw and paint, I saw myself a lot more in that character, it was a lot easier to imagine I was that character. And also it involved my favourite painter vincent van gogh, though at the time I didn't knwo that much about painters or art history.

There are a lot more I am sure but I cannot remember them all.

That is the colourful a d imaginative life of the only child, having to invent ways to entertain yourself.

I could spend hours and hour in my room or outdoors, inventing, pretending recreating the stories I saw in the movies with me as the main character. And was quiet for hours, so much that my mom had to come and check to see if I was still there or if I was ok.

BEDA: day 2 down and off to a good start.

See you tomorrow

Blog and Vlog Every Day April Initiative

Hello everyone

The other day I was just on youtube, watching some videos and came across this project or initiative rather called: "vlog every day april".

It was started by Maureen Johnson, she is an author, I know her because she wrote a short story as part of a book in which John Green (author of looking for alaska, paper towns and an abundance of katherines) who is a new favourite author of mine as well as a favourite vloggerand nerdfighter. Check out youtube.com/vlogbrothers.

She basically started this for herself, as a way to blog more and not make any excuses why she has no time to blog anymore. And a youtuber named nerimon thought was a great idea and started the Vlog Every April project saying he was going to take part in this initiative.

I also think it is an amazing idea so I have decided to follow in maureen johnson and nerimon's footsteps and take the challenge of making a vlog every day for the month of april.

Now I don't guarantee the vlogs being amazing, or long. They might be just a short little video sayign why today is awesome, because i have been thinking for a long time to make videos every day and finding ONE thing in my day that I could say is awesome.

If you think about it it can be quite beneficial, let's say you are having an aweful day at work and out of the blue someone you like and care about a lot sends you an email, tells you a joke that makes you laugh a lot, or decide to treat yourself to your favourite food, etc. Vlogging about it every day and saying this is why today is awesome can make you feel better in a second, don't you think?

Check it out if you want to: youtube.com/sunshinebear00