Reasons to live

Not my list but interesting:

"For most of us, dying would be infinitely easier than living-- for life is hard!

#10: Random chance

#9: Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem
Basically a brilliant scientist named Kurt Gödel once proved that nobody can ever know everything. No matter if God-like powers are brought to bear by future humanity or the most advanced aliens you can imagine, even they will never learn it all.
So why's this a reason to live?
Because it means anyone deciding anything-- including to die-- cannot and never will have all the facts available to them. Perhaps not even all those specific facts relevant to their choice of the time. Ditto on deciding to live as well-- but you get the point.

#8: Revenge
#7: Curiosity
#6: The ultimate relief and satisfaction available to our own ending
#5: Adventure
#4: Changing one itsy-bitsy piece of the world for the better
#3: Serendipity
#2: Transcendence
#1: Love "

For sure not my reasons to plow through day after day but worth a mention.

Favorite Parts of Toronto

I love the city I live in and here are some of my favorite Parts of it.

1. The Annex - The area I call home.



Wiki Says:
The Annex is one of Toronto's oldest neighbourhoods and its first streetcar suburb, characterized by its distinctive tall narrow houses, and lively community along Bloor Street. Considered a food and shopping mecca, this district is well known by Torontonians as one of the friendliest neighborhoods in the city. Due to the proximity of the neighbourhood to the University of Toronto and, as a result, its large population of students and faculty, the commercial strip along Bloor Street has quite the feel of a college neighbourhood (albeit an affluent one).



2. The Beaches


Wiki Says:
The commercial district of Queen Street East lie at the heart of The Beaches community. It is characterized by a large number of independent speciality stores. The side streets are mostly lined with semis and large-scale Victorian, Edwardian and new-style houses. There are also low-rise apartment buildings and a few row-houses. There are several parks just a few steps south

3. Parkdale



Wiki Says:
It was founded as a village in 1879, joining Toronto in 1889. It was an upper income residential area for the first half of the 20th Century, with several notable mansions. The area changed dramatically with the building of the Gardiner Expressway, demolishing the southern section of the neighbourhood and the creation of a barrier between the neighbourhood and the lakeshore. This led to both an outflux of prosperous residents west, and a decline in the economy. Most of the residential buildings remain, but the composition of the residents is much different, including a higher proportion of lower incomes. Today, it is a working class neighbourhood, having problems associated with poverty, but is also an area of considerable artistic activity.

Also Home to the Gladstone and the Drake.

4. The Path

PATH facts:

According to Guinness World Records, PATH is the largest underground shopping complex with 27 km (16 miles) of shopping arcades. It has 371,600 sq. metres (4 million sq. ft) of retail space. In fact, the retail space connected to PATH rivals the West Edmonton Mall in size.

The approximate 1,200 shops and services, such as photocopy shops and shoe repairs, found in PATH, employ about 5,000 people. Once a year, businesses in PATH host the world's largest underground sidewalk sale.

More than 50 buildings/office towers are connected through PATH. Twenty parking garages, five subway stations, two major department stores, six major hotels, and a railway terminal are also accessible through PATH. It also provides links to some of Toronto's major tourist and entertainment attractions such as: the Hockey Hall of Fame, Roy Thomson Hall, Air Canada Centre, Rogers Centre, and the CN Tower. City Hall and Metro Hall are also connected through PATH.

5. Queen (Doesnt Matter which way you go it's the best!)


Wiki Says:

The western end of Queen (sometimes simply referred to as "Queen West") is now best known as a centre for Canadian broadcasting, music, performance, fashion, and the visual arts. Over the past twenty-five years, Queen West has become an international arts centre, and a major tourist attraction in Toronto.

Queen Street East is a major thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, running through neighbourhoods such as Corktown, Moss Park, Leslieville and The Beaches. It extends from Yonge Street in the west (where it becomes Queen Street West) to Fallingbrook Road (just east of Victoria Park Avenue) in the east. Queen Street was the cartographical baseline for the original east-west avenues of Toronto's grid pattern of major streets.

6. High Park







Wiki Says:
High Park is the largest park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It spans 161 hectares (398 acres, 1.61 km²). It is a mixed recreational and natural park, with sporting facilities, cultural facilities, educational facilities, gardens, playgrounds and a zoo. One third of the park remains in a natural state, with rare a oak savannah ecology.

7. Kensington Market
No photos will ever catch the true spirit of this area.





Wiki Says:

Kensington Market is a distinctive multicultural neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario. The Market is one of the city's oldest and most famous neighbourhoods, and in November 2006, it became a National Historic Site. Its approximate borders are College St. on the North, Spadina Ave. on the East, Dundas St. W. to the South, and Bellevue Ave. to the West. Most of the neighbourhood's eclectic shops, cafes, and other attractions are located along Augusta Ave. and neighbouring Nassau St. and Kensington Ave. The market is best travelled on foot or bicycle, as the narrow one-way streets and numerous dead-ends are difficult to navigate by car.


Bonus:

Favorite Intersection in Toronto - Queen and Spadina

I never did write a list of things I want to to accomplish

25 things (or less) That I want to try before I die


1. Skydiving
2. Gamble and Win
3. Have a great art collection
4. Remain without having ever broken a major bone
5. Move out (one day... one day...)
6. Create something I am very proud of
7. Travel to India, Thailand, Australia
8. Plant a Tree
9. Help build a house
10. Save a life
11. See a meteor shower
12. Go to New York
13. Write a book (at least attempt to)
14. Get Lost - harder to do then you think
15. Learn to dance
16. Ride a Motercycle
17. See a broadway show
18. Fall in love
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

The rest will have to wait because I'm not much of an ambitious looking forward to the future person

5 things I never leave my house without

1. My ipod touch
2. A lighter and smokes
3. Eyeliner
4. Id + Bank Card
5. Some loose change

I don't use a cellphone and it has made my life so much simpler.

A burst of creativity

Top things I have recently made 100% by hand that I love:

5.

4.


3.

2.

1.

Please note all but number 1 have been given away to friends (or a friends dog in the case of the red dog toy)


And a by popular demand the favorite of others:

Finished MiniProjects

First I made my own stuffed bunny. See below post .

Today I made banana bread from scratch for the first time. It tastes really good.

Top Guilty Pleasures

1. Lego! I love the stuff to death and have boxes and boxes of it! A few years ago I pulled all of it out and built every single set. It was about 150+ sets of lego.


2. 80's music - Ashamed to admit my secret addiction to it but I can't go through a day without my dose. It's an ironic one considering I was only alive for like 2 years in the 80's.


3. Musicals - 99% of the kick ass


4. Lame T.v. Shows - Greys Anatomy, Ugly Betty etc etc. I have time shifting so incase I miss them I can always watch them late at night. The ultimate guilty t.v. pleasure has to be my super sweet 16. Nothing better then watching spoiled rich kids throw tantrums. It's a double whammy too because its on MTV which basically stands for trash tv in my mind.



5. As a vegetarian I probably should not enjoy eating things that resemble meat but darn I really enjoy some of the veggie "meat" products. Tofuturkey anyone?


and last but not least my top guilty pleasure

Spending time with my friends or on my computer when I actually should be working on stuff. Oooops!

Today I made a bunny

Today I made a bunny - I sowed him by hand.

Gun Shaped Items

One of my personal favorite blog entries taken of my artsy blog. 

1. A gun shaped blow dryer? Something seems really wrong about this especially since well... you point a blowdryer or should I say gundryer at your head.



3. This is another absurd item I found. Kids get suspended for pointing "gun" shaped chicken fingers (or was it a nugget) and going bang. Can you imagine the uproar with this ruler? Plus what does a gun have to do with measuring? ... Well aside from being a super cool design that has grown on me and I want now.. 



3. And of course the last item... Nothing matches up to this one:



This unfortunate toy gun has a whistle on the end of the barrel. 

It's a toy where the basketball spins and opens up when you pull the trigger. As it spins it plays music. Oh yeah, it's got a whistle that you play by sticking the barrel of this gun-shaped toy in your mouth!

Few more randoms for fun:

Let there be fur?

I was watching TV and my dog came to snuggle up on me. With this came a snowfall of fur. 

This marks the a very joyous occasion. The moment Holiday partying starts my dog seems to go into full shed. This usually means she looses the weight equivalent of a cat in fur. It seems to be her special touch to the season especially when it's popular to be wearing black.

 I imagine she is thinking"Hey look now you look GREAT, i have added my special touch and everyone will know you have a dog at home. Now they will know that leftovers must be taken home to feed the starving animal". 

"Starving dog! Leftovers Please?"

When your mood really fucking sucks

What to do when your mood really fucking sucks:

1. Sleep 
   
2. Watch Tv for hours
   
3. Sleep
   
4. Skip work and lie about why you didnt go in
5. Sleep
6. Sit on the computer and look at the screen
7. Not eat
8. Read
9. Sit some more
10. Refuse to think because that wont help at all 
11. Be AntiSocial

And when thats not enough - sleep some more. 

I want to sleep forever

Oh December...

Don't get me wrong I love the holidays but sometimes ... Xmas can be a huge pain in the ass. 

Some top christmas peeves:

1. Fruit Cake - The fucking gift that never stops giving. It never rots and its a disgusting brick of the worlds most unappetizing cake with little jelly things that usually look like an elf that ate too much christmas spirit upchucked on it

2. Inflatable Snowmen - Those creepy things... Not only do they scare my dog at night they are ugly and tacky... MAKE A REAL SNOWMAN. No one wants to walk by your house and see a huge creepy thing larger then your house on your front lawn.

3. Overdecorated Houses - Guess what-  You can over decorate your house people! 1 billion christmas lights is not beautiful, it's painful to look at. The worse is those freaks that think its cool to set their lights up to music and then people drive by, tune into a special radio station and watch and listen to the show. Take your gingerbread houses somewhere else where I don't have to see them. 

Theres a whole site devoted to people with their terrible light hanging taste: 

http://www.uglychristmaslights.com/

4. Christmas Music - It's great if it was to start a week before or heck even two but it seems like its a year long phenomenon now. Once Halloween is done its time to bust out the music. This includes of course the terrible pop artist remakes of classics, techno christmas music and a whole spectrum of music that is enough to make your ears bleed. 

5. Ugly Christmas Trees - They are everywhere! I don't want to see a cheep fake tree thats taped together, the branches are all bald and there are like 3 or 4 little decorations on the tree and like red bows. It's not that hard to come up with a creative pretty tree on a low budget even. 

More to come...

Up Down All Around

Sometimes things are perfect, but - unfortunately you're mood does not follow what is going on in your life. 

Good things: 

- Opened a fantastic show with a group of visually impaired actors and it was amazing

- I have lots of energy to work

- I can sleep long because I start actually working late 

- working a lot = money to spend 

- lots of time to laze about or be social

Yet... I feel like crap... 

List of Good cartoons worth watching once in a while: 

- Simpsons 

- Futurama

- South Park

- Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show

- Family guy

Best to watch when your tired and you are multitasking.

Thought of the Day

If cat's sleep for 20 hours a day - are up for only 4 hours. Do they differentiate being awake or asleep? Do their dreams seem like their actual lives? 

I found an article as a follow up to see if cats actually do dream and - of course they do. 

"During sleep, our brain releases inhibiting substances to prevent us from acting out our dreams fully, although we may toss, turn and even talk in our sleep. The feline brain works similarly. In laboratory experiments where unfortunate feline subjects have had their brains tampered with so that those substances aren't released, the cats act out their dreams in full. Even laboratory-bred cats which have never hunted, or even seen prey, have been observed to 'catch birds', 'chase mice' and 'bat prey' in the course of their dreams."

Music and Sights

There was a beautiful sunset today - my camera of course can't do it justice but it was quite a sight

For todays post I'm going to try to compile some of my favorite songs and the beautiful inspiring lyrics in them. Though the songs are usually a bit sad they talk about hope and the beauty of life.

 "I'm never going to know you now, but I'm going to love you anyhow"

Waltz #2 - Elliot Smith

"Reaching out for a hand that we can't see 

Everybody's got a hold on hope 

It's the last thing that's holding me"

Hold on Hope - Guided by Voices

"Lets just sing and we'll fill the air with melodies that blend together 

You speak so sweet with words so delicate 

A glass i hope will never shatter"

If you Fall - Azure Ray

"Now I don’t know where I am I don’t know where I’ve been But I know where I want to go"

First Day Of My Life - Bright Eyes

"If there's no one beside you 

When your soul embarks 

Then I'll follow you into the dark" 

I Will Follow You Into the Dark - Death Cab For Cutie

"Lady lights a cigarette, puffs away, no regret
Takes a look around, no regrets, no regrets
Stretches out like branches of a poplar tree

She says, i'm free"

Lady - Regina Spektor

 

"Cause life has been insane but Today has been ok"

Today Has Been Ok - Emiliana Torrini

"And I've become just like a chemical stress 
Tracing the lines of my face for 
Something more beautiful than is there 
I've barely been gone 
and I'm not a failure 
I swear 
I wish you could see it from over there"

My Slumbering Heart - Rilo Kiley

And my favorite

"This is how it works 
You're young until you're not 
You love until you don't 
You try until you can't 
You laugh until you cry 
You cry until you laugh 
And everyone must breathe 
Until their dying breath"

On the Radio - Regina Spektor 

Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow!

It was snowing gently when I was on my way to rehearsal tonight. When I left the rehearsal I was pleasantly surprised by the winters first snow that crunched pleasantly under my feet when I walked! 

I rushed home to take my dog out and let her enjoy the fresh snow. 

It looked like this:

The on leash experience and investigation of the white fluffy substance

Followed by some attempting to lick up some snowflakes 

Which was followed by 15 minutes of the wild piggy gallop

All in all it was a great outing

It has Toffees approval  

"Life is Perfect"

Let the good times roll. My last few weeks have been spent looking at beautiful art, reading, visiting galleries and occasionally working - in short "Life is Perfect!"

The recently cooling temperatures and frequent cold rain can't even dampen my mood to explore and enjoy the world. 

A typical day:

1. Wake up (usually no earlier then 11am)

2. Depending on the day stay in bed and look out my window to enjoy the world outside or read a little bit

3. Hop out of bed, shower, get ready, eat

4. Watch the news while checking world news online and checking emails

5. Catch up on work

6. Go on an adventure (sometimes just to the park with the dog)

7. Buy a new book

8. Either work or socialize

9. Curl up with book

10. Have a late night 4am smoke and enjoy the city being as silent as it gets in a day and then finally sleep

How much better can it get? Days are long and dragged out, theres always something to see and enjoy even in my own city which more and more I'm feeling like a tourist in because there is so much to visit. I find myself frequently saying or thinking "If I was told I would die tomorrow I would continue on with today exactly the same way." Guess living every day like it was my last really suits me.

With all the reading I have done I guess I will make a short graphic novel list which has been my favorite thing to read recently:

1. Blankets - Craig Thompson

2. Sandman Endless Nights - Neil Gaiman

3. Epileptic - David B.

4. Watchmen - Alan Moore 

5. Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi 

These are all amazing works and I recommend you wiki or google a few of them for the heck of it. Don't be mistaken - they are not just pretty little comic books. They are serious books for adults with heavy themes, intricate stories and beautiful art. 

_ _ _ _

Sometimes... I find myself really angry at the world. Really really angry. I want to be alone and away from everyone and everything.  I destroy stuff, clear out my computer instead of taking it out on others. The final step is clearing out my room (which I did today). After 6 hrs of cleaning and filling 2 garbage bags of junk plus another huge pile of stuff to recycle... I cooled down and returned to my normal rhythm and state of lowness.

  

I thought I would post a list someone else made for me. 

Things I should remember when I am down:

• Friends
  
• Job
  
• Family
  
• Being back in school
  
• Love of others
  
• Being grounded and living in the present
  
• Positive choices
  
• Achievements
  

It's sitting on my iPod so I can look back at it at times like these. Everyone should carry around a list like this. On a little card or something to remind us why the hell we are here and something to remind us where we are going. 

On a side note - I found another note that made me laugh

"Do not feed the rubber ducks"

I can't remember when I wrote it down but I have the perfect image to go with it.

Why? Because they will grow super huge!

And some dark ducky humor:

Your last bath -