* not with ink

I've got more email excerpts for you. This may become a series! Ok, this is totally an informal series. If you want to email me and have a profound conversation*, maybe I'll ask if I can post a piece of it here, to bring others into the dialogue. Here's the set-up: I was alarmed to realize today that I don't know what really makes me come alive. I need to think on this more, because there must be a number of things, and I should be doing those things, but I feel like I'm not really doing much that I get excited about.... Some days I'll just feel inspired to do stuff, and on those days it feels like everything is what I was made to do: cycling, dishes, work, conversation, cooking, art, hiking, improv, anything. But I wish I knew more clearly what makes my heart come alive... do you know for yourself? Do you ever get into this with your SD**? Does this question seem important to you? I'm thinking about it a lot at this moment, so it feels very i...

Dandelions CP Originally uploaded by bethaf . Sometimes dandelions are lovely and fun. I haven't taken photos for a long time, and it was fun to capture the hilarity and love of my brother and sister-in-law and their kidlets.

48 hours ago, I didn't even know there was such a thing. Then I found was offered tickets, and I went, and I loved it. Loved it. Plot-wise, it was not at all the same as the movie . Similar framework (preppy cheer squad & an inner-city school with a dance crew), and similar level of intensity (none: a rom-com for sure), but otherwise, a completely new storyline. Music/style-wise, the hip-hop influences and cultural references were current and grrrrrrrrreat. Nadine commented that in ten years, it will either feel really dated or a perfect slice-of-life...true. It is very much set in the pre-teen years of this century. And dance-wise. Ho-ly cowwwww. The cheer moves knocked my socks off. INSANITY. Many of the ensemble were competitive cheerleaders, and I can't imagine how much training it takes to do what they did. On multiple occasions, I said to Nadine, "WHAT? HOW? If this were a DVD, I would need to rewind and re-watch that." Here's a little montage:...

This art project from Dallas Clayton has been rolling around in my head for the past week... what would you  draw? ART PROJECT Draw a picture of the thing you love the most and beneath it write a small description of how and why. Take that picture and make fifty copies the size of business cards, cut them out and put them in your wallet. Each time you meet someone, instead of giving them your phone number give them this card. Once the first fifty are gone, make fifty more. Change the picture and the description as often as needed. Repeat until you’ve met everyone on earth. ...and I'm eagerly anticipating the arrival of my Sketchbook Project book. I wonder how I will fill it up. A top contender is some sort of daily list, like  I used to blog .

As I've mentioned before ,* I sometimes mark things as unread in my Google Reader so I can keep coming back to them. Currently, I can't get enough of these: from Dallas Clayton. Amazing poet & artist. from A Softer World . Sometimes inappropriate. Sometimes profound. Always random. from Marc Johns. Another randomly hilarious art-maker. from Jackiedrawswhat , my friend. Whom I adore. *holy crap that post was almost a year ago where has time gone and what has even happened in between now and then and oh goodness what will this next year hold... (yes, that is a major run-on sentence, but it's how it was in my head.)

We have officially arrived. Daughters of Toronto : a small arts collective currently including myself - photographer of colours, Karen - hand-letterer of beauty and Shelly - accessorizer of awesome. Find us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter . Buy our arts at the Arts Market on Queen St E. This big terrifying thing is a reality and it is less terrifying now that other people who are not my friends have affirmed my/our art. The phrase, "These are f-ing amazing!" may have been the highlight of my week.