I have an art project! tonight Katie and I decided to turn right out of our house instead of our usual left. I decided we should head straight for the park and lucky us! the skate park is now open and it's only two blocks from my house!

it was fun. we stopped and watched the kids for a bit. I loved it! one kid was pretty good and his friend was filming his tricks. I've been wanting to learn to skateboard, and I have friends who skate, so they'll soon be under orders to text me when they go.

okay, art project! the skate park is only four days old at this point. there is no graffiti at all. soon, soon there will be! and every single morning at 6:45 I shall take a photo from the same spot while Katie and I are on our walk. I will outline the spot where I put the camera so it is aimed at the exact same place every day. and I will watch the skate park get its skin!

now, sadly, I'm away for the next 16 days. but, I have two mornings before I go so I'll get at least one for sure. I give Katie away tomorrow so tomorrow morning is our last walk. Thursday I was hoping to sleep in, so I doubt I'll get that one.

hopefully there isn't much change in the next two weeks. hopefully it waits til I am back to capture it!

when I get home from the UK I am going to create an "I'm bored" board. it should be put in my living room because that's where I spend most of my time, but I might not do that depending on what ends up going on it (too personal).

as with most people I think, if I get bored I become totally and completely useless. and there might be a billion super fun or at least super useful things to do, but when I'm bored all I can think about is how bored I am. and then I check Gmail and Facebook for the hundredth time. and then check them again.

so, I'm going to create a board (probably a piece of that big $1 card stock plus sticky notes - cheaper than a white board) that has things on it that I can do if I get bored. some things will be chore-type activities (finish taxes, hem pants, sweep floors, clean off bedroom shelves, reorganize the top of my kitchen cupboards) and some things will be more fun general things (get a movie from the library, call someone I don't normally call, go to Atlantis with my laptop, go to the park with a book, take Katie for a bonus walk, read 10 new items in Google Reader from blogs that I haven't read in a while, go for a jog, call my parents or my brother).

there is no excuse to ever be bored. I am hoping that this will help me reduce boredom while also getting some things done that I've been putting off for a while. the goal won't necessarily be to work through all of those things, but to use the board to get some momentum going. I just hate being bored! there is no excuse.

(and now I can't spell either bored or board. I keep typing the wrong one, ha.)

I have a new favourite artist. his name is David Horvitz. I've mentioned him here before but in a locked post. since I'm now doing more unlocked posts, I thought I'd mention him again.

yesterday I sent him $2 so he could send me a postcard. I'm really excited! in return, I've promised to think of him while I'm in the UK and email him a photo I'll take while I'm thinking of him.

if you peruse his site, you'll see why this makes sense.

I love living near downtown. from my house in the winter it takes me 23 minutes to walk downtown, which is also where I work. in the summer it's a quick 10 minute bike ride.

even though I live close to downtown, my neighbourhood is very residential, very quiet, and very safe. I would like to see more kids in it though. so many families move out to the suburbs, and it's really a shame. it's a major time commitment for kids to get anywhere close to downtown if they have to take a bus. sorry Regina Transit, I'm sure you're working hard, but you're really so far behind. no service on holidays? crazy. how did the kids get downtown for Canada Day celebrations the other day? how did anyone?

so an article found in Monday's Globe and Mail made me feel great about my choice to live near downtown: Today's suburbs, tomorrow's slums? the secondary headline is: 'Peak oil' theorists say house prices outside cities will collapse as the cost of gas rises, forcing people to choose urban living.

this quote made sad, though; "So many people I know, probably two generations, have grown up in the suburbs," he said. "All they've known in their life is a subdivision, two or three cars and shopping at the mall. They don't know any other life."

I see this all the time. people are constantly amazed that I walk to work. 23 minutes! you'd think I was running a marathon. 23 minutes is a gorgeous, lovely walk to work. I dress properly for the weather and it's absolutely no big deal.

and I get it. I can see how you just get used to driving everywhere. I was one of them too, so I can't get too judgmental about it. I would just really like to encourage people to start considering alternative modes of transportation more often.

a colleague of mine rode his bike to work yesterday for the first time. he raved about how it only took him 25 minutes but he had been worried it would take him more like 50. he went on and on about how there was hardly any traffic, it was a beautiful morning, and what a great way to begin the day! I love it when people realize that riding their bike is almost as quick as driving, and it's way more fun. my colleague rode his bike this morning too.

wouldn't it be nice if you began your day in a way that made you feel good about everything?

okay okay, watch this too!! totally amazing! he dances for just about 3 minutes. crazy. click thru for the embedded video....

this video is so, so weird. I don't even understand how this could happen. ha! click through if you're using Google Reader....

I wrote this in an email to André a few months ago and meant to eventually post a version of it. I'm too lazy to re-write it, so here's that part of my email:

I often have ideas that people hate, like dreading my hair, or setting up a nice CouchSurfer room in my unfinished basement with fabric for walls, or living downtown. I meet a lot of resistance. like, my boss hated my old apartment downtown. it was a perfectly safe place to live and I enjoyed it a lot. sure, Dan down the hallway was weird and looked homeless, but he was pleasant and I enjoyed saying hi to him and heck he was quite the character! and at least one person seemed overly impressed at my CouchSurfer room and how nice it looked. it gave me the impression that they thought the idea was unfeasible to begin with.

oh, when I told my aunt where I'd bought a house she apparently told at least a few family members that I'd bought in a really unsafe neighbourhood ("so, have you had any murders in your neighbourhood yet?" kind of comments from her). I just feel like so many people are always judging me, and I feel like lots of people don't trust my judgement. like the whole CouchSurfing thing in general - I wouldn't do it if I didn't feel it was safe. duh. some people think the idea is awesome, but lots just kind of look at me blankly so I'm now far more selective about who I tell.

sort of related, the other day I was having a conversation with a workshop presenter and she said something about how I seem like I am a "unique individual". le sigh. what the hell. we are all unique. I hate being judged by my appearance. like how my baby face means I can't possibly be a professional.... bah.

mostly, mostly I just wish the people around me had a better sense of fun. I like fun! dreads are fun! I've always wanted them, so I got them. that's it. they aren't a statement about my political beliefs, or my choices in music, or my views on drugs. it is a hair style. that is all. and if I get tired of them, I can cut them off. big whoop.

I like my small adventures. they keep things interesting. I just wish I didn't have to defend them all the time.

oh boy I am getting really bloody tired of this rain. I liked it at first. I liked it for a while. I haven't had to water my lawn and it looks great. it's new sod from late last year so it really is loving this rain. I like the freshness of the rain. every once in a while I'm reminded of Scotland, which by the way was never as rainy as I expected.

but now? I'm over it. my house is so humid that the toilet paper is damp. it's hard to put make up on when your face is wet from the humidity. I left my bike at work last night because of the rain, and then walked to work in the mist this morning. I don't mind walking, but the mist was annoying. it's pouring rain again now, so it's actually rainy and foggy.

I'm going camping in a week! go away rain. I don't want to have a soggy weekend. eep.

I've always had a thing for synchronized swimming in movies. I'd never seen it before in a segment longer than 30 seconds, and tonight I got to watch this lovely five minute extravaganza! oh Esther Williams, so beautiful.

Natalie Dee is brilliant.


nataliedee.com

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