Ice cream is heavenly, and whenever I get the chance, I indulge. In our freezer, we have a tub of Coffee Crisp flavoured ice cream. As much as I indulge in it, it’s not rich enough to satisfy my craving for caffeinated flavoured foods. It also doesn’t help that I veer away from coffee. What do I do, you ask? I sprinkle my ice cream with the best topping available — chocolate covered coffee beans!
I’ve had this bunny since I was a wee one, and it’s been clinging onto my CD tower for years, perhaps secretly squealing its desire to be free… of the music?
Note the mix CD in the background. I made it when I was sixteen.
A posting in a swapping community proposed the idea of swapping lists, and in this case, a list of 100 things that we are grateful for. The project is inspired from this link.
ONE HUNDRED! When I’m finished, I will mail this out to someone, and someone will snail mail me their list. This is not as easy as I thought it would be. Right now I’m at #16. 84 more to go!
I collect anything and everything, and that’s a really bad thing. I’m not sure if being a quasi-artist type does that to me, but I really hate that about myself.
Recently, I joined an online swapping community, and a Brazilian girl proposed the idea of trading stamps. I looked at my collection that my grandmother had given me: it had mainly Hong Kong and other various East Asian stamps, plus a few Canadian and American ones too. I thought about the Brazilian girl’s posting and concluded that it would be a neat idea if I owned some Brazilian stamps too, so I messaged her back. I mean, if I can’t travel far away then this is the next best thing, right?
Anyway, I told my parents about my ideas, and my mom told me that both her and my dad had many albums full of stamps collected from their youth. A day later, we found the box in the basement and it was so heavy that we could barely lift it. I expected to find plenty of stamps from Hong Kong and Egypt, as those are the two countries where my parents are from. Not only did I find that, but I found so much more. Several albums and loose envelopes of stamps that date as early as the 1920s were haphazardly organized. The best way of describing it was like hitting a jackpot!
I decided to start sorting some of my dad’s old Egyptian stamps, and I quickly realized how they tell a story. Often, countries will issue stamps to commemorate important people and events. Looking at the collection half a century later, I realized that I was looking at a visual history that documented the numerous things that Egypt took pride in. In fact, I started looking up some of the important names and events on Wikipedia!
And so my organizing of these stamps is only a tiny fraction of the work that needs to be done. I don’t know if I regret asking my parents to grab this stuff from the basement because there’s just so much that it’s difficult to figure out where to start, that is, if there is a start. Chances are, I will have nightmares of stamps trying to attack me or something. Maybe some of historical figure will emerge from their insets and whisper at me. Or maybe they’ll laugh me! In any case, I’ll know more about the world’s history and that’s good enough for me.
Oh, and by the way, I convinced an Australian girl to trade with me. Hurray!
On another note, I designed some commemorative stamps and related promotional materials for my Communication Design 2 class in third year. Take a look if you like. 
Derek messaged me on Sunday, asking if I wanted to hang out in the afternoon. We headed to Square One, then later headed to meet up with his new girlfriend, Casi. In the meantime, I developed a mad craving for chocolate cake to a point where I wouldn’t shut up about it. We later headed to the dessert place, Demetre’s for cake. What I didn’t realize was how large the slices were and how filling they could be. I ordered my cake and halfway through my slice, I was full. Derek helped me out in finishing the rest of the slice and here he is giving the camera a semi-chocolatified kiss!
While Thursday was Sarah’s birthday, a few of us celebrated on Saturday evening.
If time permits, I like to make cards for my friends on special occasions — and so here is the card I created for Sarah. I was very rushed; I only had an hour to get this done. Because I collect anything and everything, I had the resources to create it. The card was made using an old calendar (from a collection of several), star sequins, decorative scrap paper, a watercolour set, an embossing pen, and last but not least, a frog sticker.
Of course, when I design cards, I think of the recipients’ personalities. With regards to Sarah, she spent her summer working at a resort in Lake Moraine, surrounded by mountains and the crystal clear lake (obviously). Oh, and she loves frogs. As for the question mark…
…I just couldn’t write the traditional “Happy Birthday”. Sarah has made it clear that she wants to learn Spanish, so I figured that the card would be a great start for her learning. The problem was that I too did not know any Spanish at all. But of course, with the clock ticking, I needed to find a friend who could help me out — so I called up my lovely Ecuadorian friend, Daniela to translate. (Thanks!)
Friday night marked the beginning of Toronto’s WinterCity Festival. A group of us decided to head down to Harbourfront knowing two things:
We arrived at the rink at 10:30 pm after some dinner and drinking. As I was about to pay the $7 rental fee, I was informed that I’d have to return my skates in half an hour because 11:00 not only meant that the DJ stopped spinning, but it also meant that the rink was going to be shut down for the night. I decided against coughing the $7 and watched a few of my friends who owned skates enjoy themselves for that precious half hour.
On the way home from the hospital, I snapped this pic of the CN Tower while getting on the highway. The structure is on a funny angle, but positioning yourself from a car window has its restrictions.
To many, the CN Tower establishes an identity for the city. However, I think I’ve been there maybe three times in my life, the last of which I walked 10 hours from Square One to only the base of the tower back in the summer. But in all reality, it gives tourists a sense that they have stepped foot into the city which we affectionately nickname “TO”.
In our family room, we have a pair of magnetic monkeys that sit on our treadmill. And of course, they can conveniently “kiss”. Sometimes the most simple things provide the greatest pleasures.
Ugh. I hate winter. This is what my street looked like this afternoon.
I’ve been feeling really down and fatigued today. Maybe it’s the weather. I mean, Blue Monday just passed yesterday…
