Back Alley Wander

Went for a walk in the Westend last week and we decided to take the road less traveled. I found all kinds of cool shapes and textures and colours in the alleys and this set is the result.

Paper Airplanes

I love kids, I love hanging out with them and hearing what they think, playing games, jumping around, chatting about rhinoceroses or karate. But sometimes you need a little something to focus on. And if you have access to paper, then you have access to awesome. Paper airplanes are fun for everyone, you can decorate them, make whole fleets, create your own airline or design your very own folding technique. You can have races to see whose goes furthest or fastest or straightest. Make them really big or really small and see which ones fly best. Here are 9 airplane designs complete with animated folding diagrams. Last time Mo's niece and nephew were bored at a dinner party we made our own airlines complete with cohesive branding and logos and then launched them down a flight of stairs to see whose flew best. Not mine. Must practice more. :D

MOA

The Museum of Anthropology is tucked away, at the very far side of the UBC campus. It's just as beautiful inside where there is a huge collection of First Nations art and artifacts.
It would be a beautiful space to have an event or a wedding. It's lovely to visit on a sunny day, but the windows make for a beautiful frame even on Vancouver's typically grey days.

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day, hope it's good and green for you.

Shades of Pink and Orange

I made some strawberry and lemon iced tea today. Loose leaf black tea with a dash of lapsang souchong brewed up nice and strong. The flesh of a lemon squeezed and thrown into the bottle, two or three sliced strawberries and agave nectar to taste. Yum!

I also picked up a miniature rose plant last week. All the blooms were tightly closed and I wasn't sure what colour they would be when they opened. This week they're wide open, smelling lovely and such a pretty soft orange and pink.

It's in the little things. ♥

Let me tell you a story

There was a Grandfather who had a Grandson who came to him with anger at a schoolmate that had done him an injustice.

"Let me tell you a story," said the Grandfather.

"I too at times have felt a great hate for those who have taken so much with no sorrow for what they do. I've struggled with these feelings many times."

He continued, "it is as if there are two wolves inside me.

One is good and he does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended.

But the other wolf, ah. He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper.

It is hard to live with these two wolves inside me. Both of them try to dominate my spirit."

The Grandson turned to his Grandfather and said, "But Grandfather, which wolf wins?"

The Grandfather replied: "The one I feed."


Story by Loretta Todd - Cree/Métis Filmaker, transcribed from Telling Stories on Definitely Not the Opera. Listen here.
Image from Totoro Forest Project by Jackson Sze. 

Life and Love

While listening to Mo speak with an Italian client, I realized that his accent is only really audible when speaking to a non-native english speaker. He stops using articles and his words take on a farsi flair.

I think that means he'll never lose it completely no matter how great his mastery or how Canadian his tongue becomes. It reminds me of our early days together, he was so cute!
Clearly he still is.

Both of these images are from a project that featured young photographers photographing their favourite people. At least, I think they are. Of course, I can't find the link in my bazillions of bookmarks and tineye.com gave me nothing. Note to self: be better organized!

Forever ever, forever ever?

A Forever Thing has seen a bit of a design overhaul this week. I've been messing around, attempting to marry my own design style with the constraints of blogger and mostly just playing.

I design websites and other things by day, well, mostly by night if I'm honest. Playing with blogging platforms and doing multiple redesigns is a bit of a hobby and a bit of a habit for me. I tend to get bored quickly with blogs and want to move on the a new project. That's why I've called this space a forever thing. Hopefully the name will remind me that it's about the journey, the process and not the finished product.

What do you think of the changes? What is your favourite thing to do at night when you can't sleep? What's your favourite colour? Your favourite website strictly because of its lovely design?

Most of my favourite websites are simple, minimal, all white and fairly quiet. This new design here is muted but it has colour. Colour is going out on a limb for me! Mostly because I get sick of it too quickly.

Hey future self, let's see how long it takes you to redesign again!

Image credit: Sam Winston

Adora Svitak at Ted

I watched Adora's talk without knowing who she was or what she has accomplished in her young life and I was surprised at how commanding she was in front of such a large and intimidating audience. Then I googled her and realized that this sort of thing is old hat for her. She's a published author, a teacher and a consultant for educators. The fact that she has experience, however, doesn't make her commanding confidence any less impressive. I love that a child is advocating for children, for the worth of imagination and idealistic belief. Watching her speak took me back to when I was younger and genuinely believed that world peace and saving the planet were possible if only we tried hard enough or all worked together. It made me miss the idealistic little kid who didn't believe in limits. Thinking like her might be a good plan for my present. If all things are possible, all things are possible.

Happy Easter Weekend!

❤ Happy Easter.

Daisy the bunny from y0omii.

Teru teru bōzu update

It totally worked.

How I'm feeling today.

Rain rain go away

It's been raining for the last few days so I've decided to remedy the situation by hanging a Teru teru bōzu off of my balcony and keeping my fingers crossed.



Image via Kiiss. More Teru teru on etsy.

Considering that I live in Rain City, Earth, more than one may be necessary:



Image source.

Shades of spring: Pink

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Daniel

The first 2/3rds of this video is such a vivid visual representation of the ghosts of depression. Don't forget to watch it in HD.

What is this?

Have you ever felt this way?

via.

Resting on a Bush

I love this image by Yijun (Pixy) Liao, it reminds me of my sweetheart's Mum who can't help but hug bushes of flowers.

20x20 via SwissMiss

Glasses

I've always romanticized glasses, always wanted them and, recently, my eyes have agreed by deteriorating into nearsightedness. The lucky little girl in me has had a very fun first year of wearing glasses. I've collected many images of four-eyed girls over the last few years for inspiration. It seems I'm particularly drawn to blonds in chunky tortoiseshell frames.




These are my current favourite pair:

And I've just ordered these as a backup:

Hooray for online glasses shops!

David Horvitz

Lykke Li Live

Just got home from seeing Lykke Li live. She was adorable and energetic and stylin'. Her set was short and upbeat and her enthusiasm was contagious. She pulled a bunch of girls on stage during 'Little Bit' to act as backup dancers. I want to move into this video.



She covered A Tribe Called Quest.



And Kings of Leon.

She wore a Kazoo around her neck!


And my sweetheart bought me an early Valentine's present - a cute tote bag.


Good times had by all.

(Top images: serhio, Kazoo image: oliver.peel.)