thank you mr. car

why i want to live in portland, oregon:

nuff said.

scrabble aint just for grandpoppies and the socially inept.

scrabble ups its street cred. a little birdy pointed me to these great new scrabble ads by Ogilvy & Mather Paris and i just had to share. see more @ juxtapoz.com

words are art

every time i go to an art show i get a little sad that us writers don't get to have our work up installation-style in an austere, white-walled gallery with beaming spotlights and intellectuals milling about, rubbing their beards... however, today i realized i was wrong to be so downtrodden. LA-based writer miranda july's new exhibition "the hallway" gave me new hope. check out a video experience of the hallway:


The Hallway from The Hallway on Vimeo.

windsor gets crafty

support the locals! i am so excited for... the made in windsor arts & craft sale: saturday may 9th 10-5 @ the vincent franzoi gallery and the nancy john's gallery (wyandotte and pillette-ish). i can't wait to indulge in button-y, hand-stitched goodness.

buy yourself something pretty. you deserve it.

penchant for paper products

sometimes chapter's is an evil vortex. today when i went for my bimonthly $15 magazine fix (i won't say which because as it is i was barely able to get the last copy) i found these stunning reprints of literary classics. you can't go wrong with a hardcover classic @ $14.99! so first i decided to buy Dickens' Great Expectations because its new cover is adorned in chandeliers. but i reasoned it would look best next to the purple and red Madame Bovary. but i've been meaning to read Pride & Prejudice for quite some time so why not get the one covered in swans? finally i had to put down the three (okay five) i had craddled in my arms and run out of the store. i may or may not have shed a tear. sigh, my bookshelf looks so bland by comparison.

for quite awhile now i've stalked Little Paper Planes, an online store featuring a community of artists selling their often quirky, whimsical, and ridiculously cute art work, paper goods, clothing, and accessories. click the link: i think you'll enjoy browsing too.

seriously, it might need a restraining order from me soon.

everything is going to be ok? oh, good. i'm so glad.

tic x tac x type.

bibliophiles rejoice!

1. kind of a far hike, but ottawa's international writers' festival is up-and-coming (april 22nd-may 2nd). on the guest list: Michael Ignatieff, Adrienne Clarkson, Ursula K. Le Guin, and former u of w writer in residence, Nino Ricci.

how are you celebrating national Al Purdy day?

2. on a rather long jaunt down queen street west to trinity-bellwoods park, I stumbled across little, eclectic, indie bookstore "Type." so kitschy cool, it's like nanna's closet: crammed full of interesting things you can't help but fawn over. if you're heading to the gta any time soon, i suggest you wander in.

<-- i spy one of my favourites: Lullabies for Little Criminals

3. two things i love: artists' journals & perusing the doodles on their pages. so naturally i can't help click-clicking my way through 'skine art, the website that celebrates artists and their moleskines. give it a peek or perhaps an original doodle.

4. buy handmade and canadian @ thimble. look at this little goodie.

april showers

i have no upcoming literary events to blog about (i don't think), so in the meantime i will tell you to check out "Through Women's Eyes & Voices," a showcase of super talented female photographers and musicians @ Milk, running all month (with music on friday the 17th and saturday the 25th.)

here's a teeny tiny sample, courtesy of cri[u]stina naccarato. it looks even better hanging on the wall @ milk (and my bedroom wall where it also happily lives).

in other news... i've recently fallen in love with michele maule's etsy page, and consequently her blog. Typewriters, bicycles, cups of coffee,

rainboots... it's like we were separated at birth... oh, except she can draw and paint.

buy handmade!

p.s. i drove home in a blizzard.