January 31, 2007

You Are Here Exhibit

Here's another one of my shameless plugs:

I'm exhibiting 2 photographs in the group show entitled "You Are Here: The Emotional Geography of Place" at the Eastern Front Gallery, which opened today and runs until February 18. The opening reception takes place this Saturday, February 3 from 7-10pm and is open to the public. I'd love it if you guys came out and checked out the show!

Posted by mich at 10:56 PM | dreams [0]

January 17, 2007

My First Shiner

Yesterday was our team's first benchball game of the season. I fared pretty well in the beginning and even scored a goal, woo! But in the middle of the game while I was sitting out on the gymnasium stage, the other team had kicked the ball real high. I was watching the ball coming towards me in slo-mo, but I couldn't move. I received a nice slam in the face by the ball, knocking off my glasses and giving me a couple of throbbing cuts and a nasty bruise. My first thought after the initial "OWWWWIE!!!!!!!" was that my mom was gonna kill me. One reason being that I thought my glasses were completely busted, but luckily I was able to bend it back into a decent shape. But after I took a look at myself in the mirror, I knew I was in trouble. She hates it when I play sports; she even scolds Christian for playing too whenever he gets injured. So once I got home I stayed away from my mom and iced myself in my room. It still hurts when I squeeze my eyes together >_<

In other bad news... Hosu is on my list of banned restaurants. As I had posted back in December, I encountered a cockroach incident at the Queen Street West location. Well, two weeks ago, Christian and hit up the Yonge/Eglington location when our first restaurant choice was closed for renovation. I had ordered a bowl of udon noodles and was eating it contently, when near the end I saw a bunch of black dots floating about in the soup. Most of them were specks of pepper, but one of them looked a bit funny. Upon closer inspection, the pepper bit actually had legs and a head. Ew ew ew! It was a tiny cockroach. Seriously, 2 incidents in my last 2 visits at different locations?? We brought it up with the management and they were really apologetic, but after seeing my pouting face the rest of the evening they offered ice cream (um, no thanks) and no charge for the food. I loved you Hosu, but this is goodbye.

Posted by mich at 5:40 PM | dreams [1]

January 12, 2007

iLove

How cool is the iPhone? It's amazing how Apple always just seems to be one step ahead of everyone else when it comes to innovative design. It's so simple, yet powerful: interaction with the interface isn't limited to physical controls or even to one certain orientation. I find this sort of human-computer interaction research so fascinating. Just take a look at this example of the Multi-Touch Interaction Research. Nintendo's pen-based DS and motion-sensored Wii systems have already proved to be immensely popular and it's only the beginning of seeing more natural and intuitive interaction integrated with computers and technology.

Posted by mich at 5:23 PM | dreams [1]

January 10, 2007

I'm in Contact!

After trying for 2 years to exhibit at the Contact Photography Festival, I finally got my in today! And I didn't even have to try :P So this afternoon at work I got a phone call from Eastern Front Gallery informing me that 2 of my pieces I submitted for their February show "You are Here: The Emotional Geography of a Place" was accepted. Hooray! The person continued on to tell me that they loved my work not only for the visual quality of it but they were intrigued by the concept of my series, so they wanted to invite me as 1 of 3 artists in the gallery's Contact show in May. When I heard that I almost flipped out, I think I started shaking. I can't believe I'm in Contact now: it's the largest photography festival in North America and the artists get so much exposure... I'm SO EXCITED!!

Salvaged 8 detailYesterday I visited some galleries at 401 Richmond and came across an interesting exhibit called "Rearrangements: Sculpture/Performance/Photography" inside Gallery 44. There were two architectural sculptures using various found objects and photographs of interior spaces to create this new mini architectural space. This image shows a detail of one how the artists juxtaposed the fragments. Personally I find this kind of photo-based work so fascinating. I've ventured into the mixed-media photo-based experimentation quite a bit, but it's these kinds of pieces that opens my eyes to how far you can push the practice of photography and inspires me to go beyond what I have worked with up to this point.

Posted by mich at 10:29 PM | dreams [1]

January 8, 2007

Tme-Waster

Here's a time-wasting quiz I took from Jon:

1. How old will you be in five years?
30

2. Do you think you will be married by then?
Depends how much I've accomplished in my life at that point.

3. How tall are you?
5'3"

4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks?
Going to the all-nighter festival in Montreal in early March.

5. What's the last movie you saw in the theater?
Casino Royale

6. Who was the last person you called?
My mom

7. Who was the last person to call you?
Christian

8. What was the last text message you received?
Goodnight!

9. Do you prefer to call or text?
Call

10. Do you have any pets?
Budgie

11. What were you doing at 12am last night?
Tucked into bed

12. Are your parents married/separated/divorced?
Married

13. When is the last time you saw your mom?
This morning

14. What color are your eyes?
Dark brown (not black!)

15. What time did you wake up today?
7:30am

16. What are you wearing right now?
Jeans and my new Abercrombie sweater

17. What's your favorite Christmas song?
O Holy Night

18. Where is your favorite place to be?
West Queen West, downtown, home

19. Where is your least favorite place to be?
Depends on how I'm feeling... sometimes home, sometimes work, sometimes Toronto in general.

20. Where would you go if you could go anywhere?
Everywhere! Next up: Greece/Turkey, Antarctica, and Sweden

21. Where do you think you'll be in 10 years?
Back in Canada after lots of travelling, married, kids, and a great job.

22. Do you tan or burn?
Neither: I sunscreen

23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
The wicked witch from one episode of Zoobilee Zoo.

24. What was the last thing that made you laugh?
Christina's phone call in the middle of the day about a "exciting news!"

25. How many TVs do you have?
3: I love our new 46" LCD!

26. How big is your bed?
Just a tiny single bed.

27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer?
Desktop

28. Do you sleep with or without clothes on?
PJs

29. What color are your sheets?
Blue and green

30. How many pillows do you sleep with?
1

31. What is your favorite season?
Winter & spring

32. What do you like about fall?
The colours and the crisp air.

33. What do you like about winter?
Snow! (Where is it now??)

34. What do you like about the summer?
Festivals

35. What do you like about spring?
The weather and the smell of spring.

37. How many cities/towns have you lived in?
3: Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto

38. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet?
Socks and shoes

39. Are you a social person?
Sometimes

40. What was the last thing you ate?
Vietnamese sub

41. What is your favorite restaurant?
I used to love Hosu, until 2 cockroach experiences.

42. What is your favorite ice cream?
Can't beat Mint Chocolate Chip!

43. What is your favorite dessert?
Tiramisu, cheesecake, and ice cream

44. What is your favorite kind of soup?
New England clam chowder

47. Do you like coffee?
Nope, I only like the smell.

48. How many glasses of water, a day, do you drink on average?
12-16

50. Would you rather sleep with someone else or alone?
My bed's only big enough for the one of me!

51. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed?
In the middle

52. Do you know how to play poker?
Sorta

53. Do you like to cuddle?
Yup

55. Do you have an addictive personality? (what's with all the skipped numbers?)
Some say I'm obsessive compulsive.

58. Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you?
My cousin: We were born on the 12th day, 12 years apart and 12 hours apart.

59. Do you want kids?
2 or 3!

61. Have you ever gotten stitches?
Nope

63. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool?
Ocean

64. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seats?
Window

65. Do you know how to drive stick?
No

66. What is your favorite thing to spend money on?
Travelling, books, cameras and film.

67. Do you wear any jewelry 24/7?
Ring and watch

68. What is your favorite TV show?
Arrested Development, How I Met Your Mother, Heroes, Scrubs, Ugly Betty, The Office, Veronica Mars

71. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?
A big Eeyore!

72. What is the main ring tone on your phone?
Some fluttery tune.

74. What red object is closest to you right now?
My cell phone

75. Do you turn off the water when you brush your teeth?
Of course

76. Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?
Closed. Even if I'm almost dozed off and I realize my closet doors are open, I will force myself out of bed to close them.

77. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of bees?
Bees. Everyone knows what happened to the grizzly man.

78. Do you flirt a lot?
Nope

79. What do you dip a chicken nugget in?
BBQ sauce

80. What is your favorite food?
Can't beat Chinese (I need my rice!) :P

84. What is your usual bedtime?
12-1

100. Who was the last person to do something extra special for you?
Christian

101. What was the last note you scribbled on a piece of paper?
Phone number

Posted by mich at 5:44 PM | dreams [0]

January 2, 2007

Happy New Year

Compared to the tumultuous year back in 2005, this past year felt like the sky finally opening up after the storm. Things started to finally fall into place for me as I settled into working at a neat little animation studio and I started coming to terms with the mistakes I've made. There's always the lingering regret of not taking an opportunity I had, and now I've learned to not let myself be pulled into different directions by other people. I guess the biggest blow to my plans on hold was waiting for an event in the summer that ended up crumbling to pieces. Yet, life goes on... I feel that the buildup of all the past experiences and this desire of mine that I've been harbouring for the past 3 years will finally culminate in achieving my big plan - and I'm not letting anyone get in my way! I won't reveal what it is yet for fear of jinxing myself but it's in the works.

Last year I've had to say goodbye to friends who've moved away. I've also unfortunately made emotional cut-offs from friends from whom I've grown apart, as hard as it was. Not caring anymore equates to less emotional stress and more happiness. Yes, this girl is moving on. On the flip side, I got to meet a whole bunch of fantabulous TNA people dodging balls, paddling dragonboats, and incurring ball hockey injuries.

And now for my yearly tradition of listing my memorable (and not so memorable) things from 2006:

All my baking/cooking hits & misses · Winterlude in Ottawa with Christian, which was cancelled due to the super warm weather · the Philosopher King's performance at First Canadian Place · getting published in a photography magazine · Filogix's Festivus party at Crowne Plaza Hotel · my 25th birthday >_< · Coldplay concert with Kris · Montreal during Easter with Christian, Sunnie and Vanessa · highlighting my hair for the first (and last) time · climbing the CN Tower for WWF with Kris and Cat · becoming a converted steak lover at David Duncan House · 2 food poisonings (one of them from East- never eat there!) · TSO concerts with Kris · family trip to Montreal in May · going to my first baseball game (aka snoozefest) · having my cousins from Boston visit · biking along the Gardiner/DVP for the Ride for Heart · learning to play Squash · last get together with Cass at the Royal York · crazy hardcore shopping in Grove City, PA during Canada Day weekend · winning bronze in both of our dragonboat festivals · exhibiting my button design at the One Inch Punch show · trip to Quebec City with Christian and trying rabbit at Le Lapin Saut� · Taste of the Danforth with family and Lilly · cottaging for the first time (never again- I'd rather go camping) · going to Sudbury for the first time (again, never again) · a day riding kiddie rides at Centreville with Christian · volunteering at the Film Fest and seeing Brad Pitt up close *sigh* · playing Waking City · exhibiting at the Red Head Gallery for Nuit Blanche · staying out all night (almost) for Nuit Blanche · taking Kris to the Sleeping Beauty ballet · volunteering at the Santa Clause Parade · selling my work at OCAD's Whodunit exhibit · watching the Chicago musical starring BSB's Kevin Richardson (and was he ever fantastic!) · discovering my inner ball hockey killah · exhibiting at Toronto Pearson Airport until June

Posted by mich at 6:55 PM | dreams [0]