Yumminess

Hmmm...Maybe I should just become a food photographer? Not that this is a good picture...and for some reason it won't upload horizontally...but anyways I really enjoy taking photos of food...and then I like to eat the food. I wonder if one can become a "Vegetarian Food Photographer/Critic"? That would be the most AWESOME job in the world!

So this post was supposed to be about what I'm doing for Lunar New Year...The answer is NOTHING...I threw out my back yesterday while doing some over ambitious yoga (look I can do the proper lotus position now!)...and now I'm practivally bed ridden. Fun stuff. So I just sit here and eat. Today I had delicious apple cinnamon oatmeal (no sugar...not instant) and now I'm going to snack on dates stuffed with almonds. Or maybe I should eat the green split pea/spinach/tomato/green pepper soup I made....

Body as Landscape

The Lake at Sunset

Why are there chinese characters floating in the sky? I'll tell you:

The first image is actually a modified photograph of my back and shoulder blade.
Haha, I fooled you. This is part of an ongoing artistic study I've been doing in which the body is treated as a form of landscape. I've been interested in this idea for over a decade. In 1998 I did a wonderful drawing of a woman emerging from a tree. Later that year I discovered a similar kind of series by a native artist named Norval Morisseau. He did wonderful paintings of lake horizons that were actually images of women's bodies (perhaps symbolizing Mother Earth?). Unfrontunately, I couldn't find photos of his body as landscape series online (I saw them at a gallery on Manitoulin Island).

In 2002 my final art project entitled "The Fall of Man, The Rise of Woman" used a similar concept. that's when I first got into photoshop. Later I did a painting of my sister's legs, in which the space inbetween formed another woman's body:
As you can see, I am very interested in nature and the use of negative space, as these concepts both visually represent some of my spiritual beliefs...But that's another blog in itself.

You've heard of a Spoonerism, but what's a "Franism"?

First of all, for those of you who don't know what a Spoonerism is, click here.

Now, what is a Franism? I've been researching extensively on wikipedia to try and find an answer. The best I can come up with is that it is a mild form of Dysnomia, which is described as a "tip of the tongue" feeling, where the brain cannot recall the desired word or name...People who have dysnomia may replace a word with a synonym in an attempt to express their thoughts without using the word they are having difficulty retrieving".

The difference between Dysnomia and a Franism is that a person who uses "Franisms" won't even use a synonym to express their thoughts, but a completely unrelated word that sounds similar to the word they want to produce. For example:

My earliest memory of producing a Franism was at Appleby College, when I was trying to describe an immense building, and I called it "Absoloutely immaculate".

In university, my most humiliating and hilarious Franism was when I described an elegant dress as eloquent.

Just recently, a Korean friend asked me what surmise meant, and I described it as "evil plotting" (I'm not sure what I was thinking of...maybe scheme/intrigue). "Wrong." she said. "It says it means to guess".

AND UGH...Just recently, IN A QUERY TO A PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE I used the word clambering instead of clamouring. The former means to climb with difficulty. I'm hoping the magazine interprets my mistake as poetic.

last week, a girl and I were discussing French Connection U.K. She said "F-C-U-K" and I laughed and said "Don't you mean...Wait...F-C-U-K?" "Yeah, that's what I said". Not this this is a wrong definition, but my brain was so set on her spelling it wrong that I actually heard it wrong and over analyzed it to the point of "fcuking" myself over.

I recently used the word assumably, and my friend called me out on it and said "assumably?! Don't you mean presumably?" "Do I? Hmm...that's one word I've been questioning myself on lately..." this is the one circumstance in which I was actually right. HA. Take that.

But at the moment I am doing a piece of creative writing in which I was wrong again. I wrote "Things would have preceded as normal" when I meant to say "things would have proceeded as normal".

I'm going to start a book to record my misuse of words so I can start to correct myself.

Baby Names

Today I found a document on my external hard drive that lists all the baby names I've liked for the past 5 years or so. I wonder if my name choices will mature as I get older? I obvisouly have a strong preference for names that have the "a" sound in them...

Boys:
Adriel, Aiden, Atreyu, Noah, Lucas, Joshua, Jayden, Jullian, Jude, Dyan, Elliot, Cyan, Kiran, Kayden, Adoni...

Girls:
Asherah, Amalie, Gaia, Auria, Sanorah, Gweneviere, Arawn, Arwen, Estelle, Adriel, Ariel, Ophelia, Eve, Leora, Luca, Bronwyn, Cerridwen, Kali, Lalita, Lasya,Tara, Ariella, India...

Fran at the Cosmic Cafe

Here's the original painting. Sam is the guy working behind the bar. He takes good care of his regulars. And photoshop helped me "fill in the blank". This is a better respresentation of where I go to make all my wishes come true. (I don't drink the wine, it's just there for decoration.)

This is a painting by the artist that inspired me to try painting in this simplified style...Sadly I don't know the artist's name, but I'm sure he's current.

Fran's made up crazy vegan Banana Strawberry Bread

Ingredients:
4 bananas, pureed
1 apple purreed
6 strawberries, pureed
6 strawberries, sliced
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 tablespoons baking powder
lots of cinnamon (NOT CLOVES as I accidentally used...ARGH!)
2 tablespoons oil

Instructions:
mix everything except the sliced strawberries, which should be placed on top of the dough once it's in a bread pan. Bake for about an hour and a half at 180C (it's vegan, so there's a lot of fruit juice that needs to evaporate). Stick a chopstick or toothpick down the centre, and when it comes out clean, it's done.

Note: This is more of a bread than a cake. Just so you know. It's good for breakfast, not dessert.

Fran's attempt at Palak Masoor Dal / Red Lentil and Spinach Soup

Ingredients:

2 cups red lentils
as much spinach as you want (remember it shrinks when heated...it might look like a lot, but it's not!)
a handful of parsley or fresh corriander if you have it
3 tomatoes
2 onions
2 tablespoons garlic (I like garlic)
taplespoon curry powder
more ground spices of your choice, for flavour (cumin, salt, tumeric etc etc)
2 fresh green chillies, chopped
splash of fresh lemon

Instructions:
Rinse the lentils, then cover them with water and boil.
Fry the onions until translucent, add the rest of the ingredients and fry until soft.
Slightly drain the lentils, then mix everything together and blend it with a food processor.
Sprinkle with a little lemon juice and fresh parsley.
Eat and savour. YUM!