The Cat in the House

I'm not really sure where I was going with this title as it was a long time ago. It's been a while since I've posted on this bad boy blog of mine. Perhaps the title had to do with the fact that my cat lives in a little house. Or maybe it had to do with Dr. Seuss, only instead of calling it 'The Cat in the Hat' it was the cat in the house. And I thought that was cute because there really is a cat in the house in my apartment. It's not a real house, well it's real, but it's not real in the sense that it's like 900 sq.ft.




It's a house in the sense that it's made for animals, specifically dogs I think, but Dave and I chose to buy it for Two. Ya that's right, her name is 'Number two.' We can thank my older and wiser brother Mike for naming her. I think he was into Austin Powers at the time. I like to call her Twoberdoo, kind of like Scoobydoo, only Twoberdoo is way better! Granted it is a really crazy name for a cat, but let's be serious, aren't all cats names crazy?

Dancing in the Street

So, I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that a lot of people have done this. You may be thinking that I'm completely crazy and I'm not going to disagree with you, but what I'm talking about is pretty common and I know you've done it. Now I'm talking about 'regular' dancing like you'd see in Footloose.



Speaking of Footloose, I've heard so many references to that movie lately and I'm not sure why. Don't get me wrong I'm all about Kevin Bacon and dancing, but everytime it's on it drives me crazy, I really can't stand to watch it. Perhaps it something to do with the fact that the hard dancing scenes it's not Kevin Bacon, but some stunt double pretending to be Kevin Bacon. Also speaking of Kevin Bacon, my friend Andrea and I saw him outside my building a few months back with his wife, well actually I can verify that I saw their backs, while Andrea saw the front of them AND their backs. Turns out, they are really skinny in real life, how skinny you ask? Well, if you can imagine Mick Jagger, but only skinnier that's Kevin Bacon. His wife Kyra Sedgwick, however, is more normal looking, still skinny, but not as skinny as Kevin.

I am particularly interested in how there isn't a day goes by where I'm doing 'the dance' with people on the street. 'The Dance' my friends, is where you walk on the sidewalk and are heading in a direction, whether that be north, south, east or west, and then someone else, probably and usually a stranger, (maybe a friend, but that's not the point I'm trying to make) is walking in the opposite direction of you and both of you are walking on an intercept course. You keep walking assuming that the other guy is going to move, I mean why wouldn't they, I was there first! As you get closer and closer you realize, "hey, this guy isn't moving," yet I keep walking and assume they'll move. You know that they are thinking the exact same thing, while at the same time, trying to avoid the ultimate 'dance.' I'm sorry folks, but it's going to happen, even if you plan out your course, which you know - is assuming the other guy will move - is not going to work. As you draw nearer to the stranger and no one has moved, 'the dance' begins...you go to the right and so does the stranger, you go to the left, as does he, this little dance continues for what can feel like an eternity and finally ends when you both decide to part ways; you go right and he goes left. You both say sorry, your mouth turns up out of frustration and embarassment, and then you laugh and get on with your day, hoping to avoid another one of those awkward moments that happens everyday.

I honestly try to avoid 'the dance' as much as possible, but then I start thinking about it way to much when I'm out walking about and I become obsessed with it and it becomes a part of me. I'll see someone 20 feet away from me and plan to not have that dance with them, you know, it's just too awkward, especially since it occurs on a daily basis.

I would say I have a way to avoid it, but you know, I honestly don't. Perhaps if there is someone out there who knows how to avoid this, do tell.

Thanks for listening,

Ceej

Rollerblading In January

Ya, I know!

Hard to believe? Well, believe it, it happened last Wednesday or Thursday, I can't really remember which day it was, it doesn't really matter which day it was, just that it happened at all is pretty amazing. So to continue, I had a doctor's appointment at College and Bathurst, well actually it was College and Euclid (this is west of Bathurst, it's just easier to say College and Bathurst because most people know where that is.) Anyways, I figured if it wasn't raining OR snowing I thought to myself, why not Rollerblade to the doctor's. So I did! From Bay & Bloor to the office it took me 12-15 min approx. Let me tell you, it was really great because the weather was nice, people were out and about, actually there were too many people out and about - I almost ran into a bunch of people. Luckily, I have my trusty helmet to keep my brains intact. No need to make any unnecssary risks. You might think I'm some kind of lunatic for wearing a helmet, you might also say "Caryl/Ceeg, you've been rollerblading and skating for all of your life, there's no need for you to wear a helmet." And you know what, I may have agreed with you a couple of months ago, but now that I have done some extensive rollerblading in the city I feel as though wearing a helmet is a really good decision. Basically, what I'm getting at is that rollerblading in January in Toronto in the winter is pretty, pretty, pretty rare.

Lates,

Ceej

Steve Martin

Dear Mr. Martin,

Calling you Mr. Martin seems weird and then if I call you Steve that's just even weirder. I know a Steve, in fact I know a couple of Steve's: one was my brother's friend, he was nice, he was our neighbour; the other Steve spells his name Stephen. Stephen, how do you even spell that in short, Steph? That's a girl's name, I don't think you can just add a "v" to someone's name, can you? If you're going to call a guy Steven I think you should just spell it with a "v" to make it easier for short form, like Steve. I'm glad your Steve, well actually, maybe you are a Stephen and you just used Steve for short, that's cool then because I like you as Steve, don't get me wrong if you were Steven or Stephen I would still like you, I just think I like Steve better. I wonder if that's because I'm used to calling you Steve.

Speaking of first names it feels weird to call someone - especially a celebrity by their first name. Generally, when you call somenoe by their first name it implies that you know them, but I don't know you at all. Perhaps I should just call you Mr. Martin, but see, if I call you that I feel like you're a teacher or an adult that I'm supposed to be polite to, not that I don't want to be polite to you, because I do, it just seems weird to me to call you Mr. Martin. Also, our prime minister is Paul Martin so he's Mr. Martin, not that I can't see you as being Prime Minister fo Canada, which would be really great because Stephen Harper (who will probably win ths election) is crazy looking and I'm pretty sure he's going to run the country down. I suppose calling you Mr.Martin wouldn't be that bad at all, but I think that title is better left to the diminishing Prime Minister Paul Martin.

If I call you Steve Martin that seems normal but only on a general celebrity calling level (that doesn't even make sense!) That means people normally refer to celebrities by calling them by their first and last names. I mean you would never call Glenn Close just Glenn, well I mean you might if you new her, but I won't because I don't know her, again that's really just personal preference. That's kind of a bad example so calling her Glenn or Glenn Close regardless of her gender is just weird in general for me.




I guess I'll call you Steve Martin, that seems to be the most normal for me. However, if I met you I wouldn't say "Hi, Steve Martin, how are you?" Or would I, I'm not really sure how I would react, in fact I doubt I will ever have the chance, but if I did I have no idea what I would call you. I could say "Hey you", or "What's going on" and just not mention your name at all, that's what I say to everyone I meet or know. It would be normal for me and hopefully it would be normal for you, but what's normal really? I mean your Steve and I'm Caryl, potato potato. That doesn't look right in writing, it really does sound better. that's weird, I wonder if anyone has ever really written that down and understood it in that comparitive way. Huh, that's something to think about.

Anyways, I hope that something can be understood about names after reading this, I actually think that nothing will be understood and that this is just "pure drivel."

Man, I'm awesome, I just thought of that just right then.


Lates,

Caryl J Davies

Nicknames

Dear Hollywood,

I'm all about being clever and creative with names, but I think I've had enough of the whole 'let's mix up celebrities last/first names to come up with a new name' bit.

Let's run through some of the nicknames that are out there:

TomKat
Vaughniston
Bennifer
Bennifer 2.0 (aka Garfleck)
Brangelina


I'm sure there are a lot more out there, I suppose I would be interested in hearing what they are, but I'd rather hear of something else. I'm not really sure what, just something different.

I'm adding more to this post, as I found a really funny nickname on the internet...Mr. Britney. Now that's what I'm talking about, none of this K-Fed stuff.

Ceeg

Art Through the Years

I painted this in high school, it's called The Globe, basically it's Global Warming. I got the idea from a magazine.

This was an assignment to study the techniques of like Cezanne: he used colours to emphasize certain features of an object.

This is Three Cliffs Bay in Wales. I painted this shortly after my return from backpacking in Europe.

I painted this in University just for fun.

I did this painting for my brother for his birthday - it's our dog, Cassie. It's a very abstract depiction of her.

I was in a weird mode when I painted this, I'm not a big fan, but Dave likes it.

The next few paintings are incomplete - I will finish them.

I started this for my mom, it's supposed to be (and will be) a harbour town: there will be boats and ducks and things.

I was inspired to paint this when I was watching Conan a while back and I really liked the pattern he had on his couch.

Although it is hard to see, this is a very big painting. I was frustrated with this painting because I couldn't capture what I need to capture. It's supposed to be Africa, for Dave, for his loft in Mississauga.

The next two are sketches.

This is a still life. Plain and simple.

This is a castle in ruins in Wales that I visited.


There are two paintings that I have not put on this blog, one of them is hanging in my high school, it's big and it's extreme! The other is a representation of Fall, one of my managers at work as it at her home now.