Wednesday, October 08, 2008

out of the mire?

It's been nearly a year since my last entry and I've definitely missed blogging. I think it is a necessary means of relaxation for me. School is finished (it was grrreat) and I've found myself in a bit of a slump. The plan for rejuvination has begun and blogging is going to be a key step I think.

  1. Stop eating crap because it's faster.
  2. Start exercising again because it makes you feel better and live longer and fit into your clothes.
  3. Get back to creativity as a personal and fun creative outlet rather than using it as a means to an end (i.e. gaining approval from others, getting work, etc.)
  4. Blog your little heart out! Sometimes letting your thoughts spill onto the page uncovers some answers you didn't expect.
  5. Take some pride in your appearance. Time to take care of myself!
Hopefully I can drag myself out of the mire and get a little more excited about life!

Monday, February 11, 2008

My Favourite Painting (so far)



Gimme My Movies!

CJ and I (mostly CJ) have a rather large movie collection as you may know... you might even call it a library. We seem to treat it like a library too. Many of you have probably borrowed a DVD or two and some of you may have even returned them.

Enter the "Movie Library Lending Journal". This journal was really fun (and frustrating to make) but I am pleased with the results. This is a soft cover custom journal where Ceej and I can track who has our movies and when they were borrowed. Hopefully this way we'll be able to keep track of them. If Wakas is reading this (though it seems unlikely) take a look at the first two entries in the journal!

The cover is the Entertainment Weekly Pop Culture Quiz. I already filled in the answers though... sorry.


The journal is set up like a screenplay by CJ and Ali Keddy...aww.

This is the first of hopefully many purpose-specific spreadsheet journals.


"The Jewellery Tree Sales Journal" is in the works and I'll post it when it's finished. Jess's business (www.thejewellerytree.ca coming soon!) is taking off and she needs a sales and receipt tracking system, so why not make it beautiful?

I'm also going to be printing and binding a short story that CJ is finishing up. If you have written a story and you'd like a professional hard-bound copy done up, let me know! The possibilities are endless (as is my cheesiness).

Sue's 50th Birthday Journal

I am particularly fond of this journal as it is the first one I have made as a gift. If you know Sue (my lovely MIL) you will know that she lives for denim. Now this is not normally my style, but I am happy to say I think I found a way to satisfy Sue's denim fetish and give it the Ali stamp at the same time.

This journal is a first in many ways. It's my first fabric-covered journal (I have the glue gun burns to prove it), my first journal with a closure (velcro!), my first journal with a customized cover page (this will prove useful I think) and my first journal with pockets (notes in the front, and pen in the back). I'm quite proud of it and hopefully they will just keep getting better.






journalez-vous?

I have finally gotten around to uploading some of my journals! How exciting! Making these journals is one of my favourite pass-times (I'm the coolest) and they are surprisingly easy to make. Take a look and if you like one enough to order your own, send me an e-mail or leave me a comment (you can always just e-mail me for fun too). Below are some pictures of the actual making itself.


Sew the Pretty Pages Together

Press them in a vise (aka my french grammar textbook...finally useful!)


Cut the Cover Board

And voila! A beautiful, 100% hand made, custom, hard cover journal!


So I may have oversimplified the process a tad, but it can be done at home, I swear! More photos of completed journals to come.

Friday, February 08, 2008

Is This Really My Life?

I'm sure you've had these moments where something causes you to step outside yourself and say "What the hell?" Yesterday afternoon near the end of a mind-numbing work day I heard myself ask a caller: "Did he throw the knife at someone, or did he just throw the knife?" What series off odd decisions led me to a place where this is a perfectly mundane thing to say at work? Whatever these decisions were, I am happy to be replacing them with some fresh "I just washed them...five days ago" new ones. (Sorry for the completely random '90s Bounty commercial quote. It just came out.)

I officially have 25 work days and 35 actual days left until I take my leave of absence. It's really starting to hit me now that my life is about to change. The strangest part is how simple it all really is. I got myself into this cubicle with a series of small decisions (and a few big ones) and I'm getting myself out the same way. I, of course, had to make the big decision to take a leave of absense from work and spend the majority of our savings on tuition, but that in itself won't change anything.

In September it will all be over and the daily small decisions that will really make a difference will just be beginning. I'll be back in this cubicle having completely run out of excuses for not doing what I really love. I will be forced to face my insecurities and control issues and start peddling my wares on my own. I will be very interested to read what my September-self has to say, because right now I can't even imagine it. And that is very exciting.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

My Life in Song

CJ recently made a late 90s mix and it really brought back some memories. It's truly amazing how a song can draw you back in time to old emotions, thoughts, places, and people. It's not just songs either. It seems that my emotional life is landmarked by whole albums.

I've decided to make a list of these albums and the meanings they have for me. This is not a "best of" list by any means. A lot of these albums hold up over time as great music. Conversely, many of them are what you may call "rubbish". They are what they are and we can't change them (props to anyone who is reminded of "The Muppet Christmas Carol" by that phrase. That's right, I said props).

This is going to be a fairly long list I think, so I'll spread it out over a few posts, maybe one for each album.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

How often do you find the right person?

Once.

It's not too often that I can watch a movie two days in a row, but "Once" was it. The film is a "modern musical" but it seems to be more of a musical in disguise. The songs are so integrated with the story and so much a part of the characters' relationships and personalities that it feels perfectly natural to see 13 full songs performed. And they are 13 great songs too.

Not only did I get to enjoy a heartbreaking and beautiful love story, but I also found two new artists to enjoy. Take a look at the video below of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova for a sneak peak at the movie. Please go rent it! You won't be disappointed.


Saturday, December 22, 2007

Don't Let the Bells End

Merry Christmas! Now The Darkness will serenade you sweetly into the new year. Watcht the whole video. Trust me, it is amazing/hilarious.

Monday, December 17, 2007

The Great Canadian English Adventure

I am approaching the finish line on http://www.thegreatcanadianenglishadventure.com/, my first real website. The company is a pretty cool idea and Sue is awesome. Hopefully the site projects a "professional, legitimate, and FUN adventure"!

Thursday, November 08, 2007

new words for old desires

Last night Ceej and I saw the Weakerthans at the Phoenix to celebrate my 24th birthday. It was a great time even though it was utterly exhausting. The band didn't end up playing until around 11:00 and by then we were both asleep on our feet! I definitely recommend the Phoenix for sleepy ones like me though. They had the most comfortable couches in the world on the top floor. I think I might have even fallen asleep for a minute.

The show was great though and they played all the songs we wanted to hear (civil twilight, the reasons, reconstruction site). My favourite by far though is "left and leaving". Anyone who knows the Weakerthans would agree, I'm sure. It is the sappiest, most melancholy, sincere tune you'll ever hear and every inch of it is perfection. I recommend listening to the song of course, as this is how it is meant to be consumed, but if you can't/realistically won't listen to it, take a quick read:

My city's still breathing (but barely it's true)
through buildings gone missing like teeth.
The sidewalks are watching me think about you,
sparkled with broken glass.
I'm back with scars to show.
Back with the streets I know
Will never take me anywhere but here.
The stain in the carpet, this drink in my hand,
the strangers whose faces I know.
We meet here for our dress-rehearsal to say " I wanted it this way"
Wait for the year to drown.
Spring forward, fall back down.
I'm trying not to wonder where you are.
All this time lingers, undefined.
Someone choose who's left and who's leaving.
Memory will rust and erode into lists of all that you gave me:
a blanket, some matches, this pain in my chest,
the best parts of Lonely,
duct-tape and soldered wires,
new words for old desires,
and every birthday card I threw away.
I wait in 4/4 time.
Count yellow highway lines that you're relying on to lead you home.

I hope you look them up on youtube or wherever and enjoy it though. This song just makes me feel so nostalgic and alive... you might say those are some of the best parts of lonely (my cheesiness never ceases to amaze).

The night was wonderful, almost up to Watchmen significance if you ask me.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

I got in/no world for tomorrow

The long portfolio building process is over for now and I'm in! I will be going to Humber (Etobicoke campus) in March for Graphic Design. I'm so excited and scared! It'll be really fun though, and when it's over, I won't hate my job anymore! Yay! Let's hope.

Also, I got to see Coheed and Cambria in Toronto this week which was absolutely ridiculously amazing. For some reason I wasn't that excited leading up to it, but once we were there I just couldn't stop smiling and jumping. Yes, I jumped. So what.

We got to see a free interview and show at MTV Live before almost by accident. We kept almost not going because we didn't really know what it was or where it was. Before we got there we had to walk all the way down Yonge street from Queens Quay to Dufferin! It was well worth the walk though. Once we got in we were just a few feet away from the band and Jon even got to ask Mic (the bassist) a question. You can watch Jon ask his question or even watch the live performances online if you want to. It was surreal and wonderful. I have tons of pictures on facebook...you have to see them and be really jealous, okay?

I think that's all my exciting news for now. I'll get some pictures of my portfolio up here soon, so keep checking back!

Friday, October 26, 2007

ali simpson





Go to the Simpson's Movie website and make your own avatar! Pretty cool eh?

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

losing teeth, chewing glass, running, running, against the wind

Should I be disturbed by my recurring dreams? Should the disturbing side of me disturb me? Should I just breathe it all in and realize that it's just me for better or worse 'til death do us part?



no. 1
My teeth are falling out! All of them. Sometimes it's one at a time, but ususally I suddenly have a mouthful of teeth that I have to spit out. I'm not thinking about the pain, because I don't really feel any in my dream, I'm just confused about the fact that my teeth are falling out. I also have dreams that I'm flossing and the spaces between my teeth just keep getting bigger until my teeth get loose and fall out.


Apparently...

...I am anxious about my appearance and how others perceive me.
...I have a fear of sexual impotence and getting old.
...I am feeling powerless or voiceless and should learn to value my own opinions.
...I may be experiencing menopause.
...I have put my faith in man instead of in God.
...a close family member is near death.
...I am telling lies.
...I am going to come into some money (tooth fairy style).


no. 2
My brakes don't work, or at least, not like I expect them to. I push on the brake and it feels normal, I begin to slow down but not nearly as quickly as I would in real life. I never crash or get injured in any way, but it's always very scary.

Apparently...

...changes in my life have left me feeling out of control.
...I should slow down in my personal/business affairs.
..."any agreements that I entertain or engage myself into will prove risky".


no. 3
I am running as hard as I can and I'm breathing hard and my muscles are exhausted. It feels just like real running. I feel like I can't keep it up much longer but I'm just not getting anywhere. Sometimes I'm being chased by some vague persuer, but sometimes I'm just running and I don't know why. It feels like I'm running in water because I'm going so slowly.

Apparently...

...I am under incredible pressure.
...I am avoiding confronting a situation in my life. Next time I should turn around and ask my persuer why they are chasing me.
...I am consumed by my own self-destructuve behaviour.
...I am coming up to a big change in my life and I am struggling (possible with myself) to make it happen.


no. 4
I am standing in a long hallway, so long that I can't see the end and so high that I can't see the ceiling. It is realtively narrow and every surface is made of bright sunfilled stained glass windows. I am usually around nine or ten years old, the same age I was when I first had this dream, but once I was my real age. I don't turn around, but I know that I am at the beginning of the hall and there is a stained glass wall behind me. Eventually, I decide to take a step. As soon as I do this, the window I am standing on flips over. I am now standing in an identical hallway to the first one. Each time I take a step, the same thing happens. Eventually I am so lost that I will never get back to the first hallway and find a way out.

Apparently...

...I am confused and unsure which way to turn in my life.
...I am emotionally disorganized.
...I am falling into/discovering more of my unconscious self and I am afraid of what I might find.
...I am examining my religion or spiritual beliefs and am afraid of what I might find.


no. 5
I get out of bed in the morning and start to say hello to my family. They don't respond. Eventually I realize that no one can see me or hear me. What's worse, they don't notice or seem to care that I am not around. No matter how hard I yell or try to contact them, they don't know I'm there. I start to wonder if maybe they're right and I am truly not there. Maybe I have died. Maybe I never existed at all. This dream is usually in black and white.

Apparently...

...I feel like I'm not being noticed or recognized for what is important to me.
...I want to know what people really think of me.
...I feel extreme self doubt.
...I am afraid to examine the nature of human existence.


no. 6
I am eating light bulbs for some reason. I just can't help myself. It doesn't hurt, but I have a very clear feeling of crunching glass and swallowing it. Like it would feel to eat glass with no pain. I usually eat several bulbs before the dream drifts in some other direction.

Apparently...

...I am vulnerable, confused, and frail.
...I may have difficulty communicating my thoughts.
...I may feel badly for something I have said that may have hurt someone.


Well I think we have all learned a lot about me. See you next class.