By Request

For some reason my scanner doesn't want to work, so all of these pictures are pictures of pictures. Don't mind the crookedness of the snaps.

This is my grandmother's aunt and uncle and cousins on the Capilano suspension bridge. The building in the background was built in 1911, so this photo was taken sometime after that.



This same family had a big farm near what is now Central Park in Burnaby. This picture was taken on the farm. The contraption is a steam powered hay-baler. I think this was taken durring the first world war as there is a dude in unifrom.



Way back in the day Surrey was all farmland. My great-grandparents had a farm, and drove their produce to market across the river by horse and wagon via the train bridge. This picture is of my great-grandparents, my grandmother and my great-aunt Ivy circa 1917. Before he was a farmer, my great-grandfather was a gold miner in the Yukon. He proposed to my great-grandmother (who was still in London) on a postcard. On the front was a picture of him, a tent, his cows and his employees. He asked "Can you picture yourself living here with me?" She must have been crazy.

funniest picture of the day

Would people really pay for poo?

This picture is from another blog: http://www.adamsachs.org/blog.html
The author suddenly got divorced, lost his mind for a bit and travelled the world. It is a really good travel blog second only to those Couple of Canadians in Hong Kong. Tons of pictures, not much talking- which is strange because apparently the blog author is a writer professionally.

I think it's a blog that we can all relate to. Who doesn't have days where having a mental melt-down and seeing the world doesn't sound like a good thing.

*editted to add that the writer is very often published magazine writer/editor. I checked out his bio and other much more wordy blog.

If a tree falls in the forest?

This week, my grandmother went into a care home. It's sad, and I'm not going to blog about it.

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Last week I was given a whole box full of her old photos and I spent several hours going through them. It's strange to see snaps of an entire lifetime. I don't know who a lot of the people are in the photos, and unfortunately, Nana is too blind to be able to see them. So I'm stuck with wondering who the girl is on great-Uncle Lawrie's arm.

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There were a few pictures I knew. No explanation needed. Any Vancouverite worth their salt should recognize the above pic. This is a famous hollowed-out tree stump in Stanley Park. Unfortunately, it is about to be (or may have already been) cut down because it was damaged and deemed unsafe. The mind truly boggles, here is my great-Uncle Lawrie and some buddies in the 1930's all dressed up, and I stood there 75 years later and took a picture with my portable phone! So much change.

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I think this is my new favorite picture. My previous favorite was of my grandma's cousin Violet Hall and family on the Capillano suspension bridge in the late 1910's. I'll digg it up and post it soon.

Step Away From The Wheat!

Wheat. If you know me at all you know that wheat is my enemy. My Darth Vader. It's sort of like an addiction, I crave it, but it makes me incredibly ill. I used to be able to eat wheat in small quantities and be okay. But wheat is like Crystal Meth. One day I'm indulging as a treat when I go out on the town. And then one day I'm a strung out junkie curled up on the bathroom floor at 4am wanting to die.

One week ago I decided that going home sick from work or laying on the couch all day is no way to live. I want to be like everyone else and eat bread at a restaurant, or eat my favorite foods and not suffer for it. I hate going to a restaurant and being the centre of attention. "Can you eat anything here?" Nothing makes me feel more like a circus freak.

After a particularly bad wheat binge, I did a little re-evaluation. Why am I doing this to myself? I need to be Wheat free. I have been reading a lot about Celiac disease lately. I suspect that's what wrong with me (and what's been wrong with me for the last 7 years). Celiacs can't eat gluten (wheat-spelt/kamut, rye or barley) it causes the body to attack itself and destroys the intestines. I have been tested and am waiting for the results. In the meantime, I have been living the gluten-free lifestyle. I don't remember feeling so good ever in my life. It's been years since I actually slept through the night (I've slept through the last 7 in a row!!) Either way the test results come out, I have learned that gluten is not good for me. It's like I'm sober now, and I can see what the drug was doing to me.

I know that my blog is never this personal, but I wanted to remember the day that I started to feel good, normal, and maybe even healthy. So, April 30th 2008 was a big day. It was the last day I was sick.

Artsy Fartsy

A few weeks ago, Whitney invited me to the Undergrad Art show. Last year the show was centrally located near Granville skytrain station. This year, the show was in an empty warehouse.

Lots of the art was different, totally beyond my very limited knowledge of art. This was one of my favorites. Tiger, Zebra, Dog and Owl. I like the zebra the best.


At the entrance of the warehouse was a square of what looked like Vaseline on the floor. Because it was right at the doorway, people didn't see it and would walk right into it. I hear by the end of the night they had to rope it off with toilet paper (slippery floors are a liability!)


There was a good turnout. This is a random shot of the lower floor (there was more on the second floor). I would have taken more pictures, but no one else was, and it felt like I was doing something wrong. I asked Whitney, and she said it was ok. Notice the giant whale pinata in the background, it was broken at the end of the night after we left. I don't know what was in it, but fish guts seems much more appropriate than candy. Also notice that there is a log on the floor. I don't know what it means or why it's art.





The girls in charge of the bar filled the wine glasses to the brim (for $4!!) By the time I left, I was loaded! Apparently so was this art lover. He purposely stood in some poor students artwork. I may not understand gookey stuff on the floor, but I'm sure the kid who did it wouldn't have like this guy destroying it. In the background is a mural made out of pennies.