I have vowed this time around to try more things at the market on Saturdays.

First off I want to promise myself this is the year I buy business cards. How slack is that? Shouldn't every artist at least have a few boxes of cards ready to go? But when you paint in front of the place where you sell your stuff it's really explanatory. However- I will make the effort to get something out there in the meantime even if its something printed from my computer.

I think I have to re paint the Post Office. The idea is do two images strong in different style- a day and night, spy vs spy, black and white etc… I first want to clean up the sketches before I look at canvas. The problem is my eyes are swelling and I cant even start to explain what that feels like. I wanted to start Hilton falls but I am still waiting on the photos.

I forgot to buy my Patrick Bateman jelly-ice eye goggles today at the Superstore. Instead I used a package of corn wrapped several times in paper towel to rest on my face so I could finish this blog entry.

Ever since Stoo got in that car accident on the 401 I have been thinking more (or less) of my mortality (that and the ever looming arrival date of my 29th birthday). I sat down and started to think what I could ask my parents for my birthday, simply because I can't ask friends to give me gifts as it's never a requirement on their part. One of the items on that list was a juicer.

I used to own a juicer back in the old apartment on Queen. It was a heavy, bulky mess that would get in the way often and I would hardly use it. The best time I used that juicer was during my three month detox diet where I couldn't eat red meat, refined sugars, coffee (ahhhh!), wheat products and so on. It was a surprisingly helpful diet where I noticed that I had more energy and I lost 30 pounds in three weeks (possibly because my mother told me I was eating more that Kate Moss, but that was when my max weight was 160- 130 is my normal healthy weight). The whole thing would have been a huge success if I quit smoking as well- but back then I was a different person.

So having kicked the smoking habit (well- technically I steal the occasional smoke when drunk or tepidly angry or nervous… but that's like 3 smokes a week and better than what I was doing before) I decided I would try to get myself back in order to where I was five years ago but without going crazy-BS over that diet I was on before as losing that much weight would cause another bout of gossip at my day job (and I'm not well understood or liked there as many would assume).

With that said, I bought a new juicer that is a lot more awesome than the old one. Namely because its compact in size and it only cost me $5 at the reuse center.

I could have had my parents buy me the $80 PC juicer… but the Scottish in me said "$5???? Ack! What a deal!"

So now I juice apples and oranges together while I sneak in an odd veggie here and there as Stoo refuses to eat them- don't ask me why but this is one way I can fool him into getting a regular diet. I don't know why chugging down a gross drink of frothy orange-ness is better than biting into an onion… wait… the visual just did me in… alright… scrap that.

So because I bought this $5 juicer (AND IT WORKS) I have no bloody idea what to ask my parents to get me for my birthday. As I wrote before, and you read right, it is a requirement for my parents to get me a gift for my birthday and even when I try to refuse this they go ahead and get me something I would have liked when I was 15 with a speech along the lines of "WELL ANNALEA- IF YOU DON'T SAY WHAT YOU WANT I CHOOSE FOR YOU" and so on. That's my mother for you and somehow I think I have inherited a lot of the habits and mannerisms I fought to suppress growing up.

Here is a list of the possible things I would like for my 29^th before I get too old to enjoy anything (because I'm half Scot and half Ukie and that's the way it goes)

• Giant Mr. Saturn Plushy (because I am a nerd)
  
• A ugly looking beefy lappy to huck at boys
  
• Nintendo DSi (I don't care if I have a DS already!! To the max!!!)
  
• Wood canvas blocks with tubes of nice white and black GOLDEN acrylics
  
• Shoes that actually fit and will not make me look like a clown or a queen.
  

The best gift my friends can get me is to come to my party and not start any fights. I doubt my parents will read this as computers scare them- but I know my brother reads this crap so he can print off the list and hand it to them (though its next to impossible to get me the shoes or the plushy).

/me takes a non-descript photo of a crowd at a heavily attended "art" event for the paper.

Guy: "HEY- HEY YOU!"

/me silently points to myself with a puzzled look

Guy: "YEAH- YOU! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

/me points to her press pass and then wiggles her camera

Guy: "NO NO NO"

/me nods her head YES YES YES bugging her eyes out

Guy: "HEY- GET OVER HERE

/me walks down from the staircase and right up to the guy

/guy grabs my collar when in arms distance and shakes me when he starts yelling at me

Guy: "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING?"

AnnK: "Get your hands off me"

/guy lets go of me but refuses to stop yelling

Guy: "I said WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING?"

AnnK: "I'm taking pictures of this event - note my pass."

Guy: "OH YEAH? WHO SAID?"

AnnK: "The organizer of this event."

Guy: "NO HE DIDN'T"

/me makes a face as if to say "Whoa- a full out pissing match is not my cup of tea"

Guy: "LOOK- DON'T MAKE A FACE AT ME"

AnnK: "Well don't tell me lies to my face- I had this all arranged a week ago and if you don't like it-"

Guy: "LOOK- YOU DON'T TAKE PICTURES AT EVENTS LIKE THESE.."

AnnK: "Says who?"

Guy: "It's LAW"

AnnK: "Look- I didn't take your picture- you were standing right behind me whe-"

Guy: "IF YOU DIDN'T TAKE MY PICTURE HOW THE HELL DID YOU KNOW WHERE I WAS STANDING?"

AnnK: "Because you yelled at me"

Guy: "YEAH. CAUSE YOU TOOK MY PICTURE. YOU CANT TAKE PICTURES HERE."

AnnK: "I can and I will."

Guy: "LOOK HERE, MISS- YOU DON'T TAKE PICTURES OF ME OR MY WORK, GOT IT?"

AnnK: "I DIDN'T TAKE YOUR PICTURE"

Guy: "WHATS STOPPING YOU FROM TAKING PHOTOS OF MY WORK AND SELLING IT TO OTHER PEOPLE, HUH? YOU TRYING TO SCREW ME OVER?"

/me looks at the vendors crappy generic jewelry

/me gets within breathing distance of the guys face

/me utters the boldest of the bold, the darker than darkness pitch, turning and twisting his entire white world into shards of nothing

/guy reels back gasping in horror

The daily work routine has left me very stressed out to the point I caught a cold. Being sick is serious downtime for me as I don't feel at all creative when I have to keep blowing my nose every 5 minutes. Instead, downtime for me has always been an escape into the internet where I waste most of my time networking (friends and business) and where I read up on the current state of events. In translation I have 5 open tabs all on CBC, youtube, facebook, hotmail and the current message board of the day trolling around in the art community. Which reminds me, I need to take my computer into the shop…

There is word of a new Art Supply store opening up just around the corner from where I live- I hope to be one of their best customers. The best thing about this is that it's right on the Main Street so if I run out of something while at the market I can always reach over and buy it :p

I am working on three new pieces- one is a night scene of Thomas Street on wood canvas, the other is an aerial shot of a farm that used to be just off of Tremaine and the other is a small scene of Dundas. They are sitting and waiting along the famer and the creepy church piece (contemplating hating the creepy church) for my health to return so I can attack them.

Today Grant is coming over to take pictures of Squash though her hair is still short. I wonder how long it will be for her awesomeness to return. I'll post up the best ones we get.

If anything I am finding myself pulled into the world of photography lately though for me photography is a mixed art form since my regular day trade is professional photographer. I don't know if I will seriously do much with photography, though I should as it comes as natural as painting for me.

Gail called me up last week and she's interested in hitting the streets again to make another video and to get some shots done. The best friends are the ones who always are up for something fun. Hopefully we will make another great video that I can share with everyone.