In the nick of time..

It was a day of resurgence, after yesterdays sequential snafus (what a great word!). I had a lot to accomplish and now at 1 am I can finally permit myself to rest and relax. Enduring a 24-hour panic is thumbs down.

My canon printer has been eating my paper for weeks and I couldn't be assed to haul it in to get fixed (especially since I lost the receipt), so I finally broke down and purchased a new cheap one, a reliable Epson. PLUS I ordered a typewriter!!! By 4 pm they hadn't arrived despite the website stating "if ordered before 5pm the day prior, your delivery should arrive between the hours of 7am - 1pm. I knew the delivery time ended at 5 pm. At half 5 my buzzer went off. A miracle had occurred and there was my night in yellow NHL uniform with my machines. My flat is now being overrun by technology!

I produced a booklet (my fanzine) and some crappy translucent stock head shaped folder to store it in. I am not completely happy with it, the head/folder is a bit roughed up and some of the pages don't quite feel right, but I am thrilled at the outcome of a few of the spreads.

Here are some images:

WHEN ART GOES AWRY

Sweet sass, today has been frustrating! I had this genius idea to make a cast of a head to contain my "thoughts" book, for my current project. I sculpted the head out of air dry clay this morning and was quite proud of myself, it looked decent for round 1. I quickly discovered after an experiment that it was impossible to make a cast out of a clay mold.

I disassembled the clay head and tried to mold it around my own face... that also did not work.
I then agonized over my destroyed clay masterpiece while Emilia helped me come up with an alternative plan. Next we tried strips of plaster over my face. I looked like a monster and the messy process failed too.

I tried to make a circular mold out of clay to pour the plaster into. It turns out that clay does not like plaster very much. I still haven't a clue what I shall do, but here are some of the photos from my dispiriting day.

I AM A SAFETY HAZARD

Just thought I would share my idiotic near death experience with you, incase like me, you are unaware of the dangers of electrical appliances.

After having 2 fridges in my flat for weeks and being unable to find the plug for the old fridge (located somewhere behind the counter - or so I thought), I decided to cut the power cord with scissors.

I had no idea of the risk I was taking until a flame shot out of the cord and I lost power. Scary stuff. I flipped the breaker back on, not realizing I had a live wire sticking out from behind the new fridge. I rang the electrician emergency hotline, who was very discouraging after the fellow called me crazy under his breath. Apparently even the fire department in London was amazed I didn't receive a massive shock or electrocute myself.

Anyway, thanks to my family's aid and discovering the outlet buried at the back of the inside a cupboard, I was able to remove the wire (with the breaker turned OFF). Let my stupidity be a lesson kids!!!

UPDATE: CS2 is FIXED!!! I called the Mac Doctor, who came to my rescue and fixed photoshop in record time. It was pretty neat to watch his method - connecting to my computer and checking things out from his end. I watched the mouse move around and open different files.. anyway he is a miracle worker!

So sorry for the hiatus! I haven't really been up to anything exciting, other than fighting with the Adobe Creative Suite and the Lettings agency (De Havillande Holdings - spread the word) to get my deposit back.

I did get out last night with a guy I met while I was in London for the Contiki tour. He gave me a bit of an orientation with the area of London we were in (Soho) and explained to me what some of the Canadian terms I was using meant over here. Oops!
We went to Carnaby Street, which I learned was quite famous in the 60s. I'll post an excerpt from Wikipedia, because it sums it up nicely.



Wikipedia on Carnaby St:
"By the 1960s, Carnaby Street was popular with followers of both the hippie and Mod style. Many independent fashion boutiques, and designers such as Mary Quant and Lord John, Take Six and Irvine Sellars were located in Carnaby Street as well as various underground music bars such as the Roaring Twenties in the surrounding streets. With bands such as The Beatles, Small Faces, and Rolling Stones appearing in the area to work (the legendary Marquee club was round the corner in Wardour street), shop, and socialize, it became one of London's coolest destination associated with the Swinging Sixties."

I finally was able to curb my craving for vegan pad thai at a place called "Mangosteen" and then to some eccentric dive sort of bar which I don't think I bothered to read the name of. It reminded me a lot of the Bovine in Toronto, only lacking the burnt plastic dolls adhered to the walls.

Anyways this is what I have been drinking, sweet succulent Swedish ciders!!