It's cold here in Ottawa. This week it reached somewhere near -40 C, and it's been up and down for a while. Besides going to class and other necessities, I've been staying inside, curled up in pyjamas and blankets.This sort of weather can't help but breed indolence - it's hard to feel creative and excited about projects when all you want to do is be a human burrito.
So, I extend my apologies for quietness on the blog. I've made this playlist of winter/cold/snow and ice themed songs to try and get inspired again. Honestly, it was enough of a mental exercise just to find a decent number of good songs with winter themes in the first place. Hey, if you have any suggestions for future wintery mixtapes, let me know.
Now I will make myself some hot chocolate and make plans for future posts, to inject some energy back in here. Exciting things will happen! Here's a picture of The Decemberists.
I don’t know why, but to me there’s nothing more relaxing
than looking at pictures of abandoned places. There’s something so beautiful
about the stillness, the quiet, the dilapidated emptiness. Knowing that a place
that was once crawling with people, busy and noisy is now only home to some
plants and maybe an animal or two… that’s real peace. Pair that with a cup of
tea, some soft music, and if possible, a gray, rainy sky, and you have my
perfect Sunday morning.
I come from a town with quite a few abandoned buildings. I
don’t think we have many more than the average town, but since we’re so small
the ones we do have stand out. So I grew up with empty places, and urban
exploration was a part of my life since I was old enough to explore the city on
my own. We have abandoned factories both old and new, stores, theatres, houses,
train trestles; we even had a huge boarding school, all completely void of
life. I never realised the effect they had on me until I started writing, when
I started to notice that I tended to talk about abandoned places a lot, and set
a lot of my stories in places like that.
All this probably sounds a little negative, talking about
emptiness and dilapidation and whatnot, but I really don’t mean it that way. I
really do think places like that are beautiful, even if they’re a little creepy
or sad. It’s always great to know that one of these places is going to get
redeveloped into something useful again. And it’s always even sadder to hear
when they get torn down, but good to know that where they used to be something
better is going to be made.
So, I made a mixtape of some of my favourite songs to listen
to while I urban explore through my computer. Something I can listen to after a
long hard working day, for a good night’s sleep, or in the morning before I
dive into a pile of homework. You can listen to it here:
Today is my favourite holiday ever! Well, ok, maybe it’s not
really a holiday, but it should be! I’ve loved Halloween since I was a little
kid. I love dressing up and planning my costume, staying up late and of course
all that candy. As I grew up I came to love the spooky side, as I got over my
fears and eventually became obsessed with horror movies and all things scary
and weird. Every day is a little Halloween for me, but that doesn’t make the
real day any less special.
Today I’m in college, and I don’t get to make as big a deal
of Halloween as I wish I could. But I still always manage to dress up and show
off my costume somehow, even if it’s just to go to grocery store. Which is
exactly what I did!
This year I went as Alice from Alice in Wonderland. I've actually tried going as this twice before, the first time wasn't very successful because it was a long time ago, Alice wasn't very popular so finding a good dress or costume wasn't easy. The second time I ended up changing it at the last minute. Now there seems to be Alice costumes everywhere! But being a busy student I had to assemble mine from stuff I already had lying around. Despite that I think I did a pretty good job! This is definitely one of the classiest costumes I've ever worn.
Outfit Breakdown:
Boots - Ardene
Tights - Costume store I think, I've had them for years
Skirt - Wal-mart
"Apron" (It's a slip that I tucked into the front of my skirt. Best I could do!) - Thrifted
Shirt - Suzy Shier
Vest - Sirens
Pocket Watch Necklace - Icing
You can't see my earrings, but one was shaped like a teacup and the other like a rose - Claire's
I had lots of work to do during the day, but I ended the
night with a special Halloween dinner and a scary movie. I watched Cabin in the
Woods, and holy crap, AMAZING! I think I have another new favourite movie. The
plot is that five friends go to a mysterious cabin in the woods, and scary
stuff starts happening… AND THAT’S ALL I CAN TELL YOU. If I told you any more
it would ruin it. Take my word that it is not what you are expecting.
And for dinner - Pumpkin pancakes and some bacon. I've never made pumpkin pancakes before, and I pretty much had to eyeball all the measurements, since pancake recipes always get you to make them for like eight people. They ended up being really good!
Pancake mix (yeah, I cheated a bit.) Water, Canned pumpkin, Ground cinnamon, Ground ginger, Cooking spray, Maple syrup, Butter, or whatever you like to top your flapjacks with.
Directions:
Make your pancake mix as usual, and add your cinnamon, ginger, and the pumpkin. Mix it all together, but not too much as this mixture will be lumpy and thick. Spray down your frying pan/griddle, and cook them a little longer than you would normal pancakes. They'll come out really thick, and even when they're cooked they might be a little mushy in the middle. As long they're not cold or like, liquid, you should be okay.
And finally, to end a good Halloween you need good Halloween
music. And I don’t mean that orange tape of spooky noises you’ve got lying
around. I’m lucky that most of my favourite bands are pretty Halloween-y all
year round, and some of my favourite songs are perfect Halloween songs. Every
year I make a big playlist of all my spooky songs, but I chose my personal
favourites to make this mixtape. I hope you like it!
