Phew. It's been a while. Between visits from my parents and going on a mini road trip to Cape Breton, a deadline looming and now moving, I've had little time to think of anything else other than stress and worry.

Over the weekend, I went with my friend Denis and Gina to the Cabot Trail. The weather was crappy for the first couple days but it cleared up the last day and we got to canoodle on a couple beaches. I can now happily say I've dipped my toes in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. We also hiked the Skyline Trail, saw a moose, two coyotes and a baby black bear. The great thing about road trips is the bonding, and Denis is a hilarious person. He says the most outrageous things, and Gina and I got to know him much more than we cared to. There was a ridiculous comment about foreskin, but I won't bother to repeat what was said.

I also visited a WWOOF (World-wide opportunities on organic farms) farmer and his family in Cape Breton. I'm currently working on an article about WWOOFing, and it's interesting to meet people who do this sort of thing, both as volunteers and as hosts. The idea is you pay a small fee and sign up either to work on an organic farm or to have volunteers come and work on your farm in exchange for food and board. I've heard about mixed experiences but on the whole it seems like the people who do it, love it.

In other news, I'm moving this week, and because I don't have a car, it's been super stressful. There's so much to organize and for some reason or another, I've accumulated a crapload of, well, crap. I have lots of books and crafts and crafting materials I can't seem to part with. You'd think that after moving around so much, I'd be used to not accumulating so much stuff!

Finally, I found this awesome project Shawn Feeney is doing. It's called the BFF Project.
He takes photos of people who are best friends and draws a portrait of what they would look like if they were one person. It's pretty impressive, and the end result is he is going to amalgamate all 164 portraits into one!

Potluck!

Yum...with all the obsessing I've been doing about bentos lately, I finally had a chance to give making them a try when my friends had a Japanese-themed potluck.
The top ones are just normal sushi rice, the ones in the middle are wasabi flavoured and the green ones are with peas.
This is a colourful tofu and carrot salad with a sesame dressing. The sushi rice separates it from the flower tomatoes I cut up. Now that I've learned how to do it, everything that needs cutting up looks like a flower.
Those vein-y, eyeball things are marbled tea eggs.
And this is what it looks like all assembled together in my make-shift bento box.

Finally, this was the marvelous table of goodies. So much food. Tempura, sushi, kimchee, and it was all vegetarian!

I'm exhausted, and stuffed. Graduation was today, so my day consisted of me only having some measly cheese and crackers, then shuffling off to the ceremony in shoes that hurt after 20 minutes of wear, standing around waiting for 45 minutes followed by 2.5 more hours of sitting, standing and listening to hymns and other speeches about how our futures are going to be so bright. 

Call me bitter and/or cynical, but this is my second go-around at a "future." My first degree also promised an optimistic future full of adventure and life-long connections. I think I have a handful of friends from school that I've actually kept in touch with. I wanted to say to all these young'uns who were all dolled up and looking wide-eyed/bushy tailed to just wait until you go back to university for further schooling. Then this "future" speech will seem like a steaming pile of kaka. That is unless you've done a) business b) engineering or c) law degree. Then the world is your oyster.

In other news, I'm about to write my first "I" piece for a print publication. As a journalist--and I can say that now since I'm a graduate--I often write about other people instead of about myself. Sure I've written personal stories for zines but nothing that's widely distributed across North America. This'll be interesting. At least the topic will be on DIY--something I actually know about. And the publication is awesome enough to not do much editing, so I'm sure it'll be good. Looks like my freelancing career is off to a good start.

Oh, and some wonderful links I just had to share: 

This gives a whole new meaning to Dancing Cossacks!

And thanks Sadiya for this delish tidbit.

When it rains, it pours

Holy, I'm swamped. And somewhat fucked. The place I was going to sublet for June 1st has already been subletted. The landlord didn't tell me until I called them today to follow up on my application. So now it's back to apartment hunting. I've quickly learned that it's my second most hated activity. After job hunting, of course. 

My parental units are in town. We had a nice dinner but not after being reminded of why I enjoy not living in the same city as them. They're in town for graduation, which I can't say I'm looking forward to. Lots of sitting around uncomfortably in robes with real fur trims, listening to "inspirational" speeches, when in reality, I know I'm screwed. 

On the bright side of grad, my brother got me an iPod nano. I'm sooo stoked as I haven't had a portable music player in years. Not even a sad CD player for this gal. I've finally joined the technological ranks of a normal person. I mean I own a Mac, shouldn't I also have an iPod and a cellphone that's smaller than a brick? I'm one step closer...

In some other non-grad related news, I've been obsessed with Japanese bento boxes lately. Lunch has always been my favourite meal. Probably because it straddles between breakfast, which I never find is savoury enough, and dinner, which is usually reserved for leftovers. Plus, midday is when your body needs the most energy, and hence, lunch is the prime pig out meal. 

There's something super wicked about lunches that are packed with care and creativity. I love looking at something that is visually appealing especially when I'm about to devour it and know that it'll be swimming around in my tummy. 

There's an abundance of pictures of the delicious packed lunches on Flickr. Just to name a few:

Biggie's Lunch-in-a-box Photostream

Luckysundae does some wicked faces in her bentos

The Iron Bento group, which is like Iron Chef

More awesomeness

Jacki's bentos

Vegan bentos

Mr. Bento Porn - it's not what you think! 

Group on the boxes and equipment for perfect bento lunches

Great, now I'm hungry. 

Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows...

So Max told me the tone of my blog was too sad. I thought the first couple were rather pissy, but okay. I get it. It's too negative and depressing maybe. Maybe. 

But what about this extravagant $28 bag of candy Andrew bought tonight? Surely that says hyped up joy and jubilance, right? Gloriously stuffed with sour keys, sour watermelon slices, strawberries, mandarin orange slices, gummy worms, Coke bottles, gummy bears, and sour grapefruit slices, how can it go wrong, you say? Oh, but it can. And it did with its sugary "goodness". It brought upon us expensive cavities and persistent tummy ache. Ow. At least my inner child was satisfied. I guess I never learned to say 'when' when it came to candy.

Pre-gorging on les bonbons, I went to a temp agency earlier today. I've used one before, but I always hate the process you have to go to when you sign up with one. Much like the doctor's office, you sit in a waiting room full of People magazines, uncomfortably eyeing everyone else there, wondering about what is ailing their professional futures. The worst is watching some happy-go-lucky go-getter whistle and bounce out of the temp agency, satisfied and eagerly on their way to their next assignment, all while you're scowling and smoothing out your own crinkled dress pants and ill-fitted blouse trying desperately not to feel self-conscious. 

Then there's the skills testing. The outcome usually determines the mood for the rest of the day. "Oh, I got 44% on the advanced Office program exam? My future as a super temp has no hope. I might as well have that cheeseburger and milkshake to drown my sorrows while filling out the application form for pouring coffee." 

In other delightful news, I may have found an apartment for next month. The place is literally down the street from where I am now, so location is awesome. Rent is a bit more expensive, but whatever. I'm going to be a working gal soon enough. Um, yeah... Regardless of this important factor called work, I hope things will work out because then I won't have to move far, and I'll get to live in a place called Prince Matthew's Palace. There's even a fancy mosaic on the floor of the letters PMP. Maybe when I move out, I'll etch the letter 'I' somewhere in there.

Oh, such felicity.

Le sigh.

I didn't get the job I applied for in Edmonton. The reason being they wanted someone who was already in the city. That was crushing to find out that was the only reason why they didn't hire me. 

Looks like I'm back to hustling for work. Being a freelancer is great if you can make a living at it. Otherwise it's just anxiety and worry. Right now, I'm at the stage where it's anxiety and worry. I don't know if I can necessarily do it. It takes way too much discipline, and I have none of that right now. Every interesting conversation I have with someone turns into, "Can I turn that into a story to pitch?" I don't want to be that annoying person who is constantly egging people to tell me more or to ask a series of questions. I don't want to be a story whore. 

In other news, I stopped by the Argyle Fine Art gallery and dropped off some of my vinyl cardholders. There are a bunch of these foodie ones along with some passport holders and a couple pencil cases/eyeglasses cases. That was fun. I also took a vinyl record from the gallery to decorate for their upcoming show Vinylview, which will showcase artwork done on records and album sleeves. I guess there'll be stuff to look forward to in the summer here. Not all hope is lost. 

Oh, and I have a couple other vinyl wallets/card holders up on my Etsy site. Please take a gander.

My friend Simon posted this link about an advice booth that cost one pound on his Facebook page. It's an interesting idea and I bet they get to meet some wacky people. Check it out.

Well, I've buckled.

I've gone and gotten a blog. I had one before, but I didn't update it nearly enough. So what makes me think that this one will be any different?

Maybe it won't and the blog will be left to wither and die like the old one. 

But I'm hoping the fear from finishing j-school and having some time to actually write will encourage me to try to keep the blog updated. That and the scary potential that I may begin a $12,000/year freelancing career. Apparently that's what I have to look forward to as a new freelancer. That, and a lot of anxiety. Joy.

Moving along, my motivation has been nil since school finished. I'm waiting to hear back about the one job I applied for. I almost feel like because the interview went well-ish and I want the job, I won't get it. That's the law of my life. If I'm confident and want it, I probably won't get it. At least I'll find out soon enough and life can move along again.

And what's with having to pay close to $100 to renew my passport? Is it just me or is that crazy? I can't believe the passport office charged me an extra $10 to PICK UP my own damn passport. There's no hope in hell of saving any money post-graduating, now is there?