Images 4 and update

So I had the meeting with my boss, and they do not have consistent work for me. That being said, it looks like I will be returning to Canada and seeking out work there. I am ok with this. I'm really looking forward to coming home, being with family and friends, and hitting the reset button. So my plan for now is to come to Vancouver beginning of May to run the Vancouver 1/2 marathon and enjoy the coast for a week or so, then arrive in Calgary on May 11. I'll hopefully be able to come back to the Netherlands for Dana's graduation end of June (and maybe a little trip to Berlin again as Dana really wants to go, and I would love to see our friends that live there again before they move back to Australia), but that's still up in the air for now (money-wise).

I have three weeks left here. The weather's been nice lately and I'm enjoying it, but I am really looking forward to coming home. Canada rules.

These pictures seem to have an animal theme.
What do you think?

xo
v

Images 2

I have the final presentation for my project at work tomorrow, so today will be a long day and late night. I only wish I had enough sleep last night and more chewy ginger candies to power me through the day.
I had a dream last night that I was sleep walking. One of those dreams within a dream. It was freaky.

xo
v

Springtime

It has finally warmed up here. Although the thermometer didn't go down much past -5 it was a bitter, long winter. The sun is out longer, giving me light and scenery for my apres-work runs that were previously in the dark. When I leave work I feel awake and alive, and I no longer dread the cold bike ride home. Instead I enjoy the sounds of the birds and the springtimey smells.

I've been brimming with ideas for my own projects. T-shirts for threadless. Prints of my paintings. Patterns to screen print. Bags to make. Last night I couldn't fall asleep because my mind was racing so I got up and sketched. This makes me sooooo sosososo happy. I spent the weekend laying on the couch, reading, sudoku-ing and going for a couple runs. It was fabulous. Last night I worked on Adobe Illustrator tutorials. I've updated my cirriculum vitae and portfolio and applied for some more jobs (in Canada). Being productive has been good.

I am planning to come home, not sure for how long. At first it was for a visit, then possibly permanent, and now I'm unsure. I had a chat with work about my situation (visa and money running out, needing a more permanent/reliable job), and they were a bit bummed about me possible leaving Eindhoven. So we've set up a meeting next week to talk about my future. I have no idea what will be the outcome, as they need project managers and graphic designers not industrial designers, but it's nice to know that they are willing to talk about it and that they do like me and want me around.  I've been hesitant asking for so long (language barriers bring out the shyness in me), but I'm glad I finally did. Ask and ye shall receive, so they say.

upwards and onwards

xoxo

v

Happy St Patty's Day!

After having a couple frustrating days at work while feeling on the brink of a cold and chronic shoulder pain, I've managed to concoct the perfect remedy (that surprisingly doesn't contain booze): exercise, cook, eat, chill. Maybe throw a power nap in there (I am the queen of power naps).
Yesterday I went for a run and make a delicious, rich chicken curry with the little ingredients in our fridge. Curry is my fallback plan for any meal. It's so easy and good. Go ahead and try it out if you dare:

1kg chicken thighs (bone in), about 7-8 pieces
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
Some ginger, about a tbsp roughly chopped
One leek, sliced
One can of coconut milk
1 - 1.5 tbsp green curry paste
About 1.5 - 2 cups frozen peas

Brown the chicken thighs in a little oil in a large pan or saucepan on high. Set aside and drain excess oil.
Throw in a little more oil and brown up the garlic, onion and ginger. Throw in the leek and toss around a bit. Reduce heat to medium.
Dump in the coconut milk and mix in curry paste until delightfully homogenous.
Put in the chicken thighs and peas, mix around until everything is covered. Reduce heat to medium-low. Put a lid on the pan/pot and simmer (stirring occasionally) until the chicken falls off the bone with minimal effort.

My cure for the blues today was trying my hand at Irish soda bread. I thought it appropriate, as it's St Patrick's Day and I don't feel like getting drunk. I'm really happy about the results. I couldn't help but try out a slice before snapping a picture.

It was warm, dense, and a bit tart. I hope it lasts till Saturday so I can make some french toast and use up the 1/2 container of mascapone cheese I have hanging out in the fridge.
This bread is ridiculously easy to make.

Preheat oven to 375F
3 cups flour
1.5 cups buttermilk
1.5 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking soda

Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a reservoir in the center for the milk. Pour in 1 cup of buttermilk and set aside the other 1/2 cup. Mix ingredients together, stirring in the remaining 1/2 cup of milk. Mix until you have a soft dough.
Sprinkle some flour on a clean surface. Knead dough on surface for no longer than 30 seconds to a minute, just enough to make the dough stick together. Pat into a flat circle and slice an X about 1/2" deep and plop it onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 40 minutes or until the bread makes a hollow sound when you tap it on the bottom.
IMPORTANT:
DO NOT OVERKNEAD or else the carbon dioxide bubbles will collapse.
Also apparently it's important to make sure the oven is fully preheated before putting the bread in.

Voila! Enjoy your bread.

xo
v

Cheerful

Some days you wake up and a small series of relatively insignificant events set the tone for the day.
Today the tone of the day was set from the emails I got when I got to work this morning. I had a nice email from my Grandparents saying they saw the project I worked on in Milan, and they enjoyed the fudge I sent them from Scotland. I also got an email of cute animals from Mom and a quick hello from cousin Michelle, including a naked picture of Burt Reynolds.
Good days always start with Burt Reynold's ass.

Thanks!
xoxo

Homesick!

poutpoutpout.

Mijn Stage

Mijn = my
Stage = internship

See I'm learning Dutch!

So yes, my internship/job/place I go every day and design.
I am working at a graphic design firm, mostly designing identities (ie: logos and everything that goes along with it). It's quite interesting and different from what I've done before. Everything is heavily researched based to find what the company/topic is all about, then eventually that develops into some sort of visual identity.
My job, as intern, is to be a machine. First a research machine, next an idea/sketch generating machine. It's quite draining. But, for the most part, quite rewarding to see your ideas develop into something fun and unique.
It's been hard busting my ass for no pay, but there might be a light at the end of the tunnel. The project I'm working on now (to do with public transport transfer stations, more conceptual than graphics based) I will apparently be receiving some "compensation" for. I don't know when or how much, but hopefully I'll find that out soon. With this project I'm the only designer working on it so far, which I feel has really given me the opportunity to show my abilities, and the feedback has so far been positive. It's nice.
I've also been asked to go to Milan to help build a "paper cave" for a few days in February. Everything is paid for, although I don't know if I'm getting paid per se, but still, I don't have to pay anything so why not?

A big negative, or challenge, I should say, is the language barrier. I know some Dutch. Enough to buy groceries, order food in a restaurant, and few nouns and verbs here and there. I constantly ask how to say things. And everyone can hold a decent conversation in English as well. The tough part is lunch time. Everyone is speaking together, and in Dutch. So I have no chance in getting in on the conversation. And since I don't just stand around making a million sandwiches (more on the reason for that later in my next post) like everyone else, I just finish my crackers and cheese and veg and go back to my desk and check emails (that I usually don't have) or get back to work while everyone socializes. I feel like a bit of a loner at times. But on the other hand I am still making friends there and we hang out from time to time.

I had a nice conversation with my boss about a week ago. He wanted to know how I was doing. Not just work-performance wise, but life wise. How I was adjusting and managing to live in Eindhoven. I expressed my challenges and conflict about going back home. He said for the past few months he's been trying to figure me out, and that my work is quite different than the stuff in my portfolio. His perception of me was spot-on though. He said that I am quite intelligent and that is good in a world where everyone is trying to be trendy (I am aware that I'm not good at being trendy, I think), but I need some sort of push. Whether it be the right job or further schooling, I need to find something I feeling passionate about and pour myself into it. Which is so true.

I've found while I really enjoy designing and developing things, I don't really think I like typical product design. Most firms I see out there are not doing anything I am interested in, and it's a stretch for me to feel really excited about a great chair design or stuff like that. I think I'd really like to pursue more painting and illustration, at least for now. I feel happy doing it.

Well, that's it for now! Off to bed early so I can get up and run at 6am. Woo!

v

Currently...

I'm making a playlist for African ladies.

New Stuff

I've been putting off updating because I have so much to write about, but then I decided that I'll just get to it when I get to it. I'll just continue to post day-to-day things for now.

Since I've had some request for it, I've added a subscribe button. I know it works with such things as Google Reader (which you automatically have if you have a gmail account, but probably didn't know about), but there might be an email option (to get emails whenever I post something new), but I'm still figuring it out. Google Reader is actually pretty handy, especially if you check the same sites every day. The reader just keeps them all in one place. To subscribe just click on 'Posts' under  'Subscribe' (in the righthand column), and click on the Google logo. If you don't want to bother with that, there is a 'Subscribe by email' button right under that.

Moving on! I've started a series of paintings called the Dirty Birds of Paradise. I won't go into a full deal explanation but be sure to check it out (the link is in the column on the right).

The Work Situation
This week I've been working evenings at a gallery called Design Huis as part of an exhibition called Glow. Glow is a city-wide demonstration of light and art (since Philips Electronics was started in Eindhoven and lots of light bulbs were made here) so people will wander around the city checking out the different installations. I worked at Design Huis during Dutch Design Week as well, which was pretty boring work. I just wandered around, telling people "neit aanraken astiblieft!" (don't touch please). This week isn't all that much different, but this time I either count how many people come into the exhibit, sell coffee, tea and gluhwijn (mulled wine), or stand at the doors saying "Here for Glow? Trop up en den links" (Here for Glow? Go up and then left) or "Toilette es duur door en den links" (bathroom is through the door and then left). See, I'm learning!

Although most of my emails to companies have resulted in fruitless "thanks for your interest but no thanks we have no vacancies" responses, I've managed to get myself an interview with a cool company called Edhv. They do mostly graphic work, but have openings for freelance designers of all kinds. The interview is next Friday.

I also exchanged a few emails with a local furniture designer by the name of Joost van Bleiswijk about possibly doing an internship with him.

So there are a few things going. I'm happy. Getting a serving job here isn't as easy as I had hoped, as everyone wants you to speak dutch (understandable), so I hopefully will get real work soon.

Life in General
Next week Dana and most of his classmates head off to Namibia for two weeks. Dana's working on a project with a company called Penduka designing a tool to make embroidering leather easier (I'm actually helping him with it). On Monday I'm heading off to Berlin for a few days to visit friends and get out of Eindhoven for a bit. Other than that I just cook, clean, go for runs and do pilates. I feel so very housewifey sometimes.

v

progress

After two small breakdowns (from me feeling like I have nothing to show for working a year at a job that didn't particularly give me much design experience, moving here, not having a job, getting low on money and gaining weight), I woke up this morning and felt SO much better.

I put in a full day of working on business cards and portfolio. I contacted a gallery called Design Huis to work part time during Dutch Design Week (which is next week... and I noticed that someone hasn't bought their plane ticket yet, COUGH Chris COUGH) and no joke, a minute after I sent the email, I got a call back asking me to come in on Saturday. Excellent.

I have lots of stories to tell. I hope I get to it tonight somewhere after I go for a run and make stew, and between painting portraits of pigeons and crows.

Mom Time!

My Mom got here today! Yay! Nothing feels more homey than when parents come to visit.

I added some pictures to my previous post on Paris. Go check em out (they're on the next page).

I'll hopefully post about Liane's visit and Normandy soon.

That is all. Have a good weekend!

Mums and I drunk in Mexico,
trying to demonstrate what we would look like with eye lifts

I deserve a reward.

Yesterday I bought a sewing machine.

I was eying this one I found at a second hand store (Het Goed, it's called) for 12.50 euro. It was old, but seemed to be in good condition, had all it's parts, and a four week guarantee from the store. So I figured why not. I got Dana to fashion some elastic bands to the flat part of my bike over the rear tire and made my way over there.

I was pleased to find that the sewing machine was still there so I promptly purchased it, and hobbled out the door trying to carry the thing. I'm guessing it was at least 30lbs. I had a really hard time carrying it. I also loaded up on cheap fabric, a print of some birds, and two small flower pots that occupied all the available space in my messenger bag.

So I get to my bike, and realize there is no way the bungee/elastic cord things will fit over the entire sewing maching and it's respective case. So I take out the machine, remove the guiding foot and needle, and slide the flat part of the machine under the elastic. I had my over stuff bag slung over my right shoulder and resting on my left hip, and the case of the sewing machine in my right hand (and somehow I was still able to have both hands on the handle bars).

This is probably no big deal to any Dutch person that's probably moved furniture with their bikes, but holy, that was a difficult ride home. I nearly crashed in the middle of an intersection in front Het Goed, but after some adjusting and picking up momentum I did alright. I dreaded any corners or red lights, as everything would start to wobble.

But alas, about 20 minutes later, I arrived at home. Sweaty and a little shaken, but unscathed.

If living in the Netherlands was like Girl Guides, I think I would have a new badge for my sash.

weekend of bluh.

On I think Wednesday night, something tripped a breaker in the middle of the night so we woke up with no power. That problem was easily solved with a call to the landlord (aka Mr Jacobs/Jacobs/architect man).

Fast forward to Friday when Dana and I are making sandwiches for lunch using whatever was leftover in the fridge (a chicken breast and a pork chop). Dana heads off to school, I start doing whatever. About an hour later I get a serious case of stomach cramps and upon texting Dana, discover he has them too. Some fresh mint tea seemed to calm mine down, but I still had a nagging headache. So I popped an anti-inflammatory and went about my evening of making pasta salad and headed off to a friend's birthday bbq. Lots of fun, but I was still visited by the occasional stomach cramp.

Saturday I eventually manage to pull a hurting Dana out of bed and over to Emmaus (second hand sale that's open on Saturdays) and the Polish Market to look for a couch. We found a neat ornate cabinet (with carved owls and fish and skeleton keys to open the doors) for 40 euro to go in the living room, and lucked out at Polish with a 27 euro leather couch (but broke one of the legs getting it into the elevator). By about this time my headache had returned with avengance, and no matter how many pills I popped it would not go away. So to make myself feel a bit better (and soothe Dana's hangover) we made homemade macaroni and cheese, and watched a movie, taking advantage of our new couch and temporary coffee table made of wooden crates*.

Throughout the afternoon my headache progressed into the back of my neck, the stomache cramps returned and brought along a fever. Dana had pretty much the same thing, and let's just say I'm glad we have two bathrooms in the place. We're not exactly sure what brought all this on, but I'm suspecting the food left in the fridge when the power went out, the same food we put into our sandwiches a couple days after. I have no idea how long it was off for, but that's the only thing I could think of.

Today the digestive stuff is better, but instead have those lovely monthly cramps that make me wish I wasn't female. Dana's mostly better too, but we still have fevers and I still have a headache. We're pretty irritable at each other right now, but we managed to (mostly) successfully make our first Dutch pannekoeken (thin, crepe-like pancakes), and some "hammekoeken" (our name for pannekoeken with ham in it). The mix was some cheap "Euro Shopper" brand mix, but it was still pretty tasty. Although I must say I miss maple syrup. The 'traditional' syrup here tastes like molassas.

I think Dana's trying to configure the living room furniture right now, and normally I would go help to save the floor from being scratched, but I'm lying in bed and lazy and comfortable so I'll let that go.

The churches outside (there are five I can see from our roof terrace) are going nuts right now. Bells a ringin'. Such is a Sunday in the Netherlands.

v

*Dana found two wooden crates outside a store in the city centre, and my plan is to make a coffee table out of them. That will be done once we make it to Praxis (the Dutch Home Depot)

Things are coming together

Yesterday I had my appointment with the IND (Immigration and Naturalization) to register as a citizen of the Netherlands. I had all my proper forms, passport photo, and copy of my return ticket. I was nervous as the whole work visa process up until now has been nothing but delays, miscommunications and frustration. But yesterday, aside from waiting for about half an hour, went very well. The woman I dealt with was incredibly friendly, spoke excellent English, and was very knowledgeable. I walked out of there with a sticker on my passport permitting me to work, and a huge smile on my face.

I finally got a mobile as well. It's the Samsung E1120 and cost me 25 euro, plus 20 euro on a prepaid plan. It is so budget. No customizable options and the most annoying automatic keypad lock. But it makes up for it in cheesy ringtones, most with names with drug references, like "get happy", "flying high", "secret life", and the more blatent "tripping".

My mom's coming for a visit in a week! She'll be here for 2 1/2 weeks which will be nice. We have plans to go to Paris for her birthday (the last weekend she's here).

Life is good.

v

Fell asleep last night on the couch around 5:30am watching Buckminster Fuller. Woke up this morning on the couch around 11:15am with a massive gin-fueled headache.

Also I wish Wok Box delivered, because I'm not the mood to put on pants and go out into public.

y'know what sucks...

Going to Mexico and not being able to eat ceviche. Dammit!

allergies are fun

Most people know that the only meat I eat is fish and seafood, but recently (that being the last two years or so) I have been experiencing some mild allergic reactions to canned fish. When I eat some, the insides of my ears and tongue itch, but nothing incredibly serious. That was, until yesterday.

At about 2pm I have a couple bits of tuna from a jar. It was some really expensive stuff with flavoured oil that I've had before and didn't have a reaction to. I got a bit of a reaction, but again nothing serious. I just made a mental note to not eat it anymore. At about 5pm I have some salmon that I cooked myself and was fine. I go to the gym at 7, and start out by running on the treadmill. I notice some stomach cramps, as if I've eaten too soon before running (which rarely affects me since I'm more used to running). I decide to quit after a mile and go to do some weights before returning to the treadmill. While I'm pumping iron, the palms of my hands start getting hot. VERY hot. And red. And my scalp starts itching. And behind my ears. And armpits. I look in the mirror and I see hives on my neck. This isn't good I thought, and run to the change room, grab my stuff, then head to my car to go home and get some Benadryl.

I make it across the low-level bridge and to 97 ave when my heart starts POUNDING FAST. I got really dizzy and notice that my lips are swelling. Nearly hyperventalating, I pull over and call 911. They talk me down to a near-calm state so I don't panic myself unconcious and send an abulance to fetch me. Abulance comes, pumps me full of antihistamine (I didn't need epinephine, thankgodandmycatisonmykeyboardandIcan'tpressthespacebar there we go he's off now). They took me to the University hospital to monitor me until my rash goes away (right I didn't mention that I also had a rash all over).

Dana's dad picks me up and I stay at his parent's place for the night to make sure nothing else happens, because allergies sometimes like to flair up a little even after they're treated. But I was fine. Today I had a little bit of the hot palms and felt a little funny, but Benadryl helped that and now I'm merely existing in a druggy haze.

So yes, that was my Tuesday night. And I don't think I can eat fish anymore. I'm going to play it safe and stay away from all seafood until I get an allergy test, even though I think shellfish is ok because I had shrimp on Friday and was a-ok.

This sucks big time. I LOVE fish. I LOVE sushi. I'm very active, and don't really want to have to start eating meat again, or eat more tofu because of the phytoestrogens in soya. Beans and legumes are great and all, but not as lean as other forms of protein. So I don't know what I'm going to do.

I think it's nap time.

After a week of obsessively checking Canada Post's package tracker, my portfolio has apparently arrived at the Design Academy. And I thought the suspense was bad before... but now I have to wait to hear back from them. Jesus. And there's no tracker on that. And I already emailed them (knowing they'd just receive it today).

I can't handle not knowing! The stress!

They can't be serious.

Barf!

This is less disgusting (for most), but still weird and I obviously wouldn't drink it.

making stuff

I wonder if raising a child is much like designing and building a piece of furniture. I really hope not.
You get this great idea, and decide to act it out, carefully planning all the steps you will take. Seems like a piece of cake.
You get so excited to see the finished project, having full confidence that you'll be able to pull it off juuuuust fiiiiiiine.
You fuck up. Numerous times. Then try to fix the problems so no one will notice.
You look at the finished project, wondering if that idea you acted out so long ago was a good idea, and hope that it ends up accepted in the world.

Ugh. No offense to anyone with/having kids. This is just me venting about a chair I'm trying to finish for my grad school portfolio. A chair I started about two years ago, and finally finished today.

Also with the furniture-kids comparison... names. What to fucking name the thing that accurately represents what you want it to be. Right now, I'm thinking "Stupidfuckingchair".

I have a rating scale inside my head for the difficulty of the projects I've completed based on the blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into the project.
Sweat is 1 point.
Blood is 2 points (per time injured).
Tears is 3 points (for each time I've sobbed with frustration).

The concrete frames were a 1. Nothing complex or frustrating, but dremeling and mixing concrete can work up a sweat, or at least a slight glow to the skin.
I'd say the chair is at least a 10. Welding is quite physical, same with punching holes and threading the leather ties to attach the seat and back (I'll put pictures up later. You'll understand). One point. I have a sweet scar on my arm from the hot metal scalding me back when I was making the frame. Two points. And I'll group all the times I've pricked myself with a needle stitching the original leather seat onto the frame into two points. Then today the leather tie breaks as I'm pulling on it and I hit my hand on the metal, skinning a knuckle. Two more points. Then there was the time part of the frame broke at 3am when I was SOCLOSE to being finished. Cried with frustration and threw the part across the room. Exhaustion and chair induced tantrum. Three points.

But now, I think it looks alright. At least acceptable enough to put into my portfolio along a long description on the nature-industry juxtaposition present in the materials chosen, and the human connection to both blahblalbhalbhalbhal something about it being handmade blahblahblah.
I'm glad it's done. And you can even sit on it!