Dream Home: Art Nouveau & Art Deco - Master Bedroom

I was initially going to make all of my inspiration boards for my dream home in Art Deco but then I absolutely fell in love with this Art Nouveau bed. This was actually the second inspiration board I made using my favourite pieces but it would seem anti-climatic to show anything after it.

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The bed was a complete pain to cut out. I am not happy with the result but there came a point where I had to walk away before it drove me crazy. If anything, this project has helped sharpen my rust Photoshop skills.

Dream Home: Art Nouveau & Art Deco - Family Room

I had the hardest time with the family room since I couldn't find any Art Deco cabinets that would suitable for entertainment units. I broadened my search to include Art Nouveau and then I found one I loved. The Art Nouveau period came right before Art Deco so pieces still go together quite well. The white cabinet is early French Art Deco which was sort of a transition period between the curves of Art Nouveau and the more angular geometry of Art Deco. I think it ties the two styles together nicely.
My real inspiration for the room was the painting The Starry Night. I choose pieces that mimic the swirls and colour palate. The couch originally a wretched olive green but that is the only piece that I changed.

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Feedback is appreciated!

Side note: My dad is such an engineer. He doesn't understand how I could be planning what furniture to put in without making a floor plan of the house first.

In Response to Roger's Mathematical Frustrations

This started as a comment on a blog post but then turned very long...

Trust me, I know that math is hard. I have cried many times with frustration over how difficult math is. After a year, I had to humbly except the fact that I was not capable of an Honours degree in mathematics. It had been too long since the prerequisite courses. It would take too long for me to relearn the what I had forgotten in time to make sense of the new material. I understand what 99.9% of the world population does not but that 0.1% completely KICKS MY BUTT

So why learn math in the first place? Why is it worth all the effort?

Ken Dryden in his book In School describes it perfectly:

But so little of math is really x’s and y’s, learning, recalling, applying theorems twenty days and twenty years later. It’s learning how to find your way to an answer when you have none. Taking what you know and discovering what you didn’t know you knew...To puzzle and stumble, to know what it feels like when you do understand, that vibration of excitement and pleasure, and the addictive need to feel it over and over (p. 25).

Somethings that have help me along the way:

Find a study buddy
The only reason I made it through Abstract Algebra is because I had a classmate who explained almost everything to me. At first I felt bad because I took up so much of her time until I realized that it was part of her studying process. She knew that explaining to someone else gave her a deeper understanding.
Similarly, you might find a benefit of trying to explain it to someone else. There have been many times as a teacher I started to answer a student's question where I didn't feel completely confident. The more I explained the more I realized "Hey, this actually makes sense!" Sometimes questions from others can lead you to an understanding.

Learn when to walk away from a problem
Many people don't realize that even if you haven't solved a problem your brain keeps working on it (whether you are conscience of it or not). A familiar example: you remember someone's name and just can't. Three weeks later you are in the shower and out of no where it pops into your head. You're brain was working on it the entire time. Sometimes you need to just walk away from a problem, give the conscience part of your mind a break and do something else.
I've been part of group projects where a single problem takes weeks to solve. Sometimes your brain gets so fried you become completely unproductive. We'd stop a couple times a day to go outside and play Frisbee. From experience we all knew that taking a 45 minute break actually saves you time in the long run. A frustrated brain only takes long to solve the problem. Similarly, if I started feeling fatigue from studying I would run up and down the stairs of the library until all I could think about was how tired I was.

Know you are in good company
A little girl wrote a letter to Einstein complaining about her difficulties with arithmetic. His response:
"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Roger, don't worry that you find math hard because even Einstein did.

Dream Home: Art Deco - Office

I couldn't really find any Art Deco office furniture I liked so I repurposed a dining table as a desk and a buffet and a curio as bookcases. [nerd alert] I'm overjoyed that my laptop and external hard drives will fit right in.[/nerd alert]

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10,000 Awesomeness Bonus Points: Can you spot the piece I used before? I change the shape of it slightly.

Fantasy on Ice

It is starting be that time of year when I get antsy for the new hockey season to begin. Today I set up my fantasy hockey teams and I starting to get even more anxious:

The Burninators	Organized Anarchy

Same as last year, I have two teams. Organized Anarchy is in a competitive league and I picked my players in a live draft. The Burninators are in a casual league where players are auto-drafted based on my preferences.
James, you'll be happy to know that Brooks Laich is on both of my teams.

One month and five days until the new season...

Older than the Ganges

Intradermal injections are a tricky thing; in the past I've had RNs who have refused to give them due to the degree of difficulty. You could imagine my concern when I saw the walk-in doctor looked like the walking dead.

As I waited for my name to be called, I wondered if it would be rude to ask for another doctor. I grew more worried as he called for each patient with a small, weak voice (not even leaving his desk to do so). He finally called my name. I took a deep breath, walked into his office and prepared for the worst.

He seemed to come to life as he greeted me at the door. He even clapped with joy upon discovering that I was done my build-up shots. He tried to stay very organized as to not confuse the bottles. Very sloooooooowly he set the bottles, needles and papers in place. I tried not to giggle as he farted loudly with every shuffle.

Just before the first needle, the phone rang. "Always ringing!" he shouted. He picked up, exclaimed "I have no time for that! I'm busy shooting!" and I tried not to giggle.

Fiiiiinaly after the first needle, he pointed, clapped and shouted "There look, perfect!"

As I was leaving, he noticed my name on his papers. He told me his cousin has the same last name and asked if my family was from England. I explained they were actually from the Ukraine but the spelling of our name was changed when my great-grandparents moved to the US. "If anyone asks, you have relations in South Asia. Goodbye, cousin!"

Most adorable doctor, ever!

Dream Home: Art Deco - Guest Room

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Full disclosure:

• The fairy poster is Art Nouveau
• I changed the colouring in several of the pieces so they match better

but it is my dream home so I can do what I want.

Dream Home: Art Deco - Dining Room

Hmmm, I'm not entirely happy with this one. I don't know if I'm just annoyed by how difficult it was to colour correct the silver objects* but I might have to redo it.

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*Silver objects reflect their surroundings so the lamp was purple, the candle sticks were brown and the tea set was yellow. I did the best I could.

Dream Home: Art Deco - Living Room

This is actually the 3rd inspiration board I made for my dream home in Art Deco. My second inspiration board was made using my favourite pieces so it would seem anti-climatic to show anything after it. Saving the best for last...

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Dream Home: Art Deco - Front Entrance

I've been in a creative funk as of late. I've taken a cue from Dooce's inspiration boards and decided to create some of my own. For several years I've been collecting pictures of art deco furniture as inspiration for decorating my future home. BBC Home describes the style of Art Deco as

• Geometric and angular shapes


• Chrome, glass, shiny fabrics, mirrors and mirror tiles


• Stylised images of aeroplanes, cars, cruise liners, skyscrapers


• Nature motifs - shells, sunrises, flowers


• Theatrical contrasts - highly polished wood and glossy black lacquer mixed with satin and furs

Here is my first attempt at an inspiration board:

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I'd appreciate your feed back and let me know if you've created your own inspiration board.

Cleverness Found

Eights years ago, I lead a professional development workshop at another high school. I took less time than expected to prepare so I started thumbing through magazines left on the teacher's desk. I found on a scrap piece of paper stuck stuck between the pages. It read:

Politics is the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a close resemblance to the first.

Take a lesson from the weather: it pays no attention to criticism

Health nuts will feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals, dying of nothing.

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again. :)

#1 Thing I Have Learned: Never take life seriously, nobody comes out alive anyways!

The nice thing about Facebook

is I can hide all the posts of the idiots that I'm too polite to unfriend. Seriously, once upon a time if you found someone annoying you could avoid them. With social networking it seems like you can never get rid of anyone.

30 Days of Living Strong

Over 6 weeks ago, I began a post about my frustrations with food allergies and meal planning. I was tired and frustrated. Before I finished it, my sister suggested that I need to keep track of what I eat and then decide what to do.

A month ago, I set out to find a computer program that could help keep track when I came across Live Strong's Daily Plate. Not only can it let me keep track of what I eat but also my daily fitness (as required by my physiotherapist and chiropractor). I enter in foods I eat and the activities I complete everyday. I can then view my "Food Diary" and see all my entries for the month. Here is the entry from today:


A by-product of tracking my foods, I've been learning a lot about portion sizes, calories and daily recommended intake. For one thing, I don't consider myself to be a big meat eater but I still consume more protein than needed


I'm not content with simply filling my stomach. I want to give my body what it needs to function properly. I'm considering getting a paid account so I can track nutrients as well as calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbs, sugars, fiber and protein.

In short, YAY me for keeping with it for a month!

My food goals for myself

• reduce my intake of refined sugars


• eat more fruit and vegetables


• eat more food made from scratch


• return to a more carefully planned rotation diet

My fitness goals for myself

• reduce my resting heart rate


• strengthen the muscles of my left hip


• strengthen the muscles of my left shoulder girdle


• be "at level" in my Pilates classes (Reason: see previous 2 points)


• reduce the need for chiropractic and massage therapy appointments

Let's hope that I can keep with it and meet my goals.

How many points are fractional Scrabble tiles?

For WEEKS, I've been having problems with the Facebook Scrabble app:


The bottom part of the board is from a game my mom and I are playing. On top of that, when I put Scrabble tiles on the board they disappear.

Beware the Lion in Waiting

I've been trying to install OS X Lion since yesterday. Today, after many hours, I was at least able to purchase it. It has been sitting, waiting for over 3 hours now to start to download.

When Beautiful People Look Bad With Mustaches: Part 2

Happened to be looking up some info on the cast from The Killing. I came across a picture of Joel Kinnaman


This is what he looks like on the show


I realize that he plays a recovering drug addict but can't that be accomplished without weaselly facial hair?

Part 1: When Beautiful People Look Bad With Mustaches

Happy Father's Day!

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Janice who was the first child,



first grandchild,




and first great-grandchild*.


She was so blessed to have such wonderful men in her life.

Happy Father's Day!

*At least on one side of the family

One of THOSE People

I realise I haven't written in a month but to be fair I've been sick. Yes, I've been sick for the last month. I can't believe that I've become one of THOSE people who seems to be sick all the time. It started with dizziness then about 5 days later my ears started to ache. Convinced it was an ear infection, I went to the doctor that informed me that it was only viral that it could last 2-4 weeks.

After 3.5 weeks of not doing much but watching TV and improving my Tetris skills, I started feeling much better. This was following by 3 consecutive nights of not being to sleep very well which was followed by 2 very busy days and then I ended up being sicker than before. Bleh. I returned to the doctor in which I was informed, it is still only viral and all I can do is rest. Double Bleh.

Don't get me wrong, I love watching TV and I really am a home-body by nature but I'm sick of being stuck in this house. Yesterday I was feeling that best I have in a very long time. I was feeling awfully restless so I decided to go on the treadmill. I don't know what I did to my neck but by afternoon I could barely hold it up. On top of that I've had tension headaches the last two days*.

As far as the immune system goes, it really isn't a surprise how sick I've been considering the amount of black mold I've been exposed to over the last 3 years. I had black mold in my classroom in Calgary after a flood. After I quit that job and as I prepared to move back to Regina to return to university, I discovered black mold under my bathroom sink. Upon returning to Regina, I experienced increasingly worse migraines, fatigue and various other ailments. My doctor and allergist were just convinced that my immune system just need some time to recover until I ended up in the hospital twice.

Blog posts that I've started in the last month but intend to finish someday:
- Crush of the Week: Whedonverse Edition
- Memorable moments of each year of my life

Sorry this wasn't terribly witty or well written. If I want to get back to writing, I figure I just need to start even if it is awkward.

*I have no idea why because the most stressful part of my day is trying to get past level 9 of Tetris. It really is my own fault since I'm not an ambi-turner.

The people in your neighbourhood

For the third night in a row, there were some strange noises outside keeping me awake at night. Finally figured out that the neighbour has been doing construction work in the middle of the night. I've been hearing hammering and the table saw all night. Blah. I wish I was brave enough to go over and tell them to stop.

I realise I finished 3 sentences in a row with the word night but I'm too tired to care about variety in my writing.

Spam or just a creepy person?

Comment left on my blog:

Hello Dearest,
My name is Judith, I found your contact today and I would like to start a good relationship with you, if you are interested please contact me through my e-mail for easy communication and from there I will scan my photo and send to you. thanks from Judy.
God bless you.