maya expo at the rom

So on last last thursday I went to the ROM to see the Maya expo. I did not want to miss it and the week-end was the last day. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed :( Getting out of museum station I saw this (see pic below) and I was like "gawd don't tell me...again???"

school buses lined up!!

I did drop by the ROM during March break for the Maya expo and this was the BIGGEST mistake ever as this is THE time when all kids head to the museum w/ their grand parents and what not. The lineup was huge so I went shopping instead.

This time I was determined to wait and see the expo despite the hoard of kids as it was the last week it was being shown and I would not be free to do it later as I work on week-ends. Thanks god all the kids were already in and it was a short queue for admission.

 where am i?

It was an interesting expo and the clay works by the Mayans are so intricate and lovely. Something that got me wondering is the common theme in all ethnicities/religions world wide about how the creation of the world is a violent process. In addition, the mayan believed that night and day were a daily event of destruction and creation. There was also a section about the famous end of the world in 2012 which is when the Mayan calendar ends.

To be honest when I first saw the paintings by the Mayans, it added to my belief that they were a violent culture: torture/sacrifice of war prisoners, scarification as beauty marks, cutting their tongues to draw blood for sacrifice etc. I was reminded of a comic I read when I was younger about Spaniards who traveled in the mexican jungles and were killed by the aztechs/mayan or sacrificed and how they came to a temple where there was a mountain of sacrificed corpse missing vital organs like the heart. Don't ask me how a kid like me got her hands on that type of comic. It was in "Le petit Spirou" album.

Upon deeper thinking, I realized that it is in human nature to be violent as past wars, holocaust, rape of nankin etc have showed us. It's just some cultural violence are more mediatized in books, tv etc so the Mayan "violence" was in fact no more violent than the vikings etc.. It also showed the Mayan nowadays and it's awesome to see how some managed to keep their ancestral language and culture.
After the Mayan show, I headed to my favorite hall in the ROM: the dinosaurs!!

I am never bored of watching the skeletons resurrected from the past. My only complaint is that at the ROM, the skeletons are not arranged in a way to give you the right "impression" of their sizes. The skeletons are too close to one another, giving a feeling of crowdness when in fact some skeletons are really more impressive in size and structure on their own. 

Also saw the weird specimens from the Burgess shale and unfortunately some of the lights shinning on the rocks were off so I could not really see all the details of their structures. I don't know if the burgess shale specimens are temporary or permanent as I would love to go back and see them again. Paleobiology is sooo coooll. Need to go to redpath museum in Montreal as well. I would love one day to go to Nova Scotia and walk along the Joggins cliffs where they have fossils. It's just too cool, like jumping into the past..just like when i saw fossilized plants at the Don Valley brickworks and yeah the dinosaur provincial park is on my list as well.

Now I just need to find a traveling companion and money :P...

blood on the floor

there's a lot of blood in the street next to my condo. car accident? A driver from a black? car was taken by the police and there's a pool of blood infront of a white car..ouch..

just checked the news: a woman was hit infront of the building..how could they not have seen her?? i wonder if they'll wash away the blood...

It makes me think of the day when i witnessed 2 cars crashing infront of my bus. Give it only 1 minute and we would have been in it as well. I saw the car bumpers flying, the oil tank in the air, the car motor covers getting compressed and the drivers' expressions..At least no one was hurt.

It was impressive on the moment: like watching something from tv. Maybe it was the wrong feeling to have but i was in awe..

i have decided to be a good girl: i'll add pictures of china soon..and doc my trip

highpark sakuras 2012

Today I moved my lazy ass to go to high park. This spring is weird, with a weather that is yoyoing between hot and cold. I first went to kariya garden-mississauga but it did not satisfied my craving for sakuras so off to high park I went:

 The past windy days made a lot of blossoms fell on the ground and it was nice, different from last year. It's beautiful to watch the falling petals, almost dreamy. The park was not that crowded as well since the weather network predicted it would rain and it was chilly. Although the cherry trees were in bloom, the surrounding nature was not out, which is weird since last year everything was more lush and green. Must be our chilly spring.

Most of the residents of high park were invisible but, I spotted the regulars: the white swan, the ducks and black bird red wings but no chipmunks/woodpecker/cardinal in view. Also saw some beautiful tiny vibrant blue birds (with a white breast) doing their shows over the water. I was on the verge of taking the picture of one of them but it flew away as people were walking by..meh..

I did notice the park had some damages not present last year, like man made hatchet marks on some trees and a few were surrounded by grill. I'm not sure if I noticed them before and it seemed the vegetation was more sparse from my first visit in 2005. Maybe it's because it's still early spring?? Anyway it was a nice break away from boring Mississauga.

I do envy people who live on the other bank of the river in highpark. The late afternoons must be an interesting show of birds. I do bet the houses are worth millions as well. I love bloor street though. It's charming.

I guess I'll find a way to go again in summer and spend the whole day there *IF* only it was not that far away *sigh*

Then I walked to jane subway station and spotted this cute scrapbook store:bizzy b's stamp and scrap and could not leave without getting my hands on some goodies: stencil, ink, alphabets and some sheets from graphic 45. They even offer art journal classes :( It sucks to live so far away from anything remotely cool.i can't believe there's no Curry's art store in Mississauga as well, unless you're willing to travel all the way down to Oakville! Meh...maybe it's time for some driving's lesson???

My next goals:

culham trail-12 km from erin park to meadowvale conservation area
scarborough buffs-the travel will surely kill me.

I am also done booking my trip to Montreal from the 29 May-2 June. Montreal here I come : montreal bagels, cheese, bread, vintage books, wine and stock up on french books. yay!!!

ooak

I went to One of a kind craft show on friday and it always brings me great pleasure to move from vendors to vendors. I do envy those people who are able to live off their crafts instead of being a coorporate slave. I do understand it's not easy to be a self entrepreneur yet I do wish I had the stamina and talent to do the same. long live handmade and local craft!

 I snatched a tea towel, bucket tote and ceramic plate my favorite Toronto etsy store : bookhou ; a large fabric bucket and tea towel from jenna rose, a few ceramics items from ericam (need to find her link), cool letter press card from flakes paperie and some unmounted rubberstamps. I had a great time although there were some sellers from the christmas show who were not there and I wanted to get some items from them.

 I am also in love w/ this seller: veinage.ca. Her bags are lovely in pictures and in person. Unfortunately I had no money w/ me-pay day is next week- so I could not grab her awesome bags :( they are made from recovered leather and wood. The craftmanship is really nice!!I hope she'll have some left from the show as she said she'll upload what is left on etsy. Else I can always try to grab some of her bags when I go to Montreal in May-June.I wanted to buy so many things but was short on funds :( I guess I have to save for December. L'atelier preybistere is another stop of mine in Montreal. They were at the show but I did not buy anything since I am going to Montreal. i can't wait to get my hands on some vintage books, bagels, bread and cheese from Montreal.

 I <3 vintage and this is what I'll decorate my house with. I love old houses with personality although they are probably more expensive to buy and maintain. When I listen to my relatives talk about their future condos, designer made please, marble counter and upgrade whatever the crap, I just disconnect myself. Sure I do love stainless steel appliances and marble counter (whatever) but I prefer a place of my own than have someone else imprint on it. A place where I can DIY and shape to my taste. I guess my dream house would be a mixture of vintage, rustic and cottage but minimalist as well: lots of light, white walls w/ colour accents and of course my collection of lavender plants and cactuses.

Appartment therapy has lovely samples of home deco by regular people for inspiration (ok it's true a lot of them are artist-ilustrators and even designers). we'll see what the future brings. I love old things because of their history and personality.

 I saw this survey somewhere: Why do you buy a TV? 20%-to watch tv shows, 80%-to have a background noise so that I feel less lonely. How true is that?

 This week my goal is to go to the ROM to see the Maya exhibit. Next goal: picasso at the ago and do the culham trail.I need to keep myself busy. I'm trying to get into visual journaling again. I did one page with mist inks, japanese papers, machine stitches and the word accept. I want to write the serenity prayer somewhere. will upload when the page is complete. I need more art in my life and a meaning..

PS Gibli studio movies are so dreamy..