I ♥ Montreal

If you live in Canada you have to have heard about the student protests in Montreal against university tuition hikes. It hasn't been a very popular movement with the rest of the society here and across Canada until the Quebec government passed Bill 78 - A law stipulating that demonstrations of more than 50 people must give advance notice and get police approuval. So basically not allowing spontaneous gatherings of students to protest, fining the student leaders exorbitant amounts of money if they do, threatening to take back their funding to student associations as well as arresting peaceful protesters indiscriminately.

I for one felt worried that the law against our democratic right to protest would be extended as it has been with the G20 demonstrations and other controversial legislation of democratic rights of strikers being returned to work. Canadians  pride ourselves on being a peaceful democratic country but the media and the population's disdain for students and protesters has shocked me. Not all people who are out protesting are there to make trouble but the reactions to the protests seem to suggest that it is okay for the students to be beaten and arrested.

I do not agree with violence against anyone so I am not advocating that students be violent either and I don't agree with every little thing that has happened during the student protests but there have been over 1500 arrests.. One protester was hit in the eye with a rubber bullet and is now blind and another fighting for his life in a hospital with a severed spinal cord and very little chance of survival. When my twenty something year old goes to a protest I do not expect to get a call to go to the hospital. Who's fault is this? THIS IS CANADA! What has happened to us? I think that even the worst troublemakers should have the basic rights criminals have.

Monday jurists protested against Bill-78 calling it unconstitutional. At this point there is a segment of the population who thinks that it is ENOUGH. The government can't go on bullying the students and forcing us all to live in a police state. As much as the student's tuition is relatively lower than other provinces you can't easily compare us to other provinces because we are the highest taxed province in Canada and the most policed.

People from seven to seventy seven have taken to the streets to join with the students in PEACEFUL protest by banging on pots and pans as the Chileans did when Chilean dictator Pinochet decided that all gatherings of more than 4 people was illegal. This has become a social movement in support of the students and it is now even larger than that! It is a people being fed up with the blatant disregard for democratic rights. Today other cities in Canada are joining the protest and even a few cities in the states like New York. I hope you are one of the many people to stand up and be part of this moment in history. I'll be there tonight with a pot lid and a wooden spoon. Watch this video it may inspire you to join to! If not it will at least move you.  

Art art I want you...Joani Tremblay

My cousin Joani Tremblay does this really cool minimalist Art that takes an enormous amount of detail work. I love it and I would have any one of her pieces in my home but here are a few of my favorites.

Fungus

Memoire D'enfance

Untitled

For more of her art and exhibits see Joani's website

I ♥ THIS!

eclectic kids design by new york kitchen and bath Kelly Donovan

Friday Music Jenn Grant

The other day on my walk to work I was listening to one of my podcasts when I hit my ipod by mistake and this song came on.



Jenn Grant - "Where Are You Now" Live at Glenn... by SixShooterRecords a

Instead of getting back to my current news podcast I just decided to listen to it and I fell in love with another Jenn Grant song. You may know her from "Dreamer" because it got some airplay on the radio.



And finally the original song that I fell in love with "Heartbreaker". You can find me often in the kitchen singing along to the haunting aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaa I love it. 



Enjoy your long weekend!

Courage

You must be fluent in French to be able to read this article: "Qui Gagne Perd..." by Maryse Deraiche

I'm going to sum it up because it something that must be seen and I need to put these pictures in context. 

Basically Maryse Deraiche talks about her weight loss journey and and all of it's ups and downs and finally her decision to have gastric bypass. She says that now people look at her in a much kinder way than they did when she weighed 360lbs and they don't judge her but she says that her body is now a lie...

What you see clothed does not tell the whole truth about her and it may be deceiving. Nevertheless she remains extremely positive and grateful. I think she has alot of courage her story has haunted me ever since I read it which is why I wanted to share it.

To donate to Maryse Deraiche's re-construction please visit her website. The pictures and ideas are from her website and her collaborators; Urbania.ca, larocquestudio.ca, eleiade.com, verocomtois.com and boomfm.com

Art art I want you...Tanya Davis and Andrea Dorfman

Beauty is an End in Itself.

You know every Wednesday I do a post on Art and I always put a link in the word Art for this video I love. 

I just thought that I would re-post it on it's own because it is a work of art all by itself and I am afraid that it is being missed in my posts on art.

It is done by Andrea Dorfman for Tanya Davis' song: "Art art I want you". In the lyrics by Tanya Davis a Prince Edward Island native struggles with existential questions regarding Art.

Art Art I want you

I wondered what would be the worth of my words in the world
if i write them and then recite them are they worth being heard
just because i like them does that mean i should mic them
and see what might unfurl

i think of the significance of my opinions here
is it significant to be giving them does anybody care
just because I'm into this does that mean i should live like it
and really do i dare

art, art i want you
art you make it pretty hard not too
and my heart is trying hard here to follow you
but i can't always tell if i ought to

so i pondered the point of my art in this life
if i make it will someone take it and think it's genuine
will they be glad that i did 'cause they got something good out of it
will they leave me and be any more inspired

i question the outcome of the outpouring of myself
if i tell everyone my stories will this keep me healthy and well
will it give me purpose, to this world some sort of service
is it worth it, how can i tell

In my opinion Beauty is an End in itself and Tanya Davis if you ever read this your song has inspired me to pursue my own art and made me cry a little (tears of joy ofcourse)!

Something Happened...

It finally happened...

Sadly I was blocked and lost interest in posting for a while. I had just had such an amazing run of consistency and I was so happy and proud of myself but somewhere along the way I got stuck.

Many different things happened along the way to discourage me; I was overwhelmed at work, I am no longer able to download pics onto my computer at work and the interface changed at blogger which took some getting used to because I'm technologically challenged.

Then I had a week off so I thought I'll finally download pics at home and schedule some posts so I have a head start. When my week off finally came ALL my ambitious projects were moved aside for REST and RELAXATION. Of course I beat myself up about my blog, not seeing my friends, not painting my office and not re-arranging my office, not starting my etsy store and the list goes on for all the things I should have done. Until Friday when I finally spoke to my friend who is dealing with cancer. Her words have always had a lot of weight but when I was trying to arrange a date to take her a care package I made over my week off she said: What do you mean you did nothing all week? Spending time with your husband and children and going for bike rides is primary all the rest is secondary and: "Don't worry now that you have done all that it will give you the energy to do the rest." I really needed to be reminded of that. I am so grateful for my amazing friend (you know who you are).

I digress to get back to my writer's block I knew I would unblock someday but I was afraid that when it would happen that my posts would become something I did just so I wouldn't feel guilty. But gratefully "NO!" here I am again not because I have to but because I want to! Writing posts continues to make my life a little more bearable. *Sigh*

I ♥ Chip It!

 This is so cool!

Chip It!

Sherwin Williams started this program where you can put any image URL and get the paint colors that match.

This is my image from Design Guild Kimono wallpaper and textiles collection, to try your own image go to link below image! Have Fun!