Books

Years ago when I was doing my undergrad at SFU, one of the doctors at the walk-in clinic there recommended a book to me called When the Body Says No. I went out and bought this book, and after flipping through it felt really offended at the recommendation. The book is about the physiological effects of stress, mainly in relation to how undealt with stress can result in chronic illnesses, auto-immune diseases, cancer, etc. I though the doctor was implying that I wasn't handling stress well, and it was making me sick. And whatever elements of truth that may have had, I found it incredibly offensive, largely because she didn't propose any solutions as far as what could help decrease the severity of my chronic health problems. So I put the book away on my shelf, and there it has sat for the past several years...yet surviving many book culls (for the sake of bookshelf sustainability).

This week, though not entirely recovered from the after effects of the flu I got a month ago, for all intents and purposes, I returned to normal life. Work, going into the office a couple days, going out to social/work events three nights in a row. I was feeling half decent at the start of the week, and I knew I was pushing it too hard the last few days. I knew better, especially after just getting back to things, but I just wasn't willing to sit out any of the stuff that was going on. So I just accepted that I would probably spend the weekend resting, and pushed through.

I had so much adrenaline coarsing through me by midweek that between that and the worst hayfever I've had in years (thanks to the early spring alder pollen), I was having trouble sleeping most of the week, and woke up this morning (at 7am thanks to the intense sunbeams) with a stomach ache and feelling pretty shaky, a breakout on my chin and and my gums all tender. That's the ugly truth of it. It's painfully obvious when I've overdone it. No question about it, my body doesn't mess around, it's just like THAT'S TOO MUCH, and I'm out for the count. And then for whatever reason, I remembered the book. When the body says no, indeed.

I think I might try and read it finally and see if there's anything useful. I feel like I have such an adversarial relationship with my body a lot of the time... But on the other hand, fighting it certainly doesn't help. It's obvious that I make choices that hinder rather than help the situation. But I've always felt like if I just rested as much as I needed to, I wouldn't go out and do much of what makes me happy. I still do think there's a more effective middle ground, but I'm not willing to put my physical health as the first priority every time. I was forced to do that last month, because I got so sick from the damage from the virus I caught that I had no other choice, it had to be done. But the cost: no social life, being stuck in my apartment, not working as much, hardly doing any Drupalling... that makes me miserable.

Anyway, obviously regardless of this being something I've lived with for almost my whole life, I haven't found the right balance yet...if that even exists. And I have never found anyone in either the traditional or alternative medicine worlds who's been willing and, more importantly, able to help me. I've run the gamut of specialists, various GP's, naturopaths, and a fleeting attempt with Chinese Medicine, and they never know what to do with me. Traditional/Western doctors don't even try. I've never found one who dared persist and try and help me with managing my chronic illness and other associated health problems. They just shrug and say things like, "I don't know what to do". And that's sad and unfair, but it's reality.

The alternative practitioners are well meaning, but have generally made me much sicker than usual because they can't really understand how sensitive my body is. After spending so much time and energy trying to get help and make progress, inevitably, the futility sets in and I resign myself to being the only person who can do anything to make the situation manageable.

So I just...manage.

I go to counseling when it's too hard for my brain. I go to the massage therapist when it's too much for my body. I talk to my bestest friends and family when it's too much for my heart. These people are the only ones who've helped me in a significant way, not because they've made me less sick, but because they help me cope. And that's all the help I've really had.

Reduce stress. Sleep. Eat. Do yoga. Write. Talk. Don't try and do this alone. Cope. Live.

A bunch of things have inspired me and lifted my spirit this past week, so I wanted to share:

An awesome A Softer World ... this one's pretty great too (remember to read the hover text!)

An awesome photo/paste-up by Basco5 (don't look if you're scared of barfing)

An awesome video by Oren Lavie (just watch it, it's amazing)

Ridiculously awesome beatboxing and flute-beatboxing (c/o @adrian_ng)

An awesome photo diptych by Rachael (read the poem she paired with it on her blog for extra awesome)

More random goodness:

1. Seeing The Weakerthans and The Constantines at the Commodore with Greg
2. The rain actually smelling like rain
3. Make It craft fair at the Roundhouse and free comic book day at Elfsar in Yaletown with Rachael and Boris
4. Second (and third?) chances
5. Work being awesome and working with rad people
6. So Delicious coconut ice cream (but why can't I find the yogurt in Canada???)
7. Getting my sewing machine un-jammed
8. Being reminded my friends love me unconditionally
9. Patting the awesome dog at my massage therapist's
10. Being okay at the end of the day

So...I kind of spaced on my whole Zinester's Guide To Portland book give-away!  Oops.  Better late than never, though.  Got a big 2 entries on that one, and though they were both great answers, the winner is.... Jordan Behan!  Mainly I thought Jordan had a much better chance of actually going to Portland sometime, so that the book would actually be of use, but I do have to give props for his compliments to the urban planning and transit system.

Jordan's answer to the question of why Portland is so awesome:

I like Portland because it has been striving to be a kick-ass bike friendly city, long before such a thing was in vogue. Also, their infrastructure with public transit and traffic is a model we in Vancouver should follow closely. That’s hardly enough for a win, but I thought I’d add my input anyhoo.

Hardly enough for a win you say?  Think again!  (I'll drop it off at Strutta HQ when I'm back from slackin'.  Er, I mean holidays.)

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Safe travels everyone, stay warm!

If you like Portland, be sure to read to the end!

I really like zines [Wikipedia].  And more than that, I really like Shawn Granton's zines.  In fact, I'd say he's probably my favorite zine writer/illustrator--sure I might relate more to some of the more personal zines of authors like Taryn Hipp, or Pagan Kennedy, but Shawn is an awesome, AWESOME illustrator/cartoonist, and writes about lots of cool things like biking, Portland, and living on the west coast.  Not just that, but he is one of the few zine writers whose work I never find self indulgent or narcissistic, which is one of the inevitable pitfalls pouring your heart out in written/illustrated form seems often to lead to.

So, I had picked up a bunch of Shawn's zines last year at Spartacus, but since then, hadn't been able to find any more, and resigned myself to just getting treated to the occasional piece in Momentum. But then I was like, fuck this, I wanna read more awesome zines!  So, I sent Shawn an email, and after a few back and forths and missed connections, he offered to send me a bunch of whatever he had around for ten bucks.

This already sounded like a great deal for me, so I sent it along with a card and an extra little surprise of a handmade felt patch for being so generally rad.  About two weeks later, a parcel arrived in the mail:

It felt heavy.  It felt full.  It felt like a lot more zines than I was expecting... and Shawn surely did not disappoint!  Check this out, he wasn't kidding about packing up one of everything he had around--this included some posters, flyers, stickers, many, many zines ranging back about 8 years, and a copy of the Zinesters Guide to Portland.

It was like Christmas, only handmade...and unlike Christmas, with a little rationing, this will likely last me a good chunk of the year.  I plan to start with the oldest stuff and work my way back to present times.  You seriously can't imagine how overjoyed I was when I opened this package up and saw how much stuff was in it! Thanks Shawn!!!

Now here's where your love of Portland comes in.  I had given Shawn a list of zines I already had so I wouldn't end up with any duplicates, but I didn't realize The Zinesters Guide to Portland was going to be considered part of the collection...and I happen to already own it.  It's a great little guide to all the awesome and cheap things that you can check out in Portland, written by Zine writers and other great people in the community there.  It's sure to help you find some gems next time you head down there, and make you fall in love with Portland even more...

So, here's the deal: I'm gonna give away my extra copy.  If you want it, let's help solve Bill's mystery: comment and tell me why Portland is so awesome.  Whoever comes up with the most satisfying answer will be the winner.  If you don't think that's fair, well tough shit.

I meant to write about this last week before the blogger plague took me down (I'm still in recovery...c'est terrible!) but better late than really late--did you know my bosses just published a book?! It's true!

My bosses, Lauren and Emira wrote a book, called The Boss of You and it was released May 1st! You can get it on Amazon.com right now, as well as Sophia Books (450 West Hastings St., Vancouver, BC), and it should be in Chapters and other bookstores any day now.

It's a guide on how to become your own boss on your own terms, geared towards women, but useful to anyone who wants to define their own vision of a successful business. And they should know, having run a successful web business for the last 8 years after deciding they could surely do it better! It's a practical guide, and contains lots of great input from a variety of successful women entrepreneurs.

If you want to share in the excitement, be sure to head to Sophia Books this Wednesday, May 7th, at 7:00pm because they are doing a reading and Q&A session--be sure to bring some good questions for them! If the blogger plague releases me from it's germy grips, I will see you there!

So, about that inspiration stuff... I liked the suggestions of collaborative arty projects. So I've been thinking about people who I know (or have known in earlier days) that now do cool inspiring art stuff. And here is a list of them, loosely in chronological order of when I met them from earliest to most recent with links to their stuff for anyone who's interested (go Google skillz). (I've only used last names where people use their last names publicly in case you're wondering why some are missing.)

Kirsti

(Photo by Kirsti)

I've known Kirsti since I was three weeks old. Most of her creativity is not documented online, but she is a crafter-extraordinaire, trust me. She just started blogging her craftiness, and I had to include her in the list, if for nothing else than her sock making skillz.

• Kirsti's blog

Riley Rossmo

(Photo from Amazon.com)

I went to elementary/highschool with this kid back in the day. He was the kid who constantly got in trouble for drawing and not paying attention. I always really liked Riley, and he was a great artist back then, and wouldn't you know it, he's an even better one now. He actually went to art college, and now is a professional illustrator. He's done work for magazines and illustrated the graphic novel Seven Sons, and is now illustrating the comic book Proof--first issue just came out a couple months ago (now on issue 3)--with his partner in crime, Alexander Grecian. Check out his illustrations on his Wrinkle Graphics site, and if you like comics I totally recommend you go out and find Proof--it's available at most comic shops.

• Riley's homepage: Wrinkle Graphics
• Articles about Proof [1], [2]
• Proof on Wikipedia
• Proof on Comicspace
• Proof Issue 1 on Newsarama
• Seven Sons on Amazon.com
• Seven Sons on AIT-Planet LAR
• Review of Seven Sons on Zillas Comics blog
• Review of Seven Sons on Focused Totality blog

Jude Griebel

(Photo from judegriebel.com)

I also went to elementary school with Jude, but I didn't really know him. His younger brother (who was also a really good artist) was in my class, and he was about 3 or 4 years ahead of us. Jude has become a successful painter, doing a lot of work around the themes of childhood homes, animals, and dreams/imagination. He is based in Vancouver as far as I know, and regularly has shows at Bau-Xi Gallery in town. I went and saw his show there last year, and was instantly in love with his work. When I can afford it, I plan to buy one of his paintings as one of my first real art purchases.

• Jude's homepage
• Jude on the Bau-Xi Gallery site
• Beyond Robson article

Elissa

(Photo by Elissa)

One final elementary school throwback. Elissa and I actually reconnected pre-facebook, and she does great photography mainly of Montreal, transit/trains (Richard--you should check out her Flickr!), and restaurant food. I think her Livejournal is friends only, but if you have an LJ or OpenID account, request to be friended, as it's a great way to keep up with her best stuff. Last year, the municipality of Westmount in Montreal came across her work on Flickr and hired her to do freelance photography for them!

• Elissa's livejournal blog
• Elissa's Flickr

Leslie Biggar

(Photo by Sakura Photography - Vancouver Wedding Photographer)

Leslie is a friend I know through university friends. She is a great photographer, and has been getting more and more into portrait photography. She and her husband Mark recently started a full fledged wedding photography business, though she'd been doing it for quite a while, and I can safely say hers are my favorite wedding photos evar. I kid you not. She has this way of making romantic photos heartbreakingly cute without being cheesy. Also, check out her photoblog for documentation of her and Mark's travels through China and Taiwan. Amazing.

• Leslie's wedding photography business: Sakura Photography
• Leslie's old site: Camereye
• Leslie's photoblog archive
• Sakura Photography's Flickr
• Leslie and Mark's personal Flickr
• Leslie's older Flickr

Gayla Trail

[Gayla has done something sneaky so I can't show you any of her photos...you'll just have to click on the links to her stuff below.]

Okay, so I've never met Gayla in person. But I've known her for quite a long time now. She's the mastermind behind You Grow Girl--the successful and hip gardening website and book for urban green thumbs. I used to help moderate the YGG forums for a few years, and also wrote a plant journal on the site back when she had a bunch of guest writers contributing. But what you might not know is she's also a totally amazing photographer (be sure follow the links from her sites to her partner Davin's work too...), crafter, and graphic and web designer. Basically, Gayla is a superstar.

• You Grow Girl
• Gayla's photoblog: Making Happy
• Gayla and Davin's graphic and webdesign business: Fluffco
• Gayla's online store: Superfantastico
• Make sure you check out her ever popular YGG calendar
• You Grow Girl on Amazon.com
• Gayla's personal Flickr
• Gayla's YGG Flickr

Kelly Gilliam

I met Kelly through You Grow Girl originally, as she was one of the other long time moderator/plant journalers. Actually, to be accurate, I haven't actually met Kelly face to face either, but we have written each other back and forth plenty for me to consider her a friend and kindred spirit. She knits like crazy, gardens, and is a total photography nerd in the best possible way--she is the girl whose bathroom is a darkroom. Maybe that doesn't mean much to you, but to me, it is gold. She has lots of neato cameras too. Kelly has a unique style and is drawn toward subject matter that most people would overlook. For instance, she likes photographing old things in alleys, documenting things that have been left behind. She's also masterminded several rounds of Project Camera Release (see below) the most recent (and I believe not yet completed) one of which I participated in! She sends out a disposable black and white camera through a set list of people, each mails it onto the next taking a predetermined number of shots, and then at the end she prints them up in a little book/zine if she has the time and resources, or at the very least puts them up online. I can't wait to see how this one turns out! Kelly just started her own photography business a few months ago, and may well be (I hope!) moving back to Vancouver soon!

• Kelly's homepage/portfolio
• Project Camera Release
• Article about Kelly in Venus Magazine
• Kelly's Flickr
• Kelly's other Flickr

Emira Mears

I would say that I more officially met Emira through You Grow Girl as she was another one of the plant journalers, but by then I already knew of her from her old blogsite Soapbox Girls which she co-wrote with her partner in crime, Lauren Bacon. She now writes about all things home, design, garden, and food related at her blog, Domicile. She and Lauren started Raised Eyebrow, a webdesign company, in 2000 and in the spirit of full disclosure, as fate would have it, they are now my bosses. The have a book coming out in May geared toward women running their own businesses called The Boss of You, and participated on a panel on the topic at SXSW (there's a podcast of it available too, see below). Emira, as you will be able to tell from her blog and Flickr photos, is an amazing crafter/maker of things and has great taste in fabrics and textiles. I don't know where she finds the time to make all this fabulous stuff, but she is definitely a crafty inspiration!

• Emira's Blog: Domicile
• Emira and Lauren's business blog: Boss Lady
• The Boss of You on Amazon.com (available for pre-order)
• Raised Eyebrow Web Studio
• Soapbox Girls blog archive
• Emira's Profile on the SXSW site
• Podcast of the SXSW Boss Lady panel
• Emira's Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/emira/

Kris Krug

(Photo by Kris Krug)

Known to much of the world as kk+, Kris is someone from the geekery/photography community that I actually met in the summer of 2006 when I was only just sticking a toe into that community. I met Kris in Seattle at DrupalCamp, and I remember a bunch of us going to lunch, and he was sitting across the table, and I was thinking, "Geezuz, who is this guy???" Kris has a style and energy all his own, and as I've gotten to know him, I've discovered him to be very down to earth, and a creative force to be reckoned with. He, along with his friends and coworkers at Raincity Studios, drive a lot of what goes on in the tech community around here, and as if he isn't busy enough, somewhere in there he finds time to co-author the odd book, get his photos published in magazines, and do spots on TV and radio (see below). His side-gig slash hobby could easily be a full-time job on its own--he does photography (mostly in the fashion industry) for companies such as Arson (see their last couple catalogues--posted on his flickr) and also at events such as Fashion week, check out the Static Photography site and his Flickr for photos. Kris is without a doubt one of my favorite photographers, and his portraits are incomparable--he has this knack for being able to capture people in their most natural and raw state, it never ceases to captivate me. Oh yeah, and he might be one of the best and most prolific self-portrait takers that I know too.

• Kris' homepage/blog
• Static Photograhy
• Raincity Studio
• Kris on Wikipedia
• Beyond Robson article
• Interview on The Aesthetic Poetic
• Bit Torrent for Dummies on Amazon.com
• Video of one of Kris' segments on The Lab with Leo Laporte show
• Kris' pre-holiday interview on CBC radio
• Kris' Flickr

Stephanie Vacher

(Photo by Stephanie Vacher)

I met Stephanie this year through...well, I can't recall exactly (maybe Boris?)...but through friends/geekery/photography type stuff. She has been doing the design program at Emily Carr and documenting a lot of it on Flickr and her blog, and she is just generally a super creative person and superb photographer.

• Stephanie's homepage
• Stephanie's blog
• Beyond Robson article
• Stephanie's Flickr

Victoria Potter

(Photo by Victoria Potter)

Finally, I also met Victoria this past year through friends/geekery/photography stuff... Actually, I think we more formally met at a party where neither of us really knew many of the other people there... She takes great photos, especially notable are her polaroids, and blogs about fashion, music, and other stuff.

• Victoria's fashion blog: Demicouture
• Victoria's personal blog: Conjecture+
• Victoria's Flickr

Wow. That took a really long time to write up! If there's anyone or any links that I've missed, please add them in the comments for the world to see! Now if all that isn't inspiring, I don't know what is. I need to get my shit together and do something awesome.

(ps. if anyone is not ok with me having any of this up here, esp. photos, please let me know and i'll take em down. thanks!)