after years and years of searching, i've finally found the perfect dancing partner. who can complain? certainly not him! he's easy going to a fault. not a single complaint came through his li ... teeth, not even when i dropped a brick on his toe .. toebones. what a guy, that charlie! now all i have to worry about is another girl skeleton stealing him away ... well they say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. well, seeing as to how charlie doesn't have a heart or a stomach, i'll have to come up with some other ingenious way of keeping his ... affections. any suggestions?

mm mm mm! the official dineout vancouver 2006 kicked off on january 20th, and we celebrated with a visit to our favourite restaurant, delilah's. and what a menu!

gnocco sordo pasta tossed with four cheeses, cream and truffle oil -- or -- field lettuces tossed with a herb and red wine vinaigrette with toasted almonds paired with a gewurztraminer/riesling from deep creek
...i had the field lettuces

roasted chicken breast with roman style gnocchi and assorted mushrooms -- or -- lamb “cssobucco” braised in red wine, tomatos and star anise on mashed potatoes -- or -- pan seared snapper fillet on crispy polenta with sweet corn broth, paired with a pinot meunier from deep creek again
...i had the chicken...the most succulent roasted chicken i have ever had in a restaurant, the others had lamb, the meat just fell clean off the bones, but nobody had the snapper

and last but not least
chocolate and jack daniels truffle torte with a pistachio crust, which we didn't pair with anything because it was a truffle torte paired with jack daniels. 'nuff said.

the restaurant became more and more crowded as we sank into our comfortable chairs and meals. what a night to remember!

the prediction of a conservative minority to rule canada came true at tonight on monday, january 23rd 2006. the conservatives quickly took the lead in some of their traditional b.c. strongholds in early returns from today's federal election. the close fight was reflected by voters emerging from polls in the vancouver area, where most of the toss-up seats were located. many wanted change, choosing to vote for conservative in lieu of liberal candidates because of the lack of change seen in the past couple of years.



stephen harper has by turns been cast as too extreme, too rigid, too scary to reshape the country. but tonight, the country has voted. they have voted that it's time to take a chance on the conservative leader and on change, handing him a minority government. the liberal fortress in ottawa has not toppled, and they will form the opposing voice to the new government's reign.

this has been described by many as the dirtiest elections campaign in canadian history. god bless canada.

CANADA VOTES!

who will lead the country after today? dare we find out??

round and round the merry-go-round...in this case, it was the mary hill bypass. we're not in kansas anymore toto, says dorothy, and that had never rang more true as we weaved our way through the cul-de-sacs and deadend streets of maple ridge.

you'll always get lost the first time, says sherri, but you'll get it the second time round!

how true did that statement ring! by the time i had to leave, i was so familiar with the road, i didn't need the map anymore. which is good, because during the drive to her place, i was ready to give up. when we knocked on her front door, finally!, it was with relief and it felt great seeing her smiling face framed by the opened door.

larger than life in spirit and happiness, sherri exudes the glow of motherhood through and through. due anytime now (february 2nd is the 'official' date), we were extremely anxious to see her before her life is dictated by another being, sex unknown. we, being anita, samantha and myself - the girls who had worked at hudson (another story to be told in another time, another place).



though short (for myself), the visit was sweet and we were able to get to know more of sherri through her personal touches prevalent in the home she had created for herself, ryan and their two-year-old son, max. embodying her true to her nature, the two-storey home, with a basement, pulsed warmth, happiness and love through all the rooms and sectionals. most impressive was her collection of family photographs, professionally taken by a girlfriend. they hung on the walls proudly, each with a story to tell.

as i left this sunday afternoon, warm banana loaf in hand for the road, i thanked those in charge for having placed sherri in my path through life. her calm, serene nature is one that we can all learn from.

yes, when i was little, i used to think that vampyres were real. i believed it so much so that i wouldn't go to sleep without my blankets over my face; i didn't want to be bitten by them. as i grew older, and puberty took over, i wanted to be different from the humans that walked around me. i felt different; i wanted to be seen as different.

fascination with vampyrism and wolves became part of my nature...one that is supressed in the adult human world. but when movies like "underworld" emerge, my inner senses are awaken, as if from slumber. as if i had been ... awoken from my hibernation.

the thrill of being in a world that is completely separate from reality fascinates dreamers like myself. the thrill fuels the impulse to create. without the thrill, there is no impulse. without the impulse, there is no creativity. the separation from reality frees the impulse and the creativity.

what would the world be without imagination?

today my instructor on stilts walked over everybody. but not before imparting her skills garnered from 12 years of stilt-walking. she not only gave us confidence and strength to believe in ourselves, but also the necessary tools -- i.e. stilts! the first class on jan 14th was an amazing experience, and this class did not pale in comparison. in fact, all students who returned gained so much confidence, many of them were walking without their spotters' hands in contact.

myself? i learnt to trust each step that i made, and with each stride, i tried a little bit more. in the end, i was hopping on one stilt, and doing the cha-cha-cha.

all in a day's work!

yes this is the little princess i've been gushing about. she's sweet as a pea and has totally broken down my preconceptions about having girl-babies. i had always been a fan of boy-babies (less to deal with) but with her, there's no worry about that. even if there is more to deal with. it's all worth it, everytime she turns around to give a little burp, or even when she squeezes out a wet one in her diaper.

i can't wait for her to grow up and be just like me ;)

TREMOR! or so mike says. i didn't feel a thing, but that could be because i walk o-so lightly on my feet. NOT. there could be a thunderstorm and i wouldn't stir, i am so dead solid and dead to vibrations. but mike says that the mirror shook and the lights were vibrating.

apparently an earthquake hit vancouver island on sunday. measured at 3.9 on the richter scale, the 4:30am earthquake woke up many residents from dead sleep. perhaps it would wake up these residents from the dead sleep they are involved in, and realise that the "next big one", the one that will be triggered when the pressure changes from ocean plate movements under the vancouver island, hits.

the start of a new year...the beginning of another session at emily carr. no, not as a student, but rather...as a subject, one might say. i started modelling for the emily carr institute of art and design last fall and they rather liked me so asked me to come back for more modelling shifts. it's been great trying out new instructors and seeing students as they develop (or not) in their skills in various medium, although it never ceases to amaze me how hard one has to search in order to look for that needle in the haystack.

however, the modelling is good money, gives me variety in the things that i do, and that is the ultimate enjoyment. and the networking is great! i hope to be able to be hired as a personal model for either one of these instructors in their private projects. finally...to work with s-o-m-e talent!

imagine this...twenty foot ceilings, from which a carabiner is all that holds a length of fabric from ceiling to floor, barely. these long loops of fabric are called "cradles" and the art of dancing in mid-air using the strength and dexterity of one's body and the fabric loops is called "aerial dancing".

on monday, today, i return, exhausted and slightly dizzy, from my beginner's introduction to aerial dancing. first lesson of the day--do not spin so exuberantly in the beginning of a two hour class, unless one has the stomach to stomach the sensations of nauseousness. OR...pop in a gravol tablet about two hours prior to class.

pat on the back? climbing up the fabric using nothing but my bare hands, sheer strength and foot bracing on foot.

it is a funny feeling to be so high above everybody else in the same room. thanks to mortal coil and chix on stix, about ten lucky women from the lower mainland were able to participate in a stilt-walking workshop during which the construction of stilts and the safety of stilt-walking were taught and demonstrated.

all ten women made it to the top of the stilts! with spotters in hand, they each made their ways wobbily but determinedly across the dance rehearsal hall. all wore beaming smiles on their faces as they clutched their spotters' hands. a big hurrah to all participants who have risen to the challenge!

today at 7pm, alessandra pushed her way into the world via warm running water and a humid environment in her mom and dad's bathroom. it was a short delivery, so short that both mom and dad had to attest to the strength of alessandra's character, prevalent already in one so young. and all the attention! paramedics from the fire department and the ambulance crowded into the bedroom/bathroom to offer medical service and comfort to the mother-once-again.

big brother mattias was confused by the sudden rush of activity but was happy nonetheless that he has risen in rank. his first words that night were, "momma?"

pictures will follow.

so the best part of making dinner is how fast you can make it happen. I've once cooked thai food in 40 minutes for 3 people. that was pretty quick. that was also 3 meals. and no, there was no "cut-heatup-serve" instant packages.

but...enough of touting my own horn. tonight's dinner was pasta with meatballs. these are my first meatballs. EVER. they don't quite look like meatballs yet. they're the pre-balls. and they are going in the P-A-S-T-A, el-pronto. Mmm Mmm Mmm!

The Cinderbellas meet again for the New Year. Hurrah! Great energy abound for 2006. Splendid plans and many hopeful goals set and will be met. First and foremost, we are looking into bringing some government cash into our group's project. And in case you haven't known yet, the Cinderbellas are a group of women who love to play and dance and do all sorts of things with fire. Carefully, of course. But not at the expense of artistic creation. Watch out for some of our gigs in the upcoming year!

In the beginning there was darkness. And then, there will be light.