The week that was was a week of falling apart...
#1
First I must talk about the Xining Art Society meeting. It is a meeting of people who like to share in the enjoyment of creating, critiquing, and appreciating all kinds of art. The rules of the Art Society:
1. You do not talk about Art Society.
2. You do not talk about Art Society!
Just kidding... talk away!
3. You can come and check it out without bringing any of your own art.
4. After that, if you want to attend, you must bring your own art.
This month, Barbara and I were the hosts. 5 women showed up, and after trying in vain to convince Joel to get his lazy self over to help even out the male/female ratio, I realized that I was on my own.
It was a good time, though. There were 5 pieces. 3 paintings, one birdcage display, and a song. We spent a good while talking about each piece and it seemed as though we all learned a little more about art and a little more about the artists themselves.
The proof the the good times is as follows:
To the right is the first piece, Amy G's birdcage/painting/notebook layout. Is it a mind? A brain? The universe? Another world above the stars?
On the right, Barbara takes a long look at Heather's tree painting. The orange sky had us all wondering if the tree was breaking free from the blackness, or settling in.
Above is everyone taking a good, long look at Heather's piece after moving it to a different wall.
To the left is Sarah's piece. The "tape cassette with sneakers" is quite an interesting work. This was Sarah's first time at the meeting and we're all very amazed by what she brought to the table.
And finally, the painting from the short film that Carrianne made. Quite an amazing painting for a first time oil painter. Check out the film on Facebook.
To understand the theme of "falling apart" you kind of needed to be there. So, be there next time! I won't be there, but you should. In all, we've had 7 or 8 meetings and this one was definitely in the top 2.
#2 of falling apart...
Is it too much for a guy to ask that his hockey team make the playoffs so that he can watch a few games when he gets home? I didn't think so.
The Oilers continue to climb the monumental ladder into mediocrity. After today's loss to the Wild, the Oilers sit 2 points out of the playoffs. With all of the other teams reaching for a playoff spot literally playing their best hockey of the season, one has to wonder; what happened to the Oilers?
Even with a little bit more 'bite' in their game over the past 2 weeks, we could be talking about them challenging Vancouver and Calgary for the division. Yet, here we are. Same old same old.
There are a lot of fingers to point in this situation and a lot of faces to point them at. But the main thing is that when a team plays on home ice they should be good. The Oilers are not. They are bad.
Flash Back...
Last year I bought a half price ticket to an Oilers-Sharks game for 90 dollars. I went by myself because they only had single seats available and I don't know anyone else who's stupid enough to buy anything for 90 dollars at half price to go with me.
The weather was particularly bitter that day, my friends. I beleive it was February. I parked at the Clairview LRT and boarded the train hoping that my car would start when I returned. At the game, the Oilers produced 13 shots on goal and lost 4 to 0. I boarded the train back to clairview and, thankfully, my car started.
As I waited for my cold car to warm up I couldn't help but think about something:
"What was Ethan Moreau doing at that moment?"
He was probably eating his post-game meal from a catering company, or soaking in a hot bath. Or maybe he was spending some of his salary on a new house or small country.
And there I sat, 90 dollars poorer and feeling like I just got ripped off by some sort of scam.
Fast forward to a year later...
and the Oilers continue to refuse to reward their fans. They have 20 shiny wins on the road and only 16 at home. Maybe they need to hurry up on building that new arena. This current team is tainting all of the great memories people have of that building before it was called Rexall Place. If Wayne Gretzky were dead he'd probably roll over in his grave.
#3 in falling apart...
We've had a leak in the upstairs bathroom for a few months now. I tried to get the maintenance guys to fix it but they failed at that. So I ripped the tub out with my hands and saw that it was indeed leaking. After about a month of no leaks the leaks returned. I was convinced that the new problem was in the heating pipes that run under the floor. Sure enough, after smuggling the only maintenance guy I like up to our apartment, and after about 3 hours of digging in the floor, we found the leak! He is repairing it as I type. Lets hope it works!
UPDATE: It appears as though the leak is fixed!
Thus, the week of falling apart.
This party will have a live band playing at it and that live band will have me in it. It's going to be a lot of fun. Our band includes Myself, Jeff and Carrianne, Ashok from Nepal, and Hua Sheng from Xining. We're playing a half dozen songs that we've been practicing for about a month now. Here's the list:
To the right is the first piece, Amy G's birdcage/painting/notebook layout. Is it a mind? A brain? The universe? Another world above the stars?
On the right, Barbara takes a long look at Heather's tree painting. The orange sky had us all wondering if the tree was breaking free from the blackness, or settling in.
To the left is Sarah's piece. The "tape cassette with sneakers" is quite an interesting work. This was Sarah's first time at the meeting and we're all very amazed by what she brought to the table.
And finally, the painting from the short film that Carrianne made. Quite an amazing painting for a first time oil painter. Check out the film on Facebook.
We've had a leak in the upstairs bathroom for a few months now. I tried to get the maintenance guys to fix it but they failed at that. So I ripped the tub out with my hands and saw that it was indeed leaking. After about a month of no leaks the leaks returned. I was convinced that the new problem was in the heating pipes that run under the floor. Sure enough, after smuggling the only maintenance guy I like up to our apartment, and after about 3 hours of digging in the floor, we found the leak! He is repairing it as I type. Lets hope it works!