Exhibitionist

The Christmas season is always busy for us, but not in the traditional 'Christmas shopping, Christmas parties, and holiday get-togethers' sense. No. (Thank god!!) Rather, as the holidays descend upon the frenzied masses of eager shoppers, we (and by 'we', I mean "Marty") traditionally gets inundated with commissions for custom pieces of artwork. 'Tis the season for all-nighters spent creating the perfect gift for your loved ones!

Work in progress: Log cabin in Field, BC. © Martin Machacek 2006-07

This year, in addition to his usual special orders, Marty was also invited to display his artwork at a Christmas Home Exhibition in Sooke. What a great idea! Over twenty-five artists participated in this particular exhibition, and even though I'm biased and somehow always seem to like Marty's artwork the best (I know, I know...), I got into the festive spirit and came home with a pretty snazzy new necklace!

Mini canvas necklace by Lisa Riehl, who by the way might just be my second favourite artist here on the island, after you know who!

The necklace is for myself. No gift-giving or Christmas knitting here... I'm great with spontaneous gift-giving, but tell me that it's expected to give somebody a gift because of such-and-such an occasion, and it just won't happen. Apologies to all of the babies who have gone without toques and booties because of this quirk of mine. Not to mention all of the friends who have wondered where various birthday/Christmas/housewarming/bridal shower/wedding gifts are... Just you wait until you get spontaneously gifted!

Excuses, Excuses

During my extended absence, I accomplished a number of things:

1. I survived a pathetic writer's block crisis, in which I attended a well meaning creative writing workshop but emerged wondering if anything written 'authentically' had to be
written
with random spacing
and no punctuation
teenage poetry
straight from the soul.

Oh, God... That one little blip-of-a-workshop kept me from blogging for quite some time (months!!), as I wondered 'can sarcasm be authentic?', (fret!) 'is my dry sense of humour actually in line with my inner being?' (deep!) Blah, blah, yawn, yawn-- fortunately for me (and you), I have emerged from this catastrophe relatively unscathed. I might have reverted back to my pre-teen angst state for a time, but at least I didn't do it publicly. I like to maintain some standards of decency, after all.

2. I developed an acute case of bilateral tendonitis! This has been a huge factor in my not blogging as of late, because quite honestly, when I get home after a FULL DAY (or week, or month) of entering in pledges for our fundraising campaign at work, the LAST thing I want to do is get back on a computer and type away. My poor forearms! As much as I'm enjoying watching the money roll in, I'm a bit miffed that this same money has gotten in the way of some of my favourite things, namely blogging and knitting. (Yes, it's true, even though all I feel like doing is knitting mittens, scarves, toques, and AFGHANS, I haven't been able to muster enough wrist support to do anything of the sort. Hence, you'll have to make due with some outdated photos of FOs from the recent past):

Marty's 'autumn socks', complete with fitting 'fallen leaves' setting:



Lil Star's 'Bumblebee Toque', complete with non-matching outfit because Auntie Dana just HAD TO SEE her model it THE SECOND she arrived to visit:


I've been (slowly) trying to complete another pair of socks for Marty, but alas- those tiny needles and that sockweight yarn are not doing any favours for the forearms. Le sigh.

3. I've begun taking in the festivities that make up Christmas time in Victoria. So far, we have been to the Oak Bay Light Up (basically where all the shops in the Village plug in their Christmas lights at more or less the same time--- amazingly, this event attracted over 7000 PEOPLE!!)

Creepy Santa's elf 'making toys' to 'delight' the 'young ones':

$1 apple cider and a tantalizing preview of festivities still to come:

We also hauled our asses (and some coffee with Bailey's) to the totally awesome Lighted Truck Parade. This just happens to be my ALL TIME FAVOURITE Christmas event in the whole wide world, even though it's like GOOD LUCK trying to get a decent photo of the goings on:




(See what I mean? The last one was taken when the parade stopped unexpectedly for a few precious moments. You get the idea, though-- the truck parade RULES!!!!)

All in all, I have still been alive and well, if not a little sore from all of my data entry as of late. Thanks for still checking in... Hopefully when I say that I'll try to publish more frequently now, it'll actually be a promise and not an opportunity to make more excuses!

Checking In

Well, I've officially learned that I find it much easier to blog when I am bitching and moaning about something. I've had it pretty good for the last month and a bit, so lo and behold-- the blog, she suffered. I've had nothing to complain about, really-- my job is going very well (I love counting money!), Marty's paintings have started selling by the dozen here in Victoria (finally!), I've been meeting lots of great people who are inspiring me to write (though not to blog, apparently), and guess who I get to see this weekend?



Lil-Star!! I haven't seen her in the flesh since she was a 'hefty' six pounds and a month old! Now she's god-knows-how-many-pounds and just celebrated her 8 month birthday! So this weekend I get a whole blissful day in Calgary/Canmore and then it's back to counting money in Victoria. I CAN'T WAIT!!


If this is not inspiration to knit, I don't know WHAT is! My sister says that Lily likes the Lil Devil Hat because she can pull the straps down over her eyes and sneak in naps clandestinely. Right... so inconspicuous! (But SO CUTE!!!)

Lost and Found

I have a confession to make: I monitor the traffic coming to this blog. I'm able to track how many people visit the site, where they are from, how long they spend, and whether they are repeat visitors or not. To be fair, though... I'm not really interested in any of that information. I mean, does it really help me to know that somebody from Calgary, Alberta with the IP address xx.xxx.xxx.xxx visits me once a week? Not so much. What really interests me is how people find my site. The nifty thing about my counting widget is that is also keeps track of any random terms that people type into search engines and find my blog with.

A number of people might actually be looking for me on the internet. This is evident in the hits I have from people who type my first or last name into a search engine and end up here. (Welcome!) Other people type something along the lines of 'exnomad, blog' and end up here, too. That's fine but not as thrilling as some of the other terms people use to get here!

Some of my favourite search terms include the following: (And yes, all of these are actual things that people search for on the internet!! Can you believe it?!)

Things related to 'ex's of all types:

- ex jealous
- revenge on my ex nude photo
- ex office carpet Victoria
- i want to jinx my ex
- birthday wish to ex
- ex superstitious
- usher's ex girlfriend

Things related to nomads of all types:

- big nomad camper for 6
- romantic nomad
- 56 nomad for sale
- diy campervans
- i married a nomad

Burning questions:

- why is pickled ginger sweetened with aspartame (I've often wondered the same thing...)
- ex. topic of response to eulogy (???)
- who won oscar de la hoyas fight (can't help you there, brother)
- how to make a luminara lantern (well, I've now officially written the book on luminara lanterns, let me tell you!)
- calgary taxi why don't they answer the phone (I wish I knew, sister-- I wish I knew)

Knitting, crafting, and camping-related queries:

- third eye chullo hat pattern
- hat baby knitted pattern free
- knitted zodiac signs
- unipo sock yarn
- thrift store t-shirts recycled
- recycled cosmetics
- finnish viking symbols
- boxy sunglasses
- adrspach teplice camping
- luminara and lighthouse (again, we wrote the book!)

Random (and I do mean random) topics:

- being on the mantracker show
- stirrup pants
- calgary dating
- other woman
- wild rose cleanse bra
- hermaphrodite sister
- tiny math
- csi
- space relations test
- those little donuts stampede
- hummus gave me indigestion
- smackdown play
- my short haircut
- orca breach
- threesome with another woman-- teen (I don't even want to know...)
- qualicum bay sphere
- legitimate personality tests
- ponytail addiction

I'm not sure which is more disturbing: the fact that people search for half these things on the internet, or the fact that they end up at my blog using said terms? What do you think?

What's the Buzz- Tell Me What's Happening!

I'm back, and (like Old Dutch chips) I'm boasting a new and improved flavour to boot! Unlike the chips, however, my flavour isn't simulated! Huzzah!

I know I had some people worried with my extended blog hiatus. I imagine that some people were thinking to themselves that I was lost in a world of horrible happenings and self-wallowing, but in fact, it was quite the opposite. I'M OFFICIALLY OUT OF MY RUT AND HAVE NEVER FELT BETTER!!!

All it took was a weekend in the wonderful (though rainy) Strathcona Park here on the island, and my perceptions were irrevocably altered (for the better!) Since then, I have been overcome with intense feelings of happiness, thankfulness, and raw, unfiltered, organic JOY, and all of that other great new age stuff! I feel great-- that's all there is to it!