it was such a beautiful day today but as soon as it was fully dark out, all of a sudden the sky just opened up and started pouring rain. i love the sound and smell of the rain but even more, the sight of lightening thrills me to the core. it electrifies my spirit. i relate. and all of it totally represents the outpouring of feeling. the cleansing of overcharged intensity held in too long. i love standing just under the shelter of an overhang. in a doorway or on a porch, and feeling the spray of the rain but the protection of not having to suffer getting drenched. life is getting drenched so i like the feeling of being protected. tonight as i was allowing my intuitive side to dominate, i realized that my trees are sentient somehow. i could feel them feeling me. i have three giant pines and two giant maples, a baby maple finding its footing and too many giant cedars to count. i have a massive lilac bush which smells glorious right now and all the other small bushes and tiny trees and plants. i have raccoons and rabbits and squirrels and birds living here with me. this is my little kingdom and they are my subjects. my babies. my peers. for now. i felt like their queen for the briefest of moments and my heart was filled with gratitude.

good night. :)

parking in europe… do not do this to someones car in north america. it won’t go over too well.

i guess maybe these people get out of their car and lift it into the parking space in europe.

i don’t even think they sell things like mars bars in france? who would notice anyway, haha.

of all the great world class cities i’ve been to this year, Nice, France is on my mind  the most right now. there is something so nice about Nice. i think i went at the right time, before the tourist season, when one is more amongst the locals and can get a flavour of the day to day life there. it has so much of what i love. old architecture. ocean. mountains. colours. palm trees. good food. nice people. sunshine. a reason to walk. a reason to wander.

look at all the windows in the top picture. all those homes. all the people they represent. each person is a universe unto themsleves. each life is unique. and its like this all over the world. it makes me feel isolated but connected to humanity to travel and see how universal our issues are. how we are all connected but rarely see it clearly.

i am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together…

my wanderlust is at full blast again lately. i’ve travelled a fair bit already this year but the hunger to leave home and explore the world never ends. i can never seem to get enough of exploring the world. down time from it feels like a famine, like a kind of heartbreak. i’m starving to take off again.

damn he’s a cute creature

put your troubled thoughts in one of these balloons and let them float away

this is how i feel… my two sides trying to make peace with each other. become one.

but what is the meaning of thisssss?

vegetarian liberation front propaganda!!!!!!

It totally figures that my first painting teacher ever hates the very style of painting I admire the most. I love hyper-realism and he is of the mind that it is not art to just copy something exactly. But dude, no matter how I would try, I wouldn’t be able to do it so it is an art. It’s always ironic to me when artists are this judgemental. But you learn something from everyone and I think he has philosophically taught me more about being an artist in 3 hours, than I have learned in the past few years. Like: don’t be too precious about your work. I guess if I have to do 50-100 canvasses before they start counting, I better get a move on.

My painting teacher said “my first painting teacher was a really mean kind of guy. and he told us our first 100 paintings don’t count. I wouldn’t go that far though. Maybe I’d say your first 50.”

well, i better get to sleep this minute and stop this line of thought or i’ll head to the fridge. where i’ll find all of this. said no one ever.

make. me. one.

re: http://goodmood-food.tumblr.com/

lots of healthy recipes there too. damn, it makes me hungry though.

this awesome healthy food = yes please!

good food is natures medicine. :) yum.

a real dose of positivity here!  i did volunteer work helping people who had cerebral palsy and have found that everyone i worked with was so positive despite the unfairness of their situation. it’s such an inspiration, and this kid is a wonderful soul. it also shows how much supportive and positive parents make the world of difference. check this kid out and you’ll smile.