Bike Ride

A Pocketful of Canada

I took this photo because I was inspired by a little book I found in a thrift shop titled "A Pocketful of Canada." It was written in 1942, and is a wonderful collection of facts, poems, shanty's, personal stories, pictures, quotations and letters from the likes of Prime Ministers past, farmers, artists, and myth. The preface  describes it as being a guide for new comers to Canada and Canadian citizens themselves that really shows what it means to be Canadian. I've only thumbed through it so far, but what I've read has evoked the iconic idea of the trapper/hunter of the Great Canadian wilderness for me. I can't wait to read it cover to cover. I also found a wonderful version of our National Anthem and also some beautiful poems. I think it is going to be quite delightful!

Wuthering Delights: Part 1

As of late I am obsessed with Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. I cannot seem to consume enough of its story to satiate myself. It started with a boring Netflix afternoon when I stumbled upon a version in which Tom Hardy plays our anti hero Heathcliff. Now, from what I gather this is not the favored version, but none the less it sparked my current craze. In particular, there is a song in this version that re-occurs at many different points that I can't stop listening too. Also, I am about half way through reading the novel and I cannot put it down! Where to begin with Wuthering Heights?
The plot is fairly straight forward. Heathcliff loves Catharine, Catharine loves Heathcliff, Cathrine marries Edgar, Heathcliff takes off, tragedy ensues. BUT, and I do mean a large but, this is where the shit hits the fan. Heartbroken and hell bent, Heathcliff comes back and begins wreaking a shit storm unto everyone who has crossed him, effectively ruining lives and even going as far as to destroy the next generation of his now extendedish family. BUT (again, yes) you still somehow empathize with him and just pray during the entire thing that everyone comes to their senses and Catharine can just be with Heathcliff even though he is terrible and he's like a brother, but I swear not in a freaky way, and she is all confusing and conflicting, and then you end up sitting there friggin crying over the whole things at the end! PHEW!  ugh and then you continue to watch it/ read it/watch another version/listen to soundtrack  cry some more and think of Catharine and Heathcliff. (Does my p.m.s-y-ness come out in this post?) So here it is. The song that I finally found on youtube that made me cry like a friggin kid who dropped their ice cream cone....."I Found Peace" - 2009 Wuthering Heights soundtrack

                   

BUUUUT.....I now have this song set as my morning wake up alarm, as after one of my repeat screenings of the film, it made me smile. Something that used to make me sad doesn't make me so sad anymore. In fact it does the opposite. I guess I found peace. In the end that's all that Heathcliff wanted too. That's all anybody really wants.

Bag o'Bones: An evening ramble

On my way home from work one evening a thought popped into my head: "I have a great fascination with anatomy." Well, this wasn't exactly news to me. I guess it was more like "Hey, I want to talk about my fascination with anatomy with someone. Right now!" Now, a lot of my day to day life consists of a decently long commute to and from work. During that time I often ponder the random, and have internal conversations about a variety of things. But, on this particular drive I felt compelled to literally voice my thoughts. I used a hands free recording app on my phone and started rambling...

"I love anatomy! Whether it is the anatomy of an animal structure, people, the brain. I guess really the basis of the way i learn and my mind in general is very anatomically based. You know, I want to break things down to their simplest form to figure out the who and the why of a situation. Like taking back the flesh, taking back the muscle and the tendons you know to the base of a skeleton; to ''the things'' most basic form. I think that's the way I really think about a lot of things, and the way that I rationalize internally. 
With my depression and anxiety, it can be really hard to focus and rationalize. The simplest things can become unimaginably overwhelming. I am constantly trying to make my way through my neuroses and take a step back. I just need to take a step back and, well skeletonize what's going. I guess that sounds kind of morbid, but to me it isn't at all. Really though, is a skeleton that dark? What is it that makes bones and skulls morbid?
Maybe I think like this because of my fascination with taxidermy. I'm a huge animal lover and i think it surprises people when I say I have a great interest in taxidermy. I would love to be a taxidermist, maybe not as my profession but as a hobby. I love to see it in real life, google images of it, and I have a few pieces around my home. I can totally appreciate if people aren't into that. Frankly, I'm sure it scares the shit out of some people. But, I find it kind of awe-inspiring. 
I watched a fascinating docu-reality-type show on Netflix that focused on a company called "Skulls Unlimited International" (Now this is a place I would love to work/check out!) The particular show I watched showed the crew skeletonizing an intact male lion. It was beautiful. In a very simplified summary they carefully removed the lions' pelt (to be used by a taxidermist I believe), striped back as much flesh as possible, gutted it, then boiled, chemically dipped, and had dermestid beetles eat away any left over flesh on each individual bone. One gentleman skillfully handled the skull, enucleating it and carefully paring down all the flesh and putting it through the above mentioned process. It was brilliant! Just when I thought things were awesome enough, another group of team members perfectly re-articulated every single individual bone of that lion, back into a perfectly formed structure. A pile of bones showed all the grace, majesty, strength and beauty of a lion in its most simple form. I was stunned to say the least. 

The top right is the lion. Not the greatest pic, but it was the only one of the lion I could find http://www.museumofosteology.org

It was then placed in the Museum of Osteology (another place I would die to see), located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma along side a myriad of other beautiful skeletal displays.
Wow! I was completely in awe of this entire process, as I already was of the process of taxidermy.
I feel like the process of skeletonizing something is very refreshing. It is simplifying, and simple to view in a way. Yet, it still captures all of  the passion, action and emotion that's going on. Hopefully as I continue to work through things, I can become more efficient at simplifying the way I handle the emotions and actions of myself and others. Hey as long as I don't have to have a personal meeting with dermestid beetles! Just kidding, they're pretty cool. "

Nifty Thrifty

Browsing antique and thrift shops is one of my favorite things to do. I found a few really neat books that I plan to write about. I happened to glance down on a shelf and saw these 2 delightfully tacky wall decorations. They made me smile.

Tid-bits

Bringing the little things into focus

So, I have little experience with technology and barely understand what a blog is, but I have decided to give it go. I am a collector of antiques and gravitate to mid century and art deco styles. My husband and I have 2 Boston Terriers 3 cats whom we adore. I am Boston crazy to be more specific. I have a classic car and enjoy drag racing. I LOVE music and listen to a wide variety of genres. I love photography, flowers and nature. I have a particular obsession with foxes and crows. And I also love taxidermy. I have depression and anxiety, and my favorite colour is turquoise. I love Guinness and Maker's mark bourbon, and I delight in knitting and crocheting. I love to read and watch movies and try new foods. I am trying to focus more of my energy in life to things that I enjoy, and also try to share these things with other people. I will most likely use photography as my main outlet. I see the beauty in the little things and aim to bring them into focus.