Hotel Experience: Teslin - part 2

I was stepping off the plane in Whitehorse, the sun was out and the snow covered scene in front of me was absolutely gorgeous. I found myself perfectly protected against the fresh cold northern air.

Two hours later, we arrived in Teslin, where I was happy to see a cute little motel room waiting for me, I quickly brushed my teeth, jumped into the long johns that were to be my pyjamas, adjusted the thermostat to a comfortable 20 degrees Celsius and lay in bed with a book.

Hotel Experience: Teslin - part 1

Last year, when I told people that I was going on a trip to Teslin, Yukon, everyone quizzed me on how prepared I was for the cold weather. Their advice: get a down feather jacket, long johns and good winter boots. So I bought myself a purple puffy jacket, a matching set of waffle knit long johns, and then I went shopping for boots. The tag on a pair of pretty green Columbia's promised to be effective in a -30 degrees climate. Was that going to be enough protection?

I was worried, so I lined my toque with fleece that I later discovered was intended for blanket making.

my sentiments on shrimp

Today I went for dim sum with my family. I have a love-hate relationship with dim sum. On one hand I get to have fresh egg tarts and eat them with chopsticks. On the other hand, all the other dishes seem to have shrimp in it. Which can be a great thing except that I'm allergic to all seafood. Even the vegetarian dishes had shrimps today. I was hungry all afternoon.

Later on in the day, I went into the art store, Deserres, and picked up a book on Chinese painting techniques. A painting on one page really caught my eye, it was gorgeous, each brushstroke was deliberate and expressive. I couldn't take my eyes off of it!

It was a painting of shrimps.

So I guess I now have a complex relationship with shrimps too.

camera obscura

Yesterday, "Carts of Darkness" was being shown in the theater and a camera was thrust into my hands. I was asked to go in there to take some pictures of the people waiting for a screening to start. I think the photos were going to be posted on a website detailing the screening event. So, just mingle with the people and take pictures...easy, right?

Me? Mingle?!

I've heard about how shy people like being photographers because they can hide behind the lens and interact with people in their own way. How big are the camera's that these shy people can hide enough of themselves behind it?! I took some awful pictures because I was too nervous to wait for the right moments before taking snapshots.

The camera obscura comes in handy for occasions like these.

the first time is always a little awkward

It's funny, I've been working on digital storytelling projects for the last two years - helping people make little movies using still photos and personal stories (take a look, they're really good!) I like to encourage people to share their experiences and be creative. Every time I'm part of a workshop, I'm always happy with what the participants come up with, and the stories are always fascinating to me. But for myself, I have a hard time thinking of what to write...even office birthday cards make me anxious. So this blog is for me to find something to say that I think will interest people and to practice expressing myself through words and drawings...maybe little animated movies if I'm feeling ambitious. Why not, right?