1) Released OWLPINE with Seer Group which can be streamed here.

2) Taking piano lessons and learning how to read music and understand the rudimentary basics of music theory. It’s amazing how you can play music by ear for decades without knowing what a measure or interval is.

3) Learning linocut printing to publish my first food zine. I cut my hand a couple of times trying to learn how to linocut.

4) I am absolutely loving Bill Withers track “Grandma’s Hands”

5) Just finished reading two incredible comics from two very different comic artists:

• PS Comics by Minty Lewis: Bitingly funny and incredible writing. I especially recommend the Fruit Pals stories within.
• Paul au Parc by Michel Rabagliati: There are moments in this autobiographical comic about being a kid in Quebec during the early 70′s which made my jaw drop.

1) Food Zine

2) Rug Braiding project

3) Music Recordings (all via email collaborations)

1) Chynna Clugston’s Blue Monday series from Oni Press: With hilarious slapstick characters (mods, rudies and punks) and a great indie/new wave/punk soundtrack I could seriously see this turning into a movie. This also somewhat reminds me of my salad days.
2) Michel Rabagliati‘s Paul series: I love all of Michel’s semi-autobiographical comics about Paul’s life experiences (from childhood, adolescence through to adulthood) in Quebec, and more particularly in Montreal. Reading his comics makes me homesick.
3) Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis: Also made into an animated feature length movie, here is an autobiographical comic (2 parts) about growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.
4)  Hello, Me Pretty by Line Gamache: Captivating autobiographical story about living in Quebec in the late 60′s with a mentally challenged sister.
5) Blankets by Craig Thompson: The title pretty much says it all with this coming-of-age autobiography of the author’s early adulthood. This is a very personal comic and I could really relate to the author’s earnest feelings about first love. The size of this graphic novel may seem daunting but as soon as you pick this up it’s very difficult to put down.

This morning I decided to finally try my hand at making a green juice with my juicer. Here’s the recipe I put together which makes approx 24 oz. (2 servings):

Pretty Green Juice Machine

1 thumb size of ginger
1/2 cucumber
3 handfuls of fresh spinach
2 apples
2 sticks of celery

Place everything in your juicer and drink immediately. I was surprised that it had a nice (not overpowering) sweetness to it from the apples but also had a refreshing vegetable aftertaste with a nice kick of heat from the ginger.

 1) I traveled to Morocco for the first time and was immersed for a week in new sights, sounds and smells. The only fruits and vegetables sold in the markets are organic. Organic fruits and vegetables don’t have a special label or extra cost. There was a pile of onions in a grocery store still covered in dirt and cucumbers that were twisted and not shined up by food grade wax.

2) I took a black and white photography/darkroom course which was mostly aimed at people interested in b&w as a fine art. I discovered that fine art photography is not my path but documenting animals (humans too) and places around me is more my cup of tea. Regardless, I loved going into the darkroom and seeing a piece of blank paper transform into an image within seconds. I really missed that sense of surprise and serendipity that analogue photography offers so I’m going to continue taking pictures with my Pentax K1000 and see what develops.

3) Started two separate music projects that will hopefully lead to album releases. This is something I have not been able to do for over 6-7 years so I really hope I can accomplish this.

4) Got into counted cross-stitch which I’ve already completed a Southwest country motif. Counted cross-stitch can be tricky at first since you really have to keep track of the rows and columns but once you get going it’s fairly easy and relaxing. I liken it to coloring with thread. I’m hoping to make my own cross-stitch patterns next.

5) Started reading more and watching LESS television. Here are some of my new reads:

• Ohio Knitting Mills – Knitting Book: If you find yourself scouring vintage clothing or thrift shops for sweaters from the 50′s-70′s then this knitting book is for you. I was a little disappointed that they tried to “update” the knitting patterns to fit today’s styles since I am more interested in recreating sweaters/cardis from the past. Still most of the patterns aren’t that far off from the originals and there are great photos from the Ohio Knitting Mills archive.
• Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart: Just started reading this book which is all about poisonous, harmful and/or invasive plants. The funny illustrations and stories keep this book from being a dry scientific encyclopedia about plants and is probably why I was drawn to reading it.
• Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin: I know I’m not an unhappy person but recently I’ve felt that there’s got to be a way to maximize on happiness as much as possible. Gretchen’s experience although different from mine has given me some inspiration on ways that I can make myself a better even happier person.

The trip to Miami was well needed and I I had copied down some places that VegNews magazine had spoken about. The vegetarian restaurants reminded me more of what being a vegetarian must’ve been back in the 70′s and 80′s and from the places I visited many were counter service with a menu that changed daily and/or combined with a health food store. I wonder what it is that makes all health food stores smell the same. One restaurant that did stand out as more of a traditional sit down eatery was Vegetarian By Hakin in North Miami Beach. The owner gives you a warm greeting as soon as you step in. The fresh juices and vegan breakfast (pancakes or tofu scramble) was incredible.

I was also introduced to some amazing tropical fruit (mamey, sapote, etc) . If you ever get the chance to go to southern Florida I strongly recommend you make a visit to the Fruit & Spice Park. They give tours around the park where a guide cuts down fresh fruit with a machete and gives everyone a sample. While there I sampled a berry that tasted like cotton candy. Felt like I was in a much healthier outdoor version of Willy Wonka’s factory.

Another great place was Sweat Records where they have a vegan cafe and some decently priced music. While there, I bought some refreshingly tasty Vanilla Iced Rice Baby which is iced Toasted Rice Green tea with vanilla soy milk.

We then drove down to Key West, which was nice change of pace from Miami. It resembled a southern city but with a Caribbean flavor. Everything was in walking distance rather than having to drive 12 miles every time you wanted to do something else. I sampled a bunch of key lime products and even checked out a movie at the local art house/repertory theater: Tropic Cinema. I could definitely see why many people retire down here.

Now I can say that I’ve been in the most southernmost tip of the United States. Come mid-May however, I will be visiting the north-eastern part of the continent of Africa, which I have never been to before. This trip will include visiting three Moroccan cities: Casablanca, Marrakesh and the beach town of Agadir. I am so excited to leave the continent of North America, which I haven’t done since I was twelve.

Had my two close friends Joan and Nat visit me so I put together a “make your own pizza/calzone night”. I decided to use the Jamie At Home recipes for Pizza Dough and Pizza Sauce, which I had tried out about a year ago. Last year I used all-purpose flour so the bread didn’t turn out as crispy and evenly baked but this time I made sure to use bread flour and it certainly did not disappoint. Now all I need is an outdoor wood burning stove or a pizza stone; the high oven temperature I used warped my baking tray.

I’ve also been experimenting with roasting different kinds of veg and my most favorite recipe so far is from Emeril for oven-roasted cauliflower. The lemon and garlic in the recipe remind me of my mother’s Greek cooking.

Other than cooking I have a few trips coming up, one to Montreal and another one which includes stops in DC, Miami and the Florida Keys. I’m really looking forward to trying out the fresh fruit that is readily available in south Florida.

I just taught myself how to knit cable stitch. For years I thought it was far too complicated for me to learn but little did I know how easy it is once you get the swing of things. Can’t wait to get into more complex cable stitches.

I also made a short trip up to Montreal around Halloween with Tim and our old pal Dave. We walked up Mount Royal and it suddenly began to snow (a bit early even for MTL). I love visiting this city since there is never a shortage of things to do and people to see. Thank goodness I’m only an hour plane ride and 5 hour car ride away.

Some of my Top things to do in MTL include (mostly eating):

1) Fresh warm bagels at St-Viateur
2) Poutine and veggie dog at Lafleurs
3) Brunch at Aux Vivres
4) Spruce beer (fresh from Émile Bertrand’s)
5) Walking all around the city. Just like Boston, Montreal is a great walking city.