Tripping all over Western Canada.

The summer's pretty much over, but it's making room for delightful fall adventures - where I get to learn things! I cut all my hair off and bought a pair of shoes that aren't sneakers. I'm a grown up! Or something.

I've been traveling a bit. And by traveling, I mean going to see relatives. I don't get out much. First, I ferried over to the island via a long, hellish bus ride with camera equipment and, as usual, too many books. There I spent some time with my Gran and we went on some adventures. It's a tradition we go to Cumberland and pick up some delicious doughnuts at the local bakery. We went to Seal Bay, saw some seals - or rather, we heard them first, as they kept snorting at each other. We also went "plodging" at this great beach that, when the tide is out, there's this vast expanse of sand with shallow pools of saltwater flowing between eachother. Plodging is when you hike up your pants and plodge through these puddles. I think it's an English thing. My Gran is quite English. We pulled over to this road side cafe nestled in the trees called Becky's. They don't really have a menu. Just tell them what you want and they'll see if they can make it for you. What's better is that the owner is a gentleman with an artificial leg who has an affinity for karaoke. Oh, also the Nanaimo bars are the tallest I have ever seen. We spent a lunch at the Wandering Moose Cafe, who've got great soup and sandwiches and tea and things. For a fancy farewell dinner, we went into town to Atlas, where we shared a goat cheese tart and I had a burger that had regular burger fixings, plus pear and brie.

To Calgary! My mom took me to the zoo and we chatted while we perused the caged mammals. I was disappointed to see that the nocturnal portion had been closed down. The reptile and amphibian section was whittled down to some dwarf caimans and a tortoise, I think. I also obtained a pair of maroon pants that make me look like a 70's pimp. I dig it.

Canmore was hot and gorgeous, I spent some time just basking and reading. My dad took me to the Quarry before whisking me off to my Grandparent's farm for a couple nights. I reburned my sun burn. When I got to the farm I got mosquito bites ontop of my twice burned burn. There are few things as painfully itchy, methinks. We took the dogs out to the pond and hunted in the tall grass for (velociraptors) wood frogs and dragonflies and fancy-pants spiders. I found a friend down at the lake, a dragonfly was struggling in the water and I scooped him out. He hung out on my shirt sleeve for a good half hour before he deemed himself dry enough to fly away. I named him Horatio. It was nice to be up there for a bit. I don't think I've been that way since 2009. Seeing my grandparents and my uncle was great too.

Spent some time at the Paw with a group of friends. I would have liked another night with them all. I miss them quite a bit, especially since John left us. Time didn't permit much between everyone's schedule's though. Canmore lost another super guy last Wednesday quite suddenly. I'm sending all of my love out that way still, especially to his wife and all of his friends. It was such sad news to hear.

Spending time with my parents was pretty fly. Cracking vulgar jokes while drinking and roasting marshmallows, staying up to watch a movie only to have everyone just sort of fall asleep around me, pitchers of sangria for an anniversary dinner. It was pretty super. We all took a hike up to Grassi Lakes with my sister, aunt and rolly-polly dog. I walked into a lake and felt the coldest water on my legs since the East coast. I flew back to Vancouver the next day.

Here's a collection of the least dumb shots I took while I was away. I'm always disappointed that I don't have more/better footage. Le sigh. Try to enjoy none-the-less.

I came back to see that my garden had transformed into a tiny plot of jungle. The tomato plants were vast, when I was under the impression they wouldn't make it. One's even got some tomatoes already started. All of them have flowers. The radishes are MAD. I've got some good start on lettuces, flowers on the melon plant, more blossoms on the pumpkin plant. I've also now got another plot out back, which I might fill with root veggies - carrots and beets and more radishes, most probably.

A book you need to read? The Shadow of the Wind by one Carlos Ruiz Záfon. One of the most intriguing and richly written pieces I've read in a couple years. Now, this could mean I just haven't been reading much fiction. And I suppose I haven't. But I did really enjoy this novel. I went and bought his other book The Angel's Game last week. I can only hope it'll be a fraction as good as his first.

A film you need to watch? Rango! It's been said more than once that I have a child's taste in films, but I really did enjoy it. It was probably 20 minutes too long, but I really enjoyed the character design and the wondrous textures and references and all around awesomeness. I can really appreciate a film that pays just as much attention to it's secondary and background characters as it's protagonist. Also, there are very few human beings in the film. I also like that very much.

Now for some angst! There's been a funny, deep seated doubt I've seemed to have grown over the summer. After scraping all of that horrible sadness and lack of worth off my skin, I've seem to uncover something just festering away in a less accessible place, say a kidney or a spleen. I can't seem to shake it quite so easy. Hopefully some film work will drive it away. I don't like the feeling much. A future that once seemed boundless is now this slightly-too-small box that I'm destined to sit in with my knees under my chin and my ear pressed up against the top. I shudder at the prospect.

Here's my most recent Kingfisher Says post. Pretty much talking about what I just talked about in this post. But you get to see my weird face and hear all of my poorly chosen phrases and hums and haws! Yay! (Note: by far, the most convincing thumbnail to date proclaiming my sanity)

Haw-gust.

  Oh hi there. Well, I'm pretty excited we're well into August and I'm still on my feet. My semester officially ends, with a bit of a fizzle, on Wednesday. But I'm not worrying too-too much about that. Thursday we're having a bit of a fancy-pants shin dig to shake off the chills of this past semester and Friday I travel, and continue traveling through until the 28th of August. I think the next three weeks are going to be a supreme time to clear my head, shake things up a bit, tie up some lose ends and just start off the fall semester with a running leap. I've got a sweet fall lined up, with three film production classes, a studio art class and a math course by distance. I'm far beyond excited to see all of my film chums again, the summer just hasn't been the same without seeing them all in one place a few times a week, not to mention working on wondrous projects with them. I'm excited to, once again, become immersed in an atmosphere of every kind of creativity, of knowledge and experience and wonderful things. It's going to be a riot.

  With the rainy weather gone, the gardening has taken off a little bit. We've got strawberries and peas that have been picked a time or two and have a number of other things well on the way. The four Brandywine tomato plants I started late from seed are just rocking it out in the raised beds. I didn't have much hope for them at first, but they've got glorious green foliage and are shooting skywards! On my two store-bought cherry tomato plants, we've got some wee green tomatoes just starting to come round. The pumpkin keeps coming back from the dead, it seems. Poor thing. But the blossoms keep coming, but no pumpkins starting quite yet.

Asides from a damn cat in the neighborhood feeling that he must use my garden as his litter box at every opportunity, I think things are going relatively well. I sowed a number of seeds directly into the garden a week or two ago. We've got radishes, violas, kale and a variety of lettuces coming up already. I'm really enjoying having the raised bed. Planters are fine and all, but it really doesn't compare to having a plot of earth you can call your own. I've packed a lot in there, and hopefully by September, it'll be chalk full of great things. Four Brandywine tomato  plants, a yellow pepper plant, a red pepper plant, a mini pepper plant I started from seed, and rows of violas, kale, mescluns, lettuce, romaine, radishes and butterfly flower mix. I'm not sure what will win out on space, but I just can't wait until it's a full, lovely garden.

The bordering gardens were planted up by the ladies downstairs and they are just marvelous. She came out of one patch with an armful of squash this afternoon and has a most exuberant potato patch. I'm a little jealous.

Last night I finished the last of the Harry Potter books for the second time. Reading all the books through once again has, I think, brought out my real love for certain ones. Before this time through, I had always had an affinity for the fourth book in particular. But I found myself absolutely loving Prisoner of Azkaban, Order of the Phoenix and even Half Blood Prince! The Deathly Hallows, on my second (much more conscious) reading through, was much better than I remembered it. I had picked it up at midnight the day it came out and promptly stayed up all the next day reading it cover to cover. I didn't remember much of it. So this second time through was really, really nice. I could make some sense out of the last film and I could sort of see where they were coming from with some of their decisions, I suppose. I think I'm going to go see The Deathly Hallows Part 2 a second time with my mom and aunt when I visit home in a couple of weeks. A revisit after reading the book and after some deliberation will make up my mind for certain, I think, whether or not I like the last installment of the Harry Potter films.

I have started a film journal, at long last. It's more an exercise for me to remember what I've seen, my opinion on what I've seen and names. The best I've been able to do in film class so far in a name-drop heavy environment is just sort of... smile and nod, perhaps googling names under the table on my phone. I always try to record the same set of details for each film: title, year, country, director, cinematographer, actors I know and actors I do not. I then will go on, in point form, highlighting interests or conflicts or shots I liked. Usually at the end I'll give a general interpretation of the entire thing and a star-rating, which I really have no system for. Perhaps if I find another aspect of the film mind blowing, i.e. editing or costumes or somesuch, I'd write down that too. I've been trying to get through a few films a week or more and have finally taken in film such as Forrest Gump and Breakfast at Tiffany's, and discovered some likes and dislikes amongst The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Jailhouse Rock, The Big Red One and Wanted.

I haven't had bok choi in years, but have recently rehashed my love for it. The first time I (tried to) stir fry it in a bit of oil and garlic, and that turned out a little gross and slightly singed. Then I discovered a little trick in wake of my every-so-often bacon bender I seem to go on. Bok choi is lovely when stir fried in a bit of bacon grease. I just cut the bok choi in two and fried them just like that. They came out of the pan slightly crunchy and lovely. You end up with this amazing vegetable that smells and tastes every-so-slightly like sweetened peanut butter. It's rather bizarre, but I greatly enjoy it. Plus, bacon + bok choi = a solid Sunday night meal. I am not going to lie.

Anyways. I really do feel this irritating, rage dump of a summer melting away. I think some time on vacation will really remedy this brain-in-a-box feeling I've been enduring for a number of months. The start of a fresh semester with lovely old faces and wonderful new faces will, no doubt, help as well. Anyways, I'm going to go stand in front of a bookshelf for a half hour and contemplate what I am going to read next. I have a brain ache that keeps punching me in the face.

I'll leave you with my most recent video blog... see more over at Kingfisher Says.

August 5th, 2011 from Laurel K Brown on Vimeo.

Nighty night.