Vancouver - the real high

Last weekend was Canada's first Wanderlust festival in Whistler - a festival marrying yoga, music, smiles, fluorescent spandex, sunshine, sweat and the great outdoors. Real highs on steroids.

During a lecture at Wanderlust I was reminded of a sailboat I noticed in a marina called "The Real High". I thought it was a clever name for a boat. Not pretty, but clever.

At this lecture, Terry McBride, founder of both Network Records and Yyoga, made an apt connection between yoga and music. Dopamine is the key ingredient to their success. Dopamine is the high that makes us play that song over-and-over until you can't stand it. And it's also that magical high that yoga gives you - a real natural high.

Vancouver's mountains, ocean and fresh air is enough to give Vancouverites a little hit of it every day. Running the seawall in Vancouver you see these dopamine junkies sweating it out with their headphones blaring their favorite songs, pushing harder every day to touch that high...checking out the other sweaty junkies along the way...

I also see the dopamine high in the eyes of someone on the London tube station as they fly towards their big meeting, caffeinated, ready to knock-em dead in that meeting...followed by the high of friends with beer spilling out the pubs, and listening to the next big band at the local pub. Every city must have their own combination of highs that make the culture tick and buzz. But Vancouver is special in that we seem to be striving for real healthy highs. Being surrounded by nature is convincing enough that there must be real highs out there that aren't pure adrenaline and over-stimulation from fabricates sources. But maybe there are higher pure highs?

This bring me to another interesting point - the soundtrack in many yoga classes these days seems to be key to the success of a class. A teacher's class is as good as their soundtrack. Like the music at a bar while you dance. The lyrics and familiar songs arriving right in your moment of euphoria brings you just that much deeper into it...or further away, for that matter.

Is the yoga high moving towards over-stimulation into the realm of fabricated highs? Away from the  high from within? Or like listening to music as you jog or ride the tube...just an innocent enhancement to life. And yoga.

And once you experience the dopamine rushes brought on by running, or dancing or singing to music....is it harder to feel good without it? Is the intensity of a yoga high with music addictive like drugs, making it harder to enjoy that flat level of happy normalcy?

I think we can all agree the high of yoga and music is safer than most stimulants one associates with addiction. And for that reason I think Vancouverites are on the right track. But it doesn't hurt to check ourselves...where are we going with that?

photo via lululemon

a perfect poem by Prevert

An orange upon the table
Your dress on the rug
And you in my bed
Sweet present of the present
Freshness of the night
Warmth of my life

- Jacques Prevert

(The original is in French.... )

Une orange sur la table
Ta robe sur le tapis
Et toi dans mon lit
Doux présent du présent
Fraîcheur de la nuit
Chaleur de ma vie

- Jacques Prevert

Jargogle, Bibesy & Freck. Portentous!

Reading "Crome Yellow" by Aldous Huxley  I am coming across some beautiful old words that I would like to add to my vocabulary. It's been fun looking them up and hoping I will remember to bring them into conversation.

My three favorites so far are:

1  Peripatetic - walking or traveling about; itinerant. 
I like this one because I really like the word 'nomadic'. 
'Peripatetic' doesn't roll off the tongue quite as easily, but, it still conjures up some interesting characters in my mind.

2  Prodigious - impressively great in size, force, or extent; enormous, extraordinary, marvelous.
His cousins are so over used. Prodigious. "What a prodigious idea!" I like it.
  
3  Portentous - marvelous; amazing; prodigious.  
How come I have never heard the word the prodigious?! 
Well now I have. Not pretentious...portentous.

I am going to sneak them in future blog posts. That's a promise. 

I found this great article about favorite old words that this Linguistic Major thinks should be brought back to life again. Here are a few exerts from the article with Erin McKean’s explanations (also quite amusing):

Bibesy
Noun – “A too earnest desire after drink.” – “Bibesy” may have been completely made up in the 18th century and it’s unclear whether it ever made it into common use, but it could easily be used today: “Wedding guests waited anxiously for the bar to open; bibesy should be expected after such a long, dull service.”

Freck
Verb intr. – “To move swiftly or nimbly” – I can think of a lot of ways to use this one, like “I hate it when I’m frecking through the airport and other people are going so slow.”

Jargogle
Verb trans. – “To confuse, jumble” – First of all this word is just fun to say in its various forms. John Locke used the word in a 1692 publication, writing “I fear, that the jumbling of those good and plausible Words in your Head..might a little jargogle your Thoughts…” I’m planning to use it next time my husband attempts to explain complicated Physics concepts to me for fun: “Seriously, I don’t need you to further jargogle my brain.”

Deliciate
Verb intr. – “To take one’s pleasure, enjoy oneself, revel, luxuriate” – Often I feel the word “enjoy” just isn’t enough to describe an experience, and “revel” tends to conjure up images of people dancing and spinning around in circles – at least in my head. “Deliciate” would be a welcome addition to the modern English vocabulary, as in “After dinner, we deliciated in chocolate cream pie.” 

Brabble  
Verb – “To quarrel about trifles; esp. to quarrel noisily, brawl, squabble” – Brabble basically means to argue loudly about something that doesn’t really matter, as in “Why are we still brabbling about who left the dirty spoon on the kitchen table?” You can also use it as a noun: “Stop that ridiculous brabble and do something useful!”

Full Article here:

Monday ballet

"Absolute Adult Beginner Ballet". What a great name for a class. I wasn't a ballerina when I was little, nor was I a good dancer. I find it really hard to follow steps, and my rhythm isn't consistent whenever I try to concentrate on it…this is exactly why beginner ballet is so much fun. I started last year in a class with women ranging in age from early 20's to late 60's in a studio overlooking the city. My friends were a little surprised about my hobby of choice, but it turns out it was a grand idea. I like the rigid structure, the connection with intricate parts of the body, the discipline, the intensity, the tradition, the classical music, the costumes, the french language and the overall "je ne sais quoi" of the practice. Did I mention the costumes? leg warmers…après-ballet layers… lovely…

The practice is undeniably an aesthetically pleasing art form. The ballet shoes, the rows of mirrors…that pale pink colour is the epitome of "pretty". Even the stretching along the bar at the beginning and end of practice is beautifully ceremonial. It's intentional, slow and gracious. You have to concentrate on the tiniest of movements and poise at the same time attempting to be graceful, light, and strong. It reminds me a bit of yoga. The body awareness, breath, muscle control, flexibility and balance practiced in yoga certainly help.

Oh and the music. Classical music brings me to another era. I think practicing ballet is offering me structure and grounding - classical rules and inflexibility in what is right. I guess it's a contrast to the rest of my flowey, random week.

I'm now dropping-in to a Monday nights at GOH Ballet (a classical studio on 8th and Main in a beautiful old building) to an adult beginner class. I'm looking forward to my Mondays at 7 to hop into my classic ballet outfit, my warm-up layers, and then working really hard in a delicate and silly manner (only silly because I am such a novice. The teacher was offering me a lot of "good trys" with a smile last week).  My arms are all over the place, my steps are completely wrong most of the time and my jumps look ridiculous. But that's okay. It's a contrast within a contrast - working on something so rigid and classic that it makes me feel free because I know exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. Even if it is just for an hour and a half, once a week.

wake up to yoga

 Image: Lyn Marshall - "Wake Up to Yoga" 

bright sunny morning 

mustard, orange and gold

spine soft

supple

breathe breathe

release  

repeat

The Birth of Dalia

 Elena and I just finished bottling our first batch of shea butter and essential oil creams. I'm so lucky to be working with Elena on this line of simple beauty products. She has so much knowledge in herbs, oils, tinctures and the apothecary world. She was in the industry for years and still loves playing with oils and discovering new combinations to swoon over. We are creating a group of shea butter creams by adding oils like Neroli (orange flower essential oil) chamomile, vetiver, myrrh & frankincense (if only we had gold we would be very wise women). 

Yesterday I discovered the underrated but beautiful scent of laurel essential oil. As Elena described, it has a very high note but it's not too sweet or floral. And black pepper essential oil is surprisingly a very sexy smell. We added black pepper with a bit of patchouli into a masculine blend that I must say has a very seductive scent. Below are some beautiful old apothecary bottles and labels. And below that is the draft version of our "Dalia" label. We both love the Art Nouveau era. I never thought I would actually get to draw from it in a design project because it is such a specific look  - but I think it is perfect for what we are doing here with Dalia. Dalia is so sensual with all the natural scents and smooth creams. And it is more than just inspired from nature - everything we are working with comes from mother earth herself. We are two Pisces playing with the senses - of course it needs to be Art Nouveau! I can only dream to one day build a shelf like the bottom image filled with oils and creams and magical blends. But it all starts with dreaming, right?

minds are not just props at the house

This morning I had a delightful social experience before 9 am - likemind Vancouver is an event that started in New York in 2007 by some like-minded folks who missed the ritual of real-face meeting over coffee. Now it takes place all over the world in different cities in a different coffee shop every month. This snowy morning at 8 am it was at east side Prophouse Cafe on Venables at Commercial Drive.  I have found my new favorite coffee/hang-out spot. Eclectic, friendly, full of beautiful vintage artifacts, and...wait for it.... there's a 70's basement-like living room with velvet paintings, an orange sofa and a retro vibe I would kill to have in my home.

Here are some pics - I will defintely be going to the next LikeMind meet up next month to meet more cool people and I'll be found glued to that orange couch in the very near future.

likemind.us
prophousecafe.com
@LikemindVan

Tips for Long Life "Conseils pour vivre longtemps"

What a beautiful image. She looks like Frida Kahlo, no?  That's impossible though - these are pages of a book from L'Ecole de Salerne in 1861. L'Ecole de Salerne was the first medical school in the Middle Ages in Salerne, Italy. Those are the signs of the zodiac corresponding body part. Funny how pisces are at the feet. Fish don't even have feet. But I guess that's the point.  If only our text books were so beautiful. I just found a free source for beautiful ancient books archived online. No dusty book smell, but still pretty amazing. If you have a little time and curiosity I recommend checking it out. Just maybe you'll find the secret to long life.  

http://www.archive.org/details/texts

What everyone forgets is that passion is not merely a heightened sensual fusion but a way of life which produces, as in mystics, an ecstatic awareness of the whole of life. – Anais Nin

 

My first Anais Nin book is "Ladders to Fire" (thanks Jeff & Katie for the recommendation!).  And I love it. Her writing is so free and sensual. There's almost no plot or setting, instead you are taken into layers of her characters' emotions, thoughts and feelings. So far, (I'm only half way through), there hasn't been any eroticism.  Although there is definitely something erotic about it in a subtle and feminine way.  When I'm finished it will join the other vintage books in the 70's Che Baba book collection.

603 Kingsway, Vancouver

Kingsway sounds like a very regal street. It dashes diagonally through the strict grid system of Vancouver heading southeast of historical Gastown towards Burnaby. It has seen a lot over the years but nothing close to royalty in recent decades. It has many ethnic eateries, garages, car lots and many Vietnamese Pho restaurants, some of which are actually private clubs with nicotine stained walls where gambling and after-hours affairs take place.

And well, this is the street Stephan and I chose to open our baby, Alibaba. In fact, we are turning one of these Vietnamese "restaurants" and the print shop next door into something more enjoyable for the ever-changing neighbourhood. There will be a yoga studio on one side and a restaurant on the other. They will work together and be a place to indulge in holistic therapies such as yoga, food, wine and conversation. It's been 6 months in the dreaming and it's at a very real stage. We have a vacant building, design drawings, and a team in the making. Tomorrow I'm scraping the letters off the windows, so I thought I would say goodbye to the old businesses with a few photos.

the old Pho restaurant

restaurant back door

front of the printing shop which is becoming a yoga studio

Like a water flea

I heard that in Chinese medicine the belief is that people are born with a certain number of heartbeats in a lifetime. So energy is not made, but spent. Here is a nice quote bringing that idea into modern day. 

"The wish to live as intensely as possible has subjected humans to the same dilemma as the water flea, which lives 108 days at 8 degrees Centigrade, but only twenty-six days at 28 degrees, when its heart beats 15 million times in all. Technology has been a rapid heartbeat, compressing housework, travel, entertainment, squeezing more and more into the allotted span. Nobody expected that it would create the feeling that life moves too fast." - Theodore Zeldin

Life These Days

Nostalgia, the simple life, heritage, authenticity and ideas about the past seem to be the innovative ideas these days. Reality tv wasn't real enough,  and now the quest for all things "real" has begun. From holistic medicine to backyard chicken coops, to  home cooking and family values. The western world seems to be looking for roots.

All of a sudden I'm seeing the value in a baker pounding dough day in, day out. I feel like our society has become so evolved - that there's nothing real to do anymore.  I for one have had me mind in an international, cross industry, innovation state of mind. What about the planets, the dinosaurs, the Mayans, and the trees and the plants that used to live where I'm standing?  I can only speak for myself, but they are all things I learned about in elementary school and haven 't put much thought towards since.

 What if doing less, helps more? Maybe moving slower, producing less, making less money, enjoying the moment and consuming less could actually bring more satisfaction in my life and also be better for humanity? hmm.

Gone Fishin'

 

This is a rough but perfect kitchen on a retired fishing boat. I forgot how much I love marinas. The names of boats, the 'gone fishin' relaxed vibe and the sweet smell of fishy-salty-gasoline mixed with a cool breeze. I often say I think I was a fish in my past life because I'm addicted to the ocean. But maybe I was a fisherman.

In vino veritas

"In vino veritas, in aqua sanitas". In wine there is truth, in water there is health. I agree.  And want lots of both.

Lately I have been trying to figure out my ideal lifestyle. Being from Vancouver I love the outdoors, yoga, comfy sandals, down-to-earth and laid-back people. But I find the Lululemon culture, which is synonymous with the Vancouver-health-nut-lifestyle, feels great physically, and makes me feel safe, positive and grounded, but the routine turns into no-fun-city pretty fast.

This is why I have a love affair with European metropolitan city life. I fled to London a couple years ago and dove head first into London life. It felt like a whole new world. It's a place that doesn't stop moving, shocking and impressing me and it feels like anything is possible there. Similar things are said about New York, that anything can happen and that you can be whoever you want to be there. There are a lot of people out there "faking it until they make it" but not in a negative way....they are living a different life than they could anywhere else.  It makes for some very interesting characters.

So being back in Vancouver has put everything back into perspective for me again. But now I know I need a piece of both lifestyles in my life.

I've decided that the two lifestyles are not mutually exclusive, and I can drink both my water and my wine. My latest idea is to create a health conscious, grounded world in Paris, France where they have a healthy attitude towards food and drink, appreciate the joy of living, and has the sophistication that only a grown up city can have. Yoga, learning, beautiful design, holistic practices, real ingredients, positive energy and people...

Images from top: Tadao Ando Museum, Venice with paintings by Rudolf Stigel; Aesop store; Calvin Klein Spring/Summer 2010.

Supertramp!

Supertramp, by Lehman B, London, UK - "Inspired by a more minimal, fluid and socially aware approach to future living, the project seeks to promote and inspire leaner, more livable life forms. Exploring the practicality of microsized living and urban downshifting - Supertramp wagon will act as my permanent mobile home, while doubling as an agency and social-facility point as well." 

I'm finding it hard to find words to explain how great I think Jacob's new venture is.

My first day of work at The Future Laboratory, Jacob bounced over with his long blond hair, wide blue eyes and charming Scandinavian grin and began to show me the ropes at the lab. He always had such a fascinating perspective from the science/architecture/design world that I just ate up.  I learned bucket-loads from him. On the occasional lunch out of the office to the luxurious Waitrose grocery store,  he told me about his sailing trips at home in Denmark, and how like me, he missed the freedom of living somewhere with space, a slower pace of life, and enjoying the good life.

I had the feeling that he wanted to escape the London urban lifestyle and jump on a boat and sail around the world. And not just that he wanted to, but that he was close to making a drastic change in lifestyle. So when I got the email about Lehman B, a "do-tank", and the first project called Supertramp, I was ecstatic.  Lehman B is "based on the belief that the best way to embrace the opportunities the future holds is by living them and doing them."

 I still haven't figured out if Lehman B is a one man show, or if it's a team thing...all I know is that right now, Jacob is roaming around London, living in this beautifully designed bike wagon, holding workshops and discussions about design, the future, microsize living, urban flowmads, downshifting...and well lots of innovative and different ideas. I remember how obsessed he was with micro homes and caravans, and now he combined a million of his good ideas into one project called Supertramp. Congrats Jacob. You're my hero! To "doing", instead of saying, thinking and longing.

Check out Lehman B website for live map of his progress and details about what a "do-tank" does. Below is a shot of the interior of the Supertramp wagon. Merveilleux!

Above exterior, below interior of 'Supertramp' by Lehman B. Photography by Felicity Crawshaw

Lets Talk About Spirituality, Baby.

 So I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to a session with my summer roommate, Sara Mullin, who is an alternative healer. 

I didn't have many expectations going into it. I'm a fan of acupuncture, I've had a positive experience with a homeopath and I think reiki sounds really neat. And that is about the extent of my alternative healing solutions. Unless you think of yoga as alternative?

Anyways, I didn't ask Sara about what kind of therapy she does. But all the different training she has been doing over the years sounded really interesting. So I walked into it blind.

Her studio is a small comfortable room on the second floor at Main and 28th. The first thing I noticed was the beautiful batik fabric covering the massage/reiki table. And on top of that was a wood bowl filled with different stones, some vials, and about 8 different colours of sunglasses lined up. The frames and the lenses were tinted bright blue, red, orange...all the colours of the rainbow. Then there was a chart explaining more about Dr Darren Weissman's Lifeline Technique, and some other metal instruments wrapped in fabric that I could not identify.

I told Sara of a few of my physical and emotional ailments, and then we began. With some light touch, hand motions and verbal cues we got to a place that had a different energy.  The hour flew by with  some reflection, verbal reiteration, a few tears, a stone, some aromatherapy, a metal tool, some blue sunglasses and a couple of moments running on the spot (which somehow felt amazing). 

After I felt physically good and uplifted and my foot that has been bugging me felt noticeably better. She got me to think about feelings and images that I would not have thought of otherwise that I have reflected on since. And we didn't even talk that much....just a few words here and there that I recall. Trés interesant, oui?

I've only had one session, but Sara's practice seems to me to be tapping into a growing need for accessible, yet different therapy. You don't have to be spiritual or into alternative practices to go, and it made me think and feel 'out of the box'.  It combines some more widely accepted therapy such as positive thinking (bottled and sold as "The Secret") and combined a variety of interesting holistic/spiritual therapy.

I'm looking forward to my next session with Sara. I think she is right on the mark with her business. With austerity and authenticity at the forefront of popularity, more people are looking to add depth to themselves, rather than adding to their wallets and wardrobes.  'Self-help' is a dirty word, but the idea of making your life better than it is by adding dimensions and depth doesn't seem pathetic at all.

That said, there certainly seems to be another lost generation lingering about these days.  But maybe like the Beat generation, this lost generation will also end up being renown for their journey and be both super-spiritual and super-high tech. That sounds kind of neat to me.

"It's a kind of furtiveness... Like we were a generation of furtives. You know, with an inner knowledge...a kind of beatness... and a weariness with all the forms, all the conventions of the world... So I guess you might say we're a 'Beat Generation' - Jack Kerouac

"Beatitude" - the necessary beatness or darkness that precedes opening up to light, egolessness, giving room for religious illumination.

Images from top: Cool Blast, by Adolph Gottlieb, 1960 ;
Untitled, Carlo Villa, 1962.

Space Lab

One of my favorite places to hang out is Space Lab on 1847 Main Street and 3rd Ave East. It's the new kid on the block of Vancouver's Main Street vintage furniture stores. It was started by Clint Moroz whose personal collection of books, art, doodads and beautiful-things with a story, became too much for his home. So a hobby became a store.

I like to hang out and read the books and poke fun at Clint for how chaotic and dangerous the store is. (Today I was almost speared on a stray antler). I usually drop a thing or two by accident, meet a few interesting people, rearrange a table and sip the specialty beers that somehow seem to appear at the end of the day. It actually relates to my post about Raw Canvas and the need for more casual cultural spaces. I always learn about things I didn't know I had an interest in.
















Clint's eclectic yet discerning selection of books, furniture and things have something beyond a designer name, or an 'artist collaboration', or super on-trend appeal. It's a selection of things that he likes, and finds interesting, and is more than happy to get into discussion about why it's important or interesting, quirky or classic. The space is somewhere to spend time, learn, be social, and shop of course.

For example, so far, I purchased a book on 20th Century Italian Design, and the "Underground Revolution of the Hippie, Yippees and Others", and some 50's porn for a gift. Yes actually a gift. In fact 50's porn is quite tame really.

Here are some a few more pics of Space Lab. If you go there tomorrow everything will be in a different place... gem upon gem, waiting to be discovered, discussed, dropped, polished, admired, home.

Spirituality, the last taboo of the 21st Century

Spirituality, seems to me, to be on the tips of our tongues. People seem interested in exploring it, but it is still a tad taboo. In the 60's it was out in the open like never before. The hippies talked so much about it that it became cliché and now epitomizes the era. Well that and the drugs, protests, free love, and the like. The idea of getting more out of life through alternative means was at the center of popular culture and very à la mode. Over the past year or so we've been nudged to slim down our lives to the essentials by re-evaluating possessions, priorities, and lifestyles. This is why I feel the 60's are such an intriguing era right now.

I just read "The Underground Revolution: The Hippies Yippies and Others" which was written in 1970 by Naomi Feigelson. It's all about the 60's and how the underground revolution became so influential. I like it because it's told in the past tense, but written right after it happened. It's interesting hearing about the innovators/ eccentrics/ hippies/ crazies/revolutionaries making headlines in The New York Times as the movements progressed from the underground, popular culture, politics and even religion.

The chapter about the popularity of spirituality and pop culture was really interesting. I learned that the commercial viability of the eastern spirituality in the western world, or "whole Indian love cult",  came to a decline in the late 60's when the elitism and materialism of the trend outweighed the spiritual experiences. Even Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's offerings fell short. "They wanted to believe, and he gave them nothing to belive in." was said of the guru of new religious movement called the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi had the following of the Beatles, The Doors, Mia Farrow, the Rolling Stones and thousands. But in May 1968 in New York, the Beatles confessed in a press conference that they meditated now and then, but that they had "made a mistake on Maharishi." After all, said John Lennon, "We're only humans." (The Underground Revolution, Feigelson, pg 59)

So what I'm finding most fascinating about this books is the surprising number of similarities between the ideas of the hippies, yippies and underground movements in the 60's and to the ideas in the air right now. It's been a good half century, and I think spirituality is coming back to the forefront of popular culture.

This post is getting too long, so I'm going to leave it there with some pretty nostalgic pictures and get back to it after my alternative healing session this afternoon. Today I have a session with Sara, my new room mate. She's a practitioner of a holistic healing technique called LifeLine Technique which she learned from a doctor in Chicago. I feel I have some healing to do in mind, body and maybe even in soul. So I'm really looking forward to it. Shortly I'm going to walk a bit further down Main Street to her studio to get an alternative form of healing to my useual jogging, yoga, physio and wine-therapy.

Yuppie + Hipster = Yupster

Hybrid spaces for socializing while creating art are popping up left, right and center. I like the idea of a philosopher's lounge. A bar or lounge encouraging strangers to interact and discuss ideas instead of peering at each other over loud music.

Of course community groups and organizations hold events for this purpose, but they're often geared towards people already involved with the topic and aren't necessarily in a 'hip' and casual space. So now that more people are looking to expand their cultural and creative activities in their day to day lives, I think there's a growing need for culture/art/history/theater/book bars that are accessible to everyone. For example, if you don't know much about philosophy, you can still pop by the "philosophers lounge", have a drink and partake in cultural discussions or activities. Then move onto the next bar, and maybe do a little painting.


For example, you could stop by the restaurant called "Raw Canvas" in Yale Town, Vancouver. Their slogan is "Art + Social" and it does exactly what it says on the tin. Easels are set up so you can move seamlessly from eating to painting while sipping wine and cocktails along the way. The Yale Town yuppie type (small dog in right hand, designer purse in left) is adding the glamor to Hipster-ish activities. In the same way that yuppies have embraced and glamorized the yoga lifestyle in Vancouver, the 'hipster' culture is being gentrified and glamorized. Yupsters anybody? (Yuppie + Hipster = Yupster).

The School of Life is a really neat company in the business of selling culture and self improvement in London. Someone should start one in Vancouver. I always hear people complaining about how hard it is to meet people here, and the health-conscious city would eat up the life enhancement courses.


So anyways, I checked out 'Raw Canvas' the other night. It was packed with the Yale Town pre-drinking crowd that was getting ready to go out on the town. Underneath their painting smocks and coveralls were little black dresses, high heels, and dressy bar attire. Now on a night out in Yale Town you can pick up a mate and a new painting. Now that's a productive Saturday night.