Ev'ryting Irie in Jamaica

Trip to Jamaica for a beautiful wedding! No words can be said.

友人の結婚式にジャマイカへ！言葉が出ないほど最高な時期だった。

Thank you to everyone who was there, you made this trip such an amazing experience for me. I was so touched by the quality of each friend and family I met there. Congratulations to my beautiful couple, I am so happy for you.
新郎と新婦、おめでとうございます！

Summer, Love, and Weddings

I was honored to be able to attend a good friend's wedding this summer:

Beautiful flower petals for tossing at the bride and groom.

Bubbles!

The scenery.

In the end I didn't catch the name of this appetizer.

Snapshot taken from the window during the reception dinner.

Crazy cake pops that the groom and his friends made as wedding favors (the little ones are the wedding favors).

This is the cake pop I brought home. Many congrats to the bride and groom!

Bus Stop

Bus stop from last year
去年のバス停

看板： ハートフルなストーリーを聞きますか？

男と言うのは、電車に乗る前、みんなを先に行かせます。

終。

この写真を見て日本に住んでいる友達が：
それじゃ。。。電車にスペースがなくなって次の電車を待つしかない。。。ってこと？

私：そう。だから日本に男がいない～！


笑、冗談です。


でもね、カナダがあんなに「ジェントルマンな国」だと言われるのに 、最近あたしが一番最初にバス停でバスを待つのに、バスが来ると、男性男女関係なく後で来た人がみんなあたしより先に乗っちゃいます。いやですモウーッ！o（　＞＜　）o

こういう時日本のシステムがいいと思います。並ぶ線があって、バスや電車はドアーが列の前になるよう必ず止まってくるから、例外はあるが順番に乗ることができます。

でもまあ、こんなことについて文句を言えるもんですから、カナダもそんなに悪くないと希望を持てますね。私も、そんな気にならないよう、頑張ります。d(  ' '  )b



My friend who lives in Japan saw this and said: then...he has to catch the next train because he can't fit on this one anymore?

Me: yup, that's why guys don't exist in Japan. ^^

(Just kidding.)

Although Canada is often referred to as the "country of gentlemen", this year I find more often that even though I am the first one waiting at a bus stop, when the bus comes everyone who came after me gets on the bus ahead of me. Boooo.

At times like these I really appreciate the systematic manner Japan takes toward its transit. Pathways are marked out for where to line up, and the trains always stop so that the doors match up with the front of each lineup. There are still exceptions, but people generally get on board in the order in which they lined up.

Of course, Canada also has a lot of other great aspects. At least I still manage to get on board and it all doesn't turn out too badly most of the time. I'll work on not getting worked up over it~
d(  ' '  )o

Memories

Going through my room again I came upon my little "treasure box". It's interesting to see the items that come into your possession throughout the years, and how they reflect a part of you - who you were, who you are, who you become. My Chuck e Cheese coins, the badly folded dragonfly that I made for my friend's wedding reception. Things that may have no value to anyone else can be of infinite meaning, to the right person.

My baby bracelet was not made of gold or platinum, but has attained quite some character over the years. The best part? It still fits.

Free Wishes

(Photo courtesy of Jeff Chan)

So it took me a couple months to get the pictures ready and another few months to finish writing this...

I went to visit the Market Collective back in March. It was my first time seeing it since being back in Canada, and it was also something I hadn't done pretty much since Market Collective first came into existence.

Market Collective is just one of numerous initiatives in Calgary that have taken off in recent years, connecting local artists' works and products with the surrounding community.

My main motive for dropping by the March Market Collective was to see the Free Wishes project set up by Jeff Chan and Jamie Hobbs. I learned from Jeff Chan's blog that Free Wishes was a community project he originally did with Jamie Hobbs at the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. I didn't know this, but according to Jeff, more people die from suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge than any other location in the world.

Jeff and Jamie aimed to turn this location into a place of hope, even if for only a few moments, by inviting anyone to come and write down their wish on a rock.

Jeff and Jamie then brought the project to their hometown of Calgary, so I thought I would go check out the project, as well as write down a wish of my own.

It turns out that they put up a number of posters for people to write down their wishes. I did think the rocks were more interesting, but then I realized the great thing about these posters was that people were responding to each others' wishes. My favorite was one that said, "I wish we could have a rainbow everyday," to which someone else wrote, "but then it would rain everyday..."

(Photo courtesy of Jeff Chan)

As for my wish:

Visit Jeff Chan's website: jeffchanat.blogspot.ca
Visit Jamie Hobb's website: jamie-hobbs.com

The 2nd Night

So it's the second of four nights and all four nights are SOLD OUT!! Very exciting. I am so thankful to all the people who have come out and are coming out to support us. It really means a lot.

Awesome random lucky shot of my street getup.

These amazing eyes were done by makeup artist Emjay Casem (with the awesome hair next to me). Emjay and I are in one of the dance pieces together. Had to get a photo of these eyes; I feel guilty every night when I wipe my eyes off to re-makeup for the next piece in the show.

A good Material Girl shot. I wonder how my personality would appear to to people who see this photo. Introvert?

This turned out to be a surprisingly creative-looking shot.

All in all a good night (despite the fact that I stepped on a fellow dancer's pants in the crucial last piece and my face totally did the "oh shoot, I just stepped on someone's pants!" expression...so much for being a true performer). It is great to see people coming out for a cause and learning more about poverty ... and ultimately just enjoying the show.

I Want Change

Experimenting with an awesome picture that Connie took of me during filming for the Something to Say trailer. I liked the double meaning of the cardboard sign. I could make a photo reel with these! Counting down to show start and hoping we stay safe.

MAC Eyes

Trying out makeup for the upcoming show. For times like these the first place I go to is... *drumroll* ...MAC Cosmetics. When it comes to colour, especially stage colour, nothing beats MAC for me ... Though it makes me wonder what makeup Cirque du Soleil makeup artists are using. I'd like to start working with face paints sometime.

I walked into the MAC store and asked them to play with my eyes. (I was going for a grunge, feverish look.)

It reminded me that there are finally MAC stores in Japan now, and It makes me wonder if people in Japan also just walk up to the counter and ask for theatre makeup to be done on their faces. I'm pretty shy...but most girls in Japan are probably even more reserved than I am when it comes to that kind of stuff - forget guys!

I visited one of the stores when I was in Tokyo last time...and MAC prices are almost double what they are in Canada. I checked up on the internet and found out MAC was first founded in Canada, but sadly the U.S. pricing is still cheaper, probably because MAC is headquartered in New York.

...So then I played around with what my eye looked like on camera, and this was the effect. (It's the opposite eye because one picture was taken in the mirror and the other was not.) Totally changed my grunge look into something else:

The Beginning

The show takes off next Wednesday! This pic is from the first day we got together to start work on the dances. Time swept by and it's almost over already - but not the biggest part, the performances! It was a fun ride. Lots of respect to Connie, the one who started it all, for taking that extra step to look at poverty head on and learn about its many faces. For those in town, check out Something to Say April 4-7 at the Vertigo Theatre.

Conspicuous Spy

This shot is actually from rehearsal. I like the theme though...spying with a ridiculously apparent orange-clad camera (a.k.a. phone)

Fantastagram

I'm ensnared. These great photo apps de la modern phone technology have reeled me in. Now people like me who don't know anything about shopping photos can turn failed photos into beauties - like the one above of my loveable fluff ball. Another reason to love the iPhone. Besides the camera's poorer focus/clarity despite its many megapixels.