from my balcony

Happy (that I'm NOT) Moving Day!!

2007-07-03T08:32:00.000-04:00

July 1st marks the occasion of the traditional Québecois sport - moving day! Everyone and their dog (although sometimes the little furry ones do get left behind, so it's also a very busy day for the SPCA!) moves in Quebec on July 1st. Perhaps it's a seperatist snub at our national holiday?... anyways, for the past 5 years, I've simply enjoyed watching everyone else sweat and curse as I sit on my balcony sipping my coffee...

Janou-Eve LeGuerrier sur mon balcon...

2007-07-03T07:47:00.000-04:00

Saturday I photographed Janou-Eve LeGuerrier ("The Warrior"!), a new neighbor that I met recently at the YMCA in my neighborhood. A sweet soul and a talented illustrator/graphic designer. We exchanged services so now I have some of her great artwork adorning my bedroom walls! Check out her website: janoueve.com
She also has a blog: http://janoueve.wordpress.com
My favorite portrait of Janou (taken in my apt....)

Bon St-Jean!

2007-06-24T11:32:00.000-04:00

Happy Fête de Québec!! Today is the Québec holiday - St.Jean Baptiste Day. I will be spending it at the Piknic Electronik on île Ste-Hélène this afternoon with friends....Mac on the balcony this morning with the Québec flag...My neighbor's balcony and their flag...

from my back balcony

2007-06-24T11:22:00.000-04:00

Friday, June 22nd, 2007 (4:30pm)
Look up, look waaaaaaay up. It's Pascal, the friendly neighborhood boy-next-door hanging his laundry!

Friday, June 22nd, 2007 (7:30pm)
And here's Jenny's girls: Julie and Isabelle with Nadia's daughter, Justine on the back balcony before our bbq (in honor of Jill, my friend who's due any day now with her first child, Zayd).

Backwards Blogging...

2007-06-16T16:08:00.001-04:00

Ok, so I've been super-slacking with the blogging, but there's a good reason...(read on to find out more)...!

Love Thy Neighbor!

2007-06-16T15:50:00.000-04:00

Ok, so the real reason I have been so bad with the blogging lately is that I've been seeing the "cute neighbor" from upstairs since Marie-Josée's "stagette" soirée! I seem to have a slight tendancy to date my neighbors (remembering Brent and Benjy: they both lived on the same floor as me in Regina in my apartment on 14th Street!) This brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "Love Thy Neighbor" and "May I borrow some sugar?" For the last 2 weeks I've been borrowing a lot of sugar and here I am corrupting him with early afternoon g & t's on the balcony. (BTW, his name's Pascal, not just "cute neighbor"). These were taken on June 9th at around 4 pm....

MJ's Stagette ends up on the balcony

2007-06-16T15:16:00.000-04:00

One of my best friends got married on June 1st. Marie-Josée lives in NYC now, but is originally from Montreal. She asked if she could stay here the night before (May 31st) the wedding day and I suggested we have a nice quiet dinner and that she invite her other good friend Kori who was to be the witness at the wedding. But....as a joke, I asked my cute neighbor from upstairs to show up around 7pm and to say that he was the hired "exotic dancer" for the "stagette"....! He went all out and even bought a fake mustache and aviatar sunglasses, tight jeans and when he arrived the party started! Many martinis were consumed and there was one martini-glass fatality (as usual). So, what was supposed to be a quiet 'girl's night' turned into a full blown party which ended up outside on my balcony! WoooHoooo! We had so much fun that I decided that even though I may never marry - I sure would love to have a stagette!

MJ arrives with her wedding gear at 8pm, thursday, May 31st

MJ looks excited....
MJ and Kori party it up!

Girls Gone Wild!

MJ strikes a pose with her Malboro...

MJ Blowin' smoke at me while Kori toys with cute neighbor...

Oh la la... MJ gets a surprise from her "surprise"...

MJ a little tired from the evening's festivities (notice the broken martini glass - my bad!)
The party ended at 2am - we all needed our beauty sleep for the wedding later that day!

How many blue-collars does it take to fill a pot hole?

2007-06-16T15:08:00.000-04:00

answer: 7
2 to shovel, 1 to go over with the roller and 4 to watch!
Photo taken: Wednesday, May 30th, 2007, 8:58 am

Beaubien Street

2007-05-29T17:25:00.000-04:00

Sigh...this morning my balcony didn't inspire me, so I'm posting some photos I did this afternoon of Beaubien street for a client of mine from the States. I actually met her through myspace. She wanted a shot of Beaubien street as a surprise for her husband for Father's day. His last name is Beaubien and he's originally from Quebec, but they live in Iowa. She was thrilled with them. Yeah! So am I - Funky Beaubien.

Gray Bearded Buddies

2007-05-28T09:35:00.000-04:00

Meet Gary, my neighbor from upstairs (one up and one over). Whether he's coming or going, Gary always stops to talk to Mac and give him some lovin'. We chat about our landlady's lack of upkeep, how the front yard looks like a jungle, about the bird/cat action of yesterday, how great a dog Mac is... He and Gary have something in common - they're both gray-beards. I ask Gary to pose for my blog.
He tells me that for a guy who works with computers (he's a graphic designer), he must be getting too old for technology because he doesn't even like the sound of the word "blog". I have to admit, when Blogs first started popping up, I didn't really see the point either and especially didn't like the idea of exposing my personal stuff on the world wide web.

Now, I've decided that it's a chance to keep my mind and eye sharp and most importantly, gives me something to dedicate part of my day to. Like the morning ritual of showering, getting dressed, walking the dog and having my coffee on the balcony, but even more than that, it's something to commit to, to be disciplined to keep it up and with those skills honed, I can hopefully be more so in my other endeavors. Too often I start something and then don't keep it up or put it aside.
I'll try to keep this up!
Nothing else to tell you! Go gray beards!

Bad Kitty's sequel...My Neighbor is a bleeding heart!

2007-05-27T21:06:00.001-04:00

Ok, maybe it's because I grew up on a farm in the Prairies, but yeesh! My neighbor is nutso - he's got 3 out of the 4 grackles that the Bad Kitty packed today in a cat carrier out below the back gallery of our apt. building. I saw him carrying out granola for them and handling them with gardening gloves. He said they can't fly, they've been severely mauled, but he's hoping they'll be ok. Huh??!! I said it's only natural that the cats chase the birds and he can't really hope to save the poor suckers. He said "lucky that you're here to teach me about nature.." (hmm...was that an insult?).... well, good luck bleedin' heart!
p.s. for those other bleeding hearts out there, I did mention that he could call the Berger Blanc and that they would come and "relieve" him of the birdies and put them out of their misery in a much more humane manner than death by granola...
buenos nachos...

Bad Kitty / Good Dog

2007-05-27T10:37:00.002-04:00

Every morning, I enjoy a cup of coffee and breakfast with my mini Schnauzer, Mac on my front balcony. It's usually quite entertaining! Just this morning there was a huge commotion as my neighbor, Gala's feline huntress packed yet another squawking grackle.
The result was a riot of complaints from the feisty gang of grackles as she toyed with their unlucky comrade. Seeing as "Bad Kitty" (I don't know her real name) seems to manage this feat on a rather regular basis, I've come to the conclusion that grackles are not the smartest of birds. Confirming this, they seem to have decided this morning that I am somehow an accomplice to the murderous character. A few brave (or stupid) ones passed surprisingly close to my face in what I could only interpret as their heart-felt anger and disugst towards my entertained self. Swooping and diving in their intimidating stealth passes, my only barrier of protection being my Montreal "Mirror" which I held up to block their bird-brained insurgence. My response to their outrage: take photos of the crime. So, here's Bad Kitty staring up at me like "what do you want? you ain't gettin' my bird-booty, so don't even think of it!" when along comes "Good Kitty" who also belongs to Gala, but whom I've never seen harm even an insect. (She's more of a huntress of sunrays). She looks too coiffed to be into hunting and was obviously just curious about all the commotion as she peered over to see what Bad Kitty had in her nonchalant paw. Bad Kitty doesn't like to share, so she scampered off with the screaming grackle in her jaws. Meanwhile, all this action has concerned my mini-Schnauzer so I tell him to jump on "his" chair and I console him with bits of scrambled egg and toast.
Another morning, another victim.
Bad Kitty.