Weekend of breakfast.

The weather in Berlin was amazingly warm this weekend. Maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but I'm used to the long Canadian winters. I haven't worn my heavy winter jacket since last Thursday. I'd say it's spring. Minus the sun of course. The sky has been alternating between blue, and grey clouds. I don't mind though. At least it's not snowing!

a sure sign that spring is here.

The weekend was busy busy. I went to the Turkish market on Maybach Ufer to meet some friends, and ended up running into some more. Went to an opening party at Kunst-Werke where we met a friend and ran off for some japanese noodles at coccolo.

Saturday and Sunday were museum days... I saw both the Walton Ford exhibition and the George Grosz exhibition again. Then just rode my bike around and took some pictures of my route along the way.

On my way home from Hamburger Bahnhof

Last night we had a spontaneous dinner with friends in Kreuzberg at a beautiful french restaurant. Even the server was lovely to look at and oh so nice. It's sad that I don't know the name of the restaurant and didn't bother to bring a camera. Maybe in future posts. If you're interested I know that the address is roughly here.


Happy Monday.

In the Mail.

It's constantly getting warmer in Berlin. The ice which has covered the streets for the past month or so is melting and everything is now covered in puddles. It's messy out there... but the fact that it's warming up makes it all seem so lovely.



We've gotten a few mentionable things in the mail recently. I ordered a www.sandrajuto.com/">Sandra Juto print and was super excited to receive it last week. If you don't know her already check out her beautiful www.sandrajuto.com/blog/">blog.

Oh and the stamps. Maybe I should have been a stamp collector. I still have some Dick Bruna stamps tucked away somewhere that I had bought while in Japan. Do you know www.miffy.com/">Miffy?

Today we got the latest Bile Noire, published by Atrabile, in the mail. It's a Swiss comic anthology that M. has been contributing to throughout the past 7 years.





We also got the latest Missy Magazine in the mail this week. It's a German language feminist pop culture magazine. I'm just starting to be able to dig into the articles without a dictionary by my side. I'm really looking forward to this issue.



Happy Tuesday. I hope the weather is lovely wherever you are.

Laundry day.

Today is laundry day around here. I kind of love having my clothes hanging all over the house, drying. We don't have a clothes dryer, and haven't really used one for years. I've come to love the crisp feeling of clothes that are hung dried. I really miss having an outdoor space to dry our clothes.

It's beautiful in Berlin. Still a little bit cold. But the sky is blue. It feels like a day to open all the windows and get a little spring cleaning done.

I'm happy to report that I finished a sewing project that I have been thinking about since last fall. It's a present for some friends of ours so I'll have to post some photos later so as not to ruin the surprise. I can hardly keep it in!

I've just finished reading my first German book. Maybe I'm a little too excited about this feat. I started reading a couple of books in German last year, eventually became bored and abandoned them. My new goal is to read 10 German books this year... I only have nine more to go. This week I picked up a crime novel by Swedish writer Henning Mankell, of course it is translated into German. I like crime films but don't tend to read so many crime novels. I have to admit that the "who done it" aspect keeps me interested. This book has started out a bit brutally so we'll see if i can bear to stick with it. I would imagine that it won't get any more graphic than reading Cormac McCarthy.

Happy Sunday.

Works by my love.

A somewhat shameless plug. Manfred self publishes a series of art books called Screenshots which are inspired by films. I find them beautiful and somewhat haunting. You can view the entire series on his website. The next issue will be coming out early March!

You can check out more of his work on Arcademi and Gute Seiten. His work will also be at the Gute Seiten Festival in Hamburg from March 2nd to 14th, 2010. If you're in or around Hamburg check out the festival. Gute Seiten carries a load of really interesting and beautiful self published work.

It's beautiful in Berlin today, the sun is shining... and it's slowly getting warmer outside. Spring is just around the corner. I can feel it!

Happy Wednesday.

textile mania.

It's been a week of sleeping in late... and then sleeping some more. I've been home from work with bronchitis the entire week. Hopefully I've had my fill of sickness this year. It's starting to feel like a bad joke.

With all the extra time I've had this week to think, I've been daydreaming about things that I'd like to start working on... as soon as my health returns. I've also been getting a little embroidery practice in.



Spending almost an entire week in the apartment I was starting to climb the walls. So yesterday we braved the elements and went over the Kunst-werke to see the Owen Land exhibition on it's closing day. I think it was a good call health-wise. Even though I'm not such a big fan of his older work, the Dialogues series was pretty funny.

I also picked up this book on weaver Gunta Stölzl. I'm super excited to dig into it, and I decided to challenge myself and bought it in German. It may take me a little longer than usual to read. For me she is one of the most inspiring bauhaus weavers, though I am also smitten with Anni Albers work, Gunta Stölzl's enourmous and intricate pieces at the Modell Bauhaus exhibition just blew me away. I would really like to learn more about both of these ladies. Unfortunately the stacks are closed at the State Library here due to an asbestos problem so I'll have to suffice with my beautiful new book.





I've even started working on a Gunta Stölzl inspired embroidery piece.



Some nice blogs from Berlin that I've been reading this week... Ninon, The making of eden, and aitch.

I also came across dottie angel last week and was impressed with her undertaking of only buying second hand items or making things for herself for an entire year. It reminds me of needled when I first came across her blog late 2008. I've been thinking of doing one of these personal challenges myself but haven't quite formulated what it will be.

Happy Sunday.

Dance-o-rama.

I should mention that those guys in the dance circle are not Dan Deacon, but two audience members he forced into a dance contest.

Just a quick post here. I forgot to mention that Friday night at Club Transmediale was pretty great. Dan Deacon was the highlight of the weekend for me. Super entertaining... just funny as crap. Somehow this man has the audience wrapped around his little finger and they do whatever he tells them to do.

Four Tet should also get a noticeable mention, but now after the fact seems to pale in comparison to Dan Deacon.

Mishmash.

I forgot to mention that I got a haircut last week, at pony club in Friedrichshain. I love it, but unfortunately it's not one of those get up and go haircuts. Alas, I have to actually do a little maintenance. It'll be good for me, I think.



Last week and weekend we spent a lot of time hanging out in our living room watching Bertrand Tavernier films like Laissez-Passez and L.627. I would really recommend both films... a little slow to start but once you get half way through they are both gripping. The former beautiful... the latter, well early 90's. I'm sorry I have a hard time finding beauty in this period right now. It's not far enough behind me.



I've been having a hard time getting things done around here. Or getting things started for that matter. With being sick and all the other things going on in the city right now I haven't been able to find the time to sit down in my workspace and plug away. I'm inspired beyond the max and need to get some of these ideas out fast or I might explode. Some inspiration above... collage work by M. and I, and Kurt Schwitters.

Happy Monday.

Lace.

I've been seeing lace all over the place lately, and I have to tell you I have been drawn to it. For the most part I am a bit of a plain jane when it comes to fashion and have always associated Lace with fussiness. This bag bag puts a fun spin on lace. I've been drooling over it for a couple of months now.

Photo c/o Maimy.

I 've even been trying to incorporate lace into some of my handy-work, and have been fooling around with natural dying processes.



While in Toronto I found a great book at Monkey's Paw, on Dundas Street. What a gem this bookstore is. They have an amazing selection of unusual used books. I'm hoping to get a lot of use out of this lace book for some upcoming projects that have been swimming around in my head.




In other news... we went to Club Transmediale last night at WMF and I'm a little ashamed to say that I spent more time socializing than paying attention to the music. We've been hermits for the past month and haven't really seen many of our friends since we've been back in Berlin. Yes... we're both still on and off sick. I think it's just an endless cycle. I did see Holy Fuck, Etienne Jaumet and a bit of Oni Ayhun.

We're in for a sunny day today in Berlin. That means that I have to get out and enjoy it.

Happy Friday. The weekend is here!