(aka English Fridge Cake)
7 ways to be insufferable as a man
1. Loudly state “$PLACE has so many beautiful women” or “$ETHNIC_GROUP women are so hot.”
The best carrot cake
I wasn’t inspired to write a blog post recently because I have nothing new to say about the coronavirus, and the scale of the crisis makes everything else feel trivial.
So I thought: Why not embrace the trivial? I’m at home with nothing else to do anyway. In that spirit, here’s my mom’s recipe for the best carrot cake ever.
Karen’s take on the road trip
Karen wrote some hilarious update emails to her family during our trip. I wanted to gather them all in one place for future reference, so here they are for your enjoyment.
17 things that annoy me
When my idiot dog thinks I’m going to make her walk next to the road (she hates cars) so she runs uphill into the woods instead of coming with me to do another loop around the trail.
11 year-old Kate’s plans for life
I was going through my old journals and found this page. Not only did it make me laugh, it made me proud that I’ve actually accomplished some of the things on it!
My plans for life (in no particular order)
Written by Kate as an 11 year old 2006
- Graduate from University of Toronto School.
- Go to McGill University and get degrees in creative writing and literature.
- Do the writing thing Mrs. Hutchinson (grade 6 teacher) was talking about.
- Do courses in fashion design.
- Make some huge sculptures.
- Learn to shape metal.
- Make my own glass beads.
- Sell cards, jewelry, and other stuff.
- Get married at age 25.
- Have three wonderful kids at ages 28, 30, and 31.
- Live in the beaches district of Toronto in my dream house next door to Gemma.
- Become mediumly rich.
- Learn to draw hands better.
- Become an excellent seamstress.
- Die at a good time, when I’m sleeping.
- Go on shopping sprees in New York, London, Paris, Madrid, and Tokyo.
- Go to Venice with my husband.
- Make a room entirely out of candy with a floor made out of jelly and marshmallow and then have a candy party.
- Publish at least one book.
- Become a book editor/author/fashion designer/artist/jewelry maker/seller of stuff.
My high school—done.
I did go to McGill! But I switched out of English literature after second year and studied politics and economics instead.
I think this was some sort of publishing program, and I was inspired because my teacher said her friend did it and “walked right into a job in book editing.” However, I no longer feel the need to do this one.
I used to want to be a fashion designer (among other things). My dad discouraged this, and when I asked why, he said because all fashion designers are weird. (Something like they have skewed priorities and don’t know how to relate to normal people.) I have come to agree with him.
I was really into art as a kid. I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to this one.
Or this.
Or this. I still like making jewelry, but not as much as I used to—and that’s okay.
I’ve sold a few pieces of jewelry and miscellaneous hand-sewn items, so I’m going to count this one as done.
Well, that ship has sailed. Lol. #foreveralone
Still possible, and I still want kids… but now I think it’s unlikely to happen exactly as planned 😛
My aunt had a house in the beaches at the time and my sister Gemma and I thought it was the coolest place ever. For now, though, I’d rather keep traveling.
Still working on it.
I’m not as into drawing anymore, but I did learn to draw hands better, so I’m going to consider this one done. Drawing the Head and Hands by Andrew Loomis was really helpful.
Not done; my sewing is merely adequate. But again, I’ve decided I’d rather pay someone else to do this than put in the time to do it myself.
Curious that I thought to place this in the middle of the list, and not the end, but then I did say “in no particular order.”
Aside from Madrid, I have actually bought clothing items in every one of these places! But I’m not sure why this was so important to me. Maybe because I was obsessed with Trinny and Susannah at the time, and they were always talking about their glamorous shopping spree locations? Anyway, I’m pleased to say that I’ve recovered from my burgeoning shopaholism and now actively avoid “sprees.”
My parents took my siblings and me to Venice when I was a teenager, and now I don’t feel much need to go back. I’ll call that close enough.
Still a priority, obviously—see 3 things I wish existed—but I fear I may never achieve this one.
Working on it.
Somewhat done (I have edited a few books), somewhat no longer concerned (fashion and jewelry design, owning a boutique), mostly still working on it (editing, writing and art). Overall, I’d say pretty close!
Bonus
Another page from this journal: an early version of ugly clothes with funny captions.
I cut this out of a magazine (I’m pretty sure it was Town and Country) because I was so offended that anyone would consider $128 a “bargain.” I believe I thought an appropriate price for a watch was $15.
Plus, I thought this looked exactly like a bracelet I had made in my elementary school’s after-4 arts-and-crafts program by stringing beads onto safety pins, as in the tutorial below.
Impressions of Vancouver
Vancouver is kind of like a combination of Rio de Janeiro and Montreal. (I think Rio is the most beautiful city in the world, and Montreal is the best city in the world.) Vancouver reminds me of both these places, but with some other less great aspects thrown in.
The great Canadian road trip
Last week, I drove across Canada with my friend Karen. (Well, she drove, and I sat there being useless, since her car is manual and I can only drive automatic.)
Horizontal stripes don’t (necessarily) make you look wide
Many people think horizontal stripes make them look short, fat, and wide.
Perhaps the whole horizontal = wide idea started because of visuals like this one. Which rectangle looks wider?
Can’t tidy up? Try changing your life first
I’ve recently taken up the KonMari tidying method. This is my third attempt at following Marie Kondo’s system, and this time I’m finally getting it!
