New favorite fall recipe

A small pumpkin stuffed with zucchini, stale bread, sharp cheddar cheese, freshly grated parmigiano reggiano, heavy cream, smoked ham, garlic, nutmeg, paprika, salt & pepper, stuck in the oven for an hour and a half at 375°. Finished my meal with cookies & milk.

A breath of fresh air

Hello there. I'm typing this from the Gabrielle-Roy public library in Quebec City right now,  one of my two favorite spots with free internet access.

It's been my fifth night in Quebec, and I love it.

If it wasn't for the temperature in my flat being constantly over 35°C (that's 95°F for most of you guys), and the need to go out any time I have to get on the internet, I'd say life's pretty perfect right now.

Of course it's a simple life; enjoying the scenery and architecture, walking hours on end around the old part of the town, meals consisting of PB&J, fresh apples and ramen noodles, and long chat with buddies while sitting on the grass, but doesn't that make life even better and its simple pleasures more enjoyable?

I used to think a lot, and entertain myself in many complex ways a lot, stuff my skull and my body a lot, but now I'm just taking time to live.

In a few hours I'll go back to my appartement, fix myself a quick, light but healthy dinner, and then put on my docs and go watch Dream Theater and Iron Maiden live on the plains of Abraham.

And then I'll take a cold bath and lay naked on my warm bed, letting the soft blow of the fan cooling me to sleep.

Got the blues tonight

I almost feel like I'm gonna turn into an old fat black man with a deep, coarse voice. B.B. King, watch out, here I come, and it ain't pretty.

I can't let go of my guitar or piano, and I just want a gentle, warm, voluptuous woman to put me to bed and spoon with me until morning comes. Life without love sucks hard, life when the woman you love has forgotten you and is laying besides some random other guy sucks even more. I'm drinking too much, my bank account's empty, I'm being lazy and eating like a pig, and I try to tell myself and others that I'm "enjoying" my celibacy by doing those things; well let me tell you that staying up until 2 or 3 am every night when you don't have any company except the cold glow of your laptop and an instrument you can play with earphones sucks.

It's 2 am, I can't sleep, I've had the blues all friggin day long and it's getting the best of me right now. Heck, my best buddy's in an even worst condition than me right now so he can't help me out. Can't wait to move out of this place and rebuild myself from scratch. 

Sorry for the random rant, I had to let it out!

On modern art - what it is, what it should be, what it is not, and what others think about it

DISCLAIMER: In this post, you'll see kind of a "duel" between myself and someone else. I just want to say upright that, at least from my part, there is no animosity involved; just an explanation of my point of view. My goal was not to force my opinion on anyone, just to broaden a bit the discussion, and try and open up people's mind towards modern art. I think I did fairly well!

The title is perhaps wrong, since the right answers to these subjects is impossible to find. Nonetheless, I feel like I should share an online discussion in which I participated recently, so I can share to you my feelings about (modern) art.

The discussion started by someone posting the picture above, and asking:
"is this art? If it is why? If it isn't then why not?
What is the minimum requirement for something to be art? "

As expected, most people claimed that it wasn't art. That it was actually bullshit. I honestly think it is bullshit, but being bullshit would make it, in my opinion, Art. Let me share what I had to say about it:

It just occured to me...

Taking a shower is a bit like having sex; You take all of your clothes off and then rub yourself and get hot and wet and slippery. However, you end up clean instead of getting dirty.

Busking season has come

Indeed, it has.

It's usually bright and sunny outside, there's already a few tourists in town, so now is the time to whip out my thick, long, hard... didgeridoo, and play for the good ol' bourgeoiserie.

I've busked two times already this season with... moderate success. Around $10 an hour, if I'm lucky. It may look like it pays more than my job at the shoe store ($9.50), but I don't have a constant salary and weather plays an important part, so busking full time would probably be a financial failure, in my case.

However, I met lots of interesting folks. I have been invited to jam with a couple guys playing djembes outside during the evening every thursdays, and I've been told there's often beautiful "tribal" dancers that come join them a bit later... count me in.

I then met a very friendly guy who was back in town after travelling 'round the world for almost 15 years, playing the didgeridoo on the streets and working in small restaurants. He stopped, tooted with us a bit, chatted for about an hour and left us (me and my other didjin' friend) his email address so we can invite him next time we busk.

Last but not least, we met the friendliest, wackiest (although pretty down-to-earth) ol' hippie you can imagine. He wanted to tip us so badly, but he didn't have any cash on him, so he gave us a piece from a huge chunk of ganja he was hiding in his backpack right next to his luke-warm, half-drunk can of budweiser. What a fun, interesting fellow.

Anyways, I hope to meet more didj enthousiasts and make much more easy money in the days to come, at least if the weather is nice enough for it!

As Einstein said...

"I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his [sic] creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious ourselves."

-Albert Einstein

My view on religion is quite well defined by this quote.