Category Archives: Books and writing

Ten journals, fourteen years

I wrote the last page in my tenth journal this morning. My first journal was gifted to me on my tenth birthday. It was light blue with polka dots and had Mini Mouse on the cover. The black covered journal I finished this morning was in reality a blank sketch book. It covers from May 11 2010 until July 15 2012, a monumental segment of my life.

My journaling has changed shape over the past decade. During my teenage years, I would collage almost every page with magazine cutouts, photos, food wrappers or clothing tags. Everything was significant. Everything had to be processed.

During the five years I spent at UBC, I focused primarily on writing. I was the queen of post-it notes, capturing quotes from lectures, books and radio shows.

Last summer, I started experimenting with water colour in my journal, recording my thoughts and experiences in words and in paint.

Then came sketching. This particular sketch came about during my flight to Shanghai back in February. I’ve always had a penchant for stationary, particularly pens. Have you ever found that certain pens illicit certain expressions?

This pen wanted to draw. I was sitting on a platform on the Pioneer River a few weeks ago, trying to do 10 year goal setting. When I kept drawing blanks, I tried my hand at drawing the scene across the river. I’ve always felt a pull to power towers. Growing up on Vancouver Island, seeing power lines crossing expanses of water with orange or red globe weights was commonplace. Now, it’s nostalgic.
My next journal is from O-Check. I can’t wait to break it in.

Katie, slam poet

Last night I won the Mackay heat of the Australian Poetry Slam 2012. It was the first time the competition was hosted in Mackay.  It my first time competing in slam. I had memorized my piece titled “Of course” and used a lot of hand/arm gestures, which were largely spontaneous. I was very thankful for the hugs and high fives from my lovely friends who came out to cheer me on.

Earlier in the day I attended a slam workshop hosted by Ghostboy who truly inspired and invigorated me. He MCed the slam, which made for a hilarious evening. I was the fourth poet of the night of nine total competitors. The second place poet and I will be competing in the State final on 7 September in Brisbane. The top two from the State final win entry into the National final in Sydney. Winners of the National slam go on a literary tour of China.

I’m looking forward to attending the workshop hosted by a.rawlings this afternoon. It’s going to be a bit of a starstruck moment for me. I studied her work in  multiple CanLit classes during my undergrad in English at UBC. Her book Wide slumber for lepidopterists changed my conception of contemporary poetry.

Mt. Coot-tha, Jacob de Zoet and The Age of Love

After our routine breakfast of yogurt and muesli, Chris and I made the journey to Mt. Coot-tha. The winding bus ride from the city left us slightly queasy but didn’t damped our excitement for the sights and the hiking. We walked for a few hours through the trails but also along the outlaying roads, taking in the parks and the farms. We followed the aboriginal art trail, and the JC Slaughter falls trail, though the falls wanted for the rain season. We delighted at the foliage, flowers, and trees.

We browsed the library at the Brisbane Botanical Gardens and took note of many titles to read in preparation for our garden in Mackay, including:

  • The Urban Hen by Paul Peacock
  • Grow your food for free by Dave Hamilton
  • Time to eat the dog? by Thames & Hudson
  • Paths patios & decking  by Paul Wagland
  • Botanical body care by Karin C. Uphoff
  • Plot by Meredith Kirton
  • Roof gardens by Osmundson

This evening I finished reading ‘The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet’ by David Mitchell.  With my long-standing fascination for Japanese culture and my Dutch heritage, all it took seeing the cover art and reading the title for me to pick up the book at Pulp Fiction back in Vancouver. Set in 1800s Dejima, the man-made trading island off of Nagasaki, the novel depicts the trials and relations of a young clerk in the Dutch East India Company. With it’s colourful cast of characters, intriguing setting, and engaging plot, ‘Jacob de Zoet’ could easily make an HBO mini-series.

After a dinner of lentil stew with Italian sausage and another bottle of Banrock Station, Chris and I saw ‘The Ages of Love’, one of the penultimate films featured in the 2011 Italian Film Festival at Palace Centro in Fortitude Valley. Palace Centro is fully licensed, meaning patrons can bring their beer or wine into the theatre, along with their ‘healthy popcorn’, which was cooked in olive oil but doused in delicious salt. Palace Centro even had assigned seating for their incredibly comfortable theatre, making movie-going very civilized indeed.

Featuring an Italian speaking Robert de Niro, ‘The Ages of Love’ didn’t disappoint. Centering on the love affairs of three Italian men, whose ages ranged from mid-20s to late-50s, ‘The Ages of Love’ entertained us and warmed our hearts. I picked up a few words, namely bonne notte, veritas and andiamo.

Walking back to our hotel in CBD post-film through Fortitude Valley was quite an adventure. At 11:30pm, the club scene was in full force. It seemed like everyone under the age of 25 had swarmed to the bustling streets. The hem-lines were super short, the heels were super high. Hot pink mega-hummer limos were caught in traffic. The music throbbed out of thin windows and old brick facades. We were simultaneously thankful and regretful that we weren’t dressed to fit the part.