Last year on Valentines I woke up early and went for a walk an saw these posted on Queen Street  where the fire was just east of Bathurst.  By the time I went back a few hours later, they were gone. Love that kinda stuff.

“If you’re thinking that Valentine’s Day should be about anything other than eating chocolate and buying yourself fancy lingerie, you have clearly been misinformed. It’s about love, yeah, but not real love. It’s the silly, self-indulgent, guilty pleasure kind.”

[no great illusion]

You never know what kind of day it’s gonna be. You never know if it’s gonna be a good day or a bad day.  Who decides?You decide. Things happen that affect your mood , make you change how you feel . They  affect you or they don’t. Today I went to text Twitter and say “today’s gonna be a good day”. Went down the elevator. Glasses on, walk to my bike and started riding, Backed up to take this photo.

Cruised around the corner smiling and a man almost hit me from a side street. He wasn’t looking. Should have dinged my bell but I yelled “HEY” and threw my hand in the air. He was a dark skinned black man who was heavy set with white eves in a red Tony Danza van. It scared me but I kept riding..  I saw him again so I started making a video and kept riding.

In Liberty Village, I saw him again just as I stopped filming. He saw me see him. I wasn’t even thinking of the handsome man I often see, then I saw him. The handsome one.  I don’t think he saw me. Arrived at work, sat down at my desk and suddenly remembered my dream for last night, The man, the one in the van, he was chasing me. He tried to get in to my condo. He was looking in the windows and jumped down from a balcony above to mine. I remember being so scared.

My boss said he isn’t coming in after saying he was going to be late. I pulled out my netbook and listened to this song. .It’s from an old Bondi beach mix. I’m not sure what it’s called or who it’s by, but I like it. Joeph Dee’s tweet inspired the title of this video. Today’s gonna be a good day.

I walked around for about an hour thinking about my life. I was having realizations and I felt like a crazy person.

It was as if I was in a fog. I was having anxiety.

Sometimes I freak out. Sometimes I don’t want to be on the internet anymore. Sometimes I don’t know what to do about stuff and sometimes I forget things.  I started freaking about my last minute trip to a foreign country. Panicked. Instant attack.

I left the store. I walked down the street back in my own fog again.  I’m nervous about going but then think not going would be silly too. For a bunch of different reasons.  It’s a chance to relax and go some place  cool with bunch of cool old friends. Relax.

I’m packing one bag;  one nice outfiit, one dress, one piece bathing suit, one yoga mat. This is the relax retreat. A true mini vacation/airport tour. Vanilla as some may say.

I know when I come back Sunday I’ll have had lots of time with self.  I love traveling; airport, airplane, people, waiting, watching, thinking, moving.  I love being in motion.

Something funny happened last night. Was chatting with friend and fellow top blogger Sean Ward before he went on a radio show. I listened to him do live prank calls on the radio for a live audience. I’ve never listened to such a thing and I almost peed my pants with laughter. Nice work.

Created some new blogs last night, good things in the works. Been really creative lately.  I really wnat to share but they need some work before coming out. Went to the indy cars at lunch. Made a video for Dad. He took us when we were young and I’ve loved it ever since.

The sound of the engine flying…I love.

One year I got to go in the pits and meet some drivers at the Indy.  It was the best Indy experience ever. It was years ago when it was sponsored by Molson and a bigger deal I think, well, to me at least.  I was about 18 years old.  Haven’t gone since but still I love the sounds.

this ones for dad from Casie Stewart on Vimeo.

I realized this morning as I put on my new vibrating mascara followed by my unreleased Givenchy fragrance that blogging really does have its benefits. Mum reminds me sometimes.  I’m always thinking about the next step. Last year I got a heap of cool jazz. Last night I got invited to Dermologica thanks to Marie from Karmacake.ca. I left with a whole skin care routine specific to what I like/need to make my face look extra lovely. It’s fun to meet other bloggers and this time it was all girls who were all very nice.  I’m excited to see where this bloggy takes me, it’s growing and I’m having lots of fun writing it. I’m also thankful for the opportunities it’s given me! I like going back and reading crazy thoughts that came out of my head and I often wonder “what was I thinking?”. It’s part of the fun of having a crappy memory!  Sometimes when I have a bad day or feel like crap it’s comments from you that completely change my mood and make me smile. Thanks for reading it.

The new Wired just arrived at my desk…it’s a good day.

It had been over a year since I got back and Amanda had just returned from her year in Perth. She learned something while away that inspired her and she wrote it on this little piece of papaer that I keep sticking around as I move from place to place.

It says:

“The moment of reckless abandon where you lean back and laugh at the simplicity & absurdity of everything…the moment when you so fully realize it doesn’t get and better than right now”

Isn’t she just the cutest thing. I like the way I feel when I read it, as if each breath and moment is to be savored and cherished before it’s gone and you move to the next.

I took this video this morning on my way in. So happy I don’t have to battle any traffic.

morning traffic in toronto filmed by me on Vimeo.

I’ve find that biking is toning up my beach body.  This is really nice considering I hate the gym. It gives me anxiety. I’m lucky to have these super mutant-like muscles that when I do any exercise I get almost instant results.  Yesterday I was biking to Yorkville for #wiredwedTO and took back streets. Didn’t have helmet on, sorry Mum. Will pick it up this evening just for you. I rode down Palmerston Boulevard, one the most beautiful and truly one of my favorites. Most of the houses on Palmerston Boulevard were built between 1903 and 1910. It’s a nice one to bike on and there’s hardly any cars. I like it because of the trees and the houses and because a bunch of my family live in Palmerston North, New Zealand.  ‘Young heart, easy living’ they call it.Palmy (as the Kiwi’s call it) is a very beautiful city north of the capital, Wellington, in the eastern part of the Manawatu Plains, and close to the northern bank of the Manawatu River. I love it there. They have lots of windmills and rolling hills that is absolute bliss. You can see them from the back yard at Nana’s old house where Mum grew up. It’s really pretty.

Drum circle happens every week during the summer. It goes down at Cherry Beach one week than Trinity Bellwoods the next. I usually only go to TBP because it’s closer than the beaches.  I love it.  There are lots of mad hippies dancing. There are also lots of skid kids too.

We moved our home-base-blanket around a few times to avoid the dirty kids from contaminating us. One time a kid puked while sitting in front of us and we picked up shop like nomads and moved in NO time.

My favorite is being in the middle of the circle dancing with my arms flailing around. There is something magical about the connection between the music and the people all being brought together in an open space .  When it gets really hot out there’s more girls & boys with their shorts and shoes off dancing.

There is drinking and smoking in the park  all around.  We saw a couple of kids chasing each other around with McCain pies and tossing them at each other. What are kids doing these days you ask? That I guess. There were hundreds of people there. You can hear the beating of the drums as you approach the pit in the park, I love that sound!

Drum Circle #001 2009 from moi on Vimeo.

this is sadie, she spins fire from me again on Vimeo.

There’s fire spinning too. Some nights there is lots of fire spinning!! This girl was really good she was doing the hula-fire-hoop and poi’s at the same time. I’m not even going to try that, I’m waaaay to accident prone. Overall, stellar time. Absolutely stellar.