I spent Thanksgiving with my 3 fav dudes. We didn’t really do anything but sit around the whole day, which in the body of somebody who is a big ball of anxiety is like really hard to do. I can’t be not doing anything.
I took a lot of naps, pet the dog a bunch, watched Netflix comedy specials, finished Stranger Things (it was so good). Sometimes it’s good to let your brain turn off (or at least try), for a few days.
Summer was super busy so I didn’t get to focus on being healthy and active (plus it automatically made me more active with all the festivals).
One of the simplest active routines you can implement in your daily routine is to stand up at least once every hour. That seems like a ridiculously easy goal, but it’s often forgotten when we spend hours in front of the computer. My Apple Watch helps a lot with the stand reminders but I found this adorable app called Standland. You collect adorable little 3D characters when you stand in the real world.
It even has an Apple Watch app that is like a cute watch face that shows your progress. Now I must collect all the characters!
It’s Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend and I am happy to spend it relaxing with friends and family. I don’t need to be anywhere or do anything in particular and it is awesome.
I buy a lot of notebooks. A lot of the time they have formatted pages like Spark Notebook or are themed. I wanted something that I could write in whenever I wanted, with no guidelines and I thought the Leuchtturm1917 was perfect for this. Plus they come in all sorts of cute colours. For once I decided to go with something fun and bright.
What I love about this is instead of lines, there are dots. It allows for freedom but at the same time will keep my writing straight, as opposed to a completely blank notebook.
I think I am going to use it as my own Bullet Journal, but not a true Buju. I am mostly just going to do the point form notes. The goal setting stuff I read about remind me too much of structured notebooks and I want this one to just be a book of thoughts, song lyrics, or anything that inspires me.
I want this to be the first notebook that I will fill.
Oh my god, so I found FUNKOS for $4 at Dollarama! Though it’s possibly the most expensive thing you can buy at Dollarama, it is like $10 off the regular price.
I thought it was kind of crazy that nobody wanted Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren from Orange is the New Black.
She’s honestly one of the most original and complex characters on the show. Plus, she makes an adorable Funko!
Last Saturday, I performed publically for the first time in a few years. I was the soundtrack for Erwin Olaf’s Waiting project where a lady waits for somebody who never comes. The music was written by Sebastiaan Roestenburg.
As an anxious performer, it was definitely a challenge to maintain composure for over 50 minutes.
It was the first time I had actually played with the film in it’s entirety.
In the end, I was around 1 minute off at the end (I played a bit faster than it was) but I improvised until I saw the film fade out and nobody noticed. Yay!
It was fun to be a performer for once!
Photos by Matt Forsythe
This is super dorky but I am so excited to finally have a Toronto Library card. In Toronto, if you don’t have one (it is free), you’re totally missing out. Besides checking out books here are a variety of things you can get access to with a card!
– Borrow digital eBooks, audiobooks, magazines and more
– Use practise rooms, theatres and meeting rooms
– Attend classes
– get limited tickets to museums for free (check local library weekly in the morning for availability)
– 3D printer
– Access a recording studio
– Digital Design workspaces
– Computers
– Free access to online learning libraries such as Lynda, Safari, Mango and Gale
I was approached by Hopsooken to purchase a backpack on Amazon at a discounted price. $7.99 seemed like a deal for a backpack that could be compressed into a little pouch. I brought it with me on a few trips as an extra. When compressed, it’s like the size of a clutch.
Expanded, it is a pretty roomy backpack. The materials are very light, but at the same time it felt very artificial and cheap. The zippers were very unreliable and frequently got stuck. I wanted to like the backpack but it’s no good if I can’t close it!
Thanks to LG Canada, I recently received a LG Music Flow P5 Bluetooth Speaker for review.
The packaging was very compact. It is just enough room for the snug speaker inside.
The contents of the box are super simple: speaker, USB cable for charging and super concise instructions.
By simple instructions, I mean this. Only two steps that you can do in under a minute!
The sound was impressive for a small speaker. I was testing it with Apple Music (because that’s what the kids are using these days right?) and the sound was very clear and there was decent low end and high end. As well, the volume levels could get impressively high without sounding compressed or crackling, which is usually an issue with small bluetooth speakers.
I do own and use Harmon Kardon Aura speakers as my main living room speakers but the lightness and wire-free LG Music Flow speakers allow me to bring it in the kitchen, washroom or laundry with ease. It’s not waterproof though, so don’t actually bring it in the shower!
The 2100mAh battery last approximately 15 hours. It takes about 3 hours to charge the entire thing but I plugged the USB into my iPhone block and it didn’t seem that bad. It also turns off by itself when it’s idle to help save power.
When I paired it to my phone for the first time, it recommended me an official Bluetooth app that allows me to control the volume on my phone.
One interesting feature is that you can actually pair two phones to the one speaker at the same time. Not sure why anyone would need to do this but you could have some playlist war with your roommate if you wanted! If you have two speakers, they can be paired to create a stereo sound.
While it’s not my main house speaker, the LG Music Flow P5 Bluetooth speaker makes the perfect portable companion.
Want your own LG Music Flow P5 speaker? I’m giving one away on Ride the Tempo!
Last month, I started a random Tumblr that collects books seen on the Simpsons. Ever since I started doing this, every episode has at least one, either a real, parody or books you wish existed. I’ve already posted over 100.
Here are a few of my favourites:
Tiana Feng 