Life – Page 38 – Tiana Feng

Woofstock 2013

June 9, 2013June 9, 2013Pets, PhotographyLeave a Comment

Yesterday I took Teddy to Woofstock for the second time. His birthday (which also happened to be yesterday) always falls close to the festival so it doubles as a celebration, complete with all the goodies!

There’s a dog version of everything you can imagine out there somewhere, including ice cream. Me and my sister actually tried some dog ice-cream ourselves (not pictured). Don’t worry, it was just a sugar-free vanilla, so perfectly human edible. Honestly, it was one of the best vanilla ice-creams I have ever had.

Dog cookies never cease to look delicious.

It’s Batman and Robin!

These pups are all blinged out.

More random photos from the festival:

In Response To The Toronto Star.. My Best Friend Is Worth The Price

May 31, 2013June 1, 2013Pets1 Comment

Today I saw this editorial, Dog’s Surgery Not Worth The Money”, on the Toronto Star and it enraged me. Basically in a nutshell, Ken Gallinger gives a reader an answer on whether he should put his dog down because he swallowed a ball or shell up $6000 for surgery. Oh yeah, and the dog is only four years old. The answer also goes on to say that even if you were made of money, there would be better things to use your money on like charities and starving people. As a dog owner this really bothered me. I wasn’t so much enraged with the question (maybe the dude didn’t have or know the proper means to help the dog), as I was with the answer.

Teddy injured his leg one time and we took him to the vet. Before the x-rays, they told us that there was potential he might need surgery (which was around $2000). We didn’t hesitate for a second. Thankfully the X-rays came back and it was heal-able on its own. Am I a sadist for not donating this money to charity instead? No, I just wanted to help my best friend.

Pets are as unpredictable as people at times. We both get sick and hurt but that doesn’t mean that we can value one over the other. The choice should not be between money and death. There were other alternatives to the situation such as seeking help from the Humane Society or similar organizations. Maybe even crowdfunding the 6k. I truly hope the owner of this dog makes the right decision for his young dog and ignores Gallinger.

Gallinger mentions having a cat, but I bet he’s never had a dog. He’s never had a dog welcome him every time he came back, even if it’s been five minutes. He’s never had a dog’s smile instantly lift his mood. He’s never had a dog defend him in an argument. He’s never had a dog hug him to sleep after he cried or made him feel like everything’s going to be okay. He’s never had a dog love him unconditionally.

The Happiness Project

May 27, 2013May 27, 2013Books, Inspiration, Life1 Comment

I recently read through Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project and enjoyed her journey in the pursuit for happiness. The different chapters reflected the months of the years and the many challenges she added each month. I read a month a day so that I’d have time for some of it to sink in instead of a marathon read through the entire thing. I enjoyed the way it wasn’t written in a how-to-way but instead chronicled Rubin’s own journey in hopes that someone might find their own inspiration in her examples. Like the author of the book, I am not depressed or anything but it’s always interesting to look at what someone else has done to improve their quality of life and be happier.

Here a few of my favourite points:

“You can choose what you do; you can’t choose what you like to do”
“Act the way you want to feel”
“Be Tiana”

Numbers one and three are most likely to collide with each other. In fact a lot about being happy has to do with understanding your own desires. When I was younger and started blogging, I wanted to be a fashion/make-up blogger turned socialite type deal. But that wasn’t really me. In fact I don’t really care that much about fashion. My passion was music, and that’s where it led me today. Other things I don’t like include history and geography and no matter how hard I try, I’ll never find any joy in being immersed in it. It’s important when you are making decisions to consider if you’re making them for yourself or because you think that’s what you’re supposed to do.

In reading this book, I began thinking a lot of my own happiness. Appreciating the joys in life rather than the terrible moments is ideal for a good quality of life. I know this simply from observing my dog running around the yard in circles. Something stupid, that is bound to make me laugh. Laughing out loud is important and in this fast-moving world, it’s easy to forget that and let life past by in a flash.

Photos: Teddy Enjoying the Sun

May 4, 2013Pets, Photography, Teddy4 Comments

This weekend the weather was beautiful, so I let Teddy out in the yard and snapped some photos.

Steal Like An Artist

May 2, 2013May 2, 2013Books, Inspiration, Life, Thinking5 Comments

Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist has been sitting on my desk like a paperweight for quite a while. Today I decided to read it and discovered it to be the most invaluable paperweight to have in times of inspirational need.
Kleon, an artist and illustrator, stated in the beginning of the book that all advice is autobiographical. The book focuses around 10 things he wished he had heard when he was younger. It’s advice that to a reader may seem obvious, but is often forgotten.

The book is small and around 150 pages, half of which are artistic scribblings and brainstorming of Kleon’s points. There’s even a “deleted scene” page at the back with images that didn’t quite make it.
One of my favourite quotes from the book is

“You don’t put yourself online because you have something to say- you can put yourself online to find something to say”

. This resonated with me as an online writer both on this blog and over at Ride the Tempo. I never knew what I was doing when I started, but I haven’t stopped and never seem to be running out of ideas.

There’s a page in the book for everyone. There’s a page about embracing obscurity, productive procrastination and more. Everybody can use a bit of creativity in their lives. More pages from Austin Kleon’s book are available on his website.

Crochet Dog Bone

April 27, 2013Art, Crafts/DIY, Crochet/Knitting, Pets, TeddyLeave a Comment

My practise ball of white yarn never seems to disappear so I made Teddy this crochet bone with a pattern I found on Pinterest. I didn’t make it quite as long because of my dog’s small size.

I added a ribbon made out of an old T-shirt to hide the seams.

I think he approves.

Crochet Ball

April 17, 2013Art, Crafts/DIY, Crochet/Knitting, Pets, TeddyLeave a Comment

I learnt how to crochet a ball for Teddy from this Youtube Video via Crochet Geek. It wasn’t too round because I didn’t have stuffing so I used a plastic bag. It added a little extra noise for Teddy to enjoy.

Balls are the basis for a lot of Amigurumi projects so I hope to make him so cuter toys in the future.

Someone’s Spying On Me

April 14, 2013Art, Pets, Photography, TeddyLeave a Comment

I was trying to read over the weekend. However every time I retreat to the couch in the other room this happens:

We Remember The Sound Of Our Keys

April 10, 2013April 10, 2013Books, Inspiration, Life, MusicLeave a Comment

People are able to distinguish between songs through earworms. However, there’s also a whole world of sounds and soundscapes we are exposed to on a daily basis. In Murray Schafer’s A Sound Education, he explores these every day sounds through 100 exploratory exercises.

I had the pleasure of meeting Schafer in my third year of University. Our class delved into a few of these personally with Schafer. The most memorable was this particular exercise involving keys. A group of five people put their keys into a pile. Schafer then jingled all of the keys behind their backs and asked the participants to identify their own. Everybody had the right keys.

The sound of our keys is not something we really think about but we hold them every day, listen to them jingle in our bags and pockets as we look for them and open our doors. Personally, my keys are pretty boring. I don’t own a car or a bike so I only have one key on my chain with a Dine Alone beer opener and a Johnny Cupcakes oven mitt. Instead of nice jingling, I hear simple clanking.

What do your keys sound like? I dare you to try this exercise with a few of your friends and I’m sure they will guess the right keys!

Side note: This book seems to be hard to find, so if any of my Toronto friends want to borrow this I have a hard copy!

A Gallery in Memory of Grandpa

March 11, 2013Art, Family3 Comments

Last week grandpa passed away, partly due to old age and also because he had a cancerous tumor in his liver. Our family didn’t know until he was too fragile to cure. He was 90.

My mom’s father was a lover of beautiful things. He loved to garden, care for his exotic fish and loved decorating the house with nicknacks and birds that were the source for an old photo collection of mine. He liked to sew clothes, taking old pieces and turning them into something new.

He was also a fine artist who hung his work proudly in the living room, kitchen and hallways of his house. He drew in various mediums including watercolour, pencil, crayons and sparkles. Besides canvas, he also drew on any surface he could find including old cardboard. I didn’t realize until recently that there were tons of them. Grandpa wanted his work to be seen by visitors. He never understood what the internet was, but I think he would have loved to share his art with the world. Below are a collection of his works I uploaded using Genius Scan for the iPhone.

Yim Pui Ng (1923-2013)