before and after

before and after, originally uploaded by jill y.

I'm slowly getting my tattoo finished. After Theresa at Electro Lady Lux basically tattooed the equivalent of a pencil mark after 2 sessions totally $1100, and refusing to fix it, I have sat for an entire relining and shading session totalling nearly the same again.

Like I said to someone... some people spend $2000 on stupid shit that these loose or smash up. I spent $2000 on something I'll have forever.

you must obey

you must obey, originally uploaded by jill y.

it's business time...

IMGP0505.JPG, originally uploaded by jill y.

another letter..

Dear Master of the Internet and Retail Therapy.

I wanted to express my disappointment in your ill planned services. While I am very grateful for the ability to order hoodies with whatever I want on them from a sweatshop in Brooklyn and pretty much purchase a ticket to circumnavigate the globe should my credit limit be enough, I have notice a few discrepancies.

It's not that you can order and pay for sex over the Internet. Or that you can have Gap clothes, flowers, or dried monkey penis from Asia delivered to your door, all very lovely. Even furniture and bed sheets from LL Bean can be procured. What I find so mildly alarming is that food is a shear no go. You can not pay for a pizza on line with a credit card and have it delivered without actually being at the destination. Flowers from Chile where children bleed hourly from thorns dipped in pesticide- yes. Pizza in Edmonton- No.

Could you fix this, please? Thanks ever so..

Jill

cole's notes version

Alfred Hitchcock's Birds in 1 minute 40 seconds.

a letter

Dear Ill Spent Youth,

I've been thinking about you lately and I thought I'd drop in and say hi. It's been a while since the two of us hung out. I'm sorry I ditched you so inappropriately that one day when I decided to fire my life. The shenanigans had gone on long enough and I figured it was time for a change. But I was kidding myself when I thought that I had cattily ditched our friendship for that of Adult Responsibility. Who was I kidding?? You've stayed with me like a constant mosquito bite in the middle of my back. Always itching, never quite scratched.

Despite the years of regular employment and timely rent cheques, you mostly been quite amiable to lurk around in the background. Thank you for not messing things up for me too much. Like that time you drove me to wear that silly vintage dress and cowboy boots, or when you convinced me too many drugs the night before a big exam was a good idea. I forgive you for those- sort of. That time you made me miss the cement stairs altogether and chipped my front tooth was particularly annoying. Or was it the booze?

We had some fun times. Do you remember? The red wine vomit staining the freshly fallen snow? The fire escape of the Commercial Hotel at 4 am? Or my personal favorite- inviting the police into my apartment and being arrested for stolen street signs. Wild times my friend, wild times. I think we both mostly came out unscathed. Except maybe for that time Heidi and I took acid at the Saturday Afternoon Blues Jam and went off with some weirdo with a van to smoke a joint. I'm pretty sure I left behind part of my brain in the parking lot that day.

But, I digress- you've given me a few presents along the way that I carry proudly with me while I slog further into grown up land. Beautiful chosen scars inked into my arms proudly displaying my youthful days on the Alberta Prairies for one and a irreverent and mischievous attitude that leads me to great photographs and grand adventures are all you- Ill S. Youth. You're willful spirit and deviant attitude luckily have been washed against the shores of experience and smoothed down. Jagged beach glass is no fun for anyone, really..

Anyways, I'm coming to find you, by the way- minus the drugs. Returning to the scene of the crime. To smell the crackling air and taste the electricity. To run amok, hand in hand, with you old friend. I can hardly wait.

Yours in crime,
Jill

we were not twins

we were not twins, originally uploaded by jill y.

havana hearts

havana hearts, originally uploaded by jill y.

silent stories not often told for nightime

My creation, originally uploaded by jill y.

portal to another world, originally uploaded by jill y.

Many many open doors lined the streets of Havana. I couldn't figure out if the guest was the wind or a friend with gossip. They all represented a choice and often a glimpse into another world where once ornate tiles and banisters gleamed in abundance. Long shattered, torn away or left to collect pre 1959 dust.

Wind whispering sometimes tales in silent dusty swirls.

breathed life

breathed life, originally uploaded by jill y.

one image

The concept:
1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page of results, and pick one image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab's Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

The questions:
1. What is your first name? Jill
2. What is your favorite food? right now? Blueberries
3. What high school did you go to? Strathcona
4. What is your favorite color? Blood Red
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Beckham
6. What is your favourite drink? Something tropical
7. What is your dream vacation? train trip
8. What is your favourite dessert? Creme Brulee
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? live someplace wonderful and own a hostel
10. What do you love most in life? comfort
11. What is one word that describes you? charming
12. What is your flickr name? Jill Y

Here's mine:

My creation, originally uploaded by jill y.

1. Jill's Fresh Tattoo, 2. A Berry Good Day, 3. strathcona back alley, 4. Blood Moon, 5. Adrenalin junkie, 6. Up in the sky, 7. The Train Enthusiast, 8. flan, 9. Village of Gorbio, Maritime Alps, Provence, 10. "I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection." Sigmond Freud..., 11. breathless, 12. The Start Of Something Big

IMGP0419.JPG, originally uploaded by jill y.

Storm Troopin'

You must enjoy this photo set.

kind of a shitty picture of a sunny Scottsdale hotel resort

But maybe you can see more here..

I'm really hoping I can get to the Camelback Mountains tonight at sunset and hopefully get some decent photos. Otherwise..it's just me and a hotel resport and 40 of my closest friends.

the horse and the bull

IMGP0454.JPG, originally uploaded by jill y.

Still can't believe this photo came from me- it's one of my favorite photos ever. Click on it to see it large.

I used to love these 20 years ago

Washing Grains from the Body Shop.

I adored them. The little cardboard tube with spice container top to shake them out. The little paste in my palm and the smooth soft effect left on my face and the soaplessness of it all.

Walking down Burrard yesterday, the "competition" had a big window display of rice washing grains. I went in. After inquiring about animal testing policies and useless ingredients I returned to my first love and bought a container or beloved washing grains. The instructions are to apply to a damp face and use circular motions. This lovely fine dust smells very slightly of lemons and sort of creams when it hits water. The result after 2 days is by skin is luminous and my pours are tighter and oddly my skin looks youthful.

Is it the washing grains or my memory?



If my favorite cosmetic company made these I would not have strayed, but what's a girl to do? But now I search the internet in hopes of making my own because at $32 a container- this love affair is doomed.