crazy white girl with a kitchen

Merry Christmas! I hope your hearts are as full as your stomachs today.

Kelly

Colleague and friend Ryan Jackson took this series of portraits of me at work a few weeks ago on his Yashica-D. I suppose that makes this the face of 29 years and 2 weeks, but I’ll just say thirty.

I guess it is only natural to look back on your birthday, especially when it falls so close to the end of the year. I always meant to make a list of “Thirty Things (to do) Before Thirty”, but before I knew it I turned thirty. It is probably really easy to critique all the negatives and “shoulda-couldas” in my life, and trust me, there are many. But I’m already too critical and hard on myself, so instead, here are thirty great things I’m proud to have done, experienced and made happen before I was 30. Kind of a retrospective bucket list. And who doesn’t love lists?

1. I became the first member of my immediate and extended family to earn a university degree. Kelly Zee, B.Sc.!
2. …That degree took me twelve years to earn. That’s right. Fans of Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers were born the same year I started university.
3. I have visited nearly 20 countries and lived in five.
4. Learned how to scuba dive, even though I am afraid of fish. Learned to rock climb, even though I am afraid of heights. Learned to ski, even though I am afraid of yetis.
5. Went through a long application and interview process for a job with the United Nations. They didn’t receive funding for their next year of operation, though. So, no job.
6. Camped on a beach in Thailand, for two weeks.



7. Learned how to drive a golf ball. Still can’t putt very well, though.
8. Became a tarantula and scorpion keeper.
9. Always been a fashionista.
10. Turns out I am pretty adept at understanding geology, parasitology and pharmacology. Math and astrophysics? Not so much.
11. Learned how to speak French, Thai and Arabic…to varying levels of skill. Have yet to master English. (Its/it’s gets me every time)
12. Started a fire with a single match. But only once.
13. Proposed to my boyfriend. (He said yes!)



14. Hosted a crazy party at my parent’s house. (Sorry mom and dad!)
15. Swam with turtles in Hawaii.
16. After 16 years of a bruised butt, ego and broken teeth, I quit figure skating at 19.
    
17. Became, and stayed (so far!) a winning poker player.
18. Have yet to join Facebook.
19. Went on a three month long solo trip through Southeast Asia.
20. Maintained a blog in some form or another for a decade.
21. Saw a chevrotain, in the wild!
    
22. Snuck into a New York City club while underage.
23. Changed a flat tire by myself.
24. Rode a cow…for about 10 seconds. He wasn’t happy with me.
25. Got over my fear of cutting my hair and went short.
26. I was into internet dating before it was cool.
27. Gave the eulogy at my grandmother’s funeral.
28. I have still not seen The Godfather, or any of the James Bond films. (Is that an accomplishment, or a tragedy?)
29. I still get excited every time I ride the elevator at the Journal up to the newsroom, where I work.
30. I am a published writer. And not just in those poetry books advertised in National Enquirers.

I’m not sure what some things I want to do before I am 40 are, but I’ve been pretty happy with the other three decades of my life, so I’ll just let it run its course.

At my dad’s request, I am sipping something “really good” while I type this. El Tesoro Aniversario tequila, in my “Z” monogrammed glass.

Cheers.

Be still my beating heart! A gift that combines three things I love: cooking, letterpress and tiny things.

A coworker saw this little book “Cooks, on Food, Eating and Cooking” at Notables and thought of me (so sweet!) so she gifted it to me. It’s a mini book, about 3 inches by 2 inches, letterpressed. Inside, quotes from chefs about the nature of food, cooking and eating. Perhaps a fun, whimsical gift for the food lover in your life?

It’s not often I blog about work. I’m kind of shy about it, and I do not often do work tangible enough to share with people.

I have been busy this month trying on a new job for size: video editing. I’ve done some edits in the past, but this one was special. It was a bit long and complicated, and I was telling a story I did not know much about going into it. So I did what I do best: researched. I read about Afghanistan, the war there and Canadian soldiers.

Finally, over one and a half hours of footage was whittled down to 15 minutes, then again down to 9. It’s long, but I hope I have highlighted Warrant Officer William MacDonald’s story well, and tried to keep it moving. He’s an eloquent speaker and incredibly modest about his achievements. I’m proud of this video (It even features my voice in a cameo appearance!) and I feel more educated on the war in Afghanistan.

You can read more about W.O. MacDonald and his experiences in Afghanistan in Ryan Cormier’s story, here.

Additionally, as I do not feel the content often fits my own personal blog, I sometimes moonlight as a blogger for my colleague and friend Ben Gelinas’ blog, Button Mash. Last week I wrote about the best and worst hair in video games: Game character hair requires much Dippity Do

My favourite part was ’shopping hair dos onto the characters. You’ll have to visit the blog to see them, though. 

Reporters and editors watch the newsroom tvs intently as the balloon boy comes down. Well, as his balloon comes down, anyhow.

Then, my friend Ben and I went out for lunch. I just wanted tea, but he promised a delicious wrap. So we went to Wrapture in City Centre mall. Although the mall is less than five minutes walk away, I have not eaten at that food court in over a decade. Wrapture might convert me to eating there again.

Wrapture started in Calgary, and offers wraps, smoothies, soups and healthier fast food. I jokingly called it a Chipotle knock off. Their typefaces, logo, branding, even their tinfoil wrapping and upsells (extra meat, chips and salsa) all remind me of Chipotle. The burrito I had (Baja Chicken) was pretty solid, if slightly under seasoned (odd for fast food!) I have to say I preferred it to Mucho Burrito.

Packed with rice, chicken, black beans, fresh salsa and cheese, at $7.95. Available in a bowl as well. Thanks for lunch, Ben.

On the way to Wrapture, we saw this mysterious birthday cake, perched on the side of a city garbage can. Ben took a photo with his Blackberry.

Naturally, all I could think of was throwing it to the ground, a la SNL’s and Lonely Island’s Andy Samberg.

He took up residence in my room.

He’s pretty quiet, and not as hungry as I might have expected.

He keeps me warm, and pretty fashionable.

Best find ever. $25 from the Thunderbird gift shop in Banff.

Many moons ago, when I was a young genetics scholar, I spent a lot of time counting, sexing, breeding (and killing) fruit flies. The labs were not the happiest of times all the time, but I can’t say that I minded the fruit flies. The smell of ether kind of got to me though. (I guess that’s why I’m a photo editor now, instead of a lab tech!)

A few weeks ago here at home, I had to wage war on fruit flies. Mike and I had been collecting some compost items in a bucket on our patio. Some hot weather and holes in the patio screen ended in a killer infestation of fruit flies inside the house. In fact, it was damn near embarrassing, and if this story did not have a happy ending I doubt I would be telling you about it now.

It was horrible. The flies were EVERYWHERE. The garbage in our condo and on the patio. They would swarm up when you walked past them congregating around the water cooler/sink drains.

I immediately removed all traces of garbage. Ripe fruit went in the fridge, I bleached the counter tops and engaged in open warfare. I knew getting rid of the garbage would help, but would not curb the breeding.

So what helped?

Simple. I trapped the buggers.

Although I am not against using pesticides (I know, I know, but years of living in tropical countries really made me believer in the power of roach sprays) I could not use them for fear of killing my pet tarantulas and scorpions. So I used a natural combination.

A shallow bowl filled with: a cup of warm water, splash of dish washing liquid and a quarter cup of cider vinegar. Cover with plastic wrap, pulled taut. Poke holes in the plastic with a fork tine, place. I made several traps, scattered near water in the kitchen and bathroom.

The next morning, the infestation was slowed, and I was happy. Another day later, the flies were gone, save for their corpses which were black dots at the bottom of bowls. I felt like a champion.

Kind of had to resist checking out the genetic characteristics of the preserved flies though. Old habits die harder than fruit flies, I guess.

I walked to work today, partly to save bus fare and partly to enjoy the weather. The saving money idea didn’t get me far though, as Who Cares? was having a sale and I netted a pair of shoes for $50, and then got a hankering for sushi.

I stopped in to get some toro and other selections from Sankyu. I don’t care much for their bowls and popular bento boxes, but their toro is the best in downtown Edmonton. The chef commented that he didn’t normally see people getting six pieces of it, but I love tuna belly.

14 piece mixed sushi with 4 piece of toro, $20.42.

Additionally, I saw that Healthfare has put up a sign in the window of the old Adecco building at 102 Street and Jasper Avenue. Fun fact; just before I worked at the newspaper, I interviewed for a job in the cash office at the new H&M store. Their temporary office was at Adecco. That seems so long ago!

I look forward to trying Healthfare sometime soon. Their healthy “diet friendly” line up has been piquing the interest of Edmontonians for months. I think the downtown location will be very popular if the lines at the Sunterra salad bar are any indication.

I got a few pro photos from Athabasca University today. When I was there for my convocation in June, the roving photographer saw Mike taking a Polaroid of me in my grad get up, and came over to take a photo of him taking a photo of me.

My mom took this photo:

Here are the some of the pro shots I was emailed yesterday.

It seems so long ago, already!

A month or more ago, I picked up five new friends for our critter closet, all scorpions and all juvenile.

Raising any insects from a young stage is very rewarding because you see a lot of growth and moulting as they age. Of course, these very stages can also be frustrating as they are the most difficult for the young ‘uns to get through. Moults can go wrong in any number of ways, and I have unfortunately lost a few tarantulas to moults gone wrong.

Three of the smallest scorpions we have just went through a week of moulting. They all moulted within days of each other, and it was fun to watch. The species is Tityus falconesis, aka Tityus magnimanus. They are now in third instar and about an inch long.

I shot these with my digital Canon point and shoot, but also borrowed a macro lens from a co-worker for my old school film Nikon. Hope those turn out well!

Seriously lusting after this house. Would be even more incredible to have an indoor herb garden.

I love this! Six female chefs have gone on summer vacation together, to hunt boar in Mongolia. Can you imagine the dinners?

(I hope it is not too obvious that this is a filler post. I sent my camera off with Mike on a mountain trip, and negelcted to pull my latest photos off of it first, so no Vegas updates for a few days)