reunions in the dairy air.

today i was finally reunited with aitor. oh, did i not mention that he and a small contingent of the toronto pipe club had come down to a resort just outside of chicago to attend the annual chicagoland international pipe and tobacciana show? with over three hundred vendors, i really wish i had been able to go, take pictures, see the sites and report back to you, dear reader. but other obligations kept my nose to the grindstone in chicago and, given that the terrible directions i got to the convention ballooned my trip out there from one hour to three, it probably just was not meant to be. aitor surely has all kinds of stories of this cultish subsection of the handicraft world - slow smoking, the attire of the pipe nerd, overheard pipey gossip. maybe this secrets will come to light if he and his collective ever get behind the routine of writing their ideas and experiences down. we'll see.

in spite of time spent lost and confused on suburban illinois highways, the bulk today's travel was supposed to be spent going on a pilgrimage to milwaukee, to visit our friend faythe. faythe does one million things so coordinating a social visit with her has taken three years. of course, no trip from chicago to milwaukee is complete with a visit to the mars cheese castle (pictured above and below). yes, that is saturn on their logo.

we got to milwaukee with squeaky cheese curds in our tummies and warm hugs from faythe all around. we got to look around her shop, paper boat, which was a bittersweet experience given that after four years of operation, the recession finally tipped the scales and forced them to close at the end of this month. but more on that later; i am working a piece about faythe for the toronto craft alert that should go deeper into some of that information. for now, though, the shop is still open, it's perfectly curated and we felt very lucky to get to finally visit it. the final show in the gallery is a collection of mixed media drawings by handmade nation camera woman, micaela o'herlihy. it is exquisite and entirely worth a visit if you are in the area.

it is a real treat to visit with faythe in her incredibly inviting home (which did not make us feel itchy at all, as suggested by some weirdo comments here). sunshine everywhere, the largest collection of our community's art that i have ever seen in one place, open space, and fresh paint. faythe's home also boasts the holy grail of itinerant wayfarers, the spare bedroom. a dream wrapped in soft natural light!

tonight we partake in the pride of milwaukee. it could be a punishing night. i'm not sure that we have the intestinal fortitude (literally) to keep pace with 'america's drinking hole.' only time will tell.

shlemiel, shlemazel, y'all!

is chicago.

since starting this little trip, i have mostly been holed up trying to hammer out some lingering work and catching the odd improv show that my friend and host-for-the-weekend, emily, has running. so it was a great treat to get out today (cubs game and associated madness notwithstanding) and do my first shop visit. chicago comics was one of the first stores that ever carried my stuff. since this is the midwest, this makes the staff there feel like friendly distant relatives. i could say that about most of my chicago shops, really (although some owners and managers are not so distant). i guess it's just this town - or the people i have had the good fortune of happening upon within it.

all this is to say that chicago comics has a hefty new selection of loose buttons to shoot some colour and joy into your chicagoan lives.

on this visit, i also became strangely aware of the on-counter display boxes that slicker companies provide to their vendors - chicago comics carries things like small art toys, art trading cards and the like. it's very sweet that they made me my own display box out of cardboard and business cards (and, somehow, this ramshakle aesthetic seems to fit my ramshakle approach to things) but i started to feel that i should be extending that kind of service to shops like theirs. emma, be forewarned: you will be getting a call from me when we are both back in toronto for advice and guidance on this topic.

it begins anew.

in all my hustling i somehow left my camera on and killed the battery so there are no pictures of sarnia, flint, lansing or the kroger where i spent and hour and a half trying to sort out the simple complexities of buying a pre-paid cell phone. there also aren't any pictures of me slicing the end of my finger off in the lock of a rest area bathroom stall. there aren't any pictures of me rolling through gary, indiana, and eating my first fast food potato snacks of this american journey. there are also no pictures of my late arrival to chicago and the feelin i get hen i come to this favorite town of mine. sure, it's not the same without alana here. but emily's no slouch. and billy's here and reba, and noah. this trip is going to be alright. i even saw one of those amazing chicago bunnies that haunt this place like cute rats. i've decided it's a good omen - mostly because it happens almost daily.

loose ends.

well, plans are coming together and we are just about to slither out of this newly spring-like city. aitor leaves tonight with the toronto pipe club (oh, did i neglect to mention that we are starting our trip in chicago so that aitor can go to the chicagoland pipe convention? - best use of the word tobacciana ever) and i set out tomorrow morning.

i dropped my cat off with the lovely emma and gill last night. i'm such a weird old cat lady that i get strange without her around. i keep expecting her to curl up on my lap. boo hoo hoo. if only i had a pet who could travel.

if you feel the need to stock up on sweetie pie stuff while we are away, i just did a late-night restocking at the good catch general store. type books has also just decided to carry the mores buttons at all their locations and the knit cafe has a new batch of knit till you die buttons. so that should tide you over.

the sweetie pie press will also be represented at the next trampoline hall with our ubiquitous merch table, thanks to the gracious help of the lovely laurie mcgregor. the next show will be monday, may 11, and is curated by trampoline hall inventor, sheila heti. thanks for picking up the sweetie pie slack, miss laurie! you will be the best emmissary.

heft in the mail.

i love you, drawn & quarterly.

i wish i could drop everything right now and live inside this book.

a return to business as unusual.

well, in a few days, this blog will return to its most popular roots as a chronicle of strange travels and independent art on the road.

this upcoming trip may be shorter than previous outings but it is no less manic, crazy and potentially pointless.

this time, however, i hope to be able to publish our travel plans in advance so that you, a sea of friends and strangers, can help us shape our journey into something mildly less insane than we would create on our own. tips and recommendations are highly valued in this pursuit.

until then, i will just leave you with one of the many ways that aitor has become more famous while i have been languishing in endless illness (swan flu?).

sick leave.

i took the picture above of my busy living room coffee table trunk back on friday when i was planning on regaling you, internet, with boastful tales of all the crap i was about to accomplish - two craft fairs in two days (one in brantford), a fundraiser show around the corner and other marvelous wonders.

but then i went to a meeting on friday, came home, took a nap and woke up not knowing where i was. this was the beginning of the most delirious fever i have had since being very little. it's been close to a week and i am just coming out of it now. i did manage to medicate myself enough to make it to the hunt and gather trunk show but otherwise, i have been a shut in for days - and not a particularly ambulatory one, at that.

i do have some pictures and things to go through from last week and the trunk show so i should be filling in some blanks here over the next day or so. but i should also mention that my first big outing will be to haul my weakened ass over to the knit cafe tonight to celebrate earth day amid the plastic corals of our reef display. come, won't you. you can experience my new bedraggled look in person.

but for now...i will attempt a triumphant return to solid foods.