Capital Ex/ Side Swipe/ Adderal

Jul. 23 Capital Ex: Today I went to Capital Ex on my day off.  That morning I had done my job search, and I got my paycheck from the office job I worked at.  I also submitted my script.  My days off are productive, so I'll treat myself to having some fun in the afternoon. I called up my friend Cham to see if she still wanted to go, but she said it was too cold and rainy.  I went by myself and mainly checked out the Expo Centre to shop.  I went through my blog and I know I went there in 2009 by myself.  In 2010, I didn't because I was unemployed.  In 2011 I didn't because I was too busy with my office job search. I left at 12:30pm and got there by 1:30pm.  I took bus and the LRT was kind of under construction.  I was there from 1:30pm- 5pm.  I got home, and then it started raining.  Of course, you can go inside the Expo Centre to escape the rain. First the admission was $14/hr.  In 2006, I remembered it used to be $10.  At the Expo Centre, there was the Rhythms of the World.  It's like a museum with art and paintings.  There were all these exhibitions of cultures like China, Aboriginals, Urania, etc. Art: There was a lot of art to check out.  Luba Bilash: I saw Luba Bilash's art.  She made a lot of jewelry.  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Luba-Bilash-artist/300562593338124 Larisa Sembaliuk Cheladyn: There was art by Larisa Sembaliuk Cheladyn.  Look at these beautiful watercolors of flowers and Ukranian heritage. http://www.artbylarisa.com/ W2 Gallery: This is really good photography.  Check out all these pictures of flowers, nature, the outdoors. http://www.w2gallery.com/galleries/pmp5.htm Oksana Movchan: This art is more abstract with pictures and patterns put together.  Kind of like a collage. http://www.oksanamovchan.net/ Rob Michael Weaver: He made a painting of Star Wars.  If you go to this website, you'll see it.  It turns out he's part of the store called Shades of Grey on Whyte Ave.  It sells tattoos, toys, and comics. http://www.shadesofgreytattoo.com/2011/08/first-anniversary-celebrations/ Ernie Poitras: I found this artist who makes Antler Creations.  There are paintings on real antlers.  I couldn't find a website even when I put in Elk Point, Alberta.  That's on the business card. Laraine Weaver: I talked to this artist.  She makes these beautiful paintings of landscapes, flowers, people, nature.  She said she started painting 12 yrs ago.  This is a really good website where they play music.  It starts off classical, and then it starts going faster. http://www.laraineweaver.com/ Music: There was a music section like a Kiss exhibition.  There was a display of Elton John's sunglasses.  The best one was this plastic wave made of music records.  There was surfboard sticking out. Shopping: There was Skin Graphix (air brush tattoos.)  There were also real tattoos.  Lots of paintings for sale.  There were the booths that sold jewelry, clothes, bags, perfume.  There were things that I wasn't interested in like tupper ware, and cleaning materials. Magic Pens: I went and stopped at this display that sold Magic Pens.  This old man in retirement age was sitting there.  He showed me, and this African-Canadian girl who looked like she was 8 yrs old.  She was with this young white woman with some pink in her hair. These are pretty cool markers where you can draw something in red marker.  Then you use another marker to color over it, and it turns yellow.  There's also an invisible marker where you draw something and it doesn't show on the paper.  Then you color over it with another marker and you can see it.  It's $20.  If you lose the lid, it doesn't dry up.  The ink takes a yr to dry up.  This would be cool if I was a kid. Check it out: https://magicpens.com/ But if you want to buy it, you have to go here:  http://www.seenontvcanada.com/ Sketches: There were a couple of booths where artists draw you and/ or a friend into a cartoon character.  It's fun, but I'm not really into those. Kids: There was a kid section with a playground and selling toys like stuffed animals. House tour: I then went into this old house made in the 1920s.  An old woman from the Northern Alberta Pioneer and Descendents Association gave me the tour.  The house was small and wooden.  She pointed out that the doors were very short because back then people were short.  Side Swipe: It was 4pm and then I decided to sit down and watch this show.  Looks like somebody already posted today's performance on Youtube.  Here's a 45 sec. clip.  It's like a martial arts team of 5 young guys in their 20s.  They do karate, backflips, dancing, to some music.  There was a Star Wars light saber fight and a slow motion fight.  It was kind of funny.  It's part of 105.9 Shine FM radio station. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEYxkZT2nQA I went to Shine FM's website and got more info: "Sideswipe is an extreme martial art performance team that combines all forms of martial arts, dance, and acrobatics to put on a highflying show. Created and choreographed by Matt Mullins, and presented by Love Productions in New York City, Sideswipe has been taking martial arts from a sport to entertainment for the last 10 years." It began with one of them saying: "A family that kicks together, sticks together."  The audience doesn't laugh.  He then says: "Yeah, well at least I tried."  lol. Rock-it Robot: I was walking to the exit, and then I see this huge 7 foot tall robot.  There were 20 people standing around him and taking pictures.  The Robot was quite a sight as some people posed for pictures with him.  There were a couple of security guards around. He was dancing and talking.  You had to stare at him.  I have never really seen anything like it.  I've seen stuffed mascots dancing around, but not this robot. http://rock-itrobot.com/ Jul. 25 Catherine Green: I was going through my Two Bits emails and I found this author.  It turns out she's a medium and a ghost hunter.  She has written two books about vampires and werewolves.  Check it out: http://www.catherine-green.co.uk/ Maria McCutchen: She's also an author on Two Bits.  She has written a novel based on her own experience called It's All in Your Head.  She has a large brain cyst and it affects on how she can't work anymore.  She has to change her life to make it normal. http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781613460719 Jul. 27 Vertex Fighter blog: I've had this blog for a year now.  Today, somebody finally made a comment on it.  It was for the post "producer/ Crescent Productions/ Xlibris." Ron: Hi Tracy, I am reading you post and found out about Xlibris whilst I am a reader myself, blogs and specially books. One thing I know about Xlibris is that they are helping writers for a living publish their books. That's one factor that I believe Xlibris do. Jul. 29 Adderal: Christine Seiver sent me this article "15 Scary Facts about Adderall Abuse."  Adderal is like Ritalin, and it helps people with Attention Deficit Disorder.  The article mainly talks about college students who fake symptoms to get the drug and get good grades. It was an informative article.  Check it out: It did provide me to a really good personal essay "ADHD is a Societal Disorder, and Adderal Harms Those Who Suffer From It."  This woman Felicia A. Reid talked about she and her brother have ADHD.  She worked hard in school and got into college with any medication.  Then when she was a jr. in college, she finally took Concerta.  It helped her a lot.  However, after 4 months she felt that her personality was changing. This part stood out for me: "I uncharacteristically burst into tears when I passed the bar exam on the first attempt. I didn’t expect to; I never thought it was something I could do by myself." That is so good that you passed the bar exam on the first try, and that you went to college without this medication. http://www.policymic.com/articles/9529/adderall-abuse-in-college-students-harms-those-who-actually-have-adhd