Said goodbye to a dear friend this weekend. Jan Furst, whom I have known for more than 10 years [which, as you can see, was a very small part of his life] left the world a better place than he entered it, almost 99 years ago. An author, a shipwright, an engineer, a dancer, a raconteur — Jan has left a mark none who knew him will ever forget.

My favourite story about Jan is about his life as an author. He published his first book on Kayak construction in 1931, at the age of 18. More than sixty years later, he wrote THORFINN THORHALLSON’S SAGA, his Norse myth story and returned to the same house to have it published in Norwegian. Jan told me of the shocked look on the faces of the people he met there — they were a non-fiction house, but since they’d never had SIXTY years pass between requests for publication by the same author — they published it.

You can read more about Jan and his book here: http://www.thorfinn.ca/novel.html

I miss you, Jan!

 

More soon…

 

 

~kc

…don’tcha know.

Culture Week, that is, here in British Columbia, and Canadiana is breaking out all over. Here’s what’s happening in my wee village:

 

I’ll be one of the ‘live performances’, doing readings at the village library from 12:30 to 1:30pm, with the very poetically talented Mister William Kimmett also reading. There’ll be music and art and conversation aplenty, so if you are anywhere in Sea to Sky country on October 1, come on by!

Next week I’ll be on two separate book tours in BC — details upcoming.

 

More soon…

 

~kc

This little baby is rocking my world these days.

It is, for you plebean types who may not recognize the inherent gorgeousity, a vintage [c. 1950-ish]  juicer.

My friend A Novel Woman [hereafter known as The Negotiator] wrangled a guy down to 20 bucks for this beauty at the Lachute Flea Market. It is solid stainless steel, works like a charm and fills a glass with fresh-squeezed in four oranges or less.

It was, I have to admit, a bit of an adventure bringing it home in my carry-on — it weighs a ton, and made SEVERAL trips back and forth on the conveyor belt through the x-ray machine. [‘Jus’ _what_ did you say dis ting is, madame?’]

Totally worth it. A Novel Woman uses hers for lemonade, [which she interestingly spikes with vodka, to pleasing effect…], but I’ve stuck to oranges and grapefruits so far.

I may have to save lemonade for next summer…there are distinct signs of fall in the air. Like cold. And rain. My goal was to leave the roof off of my Jeep until October first, but…sadly, it went back on today.

In writing news, though, Fall means nothing but good things. Caught a glimpse of the Vancouver Readers and Writers’ Festival flyer today and it looks amazing, as usual. And for those of you who care more about the craft end of things, don’t forget the Surrey International Writers’ Conference.

As conferences go, you must know it is the one closest to my heart — and this year is going to be a blockbuster. Tickets are still available, so if you’ve always wanted to write that one special story — or if you are a well-published expert — there is something for everyone.

More details soon, but I can tell you I’ll be teaching a Beginner Intensive class the day before the conference proper opens, along with EIGHT other Master classes on offer, with the likes of authors Ivan Coyote, Jack Whyte, Robert Dugoni, and back by popular demand, NY agent Donald Maass. A couple of these events are close to selling out, so check out the website, willya? You don’t want to miss out!

Tonnes of all things writerly happening every day, so watch this space!

 

More soon…

 

~kc

well-loved bearOne of the highlights of my summer was spending time with my friends A Novel Woman and Kathy Chung, in a picturesque spot just west of Montreal called Lac Louisa. If you check out A Novel Woman’s blog, you can enjoy an embarrassment of photographic riches of the place. We had so much fun, enjoying a bit of down time with family and friends, getting tail-whipped by the edge of a hurricane and enjoying the calm before the more metaphorical storm of this crazy fall coming up.

I learned to play two new games while lac-side, a highly profane version of the card game Dutch Blitz and the more sedate RPG called Settlers of Catan. In both instances, my life-long training as a good loser was adeptly put into play. Many margaritas and much fine food was consumed, and I recall at least one each of a walk, swim and kayak paddle to aid in appetite whetting.

creepy baby dollOn the last day, en route to the airport, we stopped in Lachute to view the famous Flea Market. SUCH an amazing event, with loads of interesting [and occasionally somewhat creepy] finds to be had.The shots you see here are just some of the treasures to be found.an indulgence…for sale

Even though I did the trip with only carry-on luggage [the only way to travel, if I can help it!] I was seduced by a couple of items. One of these is a vintage juicer, to which I will devote its very own post.

 

For now, I’ll leave you with the lovely, the interesting and the downright creepy sights from the Lachute Flea Market, 2011.

ashtrays — only in Quebec

 

More soon…

 

 

~kc

Last post [for the present, anyway] on my recent jaunt to Korea. I’ve saved the best for last — some of the creepy, krazy coolness I found while prowling the streets of Seoul.

As mentioned in an earlier post, the surface of Seoul is often pink and cute, Hello Kitty style. But just a little digging brings up all kinds of interesting tidbits, from tacky Vegas-style carriages to [literally] underground art. 

Take a peek with me, will you?

This first shot is from the interesting edibles department. A bowl of street munchies — fried larvae, actually, for sale at one of the night markets — displayed alongside a giant bowl of huge duck eggs. I thought they must be goose eggs, but was informed otherwise. Those must have been some powerfully large mama ducks!

Street advertising was ubiquitous, so to stand out, some places went the extra mile, with fetchingly posed pigs, self-serving ramen and so many more…

M

 

 

 

One very steamy night we walked along the man-made canal that runs through the heart of the city. It was a gathering place for families and young lovers to beat the heat. At one point the walkway takes you right across the path of a waterfall. It was beautiful.

 

 

My absolute favourite event was an art show we stumbled upon in Insadong. The artist, whom I got to meet, is Seoung Park — and is depicted in all the odd and interesting self-portraits on display. I was totally knocked out by this display, but I can’t find an online link to the artist anywhere. If you know of one, please pass it along in the comments!

The show was titled:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is this not the very definition of krazy, creepy cool?

 

 

 

 

And what about this one?

 

 

I saw so many other amazing sights, but this post is already too picture-heavy. If you’d like to have a look at a few more shots, hie yourself over to my Flickr page and dive in!

 

Tomorrow, I think I’ll post a few thoughts on my Quebec jaunt. Lots of the kreepy and crazy there, too!

 

More soon…

 

~kc

 

Apart from the superhighway that took me away from the airport [which looked like superhighways do, the world over], the best part of Korea for me were the streets. I was with friends and always safe, but I tell you — we walked down our share of creepy laneways while we were there.

No such thing as an empty street in Seoul. One street we walked along was comprised of all the elements of the printing industry — paper distributors, graphic artists, printers, book-binders. Most of the goods were transported up and down the street on huge flats balanced on the backs of motorcycles.

One of my favourite streets was Insadong, the market in downtown Seoul. It’s pretty touristy [it was there I saw the only caucasion women I spied on the whole trip], but still had lots of things to strike my fancy. This is back of author Lee Edward Fodi’s head as he hightails it through Insadong in pursuit of Poo Dough. [And you can read all about THAT in yesterday’s post…]

In a related note, if you click on the Lee’s name above, it’ll link you to his new book trailer for the latest Kendra Kandlestar book, coming this October. Kazah Kool!

And now, after that brief commercial interlude, back to Korean Kool.

‘Cute’ is very popular in Korea right now, so there was a fair share of Hello Kitty — including an entire store and tea-shop devoted to same — but I also managed to find a few things from the dark side of Korean culture that appealed to me. 

More on that topic in another post.

In the meantime, I hope you get as much enjoyment as I did with some of these mysterious, bizarre and wonderful people-passages that are the by-ways of Seoul.

An almost-deserted back street at night.

A more typical daytime view.

 

 

Another street market. [the sheer quantity of goods available for purchased completely boggled my mind. I’ve been to many of the world’s great cities, but I’ve never seen anything like it. A shopper’s paradise.

I’m in the process of organizing my Korea shots on my Flickr page — will post the link as soon as they are ready.

More soon…

 

 

~kc

 

This has certainly been a summer of adventure for me — always a good thing for a writer, as every new experience has a way of slipping into the work somewhere. After a day home post-Seoul, I took off again for Quebec for a few days with friends. More on that soon. But for now, a look back at some of the food experiences I had in Korea.

I have been a practicing vegetarian for many years [seventeen, I think…]. I don’t talk about it much, as it’s wrapped up in choices about myself and my world. Within those parameters I do try to be pretty open-minded about the food I eat, though, so I thought I’d be able to veggie my way through the mostly meat-laden Korean cuisine with little difficulty. It ended up being a little tougher than I had thought, but it was an amazing experience and I am delighted to share some of the highlights with you here.

 

The shot is of my first meal in Korea — a sort of waldorf salad, with apples and mushrooms and tomatoes in a mayonaise dressing.

This turned out to be a more common breakfast staple — kimchi and rice with beans. There are something like 600 varieties of kimchi, which is a fermented cabbage dish, in various levels of spicyness. I was travelling with author Lee Edward Fodi, and another highlight included Lee’s insistance on finding and devouring ‘Poo Dough’, a kind of doughnut with bean paste in the shape of a pile of poo. 

 

Yep.

 

 

 

 

Evidence:

 

 

 

One night, a group of us [including mentors, parents and kids] were treated to a traditional Korean banquet, which had more dishes than I can enumerate.

This is Joon Park, co-founder [with Lee] of CWC, sharing dishes that included [but were not limited to]: tiny fried fish, kimchi, rice, octopus, sauted mushrooms, korean soft tofu, pickles, beef, noodles, beer, beans, bok choy, rice liquor, tea, and more. It was amazing. Later, we headed out to a tea house to finish, and the kids devoured giant bowls of green tea sorbet. [I had hot chocolate…!]

An unforgettable experience.

 

More soon…

 

~kc

 

 

 

 

 

Sitting here at the Incheon airport with my buddy Lee [aka Mr. Wiz], preparing to put ourselves into the hands of the Gods of Physics for our trip home to Vancouver. My time in Korea has been amazing — a great week of camp capped off with two incredible days in Seoul.

The wifi here is playing me a bit false, and is taking forever to load images, so I’ll just leave you with a few words of prose here and add the pix later.

So, just for the record, here are a few of the things I’ve done lately that I can safely say I’ve never done before…

Designed my own superhero logo. [Involves super-tights, of course….]

Donned Tweedledum pyjamas and had a Thai massage with two compatriots, who will remain unnamed to protect the guilty.

Washed my hands with mouthwash. [It _looked_ like a soap dispenser!]

Taken an elevator ride 800m in under 30 seconds.

Photographed just about every meal that contained an item of food I’ve never eaten before. [Searching out veggie fare in a carnivour-pro country was an experience in itself].

Taken photos through the glass floor of Top Cloud, some 38+ stories in the air.

Traipsed tiny alleyways in a dark, steamy city.

Written Canadian wishes on the wall of a Story Cafe in Seoul.

Eaten cake with chopsticks.

Seen buddhist monks, gandalf, stone Korean tigers, nuns, duck eggs, avant-garde artwork, automated ramen bowls, Elvis, snack-larvae, neon hansom cabs, Japanese lucky cats, Marilyn Monroe, canoodling lovers beside a man-made canal, brilliant butterflys, and every commercial good possible [except raisin bran…] for sale on the streets of this gigantic, breath-taking, amazing city.

Korea — thank you for showing me such a wonderful time.

When I get home, I’ll post photos and a link to some of the evidence on Flickr. But now…I board.

 

More soon…

 

~kc

 

This is a shot of the sun, fighting through the hot fog in this strange-weather week here in Korea. This is a place where the wallpaper leaps off the walls if one leaves the windows open to the steamy outdoor air.

But indoors here at Hankuk University in Yongin, things are crazy and creative, if not much cooler.

 

 

 

 

Today, our last full day, sees our superheroes creating masks to preserve their precious anonymity. Anything goes and the results ranged from the creepily clown-like…

 

 

 

…to the majorly mysterious.

 

 

 

 

 

But I have to say, I think a special highlight of my day was our afternoon break, where we all ate cake provided by one of the wonderful campers’ mothers — with chopsticks. Here is the Super Wiz himself as evidence. [The cake was blueberry chiffon — delicious!]

 

 

This is my new favourite way to eat cake. Life will never be the same.

 

More soon…

 

~kc

Super Hero camp continues here in Korea, with great strides being made by all present.

 

Superhero logos are being designed, [you can see a couple of astonishing examples in this first picture], stories written, comic title pages designed and books are being devoured.

 

 

[Harry works on his comic page, below.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more of the kids’ work, you must check out the redoubtable Lee Edward Fodi’s blog, Between the Cracks of Here & There. [He is much better than I at remembering to photo-document!]

Once the logos were designed, they made their presence known on t-shirts, and some of these are true things of beauty. This one here belongs to Grace’s SuperBanana Man, a splash of neon joy on a grey afternoon.

 

 

Adventures in lunch-time continue. I admit to resorting occasionally to the survival pack bought for me by our wonderful assistant Joanne, who takes pity on my vegetarian predilictions with the odd bagel or piece of fruit. [Nectarines today…thank you Joanne!]

 

And as we are about to head into the Super Hero tournament tonight, I’ll leave you with a shot of my lunch — a very spicy vegetable, sort of resembling bok choy [but not], rice and orange juice, which you will see upon very close examination exhorted me to ‘enjoy my fruitful day’!

Which I have done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More soon…

 

~kc