i went to an arts school on granville island as a kid, then as a teenager, for many years, and while i took classes in everything from print-making, to sculpting, to animation, to ballet, lyrical, jazz (and even interpretive dance, now that i think about it), photography was a course that i was excited to do over and over again. i spent a lot of time in the darkroom because i felt i'd run out of things to take pictures of in that little tourist locale. ten years later, though, i guess i've rediscovered what granville island has to offer, and i'm excited that my husband found new ways to capture everyday images in and around our home. i spent the money on the new 24mm lens (i had to cancel my lens order mid-shipment because i didn't realize i'd bought the old version), and we're both blown away with it so far, so the extra $700 was worth it. apparently it only has 8 diaphragm blades, compared to one of my nikkors that has 9, but it makes everything outside the depth of field look oh-so-creamy-beautiful, and i can't wait to make good use of it.
that's hakoinu, which is japanese for "cardboard dog". there's a fantastically whimsical little store in the gastown area of vancouver called occupied, from a rare breed of wonderful shops akin to places like schmancy in seattle. we first stumbled upon haikonu onscreen at occupied and were delighted to bring home not only the dvd, but the little box dog himself. he's featured in a sweet silent-type japanese film with relaxing music. a boy unable to have pets in the apartment building creates hakoinu. his parents take travel-gnome-like photos of him with hakoinu, which are kept in the top of the dog's head for safe-keeping where they become hakoinu's "memories." sadly, the boy and his family move away, leaving hakoinu behind, and the little box dog spends the movie trying to find the boy, visiting the places captured in all his memories. i wish there was just a snippet of the movie on youtube to feature, but there isn't.
that comic above pretty much sums up my christmas. since andrew couldn't get any time off work around christmastime, christmas spirit was pretty grim around the house, and we decided to hold off till ukranian christmas....which is technically tomorrow, i believe, but this year will serve as some random date after christmas to eat a good (ukranian) feast and perhaps do the gift thing. i did get him two small things, but he got me nothin'. thank goodness his family braved the impending snowfall on the 25th and saved christmas! 
i took some photos of emily and andrew last month to give to their mom as a brother/sister christmas gift, and while i've made things like jewelry and purses many times before, giving photographs was a first for me this year, and it packed so much more punch than pretty ear danglies. we had fun walking around granville island with its bold, colorful buildings, but it was very, very cold.
