Click here to read I’m a Good Story.

I heard this song on CBC radio this morning and I cannot stop listening to it. I think the last time I heard it was on a cassette mix someone made me at zionist/socialist camp when I was 13. Anyhow, I am quite partial to any song with mandolins and harmonies. It gives me the warmziez.

So? What’s up guys? Have you been reading my column in the Metro every Monday? I hope so. They’re fun to write. It’s my voice, but toned down to a much broader, on-the-way-to-work audience who want to learn about things I’d traditionally snarf at, like poetry readings and jazz. Unfortunately I believe this week is the last I’ll be doing it as it was just a temporary thing while my buddy who does it regularly took a vacation. But I’m sure there’ll be other opportunities of that calibre some time in the near future. Look at that? Me being positive about the future. Must be something in the (disgusting, flat, gag-inducing) Toronto water.This city is taking to me, or me to it. I can’t believe I just admitted that.

Anyhow. Photos.

Every time I leave my parent’s house, this happens. It’s a goodbye party!

I was staying in Liberty Village for a few weeks and one night the sky looked so pretty. Too bad it didn’t translate well in the photo.

Remember Matthew? Of course you do. He’s hard to forget. Anyhow, he was in town.

So we threw a party!

The gang!

These exist and I am that much happier as a result.

I visited my dad at work.

Tried to get connected to nature like I used to in Vancouver. Not quite the same but close enough.

My main goal right is to find a boyfriend who’ll accept every part of me…even when we’re taking a dump together.

This is one of my favourite songs of all time – yeah, yeah, you probably shouldn’t listen if you’re suicidal, but the title is fitting since I LOVE the holidays. Here are some photos of how I spent mine…

Sean and his massive household had a wholesome Christmas party, where guests were required to dress in onesies or lederhosen or both. Everyone in attendance was a costume designer or a puppeteer, except me.

Channuka/Hannuka/Hanuukkkakakakakakakaka

Me looking and feeling soooooo happy after Christmas dinner at the Jacot’s.

2/5th of the Jacots.

Dutchie’s winter attire, which I did not invest in. My parents have spoiled her to the point where she’s a different dog. She even snapped at me when I shoved my face into her face and wouldn’t move it. Back in the day, she never would have even dreamed of doing such a thing.

I spent a bunch of time in the hospital, while my friend was in there. I helped her fill out lengthy forms, which was a pretty fun process.

Should you ever go to the crusty Chinese mall in Chinatown, know the rules.

Let the Snow Games with Dutchie begin!

Food and drink on New Years.

I made everyone take a photo of themselves. I do that a lot.

Apparently if you move around while someone’s taking a photo of you, it’s impossible to get a bad shot. Not that Sarah doesn’t photograph well.

Beautiful Katie.

I changed my top to a polka dotted one.

Anyhow, that’s it for now. Didn’t make any resolutions ’cause I have enough pressure on myself right now. I did promise to eat every novelty poutine item I come across on a menu, so, yeah, bring it. Got any tips or recommendations for poutine-inspired dishes?

Click here to read I’m a Good Story.

How are things going, y’all? It’s getting bitterly cold here in Toronto but I’m trying to train my mind into tricking my body into thinking it’s hot, like those crazy energy people are able to do. Still learning how to get good at being all brain powerful but I’m sure it’ll come in time with some rigorous training.

What’s been going on? Well, a few things. Work wise, I’ve had a few things out there in the past few weeks. For one, I have a weekly column in the Metro every Monday. It’s called Urban Compass and I’m doing it until Mid-Feb or early March while the girl who usually does it is away. Taken a few weeks to sort of understand the tone and voice, but it’s coming along.

Last week I had a piece about Todd Barry in the National Post. Click here to read it.

When he was in town, I took him to Banook, and ordered this:

Poutine pizza. I’m that disgusting girl. (To my credit, and dignity, I only ate a quater of it.)

He’d never been to Active Surplus, so we checked that out too.

This is for all those people who seriously anticipate getting their Shoppers Drug Mart coupon flyer.

What else? I went with my mum to see the General Idea retrospective at the AGO. She was like “I don’t get it” and I was like “Wow, these guys were real artists. I wonder if they were rich?”

Me, trying not to pose but posing.

Speaking of posing, my dog on her hind legs. It’s one of her better tricks. I call it “The Gopher”.

Oh, I accompanied the lovely Sarah Efron on one of her Spice City exertions.  It was decent. I liked the place’s decor better than the food.

I went with Chris to see Jack and Jill. We got there early and were turned away by the ticket taker three times so to kill time, Chris went in this tornado stimulator. It was basically a small capsule that made strange sounds and blew air on your head a bit stronger than a hairdryer.

Came across this kid in Kensington market. I like what she’s got going on.

Tell me this detergent thing doesn’t remind you of a delicious piece of candy.

Oh…my stunning dear friend Natalie and her boyfriend took part in this series, where couples are captured looking moody and beautiful.

She is without a doubt one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met.

I believe that’s it. My dog hasn’t, er, taken care of business yet today so I should probably go take care of business…happy holidays!

Back from New York. It was sad to leave but it’s all good. Toronto’s not a bad place to come back to. But enough yammering. Here are some photos.

Every time I took Maggie for a walk, I kept on thinking about that horrible movie with Winona Ryder and Richard Gere…

The most sure-fire way to get attention (the good kind), is to put little rubber booties on your dog. Or a dog. That’s not my dog.

There was a guy playing sax here once but I was too shy to take a photo. So just imagine (with your eyes and your ears).

The mental-ness that is Maurizio Cattelan.

And staple friend, Rachel. Still a staple after all these years.

Oh, at the park I would frequent, I kept hearing about this feral graveyard dog that lived in the park. We came across it one day and I felt like I sawr a leprechaun! He was so sweet and shy.

Sue and I trying to recreate a photo we took in Victoria, like, seven years ago.

And the cutest family ever.

Hey, what? It’s ALI LIEBERT! In New York! (I type that in all caps ’cause I think more than 60% of hits on this site are people around the world looking for photos of her.)

And now a series of photos of me posing awkwardly next to modern art…

Me, my 90s “whisp” bangs and the lovely Sara Morgan…

My first American Thanksgiving dinner at Teru’s place, which was delicious. We actually had stirfry, instead of the traditional fair.

And here’s me and Maggie next to a swamp!

That’s it. Yup.

Nearly a month since I last posted on here so why the eff (f?) not?

So what’s been going on? For one, I’m really happy that I relocated to Toronto. I never thought I’d say that, but the city’s got it going on. SO MUCH more work. It’s great. I’ll probably likely probably maybe likely probably end up staying.

For two, I wrote about my experience as an intern at the fabu Pop Up Video for the National Post. Read it, it’s fun! I also wrote a few reports about cardio health for Mediaplanet. It’s fun too!

What else? Here are some photos of the last month or so.

This is at Tikka Lahore. Go there, it’s wonderful. They decorate their walls with saris and make fantastic kebabs. Ronit says I have Karla Homolka eyes in this photo.

Gabi and baby Julia.

Dogs.

There should be a petition to let me keep Ronit’s pants.

Baby teeth. It’s amazing what my parents keep around the house. I’m working on parring things down dramatically.

What are these things called? Head lovers? I want one.

Go play a Video Game. (Wow, these are mostly photos of me. I guess that’s just my headspace these days. Sowwy everyone else in my life.)

Now I’m in New York. My days have been full but my nights have been low key. Except for this one night, when we went to this terrible, cokey Wall Streeter club that has seven bouncers outside and makes you wait even if you’re on the guestlist and barely anyone is inside.

Naomi wondering when it’s all going to be over.

Me (again? Geez…) wondering what path I could have taken to be one of those girls cuddled up next to the overweight fat cat at the $3000 table with bottle service, being waited on by models in tight dresses and sparklers.

We only went to see Naomi’s friend, Buck, perform. If you’re a porn aficionado, you know who he is. He’s awesome.

Now I’m hanging out with this little fluffy monkey. We go for nice walks here. I’m around for another 10 days or so, so if you know fun things that are going on, do keep me posted.

Also, I’m going to be doing a weekly column in the Metro for a few months called Urban Compass. So if you or someone you know in Toronto is doing something cool/quirky/unique that needs promotion, hit me up email styles, write@eliannalev.com

Coming at you from the East Coast! North York to be exact. Home of, um, a bunch of ravines, a huge Canadian Tire and lots of strip malls. It’s not so bad. I’m staying with my folks, who are eating dinner as I write this at 4:15 p.m.

First off, here’s a little something I wrote for CP on Canadian scouts. Apparently it’s the hip happening thing for the youngens to do these days.

As for my life in Canada’s most important city, here’s a few snapshots…

I went to my first baptism, or as my dad kept calling it, “baby waterboarding”.

I wanted to take full advantage of the fact that the Toronto Transit Commission allows dogs to ride subways and buses (!!!!!!) . This is unheard of in Vancouver, which is super annoying. Anyhow, Dutchie didn’t like it, not one bit. She shook and panted uncontrollably the entire trip.

I went to a cottage for a day, which was somewhere far and couldn’t be accessed by GPS.

Then I slept at a beautiful B&B that had really cool curtains and headboard fabric.

Then it was my birthday. One of the best ones on record. Of course Chris tried to embarrass me.

Then we went to a park and basked in the glorious sunshine.

Dan was there and here’s the proof!

Then we went to a bunch of bars and wound up at Lakeview diner. That’s it!

So Toronto, is there anything/anywhere I desperately need to hit up now that I’m here? Do tell.

Click here to read I’m a Good Story.

So I’m moving out of town this week and I’m feeling surprisingly on top of things. Haven’t felt overwhelmed. Yet. I have a couple more days to get things done and I have a good feeling I’ll be a-o-k.

When I haven’t been packing and cleaning and tying up loose ends, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my city and its surrounding areas.

Oh before we get to that, click here to read something I wrote about reality shows in Vancouver. Click click click. Please.

Okay. Photos of me having fun…

…eating dim sum with Jenni Lee Nelson.

Or more specifically, cloud buns.

Uncle Kier!

Holy cow, it’s Cactus Katie! And her fantastic band, Safety Show!

The Breakfast Club.

Baby on a drum!

Hooray for sweaty armpits!

I took Leah on a Harbour Cruise.

On the most perfect day Vancouver’s ever seen.

Then we ate waffle sandwiches and drank flavoured milk.

I went for a walk with Kyla who said this reminded her of a gaping lady vagina.

She happened to look hot.

Me having a hard time deciding which of the 281 flavours of ice cream I wanted.

Look whats’ going on here with Ayma.

Get it?

I went to Victoria for 24 hours to visit Tarina, pictured here looking like an 80s journalist.

We stayed somewhere with a really pretty view.

We also visited my favourite beach.

Dogs.

Visited Beacon Hill park, where I practices a bird mating call I learned on this birding tour I did in Muskoka a few months ago. This guy and another guy ended up battling over me. I didn’t get any shots because I was right in the middle, trying to protect myself from their sharp talons. It was crazy!

My neighbours and I had a yard sale. Mostly we just dressed up in other people’s stupid clothes and drank beermosas (Lucky Strike beer with Sunny D. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.)

Yoga’s clearly come in handy.

Boys are stupid.

Today was our last day volunteering at the hospital for a while. We were pretty sad.

I want to make a joke about carrying my heart in your pocket, above your heart in a pocket…sleeve? What am I getting at? (That’s my card.)

Okay, that’s it. What’s new with you?

So, did you hear the news? I’m heading to Toronto for a bit. Yeah! My hometown. Trying to get excited. My head’s all over the place. I’ll spare the details. I’m currently killing some time as I wait for a friend to come crash at my house. So I’m online, posting some photos of recent times.

I eat a lot of fruit in the summer. Wow, right?

Dutchie, Dutchie, goose.

Chris and I came across this while we went for a walk in the woods. From afar, it looked like a dead infant and we nearly freaked.

Ali’s birthday. What a moment.

Went for a walk with Ken Hegan and came across this at the end of it. Appropriately enough.

Chris stayed with me for two whole weeks and we didn’t get sick of each other once. Not once.

Can’t get enough of my clown shirt.

Right?

Oh hello there with your two different coloured eyes.

Jeets was in town/I got a really pretty new dress.

This is one of the many things I’m going to miss about Vancouver. The murder of crows that fill the evening sky, eastbound, each night.

Okay. Send me a note or something. I could use a good pep talk/love these days. Write@eliannalev.com

So after nearly three years, I’m putting this project to an end. And who better to bury this shit with than with one of the world’s greatest gonzo journalists, Nardwuar the Human Serviette!

It’s not so much an interview as it is a chat. (Well, a chat n’ chew, ’cause we were eating lunch the whole time. At the Tomahawk Grill. A popular place in Nardworld.) Nardwuar really shaped my style and tone as a journalist…I aspire to be as entertaining and informative as he is. His work is certainly memorable.

That said, I got into some deeper shit with the Vancouver icon, including what made him the way he is (read: not like you and me), how he deals with anger and what saved him when he was close to dying. He also dropped a ton of his pop cultural expertise, including bits on Sebastian Bach, Sharon Stone on Arsenio Hall, and his relationship with Snoop Dogg.

Anyhow, thanks for listening to this wee project of mine for the last few years. It’s been super fun, though I certainly lost my drive about a year and a half in. Producing takes a lot of time and energy and my passion kind of just fizzled out. (Though my love for podcasts and the art of radio will live on. There’s a potential new project in the works, relating to science and storytelling.)

Big, huge thanks to…

♥Aaron Beckum, for producing the music for the first eight episodes. (Now he works with way cooler people than you do.)

♥Amber and Josh of Lightening Dust and Jagjawuar for letting me use the song “Wind Me Up” in the intro and extro.

♥Everyone who shared their stories with me.

♥Ashley Webber, Chris Smith, Louise Burns, Bogus Tokus for letting me use their music. You should listen to it. It’s real good.

♥Bob from Vancouver is Awesome for putting up a couple of episodes.

AND…of course, ♥♥♥y’all♥♥♥ for listening! (Hearts.) It’s seriously meant the world to me.

And now, at the tender (and lethal) age of 27, we are done! Thanks again.

Click here to read I’m a Good Story and click here to listen to the People’s Program Project.

Hiya. I’ll start this with a few links to some of my work that’s been out there in the webesphere. Here’s a piece I did on teen photographer Petra Collins that got picked up all over the place. (Hot young girls with talent generate interest. Not surprised. Also, helps to have ArtStars in there. And Tavi.) Here’s a piece I did on Jenni Lee Nelson and her fantastic vintage store in the Downtown Eastside. Here’s a piece I did on Deandra, the lady I owe for having magnificent hair, and her new salon and her inspiring everything. Also, if this gets something like 300 more hits, I make an extra 50 buck. So please click! Then I can subscribe to a magazine or something.

So there’s that. I have a bunch of photos to share. This past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend Dave and Abby’s wedding on Gabriola Island, one of my favourite places in the world. (Note: I originally wrote “Galiano” because for some reason I ALWAYS mix the two up, despite the fact that Gabriola is my favorite place in the world and I had just spent five hours writing about it yesterday. I’m a dumb-dumb. Freudian geographical slip or something.)

Snack buffet and travel companion, Larry David.

The view from the cabin I stayed at. The day I went over, an armed and dangerous man was on the loose on the island after a woman was murdered. (No joke.) I was kinda scared of the idea of staying in the cabin in the middle of the woods, alone. But it was all right. Marvelous, in fact.

There were some cliff formations on the property so I went out and took moody pictures.

This represents my pretty, feminine mood.

Later that night, after I spent the day doing interviews for a story I’m writing, I went over to Nanaimo to pick up some comedians and friends.

They were likely laughing about the creepiest kid alive, who was also on the ferry.

The night before the wedding. Alicia and Graham gave Dabby bread slippers. If you listen to Dave’s podcast (and you probably do) you’ll know the joke.

Me, clownface and the bread slippers.

The next day a bunch of us went to the Malaspina Galleries, which was one of the most beautiful places I’ve visited in recent times. The above photos weren’t them.

This was them. Holy smoly.

Then the fellas started jumping into the water, all carefree styles.

I didn’t jump. I chose to slip in.

Almost wedding time. This is the part where everyone takes advantage of how pretty and handsome they look and takes pictures of everyone else. I think Alicia stole the show, after the bride, of course.

Is it getting warm or what? Myself with some handsome fellas.

Then the stunning ceremony, which included but wasn’t limited to adorable flower girls in handmade dresses, a cry-worthy poem and quote about love, a butterfly AND an eagle. Not to mention the absolutely knock-out bride. I had a sneak peak at the shoes and dress design but Abby just blew my mind with how she pulled it off. Every detail of that outfit blew my brain right out of my head.

I was lucky to clock some Grampa time. He’s my #1 (a). [Dutchie is my #1 (b).]

WE HAVE ALLERGIES!

More stunningness.

Dan and I pretending we have chemistry.

The next day when I came home my beautiful neighbour was having a girl’s bbq croquet party in my backyard and happened to have invited every single hot girl in this city. Too bad you weren’t invited.

Then I went to another bbq and this anime character was there.

And these two fantastic staple friends.

Oh, did you know my mum’s been in town and it’s been absolutely divine?