Need some help completing the #31daysofyeg challenge? In addition to a weekly Storify, the blog team — updates this week from Vivian Binnema and Catherine Szabo — is busy with their own adventures completing the list. Check back each week for updates!
No. 7: Try something new from one of the many food trucks around the city.
As someone who lives, and formerly worked, downtown, I have fairly good access to food trucks on a regular basis. I’ve noticed the Jimmy Poblano Southwest Cantina truck parked at the end of 116 Street, in the LeMarchand Mansion parking lot, before, but until the 31 days challenge, it’s never occurred to me that it might be a good option for the nights I don’t feel like cooking dinner. I ordered Alley Kat beer battered fish tacos (comes with sides of coleslaw and refried beans) and a prickled pear lemonade, and was able to enjoy it sitting nearby in Grant Notley Park. Summer nights when I don’t want to cook dinner just got a little bit easier… –CS
No. 9: Edmonton is known as a festival city. Take advantage of our thriving summer scene — attend a festival and share your favourite thing about it.
On July 7, I went to the Freewill Shakespeare Festival’s performance of As You Like It. It was a beautiful evening for sitting out on the grassy hill of Hawrelak Park’s Heritage Amphitheatre and taking in a Shakespearean comedy. The Freewill Shakespeare festival combines a couple of my favourite things: summer evenings outdoors and live theatre. This performance featured a cloudless sky and energetic acting, accompanied at times by live music and colourful stage lighting. I couldn’t have asked for a better evening. –VB
No. 10: Take a photo of your favourite Edmonton landmark or public art — bonus points for a selfie with it!
Edmonton has some very cool public art, most of which I’ve heard about but have to go out of my way to visit. So my favourite public art is more accidental art — not necessarily sanctioned or explained, but wonderful nonetheless to discover. It turns out my running route — Westmount and the area around 124 Street — has a lot of it, and it was hard to pick my favourite.
It would surprise me if these small sentence fragments were done by different people — the style and sentiment is similar, and with the exception of one, they’re all found roughly in the same area. Not only do I love the sentiment, but finding another one always makes me happy, because it’s usually when I don’t expect it.
An honourable mention goes to the 125 and 123 Street beavers. I found the first one in summer 2013 and promptly forgot about it, and then found what I thought was the same one, except that it had moved a couple blocks, the following summer. It turns out there’s two — one beaver holding a book and one beaver holding a hockey stick — and as far as I can tell, there’s no explanation as to why they’re there, I still had problems finding them again this summer, and I’m going to go add them to the public art map right now. –CS
No. 19: Buy tickets to take in a live theatre performance and tweet your own review.
On July 10, I attended Walterdale Theatre’s performance of A Man of No Importance. I feel like I’m cheating a little bit on this challenge because I didn’t actually buy my tickets — my tickets were complimentary because I volunteer with Walterdale, helping out with their front-of-house duties during shows. (When I volunteered with Walterdale Theatre on July 3, I was completing challenge no. 5: Volunteer your time with a local initiative and share why you support it. I support Walterdale Theatre because they give local amateur theatre enthusiasts a place to exercise their theatrical passions and produce some really good theatre in the process). As I commented on Twitter, I found the story touching, and the music lively. The characters were engaging and the actors played them well. –VB
No. 23: Visit an art gallery and discuss your interpretations of the art on display
I feel like I cheated a bit on this one, by doing the Whyte Avenue Art Walk this weekend instead of going to the Art Gallery of Alberta (which I’ve never been to) or really stopped at the galleries on 124 Street (which I walk by and admire from the sidewalk all the time). I did, however, purchase a few pieces at the art walk — two pieces for me, one as a gift, and a cover for my work phone, which I am ridiculously excited about not only because it’s a little more unique and supports local artists, but also because it’s so hard to find (good) phone covers for the iPhone 5c. –CS
Need some inspiration for challenges we’ve already checked off our own list? You can find the week no. 1 recap here. Insight and input from others working their way through the second week of the challenge is in the following Storify:
The second annual #31DaysofYEG challenge is now underway! Spend July exploring and sharing Edmonton’s hidden gems with The Local Good’s list of prompts – and check out our weekly Storify summaries to compare your progress with other participants and steal a little inspiration.
The second annual #31DaysofYEG challenge is now underway! Spend July exploring and sharing Edmonton’s hidden gems with The Local Good’s list of prompts – and check out our weekly Storify summaries to compare your progress with other participants and steal a little inspiration.
The second annual #31DaysofYEG challenge is now underway! Spend July exploring and sharing Edmonton’s hidden gems with The Local Good’s list of prompts – and check out our weekly Storify summaries to compare your progress with other participants and steal a little inspiration.
https://storify.com/DebMerriam/31daysofyeg-2015-week-2
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