If you are lucky, you’re already friends with Twyla and you’ve been lucky enough to read one of her many blogs (if not: http://twylog.tumblr.com). There are few people that can make a trip to the drug store or nights out with friends sound as endearing as Twyla does. But besides being Calgary’s most entertaining blogger, she’s also the person behind the Sled Island look, so we caught up with her to talk about the festival, lip gloss, and why she thinks Calgary is Awesome.

What do you do for Sled Island?

I draw pictures for Sled Island.

Do you have any other drawing projects on the go?

Right now I am working on a project for SAIT, and I just finished off some wedding invitations. I also do all of the print ads for The Rocket. Everytime I finish one project, something else comes out of nowhere, so it keeps me perfectly busy, which is good!

How did you get involved with Sled Island?

I’ve been friends with Zak (Pashak) for a long time, and he’s the main man behind Sled Island. He asked me back in 2007 if I wanted to draw “a few” pictures for the festival, and well… a few pictures has turned into a few hundred pictures, lots of posters, millions of print ads, thousands of t-shirts (want one? call me!) and a pretty rad website. I am honestly unable to draw a mountain anymore, because they all come out looking like dinks. It’s so weird. So that’s why there haven’t been many mountains in the posters lately. I feel really lucky to get to work for Sled Island – it’s like, Calgary is so great and I love it here, and music is huge in my life, so I feel honored to be involved in something so great and fun and positive for our city!

What is the best show you saw at a previous Sled Island?

Sled Island 2007 – Upstairs at the Legion, Dandi Wind, hands down. I was just sitting there, kind of relaxing after a crazy day, and suddenly the most awesome broad in the world is strutting up and down on top of the bar, wearing this amazing little leotard thing, just totally meowing around. I was just sitting there like, “What? Really? Is this actually happening?!” It was so like, Woah. I’ve never been speechless before, but for those 30 minutes and for 20 minutes after, I was not-talkable.

What makes Calgary so awesome?

I am honestly the hugest fan of Calgary. It is impossible to say what makes Calgary so awesome. It’s just in the air, and I’m not even being a cheesy asshole when I say that – I’m serious. You step outside on certain days, and you can just feel this energy buzzing around. There are some super great people here, and the random niceness of people makes me feel surprised and happy on a daily basis. I am constantly surprised by the goodness of people. (is “goodness” a word?!)

Describe your perfect Calgary day:

Perfect Calgary Day! Oh man. I’d say I would love to wake up around 9 or so, do a little bit of apartment stuff (ie: write a blog about nothing), meet up with pals for lunch on a neighborhood patio, have a few random hours of just walking and talking and hanging, followed by dinner and drinks at Local 510 which is my new favorite place, and ending with a great rock show and/or Patio Time at Broken City…And then a late-night walk home with friends, taquitos, and great jokes!

Favorite Calgarian of all time?

Oh my God. Harvey the Hound. Absolutely. Just look at him. He’s so funny! The only reason I go to hockey games is to see what that dog is up to. Whoever is inside of him is amazing. I’ve applied to be him a few times. No luck. But the people are always really nice and actually reply to my emails, like, “No. Sorry. We are not accepting applications for a new Harvey the Hound at this time.” Good customer service, yet another awesome thing about Calgary!

What’s the most awesome place in Calgary?

Not specifically a place, but lately I’m all over the river pathways. You can get anywhere on those things. Just explore! You pop out at the weirdest spots, and it’s like, “WHAT! I’ve only been walking for 20 minutes and I’m at Deerfoot Mall!” seriously. Be careful around the paths though – lots of bum nests.

Best place to shop in Calgary?

I know I’m going to get ridiculed for saying this, but the Winners up at Westhills is out of control! Jeans! Purses! Shampoo! I spend most of my money in Reids, though. They have so much random squirrel stuff. So good. And pens and paper. Wild.

Best place to be on a Saturday night?
My balcony. I’m serious. We just sit there with a bottle (4 bottles) of wine and watch the sun go away and the Calgary Tower is right there in front of us. It’s a total dream. Come over sometime, you’ll see.

Best place to be on a Sunday morning?
Brunch with friends, followed by the Farmers Market. Or, if I’m hungover, on my balcony with cereal and magazines. I don’t even have to get dressed for that!

What’s your earliest memory of Calgary?
Well. I’ve lived here all my life, so I’ve got lots, but I guess my most vivid memories are from the Stampede when I was a kid. But the thing is, they’re not really “good” memories, because my mom, for some reason that she still refuses to answer, used to dress me and my sister up as Clowns to take us to the Stampede? I saw pictures a few years ago, and I was like, “MOM! WTF!” and she was all nervous like, “Oh, ALL of the kids used to get dressed up!” but in the backgrounds of all the pictures, nobody else was dressed up…Total trauma. I don’t even know what to say.

Drawing or blogging?
Oooh. Tough question. With drawing, I love it, but I feel shy and nervous to show people. With blogging, I’m like “Whatever!” and just write whatever I want and don’t care what people think. So. It’s a real toss up, but I’d have to say drawing. I probably offend less people via drawing.

Kittens or lip gloss?
Lip Gloss!!! Everyone just assumes I like Kittens, but I don’t. I think they’re annoying, like Kids. You can’t leave them unattended or they piss everywhere and wreck stuff. You can’t ever go wrong with Lip Gloss – the worst that can happen with Lip Gloss is you forget it in your pants and it goes in the washing machine and wrecks your clothes. Put a kitten in the laundry machine, and the next thing you know, you’re on the front page of the Calgary Sun…