NUIT BLANCHE

www.nuitblanche.livewithculture.ca

Saturday September 30, 2006

7pm-7am

downtown Toronto transformed by artists

don't miss it!

twenty three

That's the title of a beautiful Jimmy Eat World song, and also Ramlin's new response when people ask her how old she is :)

I've finally been to New York City. Man, it was the best. Ramlin and I drove down early Friday morning and arrived in Brooklyn at Casa Newall at supper time. The drive was 8 1/2 hours which seemed a breeze after New Orleans. The Newall (is that how you spell their last name?) brothers took us out straight away to see the sights. For an extremely short trip, we managed to see and taste loads of the city. These good times include:

Ground Zero, The Statue of Liberty, Battery Park, The Empire State building, china town, Soho, New York pizza....yummmmm, Radio City, Time Square, Central Park and a buttload more ( I saved the Seinfield cafe, Poet's Alley, and New York cheesecake to see with you, Markers :) . We travelled by subway and taxi, and even successfully parellel parked our car in the middle of all the chaos of the lively city. We didn't do the galleries or shows because hopefully I'll get to go with school, and they deserve a trip all their own...at least pour moi they do!

Jeez, God is so gooooooood! We had the best weather, and when it began to spit and cloud over we prayed and spoke to the clouds and the sun came out again! Woohoo! I'm always amazed when that happens. And what a blessing to have our own personal tour guides! We've got some great pics. It's so hard not to take picures of EVERYTHING there. I'll post some soon....

I fell in love with NYC. The lights, the cameras, the action... and the many many homeless broke my heart, but when we approached the Canadian border to return home, during the golden hour of an autumn day... it was breathtaking. It's like Canada hugs me somehow once I've crossed the border... as corny as that sounds....

Ok, I have to go to my last class for the day...until next time, let's all peer pressure Mark to blog.

love yourself. you're a masterpiece.
bethany

Very moving...

It's been an interesting month, that's for sure. First things first: my good friend J came to visit Bethany and I in Toronto; the first time I'd seen him since he left England in May 2004. J rocked it out with me on the turntables at Freshwind 2004, and also formed the band The Salivators with me. The guy had keys to my house for a year, you know? We hung out and saw the sights. We went to Smokeless Joe, and to the Ontario Film Board. We took him to the Panorama lounge, and we watched movies. We drank beer and went to church. We hung out with people and ate good food. We drank cocktails and we drank coffee. We spent time catching up.

Then came the tough part. I had to say goodbye to Bethany. We'd been together for two months by this point, and I was not looking forward to going to the airport. It would be four months before we'd see each other again, when she comes over to visit at Christmas.
There was something else making my forthcoming journey home a little daunting. Over the summer, I took into account my options; my thoughts on the teaching course I started in January. I thought about the things that I would almost certainly have to go through in my final term, and I decided that it was not going to be a good thing to continue. As a result, I left my job in the school, and with it, made the decision to leave my beloved Leeds, and move back to Worksop. Leaving Canada this summer meant leaving Leeds, and finding a new job.

So, this month has been an interesting one. When I got back, I found myself a new job - I'll be working with teenagers with behavioural problems. I found a replacement for my room in Leeds. I broke the news to my band, and organised a couple of farewell gigs. I've packed things and sold things. I've given things away. I've spent time sorting things out to leave. I've visited Worksop a couple of times, and been to the unit I'll be working in. I've met my sister's tortoise. I've caught up with some friends, and had band practices. My cell group got together with my old cell group to give me a send off; which was excellent.

If there's one thing I'll miss about Leeds more than anything, it's the level of silliness that ensues when my friends and I come up with an idea. Last night, we opened an art gallery in our BASEMENT. No, really. We had flyers for it and everything. We displayed work by Bethany and myself, my roommate Butch, and his girlfriend Katherine. We had free wine, and people came to look around. Some pieces have been sold, and we expect more to go during the week. It's the sort of thing that can only happen in a big city. I'm going to miss that in Worksop.

Having said that, there's some benefits to living back with my parents, and I'm not talking about low-cost rent (although that is a major bonus). They pretty much live out in the country, and some clean air won't do me any harm. There's not that much to do at night, so I might find some more time to exercise. My dad likes to build fires in the garden. I like to build fires in the garden. We can build fires in the garden. And it's not too far from Leeds, so I can pop back for a visit.

Oh, there was one other great thing that happened to me this month. My wonderful friends Ben and Kelsey decided that they wanted to bless me. Having told me how much they remembered hating being apart before they got married, they checked some dates out with me, and bought me a ticket to Canada for October. So, my three months in Worksop is nicely divided with an excursion to see my wonderful girl. That's what I'm talking about.

It's good to be back. Love.

sometimes it sucks

to have to socialise without your best bud and other half.

entre nous

Friday:Someone hacked into my gmail account. Poo. Other than that today was lovely. The delicous pears on the tree in our backyard are ripe. When they start to fall off the tree, I know it's going to get cold very soon. Today they started falling, so I bought my first sweater for the chilly autumn winds that will suddenly be upon us. The sweater (or 'jumper' as Mark would say) I've been eyeing in Lululemon of course. I don't know why I like that store so much. Technically, if I had an identifiable style it wouldn't be that (too expensive!!!), but the cardigans are so thick and juicy. Like, I won't even let you try this on because you'll keep it. I could live in it. Maybe I will....as some preformance art statement (see Thursday's blog below).
Tonight I went to youth, and Ben Kennedy was preaching. He said something that gripped me. It went like this, "The world is constantly telling you you don't have enough time for God by distracting you with anything/everything. That's a lie, because Jesus had the exact same time as you had while he was on earth. He was confronted with distraction. He was confined to 24hours, and He still knew His Father and gave him his time." Time is your most precious thing to give away...who or what are you giving it to?

Thursday:
We've been researching and discussing preformance art in one of my classes for the last two weeks. I feel like I've seen EVERYTHING. From plastic surgery experiments to stomping around a stuido for one hour, to painting with people's faces and/or cow blood to getting someone to SHOOT you in the arm. Yes, this is all preformance art, most in video format, and it has deep meaning to the artist. Hmmmm.

Amidst all of these 'unique' approaches to getting one's point across, I've found some that I quite like. For example: Good ol' Yoko Ono. I've always liked her. She had everyone in her audience come up one by one and cut off a piece of the garment she was wearing. At the end, she told them to send that material to someone and tell them they loved them. Later, she explained that by letting complete strangers approach her and get close to her with scissors, she was sending the message that it's alright to trust one another.

Another man, gosh I can't remember his name, spent a year outside without ever going indoors in New York City. Apparently, a lot of it had to do with the fact that he was an illegal immigrant, and therefore felt isolated. I'm not sure how he went to the bathroom.
He also punched a clock at every hour once for a year (a different one). That was to express how our society relates to time...but to invest in something that most people won't appreciate or see for a year? Wow.

The artist I researched was named Billy Talen. He's known as Reverend Billy, and he has a church of Stop Shopping. They travel around and have 'revival-style meetings in shopping centres (uninvited), in Times Square, in universities...it's quite the ordeal. I liked the clips I saw for the most part. I agree with some of his views on big coorporations/ advertising/ sweatshops/ the environment, and some others I don't agree with at all. Anyway, he and his chior are talented, and certainly know how to draw a crowd...or get arrested. He gets a lot of publicity in the States. Check him out- www.revbilly.com

Love on your enemies,
Bethany.

OCAD

Day 1: I'm writing from my new school's library. Shhh! It's so quiet. My first official day here at OCAD has been superb. I've been handed lots of free stuff, including rootbeer flavoured cotton candy (aren't you jealous Mark? muhahahah), and I've met many friendly students. Score. I can't believe I'll be here the next four years of my life...or more. The view from the massive checkered building on stilts called, The Sharp Cenre For Design, is gorgeous...you should come see it. There are a zillion cool shows and exhibitions popping up round the city soon, too. I'm seeing the Warhol one tomorrow. You've probably heard of 'Nuit Blanche' starting from 7pm till morning on Sept.30. There's also a gallery called Xspace in Kensington Market that displays our work. I'll post as many shows as I can on here when I get other dates confirmed so that those of you in Toronto can come out and support the arts.

Mark is back in Leeds...again. It was incredibly hard to say bye to eachother after 72 days straight of epic summer fun. I think 'Transatlanticism' by DeathCab for Cutie sums up my feelings on the matter. I love that song. Anyway, we thought it would be December until we saw eachother next, but someone had other plans. THANK GOD. A good friend of ours who isn't coming for the wedding, but instead a week before the wedding has given us an early gift...he's sending Mark over in October! Wooohoo! That's right...during Mark's half-term week he'll be here (22nd-28th). We were speechless. How do you even say thank you for a gift like that?


Day 2: More classes. More chaos. I went to look at all the hi-tech cameras and video-cameras that we can rent for assignments and exploring in general. They're so beefy. My first film assigment is a 3 minute one called, "How I See It". It's due in two weeks. We're supposed to interpret that sentence on our own and express it through a film.
Any ideas?

Lots of love to everyone...especially all you UKers. I'll see you in December. Until then, send me chocolate and emails. Please?