Creating Yourself- one online purchase at a time

Summer was always my most favourite time of the year, but not for the usual reasons of sun and beach and that strange erotic mixture of sunscreen and sand grinding beneath the seams of swimwear. It was intoxicating in its power- a break, a chance to create a whole new persona. What's that Eliot line? "A time to create a face to meet the faces that you'll meet".  I think thats how it goes.

I'd spend each summer finding the version of myself the world would have to deal with come September. Its not like it was ever very far off the mark to my casual, non-theatrical, everyday self, and it was definitely a shade of the true colour of my guts (I should say heart or soul here but I can't bring myself to type those words- I'm allergic to trite). It was exciting to pick clothes, and make-up, and hairstyles, and books, and even language to fit whichever Cherie I was going to introduce to the school that first week of September. I'd forgotten about that joy. I forgot about how fucking amazing it can be to go into the summer cocoon and bust out nearing Fall in all your goth/nerd chic/introspective/artistic glory.

I think its a practice I just might have to revive this summer. That being said, he's a rad new pair of tights I just ordered off my favourite (and dangerously addictive) shopping site, etsy.com. 
(I LOVE Pippi Longstocking!!) These are from Carouselink's store. Check'em out.

Great Blog for Writers

http://quick-brown-fox-canada.blogspot.ca/

DIASPORA DIALOGUES EVENT!

(I'll be here... make sure you are too!)

Diaspora Dialogues returns this April to Keep Toronto Reading's stellar lineup. DD in partnership with Toronto Public Library present Toronto the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Join us for a series of free readings and performances that reveal the different sides of this dynamic city the last three Fridays in April.

Featured writers from Toronto the Good include: Rabindranath Maharaj, Jill Andrew,Shiela Heti, Misha Glouberman, Brandon Pitts and Sarah Feldbloom.

Andrew Pyper, Ron Schafrick, Mia Herrera, Lillian Allen and Shadi Eskandani will present stories about Toronto the Bad.

Anecdotes from Toronto the Ugly will be shared by Michael Helm, Dominque Russell, Valentina Gal, and musical guest LAL.

The evenings’ event will be hosted by Catherine Hernandez, Dora Mavor Moorenominated playwright.

Toronto the Good
When: Friday, April 13; 7 pm
Where: Toronto Reference Library, Atrium; 789 Yonge Street

Toronto the Bad
When: Friday, April 20; 7 pm
Where: Toronto Reference Library, Atrium; 789 Yonge Street

Toronto the Ugly
When: Friday, April 27; 7 pm
Where: Toronto Reference Library, Atrium; 789 Yonge Street

BUK!

photo by mark hanauer


Okay, so anyone who knows me knows that I love the work of this craggly, rude, obnoxious, drunken man. I mean really...

heat
if you have ever drawn up your last plan on
and old shirt cardboard in an Eastside hotel room of winter
with last week’s rent due and a dead radiator
you’ll know how large small things are
like yourself coming up the stairway
Maybe for the final time
with your bottle of wine
thinking of the lady in #9
putting on her garters
and on her dresser there is a
dark red drinking glass
which catches the overhead light like a
soft dream of Jerusalem
and she dusts herself
slips into silk and sheath and
spiked feet
and unemployed and looking for work
and maybe looking for you
she passes you on the
stairway;
such disturbing grace
transforms one.
like a blue-winged fly exploding into
the summer sky
you decide to hang around and
die later; you enter your room and pour wine like
blood, inward, and decide in the morning you’ll
get up early and
read the want
ads.

Really? Really Bukowski? I love this. I love the Eliot-like emphasis on the minutae. I love the balletic interaction between images on a broken-down stage. I love the ease with which he can make you cringe and then bring you to comfort in that uncomfortable spot.

Check these out:
Tales of Ordinary Madness

The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses

Also, check out your local used book store- there are usually a few Hank gems in there to be had.

AHHH! I am a terrible blogger

So as penance for my absence, please accept this humble piece of writing; one of the many lovely bombs that has littered my path towards blogging-adriotness.

cut from The Lithopedion of Winterson Cemetery- (what might end up being my 4th adult novel)

The sun dragged its sharpest points across the sky and fat scabs of slow snow spiralled to the ground. Winifred watched from her round bedroom window. Behind the curved glass she felt like a goldfish being fed by an unsupervised child- too much, too fast. Soon the flakes covered the brown grass and the graves became harder to spot; grey and white against the accumulating snow; teeth knocked out of place, pushed forward and overlapping in a grassy lower jaw. The black fence separating the plots from the road, segregating the dead away from the living, was as ineffectual as braces added too late, and the general and the plot populations met and danced and parted again as they pleased.

Winifred was lost to it all. Everything was rendered temporary and difficult in light of Alice’s knowing the truth.

(Also, look up LITHOPEDION... the weirdest stuff is true)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithopedion

First Nations House INDIGENOUS WRITERS GATHERING at the University of Toronto

Thursday, February 9
All events held at First Nations House, 563 Spadina Ave, 3rd Floor (just north of College St)
Free Admission- Open the Public

10:30-12:00 • Journalism and the preservation of our stories in the electronic age with Waubgeshig Rice, Wab Kinew and Muskrat Magazine Publisher Rebeka

12:30-2:00 • Poetry and Politics with the renowned Lee Maracle and Ryan RedCorn of the 1491s

2:30-4:00 • Getting Grants and accessing funding for your creative work

6pm – 8pm OPEN MIKE reading night at First Nations House Drop in and share your short prose or poetry, or be part of the enthusiastic audience. Snacks and drinks will be served.

Friday, February 10

10:00 AM - Breakfast with the Writers: grab a coffee and some food with some of today’s best Indigenous authors.

12:00- 1:30 • Traditional storytelling and mythmaking with Daniel Justice and Waub Rice

2:00-3:30 • Developing and utilizing writing groups with Bren Kolson and Lee Maracle

4:00-5:30 • Writing for performance with the 1491’s Dallas Goldtooth and Ryan RedCorn and author/performer AmberLee Kolson


Friday, Feb 10, 7pm-10pm at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto Gala Reading Night – FREE admission and open to the public

Come early to get a seat!

Dallas Goldtooth hosts an evening of raucous comedy, video screenings, amazing author readings and hip hop.
Starring: Dallas Goldtooth and Ryan Redcorn of the 1491s
Yellowknife’s Bren Kolson
Comedy with AmberLee Kolson
Breakout author Waubgeshig Rice
U of T’s own superstars Daniel Heath Justice and Lee Maracle
And a performance by Winnipeg hip hop phenomenon Wab Kinew

Refreshments served. *Some content may be for adult audiences only.

For more info: www.fnhouse.blogspot.com www.1491s.com www.fnh.utoronto.ca and look for us on Facebook!

The Inevitable 'Its a New Year... Expect Big Things' Post (sorry, had to be done)

Its almost the new year and so you know what that means; every blogger re-dedicates themselves to their page. Sadly, I am no different. This year I've slacked off and as a result, the blog has suffered. Of course, I did manage to finish the new manuscript, so I'm hoping to win back points for that one. And actually, I think that will be the focus of this blog for the next few months- the process of getting 'A Gentle Habit' under contract, and also, getting "Girl Who Grew A Galaxy' into print (6 months away!!) 2012 is proving to be a successful year already, because I won't have it any other way. The Residency at U of T continues, the novel is coming out, the new short story ms. finished, 4 launches already booked in 2 countries, muskratmagazine.com taking off, new projects underway; its all coming together. I am a bit frightened as only someone with anxiety can be- failure would be heartbreaking and success would be nerve-racking, but at least it'll make for an interesting blog.