Saturday Night Blues

Saturday I met up with a friend at Indigo (the bookstore was packed – is it the new happening hot spot?) and then walked over to the Church of the Redeemer to catch the Great Lake Swimmers early concert. The venue was incredible and the only thing that could have made the show better would have been for the sound guy to have killed the faint speaker buzz that permeated the entire show. It was a collection of the perfect lullaby’s for the thinking person and I was present in the moment the whole time – ahhh…

After the show was over it was a quick hop on the Bloor line to get to Hugh’s Room for the Kevin Breit/Harry Manx CD release – In Good We Trust. It was a flawless set from the opening notes of Diving Duck Blues to the closing of Voodoo Child, it’s so good to see these two performers joking around with each other after a long silence (they never even performed their first album together - it was that bad!).

An excellent musical evening, and now that I look at my fridge I have 5 concert tickets waiting for me, all the performances are in the next month or so… this is going to be fun!

What is attractive?

I struggled against the values I was raised with (militant feminist), societal pressures (look attractive to men) and my love of fashion (an industry that thrives on insecurity) during my earlier years. I tested the waters, especially in university, of what feminine power was – what sex appeal could be and when I looked at how others treated me I wasn’t always happy with what I saw. I’m not just tits and ass, I never have been, yet these seem to be the most common descriptors of women today.

Sure I have body parts that I think look pretty damned good – but I am more than a low cut top or well fitted jeans. Isn’t attractiveness more about the confidence to swing your hips and pull your shoulders back when you walk down the street? Isn’t it attractive to have a mind of your own and a sense of adventure? I’d like to think attractiveness is more than long hair, a skinny body with big boobs - all placed in some ridiculous position and misted with water or oil for sheen.

Couldn’t I be; confident, fun, smart, spontaneous… descriptors that don’t focus on my physical attributes. Couldn’t I just be an attractive woman?

Farewell – The Artistic Way

It was the dwindling days of my contract and I wanted to wrap things up in style. Sure there’s the obligatory clean out the desk but seeing as it was the end of what they would likely feel was an era I wanted to do something special for those that had toiled so hard and thanklessly. Plus I’ve been inspired as of late by blogs about crafting and textiles… so I made these as parting gifts for the people who’d had the most influence on my daily life in the office.

The images are an artistic impression of the organization's logo.