e'town

This week has served as a reminder, an illustration, of how much I can simultaneously love and hate this town I live in, this northern city that is now my home in spite of being too far from my ocean... or any ocean at all.

First my car was broken into and a bunch of stuff was stolen. I am only thankful that I no longer keep music easily at hand in the car as that would have been too much. The things that were stolen were things that one at a time, in isolation, may seem unimportant... no big deal. But they were things that meant a lot to me... collected over time, some for a purpose: my "tools of the trade" for my beloved sideline "job", put together over years of experience - and some simply for sentiment: a personalized leprechaun keychain from Ireland brought home by a friend, my favourite gig shirt ever and (believe it or not) my collection of band buttons that adorned the ceiling of the car itself, collected over a decade or more, some bands that don't even exist any more....

It made me angry and sad. And as much as I know car theft could happen anywhere, it happened to me here, in broad daylight, in the parking lot outside my workplace... and the things stolen had very little value except to me... and I felt myself resenting the people who did it and this city where I live for producing them.

Irrational? Perhaps... but I was very angry, and simply disappointed that this could happen - here. And I hated it.

But then came the weekend. The sun shining and the first of many outdoor gatherings with live music and happy, beautiful people frolicking in the sun.

And this gathering was extra special in a myriad of ways. Put together by a local filmmaker as a Project on sustainability. Starring a cast of characters including three members of one of my favourite bands in town, and our very own poet laureate (who's induction as such was another reason I love this city), the coolest looking string section ever and a full stage that even included kettle droms. This was a unique hipster symphony of original music focused on this city, ideas of sustainability and this generation and how it can get over it's apathy and love the city enough to become responsible representatives and to simply try... try to be more aware, try to be more vocal, try to realize that you are a voice that will, in fact, be listened to. An anthem to stick it out in this western city and work from within. In spite of it all.

It was wonderful day - perfectly sunny and hot with abundant fresh lemonade available and lots of beautiful people, dancing kids, bare skin and parasols of every colour to protect from the sun. (Even a Nova Scotia tartan umbrella which made me extra happy - I want one!)

And, again, I love this town.

NB

I left those days behind and it's an odd sensation to come across a random reminder.

Tea time thoughts...

This is my week to drink tea, reorganize, transition, write here and there, regroup, rearrange and begin anew. I am hoping to become more regular here and also to write copious amounts in the 5-star notebooks or various bound bits of paper I have been neglecting.

Bear with me... it's a bit of a process.

April has been a difficult month. Filled with proverbial April showers and all-too-literal Alberta snow...

I lost a friend this month. A friend who was everyone's entertainer, a constant joker somehow conveying love and joy even when he grumbled and swore about something that struck him and brought out his comical ire. A lion tamer of sorts on stage, I have witnessed him tame many a hostile crowd. The banter has gone awry! I'll miss you Joe.

I finished at a job I wanted to love but couldn't. It seemed the perfect fit from outside and I so wanted to succeed but somehow, when all was said and done, it seemed better to go our separate ways, this job and I... before someone got hurt.

And now another someone I know, a friend of many of my own friends, a "theatre person" in the small circle of theatre people, is missing. Missing for almost a week now.

And this has made me think about how easy it would be to become lost in this world. How easy it would have been *then* and *then* to simply slip away. I think I am past that now, settled and happy in this moment - enough that the thought of getting lost seems foreign but remembering when it did not.

This simultaneously scares me (how easy it would have been, could have been, almost was) and inspires gratitude for the moments and the people I now fill my life with.

hugs and much love... and hope for a safe return...

woven thoughts

The loom moves with a creak and a bump, almost unbidden, automatic.
Yarn becomes colour solidified in soft lines and flow.
Feelings of peace and the satisfaction of creativity fill my heart as this object becomes art.
This comes from me and yet, feels like it comes from somewhere else - through me.
Coming through my hands' work but inspired from elsewhere and simply brought forth.
Nothing has ever felt so natural.

And.... we're back!

Ok, I need to come back here... after my travels and sporadic hockey related posts and many 5-Star notebooks I find the pull of cyberspace drawing me back here.

I re-read almost this whole thing from the beginning the other day. It's quite the exercise to look at years of your life with the new eyes of years later. enlightening. overwhelming. enjoyable.

I have recently been inspired to do more writing. I have been - on paper - but for some reason as that started to happen on paper, I found myself thinking about this place and wondering about coming back here again. With new eyes. And a new voice... or a slightly changed one anyway.

It's not a hockey blog. As much as I love my hockey, my desire to write, to post, to be creative is too far flung to have this be that.

Hi there! It's good to be back.

Hockey Songs

I have decided to make a list of hockey songs - there are alot of good ones out there and I want to put together a fun playlist of 'em. Not heavy, hockey warm-up type songs but all those songs out there that mention this great game! (So my Can Con quota should be pretty high.)

I'd love any suggestions... if anyone still reads this thing. Starting with a couple Kathleen Edwards tunes: Hockey Skates and I Make the Dough, You get the Glory... put in a Rheostatics: the Ballad of Wendel Clark...Chixdiggit - Gerry Cheevers... Of course Stompin' Tom, Captain Tractor, Paul Bellows and some Tragically Hip...


Update: ooh ooh - I found this!
http://proicehockey.about.com/od/musicfilmcardstrivia/tp/hockey_songs.htm

Update #2: I mentioned this at work and someone left a Hanson Brothers RECORD on my desk! Woohoo!