In A-mer-ica.

In my last post, I convinced myself that I could stay in one city for a summer.

I'm in Boston.
Admittedly, I have a problem.

But.
I'm still working on the rooster man.

More to post later.

Bixi and Bagels

I've had four friends visit me since the beginning of the summer and it's allowed me to visit all my favourite places (over and over again) recently. Aside from eating a normal person's bagel and smoked meat intake for 6 months in 3 days, I also got to try out my new obsession: BIXI! Just wanted to give a little shout out to bixi, that's all. I believe the best way to experience this city is by bike and bixi makes this so easy!

Ran reminded me of one of the best Montreal moments I've had - and it was on a bike. Last September, I had gone to St. Viateur bagel and bought two (hot) sesame seed bagels. The smell of the shop was enough to make me salivate and I couldn't wait to get outside - let alone get home - to eat them. So as he was handing me the bag, I was reaching in and taking a bite of one. Sweet, hot, and crusty on the outside while chewy and doughy on the inside, it was delicious! I mounted my bike and started biking down Jeanne-Mance while finishing my bagel. It was a blue sky day, sunny and warm. The street was lined with big trees and the apartments had gorgeous twisting staircases. The wind was rushing through my hair (yeah, I like that, ok?!) and I felt a wave of euphoria. I felt lucky to be living here.

And then I was cut off by a car, and I had the other bagel in my hand so it was hard to brake, but the euphoria lasted a good 2-3 minutes.

-Julian

Staying Still.

While my friends are off exploring the far corners of the world
(see http://encountersatfarpoints.blogspot.com),
I have:
cleaned my oven, nurtured a dying cactus, and replaced what used to be the t.v. area in my kitchen with an easel.

Getting back into drawing with mixed media is my summer project. Maybe I'll be able to do a little vernissage by the end of the summer. No promises. Odds are I'll become the girl who cried wolf. But maybe, one day, it'll be true. and you'll be sorry. maybe.

...

I spent the first day staring at the crisp new pastel paper I taped to to a failed painting-turned-easel-backboard.

Day two:
Well, since I can't leave the continent this summer, I decided that I might as well draw the places I've traveled and hope to travel.

Day three was met with some success, I drew an man holding a fighting rooster in a crowded marketplace. I used a light blue pastel paper (it has a subtle texture) and graphite for the preliminary sketch. Dry pastels (earth tones) for blending and charcoal for outlines and detail.
I need to get some cold pastel colours.

Here's a picture of my progress so far:


So now, I'm thinking: maybe being unable to travel this summer is a good thing after all.
Maybe if I stay in one place long enough, I'll finally be able to have a show. It's what I've always wanted to do. Hopefully, posting my progress on this blog will motivate me to put my money where my mouth is.

Yikes. I used a lot of maybes in the post.

On an unrelated matter, but oh-so-important: I originally created this blog not just for myself, but several other friends. It was meant to help us keep track of each others' goingabouts
during the summer. They are the ones traveling, so I'm assuming they have more epic stories to post than I do. So what gives guys? The water's not that cold.

Montreal, Montreal.

This is my third attempt to enter the blogosphere.
I've never blogged before.
For the better part of my life, I have been a pen&paper kinda girl.

My first two attempts at posting were meant to introduce the city I IN-habit. I found myself writing much that has been said and done before. Terraces, Hipsters, the Music Scene, yadda yadda yadda. So I stopped.

But. Tonight, I said: Alright, I'm just going to do it. I'm going to write what I feel.
"T'es capable" - as a friend of mine would say after I've nursed my beer for too long.

This summer, I've felt something change.
I've grown more restless.
It now takes considerable effort for me to sleep because when I get into bed I just curl and uncurl my toes and my brain runs a million miles an hour.

Sometimes I reflect about my time here.
I realized I know this city better than any city that I've ever lived in.
I've been to most of the neighborhoods on the island and Definitely all of the ones in the downtown area.
So many good memories.

I must say that my favourite memory took place in the Old Port.
If you walk west on the canal path from the main square, you will find three rectangular metal forms that sit directly across the canal from the old silos.
It is easy to miss them if you are not looking for them.
Anyway, if you speak into the microphone attached to one of the metal cubes, the sound will reverberate in the silos and you can hear the echos.
I've only been there at night when the air is still and no one is around.
I whisper "hello montreal" into the microphone, wait for the louder echo, and look back up the mountain. I feel calm.

I remember one night, a few years back in October, we were jogging and we stopped at the echo place. I was laughing about something he said, flushed from running, and I closed my eyes to take one deep breath. I never do that. It was pure happiness- an ineffable feeling.

I hope that this summer, something. SOMETHING. like that. will happen.