All That's Left

I went down to Queen Street to look at the remains of that awful fire that made a number of people homeless last week. I did go down to gawk I admit but also to remember, as my very first studio was in that block though the entrance was off Richmond St. It was an absolute tip of a place though the rent was good. I seem to remember the walls not going all the way up. I wasn't there for more than a few months as I found dealing with the livestock both six legged and four legged a drag and it was a long way from my home in the beaches and we were poor and dump though it was we really couldn't afford it. The remains that I saw on Sunday were very distressing and I was sorry that I had gone to see it. To look at the wreck of people's lives is a dreadful thing. I do hope that what goes up to replace it is built with the consideration that the people who lived there and lost everything but their lives were on the whole poor people and it would be a good thing if new housing was built with this in mind. We have enough Trump Towers in the world. Just because people are poor doesn't mean they enjoy living in a pit. I have no say in this matter as I pay taxes in one of the richest towns in Canada though I am not rich. It's funny where our lives take us when we open up to life. I would speak to Toronto council if I had a right to, regarding what will be placed on Queen St. I 'll just have to wait and see.

Lifting The Spirits with Bad Dancing

I was having a very hard day early on this week. It could have been the residue of the healing circle on Sun. or it could have been a difficult situation that has been going on for far too long or it could have been sunspots or who knows what. Thing is I was sunk in gloom and in order to enhance my gloom I went looking for the appropriate musical accompaniment. Something along the lines of Gorecki's "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs". I told you it was bad. Instead I picked up Israel Kamakawiwo`ole and "The Far Future". Plopped him in the machine and started to hula while I got on with cleaning the kitchen. I cannot say how much better I felt though my hip wasn't enjoying it too much. Once Izzy was done I tossed in "It Don't Mean A Thing if It Ain`t Got That Swing" and had a rare old time arthritis and all, swing dancing around the living room. That got me right through to the supper hour where I was not alone and had to respect the sensebilities of the other who shares this house [who if truth be told could use a blast of this himself but that has to be his choice]. You don't need to go jogging through the ice and snow giving yourself frostbite and shot knees. No siree. All you need to do is come over to my place and we'll pop in a cd and bop till we drop, and a good time had by all. There is a saying and I can only remember the last part. It's "dance as if no one is watching." Just make sure if you are creaky like me to have a castor oil poultice ready at bedtime for the achy bits or your achy bits will be screaming on the morrow.

The Healing Circle

I blew down to Richmond Hill yesterday to attend a healing circle. There is always someone or something as well as myself that needs to be healed so this seemed an opportunity not to be missed. It was well worth the whiteouts and dreadful winds. We sat in a guided meditation for the first part then we built the circle. Next we put in the healing light whoever or whatever we wanted. I had a specific situation in mind and did some intense visuals and just left the whole thing there for the Universe to deal with. I felt a lightness of spirit I haven't felt in a long time. I also learned that Virgo is enduring a Saturn something or other that is causing Virgos a fair bit of anguish. Virgos can be very harsh with themselves and others. When you are critical of self you are unaccepting of others ! That seemed an insight worth passing on. There was much more worthwhile stuff but I can't open the file. We are in the middle of a Mercury retrograde after all! When I can get hold of someone more technical than I am I will pass on what is languishing in the unopened file. I have to sally forth soon into the shattering cold. Oh why didn't my parents emigrate to Australia ? Then I guess I would be complaining about the shattering heat !

Face on the Bar Room Floor III

I am now once more at work on my self portrait and a job of work it is too. I took a hiatus from the wretched thing for a month but it won't finish itself. It was damned with faint praise by my instructor as she said it resembled me. It is clearly a human head so yes it does look like me in that sense but it's not what is looking back from the mirror at me that's for sure! They say a poor workman blames his tools but in my own defence it's been 46 years since I worked in oils and that was pretty forgettable too. I don't care for oilpaint. It's smelly, messy, and takes forever to dry so you have to be patient. A weak point if ever there was one. I show up at the studio dark and early Friday mornings and there I am glowering at me as I dry off in a dim corner. Each time I see it afresh I think of the Iron Duke, you know, the Duke of Wellington, the one that sent Napoleon packing at Waterloo. A very nice fellow student has taken to calling it Jeanne d'Arc. She seems to be serious. The cursed thing has taken on a life of it's own and I still have three more weeks of work on it! I am looking forward to bringing it home and putting it in the closet with it's beaky face to the wall. That'll learn it!