The Sentence

And the stone word fell
On my still-living breast.
Never mind, I was ready.
I will manage somehow.

Today I have so much to do:
I must kill memory once and for all,
I must turn my soul to stone,
I must learn to live again--

Unless . . . Summer's ardent rustling
Is like a festival outside my window.
For a long time I've foreseen this
Brilliant day, this deserted house.

--Anna Akhmatova

This just in

I am moving to New York City on Monday. Holy hell. My visa is up on Monday and I've decided since I am quite broke that the best decision was to return to the States and get a job; and if I have to go back I want to at least go to the most amazing city there is. Ro and I will be doing the long distance thing at least until I get my papers, which probably means for a year and hopefully not longer. I'm scared only because I know that New York is a city that eats people for breakfast and in addition to that is unforgivably expensive. But I'm glad because I have a good network of friends living there already who are happy to have me joining their ranks and have offered to show me around, friends in a city like NY are essential. A good friend of mine from Minneapolis actually just made the move as well, we're looking to maybe get a place together in Brooklyn. Holy shit I'm moving to Brooklyn. This all feels so surreal, I'm moving to Brooklyn on Monday. I only just made that decision 2 days ago. A new adventure awaits and I am eager and nervous and naturally quite sad to be leaving Montreal. I really do love it here. Le sigh. I'll return, but until then....wait for it....No! Sleep! til Brooklyn! (wasn't it obvious?)

Brigitte Bardot, an interlude

It's finally summer in Montreal...caaaalisse it took long enough! Anyways here's a little something to get you all hot and bothered until I write again. A little Brigitte Bardot never hurt anyone. Who says I'm a lazy blogger? Would a lazy blogger give you Bardot? Would a lazy blogger tell you about baking blueberry scones and then making cds of French music for her friends instead of going to yoga? Would a lazy blogger, ah screw it, sorry for the absence (again)...now go get yourself a glass of ice water before Brigitte and her merry men give you a heat stroke!

You deserve more

As promised here is another fashion-y photo thing I did with my silly make-up artist/designer friend Marie-Laure. She liked this image so much she decided to use it on her business card. More to come later, promise. There is much to share: a special trip to Toronto, my new camera, lots of surprise presents in the mail, some project planning and some painting...gah! I'm a bad bad blogger, but I hope you'll stick around. Merci les amis!

Good morning world

Once again I've become a lazy blogger, eh. It happens. Tomorrow I leave for a most exciting voyage to Toronto to visit the wondrously amazing V! I couldn't be more excited; I haven't left this city since my trip to Guatemala in February. It's definitely time for a mini vacation. Last night R and I had our Dutch friend Mark over with his girlfriend for a night of sushi and Saki (which I just tried for the first time and must admit to not liking it one bit, maybe it was the brand?). R and I are going to start planning our next vacation which is at the end of September and we're going to try and make it a bike trip going from Montreal to NYC! We talked to Mark because, being Dutch, he's quite the expert biker, although more so then most Dutch. He's biked around the world, thousands and thousands of kilometers! He's also the founder of an amazing site called Stay Nomad which helps people find sponsors and connections for trips they're planning. We got to talking about ways we could get sponsors for our trip, what we're going to need gear-wise, and how long it'll take. In lieu of explaining all of the details I'll simply say it's something we need to begin working on now if we want to make it possible. Mark said it would probably take us about 6-7 days to bike there. Once in NYC we'll stay for about a week and instead of taking another week-long trek home we'll take the train. I'm so terribly excited already! More details to come later, in the mean time check out Stay Nomad, it's a really great website.

Wonderful

Guess who I saw in concert tuesday night? Stevie Wonder! Montreal has a really big jazz festival that's going on right now and Stevie Wonder opened the festival with a free concert outside in down town Montreal. It.was.amazing. He played everything, I mean everything! All his hits, and he had so much energy and was so charismatic with the crowd. At the end of the concert they put together a Michael Jackson tribute medley and then it started to rain but no one left; everyone started dancing and singing along. There are some things that we all know by heart, I think music is one of them.

They prefer it with a wedge of lime

Today I watered the plants with Perrier; not on purpose of course but alas my little herbs were lucky to soak up the rest of a bottle I didn't know we'd had. I save some of the Perrier bottles in the fridge see, along with other juice bottles that catch my fancy (all glass bottles of course). I put water or iced tea in them just to have something cool on hand, thus it is sometimes impossible to tell if the bottle is actual Perrier or just water. Speaking of herbs R and I went to Jean Talon Market Sunday and scored a delicious bounty of local fruits and veggies: tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, arugula, cucumbers, apples, and some non local avocados. I've been enjoying the most amazing and flavorful salads since...nothing even compares to eating foods when they are in season. We also picked up a little lavender plant to add to the herb gang, hurrah! I wish I could take pictures to show you but I am still sans camera. But! I do believe I will soon be getting a d-slr...which would be such a treat; it's a late Christmas present from my brother. Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, it should get here within the next few weeks. I'm keeping my finger crossed until then.