.the end of a vacation

I’m not sure if I’ve ever talked about this with anybody, but I never really see the world in textured colour.  I draw (or used to draw) the same way that I see the world: dominated by lines and space, only sometimes punctuated by a single hue. Mostly I appreciate the honesty and solidarity of a single, pure colour. At the very most in compositions, I tend to use it as an accent. It is an afterthought, an added touch, a luxury and a transparent emotion. 

The feeling that a colour will sometimes evoke in me often comes as a surprise.  

With art and all design, I sometimes feel that the use of colour is cheating. It is an act of borrowing rather than creation, and to me, a visual experience must have much more in the skeleton behind it. 

Something tells me that the experience of psychedelic drugs might change that. 

I think the reason I was reminded of this was seeing Animal Collective on Sunday. It was possibly one of the best performances I have ever been to and definitely the most respect I have ever felt for two musicians (the Geologist was absent). Watching Panda Bear go at the drums was mesmerizing and I’ve never seen two musicians so genuinely and deeply connected to their music and each other. 

I think that even listening to their music a lot recently is changing the way I think about these things though… the sensations seeping in are allowing my mind to be more fluid and less sharp and absurdly rapid. 

Sounds are drifting through my window of one of my neighbours playing the most lovely tune on the piano. It reminds me that there are other determined, genuine, and unique people out there in the world - or even through the window next to me - living their lives, singing to the sky, and dreaming of beauty. 

It reminded me of one of my favourite artists and idols when I was younger - the late great Glenn Gould. Almost as eccentric as he was talented, the world was blown away by his technical proficiency and the indiosyncrasity of his beautiful sound. I remember being enraptured by his swaying and undulating in the first video recording of him I saw one night on CBC with my parents. Soon after I learned that he hummed while he played, only perform on a chair made by his father, and wore gloves and about three layers to many pretty much all the time. I was in love.

mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Tonight I rushed home to buy marshmallows for dinner to make one of my favourite comfort foods (which you ONLY get random cravings for) - mashed sweet potatoes with toasted mashmallows on top. Yep. 

You bake them for about an hour or more in tinfoil, peel off the skins, and mash them with a little margarine, milk, salt, and tons of cinammon. Then you cover them with a soft pillowy layer of marshmallows, and bake again until toasted and gooey inside. SO DELICIOUS.

When fashion and street style becomes the stuff of classic cinema.

Milan, via The Sartorialist. 

These are my summer shoes. 

Birkentocks which have been turned a thousand shades of mud slip, dog bite, and beer splash - the sole of which has been worn and rounded so much that they roll under my feet when I walk.

Gross, I know. But mainly they remind me of the place where I accumulated most of those stains - my cottage. It is the only place that has truly felt like home to me since I was born despite the divorces, moving and other shit that’s happened over the years. I could never even dream of selling one of the most beautiful places in the world, and I will always return to it with my heart. It never ceases to instill the same level of calm in me, and for that reason it is the place where I feel closest to the world.  

Early tomorrow I’ll be heading up there for the first time this year with my dad, brother, and dog. Sorry for being so sappy, but I’m ridiculously excited!!

NEW RATATAT » amazing. 

It’s called LP3 and it just came out on Tuesday. Although very different from their last two (much more instrumentation, a little more upbeat, a greater variety of textures), I am a HUGE fan. You should all pick up a copy, but just so you believe me you can get my favourite track so far here:

“Shempi”

And the picture is of them playing at the Gugghenheim… which I randomly found on google? While Zaha Hadid, my only favourite female architect had a show?? rad.

So I actually lied… I pretty much never sleep.