Monday, April 30, 2007

these are just perfect days

[listening to 'we both reached for the gun' on the Chicago soundtrack and incapable to resist doing the puppet head bob while under the table my feet are doing the reporters dance steps - so, it must be a good day, depsite being a Monday, or maybe that's the heart of darkness in my cary special kicking in. lucky that wearing big dj headfonz makes one invisible]

long time no see...

so many days have passed since last posting, i'm not sure where to start... not that there's anything particularly exciting or dramatic to communicate...

unless we count a trip to dublin in which i decided not to move back down to my old stomping ground and earn a professional salary, which now means i'm back at the drawing board and transitioning toward a return to employment (no idea what that will be yet) to supprt myself while committing to trying to make my way as some kind of writer... so it is ironic that in the past while i've done very little writing, but lots of thinking, and dreaming, and wondering just how many risks i'm willing to take to build a self sufficient life that doesn't end with me being totally frustrated that i didn't do what i love...


or unless we count that i spent last week in the company of the wonderful kevin and dave from tuscon, arizona forging friendship between ikon and their community, soon to be known as Aldea. watch this space but colour me feeling invigorated and gratitudinal...
our week of meetings and hanging out included me accompanying kevin on a whistle stop trip, nay pilgrimage, to the Guinness storehouse in dublin, which culminated in us enjoying a *fantastic* pint up in the glass dome bar overlooking the city, bathed in sunshine wearing wistful grins...

or unless we count the now appears certain news that a script is being written for XF2 and as those that know me in RL know this puts me in something of a dilemma and a writing project that's been permanently on the back burner for a decade either has to finally be thrown out or breathed into life and a publisher sought...

or that i got a new hair cut and bought out half of H&M to create a look for this season that in the words of keli apparantly speaks to a more confident me...

or that ikon cyndicate spent a weekend in Corrymeela kicking off the planning process for GB07... colour me very very excited... we're in Centaur again... i can't give anything away at this juncture but i get a creative giddiness when i think about it... but i'm gonna have to learn some dj skills and perhaps how to walk on stilts...

the Chicago soundtrack is several miles back and now we're shimmying to del amitri - swallows are swooping and spinning over the holylands, a jet plane is heading west no doubt to cross the atlantic, blossom is once again falling in soft caresses and i can live with being the last to know... 'cause right now the sky is the most perfect blue and the air is crackling with anticipation as if the universe is daring me to switch from the minor to the major keys... to start living like i own the rights to the 5'4" space my body inhabits and what i do with what's inside...

i want the courage to bring it on...

LB,x

Friday, April 20, 2007

all these ices

hey,

in a major rush packing for ikon cyndicate weekend in corrymeela so this'll be v short.

go here for an alanis morissette cover of my humps by the black eyed peas. thanks to jonny for the headz up. a brilliant bit of pop critique. if the lyrics in the original are disturbing, then in this version they are something like chilling.

have a great weekend folks.

LB,x

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

'bert necessities

word up.

you'll note a new sidebar element, which i fell upon while working out how to embed video for the first time and which may or may not stay around for long...

some actual writing will come soon. in the meantime - this particular nugget of comedy genius has been one of the highlights of my week... what are the chances we can get this guy on the speaker's line-up for greenbelt?
so. this is for the tuesday group crew, and for jon h., because they understand the vital need to laugh your way along the narrow path like no one else i know... and the thought of whom gives me hope, as does the knowledge that colbert teaches sunday school.

keep on keepin' on...

LB,x

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

we see them as we are


Xocolatl.

may our stories pass from our tongues to yours...

pete says ikon is not private space. it's not being in bed with your lover. it's not being at home with your family. nor is it public space. it's not meeting someone on the street. it's social space. something in between space.

he may indeed be right. but sunday night saw 50 or so folks sitting on our beds, if not in them.

thus this week i am mostly doing laundry. my duvet, throws, blankets, cushion covers, pillow cases - all getting a good wash. the front room at the black box was turned into something akin to the floor of a beduin tent. a patchwork of colourful fabrics. candles candles everywhere. and chocolate chocolate chocolate.

it was somewhat overwhelming to be introducing the service and getting to utter the immortal, welcome to ikon. not the first time someone other than pete has said those words, although on those rare occasions he has been away. i believe this was the first time they were uttered by another voice while he was present. the first time pete has been at ikon as a guest and not a contributor.

there was a service called Christa a few years back in the menagerie which contained hints of the feel of this service. but this new space allowed to push it much further. sensuous, warm, intimate, folks asked to remove their shoes before entering the space. an unplugged night.

the womyn did an amazing job. all read beautifully, deb sang and palyed beautifully.
so, to jayne, kellie, willow, shirley, erin, deb, alyson and norah - thank you. you rock.

a selection of the stories and the liturgy are going to be posted at the ikon wiki site in the coming days.

::


Carnivàle.

oh this is good. oh this is very good. only got to see a few eps of season 1 when first aired.
i wore my miner's boots and a summer skirt last night in its honour. thinking it would be impossible to find anything worth following SFU, i've fallen in love with the '30's dust bowl chic of it all over again. gi' me that ol' time religion.

there is a parallel universe where i'm the management and this is what ikon looks like.

there's a saying in russia:
pray to god. but swim for shore.

::

for several years i have lamented, almost as much as the demise of walker's marmite crisps, the too short life of mcvities hobnob creams. anytime i'd go to buy a pack of biscuits i would think of them, and sigh, why oh why did they pull them off the shelves?
imagine then my delight that they have returned as if by the sheer power of my wishing.
tell colleagues, friends, relations, neighbours.
please buy them in copious quantities so that they will never leave me again.

and on that most trivial of notes, i better get on with my day...

LB,x








Thursday, April 05, 2007

spring clean

greetings and salutations...

well it's far too late in the night to be starting a posting but wanted to check in as i have a busy easter weekend ahead.

my landlord and lady depart in a little over 4 hours for a week in devon and in their place for a few days comes Tim -the-lawyer from across the water to hang with some of the ikon crew and get a well earned break from all things litigious. so tomorrow morning will see me go into that last minute clean up where 'he can take us as he finds us' becomes 'scrub every surface and then behave like things are always this sparkling', which can only be my mother's genes running through me. the result will in actuality be somewhere in between. but house guests are good that way - they are a kick up the ass to get ship shape and after a fair bit of shifting stuff around today i am feeling pretty confident that my wrist is up to hitting the studio and getting it organised. [does happy dance]

looking forward to the conversation that will ensue, and with a list of things to get done between the chat, by 11pm on sunday, the journey of ikon ::xocolatl:: will be over. the women that have made this gathering are an amazing bunch. at our final meeting tonight, despite us all feeling tired, we still found space for much laughter. it's lovely what a bottle of red and some chocolate will do for the spirits. i'll miss having them at the table come next wednesday. but still, there is the monday night team to return to and in a couple of weeks an enlarged creative team is heading to the north coast for some extended time together to start planning for greenbelt 07.

::

was delighted and filled with pride of the soul sisterhood to finally be able to go buy the latest collection from alison krauss.
two previously unreleased tracks, 'jacob's dream' and 'away down the river', were written by our own lovely julie lee. if one doesn't move you to shed a tear, the other will. haunting and moving respectively. consumate song writing, beautifully performed. but i have to say, i can't wait to be sitting beside julie hearing her perform them. some of my happiest times have been spent with that gal, usually with her guitar close at hand. let's hope it's not too long... as i write it occurs to me that it is 6 years ago this weekend i moved to northern ireland. julie was living here in belfast at the time. tucked in amongst the cinema tickets on my mantelpiece is a little card she made me for my arrival...

sleep beckons and i'll end with the inscription...

let tomorrow come...
tomorrow...
not by your will is the house carried through the night.
- wendell berry.

welcome to the neighbourhood.

LB,x