please, call me 'baby

word up

sorry to any of you who've been checking in of late and finding no new posts...life's been messy in the way that means it's difficult to write in a public space...too difficult to edit out the specifics, or perhaps i've just been suppressing those feelings i've mined in the past so that i can speak of the universal without needing to reveal the particulars...

those who've been persistant like RD in dropping by will know this post started out last night as an untitled memo list of things i had in mind. after a busy enough day of lots of productive little bits n pieces, cleaned bathroom (followed by first use of the recently plumbed bath - bliss!), helped keli chop vegetables for tonight's tuesday dinner (groundnut stew), correspondance, laundry, and other sundry household chores, and well... the rest will be apparant as i go... i'm now ensconced in bennets for an hour to fill the blanks and perhaps join the dots... this'll no doubt be a long 'un...

across the line
last night i was at this... free in, some great music and topped off by two duets by duke special and iain archer, including 'the little drummer boy', which iain has recorded for this soon to be released charity download album. pete's solo set included a cover of 'i drove all night'. dee-lish-uss. it was also thoroughly entertaining to watch the gang of familair belfast gig photographers up the front vying for position with their long lenses and engage in running freud-meets-david attenborough commentary...

market
fun is also the word for the earlier part of the evening...as is full.
the 'gig' was preceded by ricky and i chumming each other on a grand tour of the christmas continental market in front of city hall - it's nice when you find yourself in the company of someone who understands the concept of 'i need to do a "once round" and see what my options are before i can decide', even though he was pretty much set on indian from the outset. patience is indeed a virtue. for a committed vegetarian, our richard took a surprising amount of vicarious salivation by encouraging me to consume the roasted hog bap - think spit-roasted pork piled into a bun with stuffing and a condiment of choice - i went for cranberry relish. my mouth waters at the memory. SO good. followed by a very tasty french vegitarian half baguette topped with mushrooms, peppers, red onion, lashings of garlic and what i think was possibly emmental, all served by a very cool french guy...followed by a classic sucre et citron crepe, also served by friendly french folks. this was all washed down with gluwein and a surprisingly decent mocha. i also sampled some amazing baklava and were it not for the fact i was stuffed to bursting, i would have had some spanish donuts called churros - which rather than being round with a hole are long and twisted. a return visit is definately required.

annie dillard
i am rereading for the timebeing. it's been a long while since i opened this and it's like reading it again for the first time. my perspectives on a lot of things have changed and so it feels a very fresh experience. thanks to the darks for a gift that keeps on giving.

tom waits
will enthusiastically fill this blank, wednesday...

pan's labyrinth
or, it's hard to read subtitles when you're peeking through your fingers. saw this on sunday night at qft. freaky. violent. arresting. beautiful. a fairy tale for adults. V.I.O.L.E.N.T. F.R.E.A.K.Y. i went to sleep with the fairy lights around my bedstead on... fear of mythic monsters is a delicious feeling all of its own. the trailer at the official site is for general audiences. it features a fine performace by "trailer voice over man!" and only hints in the merest way how very violent and freaky the film is... as i type i have the site open in another tab and the music is beautiful and haunting...

ideas board
as a kind of creative pay-it-forward (see ted hughes entry) i passed on the following to a friend currently in song writing mode. together these items make the basis of a great tool for all forms of creative writing...for noting ideas, words or phrases that come to mind:
cork board, pins, flash cards, coloured pens.
my room is currently stuffed with piles of books and canvases but i'm gonna use what last remaining wall space there is to play with this method myself. this is the starting point for my next art piece, which i'll hopefully be submitting for an ikon exhibition in the waterfront hall in the new year. i'm not initially thinking this'll be a collage, but, as with those pieces, it'll start with words... i was inspired to see that tom waits notes down titles he comes up with for songs he's yet to write...

drawing
this week's homework is to go back to the drawing board and depict my emotions, which as noted above have not been particularly bright of late. i say this as much as anything as a reminder to myself that i need to get it done. i've been putting it off...

play
i'm acting in one-off performance for a small audience in the cafe for a friend doing a mediaeval literature module for their english degree. as part of her assessment, chloe chose to put on a play rather than write an essay. so, in front of her tutors, 5 women including me are telling the stories of incarnation, jesus' relationship with women, crucifixion and resurrection in a subversive version of the mediaeval style... i feel quite distanced from the narratives in some senses but the symbology is fun to play with and i quite like the parts i have...but all this means i have to learn lines, songs, choreographed movement around the stage, and the haka. all in 2 weeks.

france
thinking a lot about france. and namely, would i like to live there for a while? this is one of the many questions currently rolling around in my head. if the self-inquiry has a theme, it is, what's gonna be a life that will potentially bring me happiness and fulfilment..?

shop
i worked in the shop with jayne on saturday. it's been a very long while since i worked in a store. agatha & bibi in newtonards is owned by the lovely emma and she sells beautiful womens and childrens clothing and accessories and children's gifts. it's a really nice store. and i had fun. and was reminded that when you work for nice people it makes all the difference in the world. i'm back there in a couple of weeks to fill in again and i am looking forward to it. oh, and i brought home a rather funky charlie & lola advent calendar. i may have wandered off the faith path this past year but i shall still be celebrating advent and using the time to consider what i want Christmas to mean to me this year.

cat and mouse
hmmm. been thinking about... this'll have to wait too...

ted hughes
received an unexpected gift on sunday. a cd of ted hughes reading 'crow' and other poems. i look forward to my first listen on the train to dublin tomorrow.

so, after a rehearsal at the cafe i'm off to see me Pa for 24 hours.

hope this finds you well

LB,x