Sunday, March 29, 2009

7.9033

I got another roll of film developed, I had to pay this time. It was bound to catch up with me eventually.

The first set is pictures of Christina Bell and I on James Street North, the others are pictures of my nieces and nephew I took while babysitting yesterday.















Thursday, March 26, 2009

I Found Your Moleskine

So I was looking for books in the library, and I stumbled across a book I wasn't expecting to find.

There was a lonely notebook sitting beside an abandoned cup of coffee. I flipped though it and read the few pages that had been filled in. I pocketed it, because I' like that.

I read it about twenty times while in class, there was no name or phone number, but the back was embossed Moleskine.

Only the first 11 pages have been filled in, that leaves 181 pages for me to do whatever I want to. Leave suggestions





















The Words

Words, carefully removed
like splinters
How your mother used to,
only now without
the clean tweezers
and warm hand to hold

Each one cuts more
coming out than in.
Leaving scabs for every noun.
A dictionary of scars;
You recall each one:
light left the mark
on my jaw
distance
rides along my calf

When the words are inside
they churn
like the gears of a watch;
movement enough to remind you they exist,
an uncomfortable symphony of ticks.
inside you.
inside me.

Purge
purge
purge
urge
purge.

Take each word
Wipe off the history
And place it in the box
Your father used to keep receipts in,
The one he gave you
Two summers ago

Let the words
dance inside the tin
writing Holocaust novels
and bedtime stories
with every waltz

Don’t forget the words
Or else they’ll return
only made of shadows,
these wont let you forget.
They won’t heal over.
Don’t forget the words
(only where they came from!)

like raindrops penetrate soil
words penetrate flesh
they come from sisters
from lovers
from foes
from strangers
from friends
from you

Forget it all!
Except:
the marks they leave

spring on your shoulder blade
will keep you hopeful
naivety on your heel
will keep you grounded
the asteroid to the left of your navel
will keep you mystified

Don’t forget misery
on your elbow
or it will never leave you
Don’t forget laughter
on the nape of your neck
because it may not return

Let your body
be your opus.
let each word
make you weaker
make you stronger

just don’t forget
the words
(don’t remember them either)


-J. Geoghegan

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Grace part II

I got on the bus today and sat beside a nondescript girl. I was a little annoyed when her 90s dance rap came through her headphones a little louder than I would have appreciated.
Then I realized, she was grace, and a smile creeped across my face. I didn't expect I'd ever see her again, and here she was beside me by coincidence... again.
I looked at her to try and see her long earrings or bright eyeshadow, but I saw neither. Her fingernails were much shorter than I expected. The music changed to Coldplay, recent Coldplay and I smiled at how enigmatic this girl is, to me anyway.
I took off my sunglasses and noticed that she was wearing eyeshadow, only it was lavender and much lighter than what I had seen her wear before, she wore earrings as well, but they dangled shorter than I wanted them to.
When the bus arrived at Mac, I hung around for a second so I could follow her. The only bubble came from the gum she chewed. I smiled but was a little disappointed. I said hello to my friend Bri, and grace was lost in the shuffle.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Fashion: Ferret

We talked about Dada today. I was inspired by Tristan Tzara, he wrote accidental poems. I created this one using a blurb from Flare about spring metallics, and an article about endangered Ferrets from a National Geographic circa 1983. Enjoy (or don't).

I am sorry that the image is so fragmented, the flash on my camera reacted to the gloss of the magazine pages, so I had to take a bunch of photos and meld them together. Assemblage!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

0.003

I bought some film last weekend. 3 rolls for 1 cent, Shoppers Drug Mart made an error, I reaped the benefits. I wanted to take photos with Kate and Warren, but they couldn't make it. I hung out in my backyard and with Carly and Alyson instead.

I brought the photos into get developed and the technician told me that there was something wrong with them, so he didn't charge me.

here are what $0.0033 photos look like.








































I have been working on a painting, hopefully it will be done and posted here soon,

John

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

grace

I get off the b-line at Queen street, near Casbah.
The weather is too bad to walk from main street all the way to the other side of campus.

I had to wait about 10 minutes for another bus to come by. I was a little unimpressed.
When the bus finally got there I got a spot near the back beside a girl with dark, rich eyeshadow and dangling earrings. She wore thick woolen mittens and Jazz leaked from her headphones. I tried not to bother her with my schoolbag.

I alighted from the bus and walked towards the student center, pausing for a moment to check the time in front of the museum. As I began walking again I noticed bubbles rising in the sky. There was a steady stream of them coming from a group walking ahead of me.

I was so caught off guard. A single bubble approached me and I popped it with my breath. I walked a little faster and noticed that the girl blowing bubbles was the girl I sat beside on the bus. I smiled widely and she continued to blow bubbles in the cold.

She screwed the cap back on her jar of bubbles, placed it in her pocket and entered the student center, I followed a moments after she did.

I caught up to her, tapped her on the shoulder and quietly said, "Thank you".

The girl with the woolen mittens responded, "Grace".

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Ladies of the Mannequin (Part I)

Over a year ago "The Bay" closed in Eastgate Square. They were selling all of their fixtures, and by the end they were selling all of their fixtures for very little.

I bought three mannequin busts. No arms, no waist, no head; I think they were meant to model bras.

I decided to name them after female literary icons, so that perhaps their names could empower them, even when their "perfect" breasts seemed to degrade them. Margaret Atwood, Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath, my girls.

I soon realized three mannequin busts was too many for any one person to have, So I gave one away. Virginia Woolf was itching to see the world so I gave her to my good friend Sarah Bardwell. Now Virginia is in good hands, even though she has none herself. I asked Sarah to send me pictures whenever she gets around to incorporating her into a piece.

I have actually been the patron of a few of Sarah's works... haha, I will post some pictures here soon.

Next to leave the nest was Margaret Atwood. I decided to decorate her and give her to Alyson for Christmas. I cut out floral prints from magazines and nearly covered her.

Alyson was kind enough to take pictures:









That leaves Sylvia Plath. My mannequin, my friend. For almost a year she has hung on my wall in a pink training bra, but that is the case no longer. Last week I dressed her up and brought her to school for a visual literacy project, she went over very well. I need to take a photo of her for my professor, I will post it here.


Sylvia was only playing dress-up though, I have not decided on how she will look permanently, I am still waiting for inspiration.

Thanks for listening.