From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd6627@yahoo.ca>
Date: Wed Sep 1, 2004 1:16:52 PM America/Montreal
To: paul martin <pm@pm.gc.ca>
Cc: chrislloyd@videotron.ca
Subject: Canada will send some equipment to Sudan, but no plan to send troops: Graham, Les prises d’otages en Iraq sont l’oeuvre de plusieurs groupes divers
Dear Paul,
We had a fun first day in New York; walked across Manhattan Bridge, through Chinatown and meandered a bit north, a bit west, touched on SoHo and headed back to the Lower East Side. Ate at an Indian restaurant (Ghandi’s, but it was a bit bland). A good day for walking and looking at shoes. Saw a bit of a protest at Union Square, but didn’t participate.
Hey, I forgot to tell you that I received an email from Manif d’Art 3 and I’m going to be included in the show next May! And I just now finished my CC grant application and now we’re off for another day of exploring.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd6627@yahoo.ca>
Date: Fri Sep 3, 2004 8:59:36 AM America/Montreal
To: paul martin <pm@pm.gc.ca>
Cc: chrislloyd@videotron.ca
Subject: Premiers call on Martin to explain Liberal election promise on pharmacare, Paul Martin rencontre Gilles Duceppe en prévision de la rentrée parlementaire
Dear Paul,
We’ve been walking mile after mile in the good old island of Manhattan, searching for shoes, looking at art, protesting, grocery shopping, listening to art, packing our days full of wonderment, excitement and monotony, all at the same time, if you can believe it, and you should see some of the RNC delegates around Penn Station, scary and bizarre, funny stuff, for sure, so we hit the Museum of Natural History and checked out some exhibits and a boring IMAX about Bugs, then on our way out saw some heavily armed police officers or National Guard walking a delegate or VIP of some sort out of the museum and into a waiting limo, they really take the security seriously, and the cops are lined the streets, sometimes twenty-deep or more, just hanging out, not doing much, that came later, as Bush’s motorcade, or the faked motorcade, traveled by, then the cops only let the pedestrians cross the streets by opening the big orange plastic snow fence barriers, they blocked off all the streets around Penn Station, so we found it difficult to take part in the protest, or even find it, after eating dinner at a favourite little diner of mine, well, if you can call eating there once before and having a vague recollection of it and its location a “favourite”, the Cheyenne Diner, on 34th I think, we ate there after doing the Janet Cardiff art walk in Central Park, which was really quite wonderous and magical, she has a great voice and a subtle charm, and the sound engineering is fantastic, I took lots of pictures now that I have a memory card for the camera, I talked a guy down to $25 from $40 on Canal the other day, I also stole a folio from Pearl Paints after waiting in line to buy the darned thing for over ten minutes, ignored by sales staff, I politely ignored paying, my first, and most likely only, successful shoplifting attempt in NYC, the police presence makes one almost afraid to jaywalk, but we do that to, from time to time, anyway, now we’re heading out to the Guggenheim and then Chelsea and don’t quite know what after, maybe the Broadway show Avenue Q or a movie at
Rose Bam Cinema here in Brooklyn, but first we’ll make a lunch and then stop at Ground Zero on the way.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd6627@yahoo.ca>
Date: Sun Sep 5, 2004 11:37:36 AM America/Montreal
To: paul martin <pm@pm.gc.ca>
Cc: chrislloyd@videotron.ca
Subject: Newfoundland concerned crab decline could become full-blow collapse, Les travailleurs d’IOC de Sept-Iles votent contre l’entente de principe
Dear Paul,
Sorry I haven’t written lately. I actually wrote you
last night but I accidentally deleted the browser
window and lost the whole thing. Very frustrating. But
the past few days have been fun and full, we come back
to Andrea’s cute little carriage house at the end of
each day tired and exhausted, but in a good way.
On Friday night I got us lost on bicycles in Brooklyn,
we missed a turn and headed to far along Myrtle, which
has some rather dodgy neighbourhoods. We were looking
for a bar called Pete’s Candy Shop in Williamsburg. We
were pleasantly surprised when we found it, as it had
a really cute area for live music, a very narrow room,
like as if in a train car. We heard a local jazz
fusion band, the Big Lazy. Claudine offered them $20
Canadian for a copy of their $12 American CD, but they
politely declined. “It would mean a trip to the bank”.
Most of the galleries we tried to go to on Friday were
closed, or between exhibitions. A bad time of year to
see Chelsea. We did catch the Guggenheim in the
morning, which is nice to see, though a bit
overpriced. The Brancusi show didn’t do it for me, and
the photo show was stupidly organized around the theme
of “’hands”.
Saw a great little documentary on Fox News called <a
href=”http://www.outfoxed.org“>Outfoxed!</a></li> on
Friday night at the Quad Cinemas on 13th. Actually, it
wasn’t “great”, but the content was good. Having never
watched Fox News I had no idea how incredibly biased
it is. And that Bill O’Reilly must be some spawn of
the devil if I ever saw one! What a horrible man. Now
I can understand why so many Americans actually
support Bush and his phony wars; they watch too much
Fox, and are being brainwashed. Scary thoughts. Maybe
the station will try to jump the gun on another Bush
victory this November. My advice to you is to avoid
Bush and his cronies at all cost from now until
November, and just keep your fingers crossed that he
doesn’t get back in. As flawed as the Canadian
political spectrum seems from time to time, I must
admit it seems light-years ahead of the tired,
two-party system here in the States, where you have
either tweedle dum or tweedle dummer as choice for
president. Nader or Perot don’t really count. Wait a
minute, this seems too familiar…
And since Thursday night I haven’t seen any police
officers. For the first four days we were here you
couldn’t miss them; anywhere you looked there was a
group of often bored-looking cops. Now that the RNC is
over it appears as if all the cops went on vacation.
Yesterday we went to P.S. and saw some good
exhibitions. Spent the rest of the afternoon and
evening wandering around the East Village. Bought a
copy of Star Wars, as Claudine has never seen it, but
we fell asleep early on.
Better go; Claudine is cleaning up the house, and I
should probably help. Andrea and Stephane are coming
back tonight, and we have laundry to do. We thought we
had lost her cat ChiChi last night; she escaped the
house and was in the neighbour’s yard. She’s back now,
safe and sound. We want to see the DUMBO arts centre
and do a little more gift shopping today, maybe in
Williamsburg or back in the East Village.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Mon Sep 6, 2004 11:30:40 PM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Labour leader rebukes Ottawa for treatment of public servants, Un ancien ministre fédéral, Gerald Merrithew, meurt du cancer à 73 ans
Dear Paul,
So we made it safe and sound back into Canada, catching the 11pm night bus. I slept a bit better this time around. The bus was packed until we hit the border; only 2/3 remained on the bus afterwards. Maybe some folks didn’t have the right stuff? The right papers?
We arrived at 7am, took a cab to Claudine’s, then walked to La Mere Poule for breakfast. No specials today because of Labour Day, but the prices are still fair. And the service is different than in NY; less attitude. There is certainly some charm in the attitude expressed by many New Yorkers, a kind of abruptness mixed with a genuine friendliness. It sounds contradictory, but that’s how it is. Though Joe’s Shanghai on Pell St. in Chinatown took the rudeness to new levels; I don’t care if they invented the soup dumpling, the service there stinks. Even so, it had its own charm too. The fastest turnover i’ve ever seen. Ronald McDonald would be proud.
We just missed Andrea and Stephane, who were scheduled to arrive sometime Sunday night, as we had to leave to catch the night bus so we could get a good start on the week. I have to work tomorrow, apparently I still have a job, and my french classes begin tomorrow night, and Claudine has to prepare for her thesis defense on Saturday. Luckily we didn’t lose Chi Chi, who managed to escape the house twice. She’s sneaky, that one. I think she beat up a neighbourhood cat on Sunday evening, after slipping through the screen door.
Anyway, today we had a nice nap after breakfast and then I headed home. Mitch is still here; he was just sitting down to breakfast when I arrived. A good thing, too: I had left my keys here. Hung out at home for the afternoon working on packages and mail and some art postcards based on the WTC. Applied for an “art job”, with the painter who is in the Guinness Book of World Records for making the World’s Biggest Painting. Talked about Art with Mitch, which was refreshing. The gears have been turning a little more this past week. Bought some groceries. Made some supper. Talked on the phone a bit and then realized, as the batteries wore down, that I left my charger in Brooklyn. Great. Actually, it is sort of great; most of my incoming calls are from collection agencies anyway. Now I’ll have more time to read and work on art projects. At the moment I’m reading Regarding the Pain of Others, by Susan Sontag
I’m thinking of sending hate mail to Bill O’Reilly, do you think that is a wise idea?
I feel a bit out of the loop when it comes to Canadian politics. I’ve been paying more attention to the battle south of the border. What’s up? When is the big televised debate on health care lineups?
-chris
PS here is an interesting statement on how to get people to go to war, that perhaps has influenced a certain southern cowboy, or at least his handlers:
“Naturally the common people don’t want war, but after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.”
-Hermann Goering, Hitler’s Reich-Marshall at the Nuremberg Trials after WWII
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Wed Sep 8, 2004 7:08:15 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Federal coffers benefiting from larger-than-expected growth in economy, Les avocats de Guité et Brault scruteront attentivement l’enquête Gomery
Dear Paul,
My time is now quite compressed. My days are now evenly packaged, with break-times happening with deadly accuracy: 10:00pm, 12:00pm, 2:00pm (if Steve isn’t around), 3:00pm (if he is), and 8:15. The last one is fun, as a recess bell rings at the beginning and end of break. This happens during my french class. Melissa and I ended up in the same class after all, even though she scored slightly higher on the asssesment. They bumped me up, which is fine; so far I feel comfortable at this level. Refreshers in imparfait don’t hurt. The acoustics in the classroom are terrible, however, and I find myself feeling sorry for the younger kids who have to learn there during the day. What were architects thinking when they designed buildings and left painted cinderblocks as walls in classrooms? Sound just bounces off. Anyway, my point being that I now have between 10pm-midnight (or thereabouts) for any art-related or socializing activities. Last night I stayed at Claudine’s after class; I sleep better there than on my futon. I suppose if I get up early enough and have food prepared for the day then I can do some work in the morning. But I have to watch it; there is no time for naps, so if I get up too early I risk falling asleep in class or becoming cranky. What a fine balance!
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Thu Sep 9, 2004 12:39:29 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Canada leaning towards $20-million contribution to military effort in Sudan, Le fédéral souhaite une entente souple en vue d’une réforme de la santé
Dear paul,
I’m tired. The one hour I had to myself, in between work and class, was spent cycling to and from the bank, with a lovely pit stop at Claudine’s where she fed me cabbage soup and coffee and even made me a sandwich for lunch during recess. Yes, I said recess. I still can’t get over the jangle of the bell signaling the start and finish of recess. The whole elementary school setting is making me think about my compulsive, never-ending letter-writing project in different ways. I’d like to see a display of the letters, each and every one, made into spitballs, spat at a blackboard through a straw, or maybe spat onto the ceiling. Did you ever try to make an inverse spitball mountain on the ceiling of any of your classrooms? Or maybe all the letters printed out and made into paper airplanes. And maybe have videos made of the spitballs shooting down the airplanes. Anyway, I’m off to work on the Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec grant, it is due on Friday. I’ll work on it in the morning; it’s a good thing I’ve become quite the early bird. I’ll work the school angle into it somehow.
Today at work I leveled another ceiling. Mike and I work well together. There is now another frenchman on the job, Yvonne, the plasterer. A little more practice. Tom asked me to translate a bit for the chimney guys, but their accents were really thick and I didn’t accomplish much. Scary to think about the gaps in translation that could lead to gaps in the completion of building a house. Who knows where that chimney might end up! The owner still talks of moving in on October 1 (there is at least 6 more weeks of solid work, involving re-flooring, removing and replacing 13 windows, two doors, re-building the deck and balcony, installing a 500-pound steel support beam, brick and mortar work, concrete to pour, walls and ceilings to build, plaster and prime, wallpaper, custom furniture and a wrought iron fence. Not to mention the kitchen and two bathrooms). I need to start taking my available time to look for other forms of work, or at least start looking for my own work (before the company is bankrupted or kicked off the job). Could be good french practice, making signs for la peinture. Need to start sleeping less and make more art. Everyone is sick to death of my letter-writing project (except me), and I’m not doing anything else. I talk about doing other things, but that’s all it is, just talk. Like a pure conceptual artist, ha! I need to poop or get off the pot.
My list of big-ticket items to do tomorrow:
1. work on grant
2. mail postcards and gifts. Buy stamps and envelopes first
3. vaccuum cat hair-covered rug
4. clean bathroom
5. change bedsheets
What’s on your agenda?
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd6627@yahoo.ca>
Date: Sat Sep 11, 2004 12:48:43 AM America/Montreal
To: paul martin <pm@pm.gc.ca>
Cc: chrislloyd@videotron.ca
Subject: U.S. agrees to abide by NAFTA panel decision on Canadian softwood, Bernard Landry veut 3,3 milliards $ d’Ottawa pour le Québec cette année
Dear Paul,
Yesterday I was installing a new ceiling at work, and
today it was re-installing an old hardwood floor.
First we had to tear up the old pieces, then clean 80
years of dust from them, then re-lay them. A slow
process. Then it was home to work on the Conseil des
arts et des lettres du Québec grant application form.
I had been working on it off and on for a week,
usually in the mornings before work. I barely made the
9pm postal deadline. My project descriptions could
have been expanded on; spitballs and paper airplanes
and curio cabinets are all well and good but more
context, history and analysis certainly would not
hurt. Anyway, I am staying with Claudine tonight,. I
cycled here just after (finally) stopping at my
landlord’s apartment to pay my rent. Hey, it’s not
quite the middle of the month, and he doesn’t seem to
mind. I’m going to give him a price on fixing the
broken tiles in my bathroom and he might even hire me.
When I met Claudine we had tonkinese soup at a cozy
place just down the street and went to bed early; her
defence is tomorrow. I’m thinking of getting her a
nice flower arrangement, I hope that isn’t too tacky
or common. What do you think is a good gift
commemorating the completion of a masters?
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Sun Sep 12, 2004 1:38:55 PM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Quebec minister confirms federal health money might not all go into health, Les Canadiens s’estiment bien informés sur le sida, mais tout dépend de l’âge
Dear Paul,
Spent the early part of Saturday working on some exhibition applications, one for a series taking place next year in a northern area called Abitibi-Témiscaminque, a couple others for galleries in Vancouver. It feels good to be working on proposals again. Feels productive. Apres, je suis allé le soutenance de Claudine. I bought her a plant and dropped it off at her apartment, where I met up with her parents and her longtime friend Fanny. We all drove down to Concordia together. The classromroom where the defence was taking place was quite full, lots of friends and family. Claudine’s presentation was well-delivered—she speaks really well— and her thesis was accepted as submitted. Afterwards we went back to her place for drinks, then out to dinner at a really nice restaurant just around the corner.
Ah, the complexities and politics of dinner parties: on the strong encouragement and advice of Monika, Clo’s friend, I cancelled dinner plans with Melissa and went with Claudine and her family and friends Anne, Janine, Caro and Fanny. It’s a good thing Claudine has friends like that, because I think I must really not understand women. I had thought a “family dinner” was going to be small and intimate and, well, family. Friends can provide helpful insights about one another. But the idea of the dinner had been worrying me for awhile; I don’t think her father likes me, and I just don’t do family gatherings well. There is something about them that stresses me out. I don’t really understand why. And following from that, my inability to converse fully in french, and my hesitation to speak english when in french company, means I don’t ask questions or speak much at all, leaving me feeling like a mute, not understanding anything. I don’t like this. Mais, le canard était tres bon.
I thought I would have time to meet up with Melissa and the gang afterwards, but the dinner went late and I was worn out from all the french. I went home and read for a bit before going to bed, reveling in the peace and quiet. . The upside of all this mental questioning and doubt is that I think I’m figuring out some direction in my life: 1. make money (to do this requires working at least 8 hours per day, but I’m fine with that. Otherwise I might turn to a life of crime) 2. Make art (to do this requires the resources of #1, but there is some overlap of time here) 3. Exhibit art (to do this requires constant negotiations, networking, researching, grant-writing and sending exhibition proposals. Often conflicts with #1 and #2) 4. Learn french (to do this requires I spend at least 4 nights per week in intensive training, often exhausted after trying to complete #1-3) 5. Enjoy life and friends (I’ll replace #1-3 with #5 much of the time). There are others, but they are even more nuanced and inter-dependent; keep a clean apartment for myself and the cats and guests, eat well, read good books, watch good films, stay active, stay involved, make the right decisions, be a good person, etc. How does one do it all?
So I’ve swept, vacuumed and tried to remove cat hair from the apartment, still have some dishes to wash and the bathroom to clean, then am heading out to wash some laundry. I’ll read and work on sketches while waiting for laundry. Try and climb out of this little blue funk.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 7:12:24 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Money is key sticking point as first ministers talk health, Ottawa met l’accent sur les réformes; les provinces attendent l’argent
Dear Paul,
Sorry I didn’t write yesterday. And I’m not writing a lot this morning, you know my schedule. Sunday night was fun, went to Claudine’s cinq a sept (at four!) at Reservoir to celebrate her and Janine’s recent completion of their thesis’. Then we came home and I whipped up an inventive supper and we watched some of that new Quebecoise TV talk show, Tout le monde en parle, with Guy Lepage. Hey, it seemed as though they had invited you to be on, but you turned them down? So they asked Gilles Douceppe questions pretending he was you. Tres drole.
And Monday was a typical Monday: work, then class afterwards. After that I was supposed to meet Mohanad for a drink, but the first three bars we went to were closed. What’s going on? And he had brought his entourage, Jarra and Safi, so eventually we found a no-name tavern on Mont Royal and played three clumsy games of pool. I crashed at Claudine’s for the night.
And now, off to work, and the cycle continues…
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:57:16 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Ottawa rejects premiers’ demand for $36.5 billion in new health cash, Un accord fédéral-provincial sur la santé semble encore lointain
Dear Paul,
Had a couple close calls on my bike yesterday. The first came on my way to work. I ran a stop sign (not unusual) and totally ran into the side of a car. There was this loud popping noise (that was my bike bouncing off the car) and next thing I knew, I was flat on my back in the middle of the road. I would have liked to be a fly on the wall watching me spin around, I didn’t even have time to brake. The odd thing was that the car didn’t even slow down or stop. Won’t that make it difficult for them to have the side panels repaired (which I must have dented quite badly)? Won’t their insurance company want my name, etc.? My bike was a little banged up, but after some adjustments it ran fine. The second close call was in the evening, after french class, when a taxi almost ran straight into me while driving in reverse, trying to get into a driveway.
The monotony at work is grating on my nerves. Laying flooring is only so interesting, even with the challenge of inserting only certain pieces. Mike’s irritating habit of constantly sucking through his teeth is getting to me. Does anyone you work with closely have annoying personal habits?
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Fri Sep 17, 2004 5:45:12 PM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: can’t get headlines today
Dear Paul,
Sorry I didn’t write yesterday. Stuff came up. I imaging you would have been quite busy, what with the first ministers conference on health and all. The night before last I came home after class and found a ransom note on my desk. Apparently I had left the back door to my apartment unlocked and Sarah Fork just came in. She was looking for our phone bill, which she walked past on the table, and took instead my camera. She is holding it hostage until I find a different co-signer for my cell phone (Telus won’t take me on with my credit rating). Here’s the ransom note, in its entirety:
“Hey Chris, I guess you don’t loch (sic) your door, so I’m (sic) phone is fucking turned off cause you never call me back to pay (word scratched out here) bill. So here (sic) the thing you have to get someone to sign over for you phone I’m not going to let my (word scratched out here) credit go bad because of your irresponsibility. So call me @ home tonight or tomorrow night. (“I have your came…” is scratched out here) I have 2 of your things and will give them back when the bills payed (sic) and someone signs for you. I don’t want to be your cosigner anymore. I think you push me to acting like an immature bitch but you never return my calls for 3 weeks or more”
So I stopped by her place last night after class and paid her my share of the last bill. The phones were cut off because a previous payment she was supposed to make didn’t go through. She gave me my computer charger back, but wouldn’t give back the camera. I threatened to call the cops, but she wouldn’t budge. So I did, and stopped at my place on my way to the station when Claudine showed up for a surprise visit. We cycled to the police station together to fill out a report but was told to call back from my place, as the officer needs to fill out the report at the scene of the crime. I’ll do it today after work. It’s a total pain in the ass and total waste of time, but I’m mad as hell that Sarah is holding my camera hostage. I’d just as soon give up the cell phone entirely and get a new camera and let the cops harass her and let the issue wind through the courts. Maybe we’ll end up on Judge Wapner or Judge Judy, it’s a perfect case for daytime TV.
Anyway, I’ve got to take the metro to work today. Yesterday the excavators rode into it and bent the front tire all to hell. They’ll pay for a replacement, which is nice, but finding one takes another chunk of time out of my weekend, which isn’t.
Hey, I don’t suppose you’d co-sign for my phone would you?
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Sun Sep 19, 2004 12:21:11 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Former Rogers CEO John Tory takes helm of Ontario’s Opposition Conservatives, Un deuxième tour sera nécessaire pour élire le nouveau chef des conservateurs
Dear Paul,
I called the cops but Mohanad managed to retrieve the camera from Sarah Fork before they arrived at my place. They showed up anyway, almost a half hour after I called back to cancel. This was yesterday evening, after work. Then I went to Claudine’s apartment and we amde supper there, a nice stir-fry and salad and wine. Some cozy times, then we cycled to Reservoir (I’m using Courtney’s spare until I get the rim replaced on my bike) to meet Mohanad and the gang. Which this night consisted of Jara and Jolina. We had a scotch and then left, we didn’t feel in the same headspace, the same groove. Took some photos in the Couche Tard while buying crisps and Orangina, which we drank with vodka. And then slept in, though not too late. Anything past 8am is a luxury now. Had coffee and read the paper. Well, bits of it. Cycled downtown. Claudine had bought me a gift but was unsure if I would like it, so gave me the chance to return it. I liked it though, a really nice Nordiques T-shirt, how could I not? A brief stop at Urban Outfitters and then we spent the afternoon at the Belgo checking out the galleries. Ran into Jack, Vida’s petit ami, who told us about her three months in hell (actually, Finland, and due to a bad artist residency experience, not the country itself. There are many other countries that must better personify hell on earth, such as the southern US, for example), she was applying to the new Joyce Yahouda gallery called STORE. Today was the last day for the weekly live interviews but I’m going to send a quick application via email, maybe see what happens, get some of the rubbings out there. Gathered a few other appels pour dossiers. Ran into Patrice, one of the commissionaires pour Manif d’art 3, at René Blouin. There was some talk on how/when to end this letter-writing project, but he said that my proposal summed up quite nicely the theme, at least that’s what I think he said. At the gallery there was a great sculpture on display of a section of a city, highway overpasses, industrial areas, buildings, all made from modular concrete casts, by a young artist, Patrick Coutu. After the galleries cycled up St. Laurent, stopped for roast chicken, stopped at Zeke’s (quickly), then a quick café, then La Centrale for the book launch of les centralles (Claudine did the translations), then back to her place for a nap. Claudine had dinner plans, I came home, tidied the apartment a bit, bought a few groceries, read for a bit, ate a bit, worked a bit. A fun day, the air brisk, coolish, fall is coming, the change was palpable. Things felt right. And now I’m going to read a bit, I treated myself today and finally bought Don Delillo’s Underworld, which I see almost everytime I’m in a used bookstore. It’s a hefty book; over 800 pages. At the rate I’ve been completing books lately (still haven’t finished Ingenuity Gap, 1967, An option for Quebec or Regarding the pain of others), then I should finish Underworld by, oh, 2008 or so. Until then, I’ll keep it handy and use it to swat flies or other large animals, or apartment intruders.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:48:46 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: PM says religious conflicts are big challenge for international community, Le premier ministre Paul Martin ne ferme pas la porte aux municipalités
Dear Paul,
You know, I kind of like being without a phone, at least temporarily. It’s very peaceful. Had a very quiet Sunday, cleaned the house a bit, worked on some computer/art/photo stuff, washed laundry. That took awhile, I had three or four loads worth. Picked up a few groceries, things for lunches, then made some supper, a curried chicken. Claudine came over and we watched some TV. We’ve become regular watchers of Tout le monde en parle. Last night Rhael was on. They’ve continued the running gag where they ask guests questions as if they are you. Hey, you were also digitally introduced in the launch of the animated newscast comedy called et dieu créa…Laflaque , did you watch it? Quite funny. Afterwards we watched Beetlejuice and half of Mighty Aphrodite. Anyway, I’ve got to run, make a lunch, the internet is working at a snail’s pace so it’s taking me forever to find pages…
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Tue Sep 21, 2004 7:20:22 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Liberals win only one of four Quebec byelections; lose two seats from 2003, L’ADQ compte un député de plus à l’Assemblée nationale, un cinquième
Dear Paul,
Only have a minute to write, my snooze button didn’t work properly this morning and I slept in a bit. Yesterday the work day zipped by real fast, we overshot every break. I took Courtney’s front tire as the replacement, effectively paying myself the $40 that Stéphane, the excavator, gave me on Thursday. After work I tried to vote but hadn’t registered, so I couldn’t. There wasn’t a problem with the federal election but the list for the provincial and municipal elections, and the rules, are different. I knew I wasn’t going to vote for the Liberals, but I didn’t really know who to vote for (The PQ stormed my riding anyhow, a tradition since the ’70s). Then it was french class, during which I often have periods of extreme exhaustion, where keeping my eyes open is incredibly difficult. I have volunteered to man the cafeteria during pause, which is fun, trying to mentally add up the cost of $.15 cookies and $.65 coffees and granola bars. Speaking of which, I must still pack a lunch and hit the road, am late already.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Thu Sep 23, 2004 7:08:56 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Crown’s Baltovich murder theory ‘absurd’ given link to Bernardo: lawyers, Une bonne partie du Forum “Place aux citoyens” se déroulera à huis clos
Dear Paul,
Sorry I didn’t write yesterday. I cycled to Claudine’s apartment Tuesday night after class (that was the class that the Directrice came and told everyone how important it was for everybody to attend all the classes, show up on time, etc., because the gov’t funds them to the tune of $840 per student per session), and helped her work on business cards. But my Illustrator skills are rusty and we only got halfway. Slept in a bit in the morning; life is too short to always be rushing out the door for work or class. I need to break the routine a bit sometimes. Besides, I’m just sub-contracting, and the company doesn’t owe me anything, and probably won’t retain my services after the big Barat job. I’m surprised I’m still there, actually: I’m a painter, not a carpenter. Yesterday at work I continued with the drywall except for a short period in the afternoon when I was moving and re-stacking bricks for Simon.
Somebody finally stole my helmet; I usually leave it hanging on the handlebars, unlocked. So it took five months, not bad. Just have to be extra careful on my way to work, rush hour traffic is bad. During class last night I spent some time daydreaming about how I now spend my time; a good chunk of my life now consists of thinking about food (planning lunches and meals on the fly and wondering about the steady buildup of dishes in the sink) and sleep (like trying to stay awake in class, worrying about what time to go to bed, what time to wake up, how life would be better if there was time allotted for an afternoon siesta). I’ve got to make some art or I’ll go crazy. This project on its own just doesn’t cut it. Last night after class Claudine surprised me and was at my place watching 6 feet under, the first season. Have you seen it? Without TV both of us are a little out of the loop, I don’t even know if that show is still on. We watched 2.5 episodes before heading to bed. Then I dreamed the show in my sleep. Made a lunch this morning and am about to have a bit of breakfast before heading to work. Maybe a bagel.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd6627@yahoo.ca>
Date: Sat Sep 25, 2004 9:00:48 AM America/Montreal
To: paul martin <pm@pm.gc.ca>
Cc: chrislloyd@videotron.ca
Subject: Nova Scotia becomes sixth province, territory to allow same-sex marriages, Des rensengnements fournis par la GRC sur Arar auraient servie contre lui
Dear Paul,
Cleaned a healthy glob of hair and soap from my
bathtub drain the other day, what a satisfying
experience. With immediate results! The water flows
much better. Do you often have problems with your tub
drains?
Spent the past couple days at work in the basement,
ripping apart the old ceilings, leveling and prepping
them for new drywall. The dust is disgusting, and my
hands are all dried out. I was assigned a helper, a
Danish guy who was brought on the jobsite to help his
friend finish doors. Must mean I’m moving up in the
world, or at least the world of construction.
Finally cleaned my kitchen last night. It was so bad I
took pictures of before, during and after the
experience. The first thing I did when I got home was
pass out on the couch, I was exhausted. Spent some
quiet time at home reading, had some take-out for
supper (La Belle Province), bought some shoes on St.
Hubert, then tried to meet up with Claudine for an art
performance happening in Caroline’s old co-op housing
building, as part of the weekend of culture, but I was
late getting to our meeting point. We met up later at
Melissa and Sarah’s place, I finally made it to one of
their parties. There were lots and lots of people
there, very crowded and fun. Their balcony scares me,
but it didn’t fall apart, at least while we were
there. Hey, did I ever tell you that my landlord
finally had my front balcony repaired? It was fixed in
1 day, they finished a couple weeks ago. Haven’t used
it yet.
Claudine and I are heading out of the city today; she
rented a car yesterday and her and Janine went hiking.
I think today we’ll pick some apples. Tonight is the
Arcade Fire CD launch. I’ve already downloaded some of
the new songs, much to Claudine’s disappointment.
She’s already bought it. I’ll buy a copy of it
tonight, to support local musicians. It’s one thing to
download David Bowie or the Rolling Stones, and
another to download the up and coming. They are really
good, have you heard of them?
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Sun Sep 26, 2004 12:17:49 PM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Federal cabinet minister blasts Mario Dumont’s autonomy plan for Quebec, John Godfrey va imposer des conditions au Québec dans le secteur municipal
Dear Paul,
Saw a great concert last night, <a href=”http://www.arcadefire.com/“>The Arcade Fire</a> performed at the Salvation Army church on Rue Drummond. Claudine and I arrived there just in time, driving back from Magog. There wasn’t a lot to do in Magog, but we finally had our planned dinner at St. Hubert. We’d been talking about it for a year. A Quebec classic. We’d ended up in Magog after visiting an abbey nearby, the <a href=”http://www.st-benoit-du-lac.com/selecteur/selecteur.html“>Abbaye-Saint-Benoit</a>, or St-Benoit-du-lac. Her dad spent some time there studying for exams years ago. For the peace and quiet. There were quite a few tourists there yesterday, a busload. We bought some bread and cheese and apples and chocolate, things that the brothers make there. Had a little picnic. Thought about staying there myself, a little retreat from city life. Stopped at some yard sales but the periodic rain shut many down early. And we were driving casually, no rush. We’d even stopped impulsively at IKEA on our way out of Montréal, and picked up a few odds ‘n ends. Frames and candles, mostly. We played ping pong and Claudine wore a lampshade on her head; the kids got a kick out of that.
The concert was amazing. No light show, not even a variation in lighting from before the show started straight through to the end, no extravagant props or costumes. Just solid, haunting, powerful music. Within a minute of the start of the first song, Neighbourhood 1 (Tunnels), the entire audience was on their feet, and stayed up until the end. Very effecting music and lyrics; I’m all discombobulated, actually, thinking of the past and future, family, life and death, love. Heavy stuff. Makes me want to scream and shout or run and hide. A good motivator to spend the day making some art, or at the very least applying for some shows. Will try to get some work done before washing laundry and grocery shopping. Am hosting a barbeque later on for Mohanad; it is his last night here, as he is moving to Hogtown, TO, tomorrow.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Wed Sep 29, 2004 7:23:56 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Drivers, those who heat with oil, to feel the most pain from crude oil hike, Ottawa devrait respecter l’avis du Parlement sur le bouclier, dit Duceppe
Dear Paul,
Sorry I haven’t been writing. The routine has me in its gnarly teeth, grinding me ’round and ’round. But I did manage to clean the kitchen (finally!) after Mohanad’s farewell potluck barbeque on Sunday night. I’d write more but I’ll be late for work; I slept in a bit this morning, my alarm didn’t go off. Or it did, and I didn’t hear it because I was wearing earplugs (neighbours were arguing last night).
-chris
DEAR PM 