From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 1, 2006 11:28 PM
Subject: Tories untrustworthy, says Orchard; Le juge Gomery fait des recommandations pour “changer la culture” à Ottawa
Dear Stephen, Paul
“We have a serious problem. America is addicted to oil.”
Sounds like an odd statement, coming as it does from an oilman like
George W. Bush. Maybe the quick turnaround in Iraq isn’t happenings as
quickly as he would like. Maybe he’s turned a new leaf and is now a
gung-ho environmentalist. Or he’s spewing more lies and biding his
time before he invades Alberta. Tread carefully around him Stephen!
Or are you planning on walking soft and carrying a big stick?
$20-billion for our Armed Forces is quite significant. I wouldn’t feel
so icky about it if I knew it was going to really help on the world
stage, in matters of peacekeeping and aid in Africa. I wonder if we
really need to be the cleanup crew after the US barrels their way
through this country and that.
We saw a great movie last night as part of the Filmpix fundraiser
(they raise money for film student scholarships). It was called The
Squid and the Whale, about a divorce and how it impacts the family,
and the situations and dialogue and acting was all stellar. It was a
packed house, which was nice to see.
We stayed at the museum last night—Peter and Judy’s house. Roo (the
cat: the queen) really loves attention. We watched Sex and the City
before bed. Nice bed. Now I want to buy a new mattress.
We were up early so I could finish the residency grants and Claudine
worked on translation contracts. Her new job at the NBM has been
postponed to next week AGAIN because they can’t get the go-ahead from
the bean-counters in Fredericton. The rest of my afternoon was spent
on the liquor run.
Claudine was off tonight to hear Stephen Lewis talk at the university.
I heard from a couple clients at the bar that it was packed; even the
overflow live-feed video room was overflowing. Must have been
inspiring.
I’m closing up early.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 5, 2006 1:49 PM
Subject: ‘Winter’s worst’ pounds B.C.; Le fédéral verse une indemnité à l’ancien président de la Monnaie royale
Dear Stephen,
Sorry I haven’t written the past few days. As I often told Paul, I
find it hard to stay consistent during heavy bar nights such as Friday
and Saturday. And lately, since I am stocking inventory and running
all over town searching for wines and dropping off empties, my time is
even more stretched. We slept at Peter and Judy’s the past number of
nights, but were home again last night. We checked out the new bar,
Elwoods, Friday and Saturday nights, Grand Theft Bus was packed, I
only got in because Phil let me in, but last night, with Ermine’s CD
launch it was a smaller crowd. The music was a little heavy for me but
I’m getting old and not into such screaming anthem rock. Yesterday we
took Mary out of the hospital for a day trip. We were planning to have
brunch (No Brunch!—ask Paul about the No Brunch! sign we saw in CB
this past summer) at Cora’s (even though, after out last experience
there, we’ve added it to our Blacklist—way too expensive for what you
get. We’ll return to the Reggie’s fold). But Cora’s was full so we ate
across the mall at Fast Jack’s, which was fine. Robyn and his
girlfriend Veronica were with us until they joined other teenagers and
wandered off to do whatever it is that teenagers do nowadays. The
weather has been so freakishly warm and springlike it was an ideal day
to push Mary around; we went to King Square and terrorized pigeons
much to her delight. Or was that our delight? Anyway, by the middle of
last night—which was slightly busier than normal, which was great—but
by the middle of the night I was exhausted and became clumsy with the
corkscrew, impaling myself once and then shattering a wine glass,
resulting in a couple of digits in plasters. C’etait pas grave. Now
I’m off to make a list to get through this week, which involves
gallery installation, cleaning the house, a pile of laundry to wash, a
cat to shave (Kuan is just waaaay too furry), food to buy and meals to
prepare, furniture to repair, tattoos to design, packages to mail,
recycling to drop off, a car to clean, a carpet to vacuum, shelves to
build, and a teenager. I’ll call Robyn first and have him help me at
the gallery.
So this is the big week for you eh? Forming a cabinet and getting
underway. Good luck. Let’s compare notes. Oh and don’t forget to sign
the CARFAC petition and double funding for the Canada Council for the
Arts. At least put it on your list of Things To Do.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 7, 2006 1:31 AM
Subject: Trial begins on tainted blood scandal; Stephen Harper recrute un libéral et un non-élu dans son cabinet
Dear Stephen,
Congratulations on your swearing in. I listened to the news a lot this
morning after waking up at 6AM with an art installation going around
in my head. Call it an artists hangover if you will. Apparently I
drank almost a full bottle of Bin 65 Chardonnay before we tackled the
Beaujolais Villages while watching Tout la monde en parle. Advantages
to staying at Peter and Judy’s: cable.
We cooked a roast because I didn’t get to the grocery stores before
5PM. Spent the afternoon running errands with Robyn.
So alongside the mild hangover this morning came the flu. My whole
body aches and I find it hard to motivate myself to do more than wash
dishes or install lighting in the bathroom.
I picked up Peter and Judy from the airport; their flight was on time,
it seemed they had a great trip. Managed to replace the bum windshield
wiper and washed the Element.
I’ve heard news on the poor Khyber, my old stomping grounds, and the
dickless wonders running the city of Halifax have evicted the arts
society from the building. There’s a whole petition going on, you can
read more and sign your name at <a
href=”http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/Khyber_club/”>iPetitions.com<a/>
Anyway its all very heartbreaking. So was the movie we watched tonight
at the Somerset, The Sweet Hereafter. What comes next for the Khyber?
I would have liked to go this coming weekend to claim some stuff from
the basement, courtesy of the Halifax Scavenger Society. Maybe I’ll
write a letter instead.
Andrea has contacted me from NYC and wants me to help her with some
gilding and screenprinting for the opening of a new hotel in Chicago
at the end of the month. Could be exciting if I can organize the time
off from the bar.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 9, 2006 2:22 AM
Subject: Nortel to settle shareholders’ lawsuit; La gouverneure générale Michaëlle Jean exprime son attachement au Québec
Dear Stephen,
I see you’ve updated the official PM webpage. It’s a bit odd to see.
Like now it’s even more real.
Yesterday was Claudine’s birthday. Judy came over for a visit and
briefed us on her trip to Italy, then I headed out and got some gifts.
I had Claudine’s Scott Conaroe photograph framed, and picked up a gift
certificate from Ambiance Day Spa. Spent the rest of the afternoon
working on the gallery installation.
We had supper at Billy’s Seafood Company at the top of the Market and
enjoyed our plank salmon. We’d like to try it ourselves this summer.
We rented and watched a movie with Robin Williams that was so
memorable I’ve already forgotten the name of it. It had a neat
premise, that of implants that record the totality of a persons’
memories, which are then edited after a person dies for a ‘rememory’
service, but the dialogue was flat and uninspiring and the plot mostly
uninteresting.
Worked in the gallery again today, and the installation is just about
complete. Had a long shift in the bar and we were unusually busy, for
a Wednesday. Tim lent me a Norton Disc Doctor so I could attempt to
defrag my poor iBook but to not avail; a problem keeps popping up that
crashes everything. At some point soon I will have to re-format
everything, which is a pain.
Zeke has posted the <a href=”http://zekesgallery.blogspot.com/2006/02/chris-lloyd-interview.html”>interview</a> I did with him last year; if you are at all interested in some of the
myriad reasons why I keep up with this project,
<a href=”http://zekesgallery.blogspot.com/2006/02/chris-lloyd-interview.html”>
check it out</a>. It’s a bit long but hey, it’s art.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 10, 2006 11:56 AM
Subject: Crews put out Alta grass fire; Le taux de chômage s’établissait à 6,6 pour cent au Canada en janvier
Dear Stephen,
We had a little get-together party at our apartment last night for
Nadia, the artist showing at Third Space this month. Unfortunately she
had missed her flight from Montréal so by the time she did arrive
there wasn’t much of a party. It was a small gathering to begin with,
actually. Better for intimate discussions. More food and drink for
those that came; I made a sweet potato soup and Claudine made a quinoa
salad; Judy brought some great cheeses and meats; Meghan brought some
wine.
Rogers Telecom called me yesterday to let me know my account is thirty
days past due. Thanks very much. I told them I’ll pay next week and
they started giving me a hard time, saying that it takes seven days by
bank and I should pay by credit card. I told them I don’t respond well
to pressure tactics and that if the long distance plan is disconnected
I won’t be re-connecting with them. They were supposed to make a note
of it but then they called again this morning, waking me from my
flu-induced hallucinogenic slumber. I had thought the Cold FX was
working and yesterday felt fine, but it made a comeback overnight. I
have a major runny nose at the moment.
Off to make breakfast.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 13, 2006 9:15 PM
Subject: Snowstorm hits Atlantic Canada; Le premier ministre Charest verse une subvention à un hôpital
Dear Stephen,
Sorry I haven’t written lately. Friday night at the bar was a bit
zany; lots of loudmouths and bizarre energy flitting about; Saturday
was calm until 10, then we were hit hard and fast, but finishing early
enough to catch a good chunk of Slowcoaster at Nep-Tunes (worst name
for a bar thus far).
Friday also featured the opening of Nadia’s Scar Project, which meant
lots of last-minute prep, a good turnout thanks undoubtedly to the
convergence of two other gallery openings, and the return of Heather
Button, who still thinks she lives in Toronto.
Saturday was the Scar Project workshop, which was well-attended and
would have been over-capacity if Joe’s daughter hadn’t habitually
locked the front door of the building, thus inadvertently turning away
a few folks. My phone was “asleep”; it does this from time to time and
I honestly cannot for the life of me figure the darn thing out. I have
yet to figure out how to email my photos to myself.
So Sunday we re-recuperated, slightly, and went to Reggie’s for a
greasy breakfast, and the Arts Centre to see the new exhibitions and
newly-painted walls (white!), and checked out the freaky attic room
under the skylight, and the great felt show by an artist whose name
I’ve forgotten and can’t at the moment find on any of the SJAC website
or SJ cultural affairs. Oh well. We picked up Judy’s car and went on a
bit of a sight-seeing tour so Nadia could take more photos of Darth
Vader in situ for her son, but a snowstorm began, causing dramatic
whiteouts, and we were worried her flight would be delayed or
cancelled, but it ended up leaving on time.
Claudine and I were invited over to Peter and Judy’s for supper, he
made his infamous paella and we drank many wines and smoked, got
accidentally, briefly locked out, listened to Robyn play electric
guitar—what a concert!—and watched 3/4 of Withnail and I before
conking out for the night.
Now I’m heading out to the Somerset for the weekly View and Brew.
Tonight: Bonnie and Clyde.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 15, 2006 12:38 PM
Subject: Harper chooses Que. for first meeting; La loi sur la formation de la main-d’oeuvre a eu des effets positifs
Dear Stephen,
Happy Belated Valentine’s Day. To mark the occasion, or rather, to
mark the fact that we both had days off the same time and the weather
was terrific, we rented snowshoes and went on a long walk through
obscure trails and over frozen lakes in Rockwood Park. Nothing quite
like clean air and exercise. We were offered the chance to sign an
anti-pipeline petition but it only wants the proposed pipeline to go
under the harbour; which would appear to be an even more fragile
environment than right beside existing power lines, so we didn’t sign.
Considering the pipeline does little more that enhance the quick
removal of LNG off to markets in the ‘states, what real benefit is it
of citizens here? The ones that pay the taxes to use the park? Heck,
we don’t even get a significant break on gasoline prices, and we’ve
already got the countries biggest oil refinery in our backyard. They
could lay the LNG pipeline where they already have a natural gas
pipeline, d’uh.
Anyway, after all that walking and exercise we came home and cooked
salmon and brown rice and string beans and then it was time for a
meeting with the Continental Drift short film festival committee,
which we joined, and then I had to work the rest of the night at the
bar, as we decided it would probably be worth it to open for
Valentine’s Day. It was, but I was exhausted by midnight.
Off today to meet Russell from T4G to go over mockups for the new
Third Space website, then have some other gallery errands to run
before heading to work. Never a dull moment.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 16, 2006 3:58 PM
Subject: Wilson confirmed as U.S. ambassador; Place du privé en santé: le gouvernement Charest propose un compromis
Dear Stephen,
I have bad news. Dominic Eden, the “Mayor of Horsfield Street”, died
on Monday at 42. He had been battling lymphoma. He was a tireless
worker for improving the quality of life for all uptown Saint Johners,
fighting poverty, slum landlords, even running for council. He bought
his first property, a condemned building, by scraping together cash
from his student loan, and by fixing it and other buildings up on the
block, turned it into the coolest place to live in the city. I’m sure
I mentioned to Jean years ago how famous his summer courtyard parties
were. He was also a heck of a painter and all-around swell guy.
And then Claudine told me that our landlord Bill had been in hospital
recently, I think from another heart attack, but he is recovering.
Not as exciting as a vice-president shooting a hunting partner—odd how
that is front page news all over North America—but still sad.
Last night at the bar was not busy. I worked a bit on website stuff,
following a meeting with Russell at t4g. His design is cool and could
be ready by next week or so.
I collected another bagful of TH cups on the way home last night. A
new restaurant recently opened on King Street. I think I’ll start
videotaping it.
John at Printing Plus was telling me the other day about seeing some
guy dump a whole wack of fast food packaging from his truck. When John
mentioned to the guy that perhaps he shouldn’t be littering, the guy
told him to “f— off” and then chased him in his truck, wanting to
fight about it.
A bit touchy there, guy? Guilt complex about littering, maybe? Or just
an ignorant thug?
It boggles my mind sometimes to know there are idiots out there like
that. And other idiots that end up ‘elected’ leaders of the USA.
Idiots that think war is the answer and wet t-shirt contests in bars
are fun, no-consequence forms of entertainment, and addictive gambling
is ‘gaming’, so is shooting other animals (and sometimes your
friends), and poverty-stricken unwed teenage moms are preferable over
sex ed and birth control, and that a pope living in a city-state paved
every inch with gold chatting with god on a direct line cell phone is
somehow normal.
Speaking of cell phones, I still can’t figure out how to email
pictures from my phone. Now I’m getting a “queue error”. What the heck
does that mean? There is no queue; I’m only trying to send one measly
photo. Cripes!
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 17, 2006 1:24 PM
Subject: Softwood top priority for Wilson; Québec entrebâille la porte au privé en santé et garantit l’accès aux soins
Dear Stephen,
Today I’m getting my haircut, hooray! Bye-bye rat tail / mullet!
People will be happy. And I’ll be happy because Cara will massage my
scalp.
I’m also happy that a Radiohead song made it onto the CBC National Playlist.
We watched Red Eye last night; I left work early, Jess had offered to
close, Claudine and I made a wicked oriental soup and ate from huge
bowls while watching, somewhat distractedly, a bad thriller. Bad! We
made up for it with our own adventures afterwards. No brunch!
Actually, I guess I am having brunch right now. Grapefruit, toast and
coffee. Next up: an omelet, or a soft-boiled egg and toast soldiers.
Yum!
I called Rogers this morning to bitch them out. We received an
automated call from them this morning, making it three calls within
the past week to ‘remind’ us that our account was past due (by a
whopping two weeks, with a whopping $32). Needless to say, I’m
practically infuriated, especially since the ‘past due’ amount was
paid a full week ago. Of course, the Mighty Banks need to hold on to
the money for as long as they possibly can, squeezing a few drops of
interest out of it before handing it off, or masturbating with it, who
knows, it’s a massive mystery to me. They’re all crooks and liars,
banks and big business, wouldn’t you agree? Probably not.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 18, 2006 4:18 PM
Subject: Inquest calls for children’s commission; L’appui des Québécois à la privatisation du commerce de l’alcool grimpe
Dear Stephen,
We had a busy night at the bar last night; it gets to be a bit
exhausting. Especially after sleeping in and realizing one has four
hours left in the day before starting the cycle all over again. And
after some shopping in the market and reading the paper and sipping
some coffee that four hours drops to less than two. I still have four
months of letters to re-format and binders to buy or make and photos
to print all for the show in villa arson in France, all before next
week. And my computer is acting all curious, and is probably in dire
need of some re-formatting itself.
So I hear you were having trouble getting your cable hooked up. I’m
still trying to figure out how to email photos from my phone. I’ve
spent countless minutes talking to different Telus reps and all I’ve
learned is how much I intensely loathe these massively overweight
telecommunications companies. In fact, I’m on hold right now. My
stomach now twists at the mere sighting of a Blackberry. Automated
phone messages such as the following also turn my stomach. I wonder if
research has been done to see if there is a corollary between
“higher than expected call volumes”
“technical assistance – you have six options to choose from”
“is this right?”
“please be advised that this call may be monitored for quality control
purposes and might be recorded”
“your call has been placed in priority sequence and will be answered
by the next available representative”
“thank you for continuing to hold, we are experiencing higher than
expected call volumes”
And then when they go to check THEIR tech people, one gets to listen
to bad pop radio, and ironic songs like “helpless”.
While you were on the phone tryng to get your cable hooked up, did you
think about it as a waste of time or as a perfectly normal activity?
So while on hold, I might as well fill you in on a few other recent
events. Claudine gave the NBM her notice before ever working a day; a
month after being hired and they still hadn’t received ‘approval’ from
the bean counters. So now she’s working again part time for home
despot, which pays considerably more and allows her to work at home,
with the sun shining through the front windows and our cats lounging
about in various yoga positions. Which is what I’d be doing if I were
more regimented and made time for the studio, which is partially set
up in the basement, but has yet to be worked in. Does collecting TH
cups count as an art practice? We must be pushing 400 by now.
-chris (still on hold)
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 18, 2006 8:48 PM
Subject: more phone giant fun!
Dear Stephen,
So I finally got the Telus phone image working: voila, one of my TH
cup documentary photos. Expect more. Many, many more.
So I lost it completely with Rogers; they called again yesterday, can
you believe it? So I called back, and after suffering through yet
another infinitely long menu:
“to maintain excellence in customer service this call may be monitored”
ha-ha! I’ve discovered the key! just start swearing! they cancel the
call right away and hang up! It gets marked in your account and then
when you call back you can speak with a very apologetic manager.
I’ve decided instead of cancelling outright my plan I will use it to
full artistic advantage.
How?
Why, by conducting my very own cross-Canada Stephen Harper poll, of
course. I’m going to make so many long-distance calls Rogers will wish
they never bought Sprint in the first place. I am so going to get my
$32.50/months worth.
Nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon!
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 19, 2006 3:51 PM
Subject: Hundreds protest cartoons in Vancouver; Jean Charest, 16 fevrier 2006, Quebec City (a mistaken headline, I think)
Dear Stephen,
We were hit hard and fast after the Red Cross fund-raising wine
tasting at the Delta last night. We probably made 75% of our sales in
the two-hour period following. After work Jess drove us out to the
west side following Jamie Irving in his cab (her back seat contains
her wardrobe, and therefore not much room for passengers); we hung out
at his quaint and crooked house by the sea for awhile, talking
business and relationships and listening to his iPod. He’s a
late-night regular at the bar. After a rum and ginger ale for me and
dry cereal for Jess, she drove Claudine and I home and I cooked Wild
Boar sausages and asparagus before bed. It was a late one.
Manu is kneading my gut at the moment; she’s become such a personable
cat. Claudine was researching Siamese cats and apparently they meow a
lot due to their genetic makeup. She and Kuan actually hang out
together, or tolerate one another, it’s hard to tell, and sometimes
play together. They’ve been spotted both napping on our bed
simultaneously; this is big news.
Other big news would be that I am soon to become an uncle: Claudine’s
sister Jo has announced that she is pregnant. We must hasten our
wedding plans so as not to present a conflict with the arrival date.
Today I’m working on PM project stuff, which might include a meeting
with Mark Leger to prepare a pitch to the CBC Maritime Magazine
program. I’m also meeting a reporter from the TJ tomorrow to discuss
the project; specifically, if there has been any change in writing to
you. I don’t think there has been, not yet. We’ll see what happens
when parliament starts to sit and stuff starts hitting fans.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 20, 2006 8:13 PM
Subject: GG addresses violence in Toronto; Le prochain juge à la Cour suprême aura été évalué par le Parlement
Dear Stephen,
When does it become too late to jump on the Olympics bandwagon? I’ve
just recently developed an interest in the whole affair. Claudine and
I stayed out at my folks house last night and we watched some luging
and ice dancing—though we switched ice dancing for Desperate
Housewives before any of the spectacular falls. I’ve watched that show
maybe three times and find it tiresome and a bit dull. Maybe I’m
missing the irony but I don’t identify nor do I find interesting any
of the characters.
But the Olympics, and realizing we are in a three-way tie for third
place in medals—with Russia and the USA—has developed my interest in
the Games somewhat. I mean, we’re a tiny country compared to those
former Cold War Superpower warriors. It’s nice to see. However, I’m
not about to think the sky is falling just because the men’s hockey
team has lost its scoring touch. You win some, you lose some. Maybe
there is no lucky loonie buried at centre ice?
Today I had an interview with Karen from the Reader about the PM
project. It was fun and casual. We had a coffee at java Moose which of
course gave me the opportunity to describe the TH project a bit.
I’m on my way out to the Somerset to see tonight’s screening of
Chinatown, a favourite. I cooked a small supper for Claudine and am
downing some red wine before the walk there; fortification.
Finished formatting the rest of 2005 and designed a new business card
for the show in France. Hopefully everything will be printed and I’ll
find some nice binders before the end of the week.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 21, 2006 10:23 PM
Subject: Harper praises Quebec health care; Harper se défend de s’être entouré de conseillers unilingues anglophones
Dear Stephen,
Slept in with a tad hangover today. I had a few more beers than I
needed to last night at the pub, during and after the screening of
Chinatown. That is one heckofa movie.
I walked to Staples and bought binders today. Was caught in a surprise
snowstorm on the way back, but still managed to collect a bag full to
overflowing of TH cups.
All letters from 2001-2005 were printed today, so I picked them up
from Printing Plus and proceeded to 3-hole punch the lot of them. A
monotonous task, but it needed to be done. The business cards should
be ready tomorrow or Thursday and the portraits as well, then
everything can be shipped off to France.
Claudine made a nice past dish for supper tonight and we’re on our
second bottle of wine. I’ve rented Atanarjuat, the Fast Runner, to
watch later on. Director Zacharias Kunuk has another production coming
out later this year and I want to see this film again. I have only
seen it once, during a screening in Halifax a few years ago.
-chris
—
Chris Lloyd Projects
http://www.dearpm.blogspot.com
A Division of ADD Painters:
“we’re here to swerve”
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 23, 2006 12:03 PM
Subject: Bronze for curlers; Harper sera incapable de remplir son engagement, croit Louise Beaudoin
Dear Stephen,
Hard to believe the men’s hockey team bowing out of the medal round
isn’t national news; but long live curling!
Had a quiet night at the bar. Managed to work on some gallery designs
and the sponsorship letter.
Stopped in at O’Leary’s after work for Open Mic; I had seen posters
around town for a ‘support John Brown” night, and wanted to see what
it was all about. Well, it turns out he’s in the hospital undergoing
his third round of chemo to treat lymphoma. It’s like Brent said:
“people are getting sick and dying”. If this year was a film it would
be four funerals and a wedding.
I don’t feel like writing anymore today.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 24, 2006 3:35 PM
Subject: Teams planning Harper visit; Le premier ministre Stephen Harper se rendra bientôt en Afghanistan
Dear Stephen,
I missed Dominick’s memorial yesterday, which was held at the Imperial
Theatre. I haven’t been able to keep track of the days this week.
Haven’t felt much like socializing, yet Jess and I double-teamed the
Fusion mixer at the Hilton and work last night. I did the early shift,
she handled the bar after 7:30. Went to Sebastians for a small bite to
eat with Claudine and Katie after downing a few beers at the Hilton.
Put on a brave face. Maintain pleasant conversation. Went home fairly
early, went to bed early, woke up really early. Claudine headed out
this morning for her weekend away in Québec City with Fannie and
friends. I have plans to wallpaper, build shelves and finally root
around in the studio. If I can find the motivation.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 26, 2006 3:54 AM
Subject: Chairman of Que. liquor board resigns
Dear Stephen,
Would you mind terribly if I called you Steve? Is that too informal?
How are things going with your plan to visit Afghanistan? I’d like to
go to Boston with Claudine sometime in early Spring. And then our
next big trip overseas would be our honeymoon, either the Orient
Express, Trans-Siberian, China, India…or South America. Maybe start in
Argentina and work our way north. Do some art along the way.
I’ve been feeling blue lately, and not just because Clo is away.
Mid-winter blahs, perhaps. Check with Paul: I’m sure he’ll tell you I
have my ups and downs. But I’m planning to overhaul the apartment
tomorrow; a major cleanup, from the studio on up. A few frames will be
built and I might even put up the wallpaper Jamie gave us. Keeping
busy keeps the blues away.
Today I bought a new shower curtain. I thought the spending spree
would release some pleasurable endorphins into my bloodstream but they
didn’t. I stopped by the Tim Isaac estate auction and more or less
fell asleep, lulled comatose by Tim’s pleasant auctioneering voice.
There wasn’t much to bid on so I left. He should make an audio CD; I’d
buy it over whale or wave sounds.
Bought a newspaper and spent half my remaining free time reading
articles that have absolutely no bearing on my life. Drank some
coffee.
Collected another bag of TH cups. It feels like people leave them in
areas that make it easier for collection purposes. Carefully and
strategically placed in very accessible areas.
Packed my letter and photos and other ephemera into my larger red
suitcase for shipping to France for the CNEIA show. Karina and Judy
were watching the gallery and hanging out in Judy’s office, soon to be
secondary apartment. The renovations are coming alng quickly.
We had a busy night at the bar, fraught with minor problems. Some
weird bad energy was going around. First the dishwasher from upstairs
was leaking water and coffee grinds down the wall of the bathroom.
Then the toilet overflowed mightily. Like, two inches of water on the
floor. And the place was full of bad tippers.
Went to Elwoods after work to unwind to the heavy sounds of Hollow.
They were filling the void left by headliners Barracuda Sunrise, who
left their set early while beating up their bassist and throwing him
from the stage. Meghan, who is now working her third job tending bar,
informed me I missed the fight by ten minutes. Figures. Drank a couple
Glenfiddich and walked home in the blistering cold.
Passed many a TH cup but declined retrieving them: no bag, and no gloves.
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: Feb 27, 2006 2:48 PM
Subject: Stage set for 2010; Sondage: les Canadiens seront prudents dans leurs dépenses en 2006
Borrowed the shop•vac from work yesterday and gave the apartment a
solid sucking. It needed it, especially the carpets. What kind of
vacuum cleaner do you use on your carpets? What’s the best for cat
hair?
Visited Mary with Judy at the end of the afternoon. We’ve all been
feeling blue lately. Hospitals aren’t generally known to be the most
uplifting places. There’s a patient there whose howling leaves Manu in
the dust.
I was going to put that wallpaper up but made some quick calculations
and of course would be just shy of completing the window-wall in the
bedroom; one roll doesn’t go very far (32 feet, to be exact). I
couldn’t find the match on the Sanderson website, nor a few other
wallpaper places, so I’ve readjusted the plan to put the paper on a
section of wall, framed with some molding. Painted the molding, but
then realized that flour and water wasn’t just going to cut it, so the
hanging will wait until after I get some wallpaper paste. And consult
with Claudine.
I rented Confessions of a dangerous mind last night but didn’t watch
it. I smoked some pot and got waaaay too high and, of course,
paranoid, so that was it for the night, me and the cats and my
thoughts just hanging out and chewing the fat with bizarre
calculations on time and inter-dimensionality. Didn’t really fall
asleep until after 6. As a result I slept fitfully past my alarm and
way too late this morning, putting all my errands into a time-crunch;
Claudine is back in less than an hour, half the things I wanted to do
aren’t done, there is laundry sitting in both the washer and dryer
downstairs.
Stephen: Do you have a favourite laundry detergent? Do you wear any
scents? Do you know the art of Wim Delvoye? It’s all about butts and
anuses and shit and x-rays and mortality and pigs and tattoos.
—
Chris Lloyd Projects
http://www.dearpm.blogspot.com
A Division of ADD Painters:
“we’re here to swerve”
DEAR PM 