from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sat, Oct 2, 2010 at 9:16 AM
subject Le ministre MacKay annule le discours d’un imam; MacKay pulls plug on imam’s speech at defence HQ
Dear Stephen,
You might be asking yourself why all of a sudden my letters are not redacted anymore. I don’t have a good reason for this other than I think that little experiment ran its course. Maybe I want to return to the basics of me simply describing the little details of my life. Such as the Habs game that François and I went to on Thursday night. It was a pre-season game but even so the Habs played dismally and lost 5-3 to the Sabres. François and I were more impressed by the carnival-like culture of the Centre Bell and the incredible cost of beer: $10 for a can!
Yesterday we made a day trip to IKEA after a brief visit to Oboro. Claudine had a work-related meeting and Rose and I met her there to see the new exhibition, an impressive installation of a re-constructed burned house by artist Lenka Novakova-Anjo. She found it while on a residency in St-Jean-Port-Joli. There are multiple projectors in the gallery projecting images of waves and sky all over the place, with accompanying soundtrack. It is peaceful and disquieting at the same time.
IKEA was hell, as per usual. We were looking for a rug for our salon, something that Rose can play on. We also needed a couple table legs for a side table for the phone, as well as some picture frames. We’ve been re-arranging and re-designing our apartment a bit. We also picked up the piano and it works great now that it is cleaned; no more sticky keys.
Rose is awake from her morning nap. Clo is at Yoga, so off I go. Playtime! Rose is sitting up on her own, makes all sorts of weird talking-like noises, and of course puts anything and everything within reach in her mouth. The chew test must be highly ingrained in humans.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Oct 4, 2010 at 8:43 PM
subject Paradis «ignorait» que son conseiller bloquait des documents; In letter home, Canada’s first female combat death complained of Afghan sex assaults
Dear Stephen,
Yesterday we celebrated Nataniel’s fourth birthday with a family visit here at our apartment, then a visit to the Puces Pop in Mile End. Claudine had made wonderful tartes au poireaux, though tasty and delicious as they were, probably not the best choice of brunch food for a four-year old. “Please godmom, can I have some more onion pie?” He liked the muffins though, as well as the hot chocolate. It was tiring hosting another family and two youngsters, but cute as anything watching Rose and Dorian playing together. Last night we were in bed early.
Today was my first day back at work. It may take me the rest of the week to really get back into the swing of things. We’ve moved our storage facilities, the new space rocks, and has room for a real workshop, which Dave and Stacy are working on. It was nice to see the gang again. Replaced a diode board with Simon; there is one or two that go down every week, but they are not too complicated or difficult to change. I still don’t have a replacement for my work cell phone, which is on its’ last legs.
Did you find it a difficult choice of if or when or how to have your kids baptized? We are thinking of having Rose baptized this fall at the nearby Catholic church, but for some reason the very idea gives me some existential angst. Maybe it is because I am not Catholic, or even a practicing or devout Christian, or that I think most organized religion organizes people for the wrong reasons and leads to more conflicts than peace. Did you ever have worries like this or were you just like, sure, whatever, baptism, OK?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Tue, Oct 5, 2010 at 9:48 PM
subject Ottawa aurait épié plusieurs dossiers médicaux de vétérans; Military confirms one sex assault at Afghan base
Dear Stephen,
I received an email from someone inquiring about the Dear PM project but I don’t know who it is, though he wrote in a way that indicates he knows me. I hate when this happens! This is what I wrote back:
Hi Stephane,
The PM hasn’t written me back, but I have had occasional replies from the PMO, all very similar. They read like this:
Please know that your e-mail message has been received in the Prime Minister’s Office and that your comments have been noted. Our office always welcomes hearing from Canadians and being made aware of their views.
Thank you for writing.
Sachez que le Cabinet du Premier ministre a bien reçu votre courriel et que nous avons pris bonne note de vos commentaires. Nous aimons être bien informés de l’opinion des correspondants.
Je vous remercie d’avoir écrit au Premier ministre.
I often wonder if they block the letters but the replies I have received are sporadic, and often years will pass between them. I have heard tales that there are in fact teams of letter readers, so I sometimes feel that my persistence is keeping someone gainfully employed.
The books I have compiled as annuals and post on Lulu.com do not sell very well at all (they are completely unabridged and unedited), but I use that site to print them as required for exhibitions.
-chris
I am tired tonight and feeling lazy to write to you, hence the copy-paste above. Work was work, settling into the routine, exhibition maintenance mixed with exhibition planning, with a healthy does of moving stuff around tossed in for good measure. Claudine is at choir tonight so I hung out with Rose all evening. We Skyped with my folks, we ate supper, we played, the usual. She slept well last night, only waking up once, a record!
I’m so sleepy I don’t even feel like watching Youtube videos. My latest favourite is the Bed Intruder. I might even download the song from iTunes. Do you think it is a form of “class tourism”, as Baratunde Thurston posits? And also, how do you feel about this:
“Two-thirds of Canadians support the controversial long-gun registry and even voters who back Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives are split on the issue.”
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Oct 7, 2010 at 10:50 PM
subject Achat des F-35 : Harper critique vertement l’opposition; ‘There are so many questions’: Family members of murder victims wait for Williams’ guilty plea
Dear Stephen,
This is my daily horoscope for the day, according to Rick Levine:
“Although you might want to escape into a daydream today, you won’t likely have that luxury. Your penchant for fantasy could be overwhelmed by a series of twists and turns that puts you on an unexpected course. It’s not easy to avoid your real world obligations now, but it also may be tough to maintain productivity. Your smartest strategy is to set your personal agenda aside and simply do what you must to meet your current responsibilities.”
Actually, that was yesterday’s horoscope. I don’t recall wandering into daydream territory nor really wanting too. I did play with Sketchup at work a bit, but that was as close to daydreaming as I got. I went to the opening of the Resartis conference and book launch for the new ARC directory published by RCAAQ. Rose was with us, she is turning into the star baby of the conference, mostly by virtue of being the only baby in attendance. Today Sue watched her while Claudine attended parts of the conference; I drove Sarah to the airport and tried to get some lighting elements together to put on the bus for my parents, who are finishing the basement renovations. I also extended the length of the chandelier in our salon.
Tonight was more Resartis crashing, first a 5 à 7 at DHC, where I met Claudine and Rose, and then supper, a buffet of smoked meat provided by Lesters (the best in Montreal, really), at the Parisian Laundry. Talked with delegates from Suriname and Korea and Queens, NY, as well as the Fredericton Gallery Connexion gang, and then proceeded to bad-mouth third space to Tam Co from Saw. Rose was a darling, as usual..
So here is my horoscope for today, according to Rick Levine:
Your emotional sensitivity to someone else’s feelings is the key that can open the door to intimacy now that the New Moon is activating your 8th House of Deep Sharing. There’s no need to worry, for you won’t lose yourself into the unknown. Thankfully, you should be able to maintain clear boundaries today, even when exploring the uncharted shadows of an evolving relationship.
Do you read your horoscope?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sat, Oct 9, 2010 at 12:44 PM
subject Registre des armes d’épaule: le NPD dépose un projet de loi; No right to lawyer during police interrogation: Supreme Court
Dear Stephen,
This is my horoscope for today, by Rick Levine:
You are ready for a big adventure today and you might just get what you want. You could be presented with an unexpected opportunity to demonstrate your power, but you must stand up and take control. Even if you aren’t usually a forceful person, you are better able to assert yourself now. Decide what you want and then go for it while the chance is still yours.
So I think this means I should confront Mark Lanctôt of the MAC and demand a studio visit for the upcoming Triennial, which should be next year sometime. Even though I really only have the Dear PM project to go on, it can morph into many forms, as you know. My studio is almost cleaned up and I can soon start working on projects. Soon.
Last night I went to the MAC for the opening of the Sobey Art Award 2010. I am rooting for Cooper and Emily, whose installations are maquettes, models of spooky, creepy blends of anti-gay protests with butterflies, insects or bones. Overall the shows are good, Karen’s installation is a bit more interactive than the most, and was certainly a hit with the kids. She made environments of a contemporary Chinese living space, complete with kids’ room, living/ sleeping room, and kitchen. Of course, odd remnants of culturally questionable artifacts are integrated throughout. I didn’t get a good look at Daniel’s videos, or Patrick’s installations, or most of the show for that matter. Rose was awake and wired with all the people around. I saw Ray Cronin, who was beaming with pride at how well-attended the Award is, or just how prestigious, and how it all started back East. There were a ton of people at the opening, but I came home right after with Rose, instead of continuing on at the Dare Dare event.
Today we worked on some home projects and are about to go our for an afternoon of gallery hopping, first Clark, then the Belgo, then a Thanksgiving supper with Sarah and Etienne.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Oct 11, 2010 at 10:55 AM
subject Ottawa incite Israël et la Palestine à négocier; Ballooning public service ranks about to burst: report
Dear Stephen,
Here is my horoscope for today, by Rick Levine:
You want to be needed and appreciated at work now, but you might not be willing to put in the extra time necessary to do an outstanding job. You are torn between your inner and outer worlds today, and yet you want to take care of people’s expectations. Pleasing others sounds so easy at first, but it becomes more complicated once you actually begin the work. Don’t make any commitments you cannot keep; only say yes if you truly mean it.
Hmm, what does this mean? Today is a holiday, so I am not at work, and the projects underway at the moment do not really require extra time. And the only commitment I have made to anyone lately is to feed Simon’s cat, Duane, and that is no more complicated than a Bixi ride to Beaubien. Or maybe he means the apartment commitments? Putting plastic on the windows, finishing the hall shelf? Or maybe, just maybe, he is referring to the two canvases I promised Joanne I would build frames for, over a year ago, and haven’t yet started. That is a commitment I should have said no to. But once the shop is set up in the new storage facility at work I can make these frames no sweat.
Rose and Claudine are spending the day visiting her grandparents in St-Eustache. Unfortunately her grandmother was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Her grandfather was diagnosed with it a few years ago. Terrible disease. So I am doing apartment fix ups and fall/winter preparations. This includes managing music and photo files on the computer, and maybe the creation of a quirky video or two. Did I mention to you how we kept hearing The Suburbs playing all over Berlin? In bars, cafés, small design shops, H&M in the massive Alexis mall, everywhere.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 8:09 PM
subject Conseil de sécurité: le Canada retire sa candidature; Tories vow to slay deficit; in election battle with Liberals
Dear Stephen,
Again, here is my daily horoscope, by Rick Levine:
The Moon traveling through your 10th House of Career indicates how much of your attention is directed at work now. But you still should reserve some of your time and energy to think about what you want in the future. Taking care of business is more about the here and now, even if the consequences of your actions could take some time yet to bear fruit. You may be impatient today, but trying to rush success won’t be helpful in the long run.
Hmmm…what the heck is a 10th House of Career? Do houses mean careers, or jobs, or what exactly? Anyway, I certainly do direct some attention to work, but that is only while I am at work, which is only two days this week. Unless my 10th House of Career means my ART job, which would make a little more sense. Sounds like I should start applying for shows or a grant to publish the Dear PM letters or contact Vincent or someone to help me steer this badly listing project.
What do you think of this, in regards to giving up on the UN Security Council seat: “Les critiques avaient soulevé que la position du Canada dans certains enjeux sur la scène internationale, notamment sur les changements climatiques, a probablement nui à sa candidature.” My other question to you is, what would you do with the seat?
Claudine is off at choir rehearsal tonight, so I played with Rose, fed her, gave her a bath and put her to bed, washed the dishes and now I will concentrate on the studio. Yep, heading right in there, just as soon as I check out a few Youtube sites, maybe even email Mark Lanctôt, who is now my friend on Facebook, and inquire politely about the possibility of a studio visit.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sun, Oct 17, 2010 at 4:56 PM
subject Conseil de sécurité: confusion sur le soutien des États-Unis; Government tells businesses to clean up BPA pollution
Dear Stephen,
It was a busier weekend than I had expected. I spent a lot of time with Rose, as Claudine is taking advantage of a pass to the Festival de nouveau cinema and going to see lots of films. Last night I went with her to see a series of international short films. We left Rose with Etienne and Sarah, so it was almost like a real date. We ordered sish taouk and ate while walking back along avenue Mont Royal.
I didn’t work on Thursday or Friday but now I can hardly remember what I did. Thursday I returned a rain suit to Matthew and Adrienne that I had borrowed over a year ago. Stayed for a bit and watched Rose play with Selby and talked with Donna, who was visiting and helping out while Adrienne worked on her upcoming show at the Parisian.
Friday the weather was the pits, but we went to Kent’s new condo for supper with Anne. Rose was fine for the evening but after we woke her to come home she was wired for the rest of the night and was up a few times, doing that funny giggle and blowing spit bubbles. During the evening Nicole had arrived at our place after driving from Fort Kent, where she just took on a new teaching position at the university. She accepted the job and moved from Kansas in under a month.
Saturday we went for brunch at le Pick-up after Clo came back from baptism class. Apparently both the godfather and godmother need to be Catholic so we don’t yet know what we are going to do for the godfather. We were thinking Aaron, but he is Anglican. You would think in an era of shrinking church congregations they would be a little more flexible.
Today was apartment cleanup day, laundry, floors and a nice, slow-cooked roast made with espresso and molasses. Yum. I am still procrastinating any serious work in the studio but I have started the somewhat tedious process of updating all the Dear PM volumes. I am planning to buy a Lulu distribution package and get the books listed on all the big sellers catalogues, then do a little selling blitz for the Christmas season, even though I despise the crass commercialization of the season itself. Need to do some good design work for the covers. I still want to do a condensed publishing project but don’t know what shape it will take yet. It could conceivably be a way to end the project, though as you know a part of me doesn’t think it needs an end at all, in fact part of its’ intrinsic value or merit as an artwork is that it exist as long as there is such a thing as a Prime Minister or President or Statesman or whatever we want to call our Great Leaders.
Here is my horoscope for the day, just to see if anything melds:
“The Moon’s current transit of your 12th House of Imagination can jump-start a sweet fantasy today, but you must suspend belief for your dreams to take hold. Don’t waste any energy by attempting to clarify what is true and what is not. Just try to assimilate the entire story for the creative masterpiece it is. You can always analyze it more deeply on another day.”
Does this have to do with my project? And how many houses of imagination does one have, anyhow?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 11:44 PM
subject Vic Toews veut serrer la vis aux migrants illégaux et aux passeurs; Killer colonel’s main regret: impact to wife
Dear Stephen,
What a shitstorm at third space. I won’t go into too much detail suffice to say that there were many balls dropped, Edith was rightfully pissed, the museum uncomprehending, John bewildered. A series of miscommunication dating from the summertime, in fact dating from before Wendy passed away, let to a complete clusterfuck of a situation. I’ve been stressed and writing long-winded, angry emails to the board. I think I might be suffering an early onset of “ARC Founders’ Syndrome”. Don’t bother checking Wikipedia for a definition, it isn’t there. I checked. It is when a founding member of an artist-run centre cannot let go of the reins. Let’s check my horoscope for some insight:
“Your uncharacteristic desire to be seen as different from everyone else today might make your interactions with others more awkward than usual. You could become frustrated because you are attracted to someone who seems as if he or she would make a close friend or intimate partner. However, you may not want to change in order to make the interpersonal dynamics work. Be willing to walk away from a relationship if you cannot be yourself in it.”
This has absolutely nothing to do with anything I’ve experienced lately. How do they come up with this stuff?
We’re watching random episodes of 30 Rock. And tonight I also attended an information session on REEEs at espace famille Villeray. Oh, and I finished reading volume 1 of the Millennium trilogy recently. Just FYI.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Fri, Oct 22, 2010 at 2:45 PM
subject La Cour suprême reconnaît le principe de protection des sources; Feds face new court challenge to census changes
Dear Stephen,
“Today financial issues may surface, especially if you didn’t pay sufficient attention to a problem earlier in the week. You might be tempted to handle the situation casually, or not at all. Unfortunately, denial isn’t a sensible strategy because your monetary problems will only continue to get messier until you address them. A little concentrated effort now can be enough to set things right.”
Hmm, financial issues in my horoscopes, especially when presented in a negative light, always seem to pertain to me. I’m back on payroll at work and yesterday was my first pay since parental leave, and combined with a hike in health plan premiums and a slow dispersal of my back pay (my new contract was dated May 9), spread out until the end of the year so I don’t get taxed too heavily on it, resulted in a pay that is $32 more than before. The little raise will help with the anticipated extra expenses of childcare.
Today Rose and I visited a private garderie close by, just to see the set-up. They have a space available and it seems a good place, but we would have to start her next week at three days per week until January, when she would move to full time. The problem is we don’t need a sitter this soon, or this frequently, but I worry that when we are indeed ready, there may not be a good space available. Why should childcare be like a lottery?
Spending the rest of the afternoon cleaning the apartment, working on third space texts, preparing for the east goes east exhibition I am curating there in February, and laundry. Every day there is laundry, especially with the cloth diapers.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 9:43 PM
subject À Kiev, Harper évoque le génocide et les droits de l’homme; Canada’s ‘obsolete’ health system needs private-care injection: Liberal MP
Dear Stephen,
“You are so tired of dreaming about a vacation that never happens that you don’t even want to talk about it anymore. You’re ready to take your trip right now, but unfortunately it’s not likely you will be able to go anywhere. You have family obligations to fulfill and they should take precedence over any ideas of travel. Forget about fleeing the nest; instead, stay focused on the present moment and see where it leads you.”
This horoscope makes no sense. I just had a 2-month vacation, and am not dreaming of taking another anytime soon. We are also driving to NY on Wednesday until Sunday which is like a mini-vacation, so I don’t know what this horoscope means. Maybe the “family obligations” refers to Rose’s upcoming baptism? Yesterday we made invitations which I copied today at work and will mail tomorrow, but it is a small gathering, mostly family, but including my grandmother, who will be driving here with my parents.
Last night I finally convinced Claudine to watch Star Wars, the original, pre-digital fiddling version of Episode IV, A new hope. She liked it, mostly, except the space battle at the end was a little too long, even on fast-forward. I spent the whole day indoors and in my pyjamas, only getting out of them to have a shower, and then they went back on again.
Last night was our first real attempt to train Rose to sleep all the way through the night. She cried for fifty minutes, but I was awake for longer. The plan is to go and try to comfort her every ten or fifteen minutes, but not take her out of bed, as she is expecting it and wants to drink, but only out of habit, not hunger. Hopefully it will go well, as Bernard explained at the supper Saturday night at Chantal’s house, it took three nights for them to train their eldest daughter to sleep through the night. That was a good night, a delicious supper of rabbit, but a bit late, as we got home at almost 2am. We took a cab there and back, Rose bundled in blankets.
Speaking of Rose, we found her a day care. In fact it is the one I visited on Friday. I had a good feeling about Latifa, and Claudine spoke to her on Saturday and she is fine with us starting next week, after getting back from New York, and even more part-time than the proposed 3-days per week. Hopefully it will work out and hopefully we remember to file our reimbursement papers before the deadline in early December to get a refund in January. The daycare costs $30/day.
OK, off to write a few more emails and then maybe watch a few 30 Rocks, or maybe Empire Strikes Back. We’ve finally figured out how to download films and TV shows with torrents. Fun!
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sat, Oct 30, 2010 at 2:45 PM
subject L’austérité n’atteint pas le bureau de Harper; ‘World is watching’ as military jury weighs Khadr sentence
Dear Stephen,
Sorry I haven’t written of late, we’re in Brooklyn. I took advantage of my recent 2-day work week and drove down on Wednesday. The temperature was like a second summer when we arrived. We’ve visited the MoMA and the New Museum and the Whitney, did a little shopping, went to an opening nearby in Brooklyn, a group show with my friend Karen, who had flown in from London to attend, but mostly we’ve been staying in at night watching the World Series and 30-Rock. Claudine lost her voice, which is odd because it happened the last time we came to NYC as well, so we are thinking it might be the smog. Rose has been an angel, of course, charming the heck out of all the gallery attendants and guards and guests. She is also returning to a sitting position from lying on her back or belly, all by herself. She can also do the Downward Dog on her own. Our favourite art experience so far was the retrospective by the late Paul Thek at the Whitney. We also saved $76 in admission fees between the MoMA and Whitney because Rebecca and Greg got us in on employee comps. We’re heading out to see Greg’s studio this afternoon, then probably just make some soup and watch the baseball game tonight. Let’s see what my horoscope says:
“You may be very concerned with how your regular habits could be preventing you from reaching your goals. The Leo Moon in your 6th House of Self-Improvement can work against your long-term plans by distracting you with more details than you need to address at this time. Having enough information is critical, but being buried by needless facts and figures today won’t help you get your chores done.”
I don’t know what sort of chores I need to do or what my House of Self-Improvement looks like. Maybe it is a Third Space thing? I’ve been communicating with the board about Karen’s restaurant project and some details are missing, but I guess I shouldn’t worry about the details. And the chores in that case would just be getting some restaurants and the CCASJ to agree to participate. That and we need to find an exhibition space as UNBSJ wants their window space back.
And what is this I read in the NY Times? The Candiens are in first place in the whole league after their win last night against the Islanders.
And what of this: “Le budget de fonctionnement du cabinet de Stephen Harper a augmenté de 30% en deux ans.” Yikes, not much belt-tightening there.
-chris
DEAR PM 