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. b l a h - g .another space and another waste 1/20/2008 Capoeira MeuVenceu, Parana Capoeira in Toronto has been excellent. Toronto has so much more variety and opportunities to learn, versus Ottawa... not that i'm belittling my Capoeira experiences in Ottawa, but rather, my Capoeira life has expanded and grown much more by moving to Toronto. Training with Professora Estrelinha (Lang Liu) in the traditional Regional style that Mestre Bimba "created" has really benefitted my understanding of the Capoeira, and my greater appreciation of traditional Afro-Brazilian culture. My teacher, has recently left to go to Brasil for a few months to work on her PhD. She entrusted the class to some of her students to run with it and to ensure that our training goes interrupted. While at first, i was a bit afraid that she left, i've recently grown to realise that this is a great opportunity for all of us to become better and to fortify our current knowledge and understanding of Capoeira, as an ART, not just a set of movements to keep you fit. I've had an opportunity to go to U of T and assist teach a class there. Last night we had a great music session, where each of us just practised songs and playing instruments. I can see that while Lang is gone, we can still learn and grow and become better Capoeiristas. All this training is to prepare me for my trip to Brasil, in March. I know I won't be perfectly in shape or know enough Portuguese to be well prepared, but I think everything will just feel natural and alright. 1/12/2008 . the ssauga . It's been a while since my last entry, but i felt i should add something more regularly. Today was a sad day that was cloudy and dreary. i was stuck working and at the Mississauga office at 7:30AM due to some scheduled maintenance work. That was boring, but during the power outage, i decided to explore Mississauga. i had driven through it (Hurontario street) and other parts of it, but never really explored this "city"... Well... i have to say, i was very unimpressed. The "city" is designed for cars. the roads are very wide and are made for several cars. everyone there was driving (i feel hypocritical because so i was i). but there was just so much traffic everywhere in this "city", simply because almost everywhere i went was just an endless sea of houses. the only break from that was the odd plaza, that monstrosity of a mall, called SQUARE ONE and the horrific looking condos littering the skyline... it just left a terrible impression on me and i felt like i needed to escape it. I managed to find a small park by the waterfront which was very quiet. i sat on the edge of Lake Ontario. it's vastness reminded me of the ocean and it was very calming and soothing... it was nice to take a walk and get away from the rest of Mississauga... i guess the dreary day really set a mood in me, and i loaded up the soundtrack to "Me, You and Everyone We Know" by Michael Andrews, which is very introspective... a great soundtrack for life. The stay at the park was too short as i had to go back to work to finish up... but first i had to see Square One, which i kinda regretted (i was told i had to see this place by several people... advice i should have ignored). i did buy stuff though (i'm a consumer)... i went to bulk barn and bought Pistachios because they were on sale! haha... awesome. After finishing work, i high tailed it back to my quiet neighbourhood. i live in a residential area, but it's not quite as gross as suburbia. 10/2/2007 . t r i p l e - o h .oh my. first off, it's been forever and ever since i wrote in my blah-g. it must have been...um... 8 months or more! wow... in the past couple of months, i have had my heart torn apart, i have had a great deal of people tell me they love me, i have travelled to the mid-west, i have moved to Toronto, i have been stuck in Toronto, i have received my blue corda, i have had strokes of pure genius, i have been called "dumbass" several times, and many other things have happened to me, most of which you know of. why have i started writing in this blog again? it's my last day of my twenties and tomorrow, nay, at the stroke of midnight, i enter the THIRD DECADE... i don't feel particularly different, or feel terribly introspective at the moment. much less so than i thought i would, anyway. i mean, it's a regular night for me, where i came home late from work, eating dinner and doing laundry (and writing a blog... so it's a bit unusual). but as i turn thirty, i really don't fear anything. maybe i'm just smarter and know full well that 30 is not a big deal. sure, it didn't really pan out the way i dreamt it would when i was younger (i seriously thought i'd have had a jetpack by 30...). no, i don't have a wife, a house, 2.5 kids, a car, a potbelly, etc etc etc... and i'm not really disappointed at all. life can't really present itself in timelines and due dates, like school or something. it unfolds like a good story, as long as the story is told by the last page, i'll be satisfied. and that story will tell itself, naturally, organically and i'm sure wonderfully as well. i think when i turned 29, i wanted to make one of those "before i turn 30..." lists. i even think i did, but kept it in my head, and i think that none of it panned out. but otherwise, what took its place was a wonderful year of experiences and growth and love. and i hope that now that i'm 30, i can continue this growth, this change and this appreciation for life. 2/11/2007 . i a m t h e a r t i s t .
yesterday my friend, Matt, and I visited a little art gallery called La Petite Mort in lowertown Ottawa. it's a tiny little gallery that exhibits local artwork from a variety of artists. it's a really neat little place that caters to a young hip crowd, without being pretentious and snooty... i liked this place a lot. The owner, Guy, is a really nice guy and quite down to earth, so it was a pleasure going there and i'd highly recommend you check it out.
What was interesting, i found, was the amount of artwork that was there. he had his main floor dedicated to a monthly exhibit, and other pieces by other artists on the other wall... the basement was where he stored other artwork that just didn't fit into the main floor, and this is where all the gems were. it was amazing how much artwork was there, the variety and the creativity, just stuffed into this basement, possibly never finding a home... it was really interesting. if i had LOTS of money and lots of wall space, i think i'd buy tonnes of stuff... but the reality is that buying pieces of artwork is just too expensive.
while looking at many of the pieces though, i found that a lot of it, was do-able. what i mean by that is that i think with my current level of talent in painting and drawing and such, i think that many of the pieces that were created were within my skillset and creativity limits, and they were selling for $100 and up! now, i know that many, or most of these artists are formally trained in some form or way that gives them the credibility to be able to have their work in a gallery... but the question is, then, what constitutes an artist?
can you call yourself an Artist?
my friend, Corrine, and I had a long talk about this. both of us, having science backgrounds, but able to create different pieces of artwork in some shape or form, might not be labeled "artists". She considers herself an artist whereas i would really call it a hobby of mine. but despite it being a hobby, having no formal training (not even high school art class) might classify me as a non-artist. it's kind of pretentious like that, to have artists consider themselves an elite class, solely based on the fact that they have that formal training...
maybe the term "artist" is so general though... it might be more important to define the word "artist" beyond the definition of "one who is skilled in fine arts". what would you define an artist as??
1/21/2007 . r o c k .can you identify this person?? yep... i went to this super awesome party last night and it required me to either dress like a rock'n'roll person or a funk'n'soul person... i dressed like a latino guitar weilding freak with a bad bad moustache... yep... gotta love the moustache. |
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