Decompression

The VTape essay is done. Well, the first draft anyways. It feels hugely relieving to have it off my plate and mind. I can say this because I have yet to hear from my editor and therefore have not had to re-read it or work on it since Monday. It could be a different story once those things happen. But, for now, I am rejoicing in the beginning of the Christmas holidays. In fact, I just had a gingerbread latte on the way home to mark the start of the festivities.

Unfortunately, not having to go to school and do readings and work on papers means my overly ambitious, overachieving mind is now obsessed with the different “life projects” I should be working on, like that gallery proposal, my own show and applying to present at a couple different symposia. I guess there’s no rest for the obsessive-compulsive.

______________________________________________________________
In unrelated news, the trip to Montreal last weekend was super fun and very relaxing (aside from a few nightmares about the VTape deadline). We celebrated Cait’s birthday by eating too much food and taking cabs everywhere (it was sooooo cold), and spent most of the rest of the time watching old X Files episodes and helping Bridget take down her installation and get it back home. There was no Golden Compass because we heard it was bad, but there was a strange strange art party in the Belgo building (which, it turns out, is not just for offices and galleries, but also for arty people lofts, wandering cats and surreal small people in the elevator).

B’s installation was amazing and a total crowd-pleaser at her end-of-term Prints show. She made this tent:

and inside there was a video installation of her wearing a moustache and doing different things my Dad might do, alongside a stuffed guitar, framed pictures of my dad and some stuffed logs. It was pretty great. Hearing all the different spectators comment on who they thought my dad looked like was also surreal (Tom Selleck was a very popular choice).

Did I also mention that Bridget’s favourite song of all time, The Band’s “The Night They Drove Ol’ Dixie Down,” was also playing non-stop? It was.

______________________________________________________________
Yesterday I ordered a bunch of art books through Chapters that are being shipped today. I’m super excited about them. One I’ve already read, but have always wanted to own and consistently find myself googling for quotes for papers:

And then two books from the new Whitechapel Documents on Contemporary Art series:

I’ve never really been a catalogue or online shopper until this year and suddenly I’m obsessed. I’m concerned I might turn into Chloë Sevigny’s character in Big Love if I’m not careful.