The last three months led up to this night.

After attending Opus 01, I knew I wanted to be a part of this.

John, as a true friend, flew from Toronto to be there for the night. Alex, who was doing a medical internship at a family practice in a nearby city, drove there. Even Pearl also dropped by and I got to meet her.

I was so busy talking with my guests that I didn’t even have time to go into the other rooms to see how the other artists were doing. The house was packed with people again, young and old.

Performances

Jacqueline’s second piece was Sonata in A Minor, by Franz Schubert (unfortunately, her first piece was over ten minutes long, which isn’t allowed on YouTube). I found it to be a rather masculine piece, beginning like a sombre funeral march, leading to a journey of bubbling emotion, so it was mesmerizing to see a girl play it with such conviction. Pay special attention to the burning trill at 5:28, which leads back to the main theme.

Misun told me that when she handed Jacqueline a rose after the performance, it looked like she had run a marathon.

Afterwards, Jacqueline told me after she couldn’t stop looking at my penis through her performance, then quickly corrected herself and said the penis picture, which was hung across from her.

Louise plays the harp by feeling only. She doesn’t have formal any musical training, so she doesn’t write any of her compositions down. It just flows from her fingers, and quite well I might add. As a result, her music is semi-improvised.

John kept telling us how not drunk he was, even though you can clearly seeing him downing glasses of wine in this video.

The after party

When the people left and the doors closed, the real party began for the artists, their guests, and the volunteers. Frédéric and Misun broke out the cold cuts, the fresh and fancy bread, the wine, the cheese and we celebrated a successful night. We had been standing for five hours, so it was time to take a break.

When Dan gave me a reading two years ago, and said that I would be making money off my art within the next 15 years, I never would have believed him.

The Emergence Exposition: Opus 02 vernissage is coming up in three weeks and if you’re in the Ottawa area, you can drop by to see my exhibit!

The show is free. Over three hundred people were packed into the last one. I’ll be the one walking around with a camera strapped to his hand.

Four exhibition rooms, Four creative styles

Like the exhibitions of old France, the idea of this gallery-house is to have a mixture of different artistic styles.

J’ai eu envie de recréer quelque chose dans cet esprit-là. Il ya un côté intimidant et même assez froid aux galeries d’art. Les gens n’osent pas toujours entrer, mais je veux leur montrer que l’art c’est pour tout le monde, dans une ambiance chaleureuse.

— Frédéric Daty, gallery owner

There will be four visual artists — metal sculptor, ceramic sculptor, painter, photographer (me) — and three musical artists — concert pianist, harpist, soft pop musician. Featuring champagne and homemade truffles too!

For more details and a glimpse at some more of my work in this theme, you can read the description in the new photography section, as well download the invitation.

I finally got my story finished and posted on BitterBuffalo.com. It’s a fictionalized account of how Mikhail Lermontov may have died, a buffalo his only intellectual friend. I actually tried three times; the first two attempts were just a tad too serious, so I threw them out. I tried to get all the themes of Russian romantic literature in there, such as nihilism, fatalism, and revolution, but didn’t write too much for fear of boring the reader.

It’s always disappointing to first learn that weather will be nice and cool in three days, and then find out that the initial prediction was wrong the day before. It was supposed to be in the low 20’s tomorrow, but now it’s slated to be in the high 20’s. Aaron has a tee-off time set up for us tomorrow, but unless we can find a third party with a car, I won’t be able to go. Aaron stops working at the course in a week, so this will most likely be the last chance of the season to get out on the course, which is a pity since I got my clubs resized last year.

Trolley is coming down this weekend, as he has three days off from his job at the LCBO. I’ll be looking forward to drinking, watching some Mr. Show, and generally just hanging out.

Tom is planning a camping trip sometime in September, and unless I lose a limb, I’m going to go. Actually, the loss of a limb may be completely irrelevant. I love camping but I hate the summer, so any opportunity to be outdoors when the weather is cool is prime.

Christine has a writing project up, which I’ll gladly be partaking in soon. I always enjoy the chance to write creatively in a non-competitive environment. What, exactly, has made the buffalo so bitter is another story.

It’s getting dark here, but the light hasn’t completely left the day yet. The sky waxes grey with the setting of the sun, and a gentle rain is making the pavement shine with the yellow glow of the street lamps. The smell consumes me, and I’m back walking the streets on an unrecollected gloomy day.

I finally finished off my honours project, so I can rest a bit easier now. The one report is worth two courses itself. It ended up being around 22 pages, which isn’t too bad. The only thing that remains is my geo essay, and I only have about a half page left to write. I went to lunch with Aaron and Wheaties to celebrate a completed course at the Elephant and Castle. A great waitress served us, and offered a variation on the Strongbow I was having, which was the addition of some lime cordial, or some black currant juice. We all got to try both with the Strongbow, and it was decided that the lime was the better of the two. The remaining black currant juice went into the beer, and Aaron told me that it was tasty.

200 more wins to an archmage icon.

I’ve been listening to the latest AFI album lately, and even though I didn’t much care for it at first, I’m completely addicted now. There’s something about the harmonies in the vocals that make their sound so unique. I’m not quite used to Davey Havok’s voice though, as he sounds like a child to me. Quite unconventional Currently, my favorite song is This Celluloid Dream.

A trip to the Dominican Republic may be working out for the first weekend of May. Since it’s the beginning of the off-season, the cost of the entire trip, drinks and meals included along with residence at a four-star hotel, will be around $900 for a week. Apparently this includes scuba diving, horseback riding, jet skiing, and a beach-side view. Currently, only Aaron, Cristina and I are completely committed to going, but we need an even number of people so we’re trying to find one more person.

Artfag is currently a redhead. Ummmm…yah.

Jonathan tells me that the full-time job seems promising, but he’s not making any guarantees. It would mainly consist of going around the city to various commercial customers and troubleshooting computer problems. The pay will start at around $15 which is not too bad, but not great for a graduate. He says that I’ll also need a car to be able to get to the locations that need service, something that I’ll consider more if I’m actually able to get the job. He tells me that it’s a good foot-in-the-door for web programming positions in the future. I am very grateful, and I’m not getting hopes up.