What a way to bring closure to two and a half months of traveling…. As I said before I just came back from Lost River in the Laurentians in Quebec (close to Saint Sauveur) with some of my oldest friends whom I rarely get to see all at the same time, all together in an old wood log cabin.
Ksenia Yurganova I’ve known since high school at Danforth Tech Baby. She now produces tv, currently some murder show and can’t stop complaining of Toronto’s work pace, because she’s part of it! She drove up with her boyfriend Dave Hamelin and Jackson the dog, his white paw just like Michael’s glove. We knew Dave before he started his band the Stills 10 years ago, now defunct. He just started a new band called Eight And A Half. Jill Kasian used to work making IMAX films and now she has some new job going, and her bf Jonathan Dorthe is an architect at Sid Lee. Krissy Longtin, Jen Storey and James Kerr I’ve known since the beginning of moving to Montreal 12 years ago. Krissy has been long done her Masters after working with orphans in Romania and now works as a therapist, James is the best landscaper ever (I’m sure Debbie Travis has a crush on him) and Jen of course I have featured in a past article… most recently she collaborated on beautiful fabric print work with Angie Johnson of Norwegian Wood. To top it off, we had Neil Doshi and his gf Katie, now both Cal Arts grads who live on the west coast… Neil just got a FIVE YEAR Creative Capital Grant to build a graphic design house in the dessert then work around the world. Sheeit.
Some major nostalgia s down the line, well, my best pals are now grown ups who do wonderful things. Because I am so often away, it’s so crazy and amazing to see them so changed. At the same time, it's so good to feel our goofy idiotic chemistry, dynamic as ever when we are together. I had so much fun, which counts for everything in this life. AND, that whole week, I did not see one exhibition, as it was not the point of this trip. Felt So Good.
When we were back in Montreal, our New Years Day hangover hangout was more or less a very humourous group therapy for kids coping with their thirties. Before I left I was treated to a spa at Bota Bota in the old port, which by chance, Jonathan worked on!
I’ve been kind of emotionally losing it in a good way, feeling blessed to always surround myself around such special people. I played Dance Central for 4 hours straight with James (a natural), ate poutine at the same time, and didn’t get sick.
