Carry On

As a mental exercise to start working out what exactly I’m going to do with my three years of travel perks I’m creating a list, here, now, live.

<The studio audience roars.>

So here it is, an ambitious mental exercise. Reducing my worldly possessions to airline carry on limits.

Originally I was going to go with what I could realistically carry, which would be a giganto 80L expedition pack plus a smaller daypack and maybe a third small bag. But compressing and simplifying down to something even more basic not to mention more comfortable seems both more practical and more daring. I mean in this culture stuff is everything. What happens when we barely have any stuff?

So here’s the breakdown, and I’m getting really specific because… well its an interesting subject – what do I really need?

Pockets:

• Wallet: bank card, driver’s license, health card, SIN card, credit card, phone card, business cards, cash.
• Keychain: carabiner, keys, bottle opener, *Swiss Army knife (knife, scissors, file, flat head screwdriver, LED light & pen), LED light, USB key
• Lighter
• Change
• Notepad
• Pen
• Cellphone
• Mints
• Condoms
• MP3 player/recorder & headphones

Watch

Manpurse:

• Knife, fork & spoon
• Granola bars
• Notebook
• Post-It notes
• Pen, pencil & marker
• Camera
• Batteries
• Band-aids
• Tape
• Canteen
• Flashight
• Cell phone charger
• Mini tripod
• Passport pouch: Saint Christopher, passport, tickets, important documents & emergency $50USD in a sealed envelope.

Daypack:

• Notebook/sketchbook
• Laptop (sometimes), charger & cables
• Extra clothing layer
• Gloves
• Assortment of pens, pencils, markers, chalk, etc.
• Towel (ahem, got totally distracted by Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy links for about 15 minutes)
• A good book
• Canteen
• Rope
• Glowsticks
• Headlamp
• Lunch?

Backpack (this backpack will have an extendible handle and wheels and a lock):

• 1 man tent
• 1 light sleeping bag
• Clear waterproof toiletries bag: toothpaste (under 100ml), toothbrush, razor, extra razor blades, floss, nail clippers, soap, ColdFX, pain killers, anti-histamines, band-aids, antiseptic swabs, flask, *Swiss Army knife & condoms.
• 2 pairs of pants (one formalish, one cargo pants)
• 1 pair of shorts
• Swimsuit
• One short sleeved shirt, one long sleeved shirt, one button up shirt
• 5 pairs of socks
• 3 pairs of underwear
• Jacket
• External HDD
• Copies of all important documents

That seems decently exhaustive, though I’m sure there are more odds and ends that will fall into the various pockets, folds and compartments. An interesting exercise, particularly with respect to thinking about the kinds of situations I may face. The Burning Man and urban exploration aspects along with the photography/film/video stuff.

Wow. That’s kind of liberating. I look around my apartment now and it doesn’t seem so bad, the thought that soon I’ll have to get rid of a lot of this stuff. ’cause frankly I don’t need much of any of it. I genuinely could live with just this stuff for a year or more. Sure there’d be other stuff, but it would be short term stuff, things that I only keep with me so long as I’m in a particular location. Lots of useful stuff can be easily dumpstered or thrift shopped at little or no expense to cover those needs.

I’m feeled pretty great right about now.

Name that blog

So I’ve decided to take the plunge and quit. Exact details are fuzzy, its all very new, but the air is electric with possibility. Electrons sparking at the slightest provocation, the angle of the lightning’s course impossible to predict. A few things that I do know…

I need a mantra/context/purpose. Something to guide me when choices present themselves. This is the true challenge of true freedom, the beastly visage of infinite possibility. When anything is possible its doubly important to know what you want. So that’s a major project.

I am going to blog as I go. Writing, photographing, videoing, maintaining old connections even as I create new ones. Unfortunately the blog name I wanted, Standby is taken on WordPress. So, do you have ideas? Let me know. My inspiration;

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure. -  Helen Keller

Thrummmp Thrummmp…

My heart is palpitating from the reverberations of my previous posting and the possibilities that it creates. Its goddam scary, incredibly so. But sometimes, not always certainly, but sometimes fear means you should jump, right into the heart of it, the flashing stripes of the tiger’s cage. Kind of like when I jumped off of that cliff into the lake in Yellowknife just a couple of weeks ago. In fact just like that. Scary as hell, but fuck, so refreshing, and once you’ve done it once, hell…

So, scary. It is there, thrumping and pumping right under my sternum, trying to punch its way up my throat and into my head and give me a good punch in the brain. The heart is a kind of emotional and impulsive guy, more reptile than mammal really. And he’s wearing a business suit.

“Think about money / Just think about money / Because…  / Some people have real jobs / Some people have real jobs / Some people have real jobs / Oh I wonder what its like / I can only imagine! / I had an imaginary boss / And imaginary clocks…” – Kris Demeanor, Real Jobs

So money is one of the excuses. Another is Montreal and everyone and everything here. I’m kind of thinking that the only intelligent way to take advantage of three years of travel perks and no time obligations to the company would be to travel A LOT. So I’d miss all this. But shit. Montreal’s not going anywhere.

The deadline to ask for the departure is August 15th, so I have some real work to do between now and then. A heaven wrapped sabbatical? A globetrotting adventure? An artistic pilgrimage?

One thing I’m thinking about is getting the book The Artist’s Way, and maybe one or two other inspirational tomes, and commit a block of time to myself, truly to me, developing me, exploring me. Seems like a good thing to do in your 30th year of life.

Maybe I’ll volunteer abroad, maybe I’ll take a course in something, maybe I’ll open an etsy store and start living off of art. If a teenager can get almost a grand for a steampunk keyboard – well anything’s possible.

It feels like a big fork, but this path would certainly lead to CHANGE which is unknown and scary true, but there could be such amazing things out there. This prong I’m on now… I get it. I can handle it, its easy. Too easy. It puts me to sleep.

Goddam I’m talking myself into something CRaZy…

Begin addictive link hopping here at Career Break. Then think about what it would be like to Work Less yourself….

Free Like a Bird?

Now this is interesting, very interesting indeed.

So the economy is in a slump, and one of the sectors most hard hit is the airline industry… which is where I make most of my coin day to day. Its not a particularly fun or fulfilling job, but it pays the bills and more importantly, it gives me the priviledge of being able to throw some clothes into a bag, jump on a plane and touch down in a completely different part of the country or the world on a whim and a bit of change from between the cushions in the couch.

So… what if your employer told you that you could quit, and keep those flying benefits for the next three years? It saves them money, and it allows me to maintain the one, most beautiful, glorious perk of working in the industry. Wings to fly upon whenever I please.

I have to admit its a tempting proposition. I don’t know what else I’d do for money, but I do have a decent nest egg invested, and really do I plan on staying in this industry that much longer anyway?

Of course being a recession another job might not be so easy to find, that and my French, while good certainly isn’t up to par with that of a native Montrealler – I’m at a disadvantage here to get another job facing other fully fluent candidates. But the temptation is real, I see a lot of opportunities out there. Travel perks without the work obligation. Is this some kind of a dream?

Time for some serious thinking, budgetting, plotting and yes, feeling. How does it feel?

Predators

I’ve always been a creative individual. A veritable idea factory, dishing out imaginings like a belching smokestack. My parents encouraged my creativity, but always on one condition. Be careful who you talk to. The idea being that ideas are valuable, full of potential, pregnant with promise. Therefore they were something to be guarded. Kept close to the chest. Nobody would steal my ideas and take credit for them, make money off of them, gain fame from them.

As Bill Hicks said;

It’s just a ride, and we can change it any time we want. It’s only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money, a choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your door, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one.

This became a great excuse for me to not let my creativity loose, along with that ordinary fear of looking foolish. Its a kind of fear pincer attack, on the one side you might be too good and someone will take advantage of you, on the other you’re nowhere near good enough and a laughingstock for the world.

But what if its just a ride?

Creativity requires looseness, trust and lack of restraint. Collaborative art like film or larger scale works particularly.

Although I’ve applied the label of artist to myself for most of the past decade its only in the last few months that its started to have a more substantial ring to it, instead of the tinny echo of some rattling cans masquarading as churchbells. I look at the things I make, the things I conceive of as important acts, not only to my psyche, but to the outside world as well. Why couldn’t I sell some of my art or apply for grants? Why don’t I deserve to make a living off of my connection to my genius? No reason at all. Its just a ride. Choose love.

P.S.: Incidentally, if I spout out some idea that you think is brilliant and you go out and do it – awesome. Its one thing to create ideas, another to bring them to fruition. The great thing is that they can come to fruition so many different ways, and there’s no need to be greedy about “my way or not at all.” Though some credit is nice…

Burn, hee haw!

So I’ve got a bit of a hankering to build something and burn it since we’re not doing a regional this year in Montreal.

I’m thinking one option would be M00seman, though I’d also really like to do it with a bunch of Montreal peeps since it could help corrupt some malleable minds here in town.

Anyways… my ten-till-tent-itive plan right now is to ask people to watch out for and bring in found wooden objects – broken furniture, wood scraps, etc.  Moving Day here in Montreal would be great for that kind of shit. Then on-site of the burn (wherever that is) have drills, nail guns, saws, etc. to assemble something from whatever shows up. Anyone is welcome to work and construction of the thing will be do-ocratic.

Then torch it…

Not quite sure what’s going on here. The Internet is being freaky, becoming unstable and bizare. What would happen if this whole digital thing is alive? This creature into which we have vested so much of our information, so much of ourselves? What if this animal becomes fevered, begins to hallucinate? What happens to our information, to our representations of self? Its really nothing more than thoughts, ideas, memories, all of which is rather easy to miscontruct, dismantle, mangle and rearrange. And if that happens and we rely on it so… does our reality change?

I was trying to write about something else but first I appeared to be typing white on white. Digital invisible ink as it were, trying to trust and remember each keystroke, knowing that the only way to go back would be to count characters. What did I just write? Did I sp[ell it correctly? Did I miskey anything? Then it turned to lagging behind, words appearing seconds after they were completed, an invisible gestation period before an explosion of symantic life.

And now all is normal. Which is to say, things are operating as they do most of the time. That apparently is normal, so I don’t know that we should attach much value to it. Normal is just what happens most often.

What a distraction. I wanted to talk about how ear hair and thick toenails were indicators for the aging process. I also wanted a better word for indicator. What do they call it when environmental changes are first noticed in the biology of smaller critters? <sigh> The brain slows and the connections faulter as well. Though on the up side all is less frantic and concerned with being “right” – age at least brings with it some relaxation. The further into the journey the less concern exists over the destination.

And still an hour before anything happens at work…

Competition

While I am generally laid back and mild mannered, there are times when something manages to hit a spot deep inside of me like a gong that resonates up through my bones and flesh and demands that energy be expended. I call it my competitive bone. It doesn’t get hit often, but when it does, boy do I react.

For its 25th anniversary this year Cirque du Soleil is going to attempt to break the world record for stilt walking which they initially set in 2004 with 544 stilt walkers. In 2006 the Japanese beat Cirque’s record with 614. Last year Brandford, Ontario upped the ante to 625. Cirque is aiming for around 1000 next week, thinking that will stand for quite some time.

I probably can’t make it out to the historic attempt Tuesday (though I’m going to try) and in any case, records are meant to be broken. I’ll bet I can get 2000.

Whoa buddy! You’re probably saying. Kay, you’ve only walked on stilts ONCE and now you’re threatening to overturn Cirque’s world record?! Slow down!

No. I’m feeling competitive.

Besides, I don’t think it’d be all that hard. Because I know a place. An ancient alkili lake…

Burning Man. Surely there are a couple thousand stilt walker at Burning Man, and likely a couple thousand more who’d learn if only to blow a record out of the water. Of course there are logistical issues, such as it being the most chaotic place on earth outside of a war zone, but with proper planning anything is possible. I worked it all out in the shower this morning.

Burners would be keen to do it, the only real obstacles are A) tabulating the results in a satisfactory fashion and B) dealing with flakiness.

A) This isn’t this hard. The route it obvious. Centre Camp to the Man. So, set up some pillars to seperate out “lanes” – then get volunteers to take responsibility for a lane and count every stilt walker that goes through. Now some people will try to double back – goddam tricksters. No problem, everyone gets a stamp on their way through – YAY! A stamp! What a wonderful souvenier! And a great way to keep track of you maniacs…

B) Flakiness. Burners are VERY easily distracted, because there’s a lot of distracting stuff out there. The solution is blunt, like a hammer. Hit them months in advance through Jack Rabbit Speaks, teach them how to build stilts, how to use them. Remind them again and AGAIN. At the event have stilt workshops a few days before. Finally, the day of send a squad of stilt walkers armed with megaphones down every street as town criers telling EVERYONE that the event is coming up fast and to get your elevated ass to Centre Camp. Finally, promise a big kick ass party for stilters only after the event.

With a population of 40,000 many of whom are circus freaks mustering up 2000 stilters should be a breeze, and an amazing sight.

Now it *might* be possible to pull this off in 2009. It would fit the theme well; humans have been consistently growing taller as we evolve and competition is one of the foundations of evolution. I wouldn’t do that to cirque though. It’d be really bad form to blow their record out of the water their anniversary year before the 2009 edition of the Guiness Book of World Records is even published. In fact it’d be a real asshole thing to do.

So 2010. Watch for the parade marshaller on steam powered stilts with a megaphone in his hand shouting out “Stilters assemble!”

Seeking Adventurous Souls

FIRST DRAFT

Consider this a sales pitch – for your life – perhaps.

I’m looking to start a loft coming up on June 1st and I’m looking for someone to share in it. I’ll describe what I have in mind, and if it speaks to you, let me know.

To begin with, the space. I’m locating in the St-Henri/Griffintown area. There are a few lofts available in the area, including this one where I’m currently renting a smaller unit. The idea is to move into one of the larger units and sub-divide it so that there are two bedrooms and a large communal area.

My agenda for having a loft is to have periodic film screenings (2-4 times a month), a space to host circus art jams during inclement weather (staff, hula hoop, poi, etc) as well as space for photo shoots and other artistic endeavours. What would you do with a loft space? That’s the real advantage, space, tall ceilings, etc. Renting the space out to artists as a gallery or photo studio and the occassional party could also help to offset some of the cost.

The lofts range in price from $800-$1200 without utilities so each person’s share would be $400-$600 per month.

You’d need to be willing to live in a space used for events and art, ideally participating and making your own. You’d also have to put in some sweat on the initial setup of the space and ongoing maintenance. I bring a frigo, toaster oven, hot plates, couch & chairs, the beginnings of a stereo system and a video projector that can fill up an entire wall.

It would take work, and might be rough going the first few months, but would also be an exciting enterprise with lots of potential for great things.

I will be visiting the available units in the area this week and posting videos on YouTube. If you’re potentially interested contact me with your thoughts and we’ll see if our visions are compatible.

Manger votre gateau

I think I can have my cake and eat it too, provided I can find someone to share my dream. I can still live in a loft. I can still do the Livingroom Cinematheque and I can pay less rent. Huh?

Here’s the idea. Rent one of the bigger lofts in my building, yes one of the $900 brutes, but, get this. Build some partitions and create two seperate rooms, keep the BIG communal screening/living area. It could work, with the right person on board. That’s the only catch, finding someone willing and able to collaborate with me on the Livingroom Cinematheque. I don’t know of such a person right now, but surely in this big bad city I could find one. Right?

Why should I be shrinking my dreams? I should be expanding them. I’ve learned over the years that just going out and doing it – things usually work out. Half-assed plans rarely do. So why think small? I should think big.