Sunday – the last day of the festival!
Panels wrapped up yesterday so everyone got to have a sleep in. Once we all rolled out of bed, we decided to embark on a structured activity and go to the museum. We hit the Gardiner which was mostly ceramics (Ciro’s specialty). If it weren’t for my insistence that he share his educated response to the pieces, it would have been an incredibly boring walk about, but he caved and I got to see through a potters perspective. When I look at a vase, I see a vase, and then it’s over. When Ciro looks at a vase, he sees colour, texture, positive and negative space, if a piece is thrown with water or not, detail. The list goes on for him. Sometimes looking at a piece is also accompanied by a feeling of inspiration, the rush of creativity.
It’s a truly beautiful thing that there are infinite areas of passion and study in this world, and just as many people to follow them. Where one person is weak, another is strong. We work together, often without realizing it to create a diverse, well oiled machine of a world. Ok, maybe that was an overly optimistic comment. It may not be as well oiled as it could be. Some people invest their energies and into completely greedy, destructive endeavours which have created canyons of hardship for others and themselves. What I mean to highlight is that the resources for a well oiled machine are available, and when we open up to the group dynamic with trust and respect, amazing things can be accomplished, and our minds and hearts can be enriched with appreciation for things we never thought we would know or care about. I’m so grateful for what each of my team members have brought to my life.
Every moment spent is an adjustment from the moment before. As we walk down the streets of Toronto and observe the endless streams of strangers and traffic, as we meet cab drivers who immigrated from different countries and try to wrap our heads around their lives, as we experience other bands who share a passion for music and yet create a completely different sound than I would or even COULD come up with, we are changed. Everything affects us, and forces us to open up and expand our hearts and minds.
After museum time, I left the group to check out my parents’ ballin hotel situation and visit with our Toronto relatives. It some cases it was actually my first time meeting them. Very cool to see more of my mom’s side. My Grandpa’s sister Anne and her son Paul had us all for dinner that evening in Anne’s beautiful home. What a treat! Like I mentioned before, our hotel room wasn’t the prettiest sight you ever saw, so aesthetically this was a vacation from our vacation. Not that we don’t have a soft spot for our hotel room which gives us Bettys and Ciro a rare opportunity to live together and get very acquainted with each others’ bathroom routines. I’m totally not complaining, by the way. It was the source for much of our laughter that week.
Later that evening, Lena, Caleb, and I hit the club for the last hurrah of the week. Indie Week Finals! We entered the Tattoo Rock Parlour and quickly concluded it was the right time and place for ear plugs. Unfortunately, Caleb forgot his and asked me if I could borrow a pair. I reached into bowels of my purse and pulled out 4 of what used to be yellow earplugs but were now mostly dirt brown. Because of the extreme volume of the venue Caleb had no choice but to select 2 and hold in a gag as he squished them into his ears.
I noticed I was starting to feel silently embarrassed by the hyper sensitivity I had to the whereabouts of Frankie McQueen because I had clearly associated then with celebrity status since seeing them play at the launch party. Luckily, I was relieved to discover that the Bettys and I were all on the same stalker page when Lena leaned into my left ear and yelled, “I WONDER IF FRANKIE MCQUEEN IS OUTSIDE!” Because the music was so loud there was no way Caleb could hear her comment and so it was incredibly amusing to have Caleb lean in to my left ear immediately after to shout, “I WANT TO FIND THE LEAD SINGER OF FRANKIE MCQUEEN!”. After witnessing a surprising announcement of “The Best of the Fest” winner (google search Sumo Cyco), we rounded up our idols and got a terrible red-eyed shot taken so we could always remember the magical evening of dirty ear plugs and stalking. Sponsored by Jack Daniels.
Love Kendall Patrick and the Headless Bettys
Lena, Brent, and Caleb
and Ciro
and Mom and Dad