Again with Miranda July

A Huffington Post interview with Miranda July:

I remember staring at some pointilist painting in an Impressionist exhibition when I was younger and thinking that I was being really moved by it. I felt like I was in the painting. But gradually I realized what was happening was the sound of the air conditioning and the perfume of the woman next to me were combining with the image to create this immersive experience. I remember thinking that was interesting. The whole thing is the art; the painting would be nothing without the cooling system.

The lady always manages to say something special. I'm looking forward to her new art exhibition We Think Alone.

On Miranda July

There's a lot of love for Miranda July these days, and I'm bursting with my share. Her second movie, The Future, will be released this summer (though I suspect I will have to wait a little longer since I doubt it will come to Victoria movie theaters).
Did you see her first movie, Me and you and everyone we know? A few times? Maybe you read Nobody Belongs Here More Than You, her collection of short stories? Or maybe you have a copy of Learning to Love You More in your bathroom (I gave my copy to my parents, but I have tentative plans)? Did you post her short film, Are you the favorite person of anybody? on your blog? Or -- last one -- do you revisit her treatise on why you should vote before every election? Did you share it on your work's social networking site? And were you thrilled when a few people you've never met "liked" it?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you're probably a fan of Miranda July too. Or maybe you answered no to all of the questions because you've never heard of Miranda July before, but now you're intrigued. If that's the case, you can take this diagnostic test to see if you should watch her latest movie. And while you're at that website, you should probably sign up to get your future divined every week.
P.S. I would like a copy of this poster.

Are you anybody's favorite person?

Brie sent me this short Miranda July movie (starring John C. Reilly), and I need to post it here to make sure you see it too. Also, I like using my blog to make sure I remember things like this.

Comfort

When I say I wish I was at home in my slippers right now, I really mean it. They came to me all the way from Churchill, Manitoba thanks to Jillian, and they are pure comfort. I even brought them to Portland with me, and I predict I'll bring them to Saskatoon for the holidays.

When I first received them, I thought the polar bears would suit a reenactment of this scene in Me and You and Everyone We Know:



Today, the bears are getting along, but if I wear the slippers on opposite feet (or cross my feet) it's hard to ignore the tension. Anyway. You get the idea.

While I was looking for that movie clip, I found something else to share with you (isn't that always the way?). It's a Blonde Redhead video featuring Miranda July and some high-waisted pants. Can you resist? Can you really?



I have some things to tell you about, including my successful transition to a credit union, so stay tuned in the coming weeks. I promise I'll only get distracted by YouTube a little bit.

Kiss me, I voted

I'm going to Saskatchewan this weekend! We'll be traveling back to B.C. on Tuesday, so we decided to get our voting out of the way early. I didn't want travel delays (whether caused by weather and/or airline bankruptsy) to hamper my voting rights, you know? While my vote is in the bag, I'm still excited for the rest of you voters.

Miranda July wrote about why you should vote a while back (I think Brie flagged it when it was first posted on her website), and I've pasted the text below, for your encouragement. Miranda also made a little website about supporting Obama, for those of you who are interested in another important election.

Here’s why you should vote: you are going to really love it, the whole strange procedure. You get to walk right into a building that you would never normally be allowed in, often an elementary school. You can pause in the hallway to look at all the weird school-art and feel the eerie vibe of hundreds of kids living their endless kid lives right nearby. Then you follow the arrows to the voting room and look at the faces of the volunteers - who are these people? There is a hush of secrecy, the voting booth is clunky, the whole thing seems fake somehow. You consider filling in all the bubbles, like you did on the SATs. But you don’t. You vote. You walk back outside feeling like you just gave blood or something, lightheaded from citizenry. You are wearing a sticker that says “I Voted” and you wish you could continue to get stickers like this throughout the day: I Ate Dinner, I Went To Sleep, I Got Out Of Bed, I Went To Work. But alas, it is just this one thing that we all do together, savor it.

Happy Thanksgiving! Happy voting!

P.S. Check out Things Worth Making, if you haven't done so lately. There's been a lot of action over there!

Making an encouraging banner

Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher told me to make an encouraging banner, so I did. I mean, they encouraged me to make one through their website Learning to Love You More:

"Participants [of Learning to Love You More] accept an assignment, complete it by following the simple but specific instructions, send in the required report, and see their work posted online. Like a recipe, meditation practice, or familiar song, the prescriptive nature of these assignments is intended to guide people towards their own experience."

Assignment #63 instructs participants to make an encouraging banner. I didn't follow the exact instructions, which is why I never submitted a picture to the website. Which is why I'm telling you about it instead. I think it would make a nice present.

This is what it looks like all together (when you see it in real life you can see the letters on the cards, trust me):

Instead of cutting out letters and gluing them to big pieces of construction paper, like I was supposed to and like everyone else did, I wrote on some cute paper from Urban Source (a shop in Vancouver that sells reclaimed craft supplies), and I taped the individual letters to a piece of yarn. Sometimes we need to be reminded to take a break from the computer. You know?

Now I want to make one for public display, and maybe I'll follow the rules this time.

Celebrating anniversaries

Michael and I celebrated our anniversary on Friday. It's been 11 years since we met at Angie's 18th birthday party in Rosetown. Sure, we're not married, but you'd think the sheer length of time would give us some sort of official status in his grandma's eyes. Nope. Only married couples can sleep together in her house. I can't figure out if that is a reason to protest marriage or a reason to just get married already.

We celebrated the anniversary by going to Zambri's for dinner. Our meal was unbelievable and I'd like to go back soon, especially because it's in my neighbourhood. First, the fried mozzarella appetizer is one of the best things we've ever eaten. It was served on top of minty orange pieces and with four types of compotes for dipping: cherry, chili, fig and date. Second, there was some luxurious type of bacon in my pasta. Third, the lemony aperitif that we drank before the meal was delicious and strong, making for some wonderful dinner-time conversation. All of those things made our anniversary great (if you didn't catch them the first time, those things were cheese, bacon and booze).

But do you know what's more impressive than 11 years?

35 years!

My parents celebrated their coral wedding anniversary on Nov. 25, 2007, and since I never wrote about it then, I'm doing it now. Mom and Dad, your relationship has provided me with a pretty good example of relationship longevity. Keep up with the good example!

I didn't buy my folks a coral present. Instead, I gave them one of my favorite books ever: Learning To Love You More by Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher. It's a very touching coffee table book about shared human experiences and creativity. The book features selections from a website that challenged people to complete and submit assignments in order to explore the value of creative constraints. The assignments were usually silly and/or simple, but they had emotional results. I never knew about the website, which is no longer posting new assignments, until Sarah Mundy told me about it in a comment on this blog.

After musing about how I should do something more to acknowledge their momentous occasion, I realized that the answer was staring me in the face. The cover of the book features a photo of a couple kissing, which was captured for Assignment #39: take a picture of your parents kissing (or at least hugging). Do not send us an older picture of your parents, we are looking for a new picture taken specifically for this assignment.

I realized that I had to complete the assignment, and I convinced my parents to help me out. After some shyness and a few awkward angles, I got the picture I wanted:

This photo was taken in the Saskatoon Airport on January 4, 2008. My parents were dropping Michael and I off for our trip back to Victoria. Then I took a picture of them. Kissing.