Retiring the blog

Looking at the length between posts and the lack of interesting stuff in each post has made me realize that this is a blog well past its sell by date and so I'm retiring it - for now at least. I realize of course that blogs are like Cher - and so any retirement may be temporary and it may come back looking and sounding like nothing you've seen from it before. But not for a while I hope.

It's been a weird couple of years. We've had death, cancer, job losses, forced moves, loss of babies and a whole bunch of other issues that didn't make it as far as the blog to contend with. Actually it hasn't been weird, it's been a period of concentrated misery compounded by disaster upon uncertainty.

The fact that I'm here at all is a minor miracle. The fact that I'm functioning is down to the friends, the family, the people who posted comments and even those who just came looking for a snatch or two of a celeb or two and added to the numbers. I'd like to thank you all for everything along the way.

If the last three years have been about not falling into the increasing chasms of despair opened by circumstance I'm hoping that the next couple can be about the future. About brave and bright new opportunities and experiences that give stalled lives fresh momentum.

And I wish that not just for myself, but for all of you. May your lives be filled with passion, with joy, with adventure and with a kinetic energy that takes you from experience to experience with energy and open hearts.

And that as they say, is that

Thanks all

Steve

Automne à Montréal

c'est ici Octobre
les feuilles changent de couleur
la température est en baisse
tout le monde porte un manteau
et mon français est maintenant à sa limite

Yes Autumn is upon us, the leaves are changing colors, the temperatures are falling, people have moved from t-shirts to jackets to coats in the space of a week and I'm back in French class and trying very hard to get an ear for this stuff again.

Lots to be done at the moment - not least setting up some proper book-keeping. I haven't had a paycheck since February and I won't be writing one until I manage to set up some decent spreadsheets that I can share with the accountant and work out some form of salary for myself.

But today is pretty much taken up with French homework, a deck that I'm writing as a proposal for a piece of new business and with an attempt to bring a little beauty back into my life by doing some interesting work with some interesting models. We shall see how that goes.

Generally though things are good. I'm back in the gym. We've found a parking space in the garage next door, the last of the festivals is in town, there's a photo show all over town that I really want to see, we haven't had to turn the heating on yet (though it's coming) and we're starting to look at some houses in the area; which reminds me...I must call the mortgage guy.

So all pretty much mundane stuff but after the last month or two it's nice to sit back, relax and enjoy life a little. How French of me.

A shortage

Quebec it seems has a shortage of family doctors. It costs more to practice as a doctor here, the tax rates are higher and the government pays less than they do in neighboring states. As a result about 1 in 4 people here can't find a family doctor. Instead they choose a clinic, make an appointment and see whoever is available.

That works for most people. But when you have a US oncologist insisting that he'll only release records to a specific doctor rather than to a clinic full of them it gets hard. 20 phone calls this morning to people claiming to be taking no patients gave up nothing.

So I called US oncologist. Who called Quebec oncologist. Who called his receptionist. Who in turn scoured the hospital. Which turned up a newly qualified doctor happy to take me on if I'm happy to pay for blood-work. Deal!

The system here works, it's free, the quality of care is good, but breaking into the system is hard. Oh to be in Alberta - said he jokingly.

I'm telling you it's human nature

I tend to only really like Spencer Tunick's work when it's very architectural. The rest of the time I'm impressed by the scale but left rather cold at the execution - and I always think that his portraits are technically weak.

But there's something about this image that I really like. First there's the fact that he got THIS many people to show up. And then to get naked. And then to rest their heads on the naked body of another stranger. And he managed to convince them not to mug for the camera. Or to wave. Or to try to stand out. And what you're left with is mass intimacy. And I really rather like that.

Am thinking retirement at the moment - and whether it's better to put the money in art than to put it into some faceless bond. I like the idea of speculating in beauty - and in having the investment on display every day. I also like the idea of owning some pretty special photos.

Let's see what the year brings...

Home at last

So I'm finally back in Montreal and have very few plans to be away in the next few weeks - other than a day in Michigan at a conference.

Jude's Albany conference seemed to go well, the 3.5 hr ride down there started to hint at the first sign of fall with some vivid colors and suddenly 30s temperatures and we managed to catch up with some old friends. Which is always nice.

Both feeling like crap now - me finally allowing myself to come down off a pitch schedule that was brutal and lubricated only with late nights and alcohol (pitches get me thinking and thinking keeps me up at night)

Now it's back home. Back to a schedule. And back to the gym. And I really can't get started fast enough.