Recovering from a wild weekend, well, wild for me these days. Booked accomodations for the beasts at the Dog Ranch and a cheap hotel room for us in town so we could attend our dear friend Kyle Hawke’s Groundhog Day party. Not sure it was in honour of groundhogs though he did request food with holes in it. I suspect it was just a convenient date for a party which I am as ready for as spring. Been feeling a little shack wacky lately. It was good to get out and off this rock.
My AURAL HEATHER collaborator, Roderick Shoolbraid and I were meeting in the afternoon for a photo shoot with Lincoln Clarkes. We need pictures for the cd. It was a hectic day, Saturday, and it seems no matter how much time I give myself to prepare I’m always in a panic in the last hour before I have to leave the house to catch a ferry. It’s nearly impossible to remember everything. I forget my cell phone or bring it with no battery power. People tease me because they call and I often don’t answer. They find my aversion to texting amusing too. I just can’t be bothered dicking around with that little keypad. I suppose if I had a Blackberry I might get into texting so I think I’m glad I don’t have a Blackberry.

It was nearly 4:30 in the afternoon by the time we got to Lincoln’s place in Strathcona. He made us coca tea from Bolivia while I scrambled to finish my makeup and decide what to wear. I had brought too many things because I hadn’t had time to try things on. The sun was actually out so we took a few pictures in the alley in front of a red, wooden garage door then completed the rest inside to the sound of the Be Good Tanyas. Lincoln has a lovely old house and a penchant for antiques. He said “Everything I buy is 100 years old” and pointed to the circa 40s gas range. The fewer parts, the less that can go wrong, right? He talked of selling off everything and reducing all his belongings to one suitcase. I think he just might do it but his daughters don’t want him to sell the house. He bought just before the Vancouver real estate market boomed.

Lincoln shone a light in our faces, directed our chins and mouths and took quite a lot of photographs, individually and together. I’m looking forward to seeing what develops. He has old cameras too naturally and took a few with a beautiful Roliflex.
A couple of his friends arrived, Jack I-didn’t-get-his-surname and Gina Verster, a painter who said she likes to accompany her work with verse when Lincoln told her I was a poet. We all went to dinner at a neo-Mexican restaurant named Zocalo on Main near Broadway. The appetizers looked good but we just went for the calamari. It was crispy, light, tasty. The pork I ordered was pretty good though the ice in my margarita had that stale refrigerator taste to it. The decor in the place was pretty swank, not a piñata or Day of the Dead diorama in sight but rather a light box bar and a bizarre, red, blue and green plastic spiky light fixture that reminded me of those toy squishy balls. Then we ran around; to the hotel to put our stuff away and catch a cab to Kyle’s condo in the Southlands. Lincoln asked the driver if he wanted to come to the party or smoke a joint, then got out and said, “Where are we?” Felt like we were in Maple Ridge. I think the suburban vibe made him nervous. I suspect Lincoln is a city boy through and through. It was quiet outside the place. We checked the address and found a picture of a groundhog on the door so figured this must be it. It was crowded inside, tables laden with food and sure enough no dearth of donuts and bagels.

I chatted with Pam and Beth, introduced them to Roderick. We discussed Aural Heather plans, the tour, the launch, all very exciting stuff. So much to do! We need to join the musicians union, Local 145, then apply for work visas so we can tour in the States. Lots of mixing and fine-tuning on Roderick’s part. Rehearsals. Watched Kyle and his band perform for a bit but there was no place to sit so after to much wine and some lovely kitchen chats we were ready to leave. Roderick didn’t want to play though he was under pressure to do so. I retrieved his guitar for him so he wouldn’t get cornered again. I felt bad because I had asked him to bring it to the shoot and we ended up not posing with our *instruments. * I had bought a microphone.

Bloody hotel room let in too much light all night. Why didn’t I bring my sleep mask? Sometimes I am so frazzled I can’t make a simple decision. Stuffy. I despise rooms with windows that don’t open and lousy heating units. Woke up too early so went out in search of some Alka Seltzer wondering why I still drink booze at all. The only time I imbibe lately is when I’m with friends though and I have to let off some steam once in a while. Josef and I could not find a decent restaurant for breakfast. The line-ups were out the door. We had to head back to Lincoln’s to pick up my clothing so ended up in Chinatown, thought we would have dim sum but couldn’t find a place so ate in a diner. By that point my stomach was growling and I was getting very cranky. The black tea, poached eggs with Tabasco and wheat toast hit the spot so well I didn’t care when I looked across the street and saw the Chinese Garden dim sum restaurant. We got my stuff, had tea with Lincoln. He took a few shots of Josef and me. Then we went to see Gina’s exhibit at the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver, a collection of poetic and prose pieces inspired by her travels in France. I was intrigued by her choice of subject matter. Clouds that cast many shadows, a UFO in a barnyard and symmetry she saw in stacks of chairs. Check it out at 555 Columbia St. More info: or 604-658-8881. Josef and I strolled through Sun Yat Sen gardens, which provide an oasis in the midst of a lot of concrete then bought a set of brass bells in the gift shop to add to our arsenal of percussion instrument. It facilitates much fun at our soirees. Everyone grabs a hand drum or a maraca and joins in.

So back to work. It’s two AM and I still have a stack of paperwork to go through. I will have to crash soon though anyway. Parental duties call first thing in the morning.