Last month I got an email from the lovely Deb over at The Laughing Doll, letting me know she had selected me for an art/ blogging prize. It's taken me a long time to spread the love, in part because things have been so crazy (have I mentioned I'm moving this Sunday??? Probably not because I think I'm still in denial.) But also because I have a rather ambivalent relationship to prizes...I think it all started when I was in grade two and I was forced to participate in the annual school track meet (everyone was) and I knocked over every. single. hurdle. In front of the entire school. My heart sunk as I heard each one fall behind me and I still feel a little sick to my stomach when I remember the humiliation. I was then "awarded" with one of two cheezy, synthetic 'participant' ribbons, the other three people placing either first second or third. Did they really think that because I was only seven, I didn't know that 'participant' really meant ...
Since then I have lost some prizes, and won some as well, but it's the ones I lose that linger and give me that sickening feeling...I guess my seven-year-old self still hates that fact that for some to win, someone else has to be excluded. Now, obviously this is a very well-intentioned prize (for one, the winners didn't even know they were up for it, so it comes as a pleasant surprise!) so I must push past my terror of prizes and pass it in on in the spirit in which it was given. So thank you to Deb and thank you to everyone whose blogs I read - you inspire and entertain me, and I love being able to see your artwork in process!
From the original post: "This prize has arisen from the daily visits that I dedicate to many blogs which nourish me and enrich me with creativity. In them I see dedication, creativity, care, comradeship, but mainly, ART, much art. I want to share this prize with all those bloggers that entertain me day to day and to share this prize with those who enrich me every day. Doubtlessly, there are many and it will be hard to pick just a few, the people I will name today deserve this prize, as do the very long serious list of bloggers I enjoy to read, but I will name the first 6 and will leave the rest of the work to all the bloggers that visit other's blogs and are nourished by them." So without further adieu...
Nostalgia Video la Deuxieme:
Some of you might remember that a few weeks back I posted a Kate Bush video absolutely oozing with 80s-ness. Well, looking for that video sent me on a bit of a nostalgia whirlwind, and I found this very early, hilarious (but still sexy) video by U2. U2 was such a huge part of my childhood - my mother was basically obsessed with them and she saw them at the El Mocambo in Toronto!!! I know that won't mean anything who's not from Toronto, but suffice to say it was a serious dive and the band was not well-known at all at that point ( 1981, I think) and some woman at the show hand-cuffed herself to a nineteen-year-old Bono on stage! My mom also wrote them fan letters and someone (a woman named Ann) always wrote her back. Pretty crazy when you think about what they've become. Below is the cover of their first album, Boy.
This one's for you, Mama!