New York City - August

It's taken me a while to put up these pics. I wanted to go to New York all summer but wasn't quite sure how I was going to get there with my busy schedule. So when my sister and my brother-in-law said that they were heading to see some shows one weekend in August I jumped at the opportunity.

I had a goal for the weekend. To have a New York weekend I never got to have when I lived there. I wanted to have a weekend where I felt free from the burden of the hustle, where I wasn't worrying about how I was going to pay rent or how exhausted I felt from city-living.


I wanted to feel, even just for a weekend, that I was a New Yorker who could eat at a fancy restaurant and see a good show and go shopping. I wanted to appreciate the beauty that is New York City. And I am glad that I did. Enjoy the pics!



We got to New York City at one am. Amazingly, Anna and Jerome were staying in a Hotel three blocks away from my friend's place in Chelsea. By one-thirty I was at Clubber Down Disco at the Chelsea Hotel. Any party hosted by LadyFag (pictured above) is gonna be good.

The one and only Honey Dijon was on the decks.

And with these cast of clubbers I felt right at home. And why is it so easy to pick up boys in NYC?...










Ever since Sex and the City I wanted to have Brunch at Pastis. The following day we did just that and enjoyed a walk towards mid-town by using the Highline.

my sister Anna

Robert Hammond: Building a park in the sky | Video on TED.com







After walking along the Highline we finally made it into Times Square and then to Central Park. This was Jerome's first time in new York so it was great to be with him as he discovered the City especially since he loves photography and New York, among other things is such a photogenic city.







We grabbed some food at Whole Foods and sat in Central Park. While they took a bike ride around the park I decided to chill out on the great lawn and watch the people enjoying the warm weather. A moment like this was very rare when I lived in New York.


Anna and Jerome had some friends performing in to different Circus Shows. Traces from 7 Doigts de la Main is still playing at Union Square Theatre. It was great to see the show again. They also performed with some of the people who are in Zarkana, Cirque du Soleil's new show at Radio City Music Hall.






One of the highlights was seeing Fuerza Bruta. I didn't get a chance to see De La Guarda when I was living in New York so it was a treat to see this show.









It's hard for me to describe what New York means to me. That City still moves me. Montreal is my home and I am happy to be living here. But New York will always be a city that is big enough to hold big dreams. It's a tough place and it's not for everybody. But when everything come together like it did that weekend, New York is magical. Thank you to Anna and Jerome for allowing me to come along on their trip and to show them the New York I always loved. I can't wait to go back...

some sexy beats

Sexy beats by Mark Vicente on Mixcloud

35

July 2nd, 2011

as written on my Blackberry at 7am at Stereo:

What have I learned at 35?

Good music is more important than good drugs.

I am skinny and that won't ever really change.

My thoughts are not the boss of me.

There is so much I don't know but that doesn't mean I'm stupid. I can always learn something new.

Expansion is natural. Security is an illusion and working hard in order to feel safe makes my life small.

It's okay to say no just as often as to say yes. Saying no to something means I am saying yes to something else.

If I am suffering I am attached that life should not be the way it is in the moment.

I am a spiritual person and when I am touched by something I can cry if I want.

My life is a blessing.

Saying thank you enriches me.

Being vulnerable empowers me.

My life is invented and created and that's why I consider myself an artist.

I am better than no one.

If I am sad I am probably hungry or tired or both.

Being quiet and not talking sometimes is the best remedy.

My ego wants to be loved and gets hurt. But my ego is not me.

Smiling takes no effort.

I am proud of who I am.

mid-January check up

Seriously, sometimes I need to stay away from Facebook. Lately when I find myself on there, having to do some Invites or creating Events or what not, I notice that I start to waste my time looking at what everyone is up to in their lives and then I start to get depressed about my own. Jim went to see The King's Speech. Lance is heading to Brazil. Brad got a great DJ gig! I start to worry that I am not very productive at all. These social networks are not always great for the ego.

When I am depressed, everything is up for questioning. Am I not cool enough to be a DJ? Why did she get that gig and not me? Do I suck? Is this the right city for me? Why don't I have more friends? It's endless.

So I'm trying to look at the reality of my situation.

I just got back to work which has been great. I really enjoy teaching Zumba and I am actually surprised I am continually growing as an Instructor. I am constantly curious about how to create a fun and loving space to dance in. It's been really fun.

I'm in the process of finishing a very short story that I am going to read aloud at a Coffee House next weekend. Writing is such a strange creative outlet for me that I am still trying to figure out. I find it so frustrating and draining at times and yet it can be the most rewarding. I'm writing short works of prose about my experiences as a dancer. It will be a mix of things that really happened and also fiction. I find if I stay too close to the "truth" it just blocks me creatively. I want to get to the essence of my experience as opposed to writing a true account of it. My goal is to have something self-published by the end of the Summer (wow, I can't believe I just wrote that down. It's like it is now real, I have officially put it in the Universe).

DJing has been the toughest for me. I just feel like I still am like the biggest loser DJ on the block, trying desperately to be cool. I think I need to bring a space of gratitude to this area because in so many ways I am really fortunate. I am truly a working DJ after all. Not a lot of people can say that and I don't want to seem ungrateful. I just know I still have a ways to go in my vision as a DJ.I really judge myself harshly as a DJ. And as I am writing this I notice how much I crave praise and acknowledgment from other people. It's like I cannot believe that I am a good DJ unless I am spinning at a club with a lot of people in it. Last night I did my regular night at Houston and two people asked for my card. I must be doing something right. I just have to continue to train myself not to listen to that little voice in my head that says I suck all the time.

And I am just starting to date and in the past month I have made new friends. Last week I planned a dinner out and I actually was surrounded by people I haven't known for very long. It's pretty crazy.

So as I am writing this all I can think of is that the Universe is working with me. The Universe is supporting me and wants me to have everything I desire. Things are moving, and they are moving exactly as they should be. But how I choose to see things is up to me :)

what I wrote to M on facebook today.....

Happy 2011 to you too. My Holidays have been a bit wonky too I have to say. I've enjoyed the break in my schedule but it's put a bit of a strain on my finances.

I wasn't spinning but I did go out all night for NYE and hit three parties to support some DJ friends. It's tough admitting this without sounding like a bit of a drama queen but I felt a bit lonely. Surrounded by all these people and good music, I still didn't feel connected somehow. It's like I am still trying to be the cool kid wanting to fit in. Is it possible to be an anti-social DJ? Sort of a strange way to start 2011 ;)

I'm going to see David Morales at Stereo tomorrow night. Maybe that will be the inspiration that I need.

Wishing you health, happiness and abundance. Love you.

xoM

So long 2010....

I've been in a funk the last week or so. It's always such a strange transition to get into the Winter swing of things. The cold gnaws at my bones, the hypochondriac in me constantly is sniffling and the lazy part of me just wants to sit in front of the TV all day and all night. Even today, as I stare outside at the bright blue sky, all I am longing for is the comfort of a quiet, dark movie theatre.

I want to be swept away. My life is moving along but I long for adventure. I am begging for something to break my routine. And yet I cling on to my routine for dear life. Ask me out to something fun and I'll second guess it. These days, my old couch takes precedents over a new club.

I've been having a very Criminal Christmas. My new favourite thing to do is watch TV shows on DVD. The joy of watching any regular show sans commercial is like crack. Last year my sister got the box set of Friends (which has been watched several times over at this point) so this year I have been watching Criminal Minds which is totally terrifying and terrific. I did not realize how disturbing that show actually is until I started to zip through each season. I only have a few more to go. It's a guilty pleasure.

Guilt. Why does guilt have to be associated with pleasure? Why can't pleasure just be, well, pleasurable? Who made that shit up? And why did I believe it? Feeling guilty can take up so much time in one's day. And when you add up all those guilty moments that could be half a life dedicated to feeling really crappy about yourself.

My horoscope said that "this will be our year to supercharge our will power and intensify our ability to carry out our plans - but always with good humour and a highly tuned sense of irony. In fact, on of the best ways to deepen our command over our own unconscious impulses and caprices of fate will be to take ourselves - and everything else, too - less seriously."

Taking myself less seriously. Not only me, but everything else. Can you imagine the freedom in that? And not in a way that things don't matter. But what if I could work hard and play hard and dream big...all a little less seriously? That would be something. That would be an adventure.

"If you start every day burdened by the past, they you're a bundle of conditioned reflexes and nerves constantly being triggered by peple and circumstances into predictable outcomes, like a machine."

Deepak Chopra

November 2010

Time has passed so quickly. Here I am, Tuesday morning, and it is as though the grey outside is seeping into my veins. It's tough to shake the melancholy that I feel. I try not to judge it or make myself wrong. I guess you can call it my Blue Period, like Picasso. But even then he was expressing his creativity right?

It's been such a busy time for me and I am so incredibly grateful for that. My Zumba classes are going well and I am DJing every week. I still cannot believe that this is how I am making a living right now. It is what I wanted.

So the pace of my "work" week has become somewhat frenetic at times and right now I feel like my challenge is to create a balance. I'm finding that I don't have enough leisure time to recharge my batteries so I suffer, become irritable and moody.

I've always struggled with this time of year. We are deep in the trenches of another School year where there are mid-terms and papers and people to please. There are days that I wake up and don't feel up to the task. I feel the need to hibernate. It's come on strong this year. I want to close my eyes and when I wake up, the air is fresh and the snow is thawing and Spring is around the corner. That is not reality though. Better to deal with that, no?

Lately I've been binging on Mad Men. What an incredible series. I am so fascinated by this world, I am completely taken in. It's like looking at the past and seeing how a certain "period" in time dictates the actions and behaviours of individuals toward themselves and others. It is the world that they exist in and that is invented by them that tells them who they are and how they act and yet the Human struggle and search for meaning is something we continue to deal with now. Will someone in the not so distant future create a series about 2010 and what we were living? My role on this planet seems pretty insignificant at times but will it be of interest later on?