Tea and figs

There's too much excitement this week.

Yesterday, the new issue went online. Mia contributed photography, and I'm really happy with the layouts. We also have a new store, where people can get the print issue, with T-shirts and buttons to be added soon. Here's the cover:


Tomorrow, Bryan and I embark on New Pollution roadtrip #2, to go pick up the print issues from the printers, who are in Simcoe, Ontario. I am giddy, and trying not to think about it. And here's the cover of that:


Friday, the ever-delightful Julia Coey is swinging into town from London for a crazy week-long visit. The last time she was in this time zone was in February, so, once again, giddy, and trying to remain calm. Julia & Bryan at Mel's in February:


Also on Friday, I have to figure out how to make and box 200 cupcakes. Anyone with nothing to do on Friday is welcome to come by and help.

Saturday is the launch. Which, I'm sure, will be 12 hours of sensory overload.

Labels: friends

This has been a season of weddings. And, with friends more bohemian than most, this was my first spin around the chaos of wedding and pre-wedding events. So here's my advice, based on the photographic evidence that exists.

1. Don't let your camera drink.


This is what happens when your camera gets into the Sambuca and Greek dancing.

2. Hang out with the kids, especially once they get into the sugar.




This kid was the most awesome dancer of the summer.

3. Beware of demons. (This one might be tied in with the drunk camera phenomenon mentioned above)

Demons, everywhere.

4. Try not to take too many pictures where you will end up with people in the photos with that "Why the fuck are you taking a picture of me?" look on their faces.





5. Oh, and buy pretty shoes.

Labels: friends

Since leaving school, seasons are not so clearly delineated. Suddenly it's fall and there will be no more barbecues this year and I have to figure out where I put all my non-summer clothes when I moved. I miss school for that "it is fall, it is time to buy binders" sense of purpose.

Had a strange moment the other day on a street corner waiting for the streetcar right across from where I went to high school. I had the physical memory of myself at 16. I felt willful and focused and determined not to fit others' expectations. I could almost taste that strange adolescent combination of feeling alienated from most of society and culture and yet distinctly a member of a community. It was actually fairly gratifying, if somewhat surreal.

I've always felt reflective on that era, even at the time, which I suppose has something to do with how unusual my alternative high school was, and not just now because I'm almost 30 (which is such a boring and arbitrary reason to be introspective).

Here's what I've been busy with. 48 pages of the best of what we've done so far, which I've spent the last three weeks laying out, formatting, designing and illustrating. And I'm pretty amazed by the end result (well, fingers crossed because it's not back from the printer yet). The covers were designed by Trip Print Press, a Toronto-based printer that prints on old letterpress machines (Nicholas from Trip Print designed our cover on mid-1940s machinery).

So now that we've caught up on sleep and apologized to friends for our disappearances, all that's left is the party. We've teamed up with Henri Faberge and the Adorables (read about them here), who are launching their CD at the same time. It's at the historic Palais Royale (my grandmother used to go dancing there in the 30s), it's on September 16, and it's only $10. For 12 hours of music, that ain't bad. If you want tix, e-mail launch@thenewpollution.net. Buying tickets from us avoids service charges and helps support the magazine.

The break is not a long one -- the new web issue is due to go online this week.

Labels: music

I thought it was time to rearrange the furniture on my blog. Part of the problem is I have been rather busy of late, and part of the problem is that I am not in love with my camera, and so neglect to carry it with me sufficiently often to fuel a photoblog. So I think that I will start to write more, and see what happens.

A few weeks ago, for games night, a few of us played a game called "Things." Each of us wrote topics on index cards, which were then shuffled and then drawn as questions. Things that smell bad. Things you overheard other people say that were stupid. Things you think about in the shower. Things you'd rescue if your house was on fire.

It was less funny than most games nights have been, but more introspective. It reminded me of The Pillow Book (the book not the movie), a book that I've always been a little bit in love with. Since then, I have been compiling lists in my head, and thought I'd start off my fresh blog with an addition to the lists of things.

Things that I find sinister

A smokestack on a hospital
People who are too open about very personal issues with strangers
A small child wearing makeup
A man leaning against the outside of a bar, alone, late at night
People who talk a little too slowly
Seeing more than one dead animal in a day
Rooms with threadbare curtains