Amongst the flowers I
am alone with my pot of wine
drinking by myself; then lifting
my cup I asked the moon
to drink with me, its reflection
and mine in the wine cup, just
the three of us; then I sigh
for the moon cannot drink,
and my shadow goes emptily along
with me never saying a word;
with no other friends here, I can
but use these two for company;
in the time of happiness, I
too must be happy with all
around me; I sit and sing
and it is as if the moon
accompanies me; then if I
dance, it is my shadow that
dances along with me; while
still not drunk, I am glad
to make the moon and my shadow
into friends, but then when
I have drunk too much, we
all part; yet these are
friends I can always count on
these who have no emotion
whatsoever; I hope that one day
we three will meet again,
deep in the Milky Way.

– Li Po (701-762)

Yvette And Doreen are taking a seminar on Li Po at the Poughkeepsie Center for the Eastern Arts.

Yvette: How interesting.
Doreen: How delightful.
Yvette: The moon, a man talking to the moon… you gotta come up with that…
Doreen: Yes ha… quite unexpected.
Yvette: …Turn off your cell-phone, Doreen.
Doreen: It’s on vibrate.
Yvette: I know Doreen, but I can still hear it. It’s not nice for the other people.
Doreen: …
Yvette: (to student B to her left) We’re sorry, it’s just her… cell phone. (To Doreen) You see?
Doreen: If I didn’t know you, I’d think you can’t stand me.
Yvette: Shhh, it was your idea to come here so be quiet please, let me learn.

Doreen starts sobbing and takes out a huge vibrator from her purse. She stands up and starts waving it on the air. The whole class is staring at her.

Doreen: So now you can see… it wasn’t my cell phone, no, it was this. How depressing am I? How desperate?

Instructor: Excuse me miss, but I actually think that you are the only person here who really understood what Li Po was trying to say. It’s exactly that acknowledgement that we are alone even when we are surrounded by people. That false sense that our despair is shared by the people who seem to care the most. Bravo, miss…?

Yvette: Doreen, she’s Doreen and I’m her best friend Yvette.

Doreen stares at Yvette and sees in her eyes the truth of a lifelong friendship. Yvette puts her arms around Doreen. While Doreen is trying to put her vibrator back in her purse, it falls on the head of Student D, who’s sitting right in front of her. A moment of nervousness is followed by a relaxed and shared laugh in the whole class.

かっぽう着を作る一日

先週の木曜日、星ヶ丘洋裁学校で秋のフェスタの特別授業として開催させていただいたワークショップは５人の方に参加していただきました。今回はミシンの設 備のないギャラリーでの開催ということもあり、当初みなさんにはエプロンの部分だけを手縫いで作っていただく予定だったのですが、参加されていた方の希望 もあり、かっぽう着作りの一通りを一緒に進めて行く内容に変更しました。そのため、作業量のかなり多い内容になりましたが、時間も大幅に延長させていただ き、なんとか５人５様のかっぽう着の出来あがりがイメージできるところまで作り、仕上げは自宅でというかたちで持ち帰っていただきました。

一 度に詰め込んでたくさんのことをしたので、参加者の方はちょっと消化不良…！？だったのでは、と心配していますが、一通り手を動かして仕上げれば、個々の 作業への理解も後から付いてくると思います。また実際着てみることでも、身体の動きと衣服の構造の関係というのも経験できます。ぜひ、また２着目、３着目 に挑戦していただき、自分に合った着やすいかっぽう着を発見していただければと思います。

後日、あちらこちらから「ワークショップ、参加したかった！」と声を掛けていただきました。今回は初めての試みでしたが、また今回の反省点を活かして、内容を整理した形で続けていけたらと思っています。ブログ上でまたご案内させていただきますね。

そ れにしても、星ヶ丘洋裁学校、ほとんど丸一日の時間を過ごさせていただきましたが、ほんとうに静かな時間のながれる、すてきな場所でした。ワークショップ が、うまく進められるかどうかとても心配でしたが、敷地内に入ると、前から知っていた場所のように心が落ち着き、その気持ちをまん中に据えて、行うことが できました。ありがとうございました。

www.hibitann.exblog.jp |  www.iwishicoulddescribeittoyoubetter.net/us/anyway/kappogi.html

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Zürich night

Photo courtesy of Nic Shepherd

Some 15 minutes after having been abandoned at the Perla Mode by an American living in Zürich, I found him again at another opening at a small exhibition space called Les Complices. He made some comment about how I was typically Canadian because of the desire I expressed (which admittedly had structured my last 5 years) to keep going out rather than back to North America. I had not assigned value to my statement, and in my view it could indeed be taken as a lack of control and capriciousness. The space, which had a DJ playing, was a queer art space. I was not sure if my jocular, drunk brotherness was appreciated, and I was in the mood to joke. Out front one of the drunk women, who turned out to be a Canadian from Montreal, tried to convince her acquaintances to go out to a non-gay place to dance. She appeared to be quite drunk, and unless I was mistaken, the other two were not very fond of her. She had pimples. The other two returned to their friends inside and I was left, so she asked me and I thought, why not, I’d like to go dancing. We walked arm in arm down the street to a place right on Langstrasse. She joked with the bouncer who tried to remain stern, they were obviously familiar with each other, and it made me feel that this was a small town. Inside it was hip hop night, and various large men rocked back and forth in the red velvet surroundings. She knew someone (although they claimed they hadn’t known each other before) and they began talking. She asked me to buy her a drink, but I really had no money on me. This other girl seemed to be looking for someone to go home with. They asked me if I wanted to fuck, said that it was what everyone in the room wants. I joked that I was a virgin and the girl believed me, appeared to take pity on me, which made me uncomfortable – when I retracted the statement she asked me what kind of lover I was. I motioned to some of the large men standing near the turntables “maybe they want to fuck.” She considered this and went to see about it. When the lesbian’s back was also turned I used the opportunity to slip out the front door with my backpack on. I walked home along the vacant street car lines. I kept thinking of the girl’s sad expression when she said she came to the bar quite regularly, but no one had interest in fucking her. It made me kind of sad too.

[courtesy of Michael Eddy, October 2009]

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