Some electro-cumbia Canadiana
& what happens when a ten-year-old takes centre-stage
Happy friday my friend,
When I was a kid, I was, admittedly, a bit too intense about the local festival of the arts. Where most kids saw a piano recital or a mandatory class project to memorize and recite The Cremation of Sam McGee, I saw my chance to shine. As a ten year old, I would take the adjudicator’s notes on my performance of my (terrible) original poetry very seriously, then be a little bit baffled as to why I got mocked on the bus-ride back to school.
My only issue when it came to being on a stage when I was little, was that I wasn’t front and centre. For school plays, my too-loud voice was apparently perfect for being the narrator, standing off to the side, and my tweenage self resented that I didn’t ever get cast in a real role for any of the school plays. I had no shame about my entertainer ambitions.
So I’m not totally sure what happened at my (virtual) reading last night for the excerpt I was fortunate enough to have chosen as a finalist for a contest. My hands were shaking so much, it was hard to read from my pages. Despite all of my practice run-throughs, I was a sweaty mess afterwards. I’m no stranger to public speaking, but there’s a significant difference between getting up in front of 200 coworkers to share a marketing update and presenting a group of strangers with something I’ve created.
I know we all have moments like this - moments where we have to be vulnerable to reap any sort of reward. Here’s hoping that over the next few years, I can find my way back to the shameless oddball child who would have stomped onto the virtual stage last night and read with over-the-top expressiveness. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend, and for the hype up messages before, during, and after my reading.
The best thing I heard this week
In an interview about her book that is famous for being a heartbreaking tearjerker, author and magazine editor Hanya Yanagihara was asked what was the last book that made her cry. To which she replied:
"I haven’t cried since 1995 and don’t intend to start.”
This is how I imagine her office:
I’m reading
The Shen Yun ballet of public transit billboard fame is not at all what you think it is, I promise. Skiing as an aspirational act in dealing with depression. The convoluted and complicated world of metal detector enthusiasts and what happened when two Brits found a Viking hoard worth $15.4 million and didn’t follow legal process. The second life of Princess Diana’s notorious black sheep sweater.
The (incidentally Canadian) good stuff
Lido Pimienta’s second album, Miss Colombia, has been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album, which is not a category Canada has traditionally dominated. She won the Polaris prize in 2017 with her album La Papessa, which was the first time a 100% independent album that wasn’t in English or French won the prize. Which I kind of love. People tend to have a very narrow idea of what constitutes CANCON, and electro-cumbia doesn’t usually fall into that category.
You might be most familiar with her collaboration with A Tribe Called Red on the absolute banger The Light Part II (which is the only time I’ve heard her voice on the radio), but her songs Nada and Eso Que Tu Haces are haunting stunners that I highly recommend. You can listen to her GRAMMY-NOMINATED ALBUM, Miss Colombia, on Spotify.
Until next time, have a great weekend. If you have a friend who you think might not hate this, why not forward it to them?
- Trish