So I just got the best compliment from LB. She told me that we and a friend of hers used to view my LJ (before it got chained up) to read, "Peeves and Covets". And get this, they would do voices and stuff... Needless to say, I got all warm and teary upon hearing this and immediately wanted to resurrect the P&C thing. I am not even sure that I can do it anymore.

However, my sister and I did go to Lileo on the July 1st Canookie Holiday to check out the sale in the Distillery.

Peeves

Rolled up shorts, ugh
too long shorts
too short shorts
Get it right, people!!!!
No Capris, that ship has sailed
weird timepieces
faux hawks


Covets

ndc shoes - any kind, any where, any time
These Prada black oxfords with red rubber soles... yum
anything made of whipcord, seersucker, or linen - go on the Sartorialist's website if you want to see what I am talking about
gingham, gingham and more gingham - that shit never gets old, I wore it in elementary school
the perfect cutoffs
the deep vee tee - an ode to Alexis
rod lavers

A word about all the fucking plaid that abounds in the world today. This state of affairs is getting out of hand and not all plaid is created equal. The only thing that I am going to say about this may seem esoteric, but it makes sense to me. I have been recently obsessed with the 1998-2002 series, Felicity. I have shame about this so please keep your bitchy ass comments to yourself. Anyway, if you want to see good plaid, reclaim that show.
enuf said.

This entry is dedicated to Liz Brockest.

BUT,

I feel like I must vent about Adam Lambert.

I cannot stand him.

I know he is gay and all but he is so desperately un-modern so actively un-interesting.

He is cheesy and affected and is Church Street to Ossington, Chelsea to Williamsburg, and if I knew more about the cheesy vs. the hipster parts of San Francisco, I would include that pithy reference for oompf.

I cannot bear his interpretations of ridiculous song choices, his 2000 aesthetic and his faux punk/goth black shoe polish hair and fingernails presentation.

I had to leave the room during his awful rendition of "Play that Funky Music" (Gay) White Boy.

I do have a smidgen of empathy for the high school kid who moved to LA to be a STAR and could only manage Dinner Theatre until he sold his ass to AI for mainstream payback to the bullies and naysayers in his hometown.

If this systems actually works, he should win, but he is no David Archuleta.

REENA IS OK WITH FORWARDING THIS MESSAGE:

Dear friends, family, comrades and colleagues;

Most of you know that I've been working on a site-specific commission for the Koffler Gallery in Kensington Market, set to open on May 20th. Kim Simon is an independent curator, who found me and proposed my work to the Koffler last year. She has been my main creative (and now political) ally in the process.

Today, at 9am Kim and I were informed by Lori Starr (Koffler executive director) and Mona Philip (Koffler curator) that the Koffler is disassociating from the exhibition: removing their name and URL's from any further outreach materials, exhibition posters and press.

Why?
Their Board of Directors, along with their major funder - The UJA of Greater Toronto - has decided that they "will not associate with an artist who publicly advocates the extinction of Israel as a Jewish state".

In our meeting with Lori and Mona this morning, it was made clear that their decision is based on my involvement specifically with Israeli Apartheid Week. Lori was explicit that it isn't me they object to, but the public statements I've made on behalf of specific organizations. Seeing this as a moment of potential change, I proposed a meeting with their Board, in which I would explain the true mandate of Israeli Apartheid Week, CAIA, and the Jewish Women's Committee to End the Occupation - now known as Women in Solidarity with Palestine.

Why now?
A year ago, Kim asked Mona directly if Koffler would have a problem showing my work considering my solidarity with Palestine. Mona was clear that since the project didn't deal with the issue, Koffler would stand behind it. Indeed, after a year of having access to my website, CV, Facebook page and any Google search results, it wasn't until this week that they chose to look at my Facebook page, and found a link to Israel Apartheid Week.

What the?
This weekend, I am working with Kim Simon, the independent curator on the project to respond to Koffler's press release (click on it to link there) with our own press release in response. It's evident they are acting out of fear. Fear of critique of Israel from within the Jewish community, fear of the repercussions of standing by an artist who is affiliated with justice for Palestinians.

Nu, so, what now?
They have offered to continue the project's $20,000 funding - without attaching to it institutionally in any way. An interesting proposal indeed. The project is quite extensive, and involves youth from Ryerson Community Public School, Seniors from Baycrest Centre, The Element Choir, solo vocalists and a number of stores, homes and cultural institutions in Kensington Market. Of course, I don't want to cancel the project but feel very uncertain at this time of how I want to proceed with it. Kim and I are putting thought to this, and plan to have a decision on Sunday. I am interested in taking this up politically, and strategizing around the best way to do that.

Until then, I would greatly appreciate your support in sending the Koffler messages. This is clearly an attempt by a mainstream Jewish institutions to stifle dissent within our community, and the art world in general. Please cc me on anything you send. Also, talk about it to anyone you know - especially arts organizations and their members. I'll be in touch soon with our press release.

With love and justice,
Reena Katz

Today, I had the strange experience of being easily irritated. That is unlike me. I wish it would go away or it's motive would reveal itself.

I saw The Reader on Sat. night and found it to be a complex film.

We had a great time in Tobago then in Trinidad, thanks for all the Birthday wishes. Jige xo

1. Take a picture of yourself right now.
2. Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair...just take a picture.
3. Post that picture with NO editing.
4. Post these instructions with your picture.

OMG, so all done.

The June 20 call to the bar ceremony was quite the day. Everyone was up at 6 am and my family Mummy, Daddy, Rhesa, my godparents, my uncle Mervyn (the last 4 came up from Trinidad) and Dana were all there. I was robed, seated at 8:30 am and called to the bar by 9:15.

It was a very West Indian affair. The honourary LLD was given to a retired judge who was from Guyana originally and Justice Pitt who is from Grenada entered all 293 of us as solicitors to the Ontario court. Nice. I felt sort of at home. The Law Society is super organized and we were out of there in 2 hours flat!

We had lunch at an Italian restaurant across the street and dropped the elders off to watch the Euro Cup soccer before the party.

Before I even got to the party I was in a fender bender! The dumbass guy was backing out of an alley between two parked cars during rush hour on a Friday - DUH. Anyway, it was not serious and I was unhurt. Thank god, could you imagine? My sister was totally freaked out.

Party was super fun. There was a ton of food - Roti, curried chicken, chickpeas and potatoes; meat pies and arepas and chicken and cheese puffs - the real Trini ting. People ate it up.

Weather was fantastic and we were all outside the whole time. My dad was great with the queers which was a relief now that I think of it. He was fascinated with the more boi-ish of us and kept referring to several of my friends as "Michael J. Fox". He was pretty toasted. I gave him my Penguin shirt and he totally sported it!

Anyway, suffice to say, I pulled this shit off. I am back to work now and today I had my first hearing post-call. At the end of it one of the Superintendents of Education said, "you're very good". It hit me as I said goodbye to my clients, gee, I am their lawyer. When I got home I got a letter from the law society with the invoice for my bar association fees and my enrollment forms for professional liability insurance.

And life goes on.

Anyway, here are some pics....

I don't quite know what to make of this. I have one whole set of answers prior to moving to Canada when I was 14 to my answers post 14 to the age ordained as relevant and important (18) by the meme people so my answers got really messy and overly explanatory with the displacement in the diaspora narrative.

I just read my LJ friend's rant about how these meme things are so irritating because often she finds them sadly lacking in any assumptive accommodation of those of us who are not white and not subject to American values, privileges, experiences and rites of passage. Take a simple difference like SAT prep courses which, another LJ colleague points out, we don't "do" in Canada. Yeah, she has a point.

Ah, well, just another day feeling like other on the Internet.

2008 - some things never change.

Cheers, g xo

Happy new year, LJ family
I am so ready for stability after the intense change that happened in 2007.

Hope you all are well, there is snow on the ground here.

love Jige xo

I am so busy at work these days that I feel whenever I post it is with either euphoric or catastrophic news. Today I am serving up the latter.

This morning my mother called me at work. I was in a meeting so I missed the call. She then called my cell phone - which she never does. It means she wants to reach me right away. When I called her back, she told me that my sister's friend in the Caymans where she recently spent 6 months has been killed in a car accident. She was hit head on by a truck with her baby daughter in the car. Not a scratch on little Zoe. Her husband, Charlie, called my sister last night, and my mom said did not stop crying throughout the night.

Now my sister and I have not been speaking lately. We are vexed with each other as we are wont to be from time to time. It was time to put that away and be there for her. So I texted and told her that I would be over to stay with her this evening as Mummy would be out with friends. I said I would cook dinner for her. She was crying when she called me back. Shani was 39, Jewish and Australian. She had two kids, a boy, 5 years old and a girl, 21 months. When she visited my sister in Toronto last June over Pride, we all had brunch.

When I got there this evening, my sister told me that our aunt, Maureen, who lives in Miami called. She was hysterical. She said that our uncle, their youngest brother, Gene had passed away. I was calm. It was a wonder that Gene survived 60 years on this earth. Gene was born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his throat. He lost a lot of oxygen to his brain. As a result, he had a severe speech impediment and was profoundly developmentally delayed. He was a tiny man, about 100 pounds. He lived with my grandmother in Trinidad until she died in 2000. When I flew down with my mother to bury Granny, I had never seen him so distraught. He did not want to live without his mother. But live he did. For the last 7 years he lived in the 3 bedroom house my grandparents left him with Maureen's son, Duane, another challenged family member, and Gene's best friend, Carl. The three of them fought, partied, cooked, smoked DuMaurier cigarettes and drank rum. I never thought of Gene as my "uncle". He was so childlike. He loved my mother deeply, who is the oldest. Anytime anyone went down to Trinidad, she would send him jeans and sneakers and tee shirts. Gene worked in a factory for 22 years until he lost the top of a finger in a workplace accident and got a disability pension. He was estranged from his brother, Neil, an engineer. My memory of Gene will always be sitting at the old record player (the "radiogram") in my grandparents' wooden house playing records sitting in his special chair playing imaginary drums. Last night Gene had a stroke, Duane was with him from about 3 am in the hospital, around 6 pm Duane went home to shower and eat. When he got there, the hospital called to say Gene had passed away.

My mother does not know yet, she is still out. I just talked to my Dad and he said it. She is going to take this news hard.

Jige xo

Go to:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UDhfDuAN5M


Bake n Shark Dubbed 'Best Fish Sandwich In The World' World famous chef
and Travel Channel's TV Host, Andrew Zimmern, dubsTrinidad and Tobago's
Bake and Shark the Best Fish Sandwich he's ever eaten through all his
travels in the world!

You all are so wonderful, [sniff] and more confident than I was!

Love you, friends,

g xoxoxo

1. First day at work as an articling student, I already have some hefty files and a meeting on Thurs. afternoon.
2. I passed my bar exams. I had to read the email 5 times to let it sink in.
3. Got back from Mich on Friday. Aussie staying with me until Thurs. House a MESS. Body sore.

g xo

Anyone looking for a corporate career in marketing?

Hi Gigi,


Hope all is well!

Just wanted to let you know that I Love Rewards is hiring for seven
positions in the Finance (2) and IT (5) departments. If you are
interested or know anyone else that may be, please forward off this e-
mail and have them go to 'www.iloverewards.com/Careers' to see the
jobs that are available and apply. There are junior and senior
positions available in both departments.

Also, to anyone interested in working for a growing organization and
want to learn more about I Love Rewards they can contact me directly
or visit our website. To get some additional information about the
great culture and what the organization offers employees, visit
www.iloverewards.com/Culture. I'd also suggest taking a look at the
Top 100 Reasons to work at I Love Rewards and some of our most recent
press and media to get a better understanding of the fun we have and
what we're about.

With our recent 2007 acclaims of being Profit's 12th Fastest Growing
Companies in Canada and one of Canada's Top 100 Employers, it speaks
volumes of our work environment and growth as we look to add some
great people to the team.

Thanks,
Linton

So Friday was graduation. My mom, sister and I drove to Windsor for the weekend and had so much fun. It was a lot of family time, but with me away at school and Rhesa in the Caymans for the last 6 months, I think we missed each other. Here is a pic of me and Mummy. She looks so amazing for 65 and retirement this year. Lovelikeyeast joined us and was so lovely. It was nice to have my people there to share the moment. It was just the law school grads and everyone was so excited and happy and glad to be there. It was a very nice experience. The president of the university cautioned us not to be an AFNAR (arrogant for no apparent reason). The law profs laughed nervously. Heh. Hilarious. The honourary LLD was given to the Mayor of Amsterdam! It was all very homey and not stuffy at all. The weather was GORGEOUS all weekend. It was hot so I wore the khaki cotton suit. I am still in the middle of my bar exams so thank you to all for the support and the good wishes. It will be over soon and I promise to regale you all with tales of this weird and awful process. Almost done. Almost free.

all my love Jige xo

Hello.
so excited. Got an articling job. I don't even know the salary.
started studying for the bar exams. Sucks. Material is not hard but DENSE.
slightly panicky about it.
Went to a gay wine tasting at the roots store across the street and got someone a graduation present.
there were so many fancee fags there I felt the need to raise my game a bit! I need some clothes! I did get myself some check penguin shorts and a brown lacoste shirt. Considering custom made jeans because the tailor is SO CUTE.
Don't need any shoes, but need some coloured jeans, the perfect henley and a thin black v-neck cotton sweater, a black skinny tie and a contrasting collar Etro shirt, maybe in acqua. yum
Oh, btw, did I tell you that I got a job yesterday? The job I wanted from day one? I start Aug 20 so I have from July 9 to then off. So happy and relieved. Thanks to all for the support. This is a long and torturous process. To all the students out there, I feel ya.
love, Jige xo

Peeps, put ya lighters up.

I am finished law school.

Just handed the paper in electronically, talked to my prof RB who is wonderful and will go get some jerk chicken tonight to celebrate.

I felt like I gave birth to that piece, the last piece. It was called, "An Other Body Experience: Locating the Transgender Litigant in Law".

Thank you to Cherry Midnight for the kick in the pants and to congrats to ALC for finishing first year law school. You are both anchors for me. Here is to all the queer lawyers out there. This shit is hard. Thanks to Miz_Who for all your support, talk about being in the eye of the storm, and OMB and Fae and Liz and my new friend who I need to ask her name! Exciting.

Also to my favourite lurker, I will deal with you later...

I am going to put the paper from this paper away now and start looking at new paper. I picked up my Bar exam materials 2 days ago. HOLY SHIT. 835 pages, two 7 hour exams, multiple choice, one on May 29 and one on June 6. Oh and did I mention, it cost $3000.00 to be tortured. You have to wonder what you went to law school for.

There are people out there that I care about like LLY and AP and Miz_Who who are going through transitions now of herculean magnitude. Thinking about you.

Everyone take a deep collective breath, it is all going to be okay.

I am in Toronto, so at least there will be fashion posts.

all my love, Jige xo

I am totally exhausted. Incoherent really.
Handed in my legal ethics paper
Handed in my lawyer as conflict resolver paper
Wrote corporate law - hellish, but fair even though I know I fucked something up
Wrote trusts which was the worst experience in recent memory, but at least everyone thought so. That is what happens when you don't TEACH!
I have 24 pages written of my last paper. The beginning is good, the end is good, but the middle is very mushy. I have until May 5 to hand it in, but I really want to be DONE with law school this weekend.
I also grew this goatee and my mother is coming to help back and do some cross-border shopping tomorrow.
I am also pissed the fuck off I am not going to this prom thing
There is no rest, no congratulations, no glass of Verve Cliquot, I pick up my bar exam materials May 1 and my first exam is May 29. UGH.

I just want the next two months to be over.

don't say a prayer for me now, save it till the morning after - Duran Duran.

I felt so awful that I bought a new shirt on ebay for 13.50! Penguin, short sleeved, ochre with brown and light blue plaid - the one bright spot this week.

Oh, the weather is shit.

But I am enjoying catching up (procrastinating) with all of you, g xo