"in a turbulant world…"

hard to know what one can say such is the speed of news and developments coming out of the ::green revolution:: in iran – but i think this is twitter perhaps finally finding its true value. and given the power of blogging in iran in recent years, this is perhaps not surprising. reading the tweets out of the raided university dorms has made for sobering reading. it never ceases to amaze and humble me at how couragous humans can be when faced with physical threat.

in other, totally different, news – i’m sorry i haven’t a clue returns.
it’ll be on radio 4 and the bbc iplayer as of tonight. episode details here. nice.

yesterday’s collaborative session with jayne and jonny went well so i now have two weeks to take the ideas and the processes we messed about with back to dublin and create the pieces for the exhibit. but i’m glad i asked for their energy and input. it was something of a masterclass in experimenting with techniques and i’m looking forward to playing with ink and graphite powder, salt and acryclics over the coming days.

last night’s ikon was a good step toward greenbelt. i spent much of this morning sorting and typing the notes from the creative discussion we got going. colour me feeling very hopeful at what it could become…

downpour has finally passed over and despite continued rain it’s time to get moving. a trip to the art store and chats with The Father and with my gay boyfriend await. and soggy converse i suspect.

LB

don’t play with fire…

unless you’re coming to ikon.

this coming sunday:

pyrotheology – “the only church that illuminates is a church that is burning”

as is usual, the june ikon gathering is our last before the summer break (i.e. gb09 prep time) and so, as is also usual, we’ll be experimenting on the small scale with the themes we’ll be exploring on the big scale at the festival.

if you care to join us in some theological arson, you are invited to bring a short prepared reflection to read to the assembled crowd. make that, *very* short. or you might find yourself burned.

date: sunday 14th june –
doors: 18:00 (i’m guessing) –
place: the black box, cathedral quarter, belfast

further details will be going up shortly on pete’s blog, ikon facebook page and ikon announce mailing list. and probably twitter too.

LB

(hat tip to a daily dish reader for the ad)

tyra banks can bite me

yesterday turned out good. choppy internal seas calmed thanks to some writing and then lunch with jayne in which we concluded that hormones are a rollercoaster of shit and that the only solution is a good cry and some cake. drinks in muriel’s followed (photo’s below) with lovely folks, and then ikon Last Supper at The Roost.

it was a privilege. peterson shared poetry, an extended scene from doin’ time in the homo nomo halfway house and a wonderful extract from a brand new project he’s writing.

and then peterson’s partner, glen retief, shared an incredible chapter from his memoir, the jack bank, which is due to be published in 2010. an equally powerful extract available here. their offerings left me speechless, shaken and stirred. amazing stuff.

::

which brings me to today…
my plan was to return to dublin this morning but instead i’m staying an extra night. am heading to QUB tonight for an event peterson’s doing (details here), and looking forward to a final nightcap with P&G after.

and the morning has proved rather eventful…

i awoke to find my plan B for 2009 of applying to be on America’s Next Top Model cycle 13 (all models under 5’7″) is no longer necessary. which is a relief, since Celia was knocked out of cycle 12’s final 4 for being “too old”. at 20-fricking-5.

so this plan B is in the bin thanks to,
(1) getting notification from UCD that,

“The Graduate Board of the College of Human Sciences has approved your application for the MA Women’s Studies programme (full-time)…We hope you will accept the offer and look forward to seeing you here in September”

colour me saying, “i will.”

and

(2) at the age of 35 and a 1/2, i’m now adding “cover girl” to my resume – *without* the help of the above mentioned ms banks. seventeen magazine?, i hear you ask. oprah magazine? french vogue? ms.? bitch? bust? national enquirer? fly fishing weekly? nope. Christian Century. details here on pete’s blog. the article’s actually an interview with pete but the cover makes for a kind of ikon where’s wally? of familiar faces and silhouettes.

as of tomorrow i’m gonna follow in ms evangelista’s footsteps and won’t get out of bed for less than $10,000. i presume this means i need to purchase a cathater forthwith.

::

photos of some of the lovely folks of the week – sadly missing is a pic of steve lawson, who surprised us with a visit. he managed to convince me of the beauty and possiblity of twitter. and did so without the use of thumb screws. i usually don’t get to see steve any other time than greenbelt so this made for an unexpected treat.

peterson and ian (mrs tumnus) strike a pose in muriel’s…

LittleBird and Pád, my love…

The Father (our host for the week) and Glen sharing a lunchtime pint at The Nook,
before walking down to the Giant’s Causeway on Monday…

right, i’m off to meet the rollins for lunch. which reminds me,

friday night, centaur, gb09. ikon will be committing theological arson. we is rubbing our collective and collaborative hands together gleefully at the plan that is coming together… we’ve now 3 months to do a Macgyver on it…

LB

p.s. i’m really rather proud and admiring of fr tim bartlett for standing up for his convictions. tim’s a nice guy, was very supportive of zero28 and i’ve seen him faced with some very difficult questions over the years in various fora. but none as difficult as last sunday.