WLWL: Issue 3

wlwl created by welikewelove.com

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a magazine about sharing the things you like

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contents

clockwise from top left:

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18

19

8

Young & Pretty

Photo Essay

Market Collective

the Chair

Liz Field

Welcome

Amy Victoria Wakefield

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they like & love: {5} Angel Guerra & Angela Dione good life: Young & Pretty

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art: the Chair

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fashion: Second Hand Style

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John Gerrard

16 art

Jessica Bell

Liz Field

art: the Cecil

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thoughts: A Good Mess { 22 }

art: Jessica Bell

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photo essay: Amy Victoria Wakefield

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short story: Ben: Chapter 3

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advice: Hey Lady!

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poem: a Lesson in Romance

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Market Collective

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music: Little Foot Long Foot

my place: Vintage Dreams

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welikewelove

a magazine about sharing the things you like issue 3 * Third times a charm!

Alyssa Chomick Creative Director * * * * * * * * alyssa@welikewelove.com

Liz Field Managing Editor * * * * * * * *

just in time to begin again It’s January. The start of another year. But we won’t ask you to come up with New Year’s resolutions that include dropping ten pounds and using less cuss words and stopping to help old lady’s across the street. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we heard those last year too. It almost seems funny that come January year after year we make promises to ourselves and to others that prove nearly impossible to keep (please note that this writer thinks realistic goal setting is an entirely different thing than New Year’s resolutions, mostly due to the influence of one Michelle Crimmins). We build lists filled with items about our lives and ourselves that we’re sick of or that don’t seem to cut it anymore or seem as glamorous when compared to _______ (insert interesting person you know here).

liz@welikewelove.com

Shane Yuhas Staff Photographer * * * * * * * * shane@shaneyuhas.com

thank you... to our amazing contributors

Stephanie Jager, Photographer Amy Victoria Wakefield, Photographer Jessica Bell, Artist Dalyce Chomick, Writer & Mischief Maker Michelle Crimmins, Writer Joshua Naud, Photographer & Writer John Gerrard, Photographer & Artist Allison Cullen, Stylist Anne Wright, Photographer Jessie Jones, Writer Brock Mitchell, Photographer

Don’t get me wrong, at the core of this tradition I see inherently good intentions: to become better than we were the previous year, to grow, to learn, to add or subtract things from ourselves that ought (or ought not) be there. But then, why are these lists so quickly abandoned and forgotten? Because by March or April, the daunting task of keeping up with our promises inevitably leaves us with one more item to add to our list next year: start making better lists.

The truth is living to check items off lists becomes an end in itself, and the very reason the list was made in the first place loses meaning. So this year, we don’t want you to lose the meaning behind why you made your resolutions in the first place (or those ten pounds either, we like the way your butt looks in those jeans). We want to invite you to start over. Begin again. Fresh. New. Not according to what you did or didn’t do last year, just according to who you are now. The Latin phrase “de novo” literally translates to “of the new,” and that’s what we are every January.

New creatures.

It takes courage to let go of incomplete lists of the past and give ourselves permission to start again. Maybe from the beginning, maybe from the middle, or maybe from Idaho. Wherever you find yourself this January, we hope that it is not holding onto past failures, but looking ahead at unwritten pages and unlimited opportunity to be the person you like (and love) being.

Here’s to plenty of de novo’s in 2010.

This is our third try!

wlwl is published 4 times a year it is available to purchase via www.welikewelove.magcloud.com Support us by visiting www.welikewelove.com > Read the blog, send us an email and submit to the magazine. Thank you for your ongoing support of welikewelove! xoxo * Cover photo: Amy Victoria Wakefield

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my favorite things

LAUREN { LOVES }

SITTING ON THE ROOF OF MY CAR, WATCHING THE STARS * ROOIBOS TEA * ROAD TRIPS TO THE OCEAN * LONGBOARDING * FAR AWAY PLACES *

{ Visit } www.myspace.com/laurenmannmusic

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Lauren Mann * Calgary singer-songwriter Lauren Mann is releasing her EP (“Lost and Found”) this month, and we can’t wait to own a copy. You’ll want to keep an eye on this girl – she is going to move mauntains!

Print & Pattern * I love detail. Things that are made with care and love. My eyes are always delighted when I look at something with a pattern or print. I love the surprise that it adds to an outfit, room, book cover, dinner plate or kitchen chair.

New York I Love You * Have you seen “Paris, Je T’aime”? If not – go rent Television it! If you have – get ready for this new movie! * Is it just me, or are there an abundance of NYILY is a compilation of short films about the Big amazing new television shows? I’m considering the Apple. An amazing collaboration of storytellers, filmmakers and actors, this movie is not one to miss.

{ favorite sites }

www.calgaryisawesome.com * Learn about all things that make Calgary www.thesartorialist.com awesome. From restaurant reviews to Good Peeps * I love street-style blogs. They are my favorite. I interviews to music videos of independent artists love seeing real people from around the world and – this site has everything you need to keep up on what they are creating with their wardrobe. There what is happening in and around Calgary. are many street-style blogs that have come after, like facehunter.com, copenhagenstreetstyle.dk, www.pollstar.com streetpeeper.com, streetclicker.net and more. But * If you want to know what concerts are happening I still find myself checking the Sartorialist’s site in your area; check out this site. Simply type in daily. You can’t beat the original. your location or the artist you want to see, and

ownership of a PVR, as there is not enough time to watch the shows I love and lead a normal life.

Plus, life is too short to waste my time watching crappy television. My list of new must-see shows include Glee, FlashForward, Parks & Recreation, Community, Better Off Ted, Bored to Death and the hilarious Modern Family (shown above). Check your local listings for days and times!

you will get a list of everthing playing in your area or every show your favorite artist has booked. It’s a great site to stay ahead of what is happening music-wise in your area. www.modcloth.com * I love this site for women’s clothing. You can find interesting pieces that won’t break your wallet.

They carry various brands and styles with a large selection of clothing, shoes and accessories!

they like & love

angel guerra & angela dione Market Collective creators visit page { 27 } for more

ANGEL { LOVES }

2-wheelers (moter and pedaler) * late nights * jesus * practical jokes * adventuring

ANGEL { LIKES }

dreaming * 5 cent candies * house plants * lifting heavy objects * going for breakfast with you

ANGELA { LOVES }

Delicious Thai in Kensington (the reason I make time to eat dinner) * A bath and a good book (right now I can’t get enough of Kurt Vonnegut) * Roasterie coffee: New Orleans dark roast, black, little white cup (also the people that serve it) * The sound guy for MC. * Thrift Stores, most definitely.

ANGELA { LIKES }

a big bowl of cereal and/or a tall glass of juice * a nice, solid hug * a really good thunder storm * natural light (all those who live in a basement suite know what I’m talking about) * planting a garden (I dug up a garden last summer at 1am, and I think people walking by thought I was burying someone)

Angel (left) & Angela (right) at WLWL photobooth at Market Collective in the Summer. See more photos on pages { 28-29 }

Every issue someone from a feature article will open up about the different things that are catching their eye right now.

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{ Visit } www.myspace.com/youngandprettyfolk

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YOUNG & PRETTY { Liz Field } likes to listen to Banjo Song by Mt Royal.

Having already triumphed in their hometown of Medicine Hat, and established a name for themselves in Calgary’s music scene, the lovable boys from MT. Royal continue to divide and conquer with their creation Young and Pretty Music Collective.

Front runner Thomas DiNinno (who shares this role with twin brother Robert) was kind enough to exchange some words with WLWL while on the road touring in Canada.

* How did Young and Pretty Music Collective come to exist?

It came into existence when I realized that music was something that all my close friends and I wanted to pursue seriously, and that if we where going to be living in Medicine Hat and trying to be in bands there needed to be a music scene - there needed to be shows and people needed to be excited about it.

* What is it a platform for?

A lot of things have changed since we started, for the most part Young & Pretty exists now to purely to book shows. I think for the most part we have

achieved what we set out to do, which was to book as many shows as possible, and build a scene for independent (alternative) music in Medicine Hat. Since then we have started a collective label called Fan Club Music Club. We basically help local musicians with anything they might need help with: recording bands, booking tours, designing and screening affordable packaging. It can be hard to know where to start with things like that, so we figured we can help stop people from making the same mistakes we did. Its pretty much like a crash course in D.I.Y for bands.

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* Why is it important for collectives to exist?

I think its important because we live in a D.I.Y generation - you no longer need to rely on any kind of record label or booking agent to be a successful band. If you want to tour, just figure out how to do it and do it. If you want to make a CD, just figure out how to do it, and do it. These things become extremely easy when you surround yourself with a collective of passionate people with like minded goals. Everyone works to help everyone else what sounds better than that?

* How can people get involved/support Young and Pretty?

Instead of getting involved, I would suggest just starting a new collective. We won’t be living in medicine hat forever, and it would be nice to see

some new kids step in and fill the niche. Until then, I think the best way to support the collective is to continue to come out to the shows we put on, and support the touring bands.

* What has the response been to the collective?

The response has been great, we went from having one all ages show a month, to hosting a weekly showcase at The Ottoman within a matter of months, which has become a popular stop for touring bands from all over Canada. The best part is that people continue to come out every week.

It’s great to see this kind of support from the city - if no one came there would be no reason to host these bands. In addition to seeing so many touring bands making this a stop, its been amazing to see all the new local bands that seem to pop up every

month and to see the scene here balance out so perfectly - its really going to be sad to leave.

Ready to pass on the torch in their hometown, we can’t wait to see and hear what these boys get up to next.

Where to listen/learn more: * www.myspace.com/mtroyal (listen or purchase their latest CD Mad Foxes.) * www.myspace.com/youngandprettyfolk

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{ Visit } www.seabather.com

art & creation

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The Chair { John Gerrard } likes to think, create, paint, make music & nail lawn chairs to the wall & ask people to sit in them

Second hand style { Liz Field } likes to write about shopping and loves to shop on ebay { Allison Cullen } likes to have treasure hunts in thrift stores { Anne Wright } likes to take photos

If you were to compliment Calgary based hair and make up artist Allison Cullen on her shoes or her sweater, you’d be surprised how often you might hear her respond “thanks, I got it at this really great thrift store for ___ (insert low price here).”

While it may be taboo for some to have previously owned clothes in their closet, or to even admit to thrift store shopping, Allison (Alli) is among an emerging generation bucking the social status stigmas associated with buying second hand clothes.

She is even proud to boast a closet full of thrift store finds - pieces sought out and searched for, each a unique addition to her wardrobe, contributing to a sense of ownership of her personal style.

“A stylish person bestows confidence and comfort onto whatever he or she is wearing,” said Alli.

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The value of her clothing is not decreased or diminished because she isn’t the first to own it, or that she had to sift and sort through dozens of racks of clothes to find it. Rather, its value is increased because each piece purchased was earned - an intentional choice to seek out alternatives to the latest offerings of malls and boutiques.

“Mainstream style is for those who follow fashion trends, which ultimately defines their style.”

But Alli insists you can find and put together an outfit that is current and trendy while consignment shopping. And she’s willing to show you.

Alli Advice:

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A pop of color, a bit of metallic, leather, a great pair of jeans, a white T and a statement jacket are all musts in his or her closets. And by all means go to your local thrift or consignment store to find these pieces! I promise you will be pleasantly surprised!

The best advice I could give to frequent thrift store shoppers is go to your favorite shops at least once a week or you might miss out on something. And take a friend too, they might spot something you wouldn’t have if you were alone plus its a great way to spend an afternoon with a girlfriend! If you are trendy, take your favorite fashion magazine with you for inspiration, try to put an outfit together from a thrift store that resembles one of your favorite seasonal styles.

Lastly, it is important to make a note that I buy most of my denim new. If there is one thing I am willing to invest in, it is my jeans. Holt Renfrew is great for denim, but if your budget is slim, find a consignment store that carries designer labels like Sevens, Rock and Republic, Joe Brand etc.

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{ Visit } www.makeme.ca

fashion

Alli looks for items at her favorite thrift stores. Turn the page to see her finished outfits >

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fashion

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{ Visit } www.stephaniejager.com

cecil hotel

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{ Stephanie Jager } likes rock climbing, coffee comfort in the morning, summer rain &, of course, photography.

I’m a 24 yr old photographer finishing up my 4th year at ACAD. I was always into art and could be found drawing and painting since I was 3 years old. I really discovered photography six years ago when I began experimenting with a point and shoot digital camera. Over the last year I have discovered that what gets my heart jumping is documentary photography: telling stories of real issues, events, or things that have been forgotten. I have been working on street kid documentary in Calgary, Drug and Alcohol Rehab Documentary in Mexico and will be starting a documentary very soon on a convent for retired nuns.

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{ Visit } www.jessicabellart.com

art

{ Jessica Bell } likes to create

When I paint on pieces of wood or stitch together bits of scrap into sewn drawings, I am trying to see the city where I live as more than a physical landscape and more than assembled structures; I am trying to see my city as a collection of ideas about space and place. Robert Irwin has suggested that ‘seeing is forgetting the name of the thing one sees’. This is the way that I want to see my city.

I want to see Vancouver as the space that resonates within me as my home. Can its space be set apart from other urban spaces? Does it hold markers?

The markers that identify a city can be structure or industry, engineering and infrastructure, areas for living and areas for working, sites for disposal and sites for creation. I am looking for these markers in form and color, and in the relationship of their forms one to another.

I assemble both the paintings and the sewn drawings as patches of space on a larger surface, connecting the patches together with line and stitch.

Linked together, these patches create areas with the familiarity of place as they relate to the open spaces around them. Sometimes the sewn drawings precede the paintings as an exercise in memory of the markers of a city. Other times the paintings and sewn drawings converse one to another, determining end forms like building plans being altered midconstruction.

The paintings and the drawings are not distinctly separated to me; they are at their essence the same. The method in making, laying one form or color or line over another onto the landscape of a surface is the same in the lying down of paint or in the connecting of fabric or paper scrap. This process, the assemblage of space in form and color and its installation on a surface or ‘landscape’ imitates the way that cities are made. This process both comes from and results in seeing my city as both a mere connection of spaces and as a place with the knowledge of home.

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{ Visit } www.avwakefield.com

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{ Amy Victoria Wakefield } likes travel & take photos

I’m growing old so young.

Working from my home and studio in downtown Calgary, I am content with the knowledge that my life’s work is suitably also my passion. I was born in rural Northern Ontario, spending my early days in photography searching for subjects left behind and abandoned along the shores on Lake Superior.

I moved to Calgary to complete a Bachelor of Design in Photography at the Alberta College of Art and design, and was fatefully introduced to the beauty of southern rural Alberta. On any given overcast grey day I can be found photographing the many abandoned farms projects, desolate fields and rolling hills of the area. These locations are continually the subject of many of the images featured in my personal and commercial works.

With a strong focus on narrative and love for the unsettling stark nature of a forgotten building or roof this all began the day I walked past a dumpster that had a piece of scrap wood glued to its side. “you are beautiful” had been penned onto the piece of wood with white paint. It was the inspiration for what was to be one or two photographs at most, quickly blossoming into a series that has no ending in sight.

I have always had a penchant for type, for cursive and the like. A fine tip permanent pen can always found in my purse or pant pocket. I scribble my thoughts

daily onto blank pages of sketchbooks, never filling them with drawings, only words. My affinity for this physical act of making letters is what brought me to this project, as well as my desire to make people smile, leaving them feeling warm and fuzzy when they look at the images.

I cannot seem to shake a stark and stoic aesthetic apparent in my work. No matter how I try to veer from that which has become innate to my creativity, subtle notes are consistently visible. So I sorted my way through until I found a method to make starkness work with that warm and fuzzy feeling given from words such as “live what you love” or “you are perfect just the way you are”. I tore panels off of abandoned store walls, beams from failed farm projects and wrote on the walls of buildings no one had stepped foot inside of in over forty years. I drafted words such as “single speed love” and “I’m growing old so young” onto these collected scraps, strategically placing them amid stoic scenes in locations from southern Albertan ghost towns to the cobblestone streets of St. Denis, Paris.

photo essay

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advice

Hey Lady!

Dear Hey Lady!,

Dear Faux Fireplace,

I think I am in a narcissistic, ego-driven slump. Or something.

You’ve been reading too much Salinger. Lay off the narcissism Caufield, toss your television in the trash, sign up for an arts & crafts class and volunteer with the elderly. This might sound like sarcasm, but it is true that you need to get our of your routine (number one), spend some money on cool electronics (number two), and get a part-time job hosting Passion Parties for bachelorettes and their horny friends (number three). The point is, society is not going to hand you opportunities and experiences as easily as your Mom filled out your college applications, you need to get out of your cubicle and try everything. You do love something, and you will not disappear, but you will never

Everyone around me has something that makes them who they are, something defining; like a job, a hobby…something they like and love. But I don’t really like or love anything interesting or even weird. I go to work, I eat, I might have a drink with a friend, I watch some television show and then go to bed. That’s it. I feel like I might be disappearing, because I lack anything exciting for myself. How do I stop being so boring?

-Faux Fireplace

know what the flesh of a bum tastes like until you take a bite, am I right? And stay the eff away from Twitter.

I have much hope for you, Holden.

-Hey Lady!

If you would like advice about a question your have or an issue you are facing, email Hey Lady! at: heylady@welikewelove.com

music { Visit } www.littlefootlongfoot.com

PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD

He likes classic rock ballads. She likes punchy, tothe-point three minute numbers. So, what are they doing in a band together? And better yet, why are Issac Klien and Joan Smith the only two members of the Toronto based band Little Foot Long Foot?

Doesn’t that seem contradictory? Aren’t they destined to break up before they even play their first show? Where is the middle ground, the balance, the musical glue that, perhaps, a bass player might { Liz Field } likes talking with bands at her favorite cafe. provide?

Similar thoughts might pass through your mind until you’ve heard Isaac on the drums and Joan in front

a microphone with her guitar. His tight snare hits and her loaded vocals might make you reconsider whether a bass player is necessary in any band.

And neither are any role-reversed White Stripes comparisons - this is garage rock with heavy blues inspired riffs and sturdy vocals.

While this tour hungry duo hails from the east, fret not if you don’t reside in the greater Toronto area - they are sure to pass through your town in the near future. In the meantime, be sure to check out their recent full length release “Harsh Words.”

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thoughts

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a Good Mess

{ Josh Naud } likes to write & take photos

I like a good mess. I mean messy look, messy friends, messy car, all of it. I don’t mean spaghetti-stained dishes in the sink for two weeks, or a dirty toilet seat. I mean magazines on the coffee table and un-made beds. I heard a long time ago (mostly due to the influence of a close friend) that a guy’s car is a glimpse at the rest of his life. My car is dirty with miscellaneous crap all over the place–from clothes to cans to old newspapers and magazines.

But the backseat is very interesting.

My life isn’t tradesman-dirty, but it isn’t clean. And I like it that way. If people can bathe and wash their clothes in the Ganges River and be ok, then why do I have to shampoo my hair every day? I don’t mind crooked teeth and a cluttered desk, because that feels real. Granted, my ‘Go Habs Go!’ finger probably isn’t needed, but I like it there.

of the brain that interfere with parts used when you deliver it flawlessly in front of the bathroom mirror.

As for writing, there are those who say it’s impossible for messy thinkers to write clearly. I think writing is about making a mess to clean up later.

William Zinsser wrote that “Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one cannot exist without the other.

It’s impossible for a muddy thinker to write good English.” I get that. I mean, his point in the greater context is that simplicity is the key. He says to first remove the clutter from our minds, and then from our sentences.

In fairness, there needs to be different categories for things that don’t have to be, and things that should be dealt with. I mean, taxes and bills: good to have organized. Hair: good to have messy. Vocabulary: I haven’t figured this out yet. As far as being a good thinker goes, it’s better not to censor yourself. The same goes for choking under pressure, better not to think too much. Research has found that when you Peter Elbow, an author and writing teacher, advothink too hard about something you know well, say a speech or presentation, the concentration uses parts cates “freewriting,” - essentially writing for a pe-

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* There’s something a bit romantic about chaos, and especially to find order within it.

riod of time without pausing. The point is to write without giving yourself the opportunity to think about it, or to judge what you’re writing. Of course, you’re writing will be messy when done this way, but you’ll have more to sift through when you go to edit afterwards, and hopefully more good material for the final product.

“If you lose the chaortic nature of it,” Bell said, still referring to the church, “you’ve lost something elemental to its essence.”

that essentially kill the chaos. We can’t have that, This idea has universal application. I guess it’s why [or] the spirit, like Elvis, leaves the building.” people try to climb Everest without oxygen, or run with the bulls in Spain. Or why people race cars and He goes on to say that often within chaos, is life. camels through the desert, or stand still for a secIf you’ve ever seen an Indian bazaar, for example, ond in the middle of Times Square. There’s somethen you understand this. So why do we listen to thing a bit romantic about chaos, and especially to and not challenge supposed style gurus who say find order within it. less is more when it comes to design, and especialRob Bell, a pastor in Michigan, used a word this last ly how your kitchen should look? And ‘professional’ It’s not about messy desks or crooked teeth, it’s May in a sermon that works here. Chaortic. Little bit de-clutterers for hire? Come on. about ignoring conventions. We all have a special of order, little bit of chaos, as he put it. This was his few friends who do this wonderfully with their idea of what church should be.

On that same vein, Milton Glaser, designer of the wardrobes, and others with their music, others “I heart New York” branding calls the less is more with words and ideas. Glaser has said that style “They’re involved (chaos and order), they hold mantra meaningless and absurd. Instead, he’s writ- is not to be trusted, and that “fatigue occurs when hands, it’s some sort of symbiotic dance going on,” ten that “just enough is more.” He offers the work people see too much of the same thing too often.” he said. “Often what happens, of course, is insti- of the Spanish architect Gaudi and Persian rugs as I agree, and am saying to just go ahead and get tutions and leadership and structures get in place claim that less, indeed, is not necessarily more. messy. Be different. And then show me how.

ben: Chapter 3 { Dalyce Chomick } likes to write, sing & play with feathers { Shane Yuhas } loves to make messes & take photos

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{3} I stood there for a while. Just looking at the goblet of coffee before me, steam rising from the open hole in the lid, kind of like a homing beacon summoning me to a safe haven. Calling me to drink from it, to place my lips around the opening and hope for the best. The truth is I really didn’t know what to do with it, or where I should take it. It looked like a lot to handle. I didn’t want to admit this, but I think I was in a little over my head.

short story Candace broke my trace, “So are you like just going to like stare at it till it like gets cold?”

She uses the word like like peppering on a steak, it’s supposes to bring girls like her flavouring or something. I think it feels more like a nervous twitch or a bad verbal lisps or something equally communicatively horrifying. I hate flavouring, especially artificial flavouring, I keep telling my mom that Splenda will give her cancer...

“Do you really think that a cup, with this amount of hot fluid would grow cold in a matter of minutes?

In the matter of seconds it’s been standing here?” {Insert a short, but notable awkward pause.} “Go away, you are like totally creeping me out with your like heavy breathing and like totally dirty bloody apron.”

“I was on tomato duty prior to this break…” {heh heh duty.} She had walked away by then and I was talking to myself. I did an ‘adjust my stance and throat clear’ move, then I grabbed my load of coffee and sat down at a table near the back by a greasy hand printed window.

28 minutes to go.

So with one deep and neurotic breath I drew up the cup of black gold, and slightly paused before I sipped the staple of any truck driver’s diet. My lips quivered as the searing hot black tar flow from rim to the meaty pink delicate flesh. My meaty pink delicate flesh… I burned my tongue, gums, throat, uvula... I would even dare to say my teeth had smoke damage. I was so pissed; I lowered the cup slowly as to not anger its wrath any further and stared out the window. I wish my mom would have been there, she would have blown on the placid surface of my black hopes and dreams. It wasn’t what I thought it was going to be that’s for sure… it wasn’t as tough and cool or even as good as the movie ‘Coffee and cigarettes’ made it out to be.

Iggy Pop and Tom Waits totally lied to me. F*** you, as Geisey would have said. I hope my mom doesn’t read this. Ahem. I think I’ll stay with my Dr. Pepper and orange crush mix.

16 minutes to go.

I was counting down the minutes till the end of my break. Counting down the minutes, so then I could start counting down the minutes till the end of my shift. I hated it here. I hated the delicious smell of donuts, and coffee. I hated Gary and how he wore his pants to high that I could see his penis and

testicles {sorry I should have said something more reader friendly like twig and berries or frank and beans. But oh well, I’m not worried, my mom only reads things like Cosmo and Reader’s Digest}.

9 minutes to go.

I hadn’t even touched my coffee since the first initial naive gulp at the start of my break. I believe I have a 3rd degree burn now festering in my oral cavity. For the last 18 minutes I’ve been playing hard tonsil hockey with what I’ve come to realize is a piece of dangling skin, not fragment of orange that’s usually wedged in between my teeth. I’ve been trying to pull it off, rip it down by pinning the skin between my tongue and the roof of my mouth or teeth and vigorously assaulting it with a rough massaging tongue motion. You know people do this, it’s not just me. It’s quite common, but you would never know it’s happening, it’s a silent private oral fixation everyone does in their life at one time or another. You could be walking down the street towards this drop dead, punch a kitten in the face, good looking girl who’s trace fixed on you. You look behind to see if she’s actually staring at a ruggedly handsome younger version of Don Cherry, but no it’s you… eye’s locked on you, lips slightly moving in a way that gives you shivers in your knee caps. BUT GUESS WHAT, she didn’t even notice you, cause the whole time she was walking by and staring at you, she was tongue wrestling a blistered skin cell of the left side of her gums.

Normally when girls look at me, I go straight to that conclusion. At about the 22nd minute of exhausting tongue exercise I decided to do the lazy mans solution and I reached into where the skin dangle had its tight grip, he’s been taunting me for far too long, those 22 minutes felt like hours.

I pinched at him, he tried to get away by riding a wave of hot saliva but I was too quick for his shifty games and ripped him right out. It might have been to pre-mature though, cause I could taste iron and metal, meaning I think I was slightly bleeding.

I had 7 ½ minutes left in my break and according to the laws of general science, my coffee would now be considered cold, if not lukewarm. Then it happened… the event/occurrence that pushed me into the start of my very own choose your own adventure book. Don’t get too excited, I’m not Tom Cruise or Freddy Prince Jr., my adventure will more likely resemble a Diane Keaton movie, so lots of screaming and awkward social cues.

“Ben! What the hell are you doing?” This is Gary shouting at me over the counter, loud enough so it would catch everyone in Tim Horton’s attention.

“I’m just on my coffee break.” I said this and pointed to the full cup of cold coffee before me.

“You’ll have to finish that later, it’s freaking crazy in here. Haven’t you noticed?” {I looked around there was 3 people in line, and 6 people behind the counter. 4 of which was just standing around talking or scratching their scalps through a hair net.} “Or have you been dreaming about your boyfriend instead?” Then he added to the lady he was helping “You know kids, it’s hard to get any sort of reliable staff sometimes…high school kid ‘Pfftt’ just want an easy ride in life…”

Gary is a tool.

I picked up my cup and started walking towards the back where I could dump it out in the sink. But just as I was about to push open the swinging doors, Todd came hurling through them, closely followed

by Tanya who was whipping donuts at him {I guess Todd, a causal like me, was dating 3 girls at the same time, all of which worked here too, smart guy}. The door smashed me in the chest and I fell to the ground, pouring the coffee all over my chest and crotch-al area. Thankfully it was cold coffee.

“Damn it! Ben! You have to be careful when you are work for the demanding public. Go get the mop and bucket and clean this mess up. And Tanya clean up those donuts.” {Turning back to the lady, he had started seriously flirting with her by now. She was clearly a mother of a few, in her early 40’s and it looked like she hadn’t slept in days. He lent in to you her as he slid her order slowly over the counter} “Sometimes it feels like I’m a parent too you know, and these are my children.” {He smiled at her… as creepy as this encounter feels, I think his undeniable lack of charm was actually working on her. She smiled back.} {I think I vomited in my mouth a little} I walked into the back where it was empty except for Geisey who was smoking a cigarette… inside.

I looked at him with a puzzled expression on my face. He said “F***! Alright, alright officer…I swear I didn’t know she was a minor! F***. You F***ing nark!” {He laughed} and put his cigarette out in a jelly donut, then he picked it up and took a bite. With a gesture he offered it to me. I turned around to look for the mop and bucket.

To find out where we left Ben last, grab a copy of WLWL issue one and two. You can find them online @ www.welikewelovemagazine.blogspot.com

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a lesson in romance { Jessie Jones } loves to write while living on an island you nicked the bruises from the knee-cap apples sliced your thumb on the lip of the knife bled on the linoleum, the cat lapped it up with a dry tongue. i brushed my lips against the kiwi, the hard-worked hide. fingered the fleshy inside, like a forbidden body part. you bit into the full-hipped pears, the pearly inside grainy while juice settled in the teeth marks as if to heal the bite. i nuzzled the sweet cheek of peach, blush under a thin haze, sucked the last clinging pieces from the pit. you undressed the over-ripe banana, split the arched back, your mark left on its body, each imperfection brought slowly to your lips.

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i tongued the seeds from pomegranates, all fleshy mouth and teeth. without a word, it howled reds and violets from the stains on my clothes. we sat with the skins and bones on the floor between us, the cat nodding them away leaving trails of seeds behind her. we licked the stick from our fingertips, touched our toes together. i still didn’t know where to put my hands.

{ Visit } www.marketcollective.ca

a market collective { Liz Field } loves the market

What are you up to this weekend?

munity when they made plans for the first market.

Just more than a year after a seemingly humble art and flea market sprung up in one of Calgary’s favorite inner city neighbourhoods, Market Collective has grown roots that have sprouted new life in Kensington, and has given local artists a unique platform of ongoing connection to their community.

“We couldn’t get enough of talking about it and thinking up ideas. If you ask anyone from that time, and they’ll tell you, it’s all Angel and I ever talked about,” said Angela.

On a Saturday every other month, the old ‘Ant Hill Fabric’ building (formerly the Carpenter’s Union Hall) is transformed into a gallery of sights and sounds as artists from every background display their work and throngs of people snake their way between tables looking for treasures to take home not just to decorate walls, but to listen to, to read, to eat, to wear...maybe even to learn from.

Angela Dione and Angel Guerra, the two twentysomething brunettes we have to thank for giving birth to nurturing Market Collective into existence (planting and watering the seed as it were) never knew they were strike such a chord with their com-

“But it was kind of like planning a birthday party and then wondering if anyone would show up.”

But they did. And then they told all their friends about the next one.

And then their friends told their friends...and before long, the market had to move across the street into a bigger venue.

“Market Collective exists because people want it to exist. Without the amazing support we have received since the beginning from the artists, the community, and the people in our lives, this never could have happened.”

“There is nothing in the world like the feeling of standing in that big empty hall the day before the show, knowing that in the next 24 hours, it’s going to be completely transformed. I could talk about it for hours.”

Although their official mission statement describes the showcasing of local artist work, their mission far extends what happens on Saturday afternoons.

Self proclaimed artist advocates, Angela and Angel have begun a sponsorship program of sorts at each market by raising money from local businesses to provide art supplies, studio and gallery space to a selected artist.

Stay connected between markets by finding Market Collective on Facebook.

Angel is the social guru, she’s always riding around on her sweet bike, seeing hundreds of people a day.

Angela is the business woman, carrying her laptop everywhere, making documents and phone calls.

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my place

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{ vintage dreams } Growing up in small towns allows for the easy transition between rural and urban getaways. This spot is in between two major places in my life, so it holds that specific significance to me. It has recently been abandoned, making for a beautiful photography excursion with my 1922 Pocket Traveller. I spent a lot of time here thinking about what has been and what will be of this wonderful landscape. I hope that these few photographs can hold its spirits, and its stories.

Where is your favorite place?

Do you have a spot you go to think?

Where you can sing at the top of your lungs? A room you feel safe to dream and create inside? A location you’ve made your very own?

A secret hideout? Is it indoors or outdoors? Send us a photo and short description of what your place means to you.

{ Brock Mitchell } loves life, video, photography and Shot at the Dark

Email: info@welikewelove.com, Subject: My Place

wlwl

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

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EMAIL

LIZ@WELIKEWELOVE.COM DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE

MARCH 15TH, 2010

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Our mantra this issue is: { begin again } It is simple. Write it on your hand. Put it on your fridge.

Don’t forget it.