McSweeney’s List (19 June 2024)
“Write about moving,” Andrew said.
“Really? Does anyone want to hear that?” I asked, knowing full well that it's all I”ve been thinking about, and thus talking about. “Ya,” he said. “It's personal and universal. Think about the inadvertent rituals.” As I was up to my eyeballs in those exact details when he said it, I couldn't disagree.
I don't know when I started wrapping my fragiles in skirts, scarves, sheets, and towels. I remember that for my first couple of moves I gathered armloads of Mirror and Hour, carefully wrapping things in newsprint, and having to wash everything once it was unwrapped. Fabric is the better choice. Running this by a friend, she said she picked up the same hack in her 20s, and I wondered if it's just one of those things you learn if you move often enough.
And move often enough, I have. My current abode was months shy of being my longest adult address, but time was weird here. I moved in less than 6 months before the pandemic hit, causing the home to become a sudden fortress. All my hosting plans went out the window, and perhaps my perception of this space was irrevocably shifted. It went from “cozy” to “small”, and the cheerfully bustling streets became too crowded.
My mother died while I lived here, so this was the last place she ever visited me. It also means that as I'm packing, I'm coming across photos and mementos from my own childhood that had been in her care. It's really weird to go through paperwork and unexpectedly come across your six year old face staring back at you, pigtailed and carefree. Or pictures of myself in highschool, and the only shots of me at prom, unseen in decades ...holy shit I was thin (I'd been called fat so often I had no idea). And my hair was super cute, despite being called Medusa before I would relish the power of the moniker. All in all, if I’d realized these things then, it would've been a different journey. So many years…Krishna in a carriage, I was trying to pack, not unpack, so I shuffled the photos back into their box, and then that box into a moving box to deal with some other time. Sometimes I like my metaphors to be literal.
Everyone moves differently, and we’ve all had different types of moves. I’ve held a mattress to a car roof, and carried random shit on the metro. I've done a walking move, only a few blocks, during which time my cat and guinea pig shared a giant Tupperware. (We carried them, one human in front, one human in back, like they were kings, but they lacked the context to enjoy the scene.)
Despite all efforts to pretend otherwise, my own adulthood is evidenced in heavy things like appliances, necessitating real movers. And while I've historically abandoned items both practical and sentimental, this time feels different. I do not need to start from zero to begin anew. Of course, some things are culled through the transition, that's natural. But this time I have no desire to run away and throw a match. This time it's not away from but towards, and I'm just packing my weird little caravan of self and stuff and kitteh and taking my show on the road (I mean, it's a few metro stops, and it's more of a proverbial show, but --.)
Surrounded by stuff and boxes of stuff, and stuff that should be in boxes already, what the whole hell -- ahem. Surrounded by it all, I can't help but notice what I have most of: definitely books and clothes (and I part with the clothes more easily). Next comes art, and that's cool, because it's a symbol of the adult I once aspired to be…in fact, the whole scene is, right down to the kitteh. (I’d kinda hoped to be more jazz and wine, but alas, I do remain cartoons and malt.) These are things I've gathered, things I love. I, myself, am a quilt of all my experiences, a combination of discordant patterns that flows together beautifully. And there is nothing here to burn, only a strong foundation from which to take the next step.
THE HIPPEST ALLEY IN TOWN
Troy Stark and Walter J. Lyng are at Notre Dame des Quilles tonight for a very straightforward event. And I quote:
Troy and Walter for a full hour of power. Take no prisoners. PWYC. Hotdogs after.
‘Nuff said.
WHAT: Classy Round with Troy Stark & Walter Lyng
WHERE: Notre Dame des Quilles, 36 Rue Beaubien St. E., Montreal, H2S 1P8
WHEN: Wednesday, June 19 @ 9 PM
METRO: Beaubien (Orange)
DETAILS: Facebook
LAUGH IN 2 LANGUAGES
A bilingual comedy night with host Caro Monast featuring Alo Azimov, Yasmeen Gregs
⚡Lauriane Lalonde
⚡Raquel Maestre
⚡MP
⚡Kě Xin Li
Standing up, we’ll smash patriarchy with our punchlines!
caring space for feminists and queer folx
WHAT: Debout•tes/Stand-up
WHERE: L’Espace Public Brewery, 2287 Letourneux Ave., Montreal, H1V 2N9
WHEN: Friday, June 21 @ 930 PM
METRO: Pie-IX (Green)
TICKETS: FestivalMiniFest
COSMIC CABARET
Toronto rockers BRASSQWEEF bring their cosmic cabaret to BARFLY MTL on SATURDAY JUNE 22nd with support from JOHNNY VACATION and NAGHMEH!!!
BRASSQWEEF
https://www.instagram.com/brassqweef
JOHNNY VACATION
https://www.instagram.com/johnnyvacation
NAGHMEH
https://www.instagram.com/naghmehasong
$10 at the door, see you there!
WHAT: Brass Qweef @ Barfly
WHERE: Barfly, 4062 St Laurent Blvd, Montreal, Quebec H2W 1Y8
WHEN: Saturday, June 22 @ 8PM
METRO: Sherbrooke (Orange)
DETAILS: Facebook
STARS ON THE MAIN
Forget The Box’s MULTI-MIC returns on Sunday, June 23rd, for another edition at the legendary Bar Bifteck in the heart of the Plateau! With a sexy new look, and powerful lineup, On The Boulevard is THE spot to be on Sunday nights!
This week’s lineup features Abby Stonehouse (just back from HOLLYWOOD), Sadie Moland, Claudine Napoleon, Jade Walker, Dan Pearse, the QDCOMEDYTEAM, Merve, and more!
Hosted by our Creative Director, Andrew Jamieson!
WHAT: On The Boulevard
WHERE: Bar Bifteck, 3702 Boulevard Saint Laurent, Montreal, Quebec H2X 2V4
WHEN: Sunday, June 23 @ 8PM
METRO: Sherbrooke (Orange)
DETAILS: Facebook
SAVE THE DAMN DATE
Y’all need to save the date and come to Hurley's next Friday, June 28. Vance Michel will be hosting a lineup of hot-off-the-presses fresh newbs, with comedian, director, and multi-hat wearing Cynthia Levin, and a headliner who’ll have you howling. Stay tuned for the details next week, but please note that I am one of the newbs doing a set, so you should probably just reserve the evening for this.
McSweeney’s List drops every Wednesday with the best events, workshops, and more, each week in Montreal!
