Vancouver, A Love Story, A Tragedy, A Sonnet. Part Eight : Geza. A Friend to All, A Brother To Me.

I have many fond memories of people I interacted with in Vancouver. I was fortunate to meet some of the finest people in my life there. I could say the same for many places I have lived all over the world, Perth, Port Douglas, Byron Bay and Wellington, but many of the most formative years …

Read more

Vancouver. A Love Story. A Tragedy. A Sonnet. Part Seven: Addiction Affliction.

Addiction has been a huge part of my life experience. In earnest, addiction was for me a form of coping with trauma, boredom and often subjugating unexpressed emotion. When I was at Otago University, in Dunedin, alcoholism (which has history on my father’s side of the family) became my coping mechanism as I began to …

Read more

Vancouver. A Love Story, A Tragedy, A Sonnet. Part Six: Suzanne. A Psychic, A Comedian, A Friend.

It’s a cliche that you hear in movies, poems, and songs If I had known then, what I know now, would I have taken the job with Suzanne Castonguay when she said, “You’re going to work for me”, I am at a loss to say yes or no. Without being dramatic, there is so much about …

Read more

The Gathering Festival NYE 1996/1997. The Canaan Downs. Welcome Home.

The use of the phrase welcome home is splashed around the phenomena called Burner culture, or Burning Man when you enter the playa or the paddock (if you’re going to Kiwiburn) but I feel that it is more appropriate for this festival for it changed the landscape of the festival culture in this country like no festival …

Read more

Vancouver. A Love Story. A Tragedy. A Sonnet. Part Four: Ghost Dance.

I don’t remember the date that I first encountered the disembodied in 2785 West 10th and Macdonald. I do remember the first being that I saw there was a shadow being that strode out of Eryn’s room and went towards the wall that separated the downstairs flat from upstairs. Where there had once been a door (and …

Read more

Vancouver. A Love Story, A Tragedy, A Sonnet. Part Three: Sex & Drugs and Rock n Roll.

I worked as a Personal Assistant for Suzanne Castonguay from August 1999 – May 2001. To her, I was an open book. She knew my life story the moment I walked through her door to build her the closet with Charlie. Her psychic abilities were extraordinary, and her insights into my downfall were relayed to …

Read more