I just flew into Toronto. I haven’t been to Canada in two years, which leaves me stunned on arrival. Among the many things that feel unnatural and that I used to take for granted, not going to Canada or seeing my beloved Canadian friends has been a very sad reality. I don’t feel myself without Canada.
Neko, thank you so much for coming - all of you- and for your words. Just as you felt starved for oxygen without Canada and touring, we felt the same without live music from our favourite musicians. It felt like old friends coming to visit us, except yeah, we couldn’t quite hug or gather around a little table, but it was better than a ZOom call! It was still so wonderful, and emotional at times for me, too.
“Tkaronto” loves you too! ( “the place in the water where the trees are standing”). Hurry back ;)
I don't know how you do it, Neko, but somehow you always seem to capture a moment and my feelings about it so perfectly. Thank you for being so awesome! :-)
And, in this post you also taught me something. I thought that "Snakes and Ladders" was a malaprop for "Chutes and Ladders". But, sure enough, it's real and now I'm dying to play it.
Anyone have a *used* version to sell (or, if you live near Albany, NY, perhaps some interest in meeting at a pub or cafe to play a game or two)?!
Love your description of driving from Pearson into Toronto. It makes me so homesick to get back to my hometown that I have not been able to visit in just over two years.....I too love landing in Canada each and every time. Going to all the familiar places, seeing my family and friends...I always know I'm home.
As a long-displaced Torontonian there is an unmistakable, centering feeling I get each time I cross the border. Somehow all my cells know I’m HOME. I went back in October for Thanksgiving camping (of course that’s what we do!) for the first time since this pandemic started: it was like a little fire was relit in my chest. There is a wonderful juxtaposition I feel in Canada, where things are much the same and yet just different enough to make me feel a little outside my body. Cannabis MediShacks on Hwy69; the little maple leaf tucked into familiar brand logos; craft beer I’ll never see “stateside”. Places have power. I feel you.
This resonates so hard! I hope as the tour goes along that it starts to feel less like empty calories and more like a loving meal shared with friends and family.
Great now I'm crying (don't feel bad, I cry several times a day over just about everything). When you and tnp came to Urbana in 2019, I didn't know it was basically the last concert I would see for so long. I was working for the venue and was eating my lunch up near the stage when y'all started to come up for a sound check. I picked up my snacks and made my way to the back of the auditorium to sit and listen, and watched you sing partial bits of challengers while I was alone in the audience. I cried then too just out of joy and reflection that even tho sometimes life is really effing hard, having moments like that makes everything really worth it. Now that even those moments are in short supply, I've found different ways to cope, but it truly isn't the same. I too miss my friends, being social, and travelling. When it becomes overwhelming I turn off my brain and listen to music or audio books, or sing. I think about how you said silko lowers your blood pressure with her talk about rattle snakes, and I really think singing does the same for me. Anyway, for all the projection of myself I may lay down on you, I'm so glad to hear you support land back. Me too. We really need it. Also glad that you are finding some solace in hard times. Thank you for the post. These help too 😊
I hope I'm more like a cat dropping you off dead birds and lizards, rather than an annoyingly over enthusiastic weirdo. Maybe just endearing weirdo dropping you off dead lizards? Either way here I am and the dead lizzard is another article. I'm writing an essay rn about the biological underpinnings of music, my argument being that humans are animals and music is a form of communication used for social cohesion. So I'll back you up that this article belongs here. I don't know how much you know about this stuff already, but I though this article was a pretty good starting place (if you haven't already read it that is): https://www.nature.com/articles/453287a#:~:text=In%20the%20second%20of%20a,adaptive%20functions%20of%20these%20urges.
NEKO. OMG. NEKO. I was writing my music essay tonight but I got sidetracked because of your post about the Cambodian restaurant because a few months ago I had a dream I ate at a restaurant that looked just like that with /you/, and I was tripping out. So I was going through your insta to see if maybe you had posted about a restaurant that looked like that and I came across your mixtape interview. I missed that post and had to take the dog out for a walk and so I popped on the interview and there you were talking about singing, and how was it exactly what I've been writing about????? I... WTH. But like okay, 1) /are you in my head/ and 2) is it because you are like well read and know animals? Because I s2g you hit the nail on the head. I'm just. You know maybe I'm just a really lonely person who is weird but also... May have just come here to let you know that I believe you are 111% right your theory. And I believe I have a bit of science to back it up. I hope my essay turns out well, and that I don't adhd peter out in writing it because. This is really a thing.
Neko, thank you so much for coming - all of you- and for your words. Just as you felt starved for oxygen without Canada and touring, we felt the same without live music from our favourite musicians. It felt like old friends coming to visit us, except yeah, we couldn’t quite hug or gather around a little table, but it was better than a ZOom call! It was still so wonderful, and emotional at times for me, too.
“Tkaronto” loves you too! ( “the place in the water where the trees are standing”). Hurry back ;)
I don't know how you do it, Neko, but somehow you always seem to capture a moment and my feelings about it so perfectly. Thank you for being so awesome! :-)
And, in this post you also taught me something. I thought that "Snakes and Ladders" was a malaprop for "Chutes and Ladders". But, sure enough, it's real and now I'm dying to play it.
Anyone have a *used* version to sell (or, if you live near Albany, NY, perhaps some interest in meeting at a pub or cafe to play a game or two)?!
Love your description of driving from Pearson into Toronto. It makes me so homesick to get back to my hometown that I have not been able to visit in just over two years.....I too love landing in Canada each and every time. Going to all the familiar places, seeing my family and friends...I always know I'm home.
Awe. So glad you’ve been able to start stretching again, even if it can’t be a full stretch yet. Much love from Birmingham, AL.
As a long-displaced Torontonian there is an unmistakable, centering feeling I get each time I cross the border. Somehow all my cells know I’m HOME. I went back in October for Thanksgiving camping (of course that’s what we do!) for the first time since this pandemic started: it was like a little fire was relit in my chest. There is a wonderful juxtaposition I feel in Canada, where things are much the same and yet just different enough to make me feel a little outside my body. Cannabis MediShacks on Hwy69; the little maple leaf tucked into familiar brand logos; craft beer I’ll never see “stateside”. Places have power. I feel you.
This resonates so hard! I hope as the tour goes along that it starts to feel less like empty calories and more like a loving meal shared with friends and family.
Great now I'm crying (don't feel bad, I cry several times a day over just about everything). When you and tnp came to Urbana in 2019, I didn't know it was basically the last concert I would see for so long. I was working for the venue and was eating my lunch up near the stage when y'all started to come up for a sound check. I picked up my snacks and made my way to the back of the auditorium to sit and listen, and watched you sing partial bits of challengers while I was alone in the audience. I cried then too just out of joy and reflection that even tho sometimes life is really effing hard, having moments like that makes everything really worth it. Now that even those moments are in short supply, I've found different ways to cope, but it truly isn't the same. I too miss my friends, being social, and travelling. When it becomes overwhelming I turn off my brain and listen to music or audio books, or sing. I think about how you said silko lowers your blood pressure with her talk about rattle snakes, and I really think singing does the same for me. Anyway, for all the projection of myself I may lay down on you, I'm so glad to hear you support land back. Me too. We really need it. Also glad that you are finding some solace in hard times. Thank you for the post. These help too 😊
I was thinking about it and I probably owe you some therapy dues. Imma file a request with my insurance 😂😅
I hope I'm more like a cat dropping you off dead birds and lizards, rather than an annoyingly over enthusiastic weirdo. Maybe just endearing weirdo dropping you off dead lizards? Either way here I am and the dead lizzard is another article. I'm writing an essay rn about the biological underpinnings of music, my argument being that humans are animals and music is a form of communication used for social cohesion. So I'll back you up that this article belongs here. I don't know how much you know about this stuff already, but I though this article was a pretty good starting place (if you haven't already read it that is): https://www.nature.com/articles/453287a#:~:text=In%20the%20second%20of%20a,adaptive%20functions%20of%20these%20urges.
NEKO. OMG. NEKO. I was writing my music essay tonight but I got sidetracked because of your post about the Cambodian restaurant because a few months ago I had a dream I ate at a restaurant that looked just like that with /you/, and I was tripping out. So I was going through your insta to see if maybe you had posted about a restaurant that looked like that and I came across your mixtape interview. I missed that post and had to take the dog out for a walk and so I popped on the interview and there you were talking about singing, and how was it exactly what I've been writing about????? I... WTH. But like okay, 1) /are you in my head/ and 2) is it because you are like well read and know animals? Because I s2g you hit the nail on the head. I'm just. You know maybe I'm just a really lonely person who is weird but also... May have just come here to let you know that I believe you are 111% right your theory. And I believe I have a bit of science to back it up. I hope my essay turns out well, and that I don't adhd peter out in writing it because. This is really a thing.
Love this! Thank you so much for sharing. It's very real and honest and such a relief to read : ).