A few months ago, I wrote about my idol, Joni Mitchell, and posted a number of links to in-depth, lengthy interviews with her. I wasn't able to listen to them at the time. Today I am relaxing on the patio, drinking iced coffee, listening to Joni talk about her life, her art, and life, and art.
Podcast of Jian Gomeshi (CBC) one hour in Joni's home. At around 17:30 she talks about what it was like to be a pregnant, destitute teenager in 1965, and the erroneous claim that she surrendered her child for adoption in order to further her career. She also demolishes several cultural myths, such as "the greatest generation," and looks at the conversion of the hippie generation into a generation of consumers. She ends by saying, "I have a tremendous will to live, and also a tremendous joie de vivre."
Video of Jon Pareles (New York Times) in conversation with Joni Mitchell and Brian Blade, one hour thirty-five minutes, at the Luminato Festival in Toronto; the interview itself begins at 5:26. This interview is completely different, much more about Joni's musical influences, her artistic process, the intersection of her life and her art. (Why does the audience find it so funny when Pareles asks a question and Joni says "no" and corrects him?) Towards the end, around 1:15:00, they talk about Canada, the Canada of Joni's heart.
There's very little overlap between the two interviews. You could say, roughly, that Gomeshi's is more about life and Pareles' is more about art. I highly recommend both.
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More recently, I blogged about the crazy, unhappy whirlwind my life had become. Things are much calmer now, much happier, at least for me. Banishing our landlord's contractors was the first big step. Hiring people to help pack was the next, and one of the better ideas I've had, as my energy and sanity is worth much more to me than money.
Allan is bearing down on finishing his manuscript, and that is always a very stressful time, but from my outside perspective, I can tell he is on track to finish both well and on time.
Tala has made a huge improvement in the past two weeks. We're going to take it very slowly, just as we did two years ago when she was first diagnosed, slowly adding activity before we begin to reduce her medication.
This Monday, we have a hearing at the Landlord Tenant Board. I'm not expecting much to come of it, but we want to see it through.
We move on September 3, and I can't wait! The following week, my mother will make her annual visit. She can help me spend our insurance settlement.
And finally, I am loving my job. I come home happy and energized every day. (The under-ten-minute commute helps, too.) I am eager to snag a full-time, permanent librarian position before this part-time contract ends in March. I await the job posting.
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