The space between (don't sue me Dave Matthews)

Hello all.

It's official, i've finsihed my semester in one piece.
It got a little hairy there a few times, but here I am.
That was offcially the worst semester ever. My grades
should be fine, but man it was like every conceivable
thing that could go wrong, did. That being said, there
is much to report. First off, I am sans emploi once again,
mainly due to Pharmaprix ending up being possibly the
worst possible fit for my studies imaginable, short of
working graveyard shift at a Telemarketing firm that
deals exclusively with people suffering from tourrette's syndrome.
I had basically two choices: stay there and fail my semester, or quit
and survive the end of term with a good deal more stable mental health.
I opted for option two.

Be that as it may, I've spoken with the good folks at student services,
as well as with the person in charge of hiring for P.A.R.C, the
recreation centre/gym on campus. While not a certainty, there is
at least a better than average chance that I might be able to find
gainful employment with the school. That would be ideal, since they
pay quite a bit more than most part-time jobs (10-15 dollars an hour
depending on the job) and they are flexible with students schedules,
which has been the main problem with off campus jobs as of late.

I also recently had an interview at Cardex, a customer service/technical
support place that sells interac machines to small and medium businesses.
My friend of many years Mike AUlis got me the interview, the only downside
being that they would want me to work 3-4 (most probably 4) shifts a week
min, which is most likely too much for me to handle with school. I told them
I would see how it goes, being upfront about the possible conflict, it's
possible I may hear back from them shortly, although I've a feeling this
disclosure may have hurt my chances.

More importantly, (to the greater scheme of things anyway, not that financial
independence and well being is not a pressing concern) I think I may have finally
found an outlet for my feelings of angst and disillusionment with regards to the
current and ongoing state of world affairs. Myself and two other graphic design
students have decided to try to use our creative and artistic ability for something
other than promoting corporate interests and/or consumerism.

Since I'm lazy, i'll give you the gist of it via a description I wrote in a
recent e-mail.

Some of my friends in the program, kindred spirits so to speak,
have decided to start a sort of graphic design with a purpose
club. That is to say, an opportunity to use art to raise social
conciousness, for artists to express themselves, to subvert
the status quo, and to just have fun without the constraints
of a real or imagined clientele, predefined structure, or the
taint of consumerism. I know, i know it sounds preachy
and naive, but I rather like the idea. Given that a major
portion of my faith is, as I always understood it anyway,
about rebellion against the corrupting forces in society,
about helping the weak, feeding the hungry, clothing the
poor etc. (for referrence, see a dude named Jesus. He
had a beard, probably did not look anything like James
Caviezel, and was in the habit of healing people and
being accepting and forgiving) I never really been able
to understand how society as a whole (including a lot Christians
unfortunately) seems to be okay with turning a blind eye
to the horrible conditions that are the direct result of
the comforts we enjoy on a daily basis. (for refference,
see where all our clothes and toasters come from, and
who made them)

Anyway, I'm not trying to come off all self-righteous here,
I'm just as guilty by proxy as anyone, which is why
I want to try to make a difference. I'm not sure if I can
do that through my art, but if I can, I want to.
For me, this whole thing came at just the right time,
I was really feeling defeated and discouraged as to
what i could do to help anyone really (other than pray),
but feeling like I should try. This might not be the
miracle answer or anything, but I feel like it's a start.

So yeah that's the basic idea. To that end we've applied for club status
with the D.S.U., gotten over fifty signatures from people interested in
participating, and started to meet frequently to discuss the nature
of this endeavour, where we go from here, and the works we 3 founding
members will contribute. We're planning on having "gallery showings"
(using the dawson gallery), putting up posters, handing out flyers,
and possibly even printing T-shirts and other merchandise we would
sell to raise money for charities, like amnesty international or Unicef.
We would also like to put together a website, and compile the submissions
we recieve into a final printed book. We're not entirely sure of all the logistics
yet, but we come up with some general guidelines, a plan of action, and
mission statement. Seeing as how we will most probably all be fairly busy
during the actual semester, we plan on each of the founding members
having a min of 5 pieces ready for the beginning of next semester.
It's a big undertaking, but it good end up being something really cool,
and if nothing else, at least we tried to do something about the
things that we're on our hearts and minds. We have no illusions
of revolutionary grandeur, but we all were just really tired of sitting
back and watching things happen. Maybe nothing will come of it,
who knows, but I really feel like this is something I need to do.

The name of our club/organization (if this ever moves beyond
Dawson) is Vanguard, Which stands for
Visual Artists Nurturing Greater Awareness and Understanding
through Responsible Design.

Submission is open to anyone from any of the art's disciplines,
Dawson student or not. We will review works submitted, but the
only criterion under which we might refuse a work is if we
feel it promotes violence, prejudice or hatred. We are also
attempting to stay non-partisan, which is to say we are looking
to raise awareness of social issues and the responsibilities of
government and society as a whole to uphold social justice and
human rights, we are not looking to attack or promote any one
group or political agenda.

So yeah, that's what's going on with me. I'll hopefully
have news of our progress as this thing unfolds.

Other than that, not much new with me. I did some pretty
amazing stuff in school this semester, stuff I didn't think
I was capable of, that I'm pretty happy with. I'll try to post
that up soon. I also have a few more poems to upload,
but that's gonna hafta wait till another day, all this typing
is making me sleepy.

To all my friends and family who may be reading this,
i wish you the best, you are in my thoughts and prayers.
I hope to see most of you soon, until then, much love,
and peace on earth goodwill towards men etc.

Sincerely,

Matt X