My life has changed drastically of late. I have suddenly become old. Not by years, but by responsibility. In the past few months I found a new place to live, adopted a dying stray dog from a Native reserve, had my little sister move in with me, and have two jobs. On top of that […]
I am currently in Montreal, having a swell relaxing time. Came straight from the Hillside Festival in Guelph. My favourites from Hillside: Sam Doores and the Tumbleweeds myspace.com/samdoores They came straight from New Orleans, and Sam is from Oklahoma. He was wearing a sweet cowboy hat and jeans and cowboy boots. As soon as they […]
Hey Folks, I haven’t updated in two weeks because life has been overwhelming. The Friday of the G20 week shit got crazy and I was in no head space to update, and I didn’t have the time or energy. I plan on going back and filling in the blanks. I have lots of notes from […]
This is the poem Rachel Small did at th Toxic Tour of Toronto that I mentioned. On Canadian mining injustice in Guatemala. Her blog is Undermining Guate
I had fun today! More peeps came in from KW so it felt safer and generally more like a field trip. Laura arrived with Polly, Joe, Jen H, Larissa came, and Jacob fresh off the road from Yukon. Running hugs were in order. Today was themed day of resistance on Indigenous rights and sovereignty. We […]
Today was the Toxic Tour of Toronto as part of the themed day on environmental justice. Appropriately it was very hot and humid and smoggy. It seems the numbers of people showing up have been doubling every day. Hooray! A few more people came in from KW today which was great. Rachel Small (whose blog […]
Today was the themed day of resistance on gender justice. I attended the queering the streets rally and march, which began at Queen and Yonge, just outside the Eaton’s Centre. It rained today, so it was humid, but not having hot sun beaming down on us definitely helped. It was good times. There were police out […]
Today was the first rally/march for the Days of Resistance to the G20 in Toronto. People met up in Allen Gardens, a spacious, beautiful park downtown with many big old trees. I went a bit early to meet up with medics and as soon as I got there, I saw a person with a backpack […]
Hey Folks, I am in Toronto this whole week for the G20 resistance demonstrations. I am going as a medic and concerned community member. I will hopefully be updating each day this week! I see this whole thing as radical o-week. Each day we will be with teams, cheering, and in the sun. Except, it’s […]
This is a note I published on facebook on June 8th. — I would like to tell you why I am going to the G20 convergence as a concerned community member (going as a street medic and political poet), and why I think you should get involved in some way or another, and how I […]
I haven’t updated in a long time. Been busy! Here are some videos of some of my slam poetry! Flight: The Struggle for Speech Ode to Garlic Asians Don’t Sing the Blues (with Kat Lennon)
This is for my friends who have enriched my life and helped me become who I am today. Where I Was Born Janice Lee This is where I was born, in the grass Beneath the stars I found happiness, with you, my friends We sighed, we cried, we laughed We sang, we loved, our lives […]
Wed April 14th, music with our newly formed band (myself, Adam Lewis, Laura Ashfield), now called The Pedal Pushers! at the Boathouse, opening for Wilmott Redd, Von Krippen, and Nick JD and the Whale. 9pm. Cover is $3. The Pedal Pushers will also play the next week, Monday April 19th, at Maxwell’s Music House, Battle […]
Check this! I placed 1st at the poetry slam! WHOA!! COOL!!! Weeeeeeee! The first poetry slam I was in I didn’t make it past the first round. Well well well! I guess I was pretty freaking nervous the first time, and going right after Carlos Andres Gomez opened didnt help me. But, this time, yay! […]
The extremity of violence against women has been on my mind lately. I am participating in the V-Day festival at UW this week, as part of the cast of A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer. V-Day is a movement to end violence against women. I wrote this poem around the idea of […]
Always when an essay is due, does the poetry flow. Hiatus A beautiful old acoustic guitar sits in this grey house. He hasn’t played in years – hasn’t written, hasn’t sung a note. It’s been a pretty serious hiatus. He left that warm inspirational incubator back when he got a desk job. He’s been pretty […]
As published in Blueprint Magazine’s ROOTS issue. “Ode” to Garlic Janice Lee Clove by clove you grow a white flower blooming into a shower punch (POW!) of Pazzah in my mouth. Stay with me garlic! Today… Tonight…. Tomorrow… into my lover’s kiss. Toothpaste never stood a chance. Clove by clove you grow into my heart […]
I am in the cast of Eve Ensler’s (editor of the Vagina Monologues) latest collection of monologues called A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, A Prayer at UW. I think it really overcomes some of the limitation of the VMs – including male voices, moving into different kinds of violence. There are two performances Monday […]
I think I have seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D.) Symptoms may include: change in appetite, in particular a craving for sweet or starchy foods, weight gain, decreased energy, fatigue, tendency to oversleep, difficulty concentrating, irritability, avoidance of social situations, feelings of anxiety and despair — I definitely have had all of these this winter. Especially the […]
These lines make good points I think. “One law for the lion and ox is oppression.” –William Blake, from Proverbs of Hell “If you piss in my face I am going to call it piss. I’m not gonna call it rain.” –Reverend Al Sharpton from Anna Deavere Smith’s Fires in the Mirror , 1993