Meeting with Leonard and Anjani

thoughtcat · Post by **thoughtcat** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 11:23 am

What a weird and wonderful meeting. I've been sending books, CDs, tapes, letters and cards to Leonard for years and never received a single reply - not that I expected to, but now I see where I was going wrong - all I needed to do was turn up at his house with two young girls, a giant birthday card and a robotic dog instead...

linda_lakeside · Post by **linda_lakeside** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 1:04 pm

Yep. Gift-giving is a very 'specialized' art. One has to know 'exactly' what the recipient needs. Still, it must have been quite the day.

Linda.

Young dr. Freud · Post by **Young dr. Freud** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 4:09 pm

Congratulations Kim!

You finally did it.

YdF

Young dr. Freud · Post by **Young dr. Freud** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 6:04 pm

I did feel a little sorry for the the "original" sisters of mercy though...what with the comparison and all.

YdF

linda_lakeside · Post by **linda_lakeside** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 7:23 pm

That was my immediate thought when I read that.

Natalie · Post by **Natalie** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 8:22 pm

That was an amazing story! I loved it, Dr. Solez.

When I attended the 2000 event in Montreal, I met Aaron Bouschor; he suggested that we go visit Irving Layton, as his address was in the phone book. We showed up unannounced, and his nurse told us that "this was highly unusual." We explained that we were fans of his poetry, and that it would be an honour to meet him.When the nurse gazed upon us unsympathetically, Aaron looked down at the ground and said that "we'd come a long way." Aaron had travelled from Montana; I was from Alberta.

She told us to come back in a half an hour, because she needed time to
get Irving Layton ready for company.

We had the most incredible visit. He chatted with us about our lives, and
gave us a private poetry reading. Wow. He talked about Leonard, and
showed us some pictures.

So, I guess showing up on the doorstep really isn't that bad of an idea.
Okay, I've booked my flight to L.A. (just kidding).

It is my dream to meet Leonard, and I am so happy for you Dr. Solez,
that you got to experience this privilege.

All good things,

Natalie

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:18 pm

Of course, I'm sure you're teasing, but juuuuust in case, I got the distinct feeling this was a much-planned visit. OK. So, there ya' go, on that

.

Now, on to the "Sisters of Mercy" ~ I had the same reaction to that. Perhaps, seeing that the thought has been registered three times, he may want to just leave that part out. My thought was, "Well, how does he know. All he's seen is a photo of them [and photos are, well, just photos ~ don't necessarily even capture the true external, much less the internal]. And, beauty is in the eye of . . . and what an odd [presumptuous] comment to make in the first place," etc. So ~ that said, in addition to your own, very similar reactions, just removing it seems a good plan

. [Not that you will, of course, Kim, as I'm sure to you they are indeed more beautiful

... for one thing, you know them. It will stand as a high compliment to them. But, then Leonard wrote a song about his. So...]

I'm curious about the panels. On the upper left of the one, there appears to be a depiction of a bird, maybe a rendering of the bird on the branch that Leonard drew? This one's wings seem to be slightly open, though, or perhaps, it's blurred from the picture. I'm interested to know what medium it is done in, and for sure what it is. Was something, related to it, written beneath it?]

Wonderful to see you here, Natalie. I hope you do, one day, get to meet Leonard in person

.

~ Lizzy

Tri-me · Post by **Tri-me** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:27 pm

Dr. Kim have your feet hit the ground yet???
I will save this e-mail from my friend in Montreal. He lives in the same area Leonard does when he is in town.

hey there

well it finally happened. ran into leonard cohen this afternoon. well, i didn't run into him so much as block his passage (with his wheelchair). he didn't seem upset. turns out he's a neighbour of disabled colleague of mine.

just thought you'd like to know.

my friend in Montreal

I am happy for him because I can see him laughing at me whenever he thinks of it.

Young dr. Freud · Post by **Young dr. Freud** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:33 pm

Lizzy,

Did you get to sign the Birthday Card? I wonder how that was managed? Was it only for the "elect". I read nothing about it on the forum. I smell a conspiracy.

YdF

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:47 pm

Awwwww......quit feeling so left out, YdF. There's no conspiracy. There are many Leonard Cohen fans in Dr. Kim's geographical area ~ he's already had at least a couple, reportedly very successful Leonard Cohen Nights there. Bobbie and he are friends, and they both visit the Chatroom quite a bit [perhaps, Kim moreso than Bobbie, at this point]. There may have been some mailed messages and signatures included, and then 'glued' on? I don't know on all that. I didn't sign it, no, but I don't feel left out by that, either. There may be a group from the old Newsgroup, and even the original, Montreal Event. It obviously included some whom Leonard already knows. Some things just come together as they do, with certain groups of people, and without a need to announce and open it up for everybody. Simply well-wishers doing their own, unique thing. If your feelings are truly hurt by it though, and I hope they're not, I have some Bach Flower Remedies I could suggest. It's okay

, YdF, it's okay

.....no conspiracy

.

Empathetically yours,
Lizzy

Young dr. Freud · Post by **Young dr. Freud** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:49 pm

Just as I thought...it was only for the Frozen Chosen.

YdF

Snow (retired) · Post by **Snow (retired)** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 11:34 pm

I can't understand anything about this meeting. It says that Kim and the two girls visited Leonard in Montreal one Sunday morning. Leonard was alone, and asked if they'd eaten breakfast - and they replied in the negative. So Leonard starts frying them eggs. Then halfway through doing this he drops the spatula and runs next door to a take-away shop selling some sort of South American Kentucky Fried. I've read plenty of places about Leonard's competency at food-making, so what happened exactly to the eggs? Why did he abandon the eggs and guests? Did the egg yolks break and look messy? Did he later throw good food into the bin while there are thousands starving in Africa? And where did Leonard get the fried chicken from because there's no take-away shop next door to him and even if there was it wouldn't be open on a Sunday morning. I'd like to know more about exactly what was going on. I woke up in the night and wondered whether Leonard could have genuinely changed his mind about frying the eggs after he'd cracked the shells and put them in the pan. I got out of bed and walked around the front room naked in the dark and tried to give him the benefit of the doubt - but it just keeps nagging at me. Leonard is not an impulsive person. He would never have just suddenly turned the gas off and walked away from the eggs on a whim like that. Either he could smell that they'd gone off, he broke the yolks or he saw that some pieces of shell had got mixed up in the white stuff. You don't give people chicken for breakfast unless you're eccentric. The take-away shop was shut, and there isn't even a take-away shop next door. How long was he gone? And who exactly was that man on the door who came begging - what did he want? People have got some nerve I must say. Thank goodness Leonard had more sense than to let him in.

KimSolez · Post by **KimSolez** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 11:52 pm

As the text of the card says it was from Edmonton's Leonard Cohen Night 2005. But we could easily do another such card for Berlin 2006 if you want. No assurance that Leonard would receive it personally and some of the novelty would be lost the second time. But the banner panels are quite portable, so we could get people to write stuff in Berlin in August and then add more at the 2006 Edmonton event etc. in September. Would make for good symbolic cooperation between the events. The hummingbird was suggested by Bobbie Chalou as that is Leonard's favorite bird. (He confirmed this.) The guy who makes the banners in Edmonton is really nice to work with so Nikki and I would not mind going back to him again!

The University of Toronto is cataloging and archiving all of Leonard's materials so in the end that is where the present card and any future ones would end up.

Thanks again for all your nice comments! - Kim

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 12:32 am

See, YdF, the other editorial comments aren't addressed, but yours regarding said-conspiracy possibilities was addressed well to satisfaction, and, hopefully, yours, as well. I agree that the novelty may be compromised, and how many panels can the poor man have in his house. I guess they could be hung akin to the poster-flipping panels, but hey ~ why not just come up with a new idea for honouring and acknowledging his presence in our lives. Then, again, the cooperative factor is a nice idea, as well ~ so, whatever happens, I can still pick up a pen.

Snow ~ I wondered about the sudden abandonment of the eggs, as well....not to the degree you did, of course

. However, thanks for filling in at least some of the possible details...I'm rather confident you could come up with more, if pressed for them

.

YdF ~ Please confirm that you feel better about all this.

Kim ~ Thanks for the hummingbird detail. Yes, of course, that's the bird's wings in flutter.

~ Lizzy

margaret · Post by **margaret** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 12:40 am

Can I please be one of the people to present a future card/gift in person

I am happy to to travel