Its interesting to me that I haven’t been writing about sex lately. My sexual writers block is caused by me actually having a sex life of late.

It is easy to write about anonymous faces or generalized sexual partners, but when you are getting it on the regular there is less to talk about because you are practicing it. I’m less concerned with chasing tail once its in my bed warm and waiting.

I came home to someone sleeping in the broken spot in my bed, I took off all of my clothes and climbed in. Right where I belonged in that moment. Sticky sweaty skin, soft flesh melting into more tender loveliness. I can go into detail about the sun coming through the window and the exact sounds and smells, the wonderful warmth.

Some things cannot be defined by words alone. A smile upon waking, my legs fit inside yours. Its nice to know that I wasn’t the only one wondering, what if? I run my finger down the nape of your neck and see you shiver with antici……pation.

I am more of an expert at longing for some touch, rather than actually having someone. I don’t believe in ever really “having” anyone, people aren’t propery. It is easy to preach about self confidence and feeling good about life regardless of your relationship status, but living it is a different story.

I always say that true love should be effortless, pure joy, constant stream of brilliant moments and moments where you must lift each other to brilliance. I was once told that I would never find love if I didn’t lose weight, but then I learned to love myself. There is more to love when you love each inch.

Do opposites really attract? I feel as though you must have some things in common to spark that initial fire, but you can’t be the same person. I always look for someone as out there and artistically over achieving as I am. There cannot be light without dark, you cannot know true bliss without knowing the bitter taste of defeat and sadness. The placement of the darkest shadow and most brilliant highlights is the main element of successful art.

I was in California and I couldn’t imagine having weather that pleasant all year round. Eternal summer. I need that six months of winter to hibernate and make art. If I were able to frolic about and play in the sunshine all year I would never get shit done.

I am so easily distracted by the summertime feel fine way of life. I want to lay in the sun in a field of flowers and stretch out as far as I can with the life affirming warmth beating down on me. It’s like love, to appreciate the good times you need to survive the rest of times. You need to have a job to appreciate days off.

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I had never traveled that far from home, I roamed away from Buffalo. I felt a little like Hunter S Thompson heading to Las Vegas to pick up a flight to San Diego. Instead I should rent the biggest reddest oldest convertible there is and drive it across the desert. No looking back, no surrender.

Humans are meant to wander, to move around, experience things. If we stay in place we become stupid and stagnant, fenced in by our own insecurities and fears. It’s a horrible life to not want more, to not wonder what else is out there, to see how other people live, to notice the differences and relish in the familiar moments.

Las Vegas is a place I never wanted to meet, slot machines at every turn, I thoroughly dislike gambling. There is something so creepy about the subliminal hum of casinos. The elderly and addicted sitting like drones pushing buttons and pulling levers. Its downright freaky to me. If I’m going to waste my money its going to be on something that makes me happy. Physical things should never be the cause of happiness. Money will never be the cause of happiness.
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I visited Coronado Island in San Diego. It was where Some Like It Hot was filmed. Gold flecked beaches shimmered brilliantly. I stood in the same place that Marilyn Monroe stood.

It was magical, but it also made me think that she was just a woman, doing her thing in the height of her life and popularity. She had no idea that her image would make such an impact on the world. Her beauty radiates throughout generations who were not even alive yet. Icon status.

People often compare me to her, I think merely because of the blondness and buxom nature of our curves. The curse of curves, the curves that possibly got her murdered by the Kennedys. Someone told me today that I smile like Marilyn, big and cheesy, a lot hiding in that smile. some like it hot
I was dumped once for being unnaturally happy, never arguing or fighting the entire relationship. He couldn’t stand it. I thought of myself as more of a ray of sunshine to his clouds.

It is easier to be openly flirty once you have already been inside someone. Asking for more is different than asking for the first time. Uncertainty is terrifying. It is also what life is all about, taking chances. The idea of being shot down by a love interest is as scary as the idea of being shot down in the streets by a robber.

Successful relationships come down to who did the dishes and took the garbage out, superficial bullshit that is actually a big symbol of respect. Little things count.

Life is more than just beautiful moments and physical attraction. You must work hard and struggle before success is handed to you. Take the good with the bad and fall in love with the journey.

Marilyn Monroe is a timeless beauty, she will never age in our minds because she was taken before her time, dead before she got too old to wrinkle. Love your wrinkles and curves, live in the moment, travel as much as possible, compliment others, and love hard. You never know when your sun will set. Life is only right now, bask in its glory.

Montreal is just as cool as Brooklyn, according to Steve Ferrara and Amy Priya Santos, the pair collectively known as Sunshine. The two Brooklynites have spent a lot of time traveling back and forth between the two cultural epicentres since their band’s inception in 2009. So much so that Montreal is something of a second home to them and their network of friends has become like family.

“We’ve played other cities but I feel like, outside of our general home base, we have the strongest connection to the Montreal scene as far as our music goes,” Santos said.

The band cites several reasons for this. Logistically, it makes more sense for them to travel here than other cities with similar music scenes like New Orleans or San Francisco.

“It’s probably the closest city out of the New York area that we feel has a really interesting art scene that we can commute to really easily,” said Santos.

MTL INFringefest-010“There are so many intricacies here. I like how people are politically active but they’re also artistic,” Ferrara added.

Additionally, they have built up lasting relationships with many people in the Montreal music scene.  As a matter of fact, the duo have recorded a good part of their forthcoming album here.

Collaboration is an important feature of the band’s music. Santos and Ferrara explained that, in the beginning, it was crucial to establish Sunshine as just the two of them. Without any permanent members other than themselves, the pair were free to collaborate with as many other musicians as possible.

This fluidity has led the band’s music to evolve into an eclectic blend of sounds and influences. The album they are currently working on, which will be their first, will surely showcase all of the diverse musical talent they have chosen to work with. The album will feature trumpets by the Rev. Crawford Forbes; drums by Montreal’s own Joe McLean, among others; conga and harmonica by Aaron Jaekel; organ and slide guitar by Mike Lambert; and more.

Jaekel, Lambert, and McLean recently joined Ferrara and Santos on stage when Sunshine brought their blues-influenced indie rock to Montreal audiences as part of this year’s Infringement Festival. They had everyone in a packed Barfly all riled up and rowdy. The band played their soulful, dance-able songs with contagious energy and exuberance.

Their repertoire consists of a mix of original material and classic songs, such as the one they finished off their Infringement set with to great effect: 60s smash hit These Boots Are Made For Walkin’.

Following their Infringement set, Sunshine headed back to New York to finish recording their album. They expect the album to be ready in the fall, at which point they will be back to play Montreal.

* Photos by Chris Zacchia