Alberta: Searching for Beauty by Sharon Kahanoff When asked about the prairies, my husband replies sardonically, "It's a great place to be from." For a long time | agreed with him. It's ironic that | live in a country whose identity is so weak and elu- sive it can only be expressed as the negation "We are not Americans." Meanwhile, my own parallel identity has been "| am not Albertan." Some might see it as a twisted type of patriotism. However, even as | deny the prairie kid within me, a neutral word like "landscape" brings to mind an instant polaroid: A long, uninterrupted, pale gray road; bordered on either side by lemon yellow rye feilds; all framed too widely by a bound- less blue sky. Even as | am repelled by the homoge- nous and materialistic values of the culture in Alberta, | still have trouble choosing between a unique and charming old-timer teeming with "char- acter" and a well designed, crisp, new, pre-fab townhouse. And even though we have been living in Vancouver for almost ten years now, "home" will always refer to Calgary. For years | have been disparaging the place | grew up in, in an attempt to differentiate my own identity from what, in my mind, was the iden- tity of Alberta: a loathsome intolerance; a ravenous appetite for status; an uptight, narrow-minded "Christian" moral code. The fact remains, however, that no matter how far | try to distance myself from it, | am still Albertan. | will always be Albertan. Which means that all | have left myself with is the negation - "this is what | am not" - and no words to describe what | am. The need for a positive identity has pushed me. It has made me realize that my past, my "home", cannot just be filled with the negative ele- ments | have highlighted over the years. | think that | am finally ready; ready to accept, and willing to see, the beauty of the praries... ...the place | am from. Editor’s Note | couldn’t let the last issue of the semester slide without thanks to all our reader. There has been an overwhelming response this year, and’! thank you all for your praise and encouragement. | would also like to thank all the contributors of the last year who helped to make InFlux what it is. Have a good summer, and look out for our September issue. The following 18545 words contain e | ] { UX... 2000 Vol. 15, #6 Produced at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design (ECIAD) Mmmmm...chicken. = 12 Ugh. |'m too drunk to be writing this shit. Just read it, you may like it. Maybe we'll talk about aliens or something. What a bunch of dead rodents. Have you ever been in a Turkish gulag? Let me tell you, it's tough. Those Turkish wrote haikus. Can you? S Apparently you can gt serious problems if you stand still for too long. Boy do i feel sorry for all those artists' models. Right now if i move at all, i'm going to vomit. A ten foot vibrating penis? Hippies? Tree Molestation? Convoluded tales from those damn druggies. Wait. I'ma druggie. Spring is springing, and so are my tidbits. Man, i could really fo for some sweet lovin’. Mmmmm...bananas. Calendar ———2 Reviews start on page 30 34 Video Reviews - Movies that make you question your humanity Alberta: Searching for Beauty by Sharon Kahanoff When asked about the prairies, my husband replies sardonically, "It's a great place to be from." For a long time | agreed with him. It’s ironic that | live in a country whose identity is so weak and elu- sive it can only be expressed as the negation "We are not Americans." Meanwhile, my own parallel identity has been "! am not Albertan.” Some might see it as a twisted type of patriotism. However, even as | deny the prairie kid within me, a neutral word like "landscape" brings to mind an instant polaroid: A long, uninterrupted, pale gray road; bordered on either side by lemon yellow rye feilds; all framed too widely by a bound- less blue sky. Even as | am repelled by the homoge- ‘nous and materialistic values of the culture in Alberta, | still have trouble choosing between a Unique and charming old-timer teeming with "char- acter" and a well designed, crisp, new, pre-fab townhouse. And even though we have been living in Vancouver for almost ten years now, “home” will always refer to Calgary. For years | have been disparaging the place | grew up in, in an attempt to differentiate my ‘own identity from what, in my mind, was the iden- tity of Alberta: a loathsome intolerance; a ravenous appetite for status; an uptight, narrow-minded “Christian” moral code. The fact remains, however, that no matter how far | try to distance myself from it, 1am still Albertan. | will always be Albertan. Which means that all | have left myself with is the negation - "this is what | am not* - and no words to describe what | am. The need for a positive identity has pushed me. It has made me realize that my past, my “home", cannot just be filled with the negative ele- ments | have highlighted over the years. | think that am finally ready; ready to accept, and willing to see, the beauty of the prarie.. the place | am from. Editor's Note | couldn't let the last issue of the semester slide without thanks to all our reader. There has been an overwhelming response this year, and | thank you all for your praise and encouragement. | would also like to thank all the contributors of the last year who helped to make InFlux what it is. Have a good summer, and look out for our September issue. The following 18545 words contain @ ~ Produced at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design (ECIAD) ‘Mmmmm...chicken: 12 Ugh. I'm too drunk to be writing this shit. Just read it, you may lke it. Maybe we'll talk about aliens or something, What a bunch of dead rodents. O Have you ever been in a Turkish gulag? Let me tell you, it's tough. Those. Turkish wrote haikus. Can you? ©® © Apparently you can gt serious problems if you stand still for too long. Boy do i feel sorry for all those artists’ models. Right now if i move at all, i'm going to vomit. Aten foot vibrating penis? Hippies? Tree Molestation? Convoluded tales from those damn druggies. Wait. I'ma druggie Spring is springing, and so are my tidbits. Man, i could really fo for some sweet lovin’. Mmmmm...bananas. Calendar——2 Reviews start on page —______39 34 Video Reviews - Movies that make you question your humanity