Item Number 14: Jenny Award

Time in possession: I can actually date this one pretty accurately: One and a half years and a couple of weeks.

Description: Plush donkey, floral patterns with a blue ribbon on gold painted block of wood. Slightly peeling paper label proclaiming "JENNY 05". Its eyes speak of an untold sadness that would utterly destroy a lesser award.

Cost: Won, so free. Let's call it 2.50$ for it's various parts.

Story: Winnipeg, my hometown, is the proud staging grounds for one of the largest (the second largest, and it's a close race) fringe festivals in North America: The Winnipeg Fringe Festival. Being an actor, it stands to reason that I should throw myself into such a festival with reckless abandon- I have, but for the longest time, I didn't.

I'm making up for lost time: I did 2 shows in '05, 3 in '06 and am currently lined up to do another 2 this upcoming year. But I'm getting ahead of myself: Despite my aspirations towards acting and the festival in general, for years I would fail over and over again to participate. It wasn't until my friend Seb approached me with the first couple of scenes on a play he was working on that I finally got into a project that would go the distance from planning to performance.

Part of the secret was that I was determined to make it happen and having somebody (Seb) to let down drove me onward. Also, I had been told repeatedly by my Prof that year to take part, and so I was set on getting the show done. As time went on I assumed many of the responsibilities for it: Along with co-writing and doing much of the directing, I produced the show, did the publicity and otherwise whored myself out to ensure that my creation was going to be as much a success as possible.

In the end, things worked out pretty well. Seb's couple of scenes became Coffee, a romantic comedy starring the both of us and a handful of awesome friends. While the show was met with mostly tepid reviews, our audiences were very appreciative and plentiful enough to pay everyone off quite decently for their hard work. Even better, during the final night of the festival we were awarded this, one of the annual Jenny Awards.

I'll back it up again: The Jenny is an independent paper that is produced during the festival, which reviews show and posts audience reviews of shows, to essentially serve as a forum for festival goers to share their opinions on the various shows and the event at large. On the last night of the festival, as a sort of closing party, the people in charge of the Jenny take over the Kings' Head Pub (a popular drinking hole right in the middle of the proceedings) and hand out awards while everyone gets shit faced and enjoys the last moments of the festival together. The shows are grouped haphazardly together, usually according to their title (Shows about Jesus! Shows starting with N! Shows that remind me of my horrible childhood!) and the winner is chosen by whichever show gets the most noise upon it's mention. So, essentially it's a drunken popularity contest. But whatever.

ANYWAY, to make a ridiculously long story short(er), we managed to win the "Food" catagory, thanks in large to the help of the cast of my other show that year, the huge-casted Illuminati: The Musical! Seb and I agreed to share the award, although it has been sitting in my room ever since. That's a problem with this project- What if Seb sees this entry and wants it back? He'll have to kung fu fight me for it.

Item Number 7: Cat (White), Stuffed

Time in possesion: The better part of 20 years.

Description: (Mostly) white stuffed cat, although it's harder and harder to tell. Amazingly well loved. Formerly had a bell at the end of her tail, but was clogged and then removed long ago. Stiched up repeatedly. I think she's pretty cute, but she has taken on, I must admit, many rag-like qualities over the years.

Cost: Another item stolen from my mother, so yet another free item. It was a really nice stuffed animal before I got my hands on it, so I'll say 20$.

Story: Most people have a childhood toy that they loved above all over. A bear, a blanket, whatever. This cat is mine. She was a gift to my mother when she quit her job at Air Canada, a stuffed animal from Bowring & Co. The story as I remember it is this: I'm little, and my mom is on the phone. I don't know how old I am- Maybe three? Old enough to walk at least. In any case, I go into my mom's room and upon seeing that she is talking on the phone grab the stuffed cat which sits on the foot of her bed. It's one of those "kid trying to be sneaky even though the grown-up is looking right at them" moments. Anyway, I've got the cat and I run away. The cat has been mine ever since.

One of the frequent offers over the years has been to re-stuff the poor creature, since she has been pretty saggy in her body for years. However, the reason for that was because I loved to wrap her around my neck much like the now widely available travel pillows- What can I say, I was ahead of my time? - and that comfortable "worn-ness" is not something I'm likely to give up quickly. That being said, she has taken more then her fair share of abuse- her eyes are cracked from frequent trips to the dryer, her ears once pink now a dull grey. On more then one occasion she has been spun around by her tail or tied into knots and she has parts of her that are almost threadbare to show for all those years of faithful service. I was kind of a jerk to her.

Alright, so the story that this is all building up to: When I was little I couldn't get to sleep without my cat, not uncommon for any comfort object. The difference is that my mother called it my "Pussy Cat" which I then shortened to "Pussy". You can tell where I'm going with this. I have a couple of Scottish cousins who still love to tell me about the time when I was 4 or 5 and telling them about how I "can't get to sleep without my Pussy" and how "I love my Pussy". What a bunch of jerks. :)

She spends her time now either with my few stuffed animals or (most often) on the foot of my bed. She's earned a place of honor.

Item Number 2: Bear (Musical), Stuffed

Time in possession: Almost 24 years

Cost: Free, as it was a gift. 10$ shall we say?

Description: A brown stuffed bear, good condition. Contains a wind-up music box type device which no longer works. Cute little guy.

Story: This stuffed bear was a gift to me from one of my mothers co-workers when I was born. It has followed me through 4 major displacements and all things considered is in great condition. The biggest thing that comes to mind about his is that he is one of the very few stuffed animals I have left from when i was born. I named him Kuma, although that was in my teens, so for his days of active service on my bed he was unnamed, although greatly appreciated. His music box was broken mostly because I played his song frequently, although I'm sure I was a little rough with is as well. As kid I never really took good care of my things.

Now little Kuma is one of only a handful of stuffed animals I have left from my childhood. While there are no distinct memories featuring him, he's a calming presence, something familiar that has been around me literally my whole life. Plus, he's a bear, so should I suddenly be attacked by the inanimate, I have in him a sturdy protector that can chase my assailants up trees. Everybody needs a bear on their side.