OFFICIAL BLOG - Hello World Art Exhibition : Living Life with No Regrets! Ben NAZ

Hello World, if only you were closer.  Ben Naz rises to the challenge again, among other great artists, in a show in California presented by Luna George.

OFFICIAL BLOG - Hello World Art Exhibition : Living Life with No Regrets! Ben NAZ: We just received artwork for the Hello World art show from Ben NAZ  of the UK, and the energy of having this in our hands right now is...

An Ode to the Loyal Fitzroyal

I have loyal followers who spur me to keep writing and in turn I am loyal to local bloggers who inspire me to continue.  I believe in fate the way all optimists do, despite being a pessimist of Woody Allen proportion. Why am I telling you this? Because as I walk the streets of Fitzroy each day, coffee in hand, it is all I ruminate on. I am possibly leaving the place I have called home for the best part of a decade and this leaves me exposed, my ties to Fitzroy visible as strings between my heart and these cobbled alleys.

 
 What is it about Fitzroy and is it's essence still here?  Artygraffarti knows the writers are still here.  The other side crossed over for shits and giggles but that seems to be over.  Rore @ The Baby Farmers laments the giants are fading.  I find myself struggling for material.

                                      
What happens if I move from Fitzroy altogether?  Bill will still run ICI, Michael will still make it his office.  Francis may be there a bit longer, he still has his PhD to complete.  Amanda will still be fabulous and thank God Fitzroy didn't lose her.  Alimentari will still be consistently yum, Atomica will still have the best coffee and the shittest customer service. Actually that is not fair, since I returned from my most recent 6 month boycott the new staff are really sweet, particularly the dudes with the accents.  Nic at Marios will always be my favourite barrista.  Gertrude St will split its Capri pants sometime soon, it is bursting at the seams with 'too cool for school', but that is okay 'cos Smith St will be there to catch the fall.

The crazies, will they still be here getting a meal from the Rose or the Napes and a check in from the neighbours or will they be pushed aside by the middle class hopefuls moving in from the 'burbs and content with paper thin walls and no aircon, just to be here. The Poet, will he still promote the Rose Street Market despite the general public's best efforts to avoid him? The dudes from the flats, will they still be able to sit and share a laugh out the front of Grill'd? It seems to me they have been moved on from there recently. The disenfranchised Indigenous custodians, will they remain safe to get justifiably pissed off with us every Australia Day?

You know what?  As sad as I feel about change, I think so.  I think the essence of Fitzroy will always remain.  Fitzroy is unique. It is more than a suburb we live in, its a badge we wear. It is held together by the loyalty with which the stayers, the Fitzroyal, passionately live within it.  I can't begin to name them but I follow them on twitter, on Facebook.  And how lucky am I, they follow me back. What a place! Pull up a couch, Fitzroy is here to stay.