this is some puppet magic: jerome murat
note the set with the dail hands... :)

Kirk Varnedoe

Back in March 2003. I came to DC to visit this guy I had met in a bar in Philly (that is a short story that needs no retelling) none the less during that visit I ended up at the National Gallery and heard Kirk Varnedoe's lecture on "Why Abstract Art." For those of you that do not know...I love art history...actually could care a fuck all about history until I starting learning it through art...so, i get kinda giddy for these sorts of lectures. This lecture was AMAZING. I sat on the floor in the back listening to this man that i had never heard of talk about art from Picasso to Pollack (this was the last in a series). Varnedoe was such a great speaker…and what he was saying about abstract art hit me…I mean I like it – I do…but it is hard for me to justify or explain well it to someone who hates it or does not see the purpose of it. Varnedoe died of a brain tumor shortly after I saw him speak…they had a great story in the New Yorker about him shortly after that…he was an amazing man with real passion for art and life…really free with his life..

The National Gallery has just come out with a video and book set of all of his lectures. I have not looked to see how much this might be…Varnedoe was one of the foremost experts on post modern theory…and the way he talked about it was so straight forward…not all academic.

You can read the preface to the book: HERE it is written by A. Gopnick.

Once I had moved here I told this to my new boss at the time Anne L. Corbett. She then told me her husband Sam Sweet had Varnedoe as an advisor in grad school…small world.

Welcom 2007! I am back from what turned out to be 12 days away from DC. I needed this break from this place....but am a exhausted from my travels. I greet this new year off kilter a bit. I have been stung with untruths that have left a welt. Despite all of that I feel a tinge of breath and hope with what I have to accomplish over the next 12 months. I believe in real human connection - this is what I strive for in every moment and interaction- those that grow in honesty and light. I am blessed with wonderful opportunities that I am allowed to explore…and dear friends.

Now I must go sleep so I can greet tomorrow with energy.

christmas moment 3

Ciara my niece ( 6yrs old ) “People what are you doing? We need Christmas sprit in this house – turn on those lights on the tree.”

christmas moment 1 & 2

1. scot singing a Christmas carol to me on the metro - actually made me cry.
2. getting a Christmas card from the man who bags grocery's at safeway in my home town.

travel

I am traveling today. I am actually at the Cleveland airport right now. I have not traveled on a plane since December of 2004….and have only left DC a hand full of times in the 4 years that I have lived there….

I use to be okay with flying. Going to boarding school and attending college in states other then Montana meant I grew up flying quite often. Things are very different than the way I remember them…

What is with the anger people?

Do I really need to go through such interrogation at 4am…??

How are these people awake?

Can’t they provide us with a place to put our shoes back on…I mean look at all these people stumbling around.

When did planes get so run down…are new planes even made…can I fly in them please?

How can someone have NO information and then suddenly we are leaving in 5 minutes.

Moving sidewalks are still fun.

Do I need to know every 2 minutes that the threat level has been raised to orange…maybe every 10 would be good?

Starbuck coffee is only $1.69! No tip jar??!

Denver airport is closed and fucking up all travel times – or this is what they are blaming it on first.

So, I have been in the Cleveland airport now for about 3 hours…I was at Dulles for 4 hours…and was actually at Regan last night…so, here are all these buildings that need to be functioning at a high level…at many different locations in the structure….and ALL are ugly. Why not get artists involved in the planning of these buildings…not just to install those lovely sculptures…or neon light displays…but on the function. Like the baggage carousels …can’t those look different…or the gates that reach out to the planes…why is everything SO ugly and bulky awkward?

Alright I sit now waiting for an announcement to send me on my way. I think I went to sleep at 1am last night and woke up at 3am...AWESOME! I did have a good night...I got to see someone I have not in a bit..and it was both hard to catch up and easy...if that makes any sense..?

So, why Cleveland airport? Heading to Chicago to see my sister Patricia and her family ( little Siobhan & Ciara ), Aunt B, Aunt Clem, my daddy…and Sandy…my grandma... cousins and so on…etc. Most of these folks I have not seen in 3 years! I am both excited and nervous about this visit ( of 8 days ). I will be seeing some college friends on Friday night… Heather and Joel at this point… I have not seen Heather since 1997 maybe… and Joel 1999…so tht will be a blast from the past!

oh my beck! no, really oh, MY!!! Got his new cd yesterday. i have always *tried* to like him..but always left with an - okay, alright - feeling. okay, beck-the information is brillent. every song..i can really sit back and just enjoy it. plus, he really is pretty cute.

okay...kick ass!

YELLOW LINE

Yesterday I went to get on the metro in my neighborhood of Columbia heights. I had 4 minutes to wait and I sat starring at a sign. I realized the yellow line looked longer on it…then I realized that it was indeed longer…OH, my to Columbia Heights.

I had heard about this - but i thought it was not happening until Jan 07. I am still unsure if it is all the time or just peak hours.

None the less - pretty exciting!

Sometimes it feels like we are in a nation that feeds off anti depressants. Like it is easier for us to create our own island Disneyland’s..where everyone is educated – friendly and all is over priced.

That is really the whole of the thought…not sure what this means or where I am going with it…just what I took from my night out in DC last night…all the button down shirts..ties..and the girls with their party tops ( you know the halter or the like with glitter or...)

DC FACTS:

• Population: 572,059
• Total Households: 248,338
• Median Age: 34.60
• Median Household Income: $40,127

unrequited search for

okay - if you know me you know i use the word fuck a lot. actually way back in about 2001 or so thought that sprinking my speech with swear words was a great style of management and would gain me much respect from my employees...(in short i still swear but not as a management style).

So, there is a new movie out called FUCK all about the power of those four letters...I have yet to see it..but man I really want to...maybe today.

An aside: today is my FOUR year anniversay of living in DC...OH, MY...FUCK! :)

the season of winter seen

A storm swept into Dillon Monday afternoon, and the combination of snow,wind and rapidly dropping temperatures...could it be traveling across the us to visit us here on the east coast?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
The South
Philadelphia
North Central
The West
Boston
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

There once was a man who was wrapped in sand. He was dry and brittle...so scratchy to the touch. He craved for water to nourish him. I really crave for the same I told him…but I am not made of sand merely clay and a little bone. He laughed at me as if I was wrong about my composition. But it is hard for me to be wrong about such…as I am really the only one who would know at this point. We continued to talk in varying degrees of intimacy about things that mattered and did not. I once found him with his mouth stuck on the faucet unable to breath. I laughed at him in the moment and later found it incredibly sad. I see him occasionally when it rains out in the street – next to naked - trying to soak it all up in his pores. I am usually behind some glass drinking a bottle of purified water. Who’s to say who is more nourished?

last night as scot and i walked to the metro in columbia heights we hear someone yelling - not all that odd right. well, it starts to feel like they are yelling towards us...what do you hear that..."you stink...white people stink...stinking white people..." seriously this actually happened!

Bush & Paraguay...huh?

This acquisition by the Bush family seems a little peculiar, doesn't it?
READ HERE

Borat

i took this photo back in July. I was not really sure what it was. It grabbed my attention however. I did go and see Borat a few days ago. Sure it is hilarious – but only because it is filled with compassion. I love the sayings: “sexy time”, “great success” “high five”. There is a lot of controversy brewing around it as well: banned in Russia, Kazakhstan wants to sue, ignorant frat boyz suing…and so on. I think this has more to do with the money the film is making than anything else. Now if you are a person who gets offended easily – or can not laugh at how ridicules we are as a country – the extremes, divides, ignorance…than you will hate – hate this movie. The rodeo portion the man talking to Borat a bout gays and such…this man is so true to those in my hometown…anyway…really, really brilliant!

so, here i am working...and i feel light headed..but I think that I must just need food. I go get some food...drink some water. Still feel dizzy and now hot. So, I take my temp...yikes 101! Fuck, I really have no tolerence for being sick right now. Okay, off to rest and get better....

related to fringe

i really don’t talk about my work on this blog - not for any other reason then...i am sure if you know me...you know that is all I talk about...but today was one of those floor me days.

So, on Tuesday I sat on my sofa and watched the piano and entered all the apps we had thus far received – which came to a whopping 47! From what had come in over pay pal I thought I was looking at maybe 5-10 more to come in with the postmark of November 6. On Wednesday I hoofed it from Columbia Heights to our PO Box in Penn Quarter – nothing in the box – I was a bit disappointed. Went back today and found a slip in the PO Box saying I had three applications to claim at the counter…I went and waited in the line…I handed my slip to the attendant and she went behind the counter. She was gone for quite awhile – so long I thought maybe she had decided it was a good time to take a lunch break – soon enough she came around the corner with a crate filled to the brim. I asked her if that was all for me – she responded with a yes. After convincing her that I needed to keep the crate and would return it the next day – I began counting the applications right there – as reached I 15 I yelled out 15..as I reach 25 I yelled out 25 – and when I got to the bottom of the crate I yelled out 51!

So, whoa….time to plan – plan…..and man, do we have time to plan - nice!

i did not vote - i have failed montana!

We took back the House, thankfully, but control of the Senate rests on the results of two state races. Can you guess which state is one of those? I did not vote – I feel like I have failed Montana – as we finally got a democratic governor…last election!

(CNN) -- After polls closed on Election Day, Democrats were projected to pick up four GOP-held seats but must win the two remaining undecided races to gain control of the Senate.

Democratic candidates hold a lead in each of those two races -- in Virginia and Montana.

In Virginia, Democrat Jim Webb declared victory in his race against incumbent Republican Sen. George Allen early Wednesday, though a recount in the hotly contested election appeared likely.

"The votes are in, and we won," said Webb, who led Allen by nearly 12,000 votes with 99 percent of precincts reporting.

Allen assured supporters that "the counting will continue through the night."

In Montana, Republican Sen. Conrad Burns is trailing Democratic challenger state senator Jon Tester by about 3,600 votes -- or four percentage points -- with 82 percent of precincts reporting.