You’re think you’re soooo funny

Sunday email conversation

B: L, I need your snail mail address
L: Here you go…
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
B: great!
Sent via Anti-crackberry-old-dirty-laptop by BJM

Tuesday night conversation

L: I’m already regretting the new desktop image.
X: Yeah, me too.
L: Take it off. Put something beautiful on there. You always pick beautiful images.
X: Search ‘Paris Hilton’s tits’.

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground

For the last few weeks I have been working on a big project that’s about to open in Toronto. How does it happen that I am going to Canada to do art projects twice in one month?! I cannot believe how many flights I’ve taken this year already, and now I’m about to hop on a plane again.

You can read about the project here. And I will have lots more to report on next week when I get back. If anyone has Toronto eatery recommendations, now is the time to send them.

This weekend I did a lot of painting. It felt so good. I haven’t painted like this in a while. It’s been a lot more social -based projects this year. But I’m getting back into the painting and drawing. I think I’m going to focus on this for the rest of the year once I’m back from the 2nd Canada trip. There’s something really magical for me when I use watercolors. It’s totally unplanned, because the water will go where it wants to, and I cant control that. I just have to let it sit and dry and wait to see what happens. This is an amazing feeling.

I’m working on a series of portraits right now. You can see a few new pieces below. The landscape is something I’ve been working on for almost 2 years now. I need a good projector to trace these computer generated images. So I haven’t been able to do a new one, but I’ve decided to start an LCD fund so that I can buy myself one. I had applied for some grants to do this, but none of them panned out – so I am now going to take this expensive endeavor into my own hands.

We also had a little fun in the studio playing dress-up. I discovered a box of wigs Melissa had stored under her table. We put some things on, and of course tortured Max. And the bird. But he is a good sport and a camera ham. (The bird, I mean…)

We finally backed up my laptop last night. And by we, I mean Max. In the Spring I bought an external hard drive to do this on a regular basis. Each day, I turn on my laptop Oskar, and this little window pops up reminding me it’s time to back up again, and it gives me a count of how many days it’s been since I last did this. The last time I did this was just days before Grady died. So everyday I see this pop-up I think of how many days our precious kitten has been gone. This week it is 6 months.

I am forgetting little things, but after I look at old photos, I remember again. But it’s scary how quickly things fade. Oh my god was he adorable. I wish I’d spent more time with him. I would get home from work, and change into sweats and run to the gym. Even though he was following me like a shadow and clearly wanting to hang out. I was always thinking, “I’ll be home soon, and then we’ll hang out. We have years of hanging out to do little guy!” So fucking sad… Next time we get a kitten it will be different and I’ll spend more time lovin’.

When the lights go out, I feel the knot in my throat

In the last year of graduate school, for thesis class, we were asked to write a list of questions. Questions that we wanted to answer through writing of the thesis paper. I remember Ashley read out loud and asked, “Why do I get more excited at a music show than an art opening?” I think about this a lot. Especially in that moment when the lights finally go out, and the audience starts to scream. In that moment when the musicians come out on stage, and start to perform, I think of what it must feel like to have all those people so happy to see you – all at once screaming with joy just to hear you play your music. In essence: loving you for the art that you make. Almost always I feel a knot in my throat.

Last year we saw a lot of music shows, but this Fall, we may beat that record. Last week was Wilco and the Beastie Boys. This Thursday is Rilo Kiley, and the next couple of months include Stars, Tori and Cat Power.

One of the worst things about going to shows is the audience. People these days are just super inconsiderate. Why pay all that money to go to a concert and talk all the way through it?!

One of the best things about going to shows is seeing them with Max. I have someone to chat with before the show starts, someone who gets me drinks, someone who’ll save my seat when I go to the bathroom, and most importantly I have someone who will share their binoculars with me.

Wilco at the Greek in Berkeley