A Terminal Case of Whimsy

5.18.2015

Day Dreamer Excursion Three

Along the river trail

I saw a pelican and a rock and a patch of color that spelled out love

And a puzzle yet to be solved.

Where along the continuum do we fit in?

How far along this path do we follow?

5.14.2015

Incomplete Thoughts Interrupted: Journaling on My Birthday After Not Writing a Thing for Almost Two Whole Weeks

April 1, 2015

I am 44 years old today and feeling bad that I spent $12 on some chocolate only to discover that one of the ingredients is shellac.

Likewise, this journal which I purchased to record thoughts and drawings of our California trip (which I haven't been doing) has paper that causes the pen to bleed. So it goes. We are bred to be dissatisfied with our purchases, enticing us to buy more.

We are at the mall to get our son's iPod fixed. I've
been noticing, here in L.A. that I feel left out and certainly very old, like my mother, an old lady left out because I don't have a phone, and everyone everywhere is on their phones and it all seems so desperately important.

If I lived in a big city I would certainly have to have a phone.

It's been ages since I have kept a journal. I used to be obsessive about it. I used to pull out my journal and pen at every spare moment and force myself to write. It doesn't seem so important after noticing that my thoughts and observations are mundane and repetitive, as if there is a finite amount of observations a person is allotted and I have used mine all up.

To celebrate, I bought myself a book at a fancy little gift shop in the arts district in downtown L.A., a book of drawings by a man who makes observations about shapes and lines, a gift to become reacquainted with, the sinking into this process even if it is mundane, a way to return to a daily practice.

The slick and sterile mall exhausts me. Now my flow is interrupted. In Los Angeles, life is permeated with the knowledge that up in the hills live the gods, in ever more fantastical mansions. We come from all over the world to try to catch a single glimpse. How strangely we behave.

photos of street art

downtown L.A. arts district

cover of the book I bought myself for my 44th birthday

5.13.2015

Hooray for Emma Day!

There was a lot of love going around the auditorium at Renaissance High School for the Arts in Appleton. It was Emma Day. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough to record Emma's explanation of how Emma Day started two years back when she was having a really good day and said to Mr. Pekarske that it must be Emma Day, so every year since, he's surprised her with celebrating Emma Day. Now there's a handful of Emmas, who all took the stage while we cheered. Here's some Emma fans spelling Emma. The original Emma is on the left in the red dress.

Listen to sounds from Emma Day with a song from Karl Bjornerud and Emma Hamilton:

And an alphabet poem by Juila Serra:

5.11.2015

Don't Forget to Make a Very Tiny House for Imagine City Park!

Start today!

Make a Very Tiny House

for IMAGINE CITY PARK's

Very Tiny House Exhibit

Saturday May 30th

Appleton, Wisconsin

Register your very tiny house at the City Park pavilion starting at 7:30am

and stick around to watch the exhibit grow!

What is a very tiny house?

A very tiny house is not a huge house, though inevitably there will be some huge very tiny houses. A very tiny house is definitely not a regular sized house nor even a tiny house. Some people have taken to living in tiny houses which in some parts of the world, or at other times, are regular sized houses. A very tiny house is tinier than a tiny house, but then again, some tiny houses are so tiny, that they might be the same size as (or even smaller than!) a very large very tiny house.

Are there limits to how very tiny or how huge a very tiny house can be?

Some very tiny houses will be very big, and some very tiny houses will be so very tiny that some people will debate whether they are indeed very tiny houses or whether they are something much tinier than that.

How does a person know if a very tiny house is actually a very tiny house or something else all together? Like a very large carrot?

Very large carrots are sometimes large enough to be very tiny houses if correctly handled and meticulously prepared. Though sometimes, very tiny houses, even ones made out of very large carrots, are just figments of the imagination.

5.10.2015

We Are All Mothers In One Way Or Another

5.09.2015

Day Dreamer Excursion One: Dear Subscribers

5.07.2015

City Park Broadcasting Presents: Imagine City Park Report - Elyse Appears

When the girls asked me if they could make their very tiny house out of bread, I couldn't quite imagine how that would work, but I thought Elyse would know a way, so I suggested we call her. Just as I was about to go get the phone, Elyse drove up.

Listen to what Elyse has to say about mod podge, Henry Darger, very tiny houses, and her contributions to Imagine City Park:

5.05.2015

On Day Dreaming

"On Day Dreaming"

one of many PechaKucha

at PechaKucha Night

Thursday May 7, 6pm

UW Fox Valley, Baehman Theatre

a fundraiser for Valley New School

It used to be that my practice was driven by fear. I feared being a fool. I feared failure. A friend wisely asked, “What is your definition of success?” prompting me to look deeper. What is my motivation? What more than I already have could I possibly need? Why not let my practice be driven by love?

from "On Day Dreaming"

Here's a banjo song: