MULCH!! the good, the bad and the ugly

While walking my main man Sparky the other day in Volunteer Park,

we came upon this which was not there the day before:

and Sparky and I, simultaneously at the same time said (yeah, I actually know someone who says that), "Holy shit, they've mulched."

(Or as my algebra teacher who also taught Latin and just hapened to have a HUGE frog collection used to say, "Ye gods and little war horses, they've mulched!" OK, I get the 'ye gods' part because, after all she did teach Latin ... but I so do not get the frog collection and how that could possibly fit into Latin or Algebra-- and, of course, she never said "They've mulched!". I'm personally still thinking about the frog thing. How does that fit into teaching Latin or algebra? Ye gods and little war horses, froggies and formulas?) But...

The good:

They've mulched on Capitol Hill. Whoppee! We all know what a wonderful thing mulch can be for trees, plants and flowers. Mulch saves on water in the summer and keeps things warm and cuddly in the winter. I so love you mulch!

until i realized that meant...

The bad:

little street items were being covered by mulch!!

Which, in turn, means this much and more art is being destroyed

e-v-e-r-y day!

but today on our walk, we both saw the worst. we saw ...

the ugly.

we saw the ultimate evidence of "NOT MULCHING"

Miss you Mister Tree.

"LIE, CHEAT AND STEAL BUT DON'T GET CAUGHT"

Gary Pruner: Fellini's Fettucine

Those words have guided me on my life long enjoyment and 'pursuit' of all things art. Not that I'm an artist. I've just always had a connection and camaraderie with artists. As time goes by, I realize the changing dimensions of that belief. When I was young, I thought this was an awesome statement. It still makes me giggle but now I realize the chances of 'not getting caught' are, of course slim and getting slimmer.

In my yutz (see "My Cousin Vinny" for that and other notable quotes like, "yeah, you blend"), I took many art classes. I had always looked at things differently. The classes and teachers gave me the confidence for that to be ok. (You know, "I'm Okay. You're Okay". We're all ok together-- except some of us never really did reach the penultimate of being ok in the eyes of those who control reality -- you know, we didn't become republicans.)

I was fortunate to have known teachers like Gary Pruner (the author of the quote above), Jack Ogden, Ken Waterstreet and Larry Foster. These guys, in turn, knew Robert Arneson, Wayne Thiebaud, Roy Lichtenstein and others. When you look at the art produced by them, you can understand why color and what people do with it is what matters most to me. So, when I'm out and . . .

I see this on the ferry I think of Piet Mondrian

And this on the ferry floor I'm reminded of Joan Miro

But all of this most reminds me of one of Gary's daily questions in class: "is there really ever anything new in art?"

And, if not, isn't that because lying, cheating and stealing really is what it's all about?

Venn diagram

Laurel Street, San Carlos, CA

(found and photographed by Phoebe)

There is no doubt that, due to the superior flinging skills and gravity-testing inclinations of their owners, there are an abundance of lsi's whose former owners were clearly of the very small people variety. I've got the pictures to prove it. Pacifiers lying gracefully in a swath of brilliant green grass, beckoning for that long-gone mouth; little do they know they've been replaced by another in a long line of facsimilies. Unwanted. Unappreciated. So easily replaced. Sad. So sad.

But today, well, that was just something different. Because you know, here we are, on vacation (so to speak) in Silicon Valley, which didn't used to be Silicon Valley, it was just the burbs. You know, before all the houses on the block had a second story, before most people had pools, before there was a sushi restaurant within 20 miles, much less three of them in the space of two blocks. Before the hair salon with the bonnet hairdryers was replaced by a "day spa", which is the same thing, but sounds fancier. And before infants, borne of dot com millionaires (yes, they do still exist, and if you think otherwise, I might suggest a trip to my hometown), flung their rattles from their $900 carriages in such a way as to land in a perfect Venn diagram, signifying...well, something. I'm sure of that.

The intersection of "I've had enough of this farmer's market thing"/"It's dinnertime and I want food NOW!"/"I'm too old for this stupid rattle! Clearly you didn't major in child development!"? Perhaps.

The intersection of parents with too much money, children with overbooked schedules, and the desire for spontaneity? Possibly.

The intersection of does that strange lady really have to lean in that close, hey remember I am the center of the universe here, and um, excuse me, I have something rather uncomfortable in my diaper? Potentially.

Whatever.

Those Silicon Valley babies. Geniuses, I tell ya.

train tracks

"I like to smoke pot here and watch the trains"

We found this note written on the wall of a walkway over the train tracks in Santa Barbara. Perhaps gives new meaning to "High in the Sky"

Posted by Bev
Airy Persiflage

Rocks Like Feathers In Mid-Air

My repetitive thing might be feathers. I seem to see feathers a lot... or have them 'contributed' to me by circumstance. Like being on the beach at Eglon and have a Great Blue Heron drop on one, but three feathers- like presents. Very odd. And I gave them to a Native museum in AK, but behind the production warehouse for the Anchorage Opera there was a stream with LOTS of Bald Eagles... and they kept dropping feathers (yes, the kind the everyone wants, but are illegal to have!) sort of in my lap. I would be sitting eating my lunch and down would waft a tail feather.

On repetitive... not sure if that would not come from what we are unconsciously LOOKING for. You might see bees, I might see feathers... and I suspect that it also might come in waves. Like words... you hear something like 'miasma' and think 'I love that word, but you NEVER hear it'... and then you hear it a lot. Not sure if that means that it was NOT said before, or whether it had floated up to one's more conscious 'ears'.

And as a family of rock hounds, I also am always looking down in likely environments for interesting rocks (which are so rarely found floating at eye level!)... so see other 'things' among rocks, etc. And just tend to be looking at the ground when walking/hiking (and never much liked tripping on things...).

Posted by LTC

'NUF SAID

Record heat wave in Seattle:

July, 2009

"The descent to Hades is the same from every place."

-- Anaxagoras

Anaxagorus (500bc to 428 bc) distrusted the senses and gave preference to the conclusions he drew from reflection-- there must be blackness as well as whiteness in snow; otherwise, how could snow be turned into dark water?

I love the simplicity of this thinking; we could do worse.

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS

My name is Joe.
Joe Friday.
Sergeant Joe Friday.
Sergeant Josephine Friday.
I'm a detective with the Seattle Police Department.

It was on a Friday-- not a Joe Friday-- just a regular Friday.
In July.
In Seattle.
I had just taken my car into the shop to be fixed.
My detective car.
My Volkswagon Bug.
Did I already say it was my detective car? It was.
My detective car.

My partner and I were just leaving the repair shop.

It was 3:46 and 12 seconds.

We heard a scream. We looked around. We heard it again!

We looked around again.

And there, on the street right before us was this:

BUah-hahahahaha! Broken glasses!

Then THIS:

Buahhahahahah²

And then we screamed:

AND THEN . . .

WE ALL SCREAMED . . .

FOR ICE CREAM!!