I Make Things

First we went and picked up Daniel and then we went to the Saigon Deli on Jackson. I love this place. It’s good and it’s cheap too!

Then we went to the Western Bridge. It is a big warehouse that has been transformed into an exhibition center for contemporary art. The Trues put it up as a place to house all their art. I met Mr. True briefly and my impression is that he is a good guy. He and his wife have a respectable collection as well. The first thing you see is a Cindy Sherman. Then there is the whole army of dolls that are so individually creepy that when you put 118 of them together in a large room, it is scary. I loved the videos upstairs that were musical and odd. Hearing the sound of a record getting slid over a rough wall was great in that one. All three of us were impressed. I could go on and on. I liked the way there is a porthole in the bathroom. I liked a lot of the art. I’m going to have to find my list of names and pieces so that I can do it justice.

Then we went over to 1506 projects which is great that it is there as a teeny venue put on by artists, but so far I haven’t seen anything there that moves me.

Then we were off to Ballard/Featherston to look at Elizabeth Jameson’s work. I’ve met Elizabeth a few times and she is a down to earth and fun person. When I visited her studios a year or two ago, I felt at home and enjoyed the atmosphere. I like her. I like her art of fantastical fashion.

Then we went to G. Gibson to look at Lori Nix’s stuff. I love this stuff, this was my second time back there. I love her ability to make something small into something big and still hold my attention. She includes enough emotional drama in her recreations of disasters.

Then we went to Soil. I have a soft spot for Soil, and I want their space to have my gallery when they move out of it, if it isn’t too expensive.

As if that weren’t enough we went to the Goodwill and I found a dinosaur and some jeans and some fancy army men. I normally buy plastic dinosaurs, but I rarely see a dinosaur that I don’t already have. Today I found a home-made wood dinosaur that opens and closes it’s jaws as it rolls. All in all a super day for art.

I forgot to mention that I went to the new Seattle Library yesterday. I enjoyed it. It has style. I feel that the stacks are a little cramped and claustrophobic, but if they weren’t there wouldn’t be all that open space. I’m sure someone will commit suicide in there sometime. There are a few ten story drops within the building. I liked the video piece on the escalator. I like that the escalators are bright yellow. I like the fact that it is not a box.

I’m watching colonial house on PBS. It’s good. I enjoyed seeing the white colonists have to deal with the implications of their colonization of the Native People’s land.

A few summers ago, I came up with this idea. The idea is that we live in an anti-greatness culture, where feeling good about yourself goes contrary to expectations. With my friend Tom we started the greatness project. The idea is to support greatness in myself and others. It’s not as easy as you might think. I am a teacher too, so I get to think about how to support children’s greatness.
The main ways that I know to support greatness are to be reflective and ask questions you don’t know the answer to. How is your greatness supported and nurtured? Feel free to write your own ideas in the comments section.
I teach an after school guitar class of 3-5th graders and they asked me last week to teach them a white stripes song, so this week I taught them the 7 nation song. How cool do I feel? (cool.) It isn’t real age appropriate, but they learned it in five minutes instead of the hour it took to learn “this old man.”

I am taking kids outside to practice their dances. Kindergarteners are like mercury.

J and I went to Whidbey this last weekend. It was nice to get away. We mostly just layed around and watched old music videos from the 80s. I decimated a bag of marshmallows.

I went to Dr. Ma today. The acupuncture was intense in my left arm. I need to make more yucky tea and then she gave me some herbal pills to take before eating.

It feels good to be keeping this journal.

Today marks the anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education. I heard readings of letters sent to the president at the time and they were touching. As a country we are still struggling to give an adequate, inspiring, and meaningful education to our young people.

Today I took my students outside to do the folk dances we’ve been working on, and even though they did a great job inside, they forgot everything when they went outside. I hope they are ready for their performance next week!

I am still daydreaming of having an art gallery. I may have to sign up with soil in the meantime. Check out soilart.org sometime. That would get me into the art business and be fun too. I wish I had signed up earlier. I am going to put together a portfolio this summer with Lyden’s help.

J’s brother wants to make a movie with me that would be a comedy about the way that chanting makes it easier to get into a meditative state and he wants to do it with puppets. I have to admit that it’s crazy, but crazy ideas sometimes work.

Right now, it feels like this journal is important. I get to process things. I wish that I had gotten back to online journaling sooner.

I took pictures of dinosaurs this weekend on the beach. They should be good. diptychs and Triptychs

I am upset with film stop on capitol hill for losing my photos and negs of the farmall tractor lit with candles.
My aunt Lydia has decided to put together a family wisdom book of stories of things that we know as a family. I contributed the following:

I was working as a camera trainee on a film in Prague. A film crew is a hierarchy and I was at the bottom. The shit rolled downhill, and I was in the valley. I kept getting blamed for responsibilities that I didn’t even know I had. I began to resent it till the clapper-loader who kept yelling and getting upset with me for not doing things I didn’t know how to do recommended that the next time I got yelled at, I might just say “I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.” Then, he went on to tell me, don’t let it happen again. It worked. Since then, whenever something goes wrong, I take responsibility for my part, apologize, and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

I am always trying new things and making mistakes and the saying “I’m sorry, it won’t happen again” gives me the freedom to keep making mistakes. I just have to make sure I don’t make the same mistake twice!

I went and had acupuncture with Dr. Ma last week and I’m going again this week. It is difficult for me because I am afraid of needles. But I haven’t been real healthy in my life and I think it is affecting my life path, so I’m doing it. She is also having me take Chinese herbal tea. It is veeeery gross. I think there are bug larva in mine. Yech. But I do feel healthier afterwards. I have to cut down on sweets.

Being a teacher is a strange trip. I see 250 kids over two days. 11 classes of between 20 and 28 students. I will be having a big dance performance coming up. I am teaching dances and putting together an all adult dance band. Sigh, today I told a student who was interested in being in the band that since he had missed the first two rehearsals, he couldn’t be in the band. I hate being the rejecter. Hopefully I didn’t scar him for life and he will do it next year.

It feels good to write.

4 weeks ago I wanted land.
3 weeks ago I decided I would get an MFA
2 weeks ago I decided I would dedicate myself to writing screen plays and making movies
Yesterday I decided to open an art gallery. I saw a run down storefront in the intl. district and I want it.
Today, I just want to fall into a sublimely happy place
Needless to say, I just feel like I am wanting a change in my life. I moving past the “it should just fall in my lap” stage and thinking about making it happen. I feel like I am spinning the wheel of fortune right now. Life is short, and I want to be active in my life in the world.