And so it goes...

And so she comes to dream herself a tree.

~H. Crane

I had to cut back a tree tonight.  I don't think I've ever done that before.  The saw, the gloves, the works.  It was amazing.  And it hurt me to do it.  I apologized to the tree at the first cut.  And when it was all over, I looked around and realized it was a life changing decision.  It will change things now.

How could it not?

(images: moi: the tree lover series:  i have an awful lot of photos of trees. for MORE tree love: ny mag)

for the love of god, can someone please help me get this little blue green SU button off of here?!

One Day In Toulouse

Heaven Can Wait and Hell is Just Too Dang Far

.

I've loved this song for awhile now, but the video confirms the deep love I have.  

The whole thing feels like my brain on any given day during the week.  

And, yeah, usually the weekend, too.

I Swear

Yes, San Francisco is beautiful.  Yes, it's very green.  Yes, it's near Muir Woods and the hiking is breathtaking.  Yes, because of the crazy hills, the views are spectacular.  Yes, there are great big parks and wide-open spaces for a juicy little dog to run around.  Yes, yes, yes, it's all true.

And yes, it's very, very true,
the coldest damn winter you'll ever spend is a summer in San Francisco.

(image via agence eureka)

Shout out, 2010 Style

8mm Ideas Cards have a bunch of new homes that I've got to give a big shout-out to;  some great shops that are up and down the coast and beyond.

For you San Franciscans and Bay Area card seekers, we've got the following:
Perch
Russian Hill Bookstore
The Booksmith
Maison d'Etre (who's doing 8mm's whole button thing!)
Urban Indigo
and Bookshop Santa Cruz

and then, if you're traveling north, or an Oregon or Washington native, you're in luck, too:
Powell's Books for Home & Garden in Portland
Presents of Mind
Zimzim Department Store
and Elliot Bay Book Company

Don't worry, Canada, I haven't left you behind:  Peter Laywine of Laywine's in Toronto is rocking the 8mm wares, as well.   

My Reps are making their way to new shops all the time, supplying the goods that are needed.
But then there's the shop that seeks out something different, something not everyone has and isn't over-played... I'm never quite sure how they find me, but I'm always so glad they do.  The two most recent such adventure seekers are:
Inkwood Books in Tampa, FL
and Taylor Books in Charleston, WV.

The coolest thing is that so many of the shops carrying the line these days are fiercely independent bookshops.  They're into the full bookstore experience, tons of titles, hard-to-find magazines, the first amendment, and maybe even a coffee while you browse.

It was Taylor Books that also brought me my brand new Virginia Territory Rep, who I envision a long and interesting working relationship with.  And as more stores pop up in the Virginia area that are carrying 8mm ideas cards, buttons and posters....well, you can bet I'll be doing another 'shout out' independent-bookstore style!

{top & bottom images 8mm ideas:  store front image Taylor Books}

What To Do ?

Now, I'm not saying he's right, but he may have a point here...






(with thanks to cross reference for finding via here)

Sunday on the Stoop

We decided to have a stoop sale. 
Well, we sorta decided.
At the last minute.
But we did it.  I craigslisted it.  I even sent out an email to a few friends. 
The gist was: 
It's gonna be nice weather.  We should be outside. 
How about together? Don't buy anything from us.
But swing by.
And they did.  And it was a fantastic day.

I had a lot of excitement going into it.
I've never had a stoop sale as an adult. 
I think I've had a house sale and there was something to that.
But this had a different energy.  It felt like a real community building thing this time.  Especially when everyone in your building has some time to hang with you during the day.

I decided to really get into it. 
Titled it " A Tiny Stoop Sale", which felt like an autobiography title.  Put up a couple signs.
And made tags for many of the items.  I used card blurps (cards that printed wrong size) for the hang tags.  I wrote a thought or two about the item.  I wanted to write complete history but, in the end, didn't take the time.  The obsessive in me held back.

And when you've got good friends that stop by all day long, especially ones bearing a pitcher of home-made bloody mary's half way into your day, well it re-confirms the beauty of a stoop sale.

We had a busy morning, funny requests for things that obviously weren't there.  A neighbor in a wheelchair I see hauling around all the time, but have never met, well, he took the entire lot of New Yorkers.  Five years worth of a subscription.  On his lap!  He also took the Buzzcocks lighter that was an old relic from the NYC days and the Anatomy Coloring Book.  It got us talking and now I'll be saying 'hello!' to Burt the next time I see him.

We had a great time constantly 'styling' the sale.  Every time something sold, we'd re-assemble, re-design, re-think the energy.  And something else would sell.

I had to call it a 'Tiny Stoop Sale' because it was really, really tiny.  It didn't make a dent in anything in the house, but it did a good number on my mind for clearing out stuff.  Sometimes you gotta clear out some old  stuff to bring in some new stuff.  Whatever that stuff may be...

 

There is no way to peace, peace is the way.

--AJ Muste

Things will never be the same again...

I don't work for Google Chrome, nor do I work for Arcade Fire.
But, I've seen Arcade Fire live and they rocked my world beyond belief.
Now, I've seen (via google chrome) this piece of work combined with Arcade Fire's new song and,
well,
my world's been rocked again.

Thing is, you sorta gotta download the Chrome to get the goods.

A Randomness of Thursdays

{a recent studio act}

I'm not sure why:  maybe it's because friends have invited us into their homes, over and over, and served us healthy, local home-cooked meals that have been combined with an evening made up of all that is right about the world, 
but when I saw this groovy little zine I wanted to buy them up, for us and all our friends.
And I don't even use recipes.

Gads, the luck:  I feel like RK and I are really seeking, and often finding, the balance of this new life.  Making time for dinners with friends is a big part of this.  Knowing that your work day, even though it's your own, needs to include time for others.

Every Tuesday at noon, here in San Francisco, an alarm goes off.  A city-wide alarm.  It sounds this very eerie moan three times.  I always stop for just a moment, look up in the sky and usually say, outloud or to myself (not necessarily dependent on if i'm with someone either!),
it must be noon on tuesday

it feels movie-esque.
{RK, i know you and i have that thing about people always saying episodes in real life feel like a movie. hence, i hesitate to use this comparison here.  BUT i do hope you'll give it to me this once}

I was with my first graders when many of them heard/noticed it for the first time.  They, too, stop.  Look up in the air.  Usually mouths agape and then look at me with a blank stare,
what was that?!

That, my friends, is a TEST.  It is ONLY a test.  But, that IS a test.
And then you usually have to explain to them who/what and why someone would be testing us?  And what if you didn't hear it in time?  Or what does 'disaster' mean?
And it always makes me wonder.

Today I heard, for the first time, this deep, computer-generated voice speak after the alarm.  He assured us THIS was only a test.  But the first two times he said it, I couldn't exactly hear.  The wind carried his message away, I couldn't get the windows open wide enough, quick enough, ohmygod, I thought, what if this is IT??!  Not so much TEST anymore!  Is THIS how it happens?!  I craned my neck under the  barely open window and strained to hear the voice.

I guess I think it's sort of quaint that in 2010 we're still relying on a big horn and an automated voice to tell us alls well or not so hot.

{images via a new favorite}

Donde esta Tom?

I was pretty sure when I started documenting Tom's mural experience, it would be an on-going tale to tell.  But, I've checked back on every nice day of sun that we've had and Tom is nowhere to be found.  Recently I went by the community lot and found that someone had clearly painted over Tom's hard work.

While Tom hadn't wanted to call the photos of his mural work 'before' and 'after', I don't know how else to explain Tom's
BEFORE

unless I write that this other mural came
AFTER

A mystery I'd like to get to the bottom of. 

Loving Alone means you're never Lonely

I love being alone.
But it took a long time for me to admit it.
As a kid, I could play for hours on my own.  I went gladly all in for bath time.
The library, the book store and eventually flea markets and movies, all to myself.  As an adult, the possibilities were endless.  But I never, outside my family, expressed how I often preferred being alone.  Not until I met a boy in college who felt the same way.   We realized soon after we met that we were the ones at the local cinema, watching the latest foreign film, by ourselves.  It was a point of pride and a point of bonding... and then... we started going together.  Which, of course, lost the original purpose.

The attraction to others that love to be alone is just that:  They know what they like.  And that's always really beautiful.

But, the point of being alone is not that you'll hopefully find someone else to do that thing with.  It's to appreciate what it is you love doing and being in the moment of it.

I've never seen a better example, explanation, or lyrical argument for being alone than Andrea Dorfman and Tanya Davis' video.



{thanks to T. for finding}

garbage / collecting / junk

Garbage is very different to different people.

My good friend, Jon, recently chronicled the details of being a licensed, and ultimately badge-wearing, junk collector.  A sense of inner-pride, and most definitely outward-dignity, intertwined in his choice of business.

juke joints and hay stacks

These images, by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, are some of the only color photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on America’s rural and small town populations. The photographs are the property of the Library of Congress and were included in an exhibit Bound for Glory: America in Color.  

 And there are so many, many more photos that have been reproduced from color slides.

When mom saw these she said it looked just like her childhood.  I felt like I just stumbled on an amazing treasure trove of visual inspiration.  And someone in the comments section of the Post wrote that these photos put a face to stories he'd heard all his life.

Fascinating to imagine these lives.