travel sketches: Italy 2004

In 2004, I spent 3 1/2 weeks in Italy and filled up a bunch of sketchbooks with architecture and art.   Mostly ink line drawings with watercolor.  Click on image to link up to Flickr gallery of about 120 sketches. 

not so recent creative attempts: a little gallery

drink, 2002.  my biggest woodcut--about 14" x 30".  

2 men, 2005. Most of my wood cuts are around 7-10 inches, and are inspired by photographs in the newspaper.

Usually, I'd start with some off cut of wood, paint it black, then start working it. About half the time, I would never print anything off it, because I find the contrast between the black field and the raw wood exposed in the process more satisfying that a print, and the none of the subtle detail gets lost.  

gasworks park, 2005.  This is the only time I've done a multiple block print.  

steph, 2003

mike, 2003

Over time, I'll load up more images--I have probably 60 blocks sitting around in the back bedroom.  

recent creative attempts

my first attempt at painting in the last 3 years.  just a little goofing around, really.  

A tiny little print, 1.5" x 2.5".  The block has just one hole in it--the rest is how the ink was applied to the block.  I am moving more towards this technique, because they become unique, little surprises, and have more life than my ham fisted wood block cuttings alone.  Plus, since I don't really know how to do a proper wood block print, it is all experimentation anyway.  

things I've tried to convince my wife of recently:

That Dyson Vacuums are manufactured in Zimbabwe, and the proceeds of purchasing one would go directly into the murderous hands of Robert Mugabe and his goons, and thus finance the continued oppression of citizens in that corner of the world. They are, therefore, 'Blood Vacuums.'

She on the other hand, would never part with ours. Never. Regardless of who it hurts.

at the precipice

3 more weekends of English Premier League soccer. Then nothing sports wise until glorious, glorious football starts up again in August (okay, maybe Euro 2008) Baseball is unwatchable. Hockey is... is there still a hockey league? Golf?

Just as well, now we can go camping! I just know that Mrs. 8 and I have marked our calendar for the first preseason game, and we'll be back from the woods just in time.

snow in april? in West Seattle?

This morning, I drug myself away from coffee and the newspaper to mow the lawn and work on the yard. It starts snowing. In the distance, I can hear thunder. All the while, it is still sunny. Certainly the first time I've mowed a lawn and I could see my breath.

As soon as I finish, it clears up immediately, so I can only assume God doesn't want me to maintain our landscape.

I am sure that my parents would enjoy the irony that as a kid, I hated, hated, like, roll up in a screaming ball HATED working in the yard. Sometime, a switch flipped and now I'm like Mr. Miyagi out there, at peace.

Otherwise, I spent a couple of hours making a wood block and then a little painting, neither of which are going to see the light of day--for the good of humanity.

I can feel the moments leaking out of the weekend, but I can't think of a single thing I'd really like to do with the rest of it.

the true history of the kelly gang

Next up on the world book tour: True History of the Kelly Gang, by Peter Carey.

Sadly, as I write this, I realize this is one of those books I don't care to finish. Not that it doesn't have moments of brilliance, but it has lost the battle with my expectations. It starts off with a bang, and I thought, 'Wow, this is going to be a wild ride.' But for the last two hundred pages, I've been staring at the thickness, measuring the slog ahead. With a mere seventy five pages to go, I've given up.

The description of the painful birth of a nation and the quotidian struggles of cultivating the land and staying out of trouble in a near lawless society has worn me down. At least, I have the luxury of giving up, unlike the characters in the novel.

The other sad thing is that it is Saturday night, and I am writing a book review.

top gear

the baddest show on tv. hat tip to Aldis.

check it !

trees

three things you don't need

1.  Hello Kitty Belt Sander

2) SteamPunk Laptop (handy Morse code thingy for email!)

3) TV for your doll house (yes, it works.)

ignorance is contagious

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Florida teens who believe drinking a cap of bleach will prevent HIV and a shot of Mountain Dew will stop pregnancy have prompted lawmakers to push for an overhaul of sex education in the state. Another myth is that Florida teens also believe that smoking marijuana will prevent a person from getting pregnant, Local 6 reported.State lawmakers said the myths are spreading because of Florida's abstinence-only sex education, Local 6 reported.They are proposing a bill that would require a more comprehensive approach, the report said.It would still require teaching abstinence but students would also learn about condoms and other methods of birth control and disease prevention.The bill just passed its first vote in a committee, Local 6 reported.

If pot and/or Mountain Dew really prevented pregnancy, we would never have another teen pregnancy.  And it would explain the low birth rate among D & D enthusiasts. 

And if you think bleach is going to cure HIV, maybe some Mr. Clean will eliminate that nasty acne. You'll never know until you try it. Besides you already have HIV and a baby on the way, so what additional harm can you do?

On a related note, Planned Parenthood has stopped stocking their vending machine with Pepsi products and doobies.

things I've tried to convince my wife of recently:

1) Richard Simmons had a food show in the 70s, called "French Cooking to the Oldies."

True History of the Kelly Gang

Next up on the world book tour--True History of the Kelly Gang, by Peter Carey--a first person narrative about the life of a Robin Hood ne'er-do-well in the Australian bush, told through letters to his young daughter. So far, excellent, but am only half way through it.

5-0

as in Hawaii, 5-0. Another classic TV pilot (thanks Netflix!), first aired in 1968. The episode starts with the torture of a intelligence agent in a high tech sensory deprivation chamber--suspended motionless in a skin temperature water tank in a rubber suit with eyes, ears shut until the mind, starved for stimulus, snaps open. Very elaborate, very 2001 A Space Odyssey.

Now we just have Jack Bauer punch people in the kidneys. I guess TV shows had bigger set budgets.

Oh, then the Bad Guy doing the torturing was the Red Chinese. Now it is us.

Other things I learned watching Hawaii 5-0 (besides French): it is easy to spot a G-man. He's the square smoking a pipe. Also, if you are an Intelligence Agent, carry your Agency ID in your back pocket. They'll never look there.

things I've tried to convince my wife of recently:

1: the character that inspired the film 'Quigley Down Under" is the grandfather of the woman who won this year's NCAA basketball 3 point shootout.

2: as a child, I was the number 1 Tyco slot car racer in the tri-state area (Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico). I won many, many races with my souped up truck, 'Pinkie'.

Related: I told some clients last week that we could cut into the drywall ceiling of their dining room without waking their kids napping upstairs, because my Sawzall has a 'silent mode.'