A short post

Exhausted and impossibly busy today - a combination that means I am cheating and posting this image of adorable tiger cubs from this article on the 84 recent Siberian tiger births in China.

Still working on tonight's Tuning the Air program and new window treatments.

Just accepted a a delivery from HP that I've not yet opened. Much printing to do in the next two days followed by shipping many of these prints.

The Loft

Today, the loft came into being. It will still require a few refinements, but the foundation of the structure is in place. The crew I asked to help work on the project turned out to be the perfect configuration for a task like this. Repeatedly I found myself in awe of a kind of alchemy that was taking place.

Before

Curt & Taylor &...

Igor & Frank

...did an amazing job of pulling this all together.

After the job, we had pizza and relaxed a bit. Then I started trying to make it into liveable space...



I have an Ikea table - and in trying to move it into place under the loft and resetting the leg height, something went wrong and the leg refuses to lock into place now. So I went to the Ikea website and tried to ask my question about these legs in various ways, but all it's online customer support tool would do is bring up product pages that provided no detailed information. Finally - in exasperation, I typed:

"This tool is useless!"

It replied, "My design prevents me from empathizing with this sentiment. What would you like to know about IKEA?"

I tried again with another question, and again found myself typing:

"Like I said, this tool is useless."

It replied, "I can see that. Well, as long as you keep talking, I'll keep responding."


Weird!

Making movies

Having learned a tiny bit about making movies using Keynote (back when Scott and I put the Apple store presentation together,) I decided to try my hand at a movie showing off the new Tuning the Air set design Ingrid and Jaxie installed at the center. Meleah, as always is doing the lights. This movie shows a very small circle as we were missing many players at Wednesday's rehearsal.

To my surprise, I received an email from the Sacramento dealer. It isn't a perfect honoring of his commitment. We had agreed to a reply in four weeks, he replied in one month. We had agreed he would let me know when I would receive payment, his email is imprecise about this. I have drafted a reply, acknowledging the degree to which he has met the commitment, and pointing out where he has not.

The Loft About To Be Becoming

Yesterday I visited Lowe's and a very nice man named Tom helped review the plans for the loft. He made a few simplifying suggestions and then prepared a quote for the project. I wish I'd done this weeks ago as I was fearing the total price tag - and it came out to be about $50 less than I anticipated. Today Frank helped me pick up the materials for the loft. Now to actually build it!

Photo :Ingrid Pape-Sheldon

Last Saturday, Ingrid made some photos at rehearsal. Here's one she made of me listening to the team.

Selling the Martin and other updates

Spied on my walk yesterday - just an overgrown front yard. But I like the way it recedes in this image.

Still unpacking boxes, I came across several strands of Christmas lights. Since I have no storage space in this place, I have a 'use it or toss it' rule. On a whim, I decided to hang the lights from the temporary bedroom 'wall' (photo tension bars and muslin) I made while awaiting the loft. As silly as it seems, it does make my 'bedroom' a cheerier place than it was before.


And the long awaited garden gets started at Travgor's. This is a 'before' picture of the salad bed. I also dropped a few sunflowers seeds to make the beginnings of a fence of sunflowers. Got the mildest sunburn despite 2 1/2 hours in the sun without sunscreen.



And last, but not least, I have decided to sell my Martin. I am keeping the Ovation. Igor did a fabulous job setting the Ovation up recently - and it plays wonderfully.

500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art

My friend Marc sent this to me today.

Uh oh. Signs of activity in the building across the street where the bowling alley used to be. I have been dreading the inevitable demolition/construction on this site as it will both take away my parking space and make for a lot of noise and disruption. My building manager says the team I saw there represents a company that is bidding on the demolition.


Today is my birthday and I am having dinner with a friend at Roti Cuisine of India down in Queen Anne. Perfect.

The Jonah

Met Frank S. for breakfast this morning. That box in front of him holds the manuscript of The Jonah. It is ready for the proofreader/editor.

Now to find a publisher.



A new - very subtle - set design for the Tuning the Air project was unveiled recently. Fine, sheer panels hang on two sides of the performance space. Colored lights are placed at the base of each. Meleah can control each of them - and she now has her hands quite full.

Lupine

Some visual experiments from the weekend.




After washing away the film of dead bugs and road dust, it is finally time to adhere a Tuning the Air bumpersticker on my car.

Before Friday's reception at Modernbook, several of us had dinner a few blocks from the gallery. (Panoramas courtesy of Scott.)




The reception was fun this time. I think sharing thelimelight is easier on me. There is time to breathe.

Just home after the long drive back. Almost fourteen hours on the road with three short breaks. Detailed reminiscing will have to wait.

The theater at the far end of the SF Apple store's second floor.

Last night’s talk went better than I expected. Scott had visited the store ahead of time to scope out the place and learned that we would essentially be one of the rings of a three-ring circus within the store, employing a small ‘theater’ at one end of the store’s second floor. With no barrier between us and the retail areas, all the bustle and noises would be a part of our presentation. We must have managed to overcome this because afterwards a young man came up to me and said, ‘I’m sure this always happens to you, but I just want you to know that there were two photographs that you showed that brought me to tears.’ That response made all the work we put into this presentation worth it.

Scott during his portion of the talk.

Back tracking a bit to last Sunday's Art Salon where the regular's were joined by several guests, Helen Wallis, and Kate & Geir Jordahl.

And on Wednesday, I caught up with Mani, Rummy and Paul over lunch. Indian food, of course. Good to hear that the workplace may improve. May it be so!


Having Skyped with Paul so much in the development of my website, it was a pleasant shock to hear his voice come directly from his body.

I was down in Santa Cruz on Sunday and while there, visited Felix Kulpa Gallery. The sculptor Robbie Schoen has a series he calls Wreck and Roll; custom built art guitars. These are all playable and very cool.

Watermelon & Chocolate

A friend writes of the healing qualities of watermelon, so I email him and ask for one. He obliges.

~~~~

Spending a lot of time in bed recuperating, I got to catch up on my reading of the "Chronicles of Narnia". From last night’s reading:

“In our world,” said Eustace, “a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.”

“Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is but only what it is made of.”

~~~~

Emails back and forth with several photographers Scott and I are planning to include in our Mac Store presentation. I’m trying to tease a better statement out of one of them - an amateur in the best sense of the word. She loves making photographs and puts herself out there to do it, undertaking night-time and nature photography, both of which require extra commitment to do well.

~~~~

I must be getting better. Chocolate is once again appealing.

Down and out with a head cold today. Looking out the windows, it is gray and rainy.


Yesterday's 'Tuning the Air' rehearsal began with a stunning circulation. Then the team moved into more exploration with Diana and the dance.

Taylor, Diana & Chris

After a hour of work with movement, the team focused on 'In My Room', 'Onyx', and 'My Precious Dream'. At the end of rehearsal, I could feel that whatever I was getting sick with was getting the upper hand, so I packed up and went home.



The husband half of the building manager team – who also has a full-time job - only does repairs on weekends. I’d reported that the dryer vent doesn’t seem to be venting – every time I use the dryer, the bathroom (which is where the washer and dryer are installed) receives a layer of lint everywhere. So, this morning he called and offered to look at it. He banged and crashed around in the bathroom for about 45 minutes, then came out and reported he found nothing at this end of the dryer vent. He then went upstairs and found that last summer’s paint job of the building included sealing my dryer vent. I did a load of towels today and noticed immediate improvement, not only regarding the lint trap, but laundry now dries in a fraction of the time.

I must be sick if the only thing I can remark about the day is my laundry.

Light on one side of a room.

In Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language, (a favorite book) one of the patterns described is 'light on two sides of every room':

When they have a choice, people will always gravitate to those rooms which have light on two sides, and leave the rooms which are lit only from one side unused and empty.

This pattern, perhaps more than any other single pattern, determines the success or failure of a room. The arrangement of daylight in a room, and the presence of windows on two sides, is fundamental. If you build a room with light on one side only, you can be almost certain that you are wasting your money. People will stay out of that room if they can possibly avoid it. Of course, if all the rooms are lit from one side only, people will have to use them. But we can be fairly sure that they are subtly uncomfortable there, always wishing they weren't there, wanting to leave - just because we are so sure of what people do when they do have the choice.

This is one affirmed in my own experience. I knew from photos sent to me that my studio here would be light-challenged. The significant windows are on the smallest wall of the space - the southern wall. I had hoped that a side window - the only other window - on the north side of the studio would fufill this need for a second source of light. Unfortunately, that window opens to an interior entryway and as a result, provides almost no light.

The situation is further complicated in that it is essentially a retail space. It is entirely understandable that people walking down the street are inclined to peer into store-front windows. What are store-front windows for anyway? I treated two of the large windows with a translucent material in an attempt to provide privacy without eliminating sunlight. A few days ago - on a day I felt particularly depressed by the situation - I treated the last large window as well. But it remains dark in here and the place feels very cavelike. After a few hours of working here it is necessary to get out and breathe and take in the light. Cafes become a necessary refuge.

Light on two sides of a room - Cafe Ladro

I guess I am in a bad mood. What, with a visit to the DMV that did not result in getting anything done, and having a store clerk attempt to overcharge me $15 and - last but not least - having my iBook crash, it hasn't been a very good day.

Stopping at an intersection this afternoon, I glanced in the car next to me and saw this:

Included are a framed image of a cat, a newspaper clipping of an image by Henry Darger, taped to the dash and several figurines.

Lots of planning and emails for my upcoming visit to the Bay Area today. Still many left to write/respond to. The financial aid application I made to the YMCA came through - but they set a deadline for completing the membership application - and that deadline was today! So I had to find the time to get down there and go through the process.

Received a FedEx envelope frm HP that I've not yet opened. I expect it is the shipping labels and instructions for sending them the files and match prints for the work I'm having so much trouble printing.

~~~~

At tonight's Tuning the Air rehearsal, Jax requested they work on 'King for a Day' at a significantly slower tempo. This meant the solos had time to stretch out luxuriously. Here's Bob in the midst of a beautiful bit of slowed down solo work.

The check is *still* not in the mail

Spoke to the Sacramento dealer today. Actually, I sat and listened for much of the conversation as he told his tale of woe. He claims to have lost his house. He claims a neighbor purchased the property and is renting the guest house back to him. And he claims he'll be able to pay me in a few weeks. I am not sure what to believe and what action to take. I've given him four weeks - and at that point, I will either take him to small claims court, or...?

Acquired a new camera today. Learning about using it...

Tonight's Tuning the Air performance had a good crowd. I had a sneaking suspicion that Curt was considering having the team play Igor's composition Onyx for the encore. So after the show was over and the audience had applauded, I whispered to two fellows sitting next to me in the audience, 'You know they'll do an encore if we clap.' And the three of us started clapping. And sure enough, Onyx made its performance debut.

Curt during rehearsal

On the Beach

Called Mom with mother's day greetings this morning while walking along the beach. Got the good news that the doc has taken her off two of her medications. Four more to go. I can dream, can't I?

~~~~

Been very busy this last week preparing for the show. Much time invested in learning about this behemoth printer. On Friday, the prints for the show were packed up and shipped.

Last Sunday, I tagged along with Curt when he went to KSER down in Everett WA for an interview on Tuning the Air. I sat nearby to listen and remind him to keep covering the details.

Back in Five Minutes

Down the hall from the room where the Tuning the Air performances are held are several offices of various non-profit groups. On the door of one of these offices is a small sign that makes me smile whenever I see it:


The struggle with the behemoth printer continues. After several nights of being woken at 3 or 4am by the damn thing, I left it turned off all weekend. Well, it seems to be punishing me now as it as rendered all the profiles made over the last few days 'obsolete'. Which means I must re-run the the calibration steps - wasting paper and inks in the process. What fun.