adieu (and a follow up on it's a crap shoot)

Just off the phone with my friend Terry; who house sits for us while we travel, I exclaimed my dismay over the situation happening in Mumbai, India. Ken and I have fond memories of our visit to New Delhi in 2005-06. We were in the northern part of India when the tsunamis hit. It was a devastating day too; as I recall traveling back to meet Ken at the hotel from my residency at the Sanskriti Foundation and noticing the digital news info on a business billboard about the death toll from the floods. It shook us, and my first reaction was to return home, but as the hours passed we realized that the world resumes its natural state and you continue going about your business. The sun keeps on rising.

As we take off to the Philippines for another journey this early December, I remain peaceful about our upcoming trip. The world has seemed to take a darker turn; (has it always been this way? perhaps so.....) but ever so recently, the landscape appears to be getting bleaker. We continue to go about our lives, visit, see and experience, laugh and enjoy, all while recognizing how good we have it and with a humble heart too and as I told friends on the trails last week who I bumped into while skiing, that I thought it was a good time to travel. And yes, I still believe it is a good time to travel.

it's a crap shoot

While skiing today and buzzing along the trails on barely a few inches of fresh powder I suddenly found myself on the ground. I had hit a rock and took a soft tumble. Not only did it stop me abruptly but twice I went down. I promptly turned around and headed back to walk the dog which was appearing as a safe, friendly and easy thing to do. It is still very thin in places and unless you want to wreck your skis or take gymnastic tumbles, the skiing is feasible. But, yesterday I ran on the soft snow and underneath it had a dangerous edge. When are you safe? There isn't an answer. Life is a crap shoot, the rug can quickly be pulled from beneath your feet and yet we think we know this already.......

playing with fire

A significant time in Alaska is the remarkable darkness that we all experience while living in the Pacific Northwest. All of a sudden you are thrust into a void and driving in the mornings becomes this floating sensation into space. Yesterday, the afternoon vanished at 4:30 and the beginning mist of gray started spreading quickly. Your evenings are shorter but the sleeping is good.

This past Sunday I rented the movie Before the Devil Knows Your Dead directed by Sidney Lumet with an excellent cast - Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marissa Tomei and Albert Finney. There was nothing good about this dark landscape of deception, drugs and violence. I described this film to my girlfriend as being evil and it definitely has a campy aura to it. It starts with two brothers robbing their parent's jewelry store and from that incident the story becomes one convoluted mess, troubled and a continual downward spin into despair.

a blogger's lull

I started to write on Friday night and then stopped because I felt I was getting ridiculously silly and low on content. However, today is Sunday, my sister's birthday, it is quiet and after much reflection I decided to take up the activity again. The other day I was perusing fellow bloggers and came across a painter's blog from Maine. She was very academic and literary; spoke about her work in such a serious fashion, I thought pretentious, out of date and bemoaned who the hell is this chick? We are suppose to contribute to vacuousness, not to serious intellectual exchanges - (I thought embarrassingly and shamefully small of my artist persona!) But the more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that I am the most current and hip and will contribute to the world of 21st century pop and whimsy. I posted pictures of color......the middle one is an abstract of the Alaskan mountains taken and cropped by Ken. This could easily be an Franz Klein painting from the sixties. Below is a picture of my chartreuse boots which every time I wear them, I get stopped and complimented on these spectacles of footwear. Am pleased to have stirred some of the public (and wish my art would provoke this type of attention) but quickly tell the inquisitor where I purchased them - if they haven't asked me first....
This is a great time of space for me; having shipped off my tapestries for my January exhibit in Juneau, prepared for our upcoming trip to the Philippines and am still in the process of pulling together my lectures for next semester which I will be teaching three classes of Art Appreciation, it is Sunday at it's best. Oh, I forgot, I am going skiing this afternoon and then making lentil soup. What a life - if it could only snow more.......

vicky cristina barcelona

Just returned this evening from the Bear's Tooth and saw the newest Woody Allen film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. About this time of year, I am dying for color, movement and culture and this film hit home and satisfied my thirst for another place. It is a story about relationships and really a remake of all of Allen's old characters contemporized and platformed in Europe.

I remember my hitchhiking days from the late seventies. I traveled from Paris to Barcelona with a fellow companion. We wound up staying the week-end at a Spaniard's home we didn't know......of course we partied and carried on.....So, maybe the film hit a familiar chord. It was a light film, but at the same time I felt it carried many truths and the imaginary wondering that we all possess. It is tragic and funny; at the same time putting life at reckless abandon and making me feel that where we are is where we are suppose to be.

et voila!

Finally our new chairs arrived. Above you can see Ken in his shop doing the last minute fix ups. This was the first time Ken fabricated chairs and it was no easy going; the end result paid off though and he is very satisfied with his creations. (And me too! I think they are great!) Below you see how the chairs fit with the table he made a few years back. The chairs are made from cherry wood with red leather pads; they are comfortable to sit on and I love coming home to this finished aesthetic.