How Times Have Changed!

I just received some family artifacts from my dad. My dad's side of the family tree is intensely complicated, so I won't go into that here. Although in a very weird coincidence, by studying this page I've realized for the first time that both of my grandfathers had the same birthday. And now my niece has that birthday, too!

But this page is fascinating in many ways. From 1904, it lists the births in Haverford Township in Pennsylvania. My paternal grandfather is number 13. The interesting thing is that of the 19 babies that can be seen, 3 were "colored." And only the fathers' occupations are listed...the women having a job just wasn't even a possibility.

How far we have come in just a little over 100 years, but how far we still have to go.

An Everyday Object...

...in an everyday place (just not the usual one).

I saw this on my way to work the other day (the cup is mine...I put it there while I took the picture).

At the end of the Underground Tour, there is a little museum. And in that museum is an antique commode. The funny thing...it's really pretty. It's white porcelain with a very fancy blue decorative pattern all over...inside and out...to make it a very attractive fixture.

So why don't we make pretty toilets anymore? And I don't just mean the "fashion colors" to go with the decor. The toilet in the museum was decorated. I think a toilet is very much an everyday object. And if we have to use something everyday, why not use one that's aesthetically pleasing? Are we too embarrassed by our bodies now to make pretty toilets? Apparently the early Seattle-ites weren't...they were fine with putting the sewer system above ground for all to enjoy. But we shouldn't be embarrassed, because as the current literature tells us...

In May 2003, Mayor Martin J. Chávez was joined in the field by the City of Albuquerque's duly praised Graffiti Removal Team to report on the division's success and to officially reveal the team's newly designed logo. As of this date, the City has successfully prosecuted and collected restitution from many graffiti vandals and has been nationally recognized as a best practice among cities for addressing community nuisances, such as graffiti. Mayor Chávez then participated in the painting of the "tagged" sites near Central and Old Coors. The mayor urges Albuquerque citizens to help out this summer in his effort to rid our community of graffiti by reporting it. If you see graffiti in your neighborhood, please call 311. A crew will be dispatched within 24 hours.

I thought the graffiti project, and the discussions in class about graffiti and the Splasher were pretty interesting. I spent much of my growing-up years in Albuquerque, and the graffiti connotation there is definitely different than, say, NYC, or even downtown Seattle. When I was living there it was almost always gang-related, and the graffiti was more of a tagging exercise than an artistic one. But it looks like Albuquerque is cleaning up its act. I think it's interesting that the "graffiti technician" takes pictures of some of the graffiti before he removes it, and recognizes the artistic value. It reminds of both the spoof on graffiti removal we watched in class, and the graffiti projects.

Another Impossible Project

OMG! Piece
Have children.
Get a job.
Become a student.

Do all your homework.
Get enough sleep.

-autumn 2008

A Mini Movie for Mark

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a happy holiday.

But don't forget that what we're commemorating was not a joyous time for all.

Audio Post

An interview with one of my favorite guys:

Broken Heart Piece

Write a poem capturing the sound of your heart breaking.
Do not read it.
Fold it and put it away.

When your heart has healed, take out the poem.
Rip it into tiny pieces, like confetti.
Throw it up in the air and let it fall over you.

Personal Expression in 4'

What's on your window ledge?

Cinq

A 19-year-old UK music graduate has changed his name to Captain Fantastic Faster Than Superman Spider-Man Batman Wolverine Hulk And The Flash Combined. He paid 10 pounds for the name change. Captain Fantastic's grandmother is no longer speaking to him.

Source: Reuters, 11.05.08

Quatre

Treasury Secretary Paulson warned now former CEO Killinger to sell WaMu before further deterioration. He didn't. Later Killinger asked Paulson for help getting WaMu on the list of protected institutions. He didn't.

Source: Seattle Times, 11.09.08

Trois

A Georgia man used a blowtorch to clean the cobwebs from the exterior eaves of his home. No one was hurt, but after the fire the entire house sustained smoke and water damage.

Source: The Times-Herald, 11/6/08

Deux

Authorities report that a 25-year-old woman was bitten by a pit bull dog while running loose in the road.

Source: Kirkland Reporter, 11/5/08

Un

Little Tricky, a/k/a Mitchie Brusco, is an 11-year-old skateboarding champ who recently showed his local peers what he can do. While practicing, he gets freaked out by a Rice Crispie treat.

Source: Kirkland Reporter, 11/5/08

I've seen a sign!

But somehow it was not a spiritual or mystical experience!

I voted...

...did you?

do philosophers drink?

Descartes walks into a bar.
The bartender asks him if he wants a beer.
Descartes replies, "I think not," and disappears.

Descartes and UFOs

"...and even the most faithful histories, if they do not wholly misrepresent matters, or exaggerate their importance to render the account of them more worthy of perusal, omit, at least, almost always the meanest and least striking of the attendant circumstances..."
- Rene Descartes, Discourse on Method

I am reading Descartes's Discourse for another class, but this quotation jumped out at me and made me think of the first day of Joe's class. The houses and trees and cars were the "attendant circumstances" that were actually more interesting than the alleged UFOs in the photographs.

I love looking at photographs, whether I took them or not, whether they are of people I know or not. And one of the things I love about them is the life behind the subject matter. I am endlessly fascinated by the clothes, furniture, silverware, strip malls, etc. that are in the background of the snapshots. It's like a time machine...a peek at what telephones or magazines or carpeting was like 2 years ago, or 15 years ago, or more.

Haikus and surprises

Reading Novels in Three Lines makes me think of the haiku form of poems. I find it interesting that Feneon's pieces have not been presented in a three-line format (is that the translation? where did the "three" lines come from?), and the haiku, strictly speaking, isn't really in three lines in the traditional Japanese. But a haiku should contain some reference to the seasons, as well as some sort of juxtaposition in thought or concept. Feneon's Lines don't always contain a reference to spring or summer, but I think he captures the change in tone and thought very well.

I found this audio clip on the ubu.com website. I wanted to know what kind of sound clip would exist from someone who is famous for 4'33" of "silence." The leaves and mushrooms were compiled by moi.

This website is full of surprises. Who is the last person you would associate with the avant-garde. I mean, someone so stereotypical in their wholesomeness that you would never, ever think of them in terms of any sort of experimental, avant-garde-type project?

You should check out her performance...completely unexpected.

And I will admit here, as long as NO ONE makes fun of me, that I did own this very album when I was little. Shhh!