6:15am

6:15am -> Burnt Toast -> No Shower -> Zoo Lot -> Trees and Plants -> Starbucks! (thanks mom and dad) see photos

Inspiration at 6,000 feet

While wedged between seats A and C and Rows 25 and 26 and choking on peanuts I somehow managed to wiggle the US Airways magazine out of the seat pocket and found this article on Vera Wang. First, I want to thank the celebrities who've been sending me personal messages of encouragement via various media channels. Last night it was Ed Bradley looking past Charley Rose to say to me "my teacher told me you can do anything! and I believed her!". Before that Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness gazed at me from the 40 ft screen and said "Don't let anyone tell you you can't do something! Not even me!". And before that it was Terrence Howard in Hustle and Flow philosophizing about how we as human beings have unlimited potential "because WE Maaaaaaaaan". Well, in my case, I'm woman and my latest celebrity message was from Vera Wang at 6,000 feet in the air. Wang didn't start actually doing fashion design until age 40. Her parents refused to support her desire to go to design school. However, 16 years at Vogue Magazine was a pretty decent alternative to design school. Maybe I should try and get a position at DWELL magazine for the next 10 years. After quitting Vogue and at age 40 Wang's father finally backed her bridal business and her vision...and just look at the girl now!One of her latest projects was designing an exclusive guest suite for Halekulani Hotel in Hawaii. The article in US Airwaysverawang.pdf

las fotografías del día

I passed these lofts once before in my car but it's hard to take pictures with a polaroid camera while going through an intersection and smoking and putting on makeup at the same time. Now that I have my digital camera back I'm going to be riding around on my red bike taking as many photos as I can. Modern Lofts at 16th and B Street, San Diego, CA. (If you have a Yahoo ID already you can sign into Flickr with your existing ID and password.)

Holland

Holland, Michigan. Home of the Holland Tulip Festival, one of the 5 Best Places to Retire (Money 2006), known for one of the largest populations of Dutch descendants, Dutch Calvanists and Christian Reformed Church Followers and origin of BilMar Foods and co-founder William G. DeWitt. I celebrated New Year's Eve amongst the barely containable excitement of the Holland Country Inn. Yeah, it was crazy, they had oatmeal cookies in the lobby and they were gone in 60 seconds! Tomorrow, there's a strong probability I'll be passing Gerald R. Ford's (age 93) casket at the Grand Rapids Airport and will be missing his funeral by a day. The funeral and passing of Bill DeWitt (age 93) brought me here (I now only have one friend over 90 left Sister Agnes Ward in Minnesota). Coincidentally, BilMar foods at one time presented a turkey for pardoning to President Ford for Thanksgiving. Bill DeWitt was a devout christian and a very sweet man whom I developed a friendship with through Malinda's mom. His passing brought me to Holland - a place I probably would never have visited. It's funny how people can take you places whether they're still here or not. I like to believe that Bill wanted me to see the place he was from and that he kept me out of harm's way for New Year's Eve and that he'll get me home safe for the New Year. Tomorrow, I resume my normal, mildly sinful life, and my attempts to draw, eat, explore, connect, document, discover, while doing my best not to fall into disorganization and fragmentation. Bill was blessed that he did one thing and did it well - Turkey Farming. It's impossible for me to settle on a singular focus but I will make the multi-variable focus work although I might have to plump up my cerebral cortex to do it. Happy New Year Everyone!

ongoing voices

I have a quote by martha graham in my notebook: You do not have to believe in yourself or your work. It is not your business to determine how good it is, how valuable it is, or how it compares with other expressions. But it is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly to the urges that motivate you. Today, I had thoughts about the surplus of free couches in the world, why there is a surplus and what can be done about it. I saw a free piano on craigslist that I wanted to acquire and deconstruct but wondered if it could ever be decontextualized since piano keys are so iconic. I take fragments of retro lettering on buildings with my camera or mental camera every day and I've been mentally cataloging the styles of decorative concrete blocks and am finally starting to photograph them. Today I'm enamored with square metal signpost tubing and want to use it in a credenza design. I've also finally found a functional solution for the wooden boxes I acquired at a rock and gem show last summer and just yesterday I finally integrated the perspective-graph-paper I've had for two years into something. When I'm thinking, writing, or sketching out these things I don't know how much time goes by. These urges come at me every minute of every day and they fill the day and every space in-between. When certain people in my life ask me "what did you do today" I have trouble answering because the volume of thought turns into instant fuzz. It makes for a very short kind of quiet phone conversations because I can't articulate what consumes me. I just know when I try to quiet these urges I become lifeless. I've yet to unify all of the chatter within into a singular medium. For my sanity and the self-esteem of my alter ego I need to find that medium or some coherence. In the meantime, the best summation for my alter ego and what I'm trying to get out is "Conceptual Artist". The version of me that operates on a normal level and more accepted and measurable mode of value is the "Architect-in-Training". The message I've always received or that's been implied by people in my life is that there is no value to conceptual thought. So I guess there's nothing to lose. Here are my couch thoughts:
In the living-room stage the couch is the primary spot of comfort and relaxation. It is the primary spot to receive entertainment whether it be television, movies, conversation or watching children play. During a domestic intermission, AKA the act of moving, the potential labor to move a couch is weighed against the amount of money paid to acquire it. The break even point must be fairly low because there is a surplus of free couches in this world.

My guess is that most people don’t want someone else’s couch because of the very intimacy that a couch implies. Who knows what particles, fluids, or other substances coat the cushions. Who knows what act of passions have occurred on top of or in the couch by people and pets. I am now making it my prerogative to think about the Free Couch and set it free from it’s reputation as a domestic outcast. I’m going to bring the Free Couch back into the home by devising a new functionality for it.

Couch

Fabric becomes formless when off the frame of a couch. When put back into 2-Dimensional space imperfections on the fabric are easier to spot and isolate.

Couch is made of wood, fabric, springs, metal, screws, adhesive, stitching, leather.
Couch inside out – exoskeleton, extruded.
Destruction – tearing, burning, staining, cutting. Performative deconstruction.

Deformation by subtracting and adding to the frame and then re-upholstering.
Disinfection by complete bleach or chemical bath.

Can a couch be re-constructed to be displayed on a wall?
Can a couch be lived in. Free Couches in San Diegohttp://sandiego.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=free%20couch&srchType=T

Ray Street Rained Out

The Ray Street Art Crawl got rained out so I had my first night in with friends at the condo. This is a polaroid of my friends Kate and Steph, Minneapolis transplants who moved here 2+ years ago.

Tree in Balboa Park Cactus Garden