The Equation

I discovered the equation for a good day for me. Beautiful weather + the freedom to enjoy it + new discoveries. This whole weekend was like that. Friday was exactly as I hoped it would be. Graham and I headed out to Central park and I got to TAKE MY SHOES OFF and listen to the birds and traffic. Towards the end of our Central Park relaxing policemen in galloping horses came by and the helicopters started circling and that's when it hit me: THE POPE HAS LANDED. We high tailed it home soon after. High profile visits are just a PAIN IN THE BUTT to navigate in certain areas of New York. Midtown is nuts enough as it is, but when Bush shows up, or the UN is in session, or the Pope makes his first American sojourn, blocks get sealed off, traffic gets redirected, and the whole city starts resembling a nose with hay fever--stopped up and CRANKY. We left before it could SNEEZE.

Through sheer synchronicity I discovered a show called Lots of Things Like This--an exhibit curated by Dave Eggers of pictures and words. It had an artist I HUGELY admire, Tucker Nichols, as well as incredible pieces by Henry Darger, David Shrigley, Leonard Cohen, Kurt Vonnegut, JR., and Maira Kalman (among so many others). The battery of my camera needs to be replaced, so I only was able to take on picture of a Tucker Nichols piece:



The real take away for me was the cartoonist/artist David Shrigley. I have seen his work before, but never really GOT it. After some perusal, I kind of became a little smitten with him. His photographs make me think of the writer George Saunders. They might consider a collaboration. It's an eerie fit.

This show, combined with Keri Smith's link to a new favorite blog, Cursive Buildings, filled my entire weekend with creative juice. I wrote and drew and played music and created all weekend. I know I have a pretty good life already--but this weekend I actually NOTICED it.