Music and Art

At 90 minutes, the drive to Tulsa for Decopolis' Gatsby Picnic was a jaunt.  (The picnic was slightly disappointing in its near minimalism, but I'm still glad to have gotten to experience it.)  At closer to 5 hours, the carry on to Kansas City must qualify as a proper road trip.  Jeri and I  made it to our destination without incident, and enjoyed a beautiful, high-energy outdoor performance by The Parlotones, who didn't even have their name on the ticket.  Apparently 98% of the audience were there for Blue October, and it seemed a large portion of those had traveled from out of state for the show.  We tried to stay & enjoy the 'main feature', but after having got what we came for, along with some photos and a chat with the band after their set, it just didn't seem the right thing to risk clouding the experience with a different band, different sound, so we retired to our hotel room up the street, content to bask in our delight.

Back home, it's been time to ratchet up the creative gears a notch or two.  Pendants and other small items being made in time to offer at the Peace Festival, and completion of my mixed-media painting for IAO's Red Dot.  A few detail images:

(Pics will enlarge with a click.) Want to see the entire piece?  I guess you'll have to attend the Red Dot auction, won't you?  (Or at least wait until I have a quality, all-over photo to share.)
It's titled "Lisa se Klavier", having been inspired by a song of that title.  You can hear it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AME5nO672IY

Cooler, gray autumn days are so perfect for taking the kayak up to Stinchcomb, where the migratory birds are gathering on their journey south.  It's a real pity hunting season opened Saturday, and more a pity that hunting is allowed at a wildlife sanctuary, and one inside the city limits.  The 'ba-boom' of shotguns does not make for idyllic kayaking ambience.  Nor does the idea of coming back with extra holes in my body.
Guess I'll stick around the house for a while and deal with things like rusted out water heaters.....

Just making the most of it

No reason to go on about the tragedies in the world. Everyone else is, and talk doesn't change things. We do what we can, where we can, and in the meantime make the most of what we're given.
For instance, a show of clever, artistic furniture stuff including a wall of flowers, held in place by heavy duty magnets. Isn't Klint Schor inventive? Yes. Yes he is. And a glass marble mosaic countertop, along the lines of something that's been in my head for years.


Now, I'm not a grrl with an infinite sum of moneys at my disposal, but that doesn't mean I can't find a near-constant array of amusements at my fingertips. If it's not a festive art opening, perhaps it's Ingrid's early on a Saturday afternoon, for the live band playing a fun, fine array of tunes to dance to. Not saying I can dance, because I can't, much. But I sure like pretending I can. For the price of a cup of coffee and a few delicious cookies, you can have one smile-inducing great date. Oh, and a few bucks into the band's tip jar when it comes around.





Art, Ingrid's, art, music, beautiful mild sunny afternoons, and maybe a little indulgent mail order shopping as well. (I'm only human...) Thanks to a tip on the Fedora Lounge, I learned of these stellar Diesel shoes offered on Amazon, for a fraction of their $100 plus price tag. I couldn't resist, and placed my order. Though tracking info told me they'd been en route for a few days, they didn't arrive Saturday, so a disappointed me reckoned I'd have to wait till Tuesday. Not so. Despite it being a holiday - no mail, no school, no bank, etc. - FedEx troopered on and delivered my shoes! Hooray. They happily arrived to coincide with the complimentary tickets Tony and I had been offered for an Oklahoma City Jazz Band concert. What timing. I put those gorgeous, two-toned babies on and headed up to the top of the Chase Tower, aka The Petroleum Club, for a swanky, evening with friends, a stellar skyline view of the city in all its sprawling glory, and some amazing jumping jive. You can have all the dvds, cds, music files, youtube videos you want, but nothing compares to the complex beauty of real live, played by humans music.
Yes, I adore live performance.
It was an educational night as well. I learned that the director/conductor/band leader fellow, from my angle of viewing his profile, sometimes looks like a mature Frank Sinatra, and sometimes looks like Mr. Roper from "Three's Company".
I also learned that even though you rinse and rinse and rinse a plastic juice bottle before you add a little cheap red wine with which to top up your $5 glass from the bar, it can still impart a curious Mango Naked flavor to the beverage.

Art, Life, and Music

Spring has sprung, the world outside is full of rainbow hues and lush greens, making it awfully hard to stay indoors long enough to accomplish much. But I have several projects on the go and they're coming along nicely. A bit of distraction came in today's mail, in the form of a surprise package from my pal Corrina, girl from the North Country. It's the Edward Gorey oracle, The Fantod Pack. Now, while I consider myself quite the Gorey aficionado, clearly I'm not obsessive, because I didn't know such a thing existed. Imagine the fun I'll soon be having, interpreting cards with symbolisms that include spasms, champerty, wispiness, loss of saliva, morbid sensibilities, an accident in an elevator, hangnails, loss of eyelashes, mumbling sickness, cafard, rust, a forged snapshot, barratry, misconstruction, and pique. How will I ever get any work done now?
Thanks Corrina, you're a dark, kohl-eyed peach.
Perhaps the cards' timely arrival today was a portend of my gardening discovery:
In more lively news, Sunday afternoon I made it to the art museum to take in Harlem Renaissance on its last day. The art, photographs, and film were all amazing. I lost track of time watching footage of Josephine Baker as she sang, danced, shimmied, & bubble-bathed her way through the 1920s.
The day was rounded out with a stellar performance by Jason Webley, master of funky, punky, melancholy originality. Accordion, guitar, audience orchestra, poetry, and a bit of story time too. You can find him on YouTube; here's a link to get you started: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3M0fhFwL2k&feature=related