Because he's a good sport, Jeffrey agreed to ride to West Marin with me yesterday afternoon when he was done with work. It's been hot. We love the heat, but I was craving some cool coastal air. But because we got a late start, by the time we neared the coast the fog was already rolling back in (all clumpy, like a smoke machine), so we stopped at Heart's Desire Beach on Tomales Bay where there was still sun and had our late afternoon picnic there.
The real truth (and J would tell you this) is that I've been a tad "mopey" (his word) the past couple of days over having to go back to work today. He knew I needed a change of scenery on my last vacation day. He typically drives when we ride somewhere together. It's not that he doesn't think I'm a good driver, but he actually enjoys driving and I much prefer being a passenger. But I drove yesterday and once we hopped off 101, I enjoyed it. I grew up driving windy roads through redwood groves and river canyons, so driving some of the windy roads in West Marin County is a joy for me.
Although he's spent time in Marin, he'd never been to the western part of the county. Sitting at Tomales Bay, he was struck by how the view from Heart's Desire Beach seemed so similar to our old neighborhood beach on St. Thomas, Magens Bay. I could sort of see it--Tomales Bay being sort of a breezy, Northern California version of that tropical beach. But just now, when I looked at one of the photos, I realized what he meant. You be the judge.
Here's Magens Bay taken from what was our typical weekend perch:
Here's Tomales Bay yesterday:
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In Twyla Tharp's book, The Creative Habit, she talks about the power of ritual. She says, "It's vital to establish some rituals...at the beginning of the creative process, when you are most at peril of turning back, chickening out, giving up, or going the wrong way." And: "Turning something into a ritual eliminates the question, Why am I doing this?"
That said, as I mentioned in the previous post, I've decided my morning ritual this August will be to write a daily poem. I make no promises that they'll be good or interesting or well-crafted. (The latter because I wouldn't even know how to do that. Literally.) They may vary greatly in length. I have no idea what they'll be like or about--I never do until I sit down to write one. I'm going to partake of this ritual so that I don't "go the wrong way" this month when I return to my present job. And because I don't really care to ask myself "Why am I doing this?" about writing poetry. I just know I like to do it. August poem #1 is here.
Andrea issued a photography prompt yesterday (and hinted that she might put up photo prompts on Mondays). The first was to photograph someone through a glass of water. I read her post yesterday, but when I went to take a picture this morning, I forgot the part about the water. Oh, well. This isn't a very good photo since I only captured part of the side of my face--I just like the repeating basil plant. And besides, 'rules' are just there to be broken, right? ;)
Another 'rule' I broke yesterday was when I suddenly on a whim felt like doing one of the assignments at Miranda July's Learning to Love You More site. The first one that caught my eye was #63 - Make an Encouraging Banner. Here's mine. And, no, it's not a noun--rather a creative cultivation prompt to remind me to get out of my head.
I think I was supposed to keep the construction paper in big blocks...but I didn't feel like it. Maybe it sounds lofty to think I can possibly "farm magic." One of the definitions of magic in my dictionary is "a mysterious and enchanting quality." That's all I'm seeking in life--all I ever have: simply the desire to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary (define it as you will).
I was sorry to hear of the passing of two iconic men. Bill Walsh, who for a decade was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, died yesterday. Whether or not you follow football (and I don't anymore), it's hard to overstate how those of us who are native Northern Californians and were 49er fans of a certain era feel about Bill Walsh. A good friend of my brother's owns 4 Super Bowl rings thanks to Bill Walsh. Walsh was a football genius and seemed like a classy guy.
Tom Snyder was a touchstone of my high school years. When his "Tomorrow" show began airing in '73 (when I was a senior), I quickly became hooked. I'd take a shower during the "Tonight Show" and then sit in front of the wall heater in our living room, drying my very long hair, while watching "Tomorrow" (long after my Dad and little brother had gone to bed. No wonder I had such a hard time waking up for school.) Johnny Carson was for your parents; Snyder was hip. It would probably be surprising to long-time readers here (since some of you leave comments about how I seem to you to be some sort of do-gooder crusader, and I mean that in a nice way) that there are few things in life that matter more to me than biting wit. (I know what you're thinking: Then why don't I exhibit some of mine here? I think I've had a few too many experiences where I felt like my wit was misconstrued when I tried to convey it in writing.) Snyder was sarcastic and acerbic and I adored him. It wasn't until decades later that it suddenly hit me that he looks a lot like my Dad (who was also damn sarcastically funny in his time). Snyder had a very recognizable laugh and he did his show without a studio audience. He'd often utter funny asides to crew members and you could often hear them laughing off-camera. He was cutting edge for his time and in my opinion, never got the respect he deserved for it. He was only 71.
Jeffrey was eating a mango at lunch yesterday and when he was finished, he looked at the pit and asked, "I wonder if you can grow a plant from one of these..." So I found this. It says you can, by planting the seed that's inside the pit.
I'm off to the laundromat this morning, and then we're going to have some fun this afternoon. Tomorrow morning I return to job-land. Because my work year is based on a school calendar, there are certain times of the year that are busier for me. August is super-busy for me and I'm craving something that will keep me sane during the busy-ness. I'm thinking posting a poem a day in August might do the trick--I think that might be a good practice for me. If I do, they'll be over on Moojo Cafe.
Jamie is hosting her "2nd Annual Shyne Like a Star Virtual Dance Party" today. I remember when she wrote about
the first one--hard to believe that was a year ago already. All you have to do is DANCE FOR 15 MINUTES TODAY...by yourself, with someone else, anywhere you want, to any music you want. Spread the word!
One of my favorite dances of recent years was when Jeff Pitcher chronicled his dancing-in-public project in his film, "The Winter of the Dance." He danced in public...and filmed it. And boy, did it seem to make people uncomfortable. ;) I still wish he could have shown this film to the students at my school. (Who knows, maybe he did somehow and I just don't know about it.) He used to sub regularly at my school and the kids loved him.
This Saturday, May 5th, is "24 Hours of Flickr." Flickr invites you grab your camera and chronicle your day on May 5th. Then pick your best photo and post it to the group pool. You have until May 21st to add your photo, but it must be one taken on May 5th. The group photo pool will open at 6 am Pacific on Saturday, May 5th.
My first Wreck This Journal page (see post below). Stuff picked up off the street while walking to Borders to buy the journal. I call this "beauty is in the eye of the gutter"...because that's where I found an empty Beauty Rush lip gloss.
I can already tell that this could become really addictive. ;)
And here's shadow photo #1 for Patti's 37 Days Challenge.
I don't know why I felt compelled to title this post that way. Maybe because my head and heart are spinning at the moment. I've just been by Patti's 37 Days blog...and she's done it again, at least for me. She's created a brand-new 37 Days Challenge. Actually there are two parts to it this time--an immediate action and a movement over 37 days. All to do with our shadows.
From Patti's blog post: "Most of the shadows of this life are caused standing in our own sunshine." ~Henry Ward Beecher
During my last year or so in the islands I began to occasionally photograph my shadow. It gave me great pleasure to do it. I don't know why--maybe because I don't like having my face photographed. I typically look horrible in photos. I'm not being self-deprecating--the camera loves some people, but it doesn't typically like me. Years ago I had to stand-in for a celeb host on a shoot we were doing while the gaffers tweaked the lights. Our director told me later that I looked good on camera--that I really popped. Given that he was a friend, I thought he was just B.S.'ing me. But maybe still photos just aren't my medium--maybe I need movement. Although that was 15 years ago--I suspect that at 52 I'd just rather not capture my image anywhere. :)
But I am going to start capturing a daily photo of my shadow as part of Patti's new challenge. And just to get the ball rolling, I pulled some old photos off DVD's and started a new "shadows" Flickr set. I'm not going to count them as part of my 37 days of shadows--I put them there as a reminder that I've already dipped my toe in and that, yes, the water's fine.
The other thing that's had my head spinning the last few days is Keri Smith's new project, Wreck This Journal. (I've already posted about this at Ning.) She has a book by that name coming out in June. She's created a new site for the project and is posting assignments and allowing participants to suggest instructions. And as wild as one's imagination can get visualizing some of those ideas, even better is that we can see what participants are doing because Keri's started a new Flickr pool where participants can post phots of their Wreck This Journal pages. Check it out--there's some fabulous stuff there.
But what is Wreck This Journal, you might be asking? And why would someone want to wreck a perfectly good journal? :) Read the story on the Wreck This Journal site where she talks about creative destruction:
The intent of creative destruction is to move beyond aesthetic judgements of whether a mark/alteration is good or bad, but instead to allow the mark to exist as documentation of a physical experience or as kind of expression. While the term “destruction” has historically had a negative connotation, in this context it is used to imply simply “alteration."
Maybe it's just me, but these two projects--Patti's and Keri's--seem like wonderful companion pieces. Shadow as a counterpoint to light...destruction as a counterpoint to creation. I can remember sitting in a diner with Jeffrey late one night after a gig years ago and telling him that one thing I'd begun to learn as part of my (sobriety) recovery was that if I embraced my dark side, I wouldn't have to live from it. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone but me, but both of these projects call out to me for the act of embracing that which we sometimes innately turn away from.
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I've got a busy weekend. Ciara has a championship basketball game this morning. Her team of 9-year-olds is undefeated. Rumor has it there's a pizza party afterwards. My folks are in town for the weekend. J and I will be heading to Mill Valley (one of my favorite California towns--Marin is my old stomping grounds) later because he has a gig at Sweetwater tonight. (It's a club I first started frequenting 27 years ago.) ;) Regular readers will recall me mentioning Bonnie Hayes. She plays Sweetwater tomorrow night. Her old pal Vicki Randle is also on the bill. (I just have to plug them when I can because they're both so talented and I've loved their music for years.)
That's all just to say that I think I'm going to pass on Sunday Scribblings tomorrow and focus on these other projects this weekend. The prompt this week is "in the kitchen"...something I know very little about anyway. ;) But I do want to congratulate Sunday Scribblings on hitting the 1-year mark!
Have a wonderful weekend.
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