taking time for the harryman

left: From the Angels and Infidels Series - a portrait of the Harryman from 2005. mixed media on paper 18" x 12"

Ahhh. We finished up our taxes on Friday night and managed to fit in a film or two of the James River Film Festival. We didn't have the time to enjoy the fest like we usually do. I was away last year and all the while the harryman has been working hard to finish editing the chapters of a forthcoming book.

He was particularly weary last week when the preface of the book arrived. It was written by A. Crawford who says that "To read one of his columns is to know what it is to go on long walks with him when, coming upon some abandoned warehouse, he stops to tell you what went on there in, oh, 1913." He theorizes how Harry may know these things but I must agree with him - only the harryman knows for sure. There were many, many kind words in the preface and I must say it inspired me and reminded me of the many reasons I've chosen to spend my life with this man.

We watched a series of films at 1708 on Saturday night and afterwards watched as another filmmaker projected his work on the surface of most anything that seemed interesting along that particular block of Broad St. The guys at the barber shop next door seemed uncertain but all in all it proved to be an interesting interlude before we walked back west towards Carytown. We stopped off at ChopSuey Books there was an anniversart celebration underway with a 24 hour bookman sale, live musiv, etc. Dug Utley has also moved the 12x12 art exhibition (12inch square art shown record bin style with name dividers, etc) to the gallery upstairs so I took time to view the collection. I'd love to photograph the series so I can share it with you folks... maybe next time.

Beauty (not) and the Beast wish you a HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

The Harryman and I took time to put together a LOOK for Halloween of 2006.
We appeared to arrive from the land of Harry Potter or King Kong but really we were just Eurotrash Fashion Victims. The thing of it is, everything we wore came from the Oliver/Kollatz Closet... um I mean Archive.

Cupid, where the hell are you? I need YOU to shoot me a remedy for the rhinovirus crud! The Harryman misses his wife so it is imperative that we go out on the town tonite.

celebrating another kind of conversation - (for more than 20 years...)

Counting sheep and makin' bacon

C and I waded into our only Saturday night in Madrid with a little fear and much enthusiasm. I am determined to avoid the trauma of having my ID lifted by pick pockets or any of the other shenanigans tourists put up with in Spain. Its a great nation, but really... that's a tradition I wouldn't miss. I am not in a sporting mood!

With mermaid C by my side, I was in the mood to interview a few locals about their hometowns or about the manifestation we witnessed earlier in the day. C is really good at working out the translations. I am a good tripod. There were street artisans, romeos, club hawkers, senoritas with long hair of every color, boys and men in tight jeans... on thing I did not see evidence of was a hip hop or rap attitude. I heard some of this come out of the bars but I didn't see its impact on the street... and I didn't miss it. There is nothing stranger than seeing french school boys with baggy pants and shirts and their hats in reverse. Ok, it wasn't so common in France either but it is a presence that is undeniable!

As much as we loved sitting in a wine bar and taking in the atmosphere we loved walking the district just east of the Prado and witnessing the culture on the streets and in the windows... cafes, clubs, restaurants, museums of ham, irish pubs, tapas bars, etc, etc. Earlier in the night each cafeteria or cafe that had a TV chose to televise the speech that was being given at the protest march. Everyone was silent... these people believe their voices and their votes count and it continues to inspire me.

I could have walked all night but our fish dogs were tired from a day of adventure. Time to count the spanish sheep cheese.