89/ brooklyn

i 've always been proud of being from Brooklyn...i'm not sure why, but its a famous hometown.

you've got to be tough to be from brklyn...not in a bad aggressive way, tho thats the stereotype, but tough as in strong.

brooklyn is made up of many neighborhoods that change demographics every few years it seems.  Bay Ridge was not always a melting pot...nor is it really one now. far and middle eastern people dominate the neigthborhood. the asians are a few miles down.  i can't seem to write about brooklyn without sounding racist...

#88/crystals

I have a crystal on the kitchen table in front of the window where i have my plants.  mostly all of them are thriving despite my negligence.  so crystals hold life affirming power, i'm sure of that.

i know that rose quartz is good for healing, but i don't know much more than that.

my friend does healing with crystals...not just rose quartz but clear crystals and chunks of amethyst too.

i have several small crystals around the house.  i find them sometimes when i 'm not looking for them.
they make me smile.

87/concerts

the last concert i went to was the Cream Reunion Tour at Madison Square Garden.  i never get over that it was the most expensive concert i've ever attended.  i couldn't have afforded to go if i were on my own.  it was great seeing Jack Bruce,Ginger Baker and of course, Eric Clapton back together again playing like they hadn't played in years.

my all time favorite concert was Keith Jarret's solo show. i don't remember the name of the concert hall, but it was a wonderfully intimate venue.

another great time was seeing Arthur Lee and LOVE.  i waited 30 years to see that show.  it was worth the wait.

free wite 86/ film

i don't know what to write about film except to say that it is something i think of with nostalgia.  Like records,and cassette tapes...the technology of my youth.
i had a camera as a kid...it was a nightmare to load the film with out exposing some shots.  i remember being so happy when i got my first instamatic.  it had a film cartridge you just dropped in to load.  those were fun cameras for fooling around.
film, as in movies is a league of its own.the look of film is distinct.

85/motels

i remember once wanting to do a series of self portraits as reflected in motel room mirrors.  i always looked different but i never painted any of the images.
i remember motels as a kid traveling cross country with my mom.  mini homes some of those rooms.
i love the neon light sign flashing 'no vacancies"in front of the small,squat overnight dwellings.

84/prayer

most of my prayers are of the "bargaining with god" varieties, but i do occasionally stop to say a sincere thank you for my circumstances.

i wrote a prayer for my confirmation class which was later published in a christian magazine. i think they paid me a dollar to print it.

prayer is a powerful tool.  i know that more intuitively than intellectually.  to pray for someone is a divine act.

83/ghosts

Unlike some people i know, i have no first hand experience with ghosts but i don't doubt that they exist.

One of my favorite movies is "Ghost"  it was the only time i enjoyed a demi moore film.   that movie made me believe.

i've heard a lot of ghost stories and i believe at least half of them.  i've read about haunted hotels, hospitals and prisons.

free write #82/Paper

i love paper! one of the greatest sights is a clean white sheet of paper.  You can imagine anything and everything woven in its fibers.
i love all kinda of paper; fine art papers...watercolor, 300 lb. rough, my favorite to work on  full sized sheets, maybe 23 x 32.  i did my nudes on aquarelle....or maybe it was luna.
notebook paper, as familiar as crayons
writing paper, i loved the sheer sheets...oh the soulful letter i wrote once upon a time..
wrapping paper for a wonderful present or a collage,
waxed paper to batik on,
handmade paper which i've never made, but want to.

both paintings on 300 lb/cold pressed watercolor paper.  top piece features a technique called "paste paper"

free write #81/ forests

I don't have much first hand experience with forests.  Being raised in nyc most of my exposure to nature was via parks.

I think of the Enchanted Forest where fairy tales come true.  that sounds like an ad for disney....i meant the setting for many fairy tales.

I think of the 70's film "the Emerald Forest" but that was about the rain forest and its rapid, man made destruction.  I remember being moved by that movie.

free write #80/Teas

There's not much to say about teas but i do enjoy a cup of lemon zinger on cold winter's night.  soothing.


red zinger was an old favorite along with sleepytime, all from Celestial Seasons which came in beautifully packaged boxes.

so many varieties.
exotic brews from across the world...

Gore Vidal

i never read any of gore vidal's books, but i was saddened to hear of his passing. i had a huge crush on him back in the days when he was often on television. i will miss his intellect and acerbic wit.

free write # 79/ fame

i imagine fame must be a difficult thing to deal with.

i think of vivian maier, that truly amazing street photographer and the fame she is experiencing posthumously.  There was some great quote which i can't remember but it went something like...you do the work and let the rest of the world decide what to do with it.  it was more eloquent when she said it.
i relate to that in my own quest for fame as an artist who's work mattered. 
fame after death sounds ok to me, tho i could really deal with the money that usually accompanies fame.
meanwhile, i don't have near enough experience with fame to make much of a commentary.

free write #78/ cake

i tried to make a cake from scratch once for tony's birthday.  i was impatient to frost it so i put it in the freezer to cool.  When i went back to check on it my moist fluffy cake was as flat as a pancake.

it would make sense that some one like me who likes cake so much would learn to bake well.  i never again strayed from the boxed mix.

i don't have a favorite cake anymore, but it used to be chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  My horizons (and my hips) have widened.  i like all kinds of cake...crumb, cakes, layer cakes, ice cream cakes, especially.

i am making myself want cake.

#77/clouds

there's nothing like laying on your back watching clouds.  this one looks like a dragon....there's an angel over there!...and a face!! like a huge abstract canvas there are no end to the images different eyes behold.

not a cloud to been on this flat, gray day.  no inspiration for writing.

i like traveling inside clouds. the view from the plane all white and fluffy like clouds of smoke dissipating in a room;
dark storm clouds paint the sky with broad brushes.

free write #76/ the moon

Big and lonesome looking in the sky,the moon rules the astrological sign Cancer. i have great sensitivity to the waxing and waning of the moon.

i feel like i've written this all before.

so many lovers silhouetted  against the full moon.
so many of my own paintings featuring a fat, full moon....or several.

the crescent too,is beautiful.
a story book moon; luminescent.  romantic.