Most years I write a long, heartfelt blog post about how things went — the goals I hit, the things I did, the goals I have for next year. This year, I didn't hit any of my goals. So instead of wallowing in that through several thousand words, here are some lists of things I did do and see that I found joy in over the last twelve months.
5 favorite piece of art I saw in person
- The Flying Wall by Hung-Chih Peng, which I wrote more about here.
- Untitled (WC.187, Two Watermelons) by Ruth Asawa, which I wrote more about here.
- Salome by Henry Ossawa Tanner. There is something so striking about her obscured face, and the blues.
- The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly by James Hampton. This is really massive, and can't really be appreciated through photos alone.
- Study for a Portrait by Francis Bacon.
5 favorite pieces of art I didn't see in person
- Pair of eyes from the Met. I can't stop thinking about them! I have a short story in the works related to these eyeballs.
- Six Placemakers by Bill Hammond, which I wrote more about here.
- Jane Sauer's weaving pieces
- Portrait of unidentified woman [between 1844 and 1860], by Mathew Brady's studio
- Krištof Kintera's "Small Sculptures" in particular this one
5 new skills I attempted to acquire
- Weaving
- Letterpress
- Risograph Printing
- Woodfiring
- Lasercutting
5 silly things I bought that made me happy
- A hand made wonky elephant cup from the Oakland White Elephant sale.
- Two metal stands that were maybe "borrowed" from the Bay Bridge when it was renovated in 2013.
- An old candy dispenser, that is now filled with candy and sits on one of the aforementioned stands.
- A tiny fake ring watch out of a vending machine in Tokyo.
- A disco ball to decorate my office in Banff.
5 silly things I didn't buy but kind of regret
- Eel door hanging somethings? door handles? chair rails?
- Jaunty pig in play bow.
- FROG.
- Caustic acid sign with a great illustration.
- Not really a "buy" but in Port Angeles, Washington I found this incredible piece of wood that had been worn to look just like a stone. I had big plans to bring it home and slowly dry it in our oven, until I was talked out of this by someone who didn't want me to pack a piece of soggy wood in our luggage.
5 mediocre photos I took that feel important to me
I saw this tree walking to the SAP Center to go see a hockey game. There's a kind of urgency, when you're in a crowd like that, even though it's rarely warranted. Get to the line, get your ticket scanned, get in your seat, go, go, go. We weren't running late, but I still felt like I had to keep moving, keep going. And then I thought "wait a minute, no I don't" and I made us turn around so I could go look at this tree, growing through a fence. "This is an important tree," I said, taking photos of it while people gave me deeply weird looks. I still think about this tree all the time.
A few months ago I was having a terrible day. Just awful. I won't get into why, but I was mad and frustrated and feeling totally helpless and I had to walk away from my computer otherwise I was going to do something I would probably regret. On my walk, stomping around like an angry eagle, I saw this sign and it made me laugh out loud. Windago Win, you scoundrel. I hope you are never caught so I can continue seeing signs like this.
We drove out of our way to go see this store because the name "Music for the Eyes" was too mind boggling to pass up. Music for the Eyes! What does that even mean!? In this case it means a self-proclaimed "silk road bazaar" full of rugs, jewelry, statues and other odds and ends. And yes, it's 100000% run by white people.
I love to watch slow things move. Snails, slugs, nudibranchs — stuff that gently, glacially, but persistently makes its way through the world. This is a two in one, two photos of proof that even if the motion is so slow that it's hard to detect, it is indeed happening.
5 memes that now have their own dedicated neurons in my brain
5 things I'm proud of
- Tested was shortlisted for and won a bunch of awards. Awards are weird, and I try really hard not to put too much weight on them. Lots of stuff I hate wins awards, and lots of stuff I love never does. But also, it is very nice to have your work recognized and to win silly trophies and plaques. And Tested was such a huge lift, with so many people helping out, that I am proud to see it acknowledged.
- I deadlifted 300 lbs, and squatted 250 lbs (photo evidence here). We do not talk about bench.
- With a group of volunteers, I helped build a woodfire kiln at Laney.
- I had a piece of art in a gallery show for the first time!
- I helped launch a worker owned collective newsroom in the Bay Area. You can become a member today!
5 things I'm hoping to leave behind
- Saying yes to things because it feels like I should, not because I actually want to.
- Wallowing.
- Getting stuck in the planning stage and never actually doing things.
- Instagram (I was 100% off of it, but I have to use it for the COYOTE Calendar, so now it's sucked me back in).
- Rushing.
