We had our gas oven go on the blink, so Dana used another one in a vacant cabin to roast a turkey breast and bake a blueberry pie. I helped roll out the top crust with a wine bottle. Marty hooked up his PS2, so now he can do his favorite thing that makes him happy, plus it will allow us to watch a DVD or two this week. Did my first channel swim before dinner last night—without fins because I forgot to carry them down to the lake. Even so, it has me thinking about a greater challenge—either speed or distance. Seeing people with perch in their baskets gets my desires going, so I need to run into town and get my license. Let the fishing commence!
Day Two at Barefoot’s Resort
July 17th, 2006Day One at Barefoot’s Resort
July 16th, 2006Hubbard’s preferences notwithstanding, I want electricity! Nasty storms overnight caused an early morning power outage that lasted until almost 11 am. Lack of coffee stunted the day’s opening for me, but it didn’t take very long to get everything back in gear by afternoon. It got me thinking that I probably have too many objectives for one short vacation, especially when I have two other individuals with which to share my time. In situations like this, I realize I’ve made a mental to-do list as if I was on a solitary retreat. Oh well, it takes me a while to learn things, and now that I’ve got my head straight, I’ll do my best to balance attentiveness to everyone, including myself.
It also got me thinking that I probably need to cut back on the coffee.
Arrival in the Les Cheneaux
July 15th, 2006Our Indianapolis arrival was behind schedule, but Dana, Marty, and I had a nice Mexican supper with Bruce. Said our goodbyes and headed north this morning, travelling through Ft. Wayne, which was much better driving than I-75. After a big delay in Lansing, getting groceries and trying to find the best route to Grayling, we finally arrived at Barefoot’s Resort before dark and settled into Walt’s old mobile home—not a stylish abode, but comfortable, bright, and more than roomy enough for the three of us. Finished “Payne Hollow” during the drive up. Harlan inspires me to my own individualism, and it’s my hope to find significant time for contacting my creative self over the next few days, with conceptual development for artwork and self-promotion that would be hard to sustain in an environment less conducive than this. That’s my idea of a good break from the typical routine.
The Bastille aflame
July 14th, 2006Not too many things make me angry, but I must say that I hate to misplace things, and looking for a missing item is a fast track to the loss of harmony as well. I truly hate the entire dynamic, and it goes to the heart of my quirks about organization and a personal relationship with “stuff.”
Before long, we’ll complete our final preparations and leave for Michigan. If we can survive the packing.
It must not matter if you’re famous or anonymous, nor whether you have the means to buy almost anything once you arrive at a destination, there’s still something about packing for a trip that generates tension and the potential for conflict. When you add to that the frustration of locating misplaced items, the combination can be rather combustible.
Charlton Heston thought enough about this volatile phenomenon to include some observations in his excellent collection of journal entries called “The Actor’s Life.” He wrote about various pre-departure blow-ups. Later, he records that he and Lydia finally came to a workable resolution—henceforth, he would play no part at all in packing.
He never mentions it again.
On this point alone, Chuck is more man than I shall ever be.
Not exactly the adventure I was seeking
July 13th, 2006All I wanted to do was locate a copy of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and Joan has to go and bring me under the spell of Harlan Hubbard. I walked right into it, without philosophical defenses nor emotional armor. Like a dang fool!
Well, at least I’m leaving tomorrow for a humble dwelling at Barefoot’s Resort, where I can make an effort to sort out my longing for paintbrush and engraving tool, clean and eat fish caught with my own pole, and put on my wet suit again, returning to the long meditative swims in open water that I’ve daydreamed about for nearly a year… to contemplate what life will now be like with Harlan under my skin and Joe Wood’s gaze in my imagination, keenly observing how I deal with it.
indelibility
July 12th, 2006Brendan made his anticipated “career shift” announcement. Dana looked at the Website of his new employer last night. She said it was so cool she couldn’t get to sleep. I looked at it today and wanted to go destroy my own and start from scratch. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a site that combines so many contrasting features in such a distinctive and integral manner—legibility, motion, sophistication, clear communication, imaginative hipness, superb writing, exquisite taste… I found myself wondering who had the creative inspiration to fuse Buck Rogers with soothing classical music, and then it hit me that Erik Satie and Jules Verne were contemporaries. Awesome!
life on the fringe of society
July 11th, 2006While at Kelly Ridge, Joan let us pick out some of Joe Wood’s old fishing poles for our trip to Michigan. She also handed me a book by Harlan Hubbard titled “Payne Hollow.” I pointed out to her the handwritten note on the front jacket flap that said, “Not for loan.”
“Too bad,” she replied. “He should’ve stuck around to enforce it.”
I immediately began to read the small work, as Dana drove us north for a few Lexington errands. I’d never heard of this memoir—the heartfelt story of an artist-craftsman and his quest for an isolated, unconventional life close to the earth, but I quickly understood why it might have been one of Joe’s most treasured books. Hubbard describes his conviction that a longing to live an even more primitive, solitary existence is less important than the compromises necessary for the richer satisfaction of a married life.
The author did not win me over from the start, but rather by slow degrees. I’m struck with the parallel of my own experience with Joe himself. Perhaps he came to the same conclusions about a life alone. Perhaps this is my sister’s way of helping me better appreciate the natural course of their own love story.
Wow… and I still have the second half of the book ahead of me.
A fisherman’s hoard
July 10th, 2006Lately it seems as though the more I try to get physically organized, the greater the resulting mess.
I’m sure she wouldn’t be pleased to learn this, but all I have to do to feel considerably less overwhelmed with my own clutter is to witness firsthand what my “Big Sis” is dealing with at her two unfinished properties…
If you’ve ever navigated on the Erie Canal
July 9th, 2006Garrison Keillor informs us that when the E-RI-E was a-rising, the gin was getting low, and so after all these years I now become aware that we’d been listening to a version of the folk song sanitized for children… Or that’s what I’m thinking, but James and I never did find the old record at the Blue Bank Hall today, and none of us could remember the lyrics that left out the reference to booze. I always figured those poor canal boaters ran out of water.
A lopping-shears haircut
July 8th, 2006I don’t think July gets much nicer outside than this. I devoted much of the day to dealing with the west-side landscaping at the Town House. This is the zone that’s been the scene of two stolen property “ditches,” and it had to be opened up. Our neighbors hired a guy to clean up the brush on their side, so I followed up today with a drastic shrub trim on ours. The results are dramatic. Nobody is going to use that area as a hiding place now.
Tales of the Graybeard Prospector XVIII
July 7th, 2006• The bewhiskered nugget hunter has gained the upper hand again, and he motivated me to string together one prospecting opportunity after another. Within a 24-hour period I worked the phone to get in to see the local economic developer (so I could pitch our Website services) and set into motion my Michigan contact for a greater regional outreach. I sat down with the director of a new social service agency and discussed their promotional challenges. After successfully following up with a banker who was impressed with our presence at the small biz conference, I stopped by to introduce myself to the principals of the new animation studio in Downtown Danville. Then I took a retired phone system executive to lunch at the Rotary Club. He’s moved to town to join a firm of mining consultants with contacts in South Africa and Russia. This evening we hit the political scene and panned for a bit of dust at a fundraiser, relaxing our long-standing aversion to campaign advertising assignments.
“That’s more like it… Reckon I oughta take the dang mule whip to him more often!”
. . . G B P . . .
Mmmmm
July 6th, 2006Yes, it’s true that we’ve cut back dramatically on prepared foods and eliminated almost all meals out.
The result— I’ve been eating like a king!
Brought to you by Ohio Art
July 5th, 2006The “Etch A Sketch” came easier to me than it did to most, but I never dreamed of doing work like this guy. Joan sent me the link to his site.
I suppose I’ve always had fairly decent eye-hand coordination. My sax fingering wasn’t that good, though; it had to do with rarely practicing, in addition to being able to blow on a reed, which I always detested at some fundamental level. Actually, I could have been a great bulldozer driver, or operated one of those tall cranes they use to build a skyscraper. Maybe I could even fly one of those Predator UAVs… Video games? You better believe I could do that, but I’ve never really allowed myself more than a dabble with Marty now and then. For me, doing more than that would be about as wise as trying rock cocaine.
Tie him to that fence rail, boys
July 4th, 2006Considering the fact that I’m the volunteer Webmaster for the Boyle County Republican Party Website, and it hasn’t been modified since before Election Day in 2004, it seems appropriate that I spend some of my 4th of July holiday updating the site for the 2006 campaigns. Patriotic as it sounds, it’s just another symptom of my metastatic pro bono condition. The Graybeard Prospector wants to drag me out back and give me a taste of his mule whip. He’d be within his rights.
A great report from Cedarville, Michigan
July 3rd, 2006I spoke to Chris P on the phone today and confirmed our reservation for the hilltop mobile home at Barefoot’s Resort this month. It’s ours from the 15th to the following Saturday morning. He said they’re having the best fishing season in over ten years. Lots of yellow perch and northern pike. Marty needs to pick out one of Joe Wood’s fishing poles for the trip. Joan was kind enough to offer him one a while back.
It’s clear that the cormorant control measures are finally kicking in, and the news is exciting. To restore the natural fishing pattern of the Les Cheneaux is the ultimate goal. As much as I love fishing for king salmon in the U.P., one has to recognize that the Michigan resource managers stocked those waters with salmon in response to the dwindling number of indigenous species. It’s only too obvious now that the introduction of non-native water fowl caused a devastating ecological imbalance that’s only now being successfully mitigated.
Deciding what to do with the hardware
July 2nd, 2006Conditions could hardly have been better on the second day of July for our bike ride early this morning. A 35-miler took us down through Moreland and out Black Pike, past where my brother Jay and his family used to live. Hustonville was quiet as a ghost town when we pedaled through, a perfect spot for our turnaround point. My pal Elisabeth was amused about winning the women’s division at the 5k in Stanford yesterday. She’s trying to figure out what to do with the huge trophy she was not expecting to bring home. A NYC artist who spends her summers in Lincoln County, she does quite a bit of running and cycling during her stays in Kentucky. She turns 50 later this year, and a good indication of her high fitness level is that I take ample satisfaction in ever being able to stay up with her on the road. When I asked her if she knew any sculptors, she laughed and said, “Lots!”
Various & Sundry, part forty
July 1st, 2006— Month of June workout totals: Swim-2; Bike-12; Run-1; Lift-5; Yoga-2
— All the other training took a back seat to my cycling this month, as I push to regain the conditioning I lost during 2005. The Tour started in France today without Armstrong, who, at age 35, is preparing to run the New York City Marathon. At age 36, Agassi played his final match at Wimbledon today. With all the talk of aging, legendary athletes, it’s interesting to note that both men are still in the acknowledged target zone for an endurance event like the triathlon. I don’t expect Agassi to do more than settle into his role as a retired tennis superstar after his U.S. Open appearance in New York, but I think Lance might be a very different story. If he demonstrates the ability to run an impressive 26.2-miler in his own New York performance a month later, just watch—and you read it here—for him to set his sights on the
Iron Man competition. How much time could he spot his opponents in the water before devastating the field on a bicycle and then finish strong with a marathon run? It’s interesting to contemplate. He won’t do it for sport. He’ll do it as a cancer fighter, and what better way to keep his cause before a world audience?
— As I continue to look for my next major novel, my bedtime reading jumps back and forth between Isaac Asimov and Ernest Hemingway. If you don’t think that’s a bit strange, you should try it some time. They do have one thing in common, however. When I’m reading either one, I’m struck by how profound an influence they appear to have had on succeeding generations of writers. Every creative person is influenced by those who come before, but few of us can push beyond the derivative and craft something new for others to emulate.
— I completed a proof of my “Bridget” comic this afternoon. I had a hard time convincing myself that it was finished, so I stopped and compared notes with Brendan. I was able to achieve the rough, sketchy look I desired, but some areas of the artwork still need refinement. Once I got past the storyboarding phase, which was genuinely challenging for me, I found deep satisfaction executing the drawing itself. No doubt I could get rather good at this if I tried it more that once or twice a year. I don’t expect to be getting urgent calls from Kazu Kibuishi any time soon, but I was very happy to learn that Brendan thought my effort looked “fantastic.”
Kinda messy, though
June 30th, 2006I’m creating an illustrated version of Bridget this evening—as I promised… with a deadline glancing over my shoulder—as I hoped to avoid. My artwork needs to do justice to the story, and I know I’m fully capable of that.
Suddenly, cartooning is much more difficult for me than I remember it.
Shove a door stop in the world
June 28th, 2006My mom and sister stopped by today to say hi and chat. All of us agreed that we need to take a vacation together, so we can just talk. I found out that Mombo has writings on her desktop that she hasn’t gotten around to posting. We need those MEMORIES!
Meaningless factoids
June 28th, 2006‡ A copy of Flash Comics #1 sold at auction in Dallas for $273,125.
‡ To satisfy serious audiophiles, sound engineer Satoshi Imamura discovered how to mold advanced speaker cones by soaking birch wood in sake.
‡ Casey Stengel won ten pennants and seven world championships in 12 years when he managed the New York Yankees from 1949 through 1960.
‡ The miniature display of “The Greatest Show on Earth” at Sarasota’s Ringling Circus Museum contains 152 circus wagons, 700 animals, 1,500 performers and workers, and 7,000 folding chairs.
‡ In 1993, members of the American Medical Association had an average income of $170,000 per year.
‡ Competitive eater Sonya Thomas has eaten nearly ten pounds of Vienna sausage in ten minutes, just over eight pounds of baked beans in less than three minutes, and, most recently, 60 ham biscuits in eight minutes.
‡ Dairy cows should eat at least four percent of their body weight each day, which means that a 1,350-pound cow needs a minimum of 54 pounds of dry matter intake per day.
‡ In 2005, the Los Angeles Conservancy, along with seven other groups, sued the Los Angeles Unified School District to stop the demolition of the Ambassador Hotel, where R.F.K. was assassinated in the pantry off the Embassy Ballroom. The Kennedy family sided with the School District, which now owns the property. The daughter of a renowned black architect who worked on parts of the building sided with the Conservancy. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed a brief to block their suit. In a separate court action to oppose the razing, the Committee to Preserve Assassination Sites joined with the lawyer of convicted assassin Sirhan Sirhan.
‡ Meanwhile, entertainer Britney Spears does 300 sit-ups a day.
Sorry, no links (they’ll just rot and stink up the place). You’ll have to trust me on all this…
Pulling thistles in the emotional weed bed
June 27th, 2006I spent a good portion of today and yesterday cleaning out and organizing our stash of project files and “job jackets,” and I think I’ve hit on a key reason I’m so averse to throwing out personal papers and old records of past work. It must have something to do with a resistance to stirring up dormant feelings. To toss is to toss, but to conscientiously purge files while retaining only that which is valuable means reliving the emotional experiences, to some degree, both pleasant and unpleasant. For me, accepting this sheds light on another aspect of throwing things away—overcoming the apprehension of making a mistake or misjudgment, and inviting future emotions of loss or regret.
Some of this is downright crazy—rekindled emotions tied up with worries about emotions yet to come—and I can see why others just turn off the scrutiny and pitch away. There has to be a balance between the two forms of mild madness. One must not dread feelings from the past nor carry a fear of feelings yet to come, for both impinge on the equilibrium of the present. The past doesn’t exist, and the future is forever unreal. All we ever possess is the present. The continuous now is our only laboratory for the mastering of time and space.
Time… I’m spending it with my rubbish!
Space… I need more of it! Now!
You’ve come a long way, Kid Punk
June 26th, 2006• He overcame his childhood learning challenges to become the most highly educated and professionally accomplished member of the family—a Clan Treasure.
• Compassionate, open-minded, tireless, inquisitive—all the qualities one would hope for in a physician.
• More than a superb clinician, he’s truly earned the descriptive term of healer.
• Many call him friend—I’ve never seen a person more naturally comfortable in the role—and a generous one he is.
• He selected his mate as carefully as he picked his vocation. He chose both wisely. And now he investigates the responsibility of fatherhood with the same sincere, prayerful, conscientious approach.
• He could have given up. He could have carried hatred. He forgave instead, and unlocked the door to a lifetime of victories.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my “kid” brother. I love you, forever…