11-30-10, Day 86

To Gloria:

SF Bay Bridge

From Gloria:

To Judy:

Aircraft Carrier
(John, do we have family history with these?)

From Judy:

11-29-10, Day 85, Week 13

To Martha:

"It Ain't Necessarily So"
paper, ink, watercolor

From Martha:

"Peanut Butter & Jetty"

From ZOE:

Jetty Coin

11-28-10, Day 84

To Landlocked:

Cozy Carrots

From Landlocked Jr.

11-27-10, Day 83

To JP:
I've posted a lot of photos taken at this location near my house, a former Ritz Camera kiosk, now unoccupied.  It's prominently situated at the corner of a busy cross street and has become a rotating gallery of street art.  The visual display changes frequently, with new usually pasted directly over old.  Yesterday evening all the old peeling paper had been removed, the surface completely whitewashed and this tacked in the middle.  The timing might have something to do with the fact that today is a big deal, Big Game day at UC Berkeley.  This probably will be swallowed up in the night.

PS:  Now gone, 24 hours later.
From JP:
I'm a car guy and we have an event in town called turkey rod run. It is mostly old cars but this one came through. I still have no clue what it is but it looks fast!

11-26-10, Day 82

To Mandy:

Ashby Ave.

From Mandy:

I acquired this poster as a kid probably from some health fair or school. I took a picture of it a while back because we found it in some stuff in the garage. I forgot about it until this week when I was emptying out my camera flash card then I realized, This poster probably played a huge part in what I am today. I had and still have no idea what it was for, but I remember staring at this thing for yeeears amazed at how really cool all the costumes and characters were.  Thank you, Professor Bodywise.

11-25-10, Day 81

To Darrell:

HOPE = TURKEY ASCENDING
cut paper, ink, watercolor, acrylic

From Darrell:

11-24-10, Day 80

To Kathy/Dan:

Artichokes
ink/watercolor

From Dan/Kathy:
Thanksgiving Eve Dinner...the junkiest junkfood one could eat...the challenge was who could get it all down!  They both did it and had a glazed donut for dessert...all at 10:00 PM....What a night...What was in the sandwiches you ask??  One had fried chicken fingers, french fries, onion rings,smothered in nacho cheese all in a giant sub roll...the other was two veggie burgers, fried broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, smothered in nacho cheese!  Yummy!!!

We feel a new family tradition coming on...oh yes...did you know that we have a fast developing wheatgrass/microgreen business happening...where we tout the benefits if live food???  

11-23-10, Day 79

To Gloria:

Squash & yams
ink, watercolor

From Gloria:

To Judy:

The Brothers

From Judy:

11-22-10, Day 78, Week 12

To Ashley:

A new installation at my favorite graffiti gallery, the abandoned Ritz Camera kiosk at Telegraph and Ashby. 


From Ashley:

11-21-10, Day 77

To Landlocked:

"Like A Bird..."

11-20-10, Day 76

To JP:

Ginko, All At Once

From JP:

11-19-10, Day 75

To Mandy:

Gypsy Cold Care
ink, watercolor

From Mandy:


Our cat Turkey gets a can of wet food once a week. She usually gets it when her dry cat food bowl is empty. This has resulted in her eating faster and faster every week to get to the wet food. This week I decided to throw her off her game and didn't give her the expected wet food.

 this is exactly what happened: 

11-18-10, Day 74

To Darrell:

Jesse Hazelip's Buffalo/Airplane
evolving display at corner of Telegraph & Ashby

From Darrell:

Rough Sand/Smooth Water

11-17-10, Day 73

To Kathy:

HATE

From Kathy:

Cucumber

The weather here has been warm in the days and a little cool at night.  It has been absolutely perfect for fall.  The veggies are growing great other then the occasional trampling from Bonnie.  I am thankful that she is at least a little dog and only does little damage.  I will keep sending more pics from the garden.
  

11-16-10, Day 72

To Gloria:

JUST HANDCUFF ME
(Something Happened To Me Yesterday)

Oakland is neighbor to my hometown, yet vast and still mysterious to me after living in the Bay Area for 40 years.  On Saturday, I got lost over and over again while trying to find a house concert where a friend was playing.  The address was in an unknown, to me, area of the city, obscure and as foreign looking as the back alleys of Marrakesh, no help from Google maps.  Once I reached my destination, the frustration of the search was soon forgotten by the awesome playing of a bunch of nerdy musicians reading complex charts of old Raymond Scott cartoon scores, unleashing a world of Looney Tune characters.   And then, “That’s all, folks,” and time to hustle off to a friend's play in Marin. 

We started as a small caravan of cars but soon lost each other in the evening rush hour traffic.  An hour, many mini traffic jams, one bridge later, I found myself in San Rafael searching for Royal Thai, our agreed to meeting point for a brief bite before the play. 

“It’s right off the 101,” he said, “just park under the freeway.”  Sure.  But there I was caught in a loop of one way streets, starving and again in the labyrinth of lost.  From my cell phone with no hands free devise, I called a friend, “Help.”   I was very close but before she could fully direct me, I saw the police car coming up behind and abruptly threw the phone to the floor, praying they hadn’t seen me, just as the light turned red and they pulled up beside me.  I tried to look innocent and sane, masking the churning, insane, lost, frustrated, starving monster lurking inside. 

I was in the far right hand lane and when the light turned green, I suddenly realized that if I followed that lane, I’d be back on the freeway.  So, I did what any insane person would do—I went straight, sort of cutting the cop car off.   Then the siren and flashing lights. 

I pulled over to the curb and quickly swallowed the stash of drugs that I always carry.  JUST KIDDING, OF COURSE.   I sat there in the dark waiting, trying to calm myself, thinking, “well, at least they’ll know where the restaurant is.” 

Even their uniforms and big attitudes couldn’t disguise the fact that they were about 19.   “Did I do something wrong?  I’m really sorry!  I’m soooooo lost,”  it exploded from my mouth before they even had a chance to speak. 

“We could tell.  You just went straight in a right turn only lane.  Where are you trying to go?”

“The Royal Thai Restaurant.  It’s supposed to be around here somewhere, at Irwin and 3rd.”

“Royal Thai?  Hmmmm.  That’s Irwin and 3^rd right there.  Never heard of it,”  the cop talking to me glanced at his partner who was on the passenger side scanning the inside of my car with his super sized flash light (looking for the drugs that I’d just swallowed…).  His partner shook his head, “Nope, never heard of it, but there’s a great Thai restaurant just down the street,” and he said a name.

“That’s great,” I said.  “I’ll keep that in mind for next time but people are waiting for me at the Royal Thai and I’m going to be late for my friend’s play.” 

“Okay, well, I’m sorry.  You should just leave your car here and walk to the restaurant across the street but first I’m going to have to see your license, registration and proof of insurance.”

“Is it safe,” I asked as I dug through the glove compartment  under a stack of CD’s and miraculously found what he’d asked for.

“Is it safe to leave your car here?, he asked, kind of incredulous?

“No, is it safe to walk around this neighborhood at night,”  (it being under the freeway in a dark and lonely looking area and me living in the 2^nd most dangerous city in CA).

“This is San Rafael!  Of course it’s safe,”  now he really was incredulous.  He carefully perused my id and paper work.  “Do you know that your proof of insurance has expired?”  He held the paper close to my face and directed the megawatt beam of his flash light at the date--11/01/10. 

“Oh, no!  I think I can explain.  I do all of my Geico business on-line.  They e-mail me when payments are due and when to download new paperwork.  And for some strange reason, those e-mails frequently go to my yahoo spam.  I guess I haven’t checked that in awhile,”  my voiced trailed off, totally lame. 

I looked at the baby faced cops blank stare, “Oh, never mind.  I’m guilty.  Just hand cuff me!”  I held out my wrists defeated.  At least I might get a crust of bread and a cup of tea in the clinker. 

He tried not to laugh, “I’ve just got to run a check on this paper work,” and he and his partner swaggered back to their car.  While they ran their scan, I reviewed the situation--moving violation, blatant disregard of law about talking on cellphone w/o hands free devise, insurance paperwork expiration.  Were these chinks in my normal facade that would lead to an ultimate unraveling?

Suddenly their lights began flashing and the siren was on.  What now!  Did they come across my old FBI record?  The driver cop was sprinting towards my car.  He came right up to the window and literally threw my id in.  “We’ve got an emergency.  Gotta run.  Drive carefully, you hear!”  And they were gone in a haze of burning rubber and blazing lights.

The night fell silent.  I walked under the freeway and down the dark block looking for the restaurant, not a soul around.  It would have taken a detective to find the barely marked Royal Thai from a moving car.  I pulled open the door and re-entered the Known World to the steamy scent of hot chili and lime leaves and my friends at a table just inside the door.  

So, if you're out tonight,
Don't forget, if you're on your bike wear white...Amen.

 To Judy:

Wolky Sandal
ink/water

From Judy:

"To Windy To Fly"

11-15-10, Day 71, Week 11

To Martha:

BUDDHA'S COMPANION

From Martha:

Halloween Sunrise, Lake Arrowhead CA

From ZOE:

11-14-10, Day 70

To Landlocked:

BOOT
ink

From Landlocked:

Shrinky Dink