A whole article on “Mess”, this is an exciting day!

Read it here, Huffington Post, Hand Job: Keri Smith’s Delightful Destruction .

“Don’t be amazed if you see my eyes always wandering. In fact, this is my way of reading, and it is only in this way that reading proves fruitful for me. If a book truly interests me, I cannot follow it for more than a few lines before my mind, having seized on a thought that the text suggests to it, or a feeling, or a question, or an image, goes off on a tangent and springs from thought to thought, from image to image, in an itinerary of reasonings and fantasies that I feel the need to pursue to the end, moving away from the book until I have lost sight of it. The stimulus of reading is indispensable to me, and of meaty reading, even if, of every book, I manage to read no more than a few pages. But those few pages already enclose for me whole universes, which I can never exhaust.”

from page 254, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller, by Italo Calvino

maybe if I do stream of consciousness I will get something out here. I always like a kind of writing where one thing leads to another and you never know which direction it is going to head in next.

I’m reading bunch of meta-fiction these days. just finished “Atmospheric Disturbances” by Rivka Galchen, did not love it. bought a copy of “house of leaves” to see what all the fuss is about. don’t know if I will read it cover to cover as I want to sleep at night, but am mining it for ideas.

I very much underestimated the amount of work teaching was going to be. While I am enjoying it immensely, mostly because my students are really great and talented, I find myself spending most of my week preparing for the class. Which would be fine except that I am raising an amazingly bright and energetic two and a half year old (which is the greatest age ever by the way), and writing a new book. how does it all get done, one asks oneself, on a daily basis. one moment at a time.

deep breath.

I have been doing meditation sessions on a nightly basis. it is helping me to feel much more grounded, though I do not know exactly why. must be the intention to pay some much needed attention to the self. yes. that is it.

deep breath.

watched “Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight”. He is just an interesting human. The film is not quite as good as the short adobe documentary, feels a bit “forced”. which is good for you because the short one is free and found on his site. and while you’re there go read his “10 Things I’ve Learned”. It’s very good.

While I am thinking about teaching and how much work it is, I must tell you that while it is challenging in many ways (it forces you to confront “what you know” and how much you don’t know), it is also giving me some kind of new found confidence. not in a way that stems from the ego, but in a way that stems from a love of learning. as a teacher you are always mining the world for content, things you can use in class, things to share, and it creates a kind of bond with the people you are sharing with because you are always excited to bring something to them that you think is interesting or related to what you are teaching. what is somewhat difficult is that while you are in it there is no real gauge for how you are doing. how do you know if you are reaching someone? if you are a good teacher, some of what you are teaching might not sink in for years. I suppose you just give them all you have and release all attachment to outcome. Isn’t that how it is with all important things in your life? Parenting, art, relationships, etc.

really enjoying his work lately.
from a drawing diary