new york pictures

can you tell that the holiday season bowled me over with busyness? i am just now getting to these...

brooklyn. The 'deck' of my friend's warehouse space. they live right next to a bridge, but i forget which one.










coney island at night, a few days after thanksgiving:

on christmas i went sailing

(and on the way to sailing i poured hot coffee square in the eyes of a princessy little pug dog, but that's another story)

Christmas was eerie, quiet, calm and grey. we saw one other sailboat. the dog threw his tennis ball overboard and we did drills to get it.


eerie silent floating tanker, water blending into sky. Reminded us both of Mieville's The Scar.




the only sounds we could hear were the twin faint roars of 101 and 80, and the water lapping at the boat. Well, that and the dog's frantic panting as he gently tossed a tennis ball to antron over and over and over and over. We drank raspberry lambic and nattered and fell silent, over and over again. I untwisted a block and tackle.


the city faded into the background and the sky and bay enclosed us. You can see a faint Bay Bridge to the right in this photo.




everything we could see was battened down nice and snug. everyone but us was at home. (we did see one other sailboat, with two boaters in it. they had the right idea too.)


dusk fell without a defining moment; the sun set invisibly somewhere behind a wall of clouds.

for christmas, i want a slackmaster 2000

Everyone I interact with in the retail world has been bowled over by Christmas, myself included. I have already set my sights beyond, though, and after being asked to hang some paintings at Anon Salon NYE (pricey burning-man-style annual event) had to put my nose to the grindstone. Pictures forthcoming of the work that will hang there - I am working up a pair of diptychs simultaneously so we will see if 2 or 4 pieces will hang. New paintbrushes and strategic new supplies are making this a little bit less painful - I recently discovered Acrylic Flow Release and have been able to apply the colors I have only in cheap leftover theatre latex as if they were ink - as well as mixing water-soluble inks with acrylic medium and flow release to waterproof them as they are applied. Praise Be!

Meanwhile, I got tagged a while ago, and since I have been too busy to post at all Chris has had to wait. Wait no longer!

Five Things You Might Never Have Found Out About Me Otherwise

1. Once, when I was a kid, I was at a tertiary sort of extended-family Christmas and I threw a tantrum because I hadn't gotten enough presents.

2. I used to have a pet guinea pig. My older brother talked me into giving it 'carousel rides' in an old umbrella, and it threw up. Guinea pigs throw up white.

hmm, this is turning into 'embarassing things about my childhood'. Let's regroup.

3. I may be a cynic and at least partially Jewish as well as an atheist but there is something about Christmas that I really love. And no, it's not just presents. I like the goofy optimism that manages to percolate up even through ungodly gobs of gaudy crap.

4. I'm not a very good painter. No, seriously. I'm good at seeing and I'm stubborn but I'm only now, that I'm making a living at it, learning how to actually manipulate brushes and mix color. It's really hard.

5. I was a vegetarian for 8 years or so, and am not anymore. The first meat I ate on re-entry was raw tuna in Hawaii.

a few more pics of Pandora's Trunk

Worry not, fearless readers. I've already engaged a proper photographer for the February event. This is a little silly. That said, here are some photographs that Alexandre (the mobile sculptor) was kind enough tosend me from his little pocket camera from that day. I think they were taken very early in the day. Believe it or not, in retrospect, these photos look peaceful.

Amazing Success!

Pandora's Trunk this Saturday was a tremendous success - the place was packed and there were lots of smiling new faces. A heavy rainstorm came up midshow and people kept arriving! Everything was a blast and several people have promised me pictures but all I can show you so far are these two, taken by my friend Chris ; the Santa outing you can see in that link took place at the same time as Pandora's Trunk and we definitely had more than a few Santified guests throughout the day. Santa and robots go well together, don't you think?The Chipper
This is the monster that chews up the curb. He has a pedal that you press and he chomps at you, ka-pthunk! ka-think! Dogs hate him. He has stainless steel teeth and giant beady eyes.


These are poured plastic mini-creatures that Aharon had to go along with her actual robots. You can see two orange & 1 purple miniatures here of her larger Happy Robot piece, the creepiest Happy Robot ever.

Pandora's Trunk Chronicle Writeup!

Chronicle Article about holiday sample sales


The article had this to say about us:

Pandora's Trunk: This bimonthly fashion arts party -- half performance art, half sample sale -- is hosted by a collective of Bay Area indie artists, masseurs, performers and hipsters. It's putting on a special holiday party/sale with a robot theme. T-shirts, jewelry, hats -- and robots doing tricks -- are in the mix. Live music and free drinks.

1-7 p.m. Sat. at 916 Natoma St., San Francisco. Free. www.pandorastrunk.com.

I also sent off an image for an ad in The Onion. I remember back before I knew cool kids to hang out with newsweeklies were a rich source of fun events for me - and I am supporting an awesomely hilarious institution! I feel good about helping to pay for the Onion's biting content.