Thursday at the Society.

Rich and I crash Jazz Sketch
Night at the Society of Illustrators once again with some varied results and a bit of success...

"Please, Take It With You"

In the words of Kimya Dawson:

"You're so nice and you're so smart/
You're such a good friend I'll have
to break your heart/ I'll tell you that
I love you then I'll tear your world apart/
Just pretend I didn't tear your world apart."

The Layers

I have walked through many lives,
some of them my own,
and I am not who I was,
though some principle of being
abides, from which I struggle
not to stray.
When I look behind,
as I am compelled to look
before I can gather strength
to proceed on my journey,
I see the milestones dwindling
toward the horizon
and the slow fires trailing
from the abandoned camp-sites,
over which scavenger angels
wheel on heavy wings.
Oh, I have made myself a tribe
out of my true affections,
and my tribe is scattered!
How shall the heart be reconciled
to its feast of losses?
In a rising wind
the manic dust of my friends,
those who fell along the way,
bitterly stings my face.
Yet I turn, I turn,
exulting somewhat,
with my will intact to go
wherever I need to go,
and every stone on the road
precious to me.
In my darkest night,
when the moon was covered
and I roamed through wreckage,
a nimbus-clouded voice
directed me:
"Live in the layers,
not on the litter."
Though I lack the art
to decipher it,
no doubt the next chapter
in my book of transformations
is already written.
I am not done with my changes.

Stanley Kunitz

A beautiful poem. Sent to me today by a wonderful friend in response to the previous post "Wreckage."

Made my day.

-G

"Wreckage"

"It's true, I am afraid of dying. I am afraid of the world moving forward without me, of my absence going unnoticed, or worse, being some natural force propelling life on. Is it selfish? Am I such a bad person for dreaming of a world that ends when I do? I don't mean the world ending with respect to me, but every set of eyes closing with mine." - Jonathan Safran Foer - Everything Is Illuminated-

Greetings from Austin, TX!

My Digital Postcard (0f sorts).

After a long (exhausting) trip, I made it to Austin. Nice that the weather's in the 50s, not so nice that it's been non-stop downpouring since I got here. But, hey, I'll take it over actual winter weather. Stay warm while I'm gone, East Coast. Won't be missing your cold. ;)

Kissing With Lips...

...is apparently a very human thing to do.

I've recently been reading (maybe "devouring" is a better word for it), the 2nd novel by Jonathan Safran Foer "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," which is a beautifully written novel dealing with Sept. 11th from the perspective of a nine-year-old boy.

Love.

I highly recommend it. I particularly love the way the author addresses humanity, and human relationships ( in all his books) in a very quirky, poetic voice. I keep stumbling across mind-blowingly beautiful quotations... my book is dog-eared to death!

Anyway, I was "devouring" said novel in a coffee shop last weekend, when I had the urge to pull out my sketchbook and draw this. X number of minutes later, a guy who sat down across from me started snapping photos of me drawing with his nice camera...I got such a kick out of the whole thing. Creative minds inspire creative minds, I suppose.

-G

"'Humans are the only animal that blushes, laughs, has religion, wages war, and kisses with lips. So, in a way, the more you kiss with lips, the more human you are'".

-J.S. Foer

Cat Power, Ballpoint Pens, and the NYC Bus...

Still lovin' the ballpoint pen. Sketched this on the shuttle bus a few weeks back on the way to my friend Steph's dance show. She's a PHENOMENAL modern dancer, part of a company here called BodyArt. Looking forward to seeing her big show this weekend....

Ahhh, and you've got to love Cat Power. Lyrics from the song Babydoll off of my favorite album: You Are Free. So gorgeous.

Oh! And Happy New Years, Everyone! Welcome to 2010! Hope it brings you lovely things.

-G