A Few Things

1. Dawn Eden is a really good speaker, and her book, which I have not yet read, sounds interesting. Her talk at UC Berkeley was quite good, and I hope she is still doing the lecture circuit when Amalia is older and needs to hear some of these things from someone who is not a (yawn) parent (especially when the (yawn) parent is a fascist, and when Amalia calls her father a fascist, you know she is not just whistling Dixie). She is also a really personable sort: easy to get along with, smart, etc.

Which reminds me: where is her blog on my sidebar? Will have to fix that right away.

2. The nineteenth century was a confused mess, but it was a confused mess that we are still living in, and it was a confused mess that produced some great artwork. The French are a confused mess, yet they are are a confused mess that still influences us, and that produced some great artwork. Want to know more? I knew you did:

Erik Keilholtz (your humble blogduce) will be speaking TONITE! TONITE! TONITE! at St. Margaret Mary's in Oakland at 7:30pm on French Symbolism and Neo-Byzantine expressions in nineteenth century art. I hear that there are refreshments, but probably not the sort of refreshments that I will be looking for after the talk. If there are others who will be looking for those sorts of refreshments after the talk, I know of a couple of very good establishments in Oakland that serve the purpose well. Of course perhaps after a talk on this French stuff, my usual post-talk beverages, which come from those islands, those islands, those miserable islands, are not appropriate. Perhaps I will have to sip cognac or chartreuse or (preferably) absinthe. Must I also pick up a package of Gauloises? Now, where is the beret?

Yes, you guessed it. 3:30. Up at 8. Fueled by espresso, adrenaline, and delirium.

3. This storm system is from Canada. I say we launch a retaliatory expedition and seize their timber and oil reserves. Meanwhile, I have a stack of mdf boards that will come together into a cabinet someday. However, in the meanwhile they are in one 230 lb. box, right in the line of the probable flood path in my studio. The door to my studio is blocked by a fallen tree branch (the rain was introduced by ferocious gusts of wind). I still have images to scan for the talk. It is a school day, and Amalia needs her lessons.

Espresso. Adrenaline. Dementia.

Talk to you later. Pray for me!