Pen and Ink

Meandering through life.

Sunday's a lazy day for me, so here's a gentle meandering through my life lately. I offer this to bring my handful of readers up to speed, since I haven't been writing lately.

Chi-Town here I come:  I'm headed to Chicago in a couple of weeks for a conference. The meeting will be great, but the best part is that I will be in one of our country's greatest cities. Sure, it will be March and still cold as hell. But it's Chicago. And that's good enough.

TV show: Our culinary TV show is on a slight hold while we work through some political nonsense on campus.

Techie guy: With some new money coming in, I went out and splurged on a new Apple Cinema Monitor and a MacBook Pro to go along with it. That may explain why I've been writing...I'm in love with the huge 24 inch monitor. 

Vacation plans: Bernardo and Greg were up from Panama last week. In between concerts (Honeyboy Edwards -- amazing at 94; Gladys Knight -- still going strong, and Joan Rivers -- still funny as shit), we discussed taking a vacation together this summer.  We travelled so well together on the cruise last year that we wanted to spend that kind of time with each other again. So I think we've settled on Panama for two weeks this summer. Yes, they live there, but there are coastal regions of the country they have yet to see, so that's what we're going to do.

Something new: I don't want to say much, but I can't say nothing -- I'm very excited that I have incorporated a consulting practice. I'm not going to do much with it for the next couple of years, but in time I have some big plans. It's too cool!

Next up: Next weekend will be busy with the opening of the Miami International Film Festival (they have me "hosting" two of the screenings, tickets for Wicked (again) with Susan and Emma, and a birthday dinner for a friend. 

I knew I was in trouble when.

Andy and I (and the kids) took in the Coconut Grove Art Festival a couple of weeks ago. I had never been before, as I don't usually go out of my way to attend these kinds of festivals.  But the chair of the event sent me two complimentary passes, so we decided to go.

When it comes to the visual arts, I don't get most of what I see.  A lot of it I just don't understand. But then again, I'm a pretty literal person; I need things spelled out in black and white.  For that reason, I tend to gravitate toward photography.  It's not complicated. 

Depending on the level of art fair I attend, I will usually decide in advance if I'm up for an addition to my growing collection of photography. If I go to Art Basel, the granddaddy of art fairs, I know my wallet is safe, 'cause there ain't nothing affordable there.  

With the Grove festival, however, I didn't know what to expect. So my mind was open to possibly getting something.

We spent the morning wandering the fair. For the most part, I wasn't impressed with the photographers except for two or three. When we left around noon to take the kids to lunch, I hadn't bought anything. But it was my intention to go back and pick up a reasonably priced print from a black and white photographer who's work I liked.

While at lunch, my friend/colleague Jeanne called to say she was on her way over and let's hang out. So we went back to the fair, and I took her to see a photographer from Chicago I kinda liked.  She was captivated by his work and bought three small pieces.  I got swept up into it and also picked out three small pieces. They weren't expensive and I thought they would be nice additions to the "kids" portion of my collection.

Then we went back to Chris, the black & white photographer, because I wanted to take another look at the photo that caught my eye earlier.  It was of a gently-curved black staircase at SF MOMA, surrounded by very angular white walls -- a stunning contrast in shapes and colors (or neutrals, as the case may be).

The print was very reasonable, but Jeanne being Jeanne, she started negotiating for me to buy a larger, framed version.  True, the larger format was preferable, and yes, the white frame and mat surrounding the photograph was stunning. But still...

Meanwhile, Andy is wandering around the booth. I looked over and caught him staring at a VERY large photograph called "Coastal Grove."  It's a beautiful image of a canape of trees in a grove. And he was just staring.

I watched him and realized that I had made a fateful statement earlier in the day: "We need a large format piece of art on the wall in the living room."

With that in mind, I thought: "Oh shit, I'm in trouble."

A few minutes later he stood by my side and just said, "Honey."  

Oh no, I know that voice.

Of course, Jeanne was no help as she immediately echoed Andy's sentiments on the photo.

When Chris realized what was going on, I think he probably peed in his pants.  After all, this was a major piece.  So much so that he said, "Well, if you get that ("Coastal Grove"), I will give you this ("SF MOMA1").

Ahhhh, shit.

So that day, I went from being "casual collector" of photography to "serious collector." But both pieces look amazing hanging on my walls.

(Out of respect for Chris's work, I am not including photos of his work here. But check out his website at www.chrishoneysett.com. "SF MOMA 1 is in the portfolio called "architecture" and "Coastal Grove" is under "landscapes.")

Biography.

I really like the new ad campaign by Equinox fitness centers.  It's called "My Body. My Biography." and carries the tag line "It's not fitness. It's life."

Of course, it's accompanied by lots of pictures of "real" (and pretty) people and their stories.  The headline, though, I think is really compelling and poignant.

Unfortunately, if one accepts the premise that one's body is one's biography, then my own biography reads like a really trashy novel.  Really trashy.

Near death.

Yesterday I commented on the death of Met Home magazine.  However, I had intended that post to be about something different.

For a few weeks now, I've been writing -- in my head -- the obituary of this blog.  Before yesterday, it had been weeks since I had blogged.

Work is busier than it has been in years.  I've joined two boards and am working on another new endeavor that I can't write about.  The blog has taken a back seat to all of this.  I just haven't had the energy to write.

But reading about Met Home yesterday caused me to write. As my fingers moved across the keyboard, I made a decision not to shut this down. 

I'm not deriving income from this site, so does it really matter if I write regularly?  If anyone reads it?  I know there are a few of you out there, but when I look at the Site Meter stats, I see most of the visitors are coming from Googles image search engine.  So in actuality, there aren't many people reading.

I could change that -- and likely will -- by linking this site to my Facebook page.  But I need to segregate my friends list so that people I know from work don't see postings to this site. 

This blog still means something to me. Part of me has been saying, "something's gotta give.  It's ok to end the blog. No one said you have to do it forever."

Yet another part of me still likes it.  So, if you're still reading, stick with me.  I'll write as I have the creative energy to do so.  Plus, I think I can come up with some funny posts once we start production on the TV show.

Another publishing death.

I received a post card in the mail today informing me that Metropolitan Home Magazine has discontinued publication.  The December 2009 issues was the last one.

Another great magazine down the tubes.  This closing, of course, follows the venerable Gourmet, which was shuttered after the November issue.

I went online to check out the buzz and found that it had actually been announced back in November.  There, linked from the Huffington Post, was an article in the Times.  I get the paper every day, but that must have been an edition I didn't get around to reading.

So here I sit in mourning, albeit late.

I've been a subscriber to Met Home for years and years.  I can't really tell you why, as the magazine had a focus on modern design and furnishings, which are distinctly not my style.  But I got a lot of ideas from it, nonetheless.  In fact, I have a whole looseleaf notebook filled with pages ripped from the magazine.

They say print media is dying.  Apple has come out with iPad (bad name) which I suspect could become a big hit.  But you just can't rip pages off the iPad and stick them in a notebook of ideas for some future date.

As I have written previously, I used to look forward to editor Donna Warner's introductory page.  Reading her all these years, I felt like I knew her and followed the renovations of her various homes. I hope she lands at another publication or website so I can continue following her.  It's weird, but I feel like she's a friend.

So, RIP Met Home.  They're subbing Elle Decor for Met Home until subscriptions run out. Hopefully I will like it.