summer reflections on this first autumn day

 It's finally raining. Please, as we enter this season of darkness and reflection, enjoy this brief anecdote and selection of photos I took this spring and summer... mostly in the Yosemite region, many at Tuolumne Camp... the best place to reflect!

ADVENTURES WITH THE OL' WORKHORSE:

I was "throwing" [dishes] (and doing a bang-up job with Cody the Dish Queen in my corner) when the soap hook-up clogged.

I was not trying to pull the tube out, when I accidentally pulled the tube out.

Suddenly my skin is on fire from the intense industrial soap, which has splashed onto my sloppily gloved hands. This is called a chemical burn. I rinse my arms under cool water, and the burning subsides. Soon Jimmy walks over to fix the thing, like muchachos are wont to do, yet he manages to spatter the corrosive stuff all over his arms. He disappears to wash his wounds, and I later learn he's still working on the old clogged-up plastic tube, which, I understand, will eventually crack open from corrosion.

The dishes piled up, we did our best to organize them efficiently in the pot sinks and window – it's all you can do, if not set-up for hand-washing, which is always our last resort.

My comrade, Aram, the current Man of Meal Services, and I devised a temporary fix using a new, though improperly sized, tube for the thing. Here, he is photographed in an incredibly awkward position, hooking up one of two awkwardly positioned openings where the tube exits the soap cartridge and enters the dishwasher.

Ah, summer adventures in the Kitchen.

I cleaned the wall of stainless steel behind the grill and range (but left this sweet, petit, unsanitary feature for all to discover).  Once done scrubbing that thick, sticky kind of grease-coat from the stainless sheet, I made my minions promise to maintain its sheen until my return at the end of the summer.  I believe they succeeded, if I recall correctly.

In love with the "sea" and sky...

I took so many videos this year that I didn't take as many photos as I naturally would of the lovely river water– I usually take river shots with a certain desperate urgency, because I know in the winter months they'll be all I have to swoon over until next year.

However, it was an unconscious mistake (of forgetting to take more photos) spurred by the conscious decision to take more video... because I'd like to get a montage of moving-picture images together to form something I like to call a short "film." And I suspect moving footage of the Tuolumne River would make a fine replacement for all the still photos I'd be drooling over in February, don't you think?

If there's one place that's allowed me to paint and draw on walls, it's Camp.  Here are a few of the latest, in the Camp Bakery, entitled "Gimme Some Sugar" (2011).

Bathroom Cleaning Checklist!

I've been meaning to make a cleaning checklist to put up in our bathroom (shared by four people on a regular basis) before my housemate Katy gets back from a long trip... she's been gone for over a month, and now that she'll be back in about one week, I felt it was time to get our bathroom cleaning act together...

Finally Photos of the Katz Shop Window

I painted this window/storefront for Mike Katz a few months back and finally went back in some nice weather to photograph it last week.

It's all painted on the inside of the window, so I was crouched up in that small lofty space, starting with the red-orange lettering and bordering with white, then sealing it up. I got on a ladder and did the outside portion last: "Buy/Sell Whole Estates Modern/Unusual Objects/Decor."

I had fun with this job because I did some research and created the retro-modern font myself, plus Mike made me help him figure out the name of the shop and that wording, too. The paint job took a handful of afternoons, but Mike seemed pretty happy with it in the end– he even got me to paint the little Eames chair.

concept work for Katz Shop window

just thought these looked kinda cool afterwards

Kate's Yoga Nidra Flyers

I put these together for my good friend and housemate Katy, who led a gift-based Yoga Nidra class every week this spring... you can see how after printing the first flyer I realized I could go a lot bigger with some things... I could've probably gone even bigger, but there were a lot of elements to balance for these posters.

for now, Katy's away in VT over the summer... more Nidra posters to come in the fall?

hours sign for Katz Shop

Cleavage Night Poster

a poster I put together for "Cleavage Night," an event to raise money for breast cancer research and support, this time taking place at the Missouri Lounge in Berkeley.