Wednesday night - and though the summer heat we've had the past few days up and down the East coast has broken, I finally just had to turn my A/C on again. My laptop - it does this funny thing where it gets too hot and thus mad at me, and it shuts itself off - leaving me with the best of intentions to get you a good, solid, meaty post tonight... but with my laptop feeling bruised and unappreciated and abused, with windows open and hot air in the apartment when the A/C could well be on. Thus, it's on - and I have high hopes that I'll be able to finish this post before I get a "Pheh" or "F**k you" from my Dell. Luckily, it doesn't know I had a nice talk with the Apple Store today. Back to the weather though, the humidity broke here about 2pm and suddenly, all the stress and discomfort of June, unresolved by band after band of thunderstorms that just grazed us last night, was gone. I was able to work better - and actually finish something at work today - imagine that.
So, in the past three days, I was visited by (emailed by, actually) 3 distinctly different - but well-liked and respected - man-knit-bloggers asking me when I might return to my regularly scheduled programming. Now, usually, when I get these emails, I instantly drop whatever's on the needles and begin a little Voo Doo doll (or dal even - nothing curses like lentils) in the sender's name. BUT, in this case, this week, hearing from these three lovely gentlemen made me feel like, Yes, a post was long over-due, that I should skip the lentils and just get this party started - and here we are. You're in for a treat my friends (I'm even pulling pictures off my camera just for you - even when I said to myself I wouldn't, moments ago) - I'm about to tell you where I've been, what I'm doing, and generally giving updates. It's what I do - but if you've missed me, it'll be just right.
Oops - the uber strong fan on my laptop just turned on - it saw me type Apple - I'm in trouble.
Onwards - so shortly after a post telling Chlorox what I think of their narrow-minded values, I was off on a trip to Chicago for work. I can't remember - I think I may have made an effort to see Franklin (or maybe I just got mad at Blogspot's stupid rules about commenting, usernames, and such - and opted to accept the fact that I'd be too busy to do anything but work), but it was a busy few days. I got to see some awesome public art, got to spend some great time in the Chicago Cultural Center (which is absolutely amazing, of course), got to eat some good Pad Thai, got to spend a few extra hours in O'Hare - it was a complete Chicago experience - but, it was work. You don't want to hear about emergent issues in arts and social change - it's interesting, but it's not why you come here. And frankly, despite the actions of one employee who shall remain nameless (who makes it his business to talk all about work on his blog - and gets away with it), I'm more than familiar with not talking about work stuff on personal blogs - you know, as professional work-i-ness and so on, so we'll skip over all this. Besides, I was so tired of dealing with my camera - and it's slow shutter-speed (my next bit of technology to update), I didn't take any pictures. Heck, I barely got to step outside the Cultural Center during our meetings (right - we spent two whole days next to Millenium Park and I didn't get one second to look at Cloud Gate or the Jaume Plensa piece beyond looking at it from the Fifth floor of the Cultural Center. I'd be bitter... er, I am bitter).
After Chicago came a brief few days in the city, before heading off to central Pennsylvania for the MidAtlantic Mens Gathering at the Hermitage.
You all know that I am a huge fan of the gathering - I've planned it with friends for I don't know how many years, and everytime I go, it's a wonderful break from being in the city. This year was perfect (aside from the plague of flies which inhabited the space while we were there - so glad I pitched a tent - screens, a god-send) - we had good time playing cards, we had good food, we had good time together as brothers... it was, well, very special to me (as it always is). I have pictures to show - but unfortunately, now back in their respective states, certain men who came to the Gathering who donned a bit of drag onsite, are now questioning whether that was ok - and whether their pictures can appear online whilst they donned their drag, blah blah blah - so, I won't show those. Instead - ducks.
Geese actually. These guys were new to the Hermitage this year - and man, they are easily pissed off! Here I am, walking along, thinking - "Hey, I'll take some pictures of Geese - it'll be great" and they're all like "Paparazzi - get away" at me, and I'm like "Suck it, birds". I kind of had to run after taking the picture - stay away from Geese - mark my words.
More on the gathering- this year, I road up with two friends who I hadn't seen in many many months (years even - our lives just grew apart). It was great to reconnect - over a four hour drive - and to be together there. Mostly, I just spent my time cooking and relaxing... it was nice.
One night, I stayed up late late, and sat on the hill - looking out over this wee valley, moon brightly shining - all yellow and mysterious... it was so nice to have that awesome quiet time.
From the Hermitage, I quickly left for Las Vegas.
Now, any of you who know me (or heck, have ever read my blog), know for a fact that Las Vegas is like the polar opposite of where I'd like to find myself. I mean, generally - I lean towards Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania - all east Coast, all easy to handle and find quiet within, and on and on. I was pulled to Las Vegas for work (there was actually a bet at work to see how long I could be in Vegas and not crack - I didn't actually crack, though the city gave me one mean canker sore [the city and some crazy dental work - that's 3 crowns for 2007] - moving on).
So, we arrive in Vegas on Thursday - two days after leaving the Hermitage. Its clear - you know, deep within my soul - that I'd rather not go. But, I muster up some deep personal strength and find a way - I mean, I have to if I want to keep my job. So, we touch down (after going through Phoenix - this I would totally do again - they have a See's in the airport) - and, if you've never been to Vegas, you wouldn't know this - but the strip is RIGHT THERE. As in, you're in your office, you look across the street at the Cinnabon and it's RIGHT THERE. It's crazyiness - you can see Luxor from the plane (I would have liked to have seen Luxor up close, but I'm not stupid - I'm not getting on that rickety old Monorail). So, yeah - we stayed at The Flamingo - it wasn't bad, I mean - it's a Hilton (the room had a huge open floor on it - I pushed all the furniture into the corner and did some mean yoga every morning - who knows what the cleaning staff thought I was doing).
So, it was four nights in Vegas. Some highlights:
Freemont Street (that first picture is Freemont Street too).
Freemont Street is old Vegas - and I found the signs here to be kitchy and like the 70s - I loved it. So, Freemont Street is this Street (duh), closed to traffic, where folks are walking up and down - from casino to casino. The "roof" is made of millions of little LCD-esque tiles (it's funded by LG) where they show these little gambling promos and whatever else - BUT, for the event I was there for, they stopped the promos and did these three absolutely wonderful public art pieces - one of them was by Jenny Holzer - which was good, but I was more impressed with the other two - one of them is above (Haluk Akakce’s Sky’s the Limit) - it was like being in the womb - the colors, the music - or so I'd like to think. Very cool stuff - they'll never show them again, so if you were there and saw them, feel privileged.
More cool public art:
On my last night there, we went down to the Judiciary Plaza - and I met this guy doing a temporary mandala in the plaza - using sand, grains, flowers, found objects - you name it. The exact opposite of everything I come to expect from that city - all wrapped up in this guy (kind of my age, I missed getting his number), out in the dusk on a Saturday night, setting up this mandala. Very very cool stuff - the mandala symbolized Vegas - the way that the city draws millions of gallons of water per day - and it's the f-in desert. Craziness.
The Bellagio
The Bellagio was the only hotel - beyond the Flamingo and Harrah's (ugh, what a dump) - I got to explore a bit - the ceiling in the lobby of the Bellagio is just amazing - Chihuly does amazing work, he had another sculpture in the bar at the Bellagio - and I've seen his 15 ft sculpture in Milwaukee - absolutely breath taking. Further, the fountains outside the Bellagio (they move, music is playing, it's cool) were phenomenal. Now, I ty not to go for that kitchy tourist sh*t, but it was pretty cool. The first moment I saw them - from a tour bus no doubt - I got chills. F-in chills.
And finally, no picture to boot, the layout of those f-in casinos is amazing. Whomever designed them, mad props. They drove me crazy - but seriously, you do a good job, whomever you are. Picture it: you're in the lobby of the Flamingo, you need to go to Harrah's (or even the f-in elevators to your hotel room) and you know the only way to get to your destination is through the casino. So, you start walking - lights are flashing, people are screaming, there are sounds and bells and more lights - and suddenly, you have no idea where you're going, or worse, how to get there - or even out of this fluorescent bog. It happened to me time after time - I'd be heading somewhere, with a clear destination, a clear timeline (often late), and I'd get into the casino, and get totally lost. I'd find the nearest wall and follow it until I got out - madness. Mad props, but madness all the same.
And, finally, I was home - it's been two weeks and I'm only beginning to feel like myself again. I'll never go back to Vegas (sorry kids - I'd go back to Pittsburgh before Vegas - though I am beginning to think I didn't give Pittsburgh a fair chance) - it was too draining, too much.
So, you can see - I've been a busy guy. Beyond all the travel, work continues to be busy - and I've been uber busy with knit-work. My friends at KnitNStyle have made me their principla tech editor - which I love, but can be a lot to get through... plus designing (for them and for other mags), plus other work that's coming in.
Since you asked for it, here's my most recent piece with them - in the current issue, the Stag Horn Aran Cardigan. I love it - it's done in the Alpaca Yarn Co DK weight and it was so fun to design and work... I love, when designing Arans, the stitch combinations mirror and or reflect each other - which is what I've done here (I'd like to think), and I'm thrilled with the results - it creates a real depth and feeling of good symmetry. Two more designs are coming in future issues (including one that's already back and I'm already wearing it - I'm turning my A/C on just so can wear it, I like it that much) - which I'll post pictures of when I can.
Truth is - if it's not for a magazine, I'm having trouble finding time to work on it. I've got a ton of great yarn here, I'd love to have more time to do personal knitting, but it's not easy these days. I'll get in my groove, I know it - and all this work will pay off, I'm sure (and all make sense to me when I'm 30) - but, yeah - that's another story.
Regular readers know that posts usually come from me in twos - so stay tuned. This should hold you over for a while, tho - non?
PS I hit 100K this week. Thanks for sticking with it.
