27 August 06
Packed and Ready
No kitchen sink, either. Some twenty-one hours after we leave the house we should be arriving in Madrid. My book to read on the plane is The Canterbury Tales, though part of me is just saying wake me up when the journey’s all over.
26 August 06
Hope's the Thing
A submission for the Illustrated Poem Marathon (thanks, Crack Skull Bob).
I did this one a few years back by freehand-tearing some construction paper which I then exposed, along with the calligraphy, on photo-emulsion for silkscreening.
The poem is Emily Dickinson’s.
25 August 06
Poor Pluto
At least for the time being, poor Pluto has been demoted from planethood, though not without controversy—there is evidently a large contingent of astronomers that believe that the vote a couple days ago at the International Astronomical Union was “hijacked”. I understand well the classification difficulties the astronomers are getting into, but the demotion is still a bit sad. I’ve never seen Pluto—it’s a 14th-magnitude speck that though well within reach of my 7” telescope, I think I would have to be in a lot better skies than in the soupy air of living at 45 feet elevation in the Sacramento Valley to do so. Planet or not, I’d still like to see that speck someday.
24 August 06
Fall Migration
We’ll be hitting Sweden at a good time. I’m not sure how many birds I’ll be able to identify without my Leica Duovids, which have gone off to be repaired (cracked right eyepice), but I’m taking a small pair of Minoltas that work just fine.
I’m hoping for common choughs outside the Alcázar in Segovia, plus perhaps a black redstart. Maybe long-tailed tits in El Pardo plus green woodpecker and hoopoe. And who knows what on the train to Segovia. The ever-elusive capercaillie will probably not need binoculars, however good or bad.
Travelling with hand-luggage only means severely restricting the number of books that come along, particularly bird books. I picke dup the Pocket Naturalist card of Birds of Britain today. No good for hoopoes or common choughs but some kind of reference for birds we might see on our travels.
23 August 06
Packing Light
This is going to be entertaining. We just came up with the challenge of getting everything I need for our upcoming two-week trip to Europe in one slightly largish day pack. Such a feat will certainly make the logistics a lot simpler, if it’s possible. The bottleneck (emptied of all liquids, of course) is flying through the UK, where we are currently allowed one carryon measuring 45×35 x 16 cm. I’ve got my art stuff figured out though—it all fits in my Pajaro field bag. And hey, my pack will be two pounds lighter because I won’t have a full water bottle, like I always would carry before.
22 August 06
To the Smoke
“Smoking is not a crime,” said the bumper sticker on the car parked on the levee as I was biking home tonight. “Still smoking” was the afterthought.
It’s so rare, now, in Davis, to even run across anyone smoking. We are insulated from tobacco to an almost absurd degree—I have some sympathy for the defiant few. But next week it will be everywhere: between courses at restaurants in Madrid; inside, outside, everywhere. Black tobacco or blond. We’ll not escape it. I’m trying to get myself used to the idea.
22 August 06
Settling In
Charlie knows how to make himself comfortable in the rocking chair.
20 August 06
19 August 06
Blank Books
I’m pretty close to settling on the art supplies to take on our trip to Europe (the main thing left to decide is just what pencils and pens). One thing of course to bring is an artist’s journal, always a challenge. This year I’ve been doing my journal in these great Pentalic drawing books and will be taking one of these along. The paper in these is 90 lb. weight which is thick enough to take a good wash. These Pentalic blank books are hard to find though; the art section of the UC Davis bookstore started carrying them last year but I’ve never seen them in any other art store.
The solution to having the perfect journal is bind one’s own. I’m thinking of taking bookbinding this fall at the San Francisco Center for the Book so I can do just that.
18 August 06
Pig 'n' Popcorn
The two odors mingle. Shrieking children on rides and five different loudspeakers with different musics blare as loud as the lights, some of them powered by generators. So diesel fumes are part of the odiferous mix, too.
We just got back from the Yolo County Fair, where we bought some cinammon-roasted almonds, saw pigs being shunted around an arena by children with walking-sticks, and waited in vain for a demonstration of newspaper mulching.
One of my Armenian cucumbers would have given the prize-winners a run for their money, though. And marrows, though I’m getting better at cutting them early…