So last night we made some new artwork out of a cardboard shipping box. Not just any shipping box, but the coolest shipping box EVAR!! (You can see the full box here). The result is above, and it’s a welcome new addition to the walls. I enjoy switchng things up every now and again. So let me back up to explain, Matt gave me the red Eames elephant a few weeks ago as a graduation gift, and I love him. I named him Stanley. We were hoping that Bowser would take some sort of interest in the new, small animal living with us. But so far nothing, not even a cute bark or sniff or lick. Oh well. Stanley has not yet found a permanent location in our house yet, but for now he’s chillin’ on the kitchen table. Anyways, the box he came in was covered in those adorable little elephant sketches, and we couldn’t bear to throw it away, so we cut it up into pieces and arranged them into the frame we already had hanging on the wall. It’s like we’re the kids who prefer playing with the box over whatever actually came in the box. Well, not completely true, but close to it.

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I found this gem today on the ground while walking Bowser. At first I thought it was one of those hand turkey drawings gone wrong. But upon closer inspection, I think it’s… WOLVERINE!!! Then Bowser’s butt got in the frame while I was taking a picture. Also, the fr*#$&%&*cking ginkgo poop berries.
   

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Val and I went to Artomatic yesyerday afternoon in Crystal City and spent some time perusing floors 8 and 9. It took about an hour and a half of wandering before we were exhausted by the visual barage of artwork, so we decided to go see the Peep exhibit and then call it a day. As expected, we saw all sorts of crazy, weird, and wonderful. My favorite exhibits are usually the ones by travel photographers, but I am also generally drawn to things that involve robots, maps, or puppies. On the other hand, displays with babies or aliens (or both), mutated body parts, and trash are the ones I just skip right by. There were plenty of things from all of the aforementioned categories. Something for everyone really.

I did find this artist, which I found both humorous and cute, but I didn’t take any pictures of his work while we were there. Somehow, I miraculously remembered his name well enough to look it up online just now, (or maybe Google already knew what I was looking for anyways…) I kind of love the bossy squirrel. I think there are squirrels like that in our backyard, chewing up the string lights… jerks.

Hopefully I can find another time to go back before Artomatic ends and see some of the other floors of work. YAY Artomatic!

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Yesterday I went over to see Jill’s new apartment in Crystal Shitty City. As I was getting off the metro, I was bombarded by this guy with a clipboard — you know the ones that are always getting you to donate to some sort of cause. I really can’t stand those people, and let me tell you why. I used to work above a Whole Foods and I pretty much ate there daily for about 6 years, so I’ve seen these people day in, and day out and they’re usually really pushy. The entrances to Whole Foods are like prime-o real estate for people trying to get money for causes. Maybe it is the sort of liberal-minded health food types that they are targeting there, and I’ve no doubt they’re right on with that, but lets not get into stereotypes. I know plenty of conservatives who shop at Whole Foods, too. Everyone loves delcious sushi and a salad bar. Undebatable. But while we’re on it, why do you never see those people outside of Giants??

Anyways, over the course of 6 years, I definitely stopped to talk to many of these people and learn more about their different causes. Save the Whales! support Solar Energy! Donate to Cancer! etc etc! Seriously, many of these are great causes. I am happy that people care about things, and let me clarify, it’s not the signature-collectors that bother me. If you need my signature and can explain why in 3 sentances or less, great, I will likely sign your paper. But what I can’t stand is being hit with fake, perky smiles, pens and clipboards in my face, and stupid ice-breaker questions (as in yesterday “Hello there, excuse me, can you tell me two things that everyone has?!”), when all you want is money. Especially not during my commute or my lunch break. My brain is on hiatus during these few spare moments.

In addition, I know these people are going to talk/make faces about me behind my back later. I can’t imagine that you stand on a street corner all day, trying to be friendly to people, and at the end of the day you feel really great about humanity or general personal kindness (see also: DC is rude). So yeah, I have no doubt that you must be making a srunched-up-sour face at me after I brush you off and pass by. But let me get to my point. I have plenty of causes that I find important, things that have affected my life, or my family directly, that I am happy to support or learn about. These are things that I have read about in my free time, taken an effort to truly learn about, and happiy give either my time or my money to without anyone seeking me out to do so.

So when you come rushing up to me on the street asking for my time and my money, I’m not going to drop everything and suddenly act like I give a hoot about whatever you are quickly pitching to me. I’m certainly not going to pledge money to something I just heard about 2 seconds ago and have had no time to look into. How do I know how legitimate you are? I once talked to a guy who wanted a minimum pledge of $20 to support a Solar Energy campaign. I asked him what percentage of my donation would go directly to the cause. He didn’t know the answer. I asked him if he was getting paid to do what he was doing. He tried the good old diversion tactic, and tried to focus my question back to the cause. As it turns out, I finally got it out of him that he was a paid position. So, did he really care about Solar Energy? Maybe. (hopefully). But he was also making his rent money, and possibly a commission, too? I wish I had asked that. And while I realize that this is certainly not true of all those clipboard people, it sure does make me skeptical.

So, if you were wondering, my answer to yesterdays question, “can you tell me two things that everyone has?” – I answered “A heart and a brain.” The guy liked my answer and told me so. I kinda wish I heard his actual answer after that, but I missed the rest of his speil, because Jill picked up her cell phone at that moment to give me directions to her place, as I had no idea where anything is in Crystal City. So yes, if you’re following along, I had my phone legitimately up to my ear the whole time I was walking by, and he *still* approached me to ask his weird ice-breaker question. I think they must teach you that in Clipboard Training School.

What they should really teach you, though:

1). Don’t try to talk to me when I’m on the phone. Even if I’m faking it. Respect the time it took me to get my phone out of my pocket and make a fake call. If I’m texting, that’s fair game though. I’ve seen people text and get married at the same time, so whatever. LOL! OMG!
2.) Lose the cheesy pick-up lines. If you can’t come up to me, in a normal indoor voice, and ask, “Hey, are you interested in hearing about XYZ…” and act like a human being instead of a desperate person in a loud bar, then I don’t wish to speak to you already. Even if your cause is for the unicorns.
3.) If I say no or act uninterested, just walk away. Do not, under any circumstances, yell things at my back like “OH OK, I guess you DON’T care about CANCER then.” I have had this happen. It makes everyone within a 50 foot radius feel embarrassed and makes you like a toddler. Also do not say, “Have a nice day” unless you mean it sincerely. I can hear that angsty, sarcastic teenager in your voice when you don’t mean it.
4.) Try to not touch me with your clipboard.

   

Whoa, how did I get on that tangent? I sat down to write about art and newspapers as in the accompanying photo, and then I had to amend the title of this post just now. The point is, I walked by these paintings and newspaper boxes, then Jill and I had dinner and then went to see My Week With Marilyn. It was a great movie, I thought, and hard to even tell it was Michelle Williams the whole time and not Marilyn herself. We did not opt to get the AMC-movie-voucher-swipey-rewards card, even though it was offered multiple times on our way in. I guess we’ll never reap tons of benefits and popcorn at the future date of our next trip to the movie theater… Annnd maybe that what all this is. I’m just tired of gimmicks and pitches, and hence the tangent above. Can’t I just get off the metro like a normal person, go to grocery with my own thoughts, or see a movie without having all these sideshows? Do I have to spend the moments of these normally pleasureable activities wondering if I’m a jerk for not donating to the cause or if I’m a bad, irresonsible person for not caring about saving that future dollar? There’s always something else.

   

And yes, lady, thank you for thinking of it, we will certainly do the next size popcorn for a dollar more.

   

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Last night we met up with friends to bemoan celebrate our annual “adults going back-to-school ritual” that includes dinner and drinks and general camaraderie — normal people activities that we are now going to be giving up until New Years Eve in return for papers, tests, and lots of late nights with the books. Or, in my case, lots of late nights with my edit station and green screen footage. JOY!

Since our first restaurant destination couldn’t seat groups of 8 people outdoors (what kind of weird policy is this Lia’s?? there were plenty of open, four-seat tables not being used on their patio that I would have gladly pushed together myself), we moved our party to Chadwick’s where, THANK GOODNESS!!!, there were crayons on the paper-covered tables.

For those playing along at home, the answer was DONKEY, and Zach did figure it out. Hope everyone has a super-great school year!

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Bowser loves photography. He was jumping up and down and barking (making gremlin noises) excitedly in front of this print in our upstairs hallway for a few minutes. Finally we realized the smoke alarm on the ceiling directly above it was chirping to indicate that it’s time to change the batteries. It’s more fun though to think that our dog really likes artwork and not just beeping noises. Little guy has ups!!

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I love this little shoe-wearing elephant. It’s kinda Dali-esque with the long, skinny legs, but the shoes are just a whole new artistic touch. I spotted it on my way home from the metro yesterday on M St NE, walking on the north side of the block when usually I walk home on the south. So really I’ve been walking past it for quite some time now without even knowing it. I wonder what else I’ve been missing…

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On Wayne Avenue in Silver Spring, if you walk along the parking garage sidewalk, you’ll come across all these decorated bricks in the streetscape. They’re sporadically placed in groups every 15 feet or so, as if they’re trying to peek through and get your attention. I enjoy them just about every morning, but especially today after trudging through the gray snow/slush/slop/salt mixture that is currently coating the sidewalks.

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In Edgewood, near the Rhode Island Avenue metro station is this amazing, two-story mural called “From Edgewood to the Edge of the World.” It was created in the summer of 2009 through a partnership between the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the youth summer employment program, and Albus Cavus. It’s visible from both the red line metro and the new Met Branch Bike Trail, and of course to pedestrians using the shopping center. Love all that color on an otherwise bland retaining wall! More about the mural from the Washington Post.

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did art ever die?

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