3/20/2001

I was once an "artist". I made drawings, beautifully rendered reproductions of old photographs, new photographs, and original works, done up in graphite and pen and ink. Some even for money, though that was an uncomfortable side effect of the fact that people wanted to pay me for them. When I went away to college, where I was paying for the privilege of trading in my chance at a liberal arts education for a trade school education, I started to notice the long line of bodies waiting for a chance to be interns and win their shot at the gold ring (no brass here, thanks), I also noticed how many of them were lazy, using a slim talent to justify calling everything they touched "art". I was always more in it for the experience, the feeling of losing oneself in the activity, than for the finished product. Of course, it was a wordless conversation; there was no way that I could find to have that experience without a pencil in my hand. Later, I realized that I enjoyed the experience far more than I did the product and that others, who could balance the presence of mind necessary to properly develop their technique with the pure enjoyment of it, had outstripped me in skill and were far more likely to make it into the internship of their dreams; still later, I realized that I had never managed to outgrow the love of fully participating in the act of creation. So I put my pencils and brushes and pens away. I still have them, though. They're in a box in my living room closet.
posted 8:16 PM

3/19/2001

Also: fish tacos at Gueros; talking community with Sarah, Shauna, and Rebecca outside while we wait for our seats; had an amazing talk with David from Moreover about mod_perl and XML in general; black cuba libres (with tequila, not rum); found out that Jodi is a porn queen; Jason is serious about that "hot dish" thing (tater tots?); argued religion with The Veen at Lane's, while everyone else watched a movie of a monk who fought off his foes with an unexpected weapon (I can see Taylor now, saying "I've got a set of Monk's Testicles with +8 against ninja!"); chatted with David Hudson about being an American (and a father) in Berlin; chatted with Dinah about documentation; gave Halcyon a hug (duh); called Cory Doctorow a freak in the "Weblogs in Business" panel (sorry, Cory, you know I was just making a point, and no offense intended ;) OK, that's enough, This is starting to sound like a freaking high school yearbook...

In other news, I just ordered two more rocking chairs for the front porch (for guests).
posted 6:05 PM