My Pandemic Project (aka What Is Time)

You know how the whole world turned upside down in 2020, and people were suddenly home a lot, and suddenly everyone was into PROJECTS, like windowbox gardening [fun fact: stick a heel of romaine in a bowl of water and you get new lettuce], sewing masks, and making bread [oh god, the sourdough revolution!]? I'm no exception, and I bounced back and forth between jigsaw puzzles, learning to cook Mexican food, streaming all 4 seasons of The Crown, and doing children's art kits. And occasionally writing postcards!

But one side effect of the pandemic has been that my focus is even more erratic than ever and finishing anything is a challenge. I had great big grand ideas about restarting this blog (and maybe even finally starting my travel blog). Especially when one of those art kits ignited a new passion for collage that meant I spent a lot of this year's LetterMo creating individual postcards for folks.

I didn't do that. And as the year wore on, I became less and less capable of doing anything for longer than a hot minute. I even started this post last night and gave up because it was harrrrrd. But I have a little time right now and am trying to use it to rediscover joy or at least some semblance of good habits, so here we go. 

Step 1: something I've been meaning to do for forever, basically: Change The Name. I created this blog on a fluke years ago and didn't understand naming. But "Wish You Were Here" is so ubiquitous that literally no one can find this blog unless they have a direct link. Even I thought I'd lost it until I found my Blogger dashboard! I also always wanted to have some sort of connection to my travel identity, Artful Stumble. Thus: let me introduce Artful Scribble. Still postcards, still correspondence, still random. Maybe a little more recent than digging into notes from the '80s. Or not!

Step 2: oh god, is there going to be a Step 2? I suppose this would be posting at least semi-regularly. The good news is that I've sent a bunch of postcards and even received a few. And there are lots of stories about our collective non-travel in the last 18 months to be told. Can I dig deep and find some stick-to-it-iveness? Hopefully yes....but I'm also learning to not be so hard on myself because we are all doing the best we can, even when our best is kinda fine-minus. 

To get things rolling - I sent this postcard a few days ago:

Artist: Barbara Earl Thomas 

My cousin and his wife were in town and we met for lunch, and then headed over to the Seattle Art Museum for a Monet exhibit, which was fine - but I was more interested in the other exhibit by local Seattle artist Barbara Earl Thomas. Her cut-paper portraits are beautiful and compelling but I was blown away by the full room installation. I may have to go back, because I could sit in that room for hours and still find something new. Unfortunately, installations are less postcard-friendly, so I picked up a few of the other amazing images.

tiny detail of the unbelievable excellence that awaits you

 "The Geography of Innocence" runs through January 2, 2022. 

See you.....soon?

 

From the Vaults #8

I almost never get it together to post #TBT pictures on facebook, but here's a lovely postcard from My Awesome Sister back in the day- received April 1985:

"Like Father Like Sunglasses" (c) 1984 Card-ee-Yak Arrest, Inc.

As always, [sic]...


"Dear J,
    Remember Newbury Comics that record store with all the t-shirts? I went today and got U2: The Unforgettable Fire, Freur: Doot-Doot, Heaven 17: Fascist Groove Thang and Tears for Fears: Songs from the big Chair. Didn't get any homework done!
    It's great weather here - almost ready for sunglasses.
                                      Be cool!                               love, A"

Oh, the '80s. My Awesome Sister lived in Cambridge MA during this time. I went to visit her over the preceding New Year's Eve, and I came home with some records that I probably got in the shop she mentions. I bought Heaven 17: The Luxury Gap (and was thrilled that the super cool punk chick who worked there approved of my selection) and The Cure: The Top. The latter album was kind of a bummer other than "The Caterpillar", which had been making the rounds on Rock Over London. I still have that Heaven 17 album, but The Top did not make the cut when I went off to college - I only brought about half of my record collection, and the rest were lost to the world as my mom moved more often than I did during my college years and beyond.

In the summer of 1985 My Awesome Sister sent me a mixtape including songs from those albums and more. It's still in heavy rotation on Old School Cassette Nights at my house.

My Awesome Sister has awesome handwriting

Performing correspondence

Last weekend I went to a reading series called Letters Aloud - "Private Letters read in Public". This was probably the first (and possibly the last) time I've ever gone to a Valentine's Day event - ON Valentine's Day even! - but I saw the listing a few days prior and was interested in how the group would translate correspondence to the stage. I also wanted to check out the venue, which is relatively new.

The format is very straightforward: the host and two local actors shared the stage with a musician, and took turns reading from actual letters centered on a theme. Most of the letters were written by people who went on to be celebrities and were found through online research. There were minimal visuals provided as background, so the focus was really on the writing.

The actors were excellent - there were two men and a woman reading, but I appreciated that they did not restrict which letters were read by whom to shared gender - and the overall arc of the show was thoughtful and well constructed. Highlights included a surprisingly mature response to a high school breakup by the man who would become Slash (Guns n' Roses), a written pass from Marlon Brando left for a server, and a letter from Elton John in his 60s to his younger self. I was also happy to hear a letter than I had just perused from the Between Us collection of lesbian correspondence by Kay Turner, which I'd re-read a few days prior to this event. But the most memorable letter was the one that opened the show - a hand-written version of the grade school rite of passage "Do You Like Me? Check Yes or No" note. The response had been a qualified no - but the child managed to hang on to the note through the following years and in the end the two not only liked each other but got married. More stories like this one (which did not involve anyone famous), peppered with celebrity surprises would have given the evening more impact.

Nevertheless, it's an interesting concept, and the host told a great story about having been inspired by the series to write and mail a letter to his wife of many years - only to see it idle in the mailbox for five days because his wife doesn't check the mail very often! It would be great to think that even a handful of the audience members went home inspired to give old school correspondence a try.

Happy Valentine's Day

Sometimes a goofy valentine from your mom can make your whole day:

Come see this show!

No postcard today, but an update about the flamenco show I talked about back in July - it's happening this Friday! At the Rendezvous Jewelbox Theater. Come see amazing dance and music! Yes!

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/261376

Added bonus - there is a show on Thursday in Bellingham, and TWO shows in Portland, Saturday and Sunday nights.

And thank you Melinda for introducing me to an ongoing Tuesday night flamenco show that is happening in my very own neighborhood.

Bonus Post

My Awesome Sister (tm) sent me this link today. I added the Post Secret site to my list of links, but I love this presentation as well. It's a bit lengthy, but worth it.

Here's some truth: I've still got two voicemails that my grandmother left me over a decade ago. She's still alive, but she has never called me that much so I've kept them. One is her singing me happy birthday and relaying birthday wishes from her and my grandfather (who died in 2006). This made me go listen to them again. Good times.

I also have a voicemail from my neighbor circa 2002 letting me know that my cat had gotten locked outside by mistake. Said cat is freaking out in the background, which is pretty hilarious. That feisty grimalkin passed away last year, so I guess I do have a voicemail to remember the dead.