Are we there yet?

No. Not yet. Soon. We will be there soon. How long is soon? Tomorrow. What time tomorrow? Late. How late? Not very late. How late is that? Dinner time.

What time do we eat dinner?

I snapped these photos from my macbook. Jenni is in the background clearing out the last of the food from the kitchen (I am SO full right now). Tomorrow morning we head out. Let the adventure begin!

Hey. Box this, Buddy.

Oy. We are living in BoxWorld®. If you happen to own stock in a corrugated cardboard-making conglomerate... well, you're welcome.

This is probably the biggest move we've undertaken so far, and we've moved a lot. Germany to Chicago, Chicago to Phoenix, Phoenix to NYC, NYC to Los Angeles, back to NYC, NYC to Washington, DC, and now to Portland, Oregon. It's a good thing we plan to put down some roots because my taping arm is killing me. I'm only taking a break now because I heard my macbook whimpering in the corner. Poor thing.

We managed to sneak in an amazing Thanksgiving dinner only because Jenni is an incredibly talented cook. If it were left to me we would have been eating cereal and toast.

Jake suddenly appeared before dinner in a shirt and tie. I joked that I was getting all formal because I put on a clean t-shirt, so I think he was taking it to a another level. Love that kid. Gwendolyn is drinking her "wine," which was Gatorade. Hey, we're cleaning out the fridge, ok?

Hey look... boxes.







Don't worry. I packed the cat.



Less than a week 'til we plant ourselves in Bridgetown. We'll see what pops up in the spring. We're all so gall-dern excited right now.

Welcome to Bedford Falls

"...I know what I'm gonna do tomorrow and the next day, and the next and the day after that. I'm gonna shake the dust of this crummy old town off my feet and I'm gonna SEE THE WORLD."

-George Bailey

Happy Macy's Day... er, Thanksgiving

OK, so this is completely off-topic for the Sparky Firepants Art blog, but I couldn't resist.

When did the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade become a soap opera star chat fest? Oy, just show the floats, man! My family could care less whether or not the latest CBS golden girl is getting engaged. We do care a great deal about the Jolly Polly Pirate Ship. Show the ship!

However... Neal Patrick Harris? Hilarious commentary. I think they censored him early on, though. Shame.

Our family has been fortunate in that we've seen the parade up close twice, in 2000 and 2004. In 2004 we had a quick walk from our apartment through Central Park to 63rd St and Central Park West to see the floats from only 20 feet away. As cheesy as it sounds, it was like being a kid again. That was an amazing memory to give our kids and a lot of fun.

A friend of ours is a model-maker at the factory in New Jersey that creates the balloons. She's got a great gig and I never thought that could be a year-round thing. There's a football field in NJ where they test the balloons and practice walking them around days before the parade. So much work goes into those things, it's real artistry. So maybe I'm a little prejudiced when I say get rid of the soap opera stars and go back to the parade.

Go back to the parade!

This is our last Thanksgiving in DC or on the East coast for what is probably a very long time. As a matter of fact, I should be packing instead of blogging. We're mentally in PDX already, so all that's left is that pesky physical world-stuff like packing boxes.

I am very thankful this year that we made the leap to move to Portland and start a new adventure. One week from today and we arrive in our new home. Gobble gobble!

Oh yeah, weird trend: at least three times this week I've heard people refer to the holiday as "Macy's Day." That's really, really scary, like referring to Christmas as "Rankin/Bass Day."

Wait. Maybe that's not such a bad idea.

The Whole World Would Soon Be Yours

His anguish did not end and many devils tempted him by saying, "You would be better to return to the castle for the whole world would soon be yours." But he told the devil that he did not want the whole world. So he shaved his head and turned his steps toward the south, carrying a begging bowl in his hand.
- from The Teaching of Buddha, by Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai

Meet Mr. Lobel, a character I'm developing. More to come of this guy. I think you'll like him right away. The pigeon grows on you.

IF - Hats

These hats, they are African.

happy birthday

I had a hell of a week. Don't even ask, that's how bad. As cleansing therapy to rid myself of the bad jou-jou, I finally finished my happy birthday card.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program of happiness.

You can glut yourself on Sparky Firepants cards here. Enjoy!

Frag-men-ted

As an artist I've had a tendency to see someone else's great works and feel a pang of jealousy. Checking out the competition, I guess. Thankfully as I've become older and more confident in my own work it happens less and less. In fact, sometimes I see another artist's work and suddenly I'm not an artist, I'm just an innocent bystander enjoying some great art.

This is the case with Maura Cluthe's work, which I recently stumbled upon. I just love to look at it. There's a lot going on in each piece and it really appeals to me. It's got a textured, sketchy quality to it and the characters are fun to look at. I also love how she mixes real objects with the drawings and painting.

It's pretty inspirational to me, which is what looking at art is supposed to be about, right? If you read her bio, she mentions how she had a grandmother who supplied her with art stuff and supported her at an early age. I had a similar experience with my grandmother and I started wondering how many other artists had someone like that early on in their lives.

Maura was nice enough to pass along a couple of images for me to post here. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. It's kind of fun showcasing someone else's art here, maybe I'll do it some more.