40 Gracias

There are 40 days left til 2011.

Lisa Bowden posed a question on Facebook: "what you gonna do with them?"

Lots of things. And one main thing. Say thank you. Show my appreciation. I'm going to find one thing to appreciate everyday. Not hard, no. There are usually hundreds of things to appreciate in a day. But one will do to cultivate a steady practice of gratitude.

Write it, draw it, photograph it, name it. On an index card. Artsy fartsy or simple dimple. I'm not a super duper fabulous painter or illustrator, but I'd like to practice and play.

I'm postomg my "graces" and "thank yous" in the doorway leading into my bedroom. An archway of appreciation. I begin today.

Won't you too?

Mastering Tucson

Apparatchiks processing surveys on Oct. 3, 2009. Photo by Tony Novelli.

Come check out this exhibit. If you're lucky, you'll get to share your ideas in a public input survey, which will be processed (heavily) by yours truly.

±92: Downtown Master
Plans, 1932-2009

Exhibit Hours: October 10, 17 and 24, 6-8pm
McLellan Building, 63 E. Congress (NW corner of Scott Ave. and Congress)

Tucson artists Bill Mackey, Julie Ray, Rachelle Díaz and Kimi Eisele, representing several collectives and entities including Worker, Inc., Pop-Up Spaces and Design Co*op, present “±92: Downtown Master Plans, 1932-2009,” a compilation of over 100 Downtown Tucson master plans, comprehensive plans, studies and projects. The exhibition will include realized and unrealized plans authored from the early 20th century to 2009. An interactive timeline will help viewers track world events, economic and social trends, and Tucson’s history in relationship to the plans’ origins, realization, or death. This is a rare opportunity to see ALL of the planning for downtown Tucson in one space at one time.

Also included in the exhibition will be 92 images (by photographers including Josh Schachter) of spaces and places that make our downtown unique—some of these are a direct result of planning, some of which are not. A crew of official performing “apparatchiks” (i.e. officials in a large organization, usually a political one), will be on site to collect public input for current and future downtown master planning, for which there are no funds, of course. A small booklet entitled “A Guide to the Master Plans of Downtown Tucson” will be available for purchase.

Bee Bike

My gift to Burning Man 09 was inspired by the honeybees, those sweet and glorious pollinators. I gave out hand-harvested, hand-processed honey from Brad's backyard in the Sonoran Desert. I turned my bike (and myself) into a honeybee and made a fancy-dancy spoon rack with the help of BICAS art corner and Eric. My friend Janet K. Miller engraved about 100 spoons from St. Vincent's Thrift store (and I did a few, too) and we hung them from the spoon rack. Then we went bee-ing, giving out honey spoons to the fearless wanderers in Black Rock City's farthest reaches.

I ♥ Downtown Tucson

Here are the I ♥ Downtown Tucson posters that youth from the VOICES, Inc. Freelance Program created with guidance from Josh Schachter and me. They hung in the windows of Hotel Congress on August 20, 2009 and then in other downtown locations (TBA).

Body Truisms

A la Jenny Holzer. But with a focus on the body, since that's what I was thinking about when I wrote them. Like with Holzer's Truisms, some of these I believe, some I think are bullshit.

Some appeared in chalk on the bricks in front of Casa Libre with chalk with the teenage grrls writing class I teach. They wrote their own. Pretty kick ass: http://www.grrlsactivism.blogspot.com/

Here are mine:

A simple breath contains all we need to know and remember.

Breasts are either useful, erotic, or a nuisance.

Creating an alternate strategy in the presence of an obstacle is a sign of brilliance.

Dancing is good for one's mental health.

Evenness and symmetry are boring and undesirable.

Fingers are utensils worth washing.

Giving-in can yield pleasant sensations.

Hamstrings are the elevators of our daily lives.

Inspiration begins at the base of the spine.

Jumping will redefine your concept of gravity.

Kinesthetic travel expands one's range and reduces one's carbon footprint.

Laughter is more effective than sit-ups for toning one's abdominal muscles.

Memories are like back flips--you can land wrong and break something.

Never breaking a bone means you didn't try hard enough.

Old-age means nothing.

Pain is an opportunity to try something else.

Quivering muscles indicate the need to relax or pay more attention.

Rotating frequently ensures new perspectives, or a stomach ache.

Skeletons need not come out of the closet if they are carefully hung and preserved there.

Tongues are the see-saws of the soul.

Undulation reminds us that we are mostly water.

Vaginas are fists without fingers.

Walking is also dancing.

the Xiphoid process shouts the body's secrets.

You cannot successfully dwell outside of your body.

Zealousness can strain the scalenes.