I want to buy this building.

My husband and I were walking in Montford the other day and came across what used to be the "Welfare Baptist Church". It is now empty and is for sale at $129,900. I used to run by it and hear the singing, and one Sunday my neighbor Richard and I decided to attend services. There was plenty of singing and testifying....we were there for at least two hours and were warmly welcomed. Apparently the congregation merged with another small church. The main floor – what was the sanctuary - would make an incredible studio. 1300 sq ft, one big room. Downstairs (ground level) is another 1300 sq ft. that could be an apartment. The building clearly it needs a lot of work. I’m going to try to go look at it next week.

Of course I find a potentially perfect studio when I am having the worst sales year I’ve had in ten years, and I do not exactly have the means to jump on this (understatement). So I am putting the word out to the Universe ("Hey, Universe!!! Can you hear me?"), just in case someone decides to become my patron and buy it for me. Or even become a partner in buying it and eventually fixing it up. Anyone?? Anyone?? Well, there’s no harm in trying.

A Naked Picture of ME!

This is one of my favorite early pictures of myself. It was taken in my next door neighbor’s back yard in New Jersey in the ‘50’s. I am guessing I was about 3. The two other kids are obviously having fun and what am I doing?? Staring into space, it seems. I was a serious child, or at least I often looked like one. It looks (and most likely felt) to me like I was from an entirely different tribe. My early days of alienation, I suppose. To put a more positive spin on it, I was having a moment of realizing my place in the Universe and I was awed by it. “Who am I? What am I doing in this basin?”
As for the other kids, Holly became a Mormon and had nine or ten children. Poor Peter had both his legs amputated due to severe rheumatoid arthritis when he was a teenager. He did remarkably well in an era when the handicapped were often shunned and there were no laws to protect and accommodate them. He even drove a car. Sadly, he died in his 50’s.
Here’s to the Martine Avenue Gang and all our neighborhood fun. The Cold War was on, but we felt safe and protected in our innocent world of swimming in tiny rubber pools, playing “sardines”, and eating out of dry Kool Aid packs behind the garage.

The great "Beer Oracle" spotted in Asheville!

Last night at a post Studio Stroll party, I was enjoying a Payne's Pale Ale from The Wedge, our neighborhood brewery who provided beer for the event. I looked down and this is what I saw!! Could it be that the late great John Payne was joining the party and having a laugh with us?? or could it be the face of Barack?? The Virgin Mary?? Elvis?? Mr Bill? Whoever it was, the message was clear: don't worry! be happy! The best is yet to come.

I Owe it all to Winky Dink

My earliest artistic influence was a character called Winky Dink. I credit (and sometimes curse) Windy Dink with instilling a love of drawing in me at a very tender age. The following is courtesy of Wikipedia:

Praised by Microsoft mogul Bill Gates as "the first interactive TV show", the show’s gimmick was a "magic drawing screen", which was a large piece of vinyl plastic which was held on the television screen via static electricity. A kit containing the screen and various Winky Dink crayons could be purchased for 50 cents. (wow, I’m really dating myself here….) At a climactic scene in every Winky Dink short, Winky would arrive upon a scene which contained a connect the dot picture. He would then prompt the children at home to complete the picture, and the finished result would help him continue the story. Examples include drawing a bridge to cross a river, an axe to chop down a tree, or a cage to trap a dangerous lion. Many children would omit the Magic Screen and draw on the television screen itself, to the annoyance of their parents. (I never drew on the screen, btw, though I will admit to annoying my parents in plenty of other ways.)

I still use imagery that I drew on that Magic screen: ladders, boats, bottles… I helped Winky Dink out of many a jam, and in return he turned me into a budding artist. Thanks, Winky! (and darn you, Winky!)

Commitment

My husband Frank made his commitment clear........(yes, it's real).

The Boss and The Boss

Election Day: Can the USA "Rejoin the World"?

Another perfect Fall Day in Asheville.............and an historic day for the country, I hope...the beginning of a tough but rewarding climb out of the economic and spiritual morass the USA has sunk into during the past eight years. Just think how the rest of the world will see us if we elect Barack. Maybe people will begin to forgive our government its hubris.

Nicholas Kristof's column in the Sunday NY Times was titled, "Rejoin the World". His suggested ways the US could signal and new beginning and "re-friend" our allies (and make some new friends.....). One suggestion was to close Guantanamo Prison and turn in into a research center on tropical diseases that afflict poor countries. Another was to cooperate with other countries on humanitarian efforts, including family planning. And probably most importantly, he suggests that "The new President should signal that we will no longer confront problems just by blowing them up".

What a concept.

Here's hoping we are celebrating tonight.

The Latest from Saint Bob

I’ve been listening to Bob Dylan’s Tell Tale Signs nearly nonstop for the past couple of days. This two disc bootleg set covers Dylan's past 20 years, a period that produced the albums Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft, Modern Times and Oh Mercy. The alternate takes give you a glimpse into his creative process as they seem to show the evolution of his work - we get two previously unreleased acoustic versions of “Mississippi” and two completely different takes on “Dignity”, to name a few. You can almost feel the songs taking shape lyrically and musically. As always in a bootleg release, there is also a lot of incredible work that somehow ended up on the cutting room floor. One example is “Red River Shore”, originally recorded for Time Out of Mind. Here’s the first line:

Some of us turn off the lights and we live in the moonlight shooting by
Some of us scare ourselves to death in the dark to be where the angels fly

I’ve seen Bob many times, most recently with Elvis Costello opening, solo acoustic. I have to admit when Bob and his band started to play, I wanted to see him solo acoustic…..so I could actually hear all the lyrics and enjoy the nuances of the performance. I don’t think he ever appears solo anymore, so this recording may be the closest I’ll get to that. The arrangements are spare and there is nothing to obscure not only his voice and the lyrics, but everything else he infuses into each song.

I could go on and on…..but I have to go listen to it again…………..

(unrelated p.s. Don't for get to VOTE!)