weekly retro #75: bingo
this week began in recovery from the heat wave and being outside so much in the direct sunlight the few days before. i said i didn't want to see the sun for at least 48 hours and it obliged, although we could have done without the massive amounts of rain.
with pumagreg over a month out from his surgery - and doing great! - i had the time and space to get into the mindset to be able to make the trip down to central jersey to visit my dad. september will be the one year anniversary of his heart attack and series of strokes, and i was happy to see how well adjusted he has become to what is essentially his home now. he wanted a bottle of ketchup for his eggs since he was out and the packets the home offers are difficult for him to open on his own.
in january my brother moved all my dad's stuff out of the room he had been renting since i was in college, a room he hasn't seen since his heart attack and is likely occupied by someone else who has little idea the universe that existed in it for the past 20+ years. my dad has never expressed that he misses that place, only his inability to get around on his own. he's making great progress though - he can hold things with his left hand and walk, assisted, down half of the hallway.
i was happy to see that this portrait of my dad from when he was in his mid-30s was out of his old closet and up on the wall of his newer room. this was a gift for getting employee of the month at one of the many restaurants he managed, back when i was maybe 10. i remember his 2nd wife being pissed that he kept the apron on for the reference photo, but i always thought it was cool and very him to have done so.
my dad won bingo three times, starting just as i was arriving. everyone at the table told me i must be good luck. i'm not sure if i am good luck, but i was definitely carrying some of it with me earlier in the week in the ceramics studio. i don't know what it is, maybe it was all the sun the week before, but i was throwing larger and more consistently than i've ever done. last week i was unsure of whether i was making anything good enough to fire, but this week gave me some excellent throws.
i'm also coming out of a candle-block i've been on for the past few months. this week was the one year anniversary of launching bugs rock and in a perfect world i am totally in control of, i would have had a cool birthday launch with lots of new and beautiful things. the thing is, i can and will be able to do that, just on a different timeline, and that's okay because at the end of the day it's just wax, clay and paint.
coming off the high of winning bingo, and ignoring that norway lost against england, yesterday, i ventured back out today to art14c for their second pantry opening to the community. while there were no haunted items like when i went to the first one, there were lots of more practical and useful things to score. on display in the space was this unlabeled replicat of botero's leda and the swan. if you're currently the-odyssey-pilled you will like the story behind it, and if you want to read more of my own words about botero, it's on my little art blog.
things i enjoyed this week
- i can't stop rewatching jill scott's new video featuring thierra wack. great video, great song. it feels like summer.
- i finally finished mona's eyes and i was in tears reading the final chapter because i was so sad it was coming to an end. there are parts of the book that i didn't expect to feel so personal, it was just a really enjoyable read.
- i went out of my way after therapy to walk down to the 6th ave trader joe's to replenish our supply of their jasmine rice from thailand. it consistently cooks well out of our cheap rice cooker and goes great with everything.
i'm hoping that my pottery wheel luck continues this week along with my dad's bingo winning streak (both happen about every other day), and that these items from the art pantry boost my inspiration and ambition to make more art like it did earlier in the year.
xoxo jenn
p.s. if you're in the nyc area on thursday night, jamie will be speaking at wordhack at wonderville.