334/365 Wisdom Filled
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
Had my first filling in probably 20 years -- still not the most fun I could have had, but definitely an improved experience from the last time. It did take almost 6 hours for the novocaine to wear off though...
AEDM Journal, week 4
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
Still struggling, but just one more day. Hopefully I'll be able to continue drawing or pursue some other creative activities once the challenge is officially over.
333/365 Reading by the Autumnal Light
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
It's a little harsh, but at least it's warm and bright.
332/365 Swans on the Charles
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
seen on a walk about town on a beautiful and sunny autumn day.
331/365 A trap of his own devising
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
Also, for your consideration:
330/365 A Full Plate
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
The tradition continues, and the results improve year after year...which we didn't think possible.
328/365 (un)Screwed
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
I noticed what appears to be a growing collection of screws, bolts and nails amidst the acorn caps on the roof of our bulkhead; not really sure what to make of that, but it doesn't seem like a particularly good thing.
327/365 Special
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
We actually diverged from our standard (the double cheeseburger plate) and went with double cheeseburger specials. It feels a bit like cheating.
AEDM Journal, week 3
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
Barely hanging on -- almost completely forgot about AEDM last night until after getting home from a pre-Thanksgiving party.
So far, the best inspiration came during a long run on Friday -- lots of mental connections on ... making mental connections and its role/relationship with mindfulness and serendipity. I thought I might be able to spin it into an illustrated essay but I managed to get a few notes down in my journal before it flittered away in the noise of the day to day. Only the image of a winding stone wall that I saw on my run managed to get translated to paper, and even then, I wasn't all that happy with how it came out -- but I remind myself this is about process and not outcomes. (other than what comes of putting pen to paper every day)
323/365 I must be F*$%ing nuts
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
So, I was encouraged to try and make acorn flour by someone who stumbled on some of the pictures in my Flickr stream. I was sucked in by her enthusiasm, the apparent ease of the process and the success of her result (pancakes!), but I'm beginning to regret that decision.
I had actually considered it a few weeks back when it first became clear that we were getting overwhelmed with acorns and it seemed like a waste to simply throw them all away. I poked around the interwebs and found a few descriptions of acorn bread made from acorn flour, but it seemed like a lot of work to leech the tannins out of the meat and then realizing that we were dealing with tannin-rich black oak acorns pretty much killed it at the time.
My mind was changed when the correspondence effused about the tastiness of black oak acorn meal, but after investing several hours of selecting, hammering, shelling, sorting, skinning and sorting again and then ending up with maybe a cup of acorn meat is making me reconsider. I may go through one more container of sorted acorns just to have enough to bake or cook something, but I think this is going to be a "learning experience" kind of project. (i.e. I've learned that I never want to do this again, unless maybe if I'm trying to torture some hypothetical future children with their own "learning experience" or something.)
If I had to do this back before colonization/industrialization to feed myself, I'm pretty sure I would have already starved to death by now.
321/365 Bare
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
FYI, this isn't the oak tree (which still has leaves on it)
AEDM Journal, week 2
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
This week has still been a struggle, but things would occasionally come a little easier than last week -- I'm finding small moments of inspiration here and there, so that's good. Hopefully, it will continue to improve. Hopefully, it won't go completely overboard and I find myself, I dunno -- videoblogging music or dance performances -- because frankly, while I think getting outside the box is beneficial, a complete loss of self might be a little more than I can handle right now. Unless that happens to be my optimum trajectory, I guess.
319/365 Targeted Snack
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
I am weak in the face of overwhelming olfactory popcorn assault.
318/365 West Wind
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
The SOOTTAD didn't care for my original title: "Passed Wind."
317/365 Reservation vs. Exuberance
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
Actually, you could probably guess who started this business.
315/365 Survivors
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
Last strip clubs remaining of Boston's old Combat Zone nestled between renovated areas and construction.
314/365 Killing me slowly
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
...one leaf at a time.
3rd day of raking and not much to show for it. The primary reason for this is the giant oak tree in our neighbor's yard which insists on holding its leaves longer than any other tree in the neighborhood. Last year, it didn't drop all its leaves until after several snowfalls and the last yard waste pick-up for the year.
It doesn't look like it will be much different this year but I keep raking because we're trying to get as much taken away by the street vacuuming which is supposed to start this week (and starts in our neighborhood).
So I started Art Every Day Month a day late, but it does make for nice weekly updates that start on Mondays. Not that I drew in the day planner every day this time around. But I think that's good -- I'm trying to be more flexible and adapt to my needs. While I liked having all the contributions to the project in one place, and I liked the way a full week looked, I'm realizing that it's not what's important.
So it looks like there won't be a post for every little bit of art that I do every day, but I'll try to post a summary at the end of the week and highlight anything that I liked in particular.
It was particularly good to remember that while I was doing yardwork this afternoon. Trying to rake leaves out to the street for leaf vacuuming this coming week, I wanted to gather the acorns separately, which led to an attempt at sorting:
and then...play:
yard work, yard play
a little art, every day.
Of course, because I was playing, I didn't actually finish raking the yard before it got dark, but I'll hopefully finish up tomorrow afternoon (and hopefully before the street vacuum comes.)
312/365 Leaf Spiral
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
and also part of my art every day month exercise.
311/365 Dusk in Wrentham
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
taken in the parking lot of the Wrentham outlet mall. Sometimes you can find a little peace in the midst of the chaos. But, holy crap, that place is a zoo.
310/365 Cangelosi Cards at the German Club
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
Pawtucket, RI
309/365 Reusable Girliness
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
As a backup plan to acquire a pair of red jersey pants for my Halloween costume, I had ordered a pajama set which actually arrived several days too late; but it turns out that the SOOTTAD doesn't hate it, even though it seems much girlier than I come to expect in her tastes, so no returns after all.
308/365 Next-Gen Shoulder Surfer
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
forgot to reset the white balance on the camera, but I kind of like how this came out anyway.
306/365 In Search of Inspiration
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
It's the second day of the month, but the first day for me to participate in Art Every Day Month which was started by my friend Leah. The last time I was successful with this was in 2005.
I gave myself a break and started on the second day because we were completely sleep-deprived over the weekend (dance event in North Carolina). I think technically, I could think of my photography as art and fulfill the requirements for the challenge, but the point isn't to check something off a list but to get me to stretch my limits. For me, I'm hoping it will get me to draw more, and if that works, to maybe push myself beyond sketches and drawings in pen and ink; but we'll see. It's good to stretch, but it's also good to keep goals achievable.
305/365 Packing Vintage
Originally uploaded by tallasiandude.
Getting ready to head home after a long night of dancing. Packed more ties than needed, just in case...stupid balboa nice-dressing culture... stupid liking balboa and getting into dressing up.
