Monday, November 11, 2013

Hunting the elusive feral fork



I want to be more than just a collection of good habits. I want more than just some superior flow charting (if this, then that). Once I said it this way: I prefer decisions to plans.

This can bite you in the butt a little, if you make decisions from a low place in your emotional range. But, carrying out a plan (There's an opening at my favorite gallery that I'd planned to attend) when you're not feeling it (I'm actually more interested in curl up time with a good book than hobnobbing with perfectly lovely people & free wine & good art) can bite you in the butt, too.

So, what to do? Sometimes giving yourself the true option is good: Well, I might not go, but I might, so I'll take a shower & dress up a little & maybe walk outside -- in the direction of the gallery -- for a bit before I decide what to do with the evening. You may find momentum carries you to an amazing time at the opening, or you may curl up in good clothes, refreshed by a walk, with that book. (The characters in your murder mystery may really appreciate the fact that you smell good.)

I'm Paul Graham-ing it a bit (did you read his essay about essays yet?) as I write this, coming to more thoughts as I explore the idea rather than having the complete blog post (gonna tell them that about this) in my head. There are things I want to accomplish in this lifetime, including curling up with good books & playing poker & writing good books & making good art.

(I also don't want to imply that desiring curl up time with a good book denotes low emotional energy. What sort of author would I be if I implied that? Grin. Or that desiring to spend time with yourself rather than other people is inferior. What sort of introvert-masquerading-as-an-extravert would I be if I implied that? Grin again.)

I felt my way into a lovely adventure on Sunday. I'd gone out to my storage unit to find a particular piece of art (a lovely painting Leisa Luis Grill made based on a poem I wrote; part of the poet/artist collaboration from the Crossings Gallery in Zumbrota, Minnesota, some years ago) &, having found it & some of my own paintings that I've decided want to audition at coffee shops, was on the way home. The route I chose took me past the River Arts District Studio Stroll & I decided -- despite the fact that I hadn't combed my hair or put on eyeliner & was really dressed to visit a storage unit rather than art galleries -- to just pop into a gallery or 2.

This was in part inspired by the spectacular fall day -- around my favorite temperature of 63 degrees, with sun & a breeze -- that made me want to walk. "I'll just walk along this street," I told myself. "If I feel like I want to go into a gallery, I will."

Oh! I went into the Broken Road Studio, because I first went into another studio & decided I didn't really want to look at porcelain & the door from there led into the next gallery. "That looks like Stephen St. Claire's work," I said to myself. I was getting more & more excited, because I actually own 2 Stephen St. Claire paintings, purchased at Gallery Minerva some years ago. I waited until 2 guys had wound down a conversation & asked them if Stephen St. Claire was there. They pointed me to a guy sitting by the door & I immediately started gushing all over the hem of his garment & saying how I loved his work & I was a collector & blah, blah, blah. (But that's blah, blah, blah with exclamation points. & italics.) I told Stephen St. Claire that I frequently ask the universe for some delicious miracle & he was my present for today.

Anyway, that just goes to show how you can get into an adventure, even if you're not appropriately dressed for it. No pocket handkerchief? No eyeliner? Oh, well...

Today, I will pop off to GoodWill to buy some more forks. (They've been (not-so) mysteriously disappearing in our house. Today we found 2 spoons -- since the forks are almost all gone -- in take-out containers in the trash. Sometimes that's what happens when you have housemates...) So, off to find the elusive feral forks. I've already been to 1 GoodWill & 1 other thrift store that had either no forks or forks I didn't like. K-Marts forks were also not appealing. I don't mind buying 1 fork that's just okay, compared to other forks, but I don't want a whole set of them…

So, off into the world of forks & poker & ideas & adventure.

Blog alternative:
273. Dress for an adventure, even if there isn't one specifically visible on your horizon. Set out & see what happens.