ask. ask, and great things can happen.

Michael Pollack asked and he got to play with Billy Joel. Oh, and looks like he prepared for great things, too.

*Plus, and he soaked it in, too!

bed dancing.

inspiring guy.

Oliver Jeffers Author Film 2013 from Oliver Jeffers on Vimeo.

i love husband and wife teams

Foxlo Pottery from Ryan Buller on Vimeo.


Oh, and they met at my college, before I was born.

i wish for well-restedness, and to be idle

Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets. The space and quiet that idleness provides is a necessary condition for standing back from life and seeing it whole, for making unexpected connections and waiting for the wild summer lightning strikes of inspiration — it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done. 

These and other reminders from this article by Tim Kreider.

before i miss the twelfth night and last bit of christmas...

Here's a video I wanted to share with my sister. Watching it, I learned a bit more about the storyline of Les Miserables, and must say, it changes how I view my little cousin singing all the songs from the stage version, as he's done for the past few years.

The Sad Off with Samuel L. Jackson and Anne Hathaway from Samuel L Jackson

And special shout out to all of you still needing to take down holiday decorations. FYI, my sister did today, and she won. [The above video is your prize, Kiddo.]

P.S.  So tidy in those bags!

in the mood for a little punky's whips this morning

This song, sung by Frank Zappa's drummer, Terry Bozzio, tells the story of how the drummer got a crush on a boy named Punky Meadows - because in the 70's boys looked like girls…

Here's a picture of Punky:



By the way, the video is not really work appropriate...  lyrics-wise and maybe playing-drums-in-underwear-wise.




Special thanks to Tom in Bend, Oregon who lead an impromptu Zappa Appreciation Workshop for me when I visited in 2009.  I learned all the intricacies of this great composer and his overly-talented and disciplined crew.

You've got to watch it 18 times to truly appreciate it.

song of the day is "indestructible" by ray barretto, passed on from my 5th grade friend, luis

Reviewing my timeline on the facebooks, I just came across my "like" on this video that my friend Luis posted on his wall. It's worth another listen and I like what Ray is wearing. And his hair.

three take-a-ways from grad school according to chuck close

1.  You don't need *The* information, you just need to know how to *Access* the information
2.  Work habits:  develop them
3.  Learn how to take the toughest criticism

Here's the whole program:  Chuck Close in Conversation with Bill Kelly

so, this one i meant to post in august, but had fun racking my brain to find it online again.

My sister showed me a couple videos by Willy Moon and for some reason I thought this might have been the same guy. That is, until I found the video again. Musta just been the black and white/heavy shadow use that I was picking up on.