Pumpkin-carving inspiration

The pumpkin-based Giant Squid, pictured above, is one of my favorite entries on ExtremePumpkin.com, a site that my Halloween-obsessed husband recently found. Other favorites include E.T., a giant Tiki head, and this creepy skull. Check it out for ideas and inspiration.

I personally hate pumpkin-carving because I can never get the pumpkin to look the way I want it. This relates to my larger challenge as an artist of not mastering the tools I need to execute my vision, which results in many ideas being trapped in my brain and/or journal. But the idea of learning those tools - like Photoshop, for example - is so unappealing. Is that something any of you can relate to? Words of encouragement?

In the meantime, enjoy the pumpkin gallery. Here's another good one, for fans of The Nightmare Before Christmas...

Full Moon Yoga

I'm going to a Full Moon Yoga workshop tonight at Tranquil Space Yoga. I signed up for it months ago and now, with this weather, it feels like the perfect way to spend my evening:

Full Moon Yoga Workshop:
"the luminous fullness of the moon represents plenitude, abundance, and generous blessings. join us for a beautiful evening of flowing, meditative movement, featuring guided chandra namaskar (moon salutations) by candlelight, lunar mantras, chakra balancing, and poetic offerings. in contrast to the energetic, heating quality of sun salutations, moon salutations cultivate a sense of calm and rejuvenation, providing an opportunity to shed old layers and reaffirm our highest intentions. come and celebrate the feeling of being fully alive, as you absorb and integrate the powerful energy and quiet beauty of the full moon."

A little "New Agey," sure - I'm as hard-wired as the next intellectual to balk at terms like "generous blessings," and at concepts like "lunar mantras, chakra balancing and poetic offerings." But I also know that sometimes the best experiences are the ones that take place just outside our comfort zones - when we push ourselves to try something that sounds just a little mysterious and intimidating.

How can you go outside your comfort zone to feed yourself creatively? Think about it. And when you see the full moon tonight, think of me, balancing my chakras. :)

Halloween Costumes

My top 5 Halloween costumes of all time:

1) The Pillsbury Dough Boy. I wore a white sweatsuit, a chef's hat with the signature blue dot in front, and carried a wooden spoon. If you pressed my belly I said "tee hee!" Everyone thought I was a ghost. WHY WOULD A GHOST WEAR A CHEF'S HAT, PEOPLE?!

2) Clothesline. In seventh grade my friend Shannon and I went as a clothesline - we stuck leaves all over ourselves to make ourselves into trees, and tied a rope between us and hung clothes from it. Of course as soon as we got to school we had to take it apart since we were in different classes. But I think we won an award of some sort.

3) Mary from "There's Something About Mary." I used gel to make my bangs stick up straight. Hilarious.

4) Insolent record store clerk. I wore a homemade button that said "I heard them first." (This wins in the "minimalist" category.)

5) Miss Piggy. I wore my mom's huge white coat that looked like a fur but was really made of string, and pig ears, and probably something made of rhinestones.

It was a stretch to come up with these 5 because generally, growing up, my costumes weren't all that exciting. I didn't have one of those "let me make you a Halloween costume, darling" moms - instead, we'd scrounge through her closet the night before and make something up. One year I wore my dad's flannel shirt and took some hay from our dog's outside dog house and called myself a scarecrow. It worked.

What are some of the best costumes you've worn, or seen on someone else? Was Halloween a big deal in your house growing up? Do tell.

Speakeasy DC presents: 'Ween in the Woods

Join Speakeasy DC this Saturday night for (Hallo)'ween in the Woods, a night of ghost stories around the campfire at Patuxent River Park. Get directions - or sign up for a ride - here. Stories start at 8:30 at the campsite, or in the pavillion if it rains.

Learn about other upcoming Speakeasy events here.

[Spooky woods photo courtesy of MarS.]

Sixth and I

My friend Jackie works at Sixth and I, a historic synagogue at...6th and I (NW). She just started, and as she's been telling me about the various programs that they offer, it started sounding a little bit like the 92nd Street Y in NYC. Apparently, that's just the idea - to be a hub of cultural events and discussions. In December, Sixth and I will be hosting the DC premiere of the film The Kite Runner, and other upcoming events range from a performance by the Icelandic band Mum to a reading by Amy Cohen, author of Late Bloomer's Revolution. They also co-host a number of events with Politics and Prose. Check out a schedule of upcoming events here.

Wanna make a movie about "the new American farmer"?

The Women's Garden Cycles Bike Tour (yes, you read that right) is looking for a Few Good Media People to help them create a documentary about "the new American farmer":

"our vision is to work closely with someone to create a documentary about ‘the new american farmer’, portraits of projects and people in the northeastern united states (plus montreal) that are promoting local food and growing food for their communities, outreaching to youth farmers, living sustainably in cities - mostly drawing from urban agriculture projects, but also touching on some rural efforts to keep people working the land."

More about the (unpaid, unless they can raise money for a stipend) opportunity here.

The group just got back from what sounds like a fascinating ride between DC and Montreal, visiting urban gardens and farms along the way. Their site includes recipes from the road. Check it out!

...and, hat tip to The Slow Cook for bringing this group to my attention.

Divine Dissatisfaction

A friend recently shared this exchange between Agnes de Mille and the great dancer and choreographer Martha Graham. It encapsulates exactly how I feel about being an artist.

According to Agnes de Mille: "I was bewildered and worried that my entire scale of values was untrustworthy... I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I could be. Martha said to me, very quietly:

'There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique.

And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it.

It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.

You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open...

No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.'"

-from The Life and Work of Martha Graham

Tonight: "Operation Filmmaker, 2007" at the Hirshhorn

What: "Operation Filmmaker" screening and discussion
Where: The Hirshhorn's Ring Auditorium (get directions)
When: Tonight, 8pm

Film Description:

"While preparing to direct Everything is Illuminated in the Czech Republic, Liev Schreiber saw an MTV documentary that followed an aspiring film student through the streets of Baghdad. Schreiber invited the student to intern during their location shoot, and Nina Davenport filmed his experience. Her portrait offers insights into the contrast between Western and Middle Eastern worldviews, a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Hollywood filmmaking, and a deeply personal saga. Davenport introduces the film.."

Slow Food

"When we claim that eating well is an elitist preoccupation, we create a smokescreen that obscures the fundamental role our food decisions have in shaping the world. The reason that eating well in this country costs more than eating poorly is that we have a set of agricultural policies that subsidize fast food and make fresh, wholesome foods, which receive no government support, seem expensive. Organic foods seem elitist only because industrial food is artificially cheap, with its real costs being charged to the public purse, the public health and the environment."

-Alice Waters

Read "Slow Food Nation," the article from which the above quote was extracted, and learn about the Slow Food movement that Alice Waters represents.

I am a passionate believer in Waters' food philosophy, and the older I get, the more I believe that mindful eating is one of the deepest pleasures and rewards of life. Like so many other choices that amount to what I'd call "creative living," mindful eating - which I'm defining here as seeking out local, organic, and sustainably harvested food - means stepping off the treadmill of mainstream habits and carving your own path...it takes energy, but the rewards are plentiful. (This recent story from the Post, "Vegan Soul Grows in Anacostia," inspired me - Vita seems like a kindred spirit...I want someone to fund her restaurant so I can eat there!)

If you don't usually cook - try cooking one meal at home this week with ingredients that inspire you.

Other tips:

• Check out a list of local farmer's markets
  
  
• Read Kim O'Donnel's weekly What's Cooking chat on washingtonpost.com, and read her blog, "A Mighty Appetite"- it doesn't focus exclusively on local/organic/sustainable food, but Kim is very eco-conscious and is so creative in her approach to building delicious meals
  
  
• Explore getting organic produce and dairy delivered to your doorstep or around town
  
  
• Read about life on a local farm

Enjoy!

"Feed Me" at DCAC

My friend Joe is in a play that opens this week at the DCAC on 18th Street. It's called Feed Me - written by local playwright Shaun Raviv, and directed by Matty Griffiths, formerly of the Actors' Theater of Washington. I must say, the description intrigues me:

"A plague, a war and a hungry tiger. Which one will get them first?

In the midst of a plague and a war that are tearing the world apart, two scientists and a malicious soldier discover what may be the answer to saving mankind in the form of a starving tiger. But will they sacrifice their loved ones for the greater good? And will they sacrifice themselves?"

[Cue dire-sounding music: duhn duhn duhn....]

Plus, Joe - who I know from improv - is the bomb.

Check it out!

Tonight!

Step One
Join me for wine, cheese and chocolate in honor of Tranquil Space Foundation's first anniversary. Festivities are from 6:30-8:30 at Washington VSA Arts Connection at 16th and L. Tix are $30 and all proceeds go to the foundation.

Step Two
Duck out early and head over to Flashpoint (9th and G - Gallery Place Metro) for an evening of hilarity (aka improv), including a performance by JINX, featuring yours truly (hey, we can share a cab over) (not really). Show starts at 8pm.

Step Three
Drinking or sleeping? Your call...

Star Wars on Earth

Thanks to Aaron for letting me know about "Star Wars on Earth," an exhibit currently on display at Project 4 Gallery, near 9th and U Streets NW. The artist, French photographer Cédric Delsaux, has created images that combine objects and characters from Star Wars with photographs of real people and places (aka image "mash-ups," to use the term du jour).

Learn more about the exhibit from Express, and may the force be with you (sorry, I couldn't resist...)

These Are the People in Your Neighborhood...

The other day I ran into my neighbor Karla, who I met in conjunction with a yard sale in my neighborhood last spring. She's an artist, and she gave me her card once before, but I lost it, so when she gave me her card again, I was sure to check out her website right away.

I was fascinated to see her work - that's one of her paintings, above - and the experience was yet another reminder that fellow artists are all around us, and the more open we are, the more likely we are to find them. The guy at the bus stop, the woman in front of you in line at the grocery store - just imagine what their creative lives might be like. Even if they don't consider themselves artists or creative people - what is it that they dream about?

Someone once said to me, "If you aren't having fun, it's your own fault," and as harsh as that is, it's true. If you're waiting for a richly creative life to arrive on a silver platter, you need to switch gears and begin discovering it around every corner, instead...

Craving imperfection

"I read in an article from the 60's that the reason that people enjoy live performance is that it is something that can never happen twice. Each performance lives in the tension of 'not knowing' how this moment will go. The same could be said for a painting. Nothing happens the same way twice. Each time you do it there are subtle differences. Humans are imperfect and prone to variation, unlike machines. And deep down we love this about ourselves and crave more of it."

-Artist Keri Smith, in Wish Jar

Improv tonight tonight tonight

I've been reticent about overtly hawking my improv shows up til now, but reticence does not a packed house yield, so: for a good time, come by Flashpoint Gallery's Mead Theater tonight (less than a block from Gallery Place metro, exit at 9th and G). $10, 3 improv shows, including JINX, featuring yours truly. Plenty of places to grab a beer before-hand - I'm partial to Ella's, and it's right around the corner....shows start at 8pm.

Tell 'em Creative DC sent 'ya!

More info on the Washington Improv Theater website.

Transience

This is my improv troupe, JINX. That's me on the lower right looking just lovely (ahem).

[Subliminal message: come see our show Thursday night, 8pm at Flashpoint. Tix are $10 and you'll get to see two other troupes perform, as well...what a deal!]

I should clarify: this was JINX, as we existed a few months ago. Since then, Alice (lower left) and Josh (dead center, above the I) have moved to NYC (damn you NY!), Carolyn (second from the left, top row) has moved to New Hampshire to work for the Obama campaign (damn you Obama!) and Rich (top right) has decided he needs to cut back on extracurricular activities (damn you 24 hours in a day!). JINX founder and our former director, Zack (not pictured), is also about to move away.

Sometimes it sucks to live in such a transient town. I'm tempted to begin interviewing people before becoming friends with them: "Soo, how long do you see yourself living in DC?" Not that I'll never leave - if life takes me somewhere else, I'll go - but my roots are here and it's home for the foreseeable future.

While people don't necessarily move away because of any beef with DC, I have to believe that if the city had a better image, people would be less likely to see it as a way station as they build their lives and careers. Part of improving DC's image is making more people aware of the breadth and depth of the city's creative community. Let's make it our personal mission to tell people about the creative people and places of Washington, DC.

Dress Like a Vampire

I picked up a flier for the following event at Olsson's Books over the weekend. Yet another cool thing to do Tuesday night!

What: Eric Nuzum, author of The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires From Nosferatu to Count Chocula at Wonderland Ballroom

Plus: Vampire Drink Specials "for those who come dressed like the undead, or for those that just feel that way after a hard day at work"(as if you needed an excuse to wear fangs and fake blood...)

Where: Wonderland Ballroom, 1101 Kenyon Street, NW

When: Tuesday, October 2, at 7pm