I found a video I saved from ten or fifteen years ago, when I was showing my art in galleries and museums while backing up my hard drive—the closing minutes of a documentary on Man Ray. At the time I was watching all the videos on artists I could find at the library. For those who don’t know him, he was big. From Wikipedia: He was a significant contributor to[…] Keep reading →

I’ve mentioned working on my book, which I intend to translate into video somehow—TV, movie, net, not sure. I’m at least a hundred pages into the first draft. I’m going to start sharing what I’d call sketches here of parts of the book that I think stand on their own. I’d love your thoughts. Any book I write needs to be personal, so I have to introduce myself. Experience has[…] Keep reading →

What does it mean to master a field? It comes from practicing, performing, reflecting, and practicing more. The result is liberation and freedom. Self-expression. Seeing mastery happen before your eyes Everyone who masters anything goes through a similar process that includes inexperience, looking less than amateurish, practicing, reflection, self-doubt, despair, progress, regress, anxiety, improvement, moving backward, mentoring, and so on. Years ago I found a site that showed the sketches[…] Keep reading →

Two weeks ago I presented online how to make my famous no-packaging vegan stew with a group called Plant Powered Metro New York. I apologize that Murphy’s Law struck hard. Everything that could go wrong did, but I couldn’t tell what in the moment so only on viewing it now did I hear how much the microphone distorted my voice. The lighting was off. After starting we found out they[…] Keep reading →

I’m reading a book of poetry a friend just published. I like a few poems—generally the big ones like Ozymandias and Sonnet 116. I haven’t read much Whitman, but occasionally a work of his has drawn me in and enthralled me. The year I lived in Paris I saw a live performance of Rimbaud’s Une Saison en Enfer in French, though my French wasn’t great so it lost me quickly.[…] Keep reading →

As you probably know, I pick up at least a piece of litter every day from the ground and put it in a trash can. I’m not reducing the amount of trash, but at least saving some from reaching the ocean. More importantly, I’m developing skills, experiences, and beliefs about changing culture around trash. Since restaurants and bars started serving outdoors on mostly single-use plastic, the amount of litter has[…] Keep reading →

In yesterday’s podcast conversation, educational leader Tony Wagner suggested starting and keeping a question journal as a way of keeping curious and young. At least, I took how he described it that way. I don’t know if people have found ways to make them work better, but I’ve learned that starting first leads to improving faster than trying to start perfectly. As I put it, I have low standards the[…] Keep reading →