Istanbul is amazing! People who know me know traveling isn’t my highest priority, but it can add so much to your life. American culture says so little about Turkey. I’ve been trying to think of mainstream cultural references to it but the main ones I could think of were the movies Midnight Express and Gallipoli. The former was one of the main reason I don’t like Oliver Stone and is[…] Keep reading →

At my niece’s kindergarten graduation Friday the entire graduating class of four-and-five-year-olds sang a song with a chorus “I love America.” The song was light-hearted and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. As a thoughtful person, I couldn’t help think about what having a whole class sing the song meant. I enjoy playing with ideas and what better time to ponder education than at a graduation? I’ll be the first to[…] Keep reading →

Here are a couple videos of my solo gallery show “Motion in Stillness” at the Crossing Art gallery in Queens. Yesterday was the opening. These videos are from before the opening. Better quality video will go up soon. Some people at the opening had some serious cameras. From before the press preview, here is a quick tour of the show. As always with my medium, only seeing it in person[…] Keep reading →

Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. — Antoine de Saint-Exupery I’ve been working day and night on the finishing touches for the show, mainly simplifying things, inspired by the space and the quality of the work by Jennifer, Sunny, and Kyung Yung (sp?), who work at Crossing Art. You’d think the sad irony would be that[…] Keep reading →

Anyone knows making it big in the art world means challenging people’s views of art and making complicated, ponderous pieces. It can’t be accessible to children. I guess I can’t to anything right. I explore and draw out wonder, curiosity, amazement, and fascination — the emotions of scientists. And children. My four-year-old niece came to the gallery today to see the installation in progress. She came with my sister (her[…] Keep reading →

My friend Zan posted: “Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur. (Translation: Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound)” I responded: “ateverwhay isway aidsay inway igpay atinlay oundssay etardedray.”

Saturday was such a beautiful day I couldn’t resist walking in the park across the street from my building, making me late to meet my sister and nephew in Queens. The park is tiny but beautifully maintained by neighbors. It has a small walking path around it. The pictures in the slide show below follow my view walking around the path, sometimes looking forward, sometimes backward, sometimes toward the middle.[…] Keep reading →

The summer after high school, my friend Tuan and I rode our bikes from Philadelphia to Bar Harbor, Maine and back, about 1,500 miles. We were both sixteen at the time. The trip was amazing — not that I remember many details anymore… quite an independent experience for kids that age. Everything went great. An amazing growth experience. We mostly found random places to camp, but also stayed in back[…] Keep reading →

A reader emailed me about mindfulness and self-awareness. I mentioned to him a meditation retreat I did a few years ago and found an old post I wrote about the experience, answering another reader’s questions about the course. I did a ten day Vipassana course a few years ago. What it’s about: It teaches you a meditation technique and gives you the time and space to practice it. It’s based[…] Keep reading →