That’s sort of a work in progress. I’m not sure what is next for it. The book is a paperback from the sixties titled Land: People and Policy about urbanization and new towns. See, cause cities got built on grids and page layouts work on grids, so I, I made, I…I’m such a fucking nerd.

Next week I go to New York, where I have not been in almost a month. From New York I depart to Chicago, then Kansas City maybe, then Denver, then Zaqistan. Then LA, then San Francisco. In a van with four people, one of whom I kind of know and three I’ve never met. I still don’t really believe I’m going and I expect it’s going to be exhausting, but I’m looking forward to it. I haven’t been on the west coast in about a year and a half, and I’ve never really been to most of the places we’re stopping. Also I think I need to get out of Baltimore for a while to remember the parts of it that don’t make me really, really sad and lonely.

Even though I think about leaving a lot, I seem to be making more steps toward sticking around. I got new plates for my car yesterday. I’m actually kind of nervous about that because one of the only ways I can find my car in a lot is by looking for California plates. Driving has been a really big part of my summer and my education on Baltimore–sometimes when I run errands I deliberately get a little bit lost so I can just learn more about where things are. It’s not very efficient but I’ve encountered some really great architecture and murals. Next time I go get lost I should bring my camera. Wait, I guess I’m about to get lost in a week. And I still haven’t really prepared anything for going. Oh man.

Measuring Up

Taking my unemployed time to work on some projects, like slowly adding things to my sad little Etsy store, taking care of the yard, and writing, actually writing things. Or trying.

I’ve been applying for jobs that are pretty far flung across the eastern seaboard, simply for the sake of Doing Anything Else. I’m re-evaluating a lot of the reasons I stayed in this city, especially taking into consideration the fact I’ve basically left town every opportunity I could this summer. I feel like my reasons for moving should not be the flipside/failure of my reasons for staying in the first place, though.

But! I did go to the Baltimore Museum of Industry this weekend, which made me appreciate this city’s rich and peculiar history. Did you know that Baltimore was the location of the first large-scale ice cream production? Prior to that it was a handmade delicacy. This is my new favorite piece of Baltimore trivia. I think that in the two weekends I have before leaving town (again, but this time going west, not north) I want to go to more Baltimore museums. I am thinking Museum of Dentistry and The American Visionary Art Museum, which I haven’t been to in years.

I feel like I could live in Baltimore for another ten years and still not feel comfortable here. I appreciate it but I don’t know if it appreciates what I can offer it. We’ll see.

We painted the kitchen.

Sometimes, we made mistakes painting the kitchen.

I think it’s okay.

The job I was going to do at the library fell through. I found a job that I think is the most ETC of the things I could do on Craigslist. It’s okay work. It will be done quickly, I think.

I don’t feel like things are going much of anywhere.

The Excess of Speed Turns Into Repose

These are some books that I’m not sure how I’m working with yet (reading, yes, but maybe also using for making little sculptures).

The Work Office project went really well! There are pictures of it here. The days spent pinning it and reading the posts made me really self-conscious. I kept looking at people on trains wondering if they were having a Missed Connection or if I would go through the posts and find one for (gasp!) me. That didn’t happen. That’s okay.

People seemed to really like it at the Payday Party and I had a lot of fun. If you’re in New York, the piece will be up until this Thursday and then they have their next (and last! oh no!) Payday Party. You should look at it, and talk to Naomi and Katarina, because they make projects like this happen in addition to their separate art practices and full-time jobs.

(It’s funny, I was just reading an article about the dangers in multi-tasking but all the people I admire are such amazing multi-taskers. That was about driving with cell phones, though. Which is different [by which I mean "really dumb"].)

On Sunday my friend Carey and I are hosting a get together to see what happens when people try to put together the gigantic puzzle we made. I expect it will be awesome. 7pm, BMA steps. Pizza and beer and puzzles! Everyone loves those!

What else? David Harvey, polders, too many bagels (there is such a thing).

Summer Reading

When not going back to old reads these days, I have been obsessively reading the Missed Connections section of New York Craigslist. This is for a project I am doing for The Work Office, an awesome multidisciplinary art project disguised as an office inspired by the W.P.A. I am creating a map and guide to the MC encounters in the city. I’ve only gathered two days of data so far but it’s pretty clear that there are a lot of lonely people on the L train and going to the gym (I now know the location of like half the NYSCs in Manhattan). If you’re in New York and want to see it, the Payday Party showcasing this week’s work will be on Friday July 17, 6-8pm.

And, if you’re in Baltimore next week, I’m in a small group show at The Light Gallery in Mt. Vernon. The theme of the show is “Meaning in the Mundane.” I am not sure how well I completely apply to the theme but there will be some books on a little shelf, including this guy:

Anxious to: travel, work, plant, print.

Work and “Work”

I start a job in a little less than two weeks at the Johns Hopkins Library. I am excited to sit and review bibliographic data, quietly, for a few months. I got my staff ID card today and realized with some embarrassment that it is an “actual college” and that the campus is far bigger than I really realized. I always kind of thought they were kidding about schools having quads. It should be interesting, especially in the fall when all the college students are actually there.

In the meantime before the Hopkins job starts I am doing a “job” next week for The Work Office. I am making them a map. You should go to the payday party next Friday if you want to see my project! It will probably be awesome.

Reading a lot of geography theory and old magazines. Did everyone already deal with that Kostenbaum essay on Ryan Trecartin in the summer Artforum? Because it is freaking me out. Although I kind of love that the same issue in which Kostenbaum says he doesn’t care about the death of the book there’s an essay highlighting some of the print and book work of Seth Price. Anyway. If Ryan Trecartin’s ADD-is-the-new-consciousness art kills books, then books can’t possibly be that strong. Come on, people.

In Progress

On Thursday I am going to be presenting a monologue that is increasingly just a speech about the act of arbitrarily deciding now is a good time for a monologue. Feeling restless, not productive enough, anxious. Only want to listen to The Beastie Boys and Ethiopiques, and write on index cards. Okay, gonna do that.

1. Things Lately

Projects: gardens, books, maps, monologues. Reading Difference and Repetition.