Hay Bales
I shot suitcases in Rotterdam yesterday and then drove to Ithaca. On 206 between Green and Whitney Point I began to notice the big bales of hay that dot the landscape at this time of year. My friend Bill Marsh used to tell his daughter that they were giant shredded wheats.
Later in the evening Peter Carroll and I went to the Glenwood Pines for a bite to eat. I hadn’t been there in a long time.
Safety Pins
This afternoon I took publicity photos for Paint Box Theatre’s production of “The Ugly Duckling”. When I got there I noticed the costumer had these safety pins on her jeans. Very functional and also cool looking.
Vegetable Stock
My dear friend John Wilson makes stock out of any vegetable materials left over from his cooking preparations. When Peter and I were with him in March he told me how he does it. So for the past several months I have been collecting bits of carrot, onion, garlic, brussels sprouts, celery, tomato; well, you get the idea. I have put them in a bag in the freezer while waiting for a good time to start the process. I have no idea how it will turn out, but I’ll know more in about 3 hours. It is smelling pretty good so far.
Tiny Bug on Basil
This is the smallest dang grasshopper type bug I have ever seen. It was hanging out on the basil this morning. I should probably get a longer macro lens; my guess is that those of you who look at this site on your phones are out of luck. Love the green though.
Farnham’s Again
Peter and I made the first trip of the summer to Farnham’s yesterday. The fried clams are really the best we have found anywhere. I also had a bowl of the chowder which was very good.
Hummingbird
The hummingbirds have been draining the feeders this year. They are very territorial and are always chasing each other around. I had forgotten just how noisy they are. They “cheep” in a manner not too different from the chipmunks.
Willard Suitcase #16 and News
This is not a suitcase per se, but Henry L.’s possessions were in this cardboard box. As I continue this project, I occasionally come across different ways the museum has preserved the items. This box was not wrapped like the others, but was in an archival box of its own.
I was particularly moved by this box.
Sometimes I don’t know what to write about these remnants of someone’s life.
As usual, I have obscured his surname here.
The quality of the his artificial foot and leg was amazing. I am not sure when it was made as there was no date of Henry’s admission on the tag attached to the shoe.
The parts on the brace above were machined beautifully.
Thanks to you all for following the project. And now for some really great news. I have signed a contract with the Exploratorium in San Francisco to have a large number of the suitcase photos in an exhibit to be called “The Changing Face of What is Normal”. One third of the exhibit will deal with mental health issues and my work will be a part of that component. I am so excited and proud to be involved in this. There will be a formal opening on 19 April, 2013 in their new space at Pier 15 in the Embarcadero and it looks like I will be doing an artist’s talk a few days after that. My friend, the poet Karen Miller will also be involved. She has been working with many of the same cases and her poems are amazing and evocative. So I will look forward to seeing some of you next April in San Francisco. Again thanks for all the feedback and support.
Transit of Venus
Cris and I took the Pearl for a walk early this evening and we stumbled upon an interesting crowd at the UMASS Sunwheel. It dawned on me pretty quickly that it had something to do with the “Transit of Venus“.
Some of the UMASS astronomy people were handing out these cool little eclipse viewers. Cris had a hard time seeing the dot, but I was able to pick it out at about the 1 o’clock position on the sun. (If you click the link above and look at the Wikipedia page, Venus was in a similar position.)
It is so great to live in a community where you can come across gatherings like this one, and it was so nice that the rainy weather cleared out just at the right time.
Giulio Cesare
I had some work at Princeton yesterday and as I was shooting some panoramas in the fine arts building I saw this guy sitting alone on a table in a hallway. He is about only 3 inches tall and still looked like he had total control of his realm. I wonder if this is what Caesar really looked like. He has a very commanding presence.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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