something about nothing

Time was, I blogged every night whether I had anything interesting to say or not.  Then life got in the way and I not only had nothing interesting to talk about, half the time I didn't even have anything boring to say.

I'm trying to get over it and post more frequently, no matter what.  So YOU are going to have to suffer through the blabla inutile of the less fascinating posts, or use your delete button.

I love buildings that reflect other buildings. The picture above was taken in the historic district of San Jose.   I should say the alleged historic district because visual history seemed scarce except for a couple of signs and this building, which is looking for an occupant. Reminds me of something I might have seen in Boulder, CO when I lived there in 1970.

After the meetings were over, I had two treats in store for me -- and they overlapped.  My friend Mary from high school now lives in San Francisco and is a doctor who specializes in AIDS.  We have not seen each other in 53 years and it was remarkable that the years fell away and we had a wonderful reunion.

In this picture, an exuberant Mary has her arms draped around Frances and me. The lovely Frances is lucky enough to be married to the charming and talented man on my left.  He is my dear friend Ted who had just stepped off a plane and stopped to see me on his way home.  What a delicious visit all the way around -- although never enough time to  talk about STUFF when your friends live 3000 miles away.

I have been working at home all day and actually got something done! Tomorrow, studio to clean up for my workshop next week and get materials ready for the class. And maybe if I am really efficient, I can do something with the pieces in my bag that need to get finished.

We have open studios coming up on November 7 and I need to get busy!

blogger & firefox at war

I can see my own (and other) blogs just fine in Safari or Chrome but there is something going on with Blogger and Firefox. The browser has stopped working with Blogger - or Blogger has changed something that doesn't work with Firefox. I have had to abandon Firefox when I'm blogging.

A minor problem compared with coming home yet again to NO INTERNET and NO PHONE.  Plus, the upstairs toilet tank and leaked downstairs into my sewing room, ruining many things that were in that corner and leaving a mildewy smell in the carpet.  DId my husband notice?  Did he call the plumber? 
I believe the universe is trying to warn me off going away, ever again.

Nonetheless, this was a worth-it trip. San Jose's weather was perfect.  Linda (from Sunny St. Petersburg) Dawson, Laura Beehler, Leslie Jenison and I spent quite a bit of time at one particular outdoor café and we did a fair amount of wandering around, taking inspiration photos. Here are a couple of mine.

And then there were the to-die-for ceramic pieces of public art by Jun Kaneko, whose work I posted about last year when I saw such a wonderful exhibition at the Morikami Museum in Florida. And he prints textiles, too!

So, back to real life and the humid New Jersey weather.  But soon enough we will be complaining about the cold, so I will enjoy the heat while I can.

is it Blogger or is it the hotel?

I am seeing weird things on this blog - no picture in the header, missing links, and other things that are missing.  I think it's the hotel's network -- so I am dancing in the dark here.

The other day, we saw a mind-blowing fiber exhibit at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles: really cutting edge textiles -and mostly not quilts. Go to the website and click on the thumbnails on the left, next to " our current exhibit".   This was an art and technology exhibit (this is, after all, Silicon Valley) and if you are within driving distance of San Jose, go see it...and get a tour because the information is fascinating.  There were no photos allowed.  Pam Rubert had two pieces in the show, but there were also fiber optic pieces, things knitted with wire, totally amazing stuff that pushes the fiber envelope, so to speak.

Yesterday, a trip to Los Altos and Exotic/Thai Silks.  Yum yum yum. There were lots of gorgeous dress silks, since they really began as a supplier to people who make garments.  However, they now cater to artists with all kinds of dyeable silks, including garments and scarves.

Some of the group did serious damage (this is the Art Cloth Network, remember??).  I bought silk noil and  silk/linen, which should be interesting to work with. Both take color beautifully and because of the quantities, we got wholesale prices. The fabric is being shipped so I will just have to be patient.

Susan Ettl and I had lunch with our lovely and talented friend, Carol Larson. Carol drove about 2 hours to meet us there and we had fun catching up since the last time we saw her, a few years ago.

Out to dinner last night and when we got back to the hotel, we were greeted with this, parked outside.  Inside, a wedding reception and there was an altercation between the groom's father and the videographer,

who had been paid up front to stay till midnight and was leaving at 9:30.
We couldn't enter the hotel because the groom's father was holding the guy's lights hostage in the elevators and there was lots of carrying on. Since we needed to use the - ahem - facilities - a few of us went across the street to the Marriott to avail ourselves of their hospitality.  Gotta have a sense of humor around here.

Soon, we are off to continue our business meeting at the local diner for breakfast.  This afternoon, I hope to see two old friends who live out here - my h.s. friend Mary, whom I haven't seen in 53 years (we were 2 years old, of course) - and this evening, Ted Orland and his lovely wife Frances.
 See you anon.

A-R-T

Working backwards - first, the edible art from our post-meeting, late-night snack fest.  Half of a beet salad - a true work of art! Nice color and interesting composition.  Remind me to use it as inspiration. Susan and I had this last night and it was so good, we ordered it to share again.

Laura Beehler ordered the beef carpaccio.  Pretty!

Susan and I spent most of the day walking around San Jose.  We went to the Museum of Art and stopped at the Museum of Quilts and Textiles, where we will go for a tour tomorrow with the group.

We stopped into the glass gallery, where there were some very cool things.

And the downtown is full of spunky murals - what fun! This is part of one that was in a parking lot. 

Actually, these were in another parking lot. The sun was very bright so the pictures are not as good as I would have liked.There were more but these were my favorites.  One next to the other on this huge side of a building, all by different muralists.

  This is a work of art in its own way: reminded me of Paris in the 1960's.  They are all over downtown - isn't that wonderful?  I did not check out the interior, but this guy apparently did, after having read the instructions on how to open the door.

 This old theatre has been turned into the opera house. It is so beautiful and so architecturally delicious.

 I wouldn't call this a work of art - but some might.  It is rather strange, and there were a bunch of them in front of the courthouse.
Imagine having the job of giving them a trim each week!

Busy day tomorrow: meeting starts at 9:am and my body is still on east coast time. G'night!

California, here I am

After a whole day of flying (I could have gone to Timbuktu) I arrived at San Jose airport and met Susan Ettl, who had come in an hour earlier.  We took a cab to the hotel (5 miles = $25 - worse by far than New York City cabs!!!) and here we are.

We're staying at the lovely and historic Sainte Claire Hotel, where we have not yet had breakfast. But I figured I had better post before the day gets away from us.

We're off to the Textile Museum and the Art Museum.  See you later.