Bike to Work Day

when taking this photo a businessman rushed past looking skywards muttering "god damn crazy city..."My morning commute only goes as far as taking the dogs out for a morning walk, making coffee, and then sitting at a desk that is barely 4 feet away from my bed. Biking to work would frankly be dangerous if I tried it along my current route. Most of my friends are also freelancers and cyclists, and we decided we didn’t want to be left out of Bike To Work Day. We conspired to meet at one of the many support stations early that morning and visit as many stations as we could throughout the city before having to head home (to work).

sculpture by Zhang HuanI wish I’d taken more photos of Jeremy on the Public Bike he was pimping, and a photo of Sally shuttling a giant box attached to her messenger bag. I wish I’d taken photos of Deep and his disco rickshaw and the lady with the fabulous bottle cap earrings. I was just having too much fun feeling like a minnow in a giant streaming school of fish as we pedaled along market which was teeming with bike commuters. We dropped Jeremy off at City Court where he was applying for a market permit, and Sally and I went on to check out the new Buddha sculpture* at City Hall and hear the last of the “yay bikes!” speeches.

* there are a lot of articles about the sculpture “Three Heads Six Arms”, but I found this one most amusing.

ernie’s cabinet of oddities

Another bike foray with Ruth that results in the uncovering of a neighborhood gem. We were taking an alternate route home on Chenery and spotted a fortune telling machine attached to a fence. There was no way to pass by without checking it out.

fortune teller greeting visitors at the end of the drivewayErnie's homemade slot machinevarious lawn art bedecked with chickensErnie with chicken

 

The lawn is chock full of oddities, and maintained by Ernie, also a proud owner of a flock of chickens who wandered the yard. Ernie has lived in his house for over 50 years, and currently pays his bills by crafting homemade slot machines and diorama type objects and selling them in his driveway. So just think about that for a moment – 50 years in that house with this kind of creative streak… What must the inside of that house look like?

okay, now just imagine what it looks like inside...an Ernie specialstuffed animal jumble salemore ernie specials

 

Ruth scored an orchid from Ernie on the way out and we secured it to the back of her bike for what was about to be the most exiting event of that entire orchid’s lifetime.

abe lincoln log. say that again - "abe lincoln log..."abe lincoln log. say that again - "abe lincoln log..."

 

more longstitch

Du Mol Journal

The cover is cut down from a 16″x24″ photo that I found in a box full of other photos on a curbside last year. Have no idea what country the photo was taken in, and it’s slightly out of focus which really throws off all of these shots here. The journal is cruising Italy at the moment with its new owner who reported that it’s getting some heavy use, and hopefully some wine spilled on it along the way.

inner vellum leaf with cobblestone print
bookmark stitched in and layered in behind the inner leaf
inner leaf from the other side, deckled pages
signature long stitch pattern

consider adoption

I’ve been enjoying a windowsill of herbs the past couple of months, and was dismayed to find them being devoured by aphids. I did what any normal person would do and immediately purchased 2,000 ladybugs.

what 2000 ladybugs look like in a bagwe haz freedom!exploring the gardencontinuing the escape

 

In a rare moment of good judgment, I released 1,985 of them in the backyard, and shook only the remaining few over my ailing plants.

aphid-eating invasionmuch more fun letting them crawl out on their own than merely dumping themsettled indoors for lunch on a mint leaf

 

UPDATE: 2 hours after release, I noticed a pair of the ladybugs making sweet, passionate love in the oregano. The head count might be back up to 2,000 ladybugs in a few weeks.

MtPFM Logo Design

Mt. Pleasant Farmer's Market LogoThis logo is about 8 months in the making, but in the end both the client and I are really happy with it. It will still get some spit polishing here and there over the next few months, but at least they can get the 2010 farmer’s market season in Washington, D.C. off to a more branded, stylish start.

I have an entire sketch pad filled with rejected vegetable drawings which might not sound impressive unless you are familiar with just how small I draw. Over the course of the project, I learned that apples are nearly impossible to anatomically duplicate (hence, it was quietly replaced by a plum), and asparagus is a hell of a lot of fun to draw. It has a “whee” factor.
Mt. Pleasant Farmer’s Market

stolen concrete buddha

Easter eve was spent tooling around on bikes in the blazing sun, then taking a break for lunch in North Beach. Jeremy scouted out sandwiches that claim to “Pittsburgh-style”, with the fries and the coleslaw mashed in between the slices of bread (can anyone verify this?). Our lawn neighbors entertained us with such activities as some kind of pizza dough tossing/hackey sack mashup, the claiming of a small section of the park as their own nation through the cunning use of flags, and a poor choice of pants for their dog. Really, I don’t know what a GOOD choice of pants are for a dog, but this pair was particularly bad. A renegade group of drunk, illegitimate golfers landed long enough to form a human pyramid, then were gone.

easter eve picnic at north beachpittsburgh style?drunken golfer pyramid

 

To finish the night, Buddhist bunnies beating the crap out of pinatas, banjo karaoke, and hobo fire paella.

blindfolded buddhist bunnytriumphant blindfolded buddhist bunnytriumphant chef of hobo fire paella