Tag: Kyle Cassidy

The love of form is a love of endings

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This weekend [info]kylecassidy is coming to Chicago to conduct a photography seminars at our very own Casa del Lobos. This could only be better if his lovely wife [info]trillian_stars were able to join him, but alas she has responsibilities in Philadelphia. (Hopefully next time!)

Kyle will lead a group of 12 photographers in a two-day workshop, and at the end there will be a gallery opening/wine & cheese party to show off their work. Also this weekend, my cover artist Madeline Carol Matz will be in town, so tomorrow night we’ll be getting together after picking up Kyle from the airport. We’ll congregate at the Evanstonian home of Kate Tabor, a teacher-friend who will also be in Kyle’s workshop this weekend.

Kate just returned from a teacher seminar studying Shakespeare in the UK (oh how envious is my inner Academic) and Spain (oh how envious is my inner Gypsy). Check out her blog, Living on the Lip of Insanity for highlights. I can’t wait to hear more, and she has promised Spanish treats to help us reminisce about that leg of her journey. Ah Spanish olives….

So back to work, the kids will be staying with my folks for most of the weekend, and I’m attempting to get things in order in preparation of Kyle’s arrival tomorrow. Then shopping for a variety of vegan and gluten-free treats.

TAKE NOTE: If there are any veterans who are interested in being photographed on Monday, Aug. 2nd (or this weekend) for Kyle’s latest book, War Paint: Tattoo Culture & the Armed Forces, please contact me ASAP.

Catch up

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I’m so behind with posts.
I keep waiting for the ever elusive "more time" to appear.

It hasn’t. It’s been a good month, however. Full of transitions and reflection and inspiration.

A few months ago, Mark and I made plans to go to Philadelphia for the wedding party of Kyle Cassidy and

[info]trillian_stars

. It was going to be our first weekend away from the kids since our oldest was born, six years now. We didn’t realize then that it would fall on the weekend before our move into Casa del Lobos, or that the weekend would be surrounded by job/family/house chaos..

Mark had to cancel his ticket due to a work conference and house-related responsibilities, but we decided that I would go on alone. Trillian kindly found me lodging with a friend in the neighborhood and off I went to Philadelphia. The happy couple was so generous and gracious, and I felt completely at home surrounded by their friends and cats and art and photography and creative talk and and and…It was wonderful.

I was reminded how much I missed that kind of interaction while in Germany. Outside of the Frankfurt writers group, I had little contact with folks making art or discussing things creative.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera at home, and so I came armed only with a disposable camera. My camera cowered in the presence of all those powerful professional cameras (Kyle is an amazing photographer who has photographed the Dalai Lama, famous science fiction writers, flying girls, and early black and white film starlets reincarnated as cats.)

I was able to attend a special dress rehearsal of Trillian’s show The Weir, and it (and she) blew me away. It’s the kind of play that I couldn’t shake for days after. The characters and their stories lingered in my imagination; I wanted to join them in the pub for a pint to hear more of their stories and share some of my own. Trillian’s performance was tender and subtle, and when it came to her dramatic monologue toward the end, I completely choked up. I miss theater.

The wedding party was wonderful, a patchwork of friends and family there to celebrate the union of these two passionate, imaginative, thoughtful people. Kyle and Trillian have one of those partnerships that reminds you how much fun love can be. I was so happy to have met them, and I hope that even with the miles between our homes, we continue to find time and space to share food, laughter, and conversation. I met a few ladies on the trip, Trillian included, whom I connected with immediately, and I can foresee future breakfasts and adventures.

I returned home to finish packing up the apartment and then moved into Casa del Lobos (where we still do not have a kitchen or full baths). I’m working on creative crockpot cookery with the kids. So far, so good. Our friend Vince, a talented fine artist and painter, is in the process of painting and faux painting our downstairs. I LOVE it and will try to post pictures soon. He’s fabulous and brings such a good energy to the house.

The renovation is coming along, and I have hope that we’ll be finished with this phase by the winter holidays. In the meantime I am horribly behind with Conclave Journal, as well as my own writing. Hoping to catch up this week while Mark is away at a supercomputing conference and other geeky work shenanigans.

With that, I bid you good night. More to come…

xxo

Retaliation?

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My relationship with technology has always been precarious (all the more interesting that I married a computer programmer). Things technological break down or function oddly around me. I’ve often speculated that nefarious powers were behind it.

When my Kyle Cassidy Collaboration partner Ember and I put our heads together, we created the Snafoo mythos to reveal the technomagical gremlins behind most of the world’s technological woes.

However, ever since we started this collaboration project and website, the tech-pranks have been increasing in frequency around me.

Last week my computer began playing a song I had never heard before. I shut all my browsers and programs, and the song kept playing. Just as I was going to shut down my Mac, the song stopped and vanished without a trace.

This past weekend, every atm machine that I visited was broken and gave me odd messages like: check health, notify attendant. This week my batteries are dying, even the new ones I just installed.

I think that the Snafoo are a wee bit upset that we’re calling them out! I’m a bit nervous of what they may have in store (so I’m backing up my files and printing out manuscripts, just in case).