http://mydestroyedjournals.com Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:35:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I've been reading this book club blog called "The Next Chapter" since the beginning of June.  They have been reading "Wreck This journal" by Keri Smith.  In this book, people are given instructions on each page on different ways to Wreck the Journal.  I've been enjoying looking at the progress ... http://mydestroyedjournals.com/2009/07/17/wreck-this-journal-week-7/ "Sometimes the reflection is far more impressive than the thing being reflected." -from Limits of Control by Jim Jarmusch There is a common device I use in my installations: I place a found object (beat-up furniture, scrap wood, old typewriter) in a space and draw attention to its shadow ... http://mydestroyedjournals.com/2009/05/19/reflections/ I can recite almost all the poetry that I wrote when I was a teenager. Those poems became my mantras and those mantras made life bearable. Since then I have written almost no poetry, or none that was as memorable as those verses. When I missed my sister ... http://mydestroyedjournals.com/2009/02/02/that-teenage-feeling/ My easel and palette are in the “laundry room” of my new house. I’ve been working on a painting of the long hallway that leads to the front door of our shot gun Victorian. My partner shares my “studio” space, which would have been the parlor, or dining room, before ... http://mydestroyedjournals.com/2009/01/21/new-studio/ Over pints, a writer friend of mine confessed his plans to apply to law schools. He said, “I’ve realized writing is the least important thing I do” and went on to remind me that everyone is reading blogs (ahem) instead of books anyway. I wanted to scream “You traitor!” ... http://mydestroyedjournals.com/2008/12/22/talk-of-quitting/ I'll try my best to clearly articulate my intention and focus:  I need this blog to help me get creatively organized.  I'm counting on it to get me back on track.  I'm counting on it to help me solidify and make sense of the last 5 months. In the last five ... http://mydestroyedjournals.com/2008/11/17/getting-organized/ The story my literature class was reading referenced the great jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker, so on a sunny afternoon after jotting down a lesson plan, I wandered to the public library and picked up a box set of Parker’s music. Teaching, as I’ve come to understand it, requires asking incessantly ... http://mydestroyedjournals.com/2008/07/20/so-class-what-do-you-think/ Last Thursday, June 12, 2008 I officially became a Master of Fine Arts. All hail the master! Um….er…right. One nervous breakdown, a few grant proposals, and 3 temp jobs later I am finally comfortable in my new school-less lot in life. I wasn’t expecting fireworks or balloons even, but the ... http://mydestroyedjournals.com/2008/06/20/6-days-14-hours-and-24-minutes-later-life-after-grad-school/ A couple weeks ago I went to see Siri Hustvedt read from her new book Sorrows of An American a layered novel written from the view point of Erik Davidsen, a psychiatrist who lives in New York City. In the book Erik and his sister Inga return to Minnesota ... http://mydestroyedjournals.com/2008/05/29/theme-playing-a-role/ Harrell Fletcher might be my new hero. I've attended a few lectures at California College of the Arts and nary a one inspired me to come home and make stuff. Harrell Fletcher makes me want to make stuff. Many of his projects involve him going into communities and getting the ... http://mydestroyedjournals.com/2008/05/11/harrell-fletcher/