MFA Thesis show week

This last month has been a real roller coaster. It all started Monday February the 25^th. I knew going into the day it was bound to be a bit rough, however what I got was more then I could have expected.

I took off for Detroit fully intent on arriving early enough to start setting up for my MFA thesis show (which was to open on the 29^th of February). As I was driving up I-75 nearing Detroit I find out there is construction starting, and they have shut I-75 down completely and it will be this way for the next two years. When I did finally arrive at 2pm, I pulled up to a parking meter only to find it didn’t take the new quarters. So I ended up parking 6 blocks away, and carrying the stuff I needed to set up for my show to the gallery. When I got to the doors, (I was told the floor would be being swept, and mopped in the morning, but I would be able to set up after 11am) I found they were not only locked, chained, the floor (which I could see through the windows) un-mopped, but not even swept. After sitting outside the doors for a bit, I decided to take the paint back to the car, I get 2 steps from my car the bag holding the paint rips the cans hit the ground, explode dumping paint all over the ground. I open the door to my car bend down to grab my books smack my head on the door frame, grab my books walk back to the Community Arts building, get a few feet inside and the cover of the one book I’m holding tears loose from the book sending it to the floor, at this point my handbag decides to detach its D-ring from the loop, un-doing the strap sending it crashing to the floor. I then resigned to a shitty day walk in to take my midterm, pull my pen from my bag only to have the top half shoot two seats over to the right, the ink cartage fly one seat to the left, the spring land who knows where.

I take the midterm, leave, only to hit bumper to bumper traffic moving at 15 mph on the freeway. I arrive at the airport, drive aimlessly around till I find a parking guy in a raincoat to ask where I pick someone up from the Smith terminal. He tells me to drive around, and I can park over there for a few minutes to get her. I thank him, drive around, park run in to see if I can see her, she’s not there I run back out to my car (mind you I’ve been gone 2 minutes) and this cop is writing me a ticket and has called a tow-truck. I tell him I was told I could park here for a few minutes by (I point to the guy) him. He’s a total dick and then says park in the lot I ask how I get in to it, and he says he doesn’t know. So ticket in hand I get in to my car drive off to find the parking-lot entrance and after 3 trips around I find it. I park turn my car off and remove my key, and only half the key comes out of the ignition. After a break-down in the car I go into the airport to find Helen, I ask where I can page her at, I’m directed to a red phone, told to dial a number, tell the person who I want paged and then they get paged, simple right? Wrong! No-one answers the phone, must be broke, I try another and another and another. I end up trying every paging phone they have, talking to the ticket counter and still nothing, no-one will help me. Finally I go to baggage claim ask them if they can help, they look her name up only to find she is coming in on a later flight as she was detained in Philadelphia.

 

That night we went to Ann Arbor and attended the Gender support group I go to every other week. There she met some of the people I have talked to her about. All in all it went well. After which we went back to my room. This was the first time I have shared my bed with anyone in years.

 

Tuesday was pretty quiet, we went and picked up my daughter and went to the supermarket. My daughter has been excited to meet Helen, and asked me to pick her up as often as I could while she was here with me.

 

Wednesday Helen and I went to Detroit to set up for my show which is due to open on Friday. Traffic sucks, but we make it. The set up went rather smooth that day till I went to set up the pedestal I rigged with a switch to control a bunch of lights for the piece. After fighting with it I decide to not use it, and instead alter the instillation, and pick up a few things to finish it on Thursday after work.

 

Thursday we finish the set up, I took photos to place in the piece before the opening, and we went home.

On Friday I took her to the salon to get her hair done, and I ran to the 1 hour photo lab to get the film developed, then we headed for Detroit (nice and early). Only to find the expressway is backed up due to a semi-truck accident at the border. After getting around that we then get detoured on to a street along with all the traffic from I-94 it took us over 2 hours to drive what normally takes under an hour to drive.

 

Once there and the show opens the night went really well. People loved my piece, and my professor was quite pleased with it. Helen, a few friends of mine, my daughter and I then went out for dinner at a local place.

That said here are a few images from the show

 

Ever have one of those days?

One of those days, try one of those weeks. It all started last Sunday, I went to the ATM on my way home from work, to get some money to put gas in my car, and get quarters to do some washing. I decided I would be a responsible person and check the balance on my checking account. That was when I discovered my account was overdrawn. I would say slightly overdrawn, but why lie. It was overdrawn by over a Billion dollars!! Yes I said a billion as in a thousand million. Now I know I can be frivolous at times and forget I spent some money, but a billion dollars? What the hell did I buy? A newer car? Nope still driving my rusty POS. A house? Again, nope, I still live in a former nun cell. I know a small island nation guarded by a heavily armed third world militia.

Needless to say Monday I stopped by the bank to bring this error to their attention,  allow me to share the interaction at the bank.

Teller: Can I help you Miss?

Me: (walks up to a teller) Ummm I need to speak with the manager.

Teller: What do you need, maybe I can help you.

Me: I really don’t think you can help, its my account, its overdrawn, and I really need to speak to someone about this.

Teller: I can take care of that.

Me: I really don’t think so, but here’s my account number.

Teller: (eyes bug out and jaw drops) Ahhhhh let me get the branch manager for you Miss.

Me: (thinking to myself) You think?

At this point the teller walks in to the Branch manager’s office, and you know how they have the glass walls there, well I watched as she told him about my account. I watched as his lips formed the words “What the Fuck?” At this point he comes out of his office and asks me to come in.

Manager: So what exactly is the problem?

Me: My account is slightly overdrawn. (gives him the account number)

Manager: (looks up from the computer) Ahhhhh we’re going to get right on this ma’am.

Now this would have been enough but that was just the start of this week.

Tuesday night I’m in my room online (go figure) and I watch as the lights on my DSL modem repeatedly go off flash red, then turn green. This goes on and on all night, and I constantly get disconnected. I was thinking that maybe it was due to the fact we were experiencing 60 ++mph winds. However I did call the repair center, and they ran some tests and told me there was a problem with my line, and a tech would be out the next day.

So Wednesday I’m in my room till I have to leave for class, and yes its still going on and off. No repair person. So I take off for class. As I’m sitting in the hallway outside of class, another lady that is in the MFA show with me at the end of February walks by, stops and looks at me with a worried look.

Me: What’s up?

Lady: Is it true, that you are not going to do the show at the end of the month?

Me:What?

Lady: I heard from some people that you pulled out of the show.

Me: I did? This is news to me. Who told you that?

Lady: (gives me a few names, and goes on) and the grad chair let the gallery director know you were not going to show.

Me: and no-one thought, “hmmmm maybe we should talk to Darcie and see if this is true” instead of taking someone else’s word for it?

Needless to say I spent a fair amount of time talking to the people in the office in hopes of sorting this out.

When I got back to my room I opened the door,and saw I had a message on my answering machine, it was the repair guy calling at 3pm to say he was there working on the line and he would call back when he was done. That was when I saw the red blinky lights on  the modem, so I picked up the phone to call them only to find out the phoneline was dead.

I ran around looking for a phone to borrow so I could call the repair center and find out what was going on.

Tech: What is the problem?

Me: My DSL and phone are out. (gives number)

Tech: Our records show a tech was out and the problem was repaired today.

Me: Ummmm no, I’m calling you from a different number because now even my phone is dead.

Tech: Really?

Me: Yes.

Tech: We’ll get someone out there first thing tomorrow.

Now maybe my idea of first thing differs from some, but 2pm? That is first thing?

On the upside my line is fixed (I hope) and I’m back in the MFA show. On that note I received an email from the gallery asking for my artist statement and bio for the press release that was sent out a week ago. Needless to say the others in the show were given more the negative one week to have that together and turned in.

So yeah one of those days my ass.

I’m not sure but, Happy New Year

Well if the start of this new year is any clue as to what I can expect the rest of this year to be like, well then it will be an interesting one.

I rang in this year online with my Love. I sat getting ready as she sung to me. Her voice is as lovely to listen to as a field of lilies are to gaze upon in the dewy morning. To say I felt moved or touched would be an under-statement. Without fail she has made me feel Loved like people wish someone would.

At about 8:00pm the friends I had gone to D.C. To spend the weekend with were ready to head out to a club in Baltimore to ring in the New Year. Mind you there were six people packed into a Honda driving for an hour to a club on New Years. I found it quite interesting, as each of us had a very different style of dressing for the night.

The night was quite fun, though I never did venture out to the dance floor. This was due to a “minor” issue I have. I later told Aaron and Lexi why I opted not to go out on the dance floor. As it is certain colour lights flashing cause me to become increasingly disoriented to the point I will begin to vomit. For some odd reason I felt it was best to avoid this situation. I was quite happy to see my friends dancing and having a good time.

After the club we headed back to Suzanne’s house, and along the way we attempted to stop 2 time at a Taco Bell. This effort however was in vain, and we ended up at a 7-11 for nachos.

After experiencing the minor victory of conquering the junk food craving we made it back to Suzanne’s piled out of the car and made our way into the house. I spent a little more time talking to my Love on Yahoo before retiring to the couch for sleep.

The next day I woke early to get ready to catch my train back home. This would be a new adventure for me, and the first of many to fill this year. I say this because I have never taken a train before now. By 1:30 pm everyone piled in to the Honda (yet again) and set off for a bite to eat, then to drop me off at the train station.

After trying yet again in vain to find a place to eat we settled on Subway, and as luck would have it, it was carryout only. So we got our food, loaded up in the car yet again and headed on to Union Station.

Upon arriving and parking the six of us made our way inside to sit down and have “lunch.” After which they all walked me to the gate that my train way due to depart from. We say our good byes and I head for the line.

At this point (I shit you not) as the gate opens to load the train I am scheduled to take and alarm sounds in the train station.

“There has been an incident reported, please evacuate the station immediately. Please use the emergency exits and do so in an orderly fashion.”

Outside the station no one knew what was going on, ever the security guards seemed to be clueless as to the events behind the evacuation.

After 45 minutes to an hour of standing around outside we were let back in to load our respective trains.

So here I am at 6:15pm on the first day of 2008 heading back home, out of contact from everyone that matters in my life, wondering even more just what this year will bring. One thing I do know is for the first time in my life I feel as though I have people in my life that will be part of my life for some time to come.

At about 8:30pm on the train I went to the snack car to see about getting a cup of hot cocoa, unfortunately they were out, however they did have Bailey’s and it was happy hour, so I got a cup of ice and a single serving of Bailey’s. I went back up to the observation deck to find an electrical outlet. In doing so I met a very nice lady, her and I sat and chatted. She is in her sixties and this was her first trip to the Capital. I found talking with her quite pleasant. She got up after about a half hour as she wanted to go check on a lady she met at the station during the “incident.” I guess in a way she gave me a view of the unselfishness and decency that some people are able to show towards others that they just meet.

If this the first new person I met this year is any example of the people I might meet this year, then maybe just maybe this year could bring me into contact with the more decent side of humanity.

Damn is that ever an optimistic outlook for the year.

I woke up and was struck by a feeling I have not had in months. The feeling of not knowing where I am, let alone what time it is. The fleeing of not knowing how long I was asleep for, or if I was asleep. I woke up on the train, in a city that I do not recognize. I don’t even have the slightest clue, as I do not know the route the train is traveling.

I know this is “normal” for traveling at night by mass transportation. I also know this feeling for another reason. This is the feeling I experienced far too often when “waking” from one of the others had been running the show.

So here I am on a train full of sleeping people staring out the windows looking for clues to sort out where I am to get this feeling to go away. At least I now know what time it is, its nearly 1 am. I have four more hours till I am back home. Four more hours that I can sleep.

I hate this feeling.

Its now after 3:30am I just woke, still no clue where I am at this time, but as I gaze out the window the world is covered under one to two feet of snow (maybe even three). I really dislike the cold, but there is something just so beautiful kn the way a world covered by a blanket of snow looks to me. It is so peaceful, so calm.

It causes me to wonder; the feelings of calm and peace seem to sing of being alone and isolated. Is this just me?

Its 4am and I finally know where I am. Cleveland. I recognize some of the buildings that I worked on when they were being built. Seeing them is like having flashes from a past life. Ghost images of a life one is never really sure they ever lived. I have no photos from that time of my life. Was that really me? If it weren’t for having my daughter, I would be inclined to think it wasn’t.

From where the train sits at the station I can see the Key bank building, Tower City and they remind me of a time when my brother Terry and I had actually gotten along well. People change, I know I have. I guess though if I really think about it, Terry and Denny got along, he never really knew me. To be honest I doubt he ever will. I’m not sure maybe that is a bad thing, then again maybe it’s not a bad thing.

Here to hoping this new year brings more good then bad memories.

Cheers.