I say Why

Question everything, saw comedy, read a book

I went to Cafe Wa in the West Village with my friend Jeff. He does PR for small companies. The house band was off the charts!

Why why why

I've begun so many letters here. A lot have been rants about this or that. I like to think that I'm speaking to my friends.The subjects I talk about here are what I would talk about in a bar or coffee shop. I'm not drinking when I write, so things are probably more coherent here than if I had a few whiskeys in me. Or if I drank too much coffee I'm not sure how that would manifest. Perhaps I would be leap-frogging from topic to topic and start conversations in the bathroom that people would leave/flee feeling uncomfortable? It's been marijuana and whiskey this year since pot is pretty legal here. A note: there are a bunch of tangents towards the end of this letter.

One of the amazing musicians in the house band at Cafe Wa. I like to draw live, but beer makes my lines a little unpredictable!

I will start a letter, a missive, a note, and after one paragraph I'm exploring a new tangent that I hadn't planned. I think I'm worse in a bar. I will write 3 or 4 paragraphs and look back at everything and ask myself what the hell am I writing??? I didn't plan to write about that! I had maybe a few drawings or paintings I was going to show, maybe write a little extra info in the captions about how and why this image was made. Why am I ranting about the Luddites again? Am I THAT serious? I don't think any of this is funny or amusing. What the hell Fred?

Adam Levy and the Mint Imperials. He was playing at the Groove, just up the street from Cafe Wa. Great blues and jazz mix with a little hint of Reggae. We broke a glass here. Magically slipped right off the table!

I'm always asking myself “why”. Like that annoying three year old that just discovered a new way to annoy mom and dad, question everything. Question questions. Art school was full of this. Why did you use so much green? Why did you make the canvas that dimension? Why did you use a female figure instead of a male?.. When you are making a world, you have a lot to think about. What I am getting to is that writing these letters makes me ask why a lot.

A quick caricature of Dom Irrera. I’m trying to make myself do more caricatures. Feeling a bit rusty.

I am asking why am I writing about questioning everything right now. Why do I want to write a whole thing about it? Why do I think anyone would find this interesting? If I came across this letter I would probably pass on the words. I'm also asking myself if I ever got past being that annoying three year old? The answer is probably no.

Tangent number one:

I didn't try pot until my late 30's. I was going through a divorce, hanging with my new girlfriend and she said her roommate sold pot, do you want to get some from him and smoke? Why not? So we did and then there was sex, and this colored my opinion of pot immensely. I didn't smoke again for about six months. It was still illegal and I was content with scotch or bourbon. The seal was cracked though.

Tangent number two:

I was going to insert an extra clarification after I mentioned not smoking pot for six months after the first time. The clarification was, I had sex many more times in between the first smoke and the second time I tried pot. One didn't coincide with the other.

The first times I tried pot I did ask “why” a lot. I treated it like research. I smoked and then played Pink Floyd's “Dark side of the moon” on my headphones as I walked around the Financial district among the coolest Gothic buildings in the city. Fantastic! I already liked Pink Floyd, and now I liked it even more.

Finally got back to this and finished reading it. I imagine the audio version of this must be brilliant if Steven Wright is voicing it. It was so surreal and really fun if you are familiar with his stand up comedy.

Tangent number three:

I wanted to add that I saw Pink Floyd's “The Wall” in the theater when it came out in 1982. But this is probably better left out of the main narrative because it just isn't necessary. You can ignore tangent number three.

Tangent number three A:

Two years earlier when I was about twelve, I dove in to a pool a little too deep and knocked out most of my front teeth on the cement bottom. The dentist who fixed my teeth knew it was going to be really painful so he gave me all the numbing things at his disposal. Real novocain, gas, and as a bonus big headphones so I could listen to music as he drilled the hell out of my teeth. He only had a few choices for music and Pink Floyd was the only one I recognized so I was high as a kite, rigid from all my muscles being super tense from still being aware that my teeth were being drilled... but mostly high as an astronaut who just went out the hatch for a smoke. “Dark side of the moon” got me through it.

I enjoy the range of “why”. Like when you put your cup of coffee down on a table but didn't realize it was too near the rounded edge and your open canvas bag exposing your sketch pad on the floor below is now wearing the coffee that moments before was in your cup. You look at the mess really angry as you realize your mistake and you ask/scream “WHY?” to no one in particular. You can direct a “why” at someone to gain information. I often ask why haven't I written a new letter that I meant to put out three Fridays ago?

If you ask why, you are looking for answers most times. I used so much green because I didn't like it. I thought if I embraced it and used it, green and I would come to some terms. Also in college, I got a great deal on a quart of Viridian Green oil paint from the Utrecht outlet in Chicago, IL on a supply run from Columbus, OH. It took about 20 years before green and I worked our differences out. That is why I used so much green in my painting.

I hope this was amusing. I'm still questioning all of this. I'm trying to be my best, I hope you are.