Sometimes a party is a party

Sometimes a party is a movement.

I’m rusty. I went to a figure drawing thing last week.

Thanks to

Dave Baxter

for the advice about doing a podcast thing here. I will be trying it in the spring probably since I want to think on it and do the writing for it properly. If I do it half-assed I probably won’t like it and then abandon it before I give it a chance. I don’t always give myself a long leeway to get better. On the other hand, the danger is I might procrastinate for a year and never do it. This letter, for example, is the result of many other attempts from various formats. I hit my LiveJournal once or twice a year, but I had hoped to do there, what I am doing here. I think I started a news letter when I was on My Space. Face Book, Twitter, and Instagram, weren’t ideal for writing, so when Sub Stack showed up I thought it would have the least resistance from brain to words on the page. I still don’t know what all the bells and whistles do here but so far the writing and adding pictures part are pretty easy.

This is from a snap shot I took while driving along route 80 west. For some reason the subtle changes in color didn’t get picked up when I scanned this. Gouache on paper, (POR).

The progression of events once again thwarts anything I previously wrote. This past weekend ate me up and I didn’t get back to writing like I had planned. (in addition to this present week which has flown by me! That makes everything this letter is referring to a week from today, Thursday 2/20/2025) I’m surprised I try to plan anything, but because I do, I can always say, “nothing is going according to plan.” They just don’t! Including painting. Interruptions and obligations present themselves on their own time. I think they are coming from different dimensions but I know better. Calendars were invented for this exact reason. Listen buddy, you have these three events to do next Saturday, and these two to do on Sunday… and one of those is going to be a doozy!

Pennsylvania is so beautiful. Graphically speaking, the large mostly green shape of the mountains with partly cloudy skies are my favorite.

It all started a long long time ago… last Thursday. Molly had a special invite to another special party. This was a more underground party. It’s produced by a very interesting and really smart, friendly guy. Since it’s “underground” I’m not saying his name… plus I forgot it already. AND, this was literally under the ground! It was in a basement that had at least 13 ft ceilings. I mentioned he had a high ceiling for being in a basement and without missing a beat said “I actually have low floors.” I died!

These parties don’t happen regularly, and each one has a different theme. This one was a film showing. The previous one was a ground floor space that he had built a mini version of a bodega complete with candy bars, beer, materials for breaking and entering, illegal fireworks, and other implements for subversion. There was a brass band that totally rocked, a lounge with mixed drinks, and everyone in attendance seemed up to something. Other parties happened in abandon lots, and even a barge.

This is from the 2nd party on my birthday on the 7th at the Hotel Chelsea. I didn’t take any pictures from last week’s party. The performances all happened here. This was the point of view of the comfy couch I was melting into.

Friday we went to the Caribbean Social Club for a drink before plotting and scheming over a few more scotches at home. Saturday at the un-godly hour of 8AM my neighbors and I scraped down an area of wall in the stairwell that had been damaged by a water leak that had been fixed last year. The plan was to scrape and prep the wall to then paint it the next day. This is one plan that worked. The next day my downstairs neighbor and I painted the crap out the wall. We had almost no paint left, there were no spills and everyone was happy with the job we did.

Sunday, after painting, Molly and I cleaned up our space for the dinner party she had planned. Her once a year making of Pernil (pork shoulder). Actually it was two pork shoulders that together weighed 20 lbs. She soaked them in a garlic brine for two days before slow cooking them for almost 10 hours. We had about 15 people. A bunch of them brought amazing deserts and wine. One couple that came posses an amazing wealth of knowledge about the middle east and Israel. One of them is known for being the foremost expert on Hamas, and they were also the most unassuming polite humans you can meet! I had met most of the people who came to dinner before. Molly and I have decided to be more conscience about having social gatherings that are an oasis to the fascism taking hold of America at the moment. I like it because anyone can host a gathering. When you invite people in you can set the agenda/tone/whatever. Ours is more or less inviting people we know that are smart, interesting, and passionate. We want everyone to feel comfortable so they can relax and be themselves so we can all recharge our batteries to go back out and whether the world.

Gouache on Fabriano hot press 300lb watercolor. I forget the route number but it’s from somewhere between Ithaca, NY and Elmira, NY. It was such a beautiful day. Early fall, just before Halloween last year. The conditions were so dynamic between rain and fog and sunshine!