Winter Update

The research and discovery process for writing a dissertation in contemporary art history (and perhaps for other fields?) is akin to bailing water from a doomed little boat. There’s always more water surging into the vessel, and you’re either going to exhaust yourself bailing or concede to life under water. Every day I stumble upon new work and new theory that rocks the supports of the unsteady structure I’ve begun, as if in a dream. Did I write that? Was that my idea? It’s strange to simultaneously feel so entangled with and so disconnected from your work. I almost lost my mind over a passage in Jung’s Memories, Dreams, Reflections the other day, convinced that it would brighten the dark corners of my project but completely flummoxed by its real meaning. For about 10 minutes I was resolved to recreate Jung’s miniature stone village in the hope of “discovering my own myth” and the vivid mute secrets of dwelling that are the foundation of my work. Then I made tea and went back to bailing water.

The past few months have been filled by many such ridiculous crises, and I have little else to report. Moody and I dressed up as Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix for Halloween, and were correctly identified by no one. We had a sweet little Christmas together and sailed into 2015 with tummies full of pizza.

Happy New Year!

Little Town, Big Hearts

I'll admit it, I couldn't wait to get out of my home town. Tooooooo small for this kid. But the first weekend in March is better in South Glens Falls than anywhere else. For 35 years, my little high school has been marathon-dancing its way to almost three million dollars, which goes to sick local children, halfway houses, families in need, and so many others. Last year we raised over $326,000. This year, I have a feeling it will be even more. Check it out the website, make a donation, and watch the live video feed here. And read CNN's coverage here.

UPDATE:

And the grand total is..... $395,352.19

Way to go Bulldogs!

Ten Things I Have Learned About The Sea

I grew up on stories of selkies. If you cry seven tears into the sea, I was told, your selkie will appear. He'll (or, more traditionally, "she'll") shed his seal-skin and walk on land with you, and you will love each other. But he will stay on land only for as long as you can hide his skin, because even great love cannot compare to the lure of the sea. And to keep him, you have to live with his longing for it.

I love the sea. When I leave a beach, I usually weigh almost twice as much as normal...what with the 100+ pounds of seashells in my pockets. I love the too-much-sand and too-much-salt and too-much-sun-ness of it all. I love the way the sea smells and the way it sounds, and the way, as Lorenzo Fonda says in his video short, it's the greatest mirror; when you're happy, the sea seems happy. When you're sad, the sea seems sad.

ten things i have learned about the sea from lorenzo fonda on Vimeo.

Lorenzo Fonda, 2008

Someday I'll pick a direction and drive until I end up at the ocean.

P.S. Happy Day. I just got my acceptance to URochester's phD program. Doctorate in Art History, Here. I. Come.

There's No Place Like Home

It's strange how things and people and places you thought were in your past can creep up and return to you. I have't been home in a year, but right now all I want is to head north, take Exit 17 off the highway, and hug my best friend.

On Saturday another South High senior committed suicide, bringing the total number of tragic deaths in my hometown up to 8 in the past year and a half. I keep trying to rationalize it, to separate it from the place I'm in and the people I know now, but it keeps coming back. Karmically, I wish the kids who go there now could catch a break: on March 4, the school held its 34th Annual Marathon Dance, raising $326, 213.58 in one night for local charities and individuals in need. I danced in that Marathon for all four years I was there, and it remains one of the best things I've ever done. Those kids are golden, and I think they deserve a little goodness.

SHMD 2011 Web Promo from Joshua Jacobs on Vimeo.

(Check out more on Marathon Dance at shmd.org)

Right now my heart hurts for everyone in that town. Sending my love.