bike art & do tell

May 13, 2011
Published Work
Leave a comment

Fun times for Moonshine Ink this month… I traveled to Reno to chat with Reno Bike Project’s head honcho about the upcoming We HeART Bikes exhibit for my DiStill Life art column, and then hit the Tahoe City and Truckee streets to conduct ad hoc interviews for Do Tell, Moonshine‘s monthly community question.

I must say it was crazy how many people turned me down for such a benign question: Which of your father’s traits do you most admire? So many folks were afraid to have their photos taken. Props go to Dan Lee Rowell, my first taker. He was in need (asking for spare change outside the post office) yet giving with his time and words. Thanks Dan! I’ll add in the links as soon as the stories are live on Moonshine‘s website.

(photo of North Tahoe Museum’s Saddle Time art exhibit, via Tahoe Mountain Sports‘ Facebook page)

May 6, 2011
Domesticity + Craft
Leave a comment

I finally finished + delivered these stamps for two sets of friends—severely belated wedding gifts. I picked the type, then carved it onto the rubber stamp material; Chris made the wood backing. Jess and Jamie got denim ink with their gift, Nick and Nola jet black.

reno bike project’s northstar art show

April 29, 2011
Art + Culture
Leave a comment

Contribute to to the Reno Bike Project‘s We HeART Bikes art show, held at the Village at Northstar on May 14 and 15 during the Amgen Tour of California.

Any medium accepted, 50 percent of sale price goes to the Reno Bike Project nonprofit. Submit by Wednesday May 11 at 5pm: Reno Bike Project, 541 East 4th Street, Reno, NV 89512, or Northstar-at-Tahoe Events Office (located above Northstar Security in the Village).

Can’t wait for this show! My latest DiStill Life column for Moonshine Ink is on bike art so stay tuned for the story.

tahoe blues – submit now!

April 27, 2011
General Me-ness
1 Comment

I am feverishly putting the final touches on my Tahoe Blues submission for Bona Fide Books. It’s been a true labor of love, going through numerous writer-friends’ hands (special thanks to Laura Read, Karen A. Terrey, and Ali Gray), and some five revisions and counting. I have certainly never spent this much time on 500 words. I hope it makes the cut in the end, but if not I’ll post it here for your reading pleasure. The animals pictured are a sneak peek of the characters (besides me) in my personal narrative. Can anyone guess what the bird is?

And it’s not too late to submit. The only requirements are that its 500 words and about Tahoe. You have until this Sunday, May 1, so get writing!

photos by Dan Pancamo/Flickr and fiskfisk/Flickr

broken social scene

April 22, 2011
Published Work
1 Comment

Whenever I write about music, I always think of this Elvis Costello quote: Writing about music is like dancing about architecture. Sometimes it feels pointless to muse over a live show since everything feels so “in the moment.” Regardless, I did it anyways, and my Broken Social Scene Reno show review is live. Read it! Such a fun time. The band was surprisingly more feisty than I remembered them to be at Wanderlust. And how great are these press photos?

images (top to bottom) by Norman Wong and Dave Gillespie

i like to do drawings

April 20, 2011
Art + Culture
Leave a comment

How beautiful is this concept/video by potente di fuoco from Modo infoshop? I’d love to round up all my childhood drawings and recreate them, but I don’t think the juxtaposition would be as dramatic. My skills haven’t progressed much beyond middle school.

Speaking of drawing, I played the best game at a friend’s house the other night. Don’t judge it by its name: Eat Poop You Cat. It’s awesome, like “telephone” but with drawing. See for yourself:

back in TQ

April 16, 2011
Published Work
Leave a comment

Just got my copies of the Tahoe Quarterly home issue… such an awesome cover home! It’s bittersweet to see the 2011 home awards spread since this is the first time in some six years that I haven’t been on the tours. Walking through the finalist homes was always one of my favorite times of the year at that job. But it sure is exciting to flip through the pages and not know what’s coming next!

When you scope out all the architecture and design packed in the issue, don’t miss my arts profile of Paul Bailey on page 36 (the first story I’ve done for TQ since leaving last June) or my friend Ian profiled on page 32. Love that guy!

because of this photo, i am now going to collect coffee mugs

April 11, 2011
Domesticity + Craft
Leave a comment

Yes, it’s true. In fact, I love everything about the owner of these mugs’ style: see the full monty on Design Sponge.

(Speaking of collections, I’ve decided to jump into Tumblr to learn another blog platform, so I’m moving my postcard collection to a new, improved, dedicated postcard blog. Check out the new site and let me know what you think. I’ll promote it more soon once I get a few more posts going.)

permanent vacation

April 7, 2011
Published Work
Leave a comment

Oh happy day! The Permanent Vacation official book launch party is set, for Wednesday May 4 at Lake Tahoe Community College. No offense to all the other books I’ve edited through the years, but Permanent Vacation is my favorite. Such a joy to copy edit and proofread, it barely felt like work!

The launch celebrating Bona Fide Books’ inaugural volume includes a reading from the Tahoe locals whose work appears in the collection: Joseph Flannery and Janet Smith. Event is free so come! 7pm in the Aspen Room at Lake Tahoe Community College.