Turns out Jackson Pollock studied art here in Los Angeles – I was also able to find five JP’s in the MOCA and LACMA museums. My friends Julie and Luis kindly took me around today, specifically to track down Jackson.
We found No. 1 in the Museum of Contemporary Art here. It’s angry and frustrated – has a different vibe that No. 31 in MoMA. Weird thing about the museum here is that there aren’t any benches to sit on, and they have this painting in a kind of entryway so it’s not conducive for sitting or standing in front of for long.
But JP is JP – and it was great to be able to see five of them in one day! I’ll try to post up photos soon!
I’ve finished my final edit of Rock Gods of Acht. Have the second galley in the mail on it’s way to me as I write. I even have an ISBN number for the book, which means it’s now official! Just have one more read through, have to check one more set of gallies to makes sure changes I have to make to this set are okay, and then we’re good to go.
I will then officially be a published author – woo hoo!!!
I have to go to Los Angeles this weekend for a meeting on Monday morning. I just found out that No. 1 in Jackson Pollock’s series of paintings (that I’m hanging with in NYC at MoMa) is in a museum in L.A.!
So, I’m out here in Arizona, just doing my thing – working (way too hard, as usual), hiking every day, getting some sun. I had to get up early this morning for a radio interview (that never happened…), but I’m at the kitchen table in the condo I’m renting, do some proofing work at about 5:45am.
I look out the patio door and there was a flippin’ wild beast in the backyard. I’m not joking! (No, it’s not the jackrabbit in the photo – I saw him later in the evening…)
I was pretty sure it was a Javelina – a boar-like wild animal found in these parts. It looked boarish, and it was an animal I’d never seen before. I just found this video at the Arizona Wildlife website – this is the beast in my garden….
And I didn’t see a small one – he had to be 60 pounds – the back garden is small – no more than 10 feet of grass. He seemed to take up the whole thing! I’m going to see if I can get up early every so often and try to get a photo of him if he comes back. Maybe I’ll name him! And I’ll certainly be more careful if I go outside early in the morning – apparently, they like to go around in packs, and they can attack if provoked.
I’ve got 2 roadrunners that live in the back hedge – I’ve named them Fred and Ethel. They’re always running around together – one chasing the other. They’re like an old married couple.
And I just went for a walk early evening (6pm-ish) at Bell Rock – on my way back, it was getting a bit dark, and I saw something that looked like a jackrabbit or a cross between a fox and a rabbit. I just checked the National Geographic site - he was a jackrabbit (which is actually a hare, not a rabbit).
And I’ve seen hummingbirds and lizards and I even saw a huge snake fly across the highway yesterday. I’ve never seen a snake move, and this thing slithered so fast it was unbelievable! Today, I took my work and went down to the river – it’s only a couple miles from where I’m staying. It was so beautiful – I come in on the other side of Red Rock Crossing and sat on the rocks. Last time I was there, I saw an otter in the water, which was cool (though a bit scary because I was on my own….) I think that’s why I’m so happy I wasn’t really afraid to see the jackrabbit – startled, but not afraid. If I see a Javelina on the trail, I will crap my pants. That thing would have terrified me. But I’m not used to so much wildlife, so this is great!
I have the great fortune to be working from Sedona the month of May. I came out here to see if working away from the office would be as (or more) productive as working there, and to see if I might want to move here. I think after Day 3, I’m not going to move here. I could see me coming back like this – to spend a month or two – but I don’t think I could live here permanently. It’s great to come and stay in a nice hotel and be all pampered – it’s another thing to be living in a condo and having to do the usual cleaning, chores and work. It’s not quite the same getaway….
Yesterday, I took my first walk to my rock (Bell Rock); today, I climbed her. Or tried to climb her. She stopped me part way up. There’s one part where you have to go up basically using your hands and feet – why in the world I listened to some midwestern tourist is beyond me but she’s telling me exactly how to get up. Well, I start up the boulder face and really started to panic because I got stuck. I couldn’t find the next foothold up and started slipping down.
I wouldn’t have killed myself but I didn’t want to crack my head or break an ankle. I had enough sense to get myself to calm down asap – I don’t know much about hiking, but I do know if you panic, you can be in real trouble. So, I was able to turn around and get my butt down so I could find a place to put my feet. It was probably extremely comical to watch….
I then walk over another 10 yards or so and see the spot I used last time to get
up the boulder thing. Argh!
It’s incredibly beautiful here right now – desert flowers are blooming, the sky is deep blue, and it’s a perfect temperature. I’m already beet red from the sun!
Yesterday, I went to an event hosted by Sustainable Arizona – they had a local wine, cheese and bread tasting at a vineyard between Cottonwood and Camp Verde (meaning, not far from Sedona….) It was a beautiful place and wonderful event – met some really nice people – but almost everyone was from New York or had lived there for a while. I can’t believe how many ex-New Yorkers live out here.
Well, tomorrow’s a work day – it feels so odd to be here working. I’m used to doing things like getting a massage….
RT @TEDxManhattan: @TEDxManhattan speaker Kavita Shukla and her amazing product, FreshPaper, have been featured in the Washington Post. ... 2 weeks ago
