Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster - and this?

Man - don't we all just love those blurry photos of mysterious beasts caught zipping by on film? No one really wants to hear it's a hoax because it's so much better to hold onto that belief that there's still magical wildlife living under the radar. "Don't put no species/phylum label on me!" is what they must be thinking as they dive back into the shrubbery when that camera clicks. My sister just found this gem - we have no idea where it was taken, but it looks to be some English or European suburban backyard. What the hell is that thing? Why is it so damn skinny? We have come up with some theories: a giant salamander taking a stroll; a skinny cat doing that "I'm up tall now and can pounce you mouse" stance; a nappy lil E.T. thing scrounging for human artifacts; that neighbor kid that lives in a closet - ack - he broke free from his cage again!; a frail muppet who escaped from Fraggle Rock and now lives on stuff he grabs from garbage cans. I can hear Leonard Nimoy's voice from In Search Of... asking us: "What do you think it is?"

Ultraman and Kimba - Epic Kiddie Ballads

When I was about five years old I was obsessed with Japanese cartoons and monster action shows. The most important thing about them was that they had excellent opening credits and theme songs - especially Kimba and Ultraman. They aired on Hawaiian television starting at 6 a.m. in the late 1960's, and I was inspired to stand on my tiny wooden stool and sing along fervently. The themes are about heroes who stand for fairness, justice and fighting evil. Kimba got to run like hell and do amazing flying leaps. Ultraman's groovy go-go song also had this rad swirling psychedelic paint opening (it changed color with different episodes). Catchy, simplistic lyrics that are still stuck in my head.

The Loveliness of Aqua Forest Aquariums

There is a branch of aquarium design that has come to us from Japan. Developed by the master aquarist Takashi Amano, the style is carried out a bit like bonsai. Pastoral landscapes, comprised mainly of  South American fresh water plants and fish are composed in large, seamless glass tanks, like landscape paintings. Schools of fish are placed in these underwater locations and move about like herds of deer or flocks of birds - closer to the way they do in the Amazon river, rather than the one or two of this and that tossed into a tank together like an episode of Big Brother. Lucky lucky San Francisco - Amano opened his first U.S. Aqua Forest concept store here. Even if you can't have one of these tanks made for your own home - visiting the store is like a surreal mashing of viewing old masters landscape paintings being morphed into living, watery versions. They are calming and noble, even the fish look really pleased.  And for us broke-ass art school graduates, not having to spend a dime to experience these fabulous objects is a tiny trip to paradise. Find them at 1718 Fillmore St.

Watching Grass Grow

I can never get enough of time lapse-d nature.

Take Care of Thyself

   Blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus) - lives a gloopy existence so you don't have to

Getting to the gym, eating right and going to bed at a civilized hour. Yup, need to get those habits into place, like a hamster or a doggie a happy person is one with structure. Any kindergartner will tell you, graham crackers and milk then naptime, then you can play on the monkeybars - sheesh -silly!

The blobfish is real, it lives in deep sea waters around Australia and Tasmania. Because of the extreme pressure - and for floatability - it's body is gelatinous and less dense than water. Pretty much lacking in muscles, it floats just about the ocean floor and gulps whatever drifts by that might be digestible. Thank you blobfish for living that life for me, I appreciate it. More on blobfish here.

Glow in the dark fishing thingie

WHOA. Scary what you might attract from the deep, dark sea at night with one of these babies.

Mushy for Mushrooms

The Blood Tooth Mushroom - what murderous elves live under

Note to self: begin rejoicing in all those freaky things you have always loved. They will lead you to the path that you are supposed to be having fun on.
What is it about mushrooms? They come in a bazillion varieties and they feel more like animal than plant. Maybe that's why they often taste like meat instead of vegetable. When I was in Costa Rica a few years ago I found a cluster of glow-in-the-dark mushrooms. Two of my favorite things in one. What many believe to be the largest living thing on our planet is currently growing mostly underground in eastern Oregon. The Armillaria ostoyae, a.k.a. the honey mushroom, is believed to be 2,200 acres across in size, or 3.5 miles long, all planted inside Malheur National Forest. What people have seen all the years prior to it's whole body discovery were the clumps of small, above-ground mushrooms, all thought to be independent, individual fungus colonies. Not only is it huge, it’s also old. Some mycologists say this vast fungus is at least 2,400 years, others think possibly even 7,200 years old.
It's currently accepted amongst genetic researchers that fungi are more closely related to humans and animals than to plants.

Another toothed mushroom: the great bearded tooth mushroom

The Post-MFA Dilemma

It has now been two weeks since I graduated. I promised myself to not apply for or take any job that I have done previously, especially the kinds of jobs with great misery attached to those experiences. Now I find that I have very little enthusiasm for anything but making - making drawings, making sculpture, making cake, making the house clean - but not joy in making new resume cover letters for jobs that could lead me back to that place of no art community and very little making - if any at all.  Scary.  But being seriously broke is also very scary.