feather2pixels

Who is Jill?  Been thinking about that one for a while now.   Jill is the path of least resistance on a path that’s too long for the scenic route.  Jill is a steady exercise that builds a stout musculature in the tissues no one will care to notice.  Jill is a reliable intermediate between happy and sad where your headspace is actually completely beside the point.  Jill is an order of chicken tikka masala on a rail car to Delhi.  As you can see, all I’ve come up with are alternate lyrics to the 1995 Alanis Morisette embarrassment, “Ironic.”

I spend half my time trying to be more like Jill and the other half trying to be nothing like Jill.  Sometimes she knows before I even say the word and goddamit if she will always be a part of me.  Whether I like it or not.  She left San Francisco on Friday, possibly forever,  for the greener pastures of Chicago.  This appears to be a large city in the American Midwest.  With a minimum of adverbs (and with Nick T.), we unsentimentally sucked down one final beer at the bottom of Potrero Hill amidst subject-predicate-object conversation.  Jill is the opposite of so many people. All this is why I love Jill.

[audio:Alanis Morisette_Ironic.mp3]

Last weekend I found myself stranded in the Sierra Nevada with Mark, Keri, and Jill. By stranded, I of course mean snowed in for 48 hours at a luxury cabin equipped with frozen fillet mignon and four hundred channels of satellite television (which, to make matters even more hellish, required a 50 yard trek to remove the snow from the five foot-high dish). Speaking of positive yardage, I officially never have to see another replay of Eli Manning’s fourth quarter pass to David Tyree that set up the Giants’ improbable win on Sunday. I don’t care if it was the biggest play in NFL history: an afternoon of one Superbowl highlight is the 2008 equivalent of the Donner party’s snowbound hell in this same area one hundred seventy years ago.

Here are some other things last weekend taught me:

1. Avoid winter lodging on one-lane roads inhabited by people who neglect their annual plowing fees.
2. When calling work to explain one’s snowbound dilemma, it’s best to refer to “The Sierras” rather than “Tahoe.”
3. The chances of surviving a snowbound episode can be increased by preparing a life-giving tonic of double chocolate brownie fudge gourmet ice cream blended with ordinary milk.
4. When electrical power is lost, two fit people can reasonably recreate approximations of Eli Manning’s fourth quarter pass to David Tyree until NFL Tonight is restored. A large pine cone can be used if a football is unavailable.

This key recently came to be in my possession. It looks quite ordinary. Friends, this is no ordinary key. This is the key to my screen printing dreams. This is the key to CELLspace.

Even dedicated feather2pixels readers who recognize the name CELLspace may still be confused about what exactly goes on there. The confusions ends here. CELLspace is one of several adjacent warehouse spaces on the 2000 block of Bryant Street that serves as a community-based art space. It hosts after school programs, private art studios, adult art workshops, and events. Lots of events. This weekend there was a massive clothing swap, which is a great place to pick up loads of Old Navy clothes that Mission hipsters are embarrassed to wear. If there is a roller skating party in San Francisco, it’s usually here. Also, there is a screen printing loft and I like it. CELLspace always seems to be on the brink of financial ruin and, as a result, working there has always been an unpredictable affair. Some days I get in, some days I don’t, and some days I end up crying on the sidewalk. But not anymore. Now I have a key.

Most recent project: Jill’s save the date cards.

Some exciting recent multimedia content:

Tahoe:

The Ocean Beach Christmas tree burn:

Inner Richmond storm aftermath:

The storm was a lot messier than it seemed. It didn’t even rain that hard, but a Saturday drive to the Dumpling King with Jill revealed a city absolutely covered in downed branches and trees. It was all somewhat unexplainable. We took the long route through the park, where the devastation was particularly impressive. I couldn’t believe the size of the debris and the roads were barely drivable. A bad situation on JFK Drive, for example, has only become worse (if they are never going to pave that road, they could at least replace the bulbs on street lights). However, the quality of the city’s chive and pork dumplings was quite unaffected.

The view from Jill’s telephone:

Homecoming 1 Hour Photos:

corinne

jill and nowell @ the dumpling king

to-shi-o

bulldogger and me

my room

in front of the church of light

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