first email

here's a email my daughter "wrote" to me last night:

dear daddy,

kX4ZWÍ , M , V CVZXDXDV XZCC FB G FC
9 09 , C c bn vyhhu 8h 54qz sxc Z

love
mme

it appears to be some kind of code, or a futuristic robot poem.

another island

it was something i *didn't* say

i've been busy filing away old emails all afternoon. why? becuase i haven't done it for four years and things are getting kind of rank in the inbox. the work is full of moments to relive, victories savored, crushing defeats dredged up, and confirmation that a few folks out there are really, really not reading for comprehension.

case in point: when i started my little web experiment bowie-a-day, i sent out a short email to folks, telling them about it. rather than crowing LOOK AT ME guys, I MADE A WEB SITE, i thought maybe a subtle, humorous approach was preferable, especially since the site is so simple and frankly kind of trivial. here's what i sent:

Today is a big day. If you're like me, you love to look at pictures of David Bowie personas. I thought, "I wish I could use the power of digital supercomputers to show me a different picture of Bowie every morning, without all that work."

Far out! I discovered that, by carefully typing coded information into the machine, I have released this unknown power.

http://www.bowieaday.com/

Set yourself free. The robot is doing it for you.

i can't tell you really how many confused responses i got, ranging in agression levels from "ummmmm okay" to "why the f**k did you send me this?" what's the moral of the story? maybe i overestimated my ability to deliver subtle messages. i just wanted to share that.

red hook open studios

sarah palin

from a center for biological diversity email i received:

It's been a good month for Governor Sarah Palin but a bad one for polar bears. First the NRA awarded her with a handmade .50-caliber assault rifle it said could "easily take down a polar bear," then Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced he would approve a Bush-era exemption of coal-fired power plants, offshore oil drilling, and other greenhouse-gas-emitting projects from federal laws meant to save the polar bear from extinction.

Palin was ecstatic, crowing, "This is a clear victory for Alaska…oil and gas development on the North Slope will not be subject to the consultation requirements of the Endangered Species Act."

3 ozzy guitarists

memorial day

...after which we must ask you to resume shopping

All Americans were asked to pause for a moment of remembrance at 3 p.m. local time Monday "because it is the time when most Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday," according to the White House Commission on Remembrance.

"The moment does not replace traditional Memorial Day events; rather it is an act of national unity in which all Americans, alone or with family and friends, honor those who died for our freedom," the commission said on its Web site.

"It will help to reclaim Memorial Day as the sacred and noble holiday it was meant to be. In this shared remembrance, we connect as Americans."

The 3 p.m. observances included, among other things, an interruption of Major League Baseball games and the pausing of the Washington Memorial Day Parade.

The National Grocers Association and Food Marketing Institute has asked shoppers to pause in stores across the nation.

link to full article

ah, summer

by far, my most idiotic time of year. here's a collaborative piece in the rest room at the gowanus yacht club last night. this is what happens when designers drink beer, i suppose. apologies for chopping off the third name there. i was um, multitasking.