the event

I will be selling my terracotta pots at my house this year on Saturday, December 19th, from 9 to 4. Click here for a map.

where's david?

hey, just because this blog has accumulated many cyber-dust bunnies doesn't mean i've stopped existing. if you have come because you'd like to see me this winter and possibly buy some succulent planters, I am not going to be at Cherrywood Art Fair this year. after five years, they have shown me the door, offering me only a place outdoors, a weather gamble i'd not like to make. whatever.

so, what does this mean? i am making pots actively, with many new designs, and have way too many succulents that i need to part with in a serious way ;0. my plan is to post to craigslist and sell them from my home at the same time period, possibly two weekends in december. i will keep you all posted as to when that happens via this blog.

yesterday alone, i made 23 pots, and am feeling some anxiety about not seeing my regular succulent friends. i invite you to my one man show, as soon as it becomes a reality.

moving days.......

crazy day. unreal really. with rare luck my wife and i secured a wonderful new place to live, so near barton springs and the west of south lamar neighborhoods. yard, retrolike, all that. Look at this wonderful yard space for my million container plants!!!

This is the retro 60's kitchen with pinstripe wallpaper and mint bluegreen countertops. so chic.

and this picture i took about 15 minutes ago, after 8:00 pm on a Saturday. We're the only ones here! it's like detroit, michigan. we've all been displaced, as our once lovely apartments become converted into condominiums, a feat mere of semantics and a little carpentry. alas, the changes austin has seen too often.....

it's been a few weeks now but I'm back....

o.k., so i'm feeling somewhat slothlike and the weather has been very wet and not unlike danish weather in that last week. I took some 700+ pictures on this trip, and had a fabulous time minus the constant wet of the last week and the layover in New York, though I got to spend time with an old friend in the city on my birthday. Enough words, here are pictures.

what to bring.... and I'm off

gear list – Denmark June 2007

front left pannier:

large pocket –

2 pairs of shorts
1 pair of thermal underwear
4 pairs of underwear
1 long sleeve riding shirt (wicking)
2 short sleeve riding shirts (wicking)
1 t-shirt (wicking)
lock and cable
toiletry bag – 2 4 oz. soaps, herbal bug repellent, plastic mirror, band aids, multivitamins, small sun block for face, first aid kit, sewing kit, eyedrops, toothbrush, floss, razor, allergy medications

front pocket –

clothesline and clothespins
wash rag
scrubbing pad
sun block


front right pannier:

large pocket –

swim suit
4 pairs of socks
towel
handkerchief
sheet and pillowcase
raingear
wet wipes
large duffel bag
camp stove

front pocket-

riding gloves
Velcro straps for pant legs
foam pieces for handlebars (4)


left back pannier:

smaller pocket-

plastic mug
bike lights
headlamp
utensils
small aluminum pot
aluminum pot gripper
some food items – granola bars, peanut butter, tea, candy bars

large pocket –

fleece gloves
fleece socks
wool hat
fleece jacket
tent
sleeping bag liner
tent liner

back right pannier:

smaller pocket –

fender
bike pump
bungee cords
bike tube

bike tool bag containing:

socket tool, multi tool, adjustable wrench, chain tool, tire changing tools, pocket knife, small roll of duct tape, tire patches, assorted bolts, clamps, and chain parts

chain lubricant
chain brush
dirty rag for cleaning chain

big pocket –

sandals
thermarest pad
sleeping bag
inflatable pillow
brake and gear cables
extra spokes (3 back, 2 front)

lunch box

food
camera and batteries
important documents (passport, plane ticket, money, etc.)
sunglasses

daypack- put between back two panniers for food, water, etc.

bike

2 waterbottles

and myself.....

less than a week to go and i've got some kind of viral infection. curses! they better get their microbe selves out of my body by the weekend or else. Booked the hostel in copenhagen with over 1000 beds. a veritable city - no wonder it's called 'copenhagen city'. i took the day off today, second to last day of classes. tomorrow should be pure recreation - sorry president bush, this one's for the students. many will go to different schools next year. perhaps some will not really remember kindergarten when they are adults. i really don't. then again, no one asked me to read and write and identify three dimensional shapes most adults would have a hard time with. more later...

less than two weeks now. there's a wonderful neighborhood just on the other side of lamar, just the way i like it. green, big trees, confederate jasmine blooming, massive hills with great views across. it's been a mini denmark of sorts, minus obvious factors. i'm returning less phone calls and vice versa. i must be the witness first to joy, hold it for a while in my hand.

so, i'm going to denmark, in less than 23 days. everything's pretty much ready, down to the special socks and lightweight tent. A few weeks ago I had surgery for the first time (apparently getting one's wisdom teeth out doesn't count). I've been sick since November, so having surgery on my sinuses was like some kind of miracle. I am, however, supposed to take it easy, working my way back into exercise slowly. I am leaving in 23 days nonetheless for a month long trip across a relatively flat albiet windy terrain in the southern scandanavian vicinity. I am so excited, not really believing the trip is for real until I step on the plane to go. This happened last time, 10 years ago almost to the day, when I went to Europe for the first time, also alone, also biking, to Norway and Denmark, and had a mind-altering beautiful experience despite the physical exertion and stress of managing a trip as I went along. Some points I will not be missing:

1. Mon - bright white limestone cliffs with blue blue water
2. Bornholm - island between Sweden and Poland with lots of artisans, beaches, and bicycling trails
3. West Jutland - the North Sea and wild dunes and birds and lots of wind.

That is no definitive list by any means. Whole regions look fantastic. Actually, there's not a lot that looks like I should avoid it at all.

Anywho, all this is keeping me sufficiently distracted from the present as I finish teaching my first year of kindergarten. Track and field days, a field trip, a class ceremony, end of year assessments and testing of what I hoped they learned this year so far. I am just glad to not be feeling sick and out of it.

some interesting blogs

upon trying to find the music to an old album about dinosaurs called 'our dinosaur friends' I discovered two blogs that seem to have something to do with wfmu. Anyway, here they are:

http://crudcrud.blogspot.com/ - collects and samples old vinyl (this is where I found the T-Rex song, but couldn't actually find the mp3. hmmmm...

http://www.sweetthunder.org/tapes/ - someone who collects old tapes from thrift stores. i like that. here's an example

"Davey 1969 (8:15)In this recording from 1969 a young kid named Davey describes his family trip to Disneyland. He talks about some highlights like going on the new rides Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. Davey also performs a pretty weird song about goblins and does some impersonations at the end of the tape. "

also of note - i experienced for the first time the neti pot, which is a way of washing the inside of your nose (I know, it's kind of gross). click here if you have the remotest interest in watching a video about it.

So, I haven't written in a very long time. It's mostly stress and starting the new profession of bilingual kindergarten teacher, which not only leaves one right tired, but sort of speaks for itself. I also have achieved a new sort of personal record for myself in that I have never been so sick in all my life. Constantly, persistently, over and over with new bugs and new viruses. I started seeing an acupuncturist. Today seemed to be a bit intense, for lack of a better word. This is my fourth time going and I'm getting better and naming and feeling the different sensations that hit me when that microthin needle goes in (I hate needles by the way, with a secret passion). It's kind of a dull ache over a large area and it is not so pleasant. I asked my acupuncturist what's going on and he described.....

'Many patients claim to experience the sensations of stimulus known in Chinese as "deqi" (得氣, "obtaining the qi" or "arrival of the qi"). This kind of sensation was historically considered to be evidence of effectively locating the desired point. There are some electronic devices now available which will make a noise when what they have been programmed to describe as the "correct" acupuncture point is pressed.' - from wikipedia.com

So, I really feel very relaxed and wanting to sleep afterwards, though the excitement of a relatively easy 'cure' with antibiotics is not available. And the medicine, it tastes great (o.k., I'm lying).

cherrywood once again

upon its more than four billionth revolution around the sun, the earth arrives at a place in the solar system where the one human that writes these words participates in an art fair called the cherrywood art fair. I like this event, a lot. If you find yourself without activity this coming weekend, why not come out? I will be selling a lot of clay pots, paintings collages scarves prints and meditation cushions. See you there?

“At one time, I believed as the Aztecs did, that the universe was created by two gods, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca who attacked and ripped apart Hungry Woman to create the universe. Then I believed, as the Moriori do, that the universe was created when Papa and her husband Rangi hugged and bore children, and were subsequently separated by their son Tane who let light shine between them. However, my views have been swayed by the substantial evidence that the earth and universe was actually created relatively recently by the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM). I am firmly convinced that the evidence supporting this depiction of the origins of life, the universe, and everything has many of the trappings of science, and I therefore support the inclusion of FSM creation evidence in the Kansas science curriculum and standards.“– Sebastian Wren, Ph.D

church of the flying spaghetti monster

last update july 30th

that's almost funny. not that i've been consistent with much in the realm of writing. I've been trying to detemine how many times I can get sick or is that how many kinds of germs do kindergarten students harbor and can I catch them all? So the new life of a teacher has been rough rough though in recent weeks a little better. Making clay pots and reading has kept me centered a bit, as well as beer and buying plants. So hopefully I can sell off some of my stock before it really begins to get cold. I went to Belton, TX to take an exam which I don't think I passed. This is a little town half way to Waco, yes Waco. There was a lovely stretch of the old fashioned telephone lines with those blue glass insulators on top. I felt the pull to snatch them off, but did not. Instead I bought these from Ebay for a whopping 99 cents.

I got an update about the city my wife and I visited this summer which included nothing short of a federal invasion to disperse protesting teachers. I can attest to their calm and peaceful nature while I was there, much more fortunate than those who have been killed.
The weather has finally become cool and overcast which is my favorite for a while. It is November 3rd by the way. more later.

Malaysia outlaws unsuitable names

click on this spot

maquey fields in the oaxacan valley

When I've got a bunch of things going on, so much so, I tend to drop out of communication. It's been a busy summer, sort of relaxing and sort of anxiety forming. You can see photos my from trip to Oaxaca, Mexico

IMG_3450
Originally uploaded by dawidek.

or see a picture of my new car, my first new car, in which the planets aligned and I recognized it. You can also my new school I will be experiencing my first year as a teacher, Menchaca Elementary. So, three firsts, all big, hence the anxiety forming capabilities. The plus side of all this was petting burros in the forest in Cuajimoloyas, the look on the cashier's face at the thrift store as I bought three giant teddy bears, and of course driving the ultra-smooth Nissan Versa with the new car smell and CD player (I thought a tape player was luxury!). I've also been collecting a lot of music from the public library and burning CDs. Columbian cumbias and gaitas, anyone?

i saw an excellent little vehicle on south first street today, though this man was not driving it. last week, it was a huge hearse from ohio with a gold flashing light on top. what will next week bring?

family biographies

la 'saga' de los bianchis

swimming has brought an edge to it of leftout-ness, self unaware, isolation, along with the sun, clean water, turtles bobbing their heads up and down, and masses of college students in various stages of undress. both barton springs and balmorhea state park have dark, silent, fish and crawdad only areas that i feel very alone in, but the feeling isn't all together uncomforting. a mixture of jealousy, vanity, awareness of mortality, mixed with a seamless inclusion into the reality of water ecosystems. are you still following me? just that feeling that time melts away as you approach an un-noticed death under beautiful circumstances.

the reason i haven't written in a while is being bogged down with end of school madness and interviewing for an actual teaching position, which i secured for next year at menchaca elementary in south austin. seems not far off but very different to be the teacher instead of the caseworker. definitely a change of social scenery that i can already see myself in. i was considering my hermitness today while floating in previously mentioned pool and somehow being a schoolteacher at the edge of town makes sense with that picture. born in new hampshire, teaching kindergarten in spanish and english in texas. ha pasado poco tiempo con un gran cambio de vida.

la segunda semana en el salon, y tengo un poco de resfriado o otra cosa. hay veces cuando no digo mucho ni sacar fotos, sin quedar con lo que hago. yo vi una peliculas de australia la noche anteayer que se llamaba 'danny deckchair'. me gusta el humor australiense.

psychedelic, czech, possibly hard to follow, but definitely brilliant......

vera chytilova's fruit of paradise

i found a little helpful friend, the google 'word translator' option from the toolbar. hold it over 'truce' and it tells you in a little box 'tregua'. 'south' is 'sur de sur sur ; al sur', which has a little arabic-ish rhyming spice to it. 'chicken' is 'pollo, gallina, cobarde' cobarde? fearful, cowardly, but not proud and often annoying like the rooster or fighting cock. this might get to be annoying, but until then....

wormwood

in view of twenty years since the world's worst peacetime nuclear disaster, i found a website that photojournals via motorcycle several areas of the ukraine. this is some brave punk rock travelling, so be prepared.