Art, what it is

Tonight's dinner -- ginger slices, Kuro Goma, pearl onions, garlic, green pepper, zucchini, chicken slices, red potatoes, spices. Smoke rising from the stove. This has precious little to do with what follows...

My life bounces around like a billiard ball, from my work in a technology startup trying to figure out what opportunities are emerging with Web 2.0; to my Monday night class teaching memoir writing through San Francisco State's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute; to my own writing, including what appears here in this blog; to my personal life as a single parent and a man who likes women. Oh yes, and a sports fan, whose boyhood heroes -- the Detroit Tigers -- are on track to do what they haven't done since 1984. Plus, a self-styled cook, who brews meals each night he can, using as many fresh ingredients as he can gather; and a gardener who failed to produce his one crop this year (pumpkins) and feels really bad about that. Oh, also a Little League baseball coach, whose team is 1-4 so far this fall. And, a member of several boards and advisory boards, where so many brilliant people share insights about what a mess this world of ours is in.

Tonight was "curriculum night" at school, and there is a new art teacher, a slender, attractive young blond woman who had to speak before the assembled group of parents. She gave a nice presentation, but no one had any comments or questions, so she retreated to the rear of the room so the next "specialist" could give it a try. I always feel for teachers talking to parents. Mind you, this is a good school (private, alternative, progressive, kid-friendly, teacher-driven, socially conscious) but parents as a group seem to have trouble smiling at teachers addressing them. I don't know why that is, but I have attended enough such events to have ascertained that this is generally the case.

I sought out the young art teacher afterwards, because something she said triggered a memory. She is intending to tie her art class into one of this year's fifth grade themes -- Native American Tribes in California -- by assigning the kids to create shields with power animals on them.



Now, if you have visited my bedroom in the past three-plus years, which I realize very few readers of this blog have, you will recognize the artwork pictured above. This is "Power Cat," as Sarah Daisy executed her similar art assignment some 20 years ago. Yes, she picked a tiny, white kitten as her power animal. Look at that mouth!

I had to fight her school to get this painting away from them, they loved it so much.

Dylan doesn't even know about this future assignment from his new art teacher yet. But I'm anticipating a possible new painting for my bedroom wall, perhaps just in time, as Sarah may wish to take Power Cat into her house for her new little son, once he arrives next January.