This week, pop culture critic Chuck Klosterman got right to the heart of the Arcade Fire’s appeal with a Tweet about “The Wilderness Downtown,” the online, interactive short film by Chris Milk that features “We Used to Wait” from the band’s new album, “The Suburbs.” Klosterman wrote that “the Arcade Fire have figured out the one thing everyone is equally interested in: their own memory.”

“The Wilderness Downtown” is a Google Chrome Experiment, and works best in that browser. The website (www.thewildernessdowntown.com) asks you to plug in the address of your childhood home, sit back and watch a combination of choreographed browser windows open, move and close in time with the music. Using Google street view and satellite maps, 3-D canvas rendering and real-time compositing, the movie follows an androgynous child running through a neighborhood that looks just like yours, followed by a flock of birds swooping across the aerial view.

You can even write a postcard to your former self and send it back to the suburb whence you came. If your family moved around a lot, as mine did, try each address you can remember and be transported back to a time when you hoped something pure could last.

— Erin Keane, The Courier-Journal

Know your childhood address? type it in and watch the child run to your neighborhood till he stops in front of your house. http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com really cool!

This a redux of a painting I did a couple of years ago. She has been sitting on the easel staring at me for weeks.

Was a better painting day today, I allowed some space around my disgruntledness of yesterday, no resistance. Things began to flow. Allowing for happiness by being aware today, bringing the light of consciousness to today’s activities.

and: lovely words snagged from my friend Mei Noel:

you may not go home and paint a painting and get it in the louvre. but you can go home, paint, just do it, love it, and hang it on a coffeeshop. or share it online. or give it to someone who will love it.

you may not become a concert violinist, like you wanted to since you were 9, but you can buy a violin and take classes and enjoy it and learn to listen to music in a new way (this happened to me)

you may not be able to go home and write the next great american novel, but you can go home, write, love it, get it published, and write some more.

every moment you paint, draw, make music, sew, write, etc etc is a moment in which you are living the life you love, and just because you may also have another job that you need to pay bills does not mean you are not also, in those moments, living the life you love the most.

Tonight is the opening for Art of the Sole exhibit at the Ten Women Gallery. Stop by if you are in the area and better yet, look for hidden treasure all along Abbott Kinney!

Its been a really sucky painting day. I hate to say that because I have not painted in weeks, but it seems like I always have to have a day or two of struggles before I can get back in the groove again. Le Muse is being mighty naughty in absentia (sp) but I will not give in or give up, except for a little short break, to watch John Stewart even if it is reruns.

In addition to not being amused by the missing muse I have burning elbow. What is that you say? well, just that, burning elbow! all night too, very achey, maybe its something like arthritis and its only on my painting arm, so fun, in addition to sucky painting, its sucky painting in pain!

A bit bummed there isn’t interest in my giveaway, its sad when one can’t even give away their art!! But I have noticed its very quiet in some of the social networking places I frequent, except for facebook probably, I usually check there about once per week, so many people saying stuff and promoting stuff, its overwhelming. ok. enough.

I was looking for images of racoon because I have one in a current painting, and stumbled upon this little baby!

I got silly and made a foot fungus monster for the shoe show, debated about “foot fungus” or Toe Jam” for title

and Roller skater

The body of the piece is panty hose sewn over clay, great fun and I love painting on the panty hose surface, it has great tooth like canvas although very absorbent.

I used a product by crayola made for children to build up the form on this piece, its a very foamy, spongey air dry clay, I love it!

Sassy lookin up too

Her little face is getting so grey, I can’t bear the thought of my pugs getting old and dieing!
The eye on the right is the one with the hole that is now disappearing, you can tell by the clouded area where it was, its looking so much better now.