Sunshower
10 May 2020
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!
22 if by land. 2 if by sea.
Hey You... Yeah, YOU. In case nobody told you recently,
you’re Number One. Numero Uno. Accept nothing but the
best. Don’t suffer any fools or their clumsy limitations.
Go out and get EVERYTHING. If what you desire doesn’t
exist in your space, create it and it will be 100% YOURS.
Vibe Check - The Mood Is Mellow
I treated myself to a very rare item on eBay:
Interview Magazine (June 1979) with a Debbie Harry
cover illustration by Richard Bernstein. Side Note: I may
start photographing and blogging my vintage magazine library.
Recent Listening:
Pizzicato Five, Liz Phair, Duran Duran, Squeeze
I Bring You Primrose And A Clear Path
Happy Birthday To Cher and Stevie Wonder
14 May 2020
It’s been 62 days since I’ve seen my classroom.
The building is mostly silent and empty. I’ve been given
clearance to come in to photograph as much student
artwork as I can. I will be taking these images home,
editing them and (along with my colleagues who are
doing the same thing at varied times) working with the
rest of the art department to create digital art exhibits.
Kids, families, friends... We got you.
ART PERSEVERES NO MATTER WHAT! Love, CDM
Don't Forget To Breathe
Supernature • Day For Night
Prince: Vibe Check And Permanent Mood
Dimanche • Fleur Du Jour
Roadside Ribbon • A Pride Parade In 2020
Peak 2020
Dystopian Shopping
With Schitt’s Creek #mask4masc
Dystopian Shopping
With Schitt’s Creek #mask4masc
26 May 2020
Memorial Day
Thanks to those who gave all.
22 May 2020
So it’s Flashback Friday AND World Goth Day?
Okay, well here’s a treat: Me (age 18) at the 1991
Ridge High Art Show next to my pastel portrait of
Robert Smith from The Cure. Some of you might
remember my spooky phase: amulets, witchcraft
books, black nail polish, a morbid fascination with
death and a variety of interesting outfits and hairstyles.
I remember that kid well. His lazy-eyed smirk, furrowed
brow and an endless array of smart ass remarks. Check
out that Nino Cerruti blazer and teased up hair. If THAT
look doesn’t say “Whatever... I’m going to art school.”
I don’t know what does. I remember that kid’s questions,
conflicts and confusion too. Oh, and he often got mistaken
for a lesbian when walking around in the West Village so
that was kinda fun. Anyway, I heard that spooky kid actually
turned out okay. His art career didn’t do so badly either but
I heard he contracted an irreversible case of Art Skool Damage.
World Goth Day Part Deux • If you had told me at age 17
that I’d have hair like Robert Smith from The Cure at age 47
I’d have said “HELL YES!” #nofilter #quarantinehair
17 May 2019 • One Year Ago Today...
365 days ago my friend Mariana (Instagram: @marilins) snapped
this photo after Patti LuPone’s 70th birthday concert with the
New York Philharmonic. This was a once in a lifetime “only in
New York” cultural event in which Ms. LuPone performed signature
career highlights and seemingly personal, autobiographical
selections as a classical orchestra played under the baton
of a broadway conductor (Patrick Vaccariello). The singularity
of this landmark moment was only matched by the artistry we
witnessed and I’m so grateful that I got to share this evening
with such wonderful people. As a lifelong pop / rock / R&B /
alternative / indie music fan, this concert was a bit of a
cultural outlier for me but one that I enthusiastically worked
into my rich, colorful tapestry of live music memories. None
of us know when we will have the chance to witness another
live music, theatre or art event or how the current landscape
will frame those experiences in the future. For now, we hold
beautiful memories and that’s okay. MUSIC NOW AND ALWAYS.
Sentimental Post • My Last Pre-Corona Concert
Earlier today my friend Mariana and I talked about the last show each
of us saw before the corona virus. For both of us, it happened to be
Madonna’s Madame X Tour (which I saw in Brooklyn, Mariana in
Lisbon). I’ve been lucky to see Madonna many times and on some
occasions we’ve made eye contact. Every time I’ve stood or sat
in a prime location at a concert venue, I’ve been grateful. I’ve
always understood that viewing or photographing a performance
at close range is privileged access that can’t be taken for granted.
During Madonna’s Madame X shows, photography was banned.
As a result I happily recorded this intimate, theatrical experience
in my memory (without distraction) from my center aisle orchestra
seat. She and I did make eye contact several times however
there was a plot twist. Madonna sang the show closing “I Rise”
while descending a few steps into the audience and (security in
tow) started fist bumping fans as she made her way up the center
aisle. At eye level now and approaching me, I was taken by the
pronounced delicacy of her petite frame. In a slow motion, almost
frozen (yet fleeting) moment I bowed forward, lifted my left fist,
quietly said “Love ya Madonna” and saw her sparkling blue
eyes cut over to mine. No longer under the superficial, illusory
glare of stage lights I could scan the fine lines on her theatrically
cosmetized face. The iconic, painterly artifice on her 61 year old
flesh was humanized in the most beautiful way as she smiled,
her voice still registering into the microphone in her left hand.
Bringing up her right fist, Madonna gently tapped her lace-covered
knuckles against mine. Boom. With that one fist bump, Madonna
punctuated the end of a sentence. For both myself and Mariana
(who also got a fist bump from Ms. Ciccone in Lisbon) this was
the last live interaction either of us would have with an artist in
“the old world” before Covid-19 made large gatherings, human
proximity and casual human contact verboten. Thank you,
Madonna... for everything. Stay safe. I hope to see you and
many of my other favorite artists again soon.
18 May 1980
Ian Curtis of Joy Division
left us 40 years ago today.
If You Know, You Know
From my home to yours. Stay illuminated.
