Saturday, November 13, 2010

Observations from the Road 11.13

A gorgeous fall day in central Pennsylvania with radiant sun light reflecting off the foliage in its last blaze of color before the end comes. And why am I back in central Pennsylvania? I was there to watch field hockey of course. The few remaining swathes of reds, oranges, and yellows cover the distant mountains as I sit in the stadium and watch as my sister's team won their semi final game in the state playoffs.

At the start it looked to be a blowout as they ran out to a 4-0 lead. But it never seems to be that easy and soon the score was 4-3 and the nail biter was on. I can't handle many more of these games because between texting and, well, nail biting my nails are a shadow of what they once were. But when it ended my sis was but two wins away from being a state champion. Tenth seed in their district to state champions would be all but unthinkable but yet so close to happening. Even now they can finish no worse than fourth in the state. I honestly don't have words to describe how good it feels or how proud I am of her.

Now the Penn State - Ohio State football game, I'm just going to stay as far away from this topic as possible. This game being the reason I'll be spending the night semi drunkish at my dad's instead of in the Village in my nice big bed. It's going to be a long drive to work in the morning.

I'm going back a little here but I never got around to writing about my visit to the 2010 New York Art Book Fair. The fair, which was held last weekend at PS1, over 200 publishers showing rare books, new books, used books, magazines, and other media of all sorts. For a couple of years I have wanted to get to the fair but never found myself in the city at the right time. I almost missed it again this time but got to it on the final day. One amazing thing about the fair was the buzz in the air which was louder than any show or gallery opening I have been at before.

I purposely went with very little cash because I knew what was going to happen and I totally don't need more books stacked around my bed. Still I left with my backpack filled to the breaking point. You go to a something like this and just have to wonder why people are always talking about print being dead as a media outlet as the three floors of this converted school building were so filled with book lovers that at times it was hard to move. One of my fav spots was the Gotebud with its “You Are Her” collection of hundreds of zines created by women, most of them affiliated with the Riot Grrrl punk movement. Goteblud, a San Francisco gallery owned by Matt Wobensmith, had a room all its own that I was told was almost as big as the gallery's store.

I stopped across the street for a cup of coffee to relax before heading to at the gallery and I have to say one thing. It was possibly the only cup of coffee I ever had that was worse than what I make.

Life goes on

Neil Young - Like A Hurricane