Succumbing to the witch's wiles

At long last, The Ester Republic has succumbed to Palin mania and put up a cover with her visage on it. Jamie Smith couldn't stand it anymore and did a simply lovely take on poor martyred Sarah, and wrote up a little rant to go with it on his blog. The man's outdone himself this time. I especially like the tiny American flag pin on her breast; an excellent detail and anachronism (along with the weapons on the pyre, but those are far more obvious).

Music weekend! Build a library with a song

I have been practicing my ukulele like crazy the last week. Well, I should have been practicing like crazy, since the Banana Girls Marching Ukulele Band has a gig this Saturday, but in point of fact I have only been practicing like crazy for the last two nights. They're mostly songs I know, so I should be okay. Last night I confused myself a little by going back to my baritone. I quickly returned to my lovely concert uke—trouble at the festival if I forget which instrument I'm playing!

The Ester library is having its fifth music festival on Saturday (that's August 21st, all you music lovers, from 2 till who knows when—the BGs are appearing at 3 pm at Hartung Hall). I'm planning on making a pie for the pie contest, too.

The library has consumed an increasing amount of my time. I have to say, it's wonderful. Makes me feel like I'm doing something not only useful, but worthwhile in a lasting sense. Years from now, decades from now, the organizing that the library board is doing will have tangible results. There will be a building, an actual library that people in Ester can walk or bike to. It will have art on its walls, its grounds, in its very structure, that is made by Ester artists. The collections will have all kinds of information about Ester, and, because Ester residents have donated the books and movies and puzzles and games that are on its shelves, it will be particularly suited to the interests of the local populace.

Volunteers have come out of the woodwork to help on the library. Sometimes, I must admit, I feel quite grumpy about lack of help on this or that project, but when I sit back and think about it, really a lot of people do come to the various events and work parties and whatnot. Organizing records and volunteers is a lot of work in itself, but when people work on a project together, it creates a real sense of ownership and pride. It builds community, and something like a library is an amazing thing that will give back to the village, and keep on giving.

Volunteering is on the rise, fortunately:

Both the number of volunteers and the volunteer rate rose over the year ended in September 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. About 63.4 million people, or 26.8 percent of the population, volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2008 and September 2009. In 2008, the volunteer rate was 26.4 percent.

I think this is true in Ester, too, where community participation has always been high, but lately seems to be increasing.

Monique Musick came up with a beautiful phrase that fits the LiBerry Music Festival perfectly: "Build a library with a song." And that's what every one of the musicians playing this Saturday are doing: they are volunteering their time and skill to help build a library. Everyone who comes and donates at the door or enters a pie or bids on a judgeship or a pie is helping to build their community library.

And it'll be FUN!

Lallapalooza leftovers

This Friday is First Friday, when all the galleries have their new show openings. One of my favorite local artists, Inari Kylänen, is going to be at the Annex, along with the Lens Fest show. I've been seeing it go up, and the photos are really wonderful. Some marvelous portraits. Inari's paintings are fantastic (in several senses) and I'm already figuring out how I can purchase one...the big problem is making a choice!

Anyhoo, upstairs will be the Lallapalooza Leftovers Sale, in Studio 9 at the top of the stairs. This was Nancy Burnham's suggestion, and I think it's a great idea. Every year we have a few things that came too late to get into the Librarypalooza auctions, or that didn't go but are still really cool, and then we have to try to get them back to the donors or hold on to them for a year. This year, however, we'll be holding a sale! There are several pairs of shoes from the Footwear Fashion Flaunt, lots of nifty books, some pottery, paintings, a pastel, library t-shirts and sweatshirts, a few gift certificates, sturdy jackets, CDS by local musicians, quilted pillows and a wall hanging, jewelry, some cool origami, and a whole bunch more.

And, if I can find them, the last couple of official 2010 Republic of Ester citizenship cards!

La lalla la la la

Lallapalooza-ing marcheth on! Got a call from the University of Alaska Press, saying that they have a box of books for us to pick up for the library fundraiser. I keep forgetting they are at the Wells Fargo building. They've redone their website, and it's a VAST improvement over the old monster they had.

A bunch of artists have donated works to this year's lallapalooza. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them: Rachelle Dowdy, Sandy Gillespie, Tatiana Piatanova, Anne Sherman, Judie Gumm, Alex Lewandoski, Tom & Nelda Nixon, Monique Musick, plus a whole raft of shoemakers.

Archie's eyes

I created this for my InDesign class last year, basing it on the photo of Archie, below.

Archiecat

Well, yesterday was a bummer. Our twelve-year-old cat, Archie, had to be put down. He had, it seemed, developed a tumor on his layrnx, which led to slightly louder snoring and a little bit of whuffling over the last few months (not really noticeable), and then yesterday a sudden inability to breathe. He sounded like he'd swallowed a kazoo--every breath was an effort. The tumor had reached sufficient size that it flopped over and practically closed his trachea off, and the pressure made a vibration which came out like a musical wheeze or honk.

We contemplated driving him down to Anchorage for surgery, but after the vet here consulted with a surgeon down there (no one in Fairbanks is qualified to do this type of operation, evidently), it was pretty clear he was a goner. So we took him back home, and a kind veternarian from Mt. McKinley Animal Hospital stopped by on his way home from work and gave Archie a lethal injection.

Then we made him a casket and buried him with some catnip in the garden. It seemed the right thing to do. Simply burying him in the ground wasn't right. It would have messed up his fur. Hans went and got a bunch of big stones and made a ring around the grave, and we will fill it with good garden soil next year and plant catnip. Archie was an intelligent, friendly cat, and a companion, and it makes me cry to think about all this.

A while ago, I put the photo above onto Wikimedia, into the public domain. I also used this photo to create an illustration of his eyes. The photo is one of two that I have of him. I painted a portrait of him that sold to the Aurora Animal Clinic, I think, many years ago when he was only a couple of years old. So he'll be around.

"I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?"
Death thought about it.
"Cats," he said eventually. "Cats are nice."

--Terry Pratchett, Sourcery

Flamingo Man

The mysterious Flamingo Man was last spotted at this weekend's birthday bash (theme: Pink) for Raz, held in the deep woods off Chena Pump Road. While ordinarily he'd stick out like a fuscia bird in a flock of white, he was relatively tame in comparison to some of the other guests, and so was able to mingle unobtrusively.

Evolution: when things move

As in, when papers and office furniture and art and equipment and lamps and more papers and tools and boxes and books and newspapers and more papers are Moved.

Ironically, now that I have moved my office into a wifi zone, ACS (the Phone Company) called me and let me know that I am, as of a half-hour previous, DSL-approved once again at my house and did I still want the service? Sigh. Oh, sure, I said, I have to get another computer anyway...

On to the photos of the Orifice. The color field atop this post is a detail of my desktop. As in, my actual desk's actual top. None of this virtuality, here. This is real paint (lots of toxic cadmium colors in there) on a real desk. Well, not a real real desk, more a door laid on its side and used as a desk, painted by yours truly.

Next, the Large Painting, "Humpback Airship over Ester Ditch Road," by Somer Hahm. I love this painting. It's from the MFA show here at the Annex last year. The two small ones to the right of it are by Somer, too.


Then, the Ad Woman's Corner. (She's downstairs with the roo-dog, Cyril, and John Henry, Ester Wifi Man.)


And last, the corner lamp and the back o' the door, still with plenty of real estate to be bedecked with posters, notes, cartoons, and placards.

Whoosh! gone to the printer like a boîte de Banania!

The April issue of the Republic has gone to the printer and the PDF edition has gone to the various subscribers who get it that way. Whew. Hard-copy subscriptions to go out this weekend, probably. Here's the cover, in the meantime, for those of you who like a sneak peek:

The cover photo was taken by Leah M. Hill, of some assemblage/found art on her sister Hannah's house. I love that Banania drink poster. Cheerful, unadulterated pop racist culture in a handy, well-designed and branded package…French, colonialist identification of Senegalese blacks, with an evident parallel in Aunt Jemima and maple syrup. Alain Mabancko, novelist and poet, has an interesting entry about it on his (old) blog (in French, note) with 55 comments. The drink is made from cocoa, banana flour, sugar, grain, and honey, and mixed with milk. The French Wikipedia entry on it has more extensive history and commentary, with some great links to art, games, and the company site.

The placement of the poster within the various empty frames makes this a rather interesting piece. Great social commentary...

Ten years of crazed publishing

Yes, it's coming up this Saturday at the Golden Eagle Saloon: The Ester Republic's Tenth Anniversary Birthday Bash! I am frantically getting ready for this party. Fortunately, Su Tate has been helping me with putting up posters and spreading postcards thither and yon, and simply organizing everthing.

The Schedule:

• 7 pm: the Party Begins, with nacho bar (I'm making black bean salsa), keg o' beer, and potluck. Bring your favorite eats!
• 8 pm: the Publisher announces her Picks for the year, and a few all-time faves for the decade. Awards and prizes presented.
• 9 pm: the Slippin' Mickeys, playing Irish tunes with a rock edge. (Kelly Louden tells me that almost none of their songs were written after the 1930s.)
• 11 pm: the Bac'unry Bruthers, yer favorite bouncy jug band.

Collector's items of various sorts will be available for sale, but mostly there will be eating, drinking, dancing, and making merry. Ye Olde Editor hopes that you all will be able to make it through the Great Quantities of Snow to Attend what will surely be the Republic's Shindig of Shindigs, not to be repeated unless we make the twenty-year mark.

Sometime late at night your favorite local publisher will collapse from exhaustion, but she plans to be well fed and well danced before that point.

The poster has been going up all over town. I commissioned it from Corwyn Wilkey, player in and designer for Sweatin' Honey. Definitely worth every penny:

Apron Parade

I can't sew very well, so I won't be one of the people contributing an apron to the Lallapalooza apron parade, but Hans is planning to do one with duct tape and blue tarp. Possibly with bits of Carhartt, too. We'll see. People keep chortling and snorting when I ask them about their aprons, so my suspicion is that the fashion show will be rather fun this year. We went to visit Material Girls and Northern Threads, and those hand-painted fabrics are enough to make me almost want to get out the sewing machine. All those pretty colors! Hoo. Hard to resist. I suspect I won't, but probably won't sew with them....coming to a collage near you!

It takes all the running you can do…

"… to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!" —The Red Queen, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll)

Yes. Well, that's me right now. The lallapalooza seems to be shaping up nicely, and all sorts of interesting auction items are coming in. Hans is doing most of the solicitation, but Debbie is working on the dessert people and Amy is rounding up apron-makers. (The dessert auction and the apron show are gonna be kick-ass!)

I was in the midst of finishing up the February Republic when I got a call from Rep. Guttenberg's office about the grant request I'd sent in a couple of months ago to get starter money for the library building. I'd requested too little, of course (I seem to have inherited my mother's Yankee scrime muscles), but it seems that the federal stimulus package does include money for libraries, so we adjusted the request and submitted it, along with several letters of support, to Senator Begich's office, in the hopes that he'll support (and then that we'll get) funding for the Ester library.

It's a funny thing. I realized yesterday, as we were heading home, that the library is far more important to me than The Ester Republic, say, or my art. The Ester library is something that can benefit a lot of people for a long, long time, in a lot of ways. It feels like a Right Thing.

I get a little worried when I think about how small the actual membership is (i.e., that we won't get taken seriously simply because we are such a small library), but we live in a small community, and still, people all over use it. So although the membership is around 150, the actual population it could serve is around two to three thousand. Of course, small and local is what a local community library is all about. (One of the things I absolutely LOVED about Seattle was the network of neighborhood libraries throughout the city. It was absolutely great. Such a pedestrian-friendly place, despite the population and square acreage.)

Unfortunately, as I said in the proposal, it can't really serve the population adequately because we are crammed into such a tiny space. There's just not enough room to make proper use of the library. (We NEED a couch--but first, we need space in which to put it! Plus all those books--about twice as many as we currently have space for!)

The meeting to vote on incorporation is this Sunday (take note, dear readers: Hartung Hall, 4 pm, downtown Ester). Plus, Matt Prouty of USKH is going to be there with the new and improved version of the new and improved concept of the building. (Gary Pohl is taking a well-deserved vacation in Hawaii, although he foolishly brought his cell phone with him so people at work could call him. Thoughtful and all that, but I can't imagine he was too happy about the rush estimate that Begich's office needed us to provide--we had to ask him a couple of questions on it.) As I told Jared VanderWeele, who sent the estimate to me, these guys ROCK!

Lallapalooza Quintus

Yes, it's that lovely time of year again when, in anticipation of wildly optimistic building plans, the librarians put on the shindig of all library fundraising blowouts, the FIFTH ANNUAL JOHN TRIGG ESTER LIBRARY LALLAPALOOZA & BOOK BASH !!!!

Last year's was our best ever. This time we're holding it a little early: Sunday, March 1, although at the usual time of day, from 1 to 6:30 pm.

So this year, we will once again be at the Annex, and there will be music (of course), dance (and very nifty dance, too), food (you bet!), lots of cool items in silent auctions (including books, of course), and once again a fashion show! (We're thinking about a dessert auction, too...)

The fashion show will feature aprons. Amy Cameron is organizing this: aprons can be made of anything (paper, cloth, vinyl, whathaveyou) but must be wearable. Makers get to model their own apron (or dragoon a friend into modeling it for them) and then after the catwalk the aprons will be placed on a table and made available for silent auction. All proceeds go to the library. These fashion shows are always great fun. This year we're going to try to get some live music or a DJ to accompany the model/artists strutting their stuff, so it ought to be even more fun than usual. Contact Amy at Bad White Dog, or call 479-0209.

The lallapalooza is the main fundraiser for the library; with it we paid off the land in only three years (well, that and help from the Ester Community Association's land fund). We've now got our gazebo (mostly) and need to generate a LOT of funds so we can get started on the main building. Grants will take care of some of it, but the lallapalooza is where we get our community support. So (can you tell I'm one of the abovementioned librarians?) clear your schedule and come on out for the lallapalooza! Hoo!

Color madness in the kitchen

Back in October, I promised you all some photos of what happens to undefended kitchen cabinets and drawers when somebody has been cooped up too long with a lot of bright acrylic paints. Well, here you go:

Library meeting today

Here I am, blogging when I should be working on my editorial or getting ready for the library meeting today at 3 pm, down at Hartung Hall. Hans ran down to heat the place up about an hour ago. He's not back yet, which makes me wonder. Gary Pohl and Matt Prouty will be bringing the new design for the Ester library; I'm very excited! Hoo!

After the meeting, Monique's going to be having a slide show of her photos from China down at the Eagle (5 pm). That ought to be interesting.

I'll post more here when I know what's up.

Cartoonist's literary reading

Jamie Smith, cartoonist and wiseacre, will be giving a literary reading on Saturday, January 3rd, 7 pm at the Bear Gallery at Alaskaland (a.k.a. "Pioneer Park" for you newcomers to Fairbanks). (Whose bright idea was it to hold one of these right after New Year's?) This is part of the Fairbanks Arts Association Reading Series. Jamie is an instructor of drawing and sequential art at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and a regular contributor to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, The Ester Republic, and now the Anchorage Press.

It may seem odd at first blush, but cartoons and literature are not mutually exclusive. Jamie's presentation will be on "Image + Text", a quick & dirty introduction to the field of sequential art, plus a show & tell of some classic & contemporary examples + discussion of graphic novels.

One example of the literary power of the medium that comes to mind right off the bat is Maus: A Survivor's Tale, by Art Spiegelman, about the difficult relationship between a survivor of the Holocaust and his son (among other things). There are others that I'm sure you can come up with.

The talk ought to be interesting, and should broaden the perspectives of would-be writers. (One problem many graphic novel authors have is in being accepted as "real" writers by the rest of the literary crowd. Same prejudice exists with regard to cartooning and sequential art as "real" art. Still, these attitudes are slowly fading as people become more informed about the medium and good-quality works become available to a larger audience.)

Christmas events

'Tis the season for happenings, parties, events, and crowds! So, starting the weekend, the Ester events are:

Christmas lantern-making, at Hartung Hall, 3 pm, this Saturday, December 13. Adults can come but must be accompanied by a kid. Hans did this a couple of years ago and decided he wanted to do it again. It's a paper lantern-making workshop, essentially. There's a German holiday, St. Martin's Day, in which a man dressed as St. Martin rides a horse and leads a procession of kids (who all carry candlelit paper lanterns) through the streets. This takes place on November 11, but Hans figured it would be fun to do it for caroling.

Caroling and Stone Soup starts at the Eagle on Sunday, 4 pm, December 14. Bring your parboiled vegetables or already cooked meat for the pot, and come sing. (Singing usually starts a little later.) We have songbooks that include Christmas songs, old pagan songs, Hannukkah songs, and just plain old winter songs.

The Cookie Exchange is at Hartung Hall again this year, Tuesday the 16th, at 6 pm I think. This is lots of fun. Bring a few dozen cookies, and take away a few dozen.

The Office Christmas Party and White Elephant Exchange at my job SNRAS is a heck of a lot of fun. We're holding it on the 17th this year, so I have to find a good white elephant gift to bring. Not in Ester, of course, but I'll be going to this. Unlimited steals!

Putt & Bob are having their solstice party on the 20th, Saturday.

Solstice is on Sunday the 21st! The Eagle is hosting a beer tasting on this night.

The Golden Eagle White Elephant Gift Exchange & Party is on Christmas Eve, which is Wednesday. (Only three thefts allowed.) We go up to my dad's place and slay a tree to ensure the return of the sun.

Christmas Day feast and paper-thrashing extravaganza.

New Year's Eve at the Eagle!

The EFL Snow Bowl and, probably, the EHL New Year Skate-A-Thon (or whatever we end up calling it) are on New Year's Day.

Lots o' fun, food, and silliness.

Running in place

Well, not really. But it sure feels like it. Both Hans and I have been sick--that deceptively mild cold that gives you a runny nose and makes you tired, tired, tired--and yet a ton of things seem to be happening, or not happening. I'm up to my eyeballs in things to do. Lessee:

1. Car froze up. Or rather, the lock did, so it wouldn't start. Put key in, no turning. Hence, no ignition. We had to get it towed to the car dealership, where it will sit until October 9, when the part comes in, and maybe will be ready at some point after that. Part of our warranty includes a loaner car while we wait for our vehicle to be repaired. So Hans went in (taking a cab to do so, $35 one way), but guess what? He hasn't got a credit card, so no, the warranty won't be applied to our situation. Imagine a very very very steamed Teutonic type carpenter guy. With a cold, and a beard, and bits of sawdust all over him starting to smoke. He took the cab back (another $35), because the shuttle guy was off work. We are very unhappy with dealer. They aren't going to reimburse us for the cab ride. Not even half of it. But they didn't tell us we needed a credit card. So now I'm going to be calling our insurance and the Honda national service center about this. Automobiles make a tremendous difference in day-to-day life and livelihood.

2. Readers on the Run. Happening this Sunday. Yer friendly library volunteer is not yet starting to panic, but she'll get there, never fear. Marjorie Kowalski Cole has volunteered to be our magnetic poetry judge. I've got to come up with an appropriate costume for the event: something warm, since I'll be outside from 9 am on! Ed assures me that runners are indeed cracked enough to race on snow (my description, not his--he thinks it a sane event).

3. the Annex Gallery show opened last Friday. This meant madly trying to get something together for that. The first plan, a glass bookshelf, fell through, but Hans is still working on it. I ended up making two window/glass collages. I rather like them. Didn't go to the opening though because I a) was sick and b) had no transport (see #1).

4. Actual painting happened in the kitchen. I couldn't stand it. I had to finish something, anything, paint in bright colors. So I did, yesterday. Photos will follow.

5. InDesign course. I'm already behind. Somehow this happened even though I was ahead last week (having caught up from being behind the week before...). GACK!

6. Work. Perpetually behind on that, don't you know. Well, I go in tomorrow and we'll see where I get.

7. Self-defense for women. There are two classes here, one this Sunday, yesterday, that I bagged out of that to go paint (see #4) and next Sunday, which I might actually get to. Been a while since I've done martial arts or self-defense practice.

8. Republic. Behind already on this month. Gack again!

Hence, hardly any posting on the blog in the last fortnight. Will attempt to rectify this, although my fans don't seem to have noticed that I'm not here...drat.

Ester market today

Yep, the third Third Thursday is upon us, and the August Ester Village Farmers and Craft Market. We've had two so far, one in June and one in July. They've been fun, and last time we had live music, too. Here's some photos from the previous ones.



In June, Tobias (ye olde Badde Whyte Dogge) became cover dog for The Ester Republic with this classic canine pose (photo taken by Amy Cameron).

The market was pretty small to start, but we did better than expected and it was a nice sunny day. We set up on the lawn off the village square. Kate Billington and I shared a tent; I sold books and papers and plant starts and library t-shirts, and she sold spices and plant starts and library t-shirts. We did pretty good.



In July, we had several new vendors (twice as many, in fact). This was Jessica and Sammi's table (photo taken by Monique Musick).

And of course, we had greenery, from Matt Springer and Rosie Creek Farm, and other food items (honey, spices, etc.). I spent too much...



This is Amy and her kids near the Rosie Creek Farm stand (photo by Monique).

That's my cartoonist...

Jamie's going to be giving a talk on his 25 years of cartooning in Alaska at Schaible Auditorium next week, Wednesday evening at 7 pm. Here's the poster he worked up for it. Makes a publisher proud. Or perhaps mortally embarrassed. Can't figure out which one quite yet.



I note, however, that he mentions only the Other Paper on this particular poster. Might be that they're footing the bill, but I don't know that they're doing that...