Toxic Tubes

Here's to hoping this is the first of a set of posts that appear regularly.

Upon return to The Mercy House, I learned that Comcast was wanting to call the installation of a cable modem a "commercial job" even though some previous cable connections are clearly present. Basically that means that, in their mighty corporate power and lust, they are going to charge much more for that. The Interns said "No thanks" to the deal and we will continue to be without our share of the series of tubes for the time being. That's fine with me, as I am quite fond of Anderson's library, but it would definitely be nice to have access to email and this blog at all kinds of random times.

As I made my way to the library earlier, my bike took me through a kind of middle "courtyard" area in downtown Anderson. It's a nice place and quite peaceful. On an edge of the area is a kind of permanent outdoor stage, which was vacant except for my friend/floormate at Taylor/fellow Intern Sam. My camera took some pictures of him and I'm pretty sure he didn't notice. I'd put up some pictures were it not for my inability to do editing on the library computers.

Today consisted centrally of planning out the remaining classes for the "art camp" that the other interns and I are running. We're making weekly visits to the Wilson boys and Girls Club to teach a group of 50 kids (split into groups, thank goodness) a little bit about art. We already had our first "class" last week and spent this morning planning for the four remaining classes/lessons we have left. On the schedule is a day for learning about basic drawing, a day for basic painting/color theory + splatter canvases, a day for architecture (toothpick/pop sickle bridges), and a day for found object sculptures. I am going to try to spearhead the planning for the "drawing" class. The shared vision that we have for that particular class is less focused on drawing and more on understanding that art can be seen both as a realistic pursuit and as a pursuit of expression. Many ideas go through my head for what we can do, but for now I am trying to focus on what is important to (and what would be easy enough to) communicate/transfer.

Tomorrow is a day that I have been waiting a while for. The evening will have me in Muncie at a venue called The Launching Pad to see a band that has grown closer to my heart than I could have ever imagined. Weaver at the Loom is, without second thought, the best band/musician that I have encountered in a very, very long time. I find the music culture that I dwell in to be so very preoccupied with the latest Weezer, the latest Death Cab, the latest Coldplay (rightly so, from a sonic standpoint at least), the latest Sigur Rós. And while I am fully subscribed to this kind of culture, I am first and foremost subscribed to seeking out beauty and depth in music. It is a response out of this depth of my being that I listen to Weaver and am amazed. What is currently up on their myspace profile are the five songs that they worked to perfect for a kind of concept album; my recommendation is that listeners listen to the songs in order from one to five, keeping true with the album. Lastly I would request that listeners not only play the music but that they listen with open ears and an active, open mind. The richness of their music will become evident.

Well...with that recommendation, I'm off. The library computer says that I have four minutes left, so I had better hurry up and publish this thing. I hope to write a more in-depth post about Weaver in the coming weeks, so get your listening on!