Tomato Design Goes Green!

My roommate, Brigitte, and her friend, Alix, had a bake sale to raise cash today, January 2. Here are the photos of their enterprise (they had fun, but nearly froze their noses!) They also made a decent profit, considering that it was late on a very frigid Saturday afternoon.

It’s my turn next! Anyone want to join me?

Here come$ the money!

Customers (at left) eye the goods, while Brigitte (L) and Alix (R) prepare to grab their dough

The goods!

Aquent got off to an early start Thursday with a knock-out Halloween party, complete with spiderwebs, a DJ and great food. Here are some of the costumes (including Yours Truly as a Devil-ess):

The A&M Twins

Space-whatsis

Devil-ess

Hanged nurse

Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters2

Spray those bats with Raid!!

Me in Red & Black

Friday night (10/24) was the best night I could ever imagine: and all thanks to Brenda! She got me a gig at a terrific party at Cipriani Wall Street, whereby we could eat fabulous food, drink as much champagne as we wanted, AND get paid $200 an hour (for 4 hours) for doing quick portraits of the people at the party. What a great way to meet wonderful people from every conceivable corner of the earth!

Brenda and Steve were in the “Blue Zone”; Zito and I had the “Red Zone”. We each had our own “living statue” watching as we furiously scribbled away. There were shadow dancers, sand artists, and character actors who impersonated “artists”. Famous paintings were projected on the ceiling, and a giant palette with crossed brushes was at the door. There was a lively band and lots of dancing (the statues were briefly replaced by dancers on pedestals to get everyone going.) And, of course, there was US! The photos below tell the story:

2 "Statues"

Artist Actors

Swedish Couple

English Model

Blonde2

Shadow Players

My Station

"My" Statue

Ceiling Dome

Steve & Brenda

Chandelier

Steve @Work

Brenda and the Traveling Whatsis . . .

My good buddy (and former boss) Brenda Kato is pictured here in the NYC PA Bus Station, holding a painting by Bren Bataclan. He travels around the world leaving these in conspicuous places with the intention of giving them away to people who will love them. His characters are eccentric (literally!): featuring one large and one small eye.

Brenda has happily installed hers in her painting studio.

For more about this painter spreading happiness worldwide, go to: http://bataclan.com/

This is me networking with my hands . . .

at an event hosted by Jeff Pulver (not pictured), another happy world traveller. He lives in NYC and hosted a networking breakfast for fun people (mainly of a “techie” bent) on 9/10/08 at Friend of a Farmer in Gramercy. In 2008 he travelled the world, hosting over 30 breakfasts in 17 cities in 3 countries. He must really be jet-lagged by now!

Again: why not have fun when you are working? And especially when you’re not?

Keep up the good fun!

Somewhat the same thing happened to me a few years ago. I was walking the dogs and a bagel fell out of the sky at my feet, just missing my head. A crow had dropped it.

— Anne Harkonen, Evanston, IL

Dan:

A year ago I was crossing 23rd St. on the E. side of Park Ave. It was about 9 pm; and just as I reached the exact center of the intersection, there was a loud splat! A piece of American cheese had fallen out of the sky and just missed hitting me in the head. I was too far away from any buildings for it to have come from one of them. And there was nothing in the sky.

Mystery!

But if we had better coordinated our falling food adventures, we could have possibly made a sandwich out of the Flying Cheese Menace and the Flying Buttered Toast.

Next time . . .

This just in, from a fellow designer:

“I ride my new bike all the time now, and I rode 30 miles today. As I was riding through Queens, a buttered piece of bread hit me on the head while I was going through an intersection.

At first I thought someone had thrown it at me, as it hit my head and then lodged itself on my handle bars. But a bird was in flight above me, and actually ‘atom-bombed’ me with the buttered toast bread!

I stopped at the sidewalk after the intersection, and was looking around to see how this could have happened, when I saw a car that had witnessed the entire event. The driver was laughing sooooo hard, and pointed to the sky to indicate that it was the bird. It was so funny that someone actually saw it all go down!

I took a picture of the bread on my bike. . . . At least it was just bread!”

— Thanks to Dan Nelson (of Canada & Brooklyn)

Here we are, up to our eyeballs in vacation season. Yet I hear the tone of “quiet desperation” in the voices of many of my friends and colleagues. It’s not that they don’t have enough work; and it’s not that they don’t have enough money (although, like most people, they think they don’t.) They just don’t seem to be having any FUN.

A few years ago, in Port Antonio, Jamaica (W.I.), I was approached by a man I didn’t know. He wasn’t smiling, and it was during a period of political unrest on the island. As I was the only white person within miles, I looked around to see if there was any place to flee, before resigning myself to the inevitable.

He jogged right up to me, gave me a hard look, and practically shouted in my face:

“Lady! WHY do YOUR PEOPLE always LOOK so f***ing MISERABLE?!?!?”

Nonplussed, I took a step back and stammered,

“I don’t know: but I’ll get back to you on that!”

Years later, the best I can conclude is that he sees a lot of New Yorkers and TriStaters, but I really don’t have an answer as to “Why”. As a native Chicagoan, I have always been astonished at the grimness on the faces of my Fellow Americans from NY and NJ, especially when they are about to board the Grand Central-Times Square Shuttle. That, to me, is the Death Train, if faces are any condition. Those people will NEVER emerge from those cars alive. Take a look: do you agree?

I rarely observe this black depression on the faces of Americans elsewhere in the country (or around the world.) So what IS the problem??

In my humble opinion, there are a few possible causes:

1. We spend most of our waking hours having conversations with people who AREN’T THERE.
[Next time you are out walking, take the time to notice the voices in your head. Notice what they are saying. Then take the time to look up at the buildings you pass and notice the decorative sculpture on their facades. Notice the faces, clothing and bodies of the people around you. Notice the cloud patterns in the sky. Notice what you are about to step in . . .]

2. Pace your steps with your breathing.
[Take full breaths in and out. Count your breaths, if it helps you match your pace to your breathing. Are "out of step" with your body? Are you even forgetting to breathe at times?]

3. Dare to make eye contact and smile at the passers-by.
[Keep track of how many smile back. As I woman I notice that young women almost never return my smile. Is that true for you, too?]

4. Carry a sketchbook or a camera.
[Write down funny dialog fragments you overhear; or even take a seat in the park (on the bus, on the subway) and try to draw something you see a few feet away (don't make your fellow passengers uncomfortable!) Photograph funny signs — and spelling — you maybe haven't noticed before, and send me your images, so I can have a laugh, too. It doesn't have to be "Art": but it will teach you to notice details you never noticed before.]

5. Go to lunch / dinner / for a drink in an (outdoor) café ALONE.
[This is a "mini-vacation." Pretend you are on an exotic island somewhere (after all, most of the tourists around you think they are!) This is also a good time for the sketchbook exercise. Have a short, but meaningful, interview with your wait-person: where are they from? Are THEY having fun? What do they like / hate in a customer? Again, relax and BREATHE. Notice the sky and the changes in it as time passes. Are you beginning to feel content? You might even dare to thank — and hug — your wait-person at the end of your meal (women get away with this better than men.) I am sure you will have fabulous service the next time you go back!]

Did you notice how many times I used the word NOTICE above? That’s the key! The more you ignore your ego and its constant badgering (like a crazed weasel in-law on steroids), and start wholeheartedly engaging in the world around you — as you are living it — the more fun you will start to have.

After all, you are doing this for YOU: and the better you treat yourself . . . well, you get the picture.

Have a great vacation — all year long!

1. First we have the SVA students who wear T-shirts that say, “Moving Things to Nowhere.” And they did just that for a whole afternoon. The “Things” were cardboard boxes painted in primary colors: they stacked them and moved them for the sake of ART. Of course, I helped them.

2. The second Art Project from SVA was a guy named Mike w black jewel cases and displayed the litter on a black foam background. Finally, he bolted the boxes to the trees (without hurting them!), so people could see what trash had been left below. It was a real hoot! People really stopped to view the boxes (it’s 8/3, and I think they’re still there.) My block on 23rd Street is arguably the most littered street in NYC, so it’s good to think a few people considered their sins for a few seconds, at least.

3. Sunday, I ended up having a late brunch at the local diner with a great couple from Alberta, Canada, and they came back to my apartment to see how I live. We may trade places for vacation next year (we’ll see!) Great fun!

4. Finally, there was a great motorcycle club called the Condemned Few (with their families!) They gave me their club so I could view their site, and maybe participate in some of their events (www.condemnedfewmc.com) . Hey: you never know!!

1. Moving Things to Nowhere

1. More heavy moving

1. The official "We Move Things to Nowhere" T-shirt

2. Litter on its "home tree"

2. Litter as "objet d'art"

2. Litter as ART

2. More "trashy art"

2. Penultimate box

2. End of Project

3. Al and Sandy from Alberta, Canada

4. Two of the "Condemned Few"