Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Out of Jail


Have I really not been here since June 14? That's what happens when you're arrested for vandalism to public property and have to wait for the Man on the Ladder to post bail. This is the sad sequence of events:

I was visited at the gallery by two bloggers:

C. M. Jackson, of
States of Mine

Kate, of
Visual St. Paul

It was a fun time, until those two, inspired by my previous post, decided to paint the town red. Literally. As she was being handcuffed, Kate broke down, sobbing. She shared with me she hadn't quite gotten that post. She hadn't seen I was joking, poor thing. Apparently neither did C.M. My heart went out. I took the rap. I did the jail-time.


Here I am, almost five months later, a free woman, hardened a bit. I smoke Marlboros. I've lost my patience with the little niceties in life. I guzzle milk straight from the jug. I wipe my white mustache on my sleeve. I'm tough as nails.

So here's a recap of what's been happening since June 14 (aside from the rotting in jail):

The Man on the Ladder, who appears to be applying graffiti, actually patched and painted the entire exterior of our house. We now live in a house painted the color known as "La Luz," one of the seventeen shades of brown allowed by our neighborhood covenants. Every house in the neighborhood is an adobe or a pretend adobe, and the houses nestle into the high desert landscape quite nicely. Our new trim color is sage and I realize I don't have a picture of the new, improved exterior. One of these days.

Climbing down from the ladder, the man was joined by his cousin Paul, visiting from Chicago, in the very ambitious project of installing a cherry floor in our bedroom. Here they are, basking in the satisfaction of a job well done...

Notice they're standing near a wall they can collapse against. It was a big project.

I took this painting, well past the expiration date, from the gallery to hang in the new bedroom...

Gazing at it first thing in the morning lifts my spirits if I do say so.

We enjoyed our share of magnificent high-desert sunsets...

Paul snapped this one from our bedroom balcony. To see more of his photographs, go here.

I published a story in the summer issue of Dream Network Journal, an eclectic quarterly focusing on somewhat scholarly pieces about, yup, dreaming, as well as personal accounts of interesting dreams. Mine was the latter. A one-page reproduction of my painting "Wanderer" appears in that issue too. They're open to anyone's dream musing, particularly that of prisoners, so my work was accepted almost immediately.

Turned 57 last month. Shudder. Received some interesting gifts, among them a life-size replica of a severed human foot. I was told it came from the state medical examiner's office. No, I am NOT kidding. Don't have a picture of it. Yet. Snapping one's on my to-do list, and posting it too.

Here's my beautiful cake, created by Flan...

Chocolate buttermilk cake.
Chocolate ganache frosting.
Raspberry filling.
Crowned by sculptures of praline brittle riddled with cacao nibs.
Extraordinary!

Found good homes for a few paintings, among them this one, which was a bit of a departure for me, depicting semi-recognizable objects from the natural world...

Disappearing Beasts
acrylic on canvas, 36" x 24"

private collection, Tallahassee

Summer was good. Fall is too. It's good to be back in blogland.

65 comments:

Leslie Avon Miller said...

The warden must not have delivered your cake with a saw baked in it. I sent it on your birthday. He probably wanted it for himself...
Love the painting in your bedroom with the lovely cherry floors.

Carol said...

San! You're back! I almost drove myself down to N.M. to look for you!

Guess I wouldn't have thought to look for you in the jail, though...

A belated Happy Birthday to you! Was it celebrated after your release or did you have to have your cake smuggled into the jail?

Happy to hear from you again!

BTW, Beautiful floor you have there!

Raven said...

Nice to see you again. Sounds like life has been busy and eventful. Belated happy birthday!

Love the painting as usual...

Congrats on being published. I got interviewed by a lady from the New York Times but she wrote this morning to tell me that I got cut out of the story. Sigh. Fame always eludes me.

Maggie May said...

Wondered what had happened to you!
Glad you are OK.
Belated Happy Birthday!
Nice pics!
Maggie X

Nuts in May

Daryl said...

Wonderful to see you!

ellen abbott said...

glad to see you back.

Jeannette StG said...

I'll add to the others congrats to your birthday! Glad you're back in blogland!:)

San said...

Well, Leslie, what can I say? Your saw came in handy. You always had a way with implements.

San said...

Carol, we celebrated in the cell, but no candles were allowed. Just as well because of the fire hazard.

Happy to be here again!

San said...

Raven, I wish you would post about your NYT interview. Or did you and I missed it in my extended absence?

San said...

Maggie, I'm glad I'm OK too. And so glad to see you here!

San said...

Hi Daryl!

San said...

Glad to see you here, Ellen.

San said...

Thanks, Jeannette. I'll have to run over and see what you've been up too...

becky said...

You DID NOT go to Jail for 5 months! Did you? Seriously. I couldn't picture Kate in handcuffs... so you MUST be just entertaining us with reasons why you've been gone? Say it ain't so.
Well, Happy Birthday... it happens to the best of us if we are lucky!
:)

San said...

Becky, thanks for the birthday wishes. In answer to your question: I was in jail in a parallel universe. Does that count?

david mcmahon said...

As an (geographically) isolated Australian blogger, I know how special it is to meet other bloggers.

It was a great treat to meet up with DarylE in NYC in June and she got to meet the whole Authorblog clan.

What a huge project yours has been, San ... by the way, I recognise that Monoploy card from my early childhood!

Welcome back. And yes, thank you too, for the visit and the comment. I was away for more than a year before I decided to come back to the blogging community I know so well.

San said...

David, I'm glad you're back. And I guess that Monopoly card does date us at that. : )

andrea said...

Oh my! A foot! I want to SEE it!! (I need my own HBO show I think.) As for 'fags', you aren't really hardened until you start smoking Players Plain (do they even make them any more?) -- or French cigs like Galoises or Gitanes.

Lori Skoog said...

San...you are back and even sent me a comment! I am honored. What a delinquent you have been. The good news...you are still alive and well.
Looks to me like a lot of work has been going on...but talk about a L O N G vacation from us!

Maggie Neale said...

San, I'm glad you're back too...so enjoy your posts, feeling the humor. The floor is gorgeous, the men too, and that painting certainly works in your waking view. Enjoy!

Sparkling Red said...

Boy, that is some cake. How is he ever going to top that next year?

Glad to have you back. :-)

Blue Sky Dreaming said...

Always good to have the bedroom beautiful and those cherry floors and painting are the best. Love the wall color too!
So glad you are back and humming...that chocolate cake will have you humming all the way through November! Happy Birthday and Happy Blogland Return!

Shrinky said...

Hey, welcome back girl, you've been sorely missed! I do think it was very noble of you to lose your liberty in the name of friendship (smile).

That cake is a true work of art!

Hilary said...

Welcome back, San. So good to see your post pop up in my reader and your smiling face appear in my comments. And a belated happy birtday to you.

Sandi McBride said...

Jail, poor San, is not the place for a woman of gentle breeding and talents unfathomed. If only I had known, perhaps I could have smuggled in a file in a luscious Banana Split Cake (lol)...your paintings certainly do not have an expiration date, I'm sure you could have sold it to raise the bail to get your dignified butt out of jail!!!!
Can't wait to see the further pics of the paint job (it is paint not bank right>) along with the trim colors...
hugs
Sandi

Caterina Giglio said...

LOL! and the foot, well that is a most interesting gift, as to the age well, I am only one ahead of you!! but it is our senior year, we gotta play! happy birthday and glad you are back!

sukipoet said...

you and Martha Stewart might have a lot to talk about! Glad you are out. Happy birthday. Mine was last month too.

lovely floors. Paintings. decor. enjoy the fall.

jelly beans said...

nice sunsets!

http://kammyjey.blogspot.com

~Babs said...

So much to absorb in this post,,,,suffice it to say I am doing the Happy Dance seeing you back!
So glad to hear you didn't meet up with Big Bertha while incarcerated; you don't wanna mess with Big Bertha,,,you might have missed this happy birthday!

That Flan cake is just awesome,,looks sooo rich.

I adore the floors,,,but that painting looks just perfectly right on the spot. Fits beautifully,,in all ways.

Welcome, welcome,,,,,,back.

myonlyphoto said...

OMG I think I was going to send rescue after you or come over and look after you, lol. Really that was long, but since you didn't give any notice I figure you will be back. Nice to hear from you, and thanks for the update, but jail, lol, that is worst than a spider and the mouse together. I really like the painting in your bedroom, but more then one that found the new home. Glad to hear from you my friend. Anna :)

San said...

Andrea, you definitely need your own HBO show. I'd forgotten about you and the foot thread. Shudder.

San said...

Lori, delinquent is the operative word. : )

San said...

Maggie, I am going to pass on your comments to the gorgeous men in question. They will enjoy that.

San said...

Spark, it was my daughter who made the cake. She has a talent for that kind of thing, and I look forward to her topping it next year. She just had her own birthday and I'm afraid the cake we got for her was a comedown.

San said...

Mary Ann, thanks for your generous wishes. The photo doesn't do justice to the bedroom, but it has become a very special haven.

San said...

Shrinky, I agree. That cake is a work of art--for the eyes, the nose, and the tongue. Probably even the ears and the fingertips.

San said...

Thanks, Hilary. It's really good to have you here.

San said...

Sandi, I actually located a couple of pictures of the exterior paint and trim. Will post later, now that I'm hitting myself for not posting bail with the painting.

San said...

Senior year is right, La Dolce Vita. And whatever you're taking, I want a supply of. You look fabulous for senior year. Or freshman year for that matter.

San said...

Suki, we're having a glorious fall here. Unusually mild but with the abundance of golden light that is typical this kind of year.

Yes, Martha and I must talk.

San said...

Thanks for visiting, melocoton.

San said...

Babs, I'm doing the happy dance seeing you here and counting my lucky stars I steered clear of Big B.

San said...

Anna, you're right: had I decided to stop blogging altogether, I would've posted such. I've just been happily slacking. But I've missed you.

p said...

you are the only one i know that can completely ignore your blog and us all...and come back to so many comments. you are loved.
all the work and painting....wow. fantastic!
i am so dang gullible i really dont know if you were in jail or not. i believe everything you say you know.
congrats on the dream publishing piece! thanks for sailing over to my world too ;) xo xo

San said...

Paula, it's all a blur. Was I in jail? Wasn't I in jail? Memory fails.

xoxo

jsd said...

Glad you had a wonderful renovating summer, and happy belated birthday!

San said...

J.S., thank you! Now we've started on the other bedrooms. It's never-ending, but the results are nice.

Poetic Artist said...

I have missed you. It does seem you have been very busy..I like your new floor and I like the color of the walls.. Also the painting is wonderful.. If it expires and you get tired of it.
I will welcome it in my home..LOL.
xoxo
Katelen

Just Be Real said...

Glad to have your return. You have been truly been busy. Blessings and thank you.

Sabi Sunshine said...

wow finally you are back......... you were in Jail right hahaha it's been really good to see you back!

A very happy belated birthday to you!

Have a beautiful day!

Love
Sabi Sunshine

lime said...

well a belated happy birthday and welcome back from jail, you hardened criminal, you. sounds like there has indeed been lots to keep you busy....dreams? i dream of that cake....mmmmmm......

Akelamalu said...

WOW a lot's happened since you were last here, not least you had a birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY M'DEARIO!

Your cake looks and sounds delicious!

I love the floor in your bedroom, such a beautiful colour and the painting goes so well.

I'm happy you're back. x

La Petite Gallery said...

I am still trying to figure out why you went to the clink?
I better reread it. You do nice paintings..
Thanks for stopping by.

yvonne

Velvet Over Steel said...

Thank you for visiting me today! So I could of course find you. :-) Very glad that you are back in blogland too! Following!

Cute post & great beginning! Too funny!

Happy be-lated birthday! Your looked so Good!!!

Have a Wonderful weekend!!
Hugs,
Coreen

SandyCarlson said...

You've been busy in delightful, beautiful ways. I am so glad to hear from you and to glimpse your world again. Thanks for touching my day with your humor, too.

Sandi McBride said...

Just me again, hoping that you've taken up the pen again, lol.
I've promised to be a better blogger, too.
hugs
Sandi

layers said...

looks like you have had a very busy summer- jail not withstanding- with remodels and gallery sales and birthday celebrations- happy fall time.

aims said...

And I missed you too! Chalk me up to be one of those who spent the summer imprisoned by ones own desires.....

Lee said...

Gee, San, you have indeed been busy! Sorry I didn't catch this last week. I was busy with my course work and trying, but not succeeding, to get trained to score a writing project at Pearson. At least I recognize good writing when I read it! Seems I'm just horrid at holding writers to predefined standards. LOL Love the painting. I've missed seeing them so I guess it's time to visit the gallery page again.

Love,
Lee

murat11 said...

Welcome back and good to have you back, though I am an itinerant blogger myself these days. I dig the ascending fauna painting: prison certainly brings out the best in your Muse. I like the photos of that halfway house you're living in, too. Makes me want to paint a town tangerine, see if can get similar digs to pay off my debt to society in. Vaya con dios, amiga.

Sabi Sunshine said...

Dear San

Stopping by to say Hello ! How are you doing?

Sabi Sunshine said...

San waiting for your new post..Are you gone again..?

Seth said...

Welcome back. And what a wonderful post. Well worth the wait!!

Priyanka said...

I loved reading your page. A life with a view.I loved all those pictures. Thank you for sharing.