how to travel with a smile

cotton candy in brooklyn

Brooklyn Bridge stop	August proved to be a tough month for travel. I abandoned more trips than I have completed. It has also forced us to be a bit more creative in our route choices as standby passengers. If you can’t go directly to CLT, you have to try to go through MCI or PHL or some place you really really don’t want to get stuck. So to get to LGA for this overnight with The Pilot, I went through MCI and Shanghai.
	On the way to New York City, The Pilot was actually the pilot. Mid-flight he left the flight deck to use the restroom and threw me some sugar. Well, it was pseudo-sugar. An Equal packet landed in my lap. I looked up to see where it came from expecting the super-excited-to-see-you flight attendant. I was surprised to look up and see The Pilot standing there with a grin.
	I love looking at NYC from the air. I have always loved the energy of cities. I very much enjoy the respite of nature, but there’s an anticipation and a build of energy I feel when flying into Chicago or New York. Seeing Manhattan from the air, then Brooklyn and Queens, makes me want to jump in and join the party.

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tara mcpherson X hello kitty X kidrobot

When I was still an art student nerd in Chicago, I stumbled on a website that was promoting artists’ works as “art for your phone.” They had a bunch of little bite-sized wallpapers that you could download to your phone. I don’t remember what brought me to this site, but I was hooked to it for several hours. There were tons of names that I am very familiar with now, but was hearing them then for the first time. Looking back, it seems like a bizarre place to be introduced to the worlds of Luke Cheuh, Thomas Han, Gary Baseman, Takashi Murakami, Tim Biskup, Shepard Fairey, and all the names that usually appear near them. This silly place to download mobile art opened up a world of designer toys, urban vinyl, and accessible art that still has it’s hooks deep in me. It will be the addiction that undoes me.

From this same website, I became an instant follower of Tara McPherson. Since that day I have been an admirer of her work. I linked to her site and immersed myself in McPherson 101. Her rock posters are incomparable to any you’ve ever seen anywhere. I promise. Her characters touch on so many that seem to say just the right thing to me.

From Tara’s site, I found out she had done something called a “Dunny.” It was part of an designer toy series, this series focusing on artists from LA. It looked kinda cool and it was currently available at hip stores around Chicago. So I went out to the MCA gift shop and bought my very 1st Kidrobot toy. If you have seen my house, then you know the end of that story. I will soon need a bigger house for my collection. Soon I will just start replacing the furniture with items large enough to accommodate mealtime and lounging.
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