Appeal to Helios

6-1-12 My plan had been to draw at Haight and Stanyan on Friday. This proved to be a frustrating little journey. Threading the path through bart and muni went well enough until the bus got stuck going around a corner. At 18th and Castro someone making a left turn cut in front of the bus, forcing it to slow down, and thus losing the momentum to make the corner. The wires got stuck on the breaker areas and the bus was immobilized in a very awkward way. Upon finally arriving at the Haight/Stanyan entrance to GG Park, the scene was not an inspiring one. My favorite drawing spot, centered between the pillars, had been previously doodled on with chalk. A group of plastic construction barriers crowded the area. And then, as I was sitting there, pondering my next move, a little flummoxed, a hippyish girl's dog took an enormous, stinky dump. Sort of at the edge of the 'picture plane'. Enough of a message for me! By this time it is roughly 4 o'clock. Conveniently, the 33 line goes back to the Mission via Dolores Park. My usual drawing area there, at the NW corner by the train platform, wasn't terribly appealing either. A number of sprayed on stencil designs line the area, and this sort of 'muddies' the picture area. After looking around I arrived at a new drawing area on the west edge of the park, next to a footbridge. I intruded on a couple of teenaged latin lovebirds when I started drawing; I felt a little bad but it was the perfect spot. It turned out to be a sunny, beautiful day and it was glorious to have a day to make art and relax in the park. The layers of jaded-ness and stress actually lifted for a while and I was enjoying talking to people at the crossroads. As the work progressed, people were diggin' it. It cracked me up: at one point a woman with her toddler daughter stopped to look and the little girl was studiously picking her nose. And looking right at me! My friend Duo showed up and chilled with me, and later another poet friend showed up, Bonnie. A fine day, and a decent star design.