January is a tricky month. After much of December centers around gifts we can bring to each other. January would be the time to discover which gifts we want to bring to the world. Our talents and hard work-and most importantly our duty and obligations. January is no doubt the optimists finest challenge. It is diets and bootcamps and proclamations to be a better person. We start by getting out the ladder and taking down the decorations. The haze of love and generous gestures may give way to haste and sarcasm. This is also the time of the year we have to take care of sick loved ones and do lots of chores. Even though it's time to mop the glitter off the floors and get to work, this is basic civility. None of it is fun but it gives us our compass. It too is life. So embrace this time because February is no better. But it is what our society hinges on -good old fashioned grindstone and struggle. Find your gifts and tune them up.
A few days ago a friend of mine and I were driving down to install some paintings at a restaurant in Malibu called Ollo. It is a great eatery with an appreciation for local artists. It was 6 am and LA was experiencing a torrential downpour that I had not anticipated. We strapped 4 7ft by 7ft paintings to the top of my car and headed down the coast weaving in and out of mudslides and waving at pissed off motorists. If you have ever driven in LA in the rain you know what I mean when I say the struggle is real. We decided that if you don't wave at a driver who has let you in amongst the line of traffic then there is something tragically wrong with you. And if you have to force your way in without being let in then you don't have to wave but if you do it should be out of sarcasm. Just some general traffic etiquette for you out there. Anyway we made it down to Ollo and got the job done in time to head home for lunch, but not before stopping off at the beach to skip some stones and settle the brain. I had to zoom out and see the great expanse to realize that in my fold I can remain calm and carry on despite a couple of middle fingers and some wet paintings.
