Tea with McNair

• where have you been?

       A little traveling music, professor!

With all my writing projects I have been staying around the Bay of St. Francis quite a bit lately. I have travel less in the past six months than in any similar stretch of time that I can recall. I am not complaining. Air travel being an ever-increasing travel I do not miss it.
    I must say, though, I have gotten quite good at making the whole check-in, security (remove shoes, metal objects, coat, laptop, and keep boarding pass with you as you, "Step forward, sir.") and keeping myself occupied in the gate area. ( I started wearing different color socks to test the STA gang and see if they would a.) notice, and b.) say anything. I have no idea if they notice as 9-out-of-10 say nothing.
    I am getting a bit restless to be back out there, especially to see places I have not-yet visited. To date, my tally is 49 states and thirty plus countries. (I have not been to Alaska. Ignore the map.)
    Sorry for the imprecision on the country count, but when I start checking off Places of the Caribbean I forget which ones all the cruise ships I've been on (performed/lectured) stopped at. My guess is thirty five, but it may be high by a couple. (They don't stamp your passport in Vatican City-at least not mine. (I was Presbyterian at the time. Does that count against me.) I was going to steal my napkin when we had lunch with the Pope, but, alas, we did not have lunch with . . .
    So here's a little snap shot of the big picture:

create your own visited countries map or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Meanwhile, I am exploring new pockets of the Bay area (East, West, North, and South) by going places I've been driving by for years and was curious about. McNair's rule of creative expansion No.3: "Let your curiosity get the best of you."
    It is so easy (read comforting and safe) to go back to the same eateries, market, java joints, and bookshops/tobacconists/stationers/art supply basements, etc. I am checking out the others. I actually walked through art supply store this past weekend and after forty minutos of "grazing" I left without having spent a nickel, not a Lincoln cent!
    Your assignment:  (Inspired by the new Indiana Jones movie 4 bags of popcorn on the  counter, one bag on the multi-colored-carpeted floor. It's fun, I did not like the conclusion. I expect smarter storytelling from Lucas-Spielberg et al.) is t become an "urban archeology."
    Explore an new neighborhood in your community.  Try  at least one new breakfast joint (sit at the counter), a lunch place, and a new little dinner spot you've heard a lot about.
    I'm discovering a lot of my new places on my daily walkabouts.    
    Let me know what you find, and please do it in the comments section f this blog so we can all  live vicariously through each other's adventures.
    If you do not live in an urban area, fantastic, a rural odyssey awaits you (and us!)
    Be sure to carry a journal to write you impressions and/or sketch what you discover. Have a glue stick handy to save a bit or ephemera and paste it into your journal.

Happy hunting!

McNair

P.S. For readers in or near the SF Bay area, I will be performing my one-man play, FROM UP HERE, in late July, in Pleasanton, CA. Details soon. As soon as we have set a date, I will post it here at Tea Blog. Admission will be free, though they may pass a hat...or pyth helmet.

• going it alone

        
    Where in the World is Wes?

All these ch-ch-changes in my life (new diet, walking/stretching/weights, daily "Taddeo" list, regular sleep schedule) was working. It was great help to the entire regime that I also had a weekly phone check-in with my long-time friend, now coach, Wes. He's in Denver, I'm here by the Bay of Saint Francis.
    Then I decide to try and "go it alone" (with out Wes.) "Besides," I told myself, "He's got all this carpal tunnel surgery coming up so I'll give him a break." (I'll give HIM a break. Laugh now.) "And, hey, I've got my "tahdoo."
    Oops.
    I talked to Wes two days ago (Monday, 19 May '8) and boy did I need it. He was not judgmental, not even a whiff, and he did not scold me–I was sure he would since I scold me constantly. (Wes isn't a scolder, at least never to me.)
    I sent Wes a brief update of the last few weeks (with bullet points) and so we got down to the important stuff quickly.
    Just a quick note to all of us. Don't do it alone. I am in the process of inviting two other friends (besides my great friend Susan) to walk with me, one day a week, for an hour. If I am committed to three days of walking because of a commitment to a friend, I can do the other three or four days with just me and my Creator, getting thinks done.
    Some of you have emailed me (outside the bounds of the comments section of this blog) to say you admired me for hiring a life coach, but you... "can't afford one, don't know any, wouldn't't trust someone else to tell you what to do."

Try this:

• COST: My coach is my friend and he does it 'cause he loves me, for FREE.
• FINDING A COACH: Try taking on a coach who is also a friend and an expert in just ONE area of life you want to improve (health, organization, writing, art, speaking), developing a more efficient working environment, your "look" (grooming and fashion), etc.
• TRUST: I trust Wes and will try anything he suggests. Not every suggestion has worked FOR ME. So we retool and try other methods. Unless they ask you to jump off a high building, kick your dog, or eat nails, TRY IT. And try it foe a full week to do it correctly before rejecting it.

100% Better, Soon!

Remember if you improve 1% a day in an area of your life, you will be TWICE as good in just 70 days.
    Also, in the area of improving, expanding, or developing your skill set, focus on areas where you already have above average abilities or talent. Strengthen your strengths. If you try and strengthen your weaknesses it will take a long time and you will get discouraged. If you are below average, delegate!
    This is based on the great work (and writing) of Marcus Buckingham and his excellent book NOW, DISCOVER YOUR STRENGTHS. With the purchase of the book you will receive a password to access an on line survey to discover your innate strengths.
    Let me know what your up to in your pursuit of a better you. Please put ot in the comments section below so you can inspire other readers. 
    Now . . . I'm going for a walk. Comming?  

McNair

P.S. I got up Monday morning, looked in the mirror, turned on the hot water, and . . . shaved off my beard. It is the first time I have had a bare chin since August, 1986. (I was in fifth grade.) Photos, soon.  -->

 

• 1kj

The story of a project, the books, the film, and my friend in the middle

(Buckle up, kids, and hold on.)

Backstory: It began with "Someguy" in San Francisco, June 2002. The 1000 Journals Project started with him leaving blank journals around San Francisco in cafes, restrooms, bus stops, park benches, and gave (and sent) them to friends and strangers. There we no rules, just add to it, add more, pass it along or keep it and keep adding.
    At first, he did not know how many he might distribute. It began with a few, then a few more and soon he knew it had to be 1000 journals. Each book was numbered and had a variety of cover art he added. Most of the covers eventually got altered, changed, and changed again.
    Meanwhile, Andrea Kreuzhage, a Los Angeles-based film maker, heard about 1000 Journals and contacted "Someguy."  In September, 2003, Journal #526 came back to Someguy, filled.  Andrea decide to make a film about what had become of the other 999...and the people who had them, used to have them, kept them (but forgot they had one), sent it back to Someguy to scan the pages and post them on the website. (The  1000 Journals website was also where people who wanted to participate could log on and request one of the journals be sent to them, as available.
 

    I had heard little bits in the wind about the project. I never really pursued it, probably because I have had my own sketchbook with me everyday since I was about twelve years old, 1964.  (At left, a few of my sketchbooks on a shelf in my studio.) I also have a huge, old, wooden crate filled with old sketchbooks as my living room coffee table. (It used to be a U.S. Navy ammunition crate. Now it stores explosive ideas. And more than a few duds.)
    Then, in 2007, Chronicle Books published a book (yellow cover, below) about the 1000 Journals Project. (One of my favorite moments in the film, there are many, but this one was both ridiculous and painful watching as "Somegiuy" sat around a table at Chronicle Books with too many "chiefs" trying to select a book cover with the right "sensibility." NEVER say that word around me, please.)

 

    This was classic "creativity-by-committee" it was decidedly not a "creative thinking" session. Maybe some of the good folks at Chronicle Books will read my brainstorming book and learn how to have more fun while making creative decisions. maybe they will publish my book. We return you now to reality.

    My friend Susan (the ever-effulgent, SARK) gave me a copy of Chronicle's book-about-the-books. It was actually the copy that "Someguy" (the San Francisco artist who started this all) had sent to her with the inscription, "Thanks for keeping creativity alive."
    In March of this year I received an email from my friend Heidi, back East, mentioning that a documentary film she appears in would be showing in San Francisco in April and May. As I started sniffing around, Heidi connected me with Andrea (the film's director.)
     Last Saturday afternoon (26 April '8) at the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) I was fortunate to be in the audience for the first screening at SFIFF. This was only the fifth public showing of the film. Here is the email I sent to my friend Heidi after seeing the film. (I've omitted a few of the more personal bits.)

Heidi, First, and foremost, I honor you for the power, clarity, and courage with which you shared your Journal story in Andrea's remarkable film. You are a major part of this exquisite work. No one has more (or as much) time on camera. Plus it connects with other stories (as so much of the film weaves a tale of connections and relationships AROUND THE WORLD.)
    I did not know any of what you shared in the film that had happened as a result of your being a part of the 1000 Journals project. I was VERY moved as I watched and listened to your story unfold and break the hearts of most, if not all, who were in the full theater yesterday.
    How great to have both Andrea and "SOMEGUY" there for Q&A. Many were curious about you and how you're doing. It was a great lesson (and will be for ALL who will see this film) of the power of art–even when dashed off casually in a small sketchbook that floats through our lives for a moment.
    After emailing and Facebooking each other, it was great to finally meet Andrea (in photo, right, Andre Kreuzhage is the smaller object on the right.) We exchanged business cards and hope to get together with when she returns to SF after screening the film at the Newport Film Fest in So. Cal. She will be here this week for the rest of her screenings at SFIFF. Don't know if there'll be time to "cut her away from the herd" of film society swells for a sip or a bite...but you know I'll try.
    Andrea is a talented film maker and story teller and has crafted a piece that not only tells the story of the project in a way that anyone, having never even heard of 1000 Journals, would get it–right away. But far more than that, it is a film about connections across continents and cultures. It is life-filled as people write (in so many languages) draw, paint, sketch, tape, glue, construct, fold, share, pass-on, mail, or just leave it on a bench, or mountain trail – to be discovered and entered into.
    The mind reals thinking about how many thousands of people have touched, read, peeked, and contributed to the (first) 1000 Journals.
    My friend Susan (SARK) Kennedy gave a copy of the book about the books. It was actually the book that "Someguy" (Brian Singer) sent her to thank her for, as he wrote in the book, Thanks for keeping creativity alive. So, even though he'd already signed it, I asked him to sign it again (see photo). Notice, he's a lefty–of course. He also had a few of the actual 1000 Journals there for folks to contribute to, and many wanted to and did.
    I noticed one book, lying on the table (in the lounge area of the Kabuki Theatres) in front of a woman and I asked, "Aren't you going to contribute?"
    "I'm just a mom." She said pointing to two high school girls hunched over two "journals" opposite us, drawing and giggling.
    "These books are filled with just moms." I said and pushed a small pile of my arts supplies toward her.
    She smiled and jumped in...

(Bad photo, below right, of my quick addition, including my "tag" business card, in one of the 1000 Journals that "Someguy" brought to the screening. My little man's comment: "Someguy sent me this little pile of paper with covers on them...so, I dove in! McNair")

You can see lots of great photos of  SFIFF and folks adding to some of the actual 1000 Journals on the  ADDA DADA site on flickr. Great site on its own rite.

Tuesday, 30 April '8, I was able to spend a four hours with Andrea. She told me she shot 165 hours, all around the world, to make her delight-filled, 88 minute film. It is jam-packed with color, comedy, inspiration, drama, tension, inspiration, a wonderfully delicate original score, and lots of moments of folks connecting through these little books. Did I mention that this film is very inspirational? She has several more screenings, at festivals around the country. (Watch her site–100o Journals Film– for dates of upcoming screenings.) Found a nice on-camera interview with Andrea HERE.   And an interview with "Someguy" at AFI, HERE. (Also, click on the interview with Andrea there and her cinematographer.)
    As for Andrea's movie: See this film.
    Now a new wave of little books has been launched 1001 Journals. There, as with the original site you can register and sign up to have one of the new journals sent to you.
    You can also start your own journal to send around, or keep "closed" among a set group of friends, co-workers. You can also scan pages and download them to the website.
     I believe art was given to us by our Creator to provide a vehicle for us to illuminate, teach, and inspire each other through our individual creative expression. The original 1000 Journals Project and then Andrea's film do all that and so much more.

    What number journal will you be?

McNair

P.S. When you see this film, watch for my friend Heidi (sitting in church in Beaver Falls, PA.)

• Do take at least one friend to the film. They will thank you.

• Take your sketchbook or journal to the screening for others to wrote, draw, or sign.

• If my new friend, Andrea Kreuzhage, the director, is at your screening, introduce yourself. Tell her, McNair sent me. (Have her sign your journal.)

•  When you start your "1001 Journal", I'd love to contribute. Send it to me ( I promise to pass it along) at:

    Tea With McNair
    2601-C Blanding Ave.
        No. 144
    Alameda, CA 94501

•  Be sure to register your journal on the 1001 Journals site. (You will get a number and there is a PDF you can download of simple "instructions" to glue into your journals.

• When the DVD of Andrea's film is released, get two–maybe . . . seven. (She has a dream of selling ONE MILLION DVDs. I'm hoping for a million and ONE.)

• Bay Area (Pleasanton, CA) screening of the film 1000 Journals, Friday evening, 22 August '8. Details HERE. See you there!

[ Below, left, Andrea Kreuzhage: film director and "Someguy": 1000 Journals Project creator. On the right, one of the original Journals. They are all nearly twice as thick as when they were new and blank. Delicious.]

* This just in (5.7.8) :: This post was excerpted for Moleskinerie, the offical weblog (blog) of Moleskin. (The preferred jouranl/sketchbook of Leonardo da Vinci and St. Luke.)  They are one of the great small journal & sketchbook makers in the world. I use one daily as my "brain" (ToDo list, phone and other contact info gathered daily and then transfered to my iPhone.) They are very durable and available in art, stationary, and feed stores everywhere!