Snowcalypse Stories (Part I)

It's about noon last Thursday last week, Left Coast time (I was working in San Diego) when I began to receive texts from family and friends in the DC area. "Dude!" said one of them, "you better hurry back home: major snow storm is supposed to start on Friday afternoon!"

"Feh!" I thought to myself (I was in a meeting when the texts began to arrive. "My flight is supposed to arrive at BWI at 8 PM tomorrow."

Some nimble Blackberrying later, I have assessed the fact that everyone West of West Virginia is expecting "anywhere from 3-5 feet of snow." Blackberry Ops also tells me that airlines have begun to cancel flights on Friday evening.

Multiple calls to multiple airlines revels that the airline industry is still unable to cope with bad weather and that if I want to return home on Thursday night, instead of leaving as scheduled on Friday morning, I'm gonna shell about about $600 to Continental for a one way ticket back to DC area.

And the price gouging continues. As I search Expedia, prices change before my eyes as they rocked upwards. Someone suggests the red eye flight from LAX to Dulles on Virgin America. "It's only $99," says the suggester.

I check Virgin America online. He is right, that flight is $99 every night - but tonight, for some reason, it has jumped into price hyperspace and it's $552 one way. The next night is back to $99.

In the end, I book a flight on US Airways (rotten airline) out of San Diego to Phoenix and a flight on Delta (perhaps rottener) from Phoenix to Detroit and then from Detroit to Baltimore. I'm out about $450 for a one way ticket.

In San Diego I check in but US Airways can't issue me the Delta tickets. They suggest that I drop by the Delta counter to see why. I do, and they can't issue me the tickets either - and they have no idea why not, bust ask that I go to the departure gate to get my delta tickets once I land in Phoenix. I remind them that it is odd that in 2010 a major airline, running on a 2010 computer system, can't know why tickets for a flight can't be issued to the passenger checking in another airport.

There's an air of desperation as the US Airways flight boards with East bound passengers trying to beat the storm as they head back home. At around 6:45PM on Thursday night, we depart.

A few hours later we land in Phoenix, only to find out that the only way to get to the Delta flights is to take a bus to another terminal and then to check in (again) and go through security (again). Is Phoenix Airport the only American airport that hasn't figured out how to transport passengers between terminals without re-adding them to the TSA line for a second time?

Three hours later, at midnight we take off and head for Detroit. I am exhausted but I can't sleep on airplanes except for the 39 seconds when the drink cart is next to me and so they pass me by.

We land in Detroit and I have recall that I've never been a fan of this very long airport, in which some Pointdexter architect designed so that all gates are in one long, very long row. We manage to land in one end somewhere in Michigan, and have to walk all the way to the other end of the terminal, which must be somewhere near the Canadian border.

When all of us (by now a herd of BWI-bound passengers have banded together) arrive there, we find out that the gate has been changed to the other side of the terminal. This time I note the monorail inside the terminal - running above us like a toy train - and take it back to where we had landed originally. "It was good exercise," I said to myself of the long march from gate A78 to A21 and now back to A75.

We depart on time, and land at BWI at 8:30AM. The gunmetal skies tell a story as I arrive home around 10AM.

I'm running on fumes and debate going to the backyard and gathering some wood in case the power goes out and we need to use the fireplace for heat. But I am running on fumes and decide to sleep a little first, and then re-consider going out to the back and gathering some firewood.

It's a bad decision.

More tomorrow as we find out what happened when the snow came and the electricity went.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: March 5, 2010.

The Visual Arts Committee of the University of Minnesota organizes nine solo, group, or theme-based exhibitions per year at the St. Paul Student Center's 520 sq. foot Larson Art Gallery. It also organizes four solo exhibitions at Coffman Memorial Union's Coffman Art Gallery.

To apply, please make sure to include all of the following:
- Note which Gallery you are applying for (Coffman or Larson).
- 3-5 slides of your artwork or digital images in jpeg format.
- Artists' statement and contact information.
- Self-addressed stamped envelope for return of images.

Send proposals to:
Visual Arts Committee
University of Minnesota
Coffman Memorial Union RM 126
300 Washington Ave SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

38 Ways to Improve your Art Sales

From Art Marketing 101:

• Set aside a specific day and time each week for marketing.

• Create a quiet office space for your business.

• Start collecting names for your mailing list.

• Call five to 10 art world professionals each week.

• Spend one day visiting local galleries.

• Subscribe to an art publication for one year and read it.

• Enter a competition.

• Sponsor a community event.

• Host a studio party.

• Donate time to some charity. Let people know you are an artist.

• Barter your art for services.

• Support your statewide arts organization by buying an art license plate with your art-business name on it.

• Try to get an interview on your local radio station.

• What interior designer could you take to lunch?

• To what local business could you lease your artwork?

• In what cafe could you hang your paintings?

• Give out coupons with a Valentine’s Day e-mail blast.

• What special offer could you make on a postcard to your clients?

• What storyline can you create for the local art writer?

• What previous client would be able to give you a useful referral?

• What sign could you put on your car to advertise your work?

• What bumper sticker could you create to give to your clients?

• Create an e-mail newsletter to send to clients.

• How much would it cost to put up a billboard at the entrance to town?

• Create an unusual, catchy name for your new group of paintings.

• Apply to the next local art fair.

• Start saying, “I am an artist.”

• Provide a specialized service that no other artist provides.

• Get a phone number that spells out something (or figure out what your current one spells).
.
• Be friendly with a competitor.

• Place your artwork in model home displays.

• Work with a local chapter of American Society of Interior Designers—give a talk at one of their meetings.

• Contact your local International Furnishings and Design Association chapter affiliation.

• Place a display of your work at the local library, associated with a talk you will give.

• Find a Realtor’s office that will let you exhibit. Offer agents a commission on sales.

• Create a gift certificate form.

• Check out your local doctor, veterinarian, optometrist, emergency room, hospital, medical facilities office. These venues often do have a budget for “decoration.” If they are not in the position to buy, offer a lease option.

• Smile at everyone today.

Torpedo Factory Art Center Visiting Artist Program

Deadline: February 28, 2010.

The Torpedo Factory Art Center invites emerging and experienced artists to apply for one, two, or three residencies between June 1 and August 31, 2010.

The Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria Virginia is home to more than 140 visual artists working in 82 studios. Artists create in a wide variety of media including painting, fiber, jewelry, ceramics, printmaking, cast and stained glass, and sculpture. The Torpedo Factory is open to the public every day; visitors are invited and welcomed into studios to watch artists at work, ask questions, and purchase original art – allowing the public an opportunity to share in the excitement and fascination of the creative process. The projects undertaken by Visiting Artists for this self-directed, creative residency must be compatible with available working studio spaces and facilities. Visiting Artists will be provided with studio space and will be able to display and sell original work.

Finalists will be selected by juror Jack Rasmussen, Director and Curator of the American University Museum. There is no application fee. Download the Prospectus and Application Form from www.torpedofactory.org/vap. Send questions to: vap@torpedofactory.org. No telephone calls please.

Airborne

I'm flying back home early tonite and they're expecting another major snow storm in the Mid Atlantic, so I hope that we can land - otherwise I may be stuck somewhere between Detroit and DC.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: March 1, 2010.

Hood College is seeking applications for solo/two-person/group exhibitions during the 2011-2012 seasons. It is preferred that the artist(s) be present at the gallery for installation/de-installation, and required for the reception. At this time, the gallery is not equipped for new media/technology/performance based work. Most other media welcome. Hood College will accept proposals for exhibitions from curators. Please provide images with a detailed proposal, as well as a bio/resume from the curator(s) and each of the artists. Please send bio, resume, 20 images of recent work on CD (jpg, 300dpi, 6x9inches) and image list to:

Milana Braslavsky
Gallery Director
Hood College: Tatem Arts Center
401 Rosemont Avenue
Frederick, MD 21701.

No entry fee. Please send a SASE for return of materials (optional). Please send any questions to braslavsky@hood.edu.

Fairouz Cafe And Gallery

Today I had lunch at one of the best Mediterranean/Greek/Middle Eastern restaurants that I can recall - ever.

I'm talking about Fairouz Cafe And Gallery in San Diego (Gallery because the owner is quite an accomplished artist - Ibrahim Al Nashashibi - and loads of his work decorates the restaurant).

The lunch buffet was amazing! It has both a vegan side and also a "regular" fare of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean delicacies - but many of them (I talked to the owner) come from Nashashibi's mother's recipes - which have been in the family for centuries.

And I mean centuries - for example Nashashibi was born in a house on Jerusalem's Via Dolorosa which the Nashashibi family has owned for centuries!

"You must try the Lemon and Chicken soup!" he begged me as I was about to leave. "It has been voted San Diego's best soup for the last two years in a row!" he told me.

I tried it and it was delicious. As was the saffron chicken, which also tasted as it had been infused with lemon. The combo of saffron and lemon was a fantasy to the taste buds.

Even simple dishes, like the garlic cabbage were amazing.

And all of that and much, much more in a buffet for $8.99 - simply a spectacular deal for the money for home cooked food from the east part of the Med.

Fairouz Cafe And Gallery
3166 Midway Drive #102
San Diego, California 92110
Phone: 619.225.030