It’s fair to say that I love my work. [Some people might suggest it would also be fair to say that I'm a filthy, antisocial art hermit, but we won't listen to them, no.] Painting, drawing, writing, shooting – all of it, love. But making time for actual lifestuff has become a vital aspect of my existence over the past two years. I’m increasingly fascinated with the idea of superior time-management – of finding my ideal balance between work and life and uninterrupted time to be filled with reading, exercise, movies, meditation and whatever else I might want that day. I’m still too busy to journal, for the most part, so I’m taking more care to otherwise document. Here is a resulting collection of non-work moments, people and things that made me happy over the past week or so.

Sunny weekend mornings with Ales and a house that’s finally in order after a month of sick and busy.

Micron and her new observation deck atop a cabinet.

Vivka and

her tiny Tesla.

New Lung Ta flags – a set of three sent in a care package from Tibet.

Hilarious party times that end up in LA Weekly.

And, of course, 4AM Denny’s photoshoots with Clint Catalyst.

The Criterion edition of Videodrome.

Night wine [and rare filet mignon, not pictured] with friends.

                          

All I knew about my New Year’s present from Ales was that it was something spectacular. Every time we had guests in December, he’d take them to his laptop and conspiratorially show them, to the sound of inevitable WOWs.

It didn’t arrive -in two big, heavy boxes carried by grumpy UPS employees-  until the two days prior to NYE. Our friends Allan and Ulorin came over for the big reveal, which elevated the suspense to a fever pitch. I battled layers of cardboard and styrofoam in a pair of rather impractical heels until…

…a massive, gorgeous, sparkly-black telescope emerged. The women observed and fetched sustenance while the men labored to construct the beast.

It was all very manly.

I can honestly say this is the best present I’ve ever received and wish The Incomparable Ales lots of luck in topping it. I still squeal with delight every time I feast my eyes upon this glorious machine.

It’s a full moon tonight – hopefully the sky will be clear enough to get a closer look!

                          

This year, I decided to keep birthday stuff low-key, asking friends to contribute to the D4RT Kickstarter instead of gifts. 2011 has been strange and amazing and, at times, very overwhelming – so on my birthday I wanted to do something that would inspire and recharge me. This might become a new tradition.

The Getty center has a few temporary exhibits closing in a few days: Paris: Life & Luxury [closing on the 7th], Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia [closing on the 14th], and Fashion in the Middle Ages [also the 14th], which made for an day filled with challenging juxtapositions and superb eye candy. Ales and I arrived at opening with the morning rain, looked at art, devoured crab cakes benedict and toasted honey peppercorn martinis. Proof:

Alespout. It started raining. and we discovered his shoes were holy.

Surprise run-in with Yume and Alcuin.

Even more after the jump.

                          

I’ve been craving remote nature. Lately, all I want to do is read, paint, and be far from civilized society, out amidst trees and rocks and open sky. Driving through the Italian, and then French, countryside last month drove this notion further out to the top layers of my brain box, and I’m not sure whether it’s a new wave of misanthropy or a side effect of summertime. Maybe it’s because I’ve spent my entire life in big cities [Moscow, Chicago, LA], and associate rural life with being a kid at my parents’ dacha, stealing raspberries from neighbor’s yards, convincing other kids I’m a space alien and use my necklace as a communication device, playing with happy, fat stray dogs, building late-night campfires. Or it could be that I’ve overdosed on culture, and am in dire need of a sabbatical. That’s probably it.

These theories are all, if course, in direct opposition with my love of shiny futurestuff, of which I’m well aware, but they can’t be helped. They’re also perfectly in tune with the Artist’s Cycle, as I understand it. I made this chart to demonstrate:

Fortunately, there are places all around LA that make for excellent day-tripping, while we decide whether we should actually move somewhere with more trees and less people in a year or two, or I figure out a financially sound way to take that sabbatical. Here are some photos from a few hours spent wandering around a big park, eating vegetarian Reuben sandwiches, reading comics, and getting dirty. There is also a panorama. You can see the Hollywood sign if you look closely.

                          

This is what I require, as often as time allows:

Air, and green, and gophers, and a good book above the city.

And watching Micron watch the gophers. There is no way to truly know whether she wants to befriend or destroy them.

We let her get close enough to see and really smell them, but not close enough to find out her intentions.

I’m 3/4 through Rant, but managed to resist plunging my hand into all those inviting burrows.

One of Rant‘s characters is named “Echo”, which happens to be a pseudonym I used for about a year once.

I’ve started a Tumblr dedicated to the ol’ 36FAIL project, which has been an effective reminder, thus far. All that empty space.

                          

Busy! However, here is a little something to help you through your day.

Carry on!

                          

A photo essay to gently guide you into the weekend.