And so...

The last few months I've been living cheaply and banking some money, seeing increasingly good art, painting and working.

Chad's been gone for some time now.  I still miss him, our wandering adventures, our dinner meetings after work...

I think I'm finally adjusted, have a renewed visa, a pleasantly redecorated apartment and some new (and exciting!) paintings I've been working on.

I'm busier with classes with semester than the last one.  I'm teaching a course about contextual shifts within art, which is a nice change of pace, but requires fumbled explanations of postmodernism to a classroom of students who barely understand English.  (Oops)  It's still fun because my students really care.

Winter is very much here, but it's infinitely more pleasant than last year.  The weather has been strangely clear and beautiful most of the time, and really not too cold.  I finally got to see the full red leaves of autumn, something that I was never able to see in Beijing.

Several months after Indonesia and Malaysia, I really want to travel again.  I have this India guidebook just sitting on my shelf...

UPDATES:

• I'm back from an unexpected, nerve-wracking visa run to Hong Kong.  It's a shoppy, fashionable place with a beautiful cityscape and a surprising amount of seedy Pakistanis and Africans offering drugs or massages. Or tailored suits.

• Chad is settled, happy, and overcoming jetlag.  We saw art today, and 798 really delivered with a few choice shows.  I'm very glad he's here.

• Classes start soon, so summer vacation is coming to an end.

How're you doing, 爱美丽?

Emilie and me on a park excursion, cherry blossoms at the Old Summer Palace, a cheeky boy in our neighborhood, Chao with a summery hat

 

(Photos courtesy of Ariel)

~~~

Emilie has been visiting this month, so we've been seeing Beijing as the weather warms up.   We might have a new roommate soon, Xi Zhong Zhong, a filmmaker who we met almost two years ago in Vietnam.  Also, I'm nursing a cold, so lots of soup and ginger tea to counter this.

I'm working on two interesting paintings, which I'll post once more progress is made. 

Ariel and I are planning a long trip to India this summer along with a friend, Chao.  We're thinking about taking a train to the south of China and finding an inexpensive way to somehow just get there.  I've been immersing myself in Indian themes, including reading Mark Twain's amazing account of his visit to the country in the later years of his life.

What are you up to?

Ariel on the subway

爱你帅哥 <3

BBQ night
---
(Thanks for the picture, Alesh)

～＊＊ Last day in San Francisco ＊＊～

Our final day in America was spent walking around San Francisco with Silvia and her friend, Chelsea. We had pastry at Tartin, window shopped, ate tacos for dinner and visited Harris. There was a particularly upbeat, summery feeling in the air, like we were kids on our day off looking for diversions. It was such a syrupy sweet ending to a wonderful reunion. Good bye for now, America.

- America part two Miami & Hollywood -

Visiting family is just the best feeling on earth. Everyone wants to cook for you and give you hugs and you simply have to lay around and coast through the days.

Florida is pretty special. Highlights include drinking beer on the Jaramillo-Harris' porch, pansy tennis, chatting with Alesh at Hollywood Art and Culture, being spoiled by Illiana's generosity, Harumi and Ariel's birthday, biking through Hollywood with Chad, party favors, BBQs, gossiping with gram, homemade cocktails, meeting the wonderful Jennifer, lunch at a cool diner with Misael, late night chats with Catalina, hunting for cool stuff at mom's, cake with coffee, last minute hang-out with Isabel, beach trips... I miss everyone already.

Yard time.

The Hollywood-Miami commute.

Harumi and Tommy in front of the awesome World Market.

Pretend pouting.

It really looks like this.

Chad's proud garden.

Possibly the best pizza ever.

Catalina's gohonzon

Ariel's birthday strawberry cheesecake.

Makin' faces.

- America part one San Francisco -

Ariel and I visited Silvia for about a week, which was basically packed with shockingly great food and coffee, expensively cute shops, thrift stores, art on the streets, scanning through books, hours of walking, painted ladies and the unique feeling of being in a living, breathing city of like-minded people. Quite amazing.

Ariel's first meal in America. (Seriously!)

The aforementioned "painted ladies." They are as desirable as a box of chocolates on Valentine's.

Harris (with his obligatory cappuccino) and Silvy.

TACOS!

SilvySilvySilvy

Ariel being handsome in the rain

My favorite ladies.
(Miss you)
<3

TERRI

SILVIA

CATALINA

NANCY

回国了

I'm in America now and have been for several weeks. It's been wonderful being home; overeating, visiting family and seeing that my blog isn't actually blocked here.

It's wonderful to be home. You reevaluate everything and want to improve; all good things to feel. Ariel and I are even talking about buying a small house in Hollywood, Florida, so we'll be close to family and friends. Settling down?

我在这里等等。快要回中国。