I think of myself as something feline, but must admit my presence at the workshop on Sunday felt rather more giraffe-like. Spectacle for being odd or pretty (!) rather than fierce or determined, which is every cat's 
nature. The subsequent meetings with Maria Tizon and Blue Mitchell and Matt Adamik and his powerhouse wife have really made the trip a thrill -- we are tentatively agreeing to quickly make a book about Oregon similar to Jared Diamond's treatments in Collapse: the future of an expanded society in a brittle land. This will be an interesting animal, indeed. And this adds another obstacle or opportunity to a list of blooms I need to tend and fertilise, my own writing above all else. But a multitude of thorns make for a beautiful rose, so I doubt I'll focus on any one thing as most wold counsel me to do. When your wallet is plump, why not fly up here for the next workshop? You get things done, the concentration is marvelous, and the socialising is nothing but an appendix to a terrific piece of work. Anyway, I highly recommend it because these sort of public workshops are not happening in cities like NY or LA. Too far beneath the snoots of most artists.
-- from correspondence with Anne. Mc
