Below is basically the letter I wrote for my brother in law, a great kid, still in High School who really inspired me this last week by his desire to give gifts for his family, earning and spending his own money to get gifts, real gifts, for his family, and his new brothers in law.

A little about this gift…

It is a portion of a letter tray, used for holding type, I love trying to figure out how to design and create in small spaces and it allows for there to be more than one thing being said at a time…like our lives, but we are also beyond compartmentalizing ourselves.

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Your initials, mine too, and I was glad to share the few letters I had to make you a gift.

The first little jar has the phrenology head you like, sorry I don’t have a spare one I can part with right now, but if I did, you would have it.  But the image is powerful to me because it is a great example of humanity’s attempts to understand ourselves, our behaviors and our souls.  It is a scientific attempt but it ultimately fails.  The jar contains withered grass and a pinch of dust; both from a graveyard, reminders of our mortality and that there is a terminal limit on searching for self knowledge.

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You are one of the few people I talk with who both enjoys political discussion and also sees limits to our system the way it is.  I did a piece called “Neither Ballots NOR Bullets,” you saw it and this little piece is based upon it.  Christianity and the Bible are above politics though they have political relevance, Jesus didn’t come to setup a political system or support a political party.  The bullet I found in a parking lot and the Rockefeller campaign “pin” is from either his 1960, 64 or 68 presidential bid and it is the kind of “pin” that you would fold the back over the top of your shirt pocket to clasp it.  I had Goldwater too, but thought you’d appreciate the Rockefeller pin more; money, moderate social stances, fiscally sounds, etc.

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Key holes to me represent mystery, we don’t know everything, nor can we…it’s not wrong to ask questions as long as you can handle not everything has an answer or more accurately we may not understand the answer. 

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.”

Light bulb, because you are very bright, as in, intelligent, but the bulb also must be connected to the source to shed light to others. We are at our best when connected to the source,  and we also, despite our understanding and intelligence must also be ok being next to mystery.

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Family Curse Jar

You are the first to receive or even see this piece (besides my close confidant, your sister).  I am working on a new piece that is about curses, and family curses, but it isn’t about our immediate or even distant ancestors, it is about Adam and Eve and their fall and the curse we all bear now.  It is based upon hoo doo (African American folk religion/magic)  of the mojo bags and conjure men and women)  So the jar collects symbols of the curses…cursed earth, from the graveyard, snake skin, tears/sweat from child labor and hard work, thorns and thistles from a ground no longer easy to work, a “nation bag,” used by women in Memphis to allure and dominate men, symbol of Eve’s struggle and fig leaf stamps, exiled from the garden in our nakedness…­

I started a yearlong assignment for myself that began on August 16, 2009. 

I was downtown getting help with my car from a friend and while waiting saw the above objects on the ground.  I collected them and it got me thinking about what I could find if I started looking more diligently. 

So I decided that weekend to set a date and begin to look for an object each day, enter it in the log below and attach it to a string where I would keep all of the objects connected.  No alteration except whatever is required to attach it to the string.  I was interested in daily discipline of looking and logging.  No apparent trend or meaning as yet just to develop a way of being and looking. I have tried to skip repetition and so far have been mostly successful, have avoided cigarette butts and my wife has made me observe a no “orifice” rule, nothing that has been in someone, no more toothbrushes, dental picks, etc.  She worries about me

So I start today with this post, my first 100 objects and to celebrate I will start carrying hand sanitizer.

Below is the list so far and some pictures of the project.

8/16/09        yellow crayon                                                                   

8/17/09        big, old bolt                                                                                       

8/18/09        gold and pearl clip on earring                                     

8/19/09        beat up feather                                                                               

8/20/09        bobby pin                                                                           

8/21/09        TY heart tag                                                                       

8/22/09        bracelet                                                                              

8/23/09        D cell battery top                                                            

8/24/09        clear tube                                                                           

8/25/09        washer of some sort                                                     

8/26/09        rusted nail                                                                          

8/27/09        blue plastic diamond shape                                        

8/28/09        penny                                                                                  

8/29/09        Ale8 1 Bottle cap                                                             

8/30/09        rusted washer                                                                               

8/31/09        Losing KY lottery ticket                                                 

9/1/09           yellow, black and white cord                                      

9/2/09           part of a rubber ball                                                       

9/3/09           rubber Palm accessory                                                 

9/4/09           leather zipper fob                                                             

9/5/09           part of lamp                                                                      

9/6/09           Copenhagen lid                                                                               

9/7/09           Plastic cap for toy gun                                                   

9/8/09           Packet of silica                                                                  

9/9/09           garden tag                                                                         

9/10/09        plastic shoe heel                                                                             

9/11/09        suction cup                                                                        

9/12/09        spool of purple thread                                                  

9/13/09        tag from Tiger blanket                                                  

9/14/09        yellow wire cap                                                                

9/15/09        plastic smiley guy with hat on                                    

9/16/09        half of a plastic mechanical pencil                            

9/17/09        lego piece for a race car                                                               

9/18/09        angel                                                                                    

9/19/09        toothbrush                                                                        

9/20/09        promotional guitar pick                                                

9/21/09        Grater’s Ice Cream Lid                                                  

9/22/09        paper clip                                                                                           

9/23/09        broken piece of Toyota logo                                      

9/24/09        child’s alphabet block                                                    

9/25/09        button                                                                                 

9/26/09        broken break light piece                                               

9/27/09        little lighter                                                                          

9/28/09        “driftwood”                                                                       

9/29/09        Ricola wrapper                                                             

9/30/09        air freshener                                                                

10/1/09        child restraint tag                                                            

10/2/09        Champagne wire basket                                              

10/3/09        .22 caliber bullet                                                                              

10/4/09        wiffle ball                                                                                           

10/5/09        rusty “V”                                                                             

10/6/09        top of tire gauge                                                             

10/7/09        broken key fob                                                                

10/8/09        tattered silk flower                                                        

10/9/09        black tube                                                                          

10/10/09      paper airplane made from receipt                           

10/11/09      birthday candle                                                                

10/12/09      drill bit                                                                                 

10/13/09      tin top of mint box                                                         

10/14/09      popcorn                                                                              

10/15/09      broken clothes pin                                                         

10/16/09      broken glasses                                                                 

10/17/09      old Christmas ornament                                                               

10/18/09      finger puppet                                                                   

10/19/09      wasp nest                                                                          

10/20/09      empty 50 ml vodka bottle                                           

10/21/09      poorly written tract                                                                                        

10/22/09      scissor handle                                                                   

10/23/09      nut                                                                                        

10/24/09      grey cap to cover screw                                                                

10/25/09      4 of Diamonds                                                                  

10/26/09      empty plastic badge holder                                        

10/27/09      lead seal                                                                             

10/28/09      old rubber band                                                              

10/29/09      old soda can tab                                                              

10/30/09      tire valve cap                                                                                    

10/31/09      broken watch band piece                                            

11/1/09        empty grape jam packet from McD’s                                     

11/2/09        plastic hanger                                                                   

11/3/09        green rubber baby bottle nipple                              

11/4/09        wall plate for light switch                                                             

11/5/09        DOTD butterfly from 21C installment                     

11/6/09        broken led light of some sort                                     

11/7/09        flat metal rod                                                                    

11/8/09        plastic mesh net                                                              

11/9/09        Burt’s beeswax lip balm tin                                         

11/10/09      plastic floral decoration piece                                    

11/11/09      metal plate of some sort                                             

11/12/09      flattened bottle cap                                                       

11/13/09      spring                                                                                   

11/14/09      cut coat hanger                                                                

11/15/09      tire weight                                                                         

11/16/09      hair tie                                                                                 

11/17/09      thorn                                                                                    

11/18/09      kernel of corn                                                                   

11/19/09      engagement ring                                                            

11/20/09      metal cover for fan of computer                              

11/21/09      spark plug box                                                              

11/22/09      grocery list                                                                         

11/23/09      checker