I was at Cafe Mundi, meeting a friend for poetry (as opposed to coffee - who says you can't live off poems?) and I went up to Doug and asked him for a word.

"Just a minute, I'm thinking." he insisted as he turned and ordered his beer.

When he was ready, he wrote "inquisitive" on my arm. He said it was the first word that came to mind.


Doug July 31, 2007

Amanda Johnston July 30, 2007

"Namaste" she said, "So you can walk with an open hand and an open heart."

See - Amanda Johnston's always keeping it real and walking with love. This is an incredible, powerful woman. And she's reminding me to walk with an open hand. Thank you Manda!

Amanda said, "Now, no one else has written that word, right? You aren't going to come to me tomorrow and be like - oh so and so also wrote namaste, right?"

Naw - this is a first. But I might have to do it again sometime. "Namaste."

C. and Scott July 29, 2007

We were all there for one thing: Pizza. East Side Pies rests on a shabby corner in East Austin, a screen door the only thing between it and the world. They arrived at the same time that we did. And so I took out my pen while W. went inside to pick up our order (curry base pizza with potatoes, broccoli and sausage....it was OFF THE CHAIN); she waited on the porch while her friend/partner went inside.

"Hi. I'm doing this word project...yadda yadda."

"Sure." and "I feel like if I'm going to write one word, it has to be..."

She sat with pen in hand. I was standing. It was almost a little awkward. I felt like I was staring intently, so I looked away. Back at the car, up at the ceiling. I didn't want to put her on the spot like that. I just wanted to get a word. But alas, the full weight of my request was weighing on me. Her friend/partner walked out.

"Can you give me a word?" she asked him.

"One word."

"Yeah."

"Uh - I don't know. Go!"

At which point she smiled.

"I thought of one."

So, she wrote "ideal" on my arm. And then offered her friend/partner the pen.

"You wanna write go on her arm?"

At which point, I could have taken authority and said "Nope, sorry - just one of you." but I was curious about the sense of licence and participation. And that she had invited him in to participate as a natural flow to the interaction. Now that's kinda cool.

"Sure."

And he wrote, too.

I introduced myself at the end. And what happened? I forgot her name - it's something great like Claudette or Celeste. Her friend/partner's name is Scott.

So, C and Scott thank you for my words!

This morning I stumbled out of bed, late to meet my friend for breakfast. I don't know what I was thinking, partying until 4am and then thinking I'd be up at 8.30AM for breakfast. I didn't make it on time. I woke up at 9.15am and called my friend, begging her to wait for me. Which she did. And we had a delicious breakfast (if you're wondering I had the Plato Centroamericano which comes with eggs, black beans, sweet plantain and crema) at Las Manitas. And then we walked outside. I made it all the way to the car before realizing that I wanted to get my word right then and there. So as my friend wandered around the corner and I realized I wasn't going to chase her down, I meandered back to the restaurant in the hopes of finding someone to give me a word. And there they were.

There were three women furiously sifting through materials spread out on the bench in front of Las Manitas. More precisely, two women furiously sifting and another woman was watching, lending moral support as she stood with her parasol to the side of the commotion. Naturally, I was going to approach her.

Turns out Anonymous word writer is Japanese, and I believe is only visiting Austin. I explained what I was doing and she looked around, scared and nervous for a second (who is this person? why is she asking me to write on her?), so she called to the woman she was with, and Ring Leader turned around and demanded to know what I was doing (kindly, of course). So, I explained to her and she said, "Cool." and took the cap off the marker. Then she turned to Anonymous and said, "But you can write in another language. You should do it." So, Anonymous very quickly scrawled a word on my arm. And then the frenetic panic kicked in. Ring Leader explained, "We're on a scavenger hunt." "Yes," said Anonymous, "I thought you were also on the scavenger hunt."

No. Just getting a word. Just being little old me getting a word. I introduced myself to Anonymous and she nodded and said, "Yes." and I figured that was all that was going to happen today. I was going to get the word "cat" in Japanese, and frenetic nods. No names, no "maybe I'll see you around town."

I don't even know what they were looking for. But I found a cat, people. It's on my arm. In Japanese lettering.

I think next time I'll aim to leave my house for brunch.

Anonymous July 28, 2007

Laura Rios July 27, 2007

Tonight I got the word "Mexica" from b-girl Laura Rios. She tagged it onto my neck and it's beautiful. We were at a party, so the resulting photograph is blurry and hard to see (especially after a very delicious strawberry daiquiri), but you can still see traces of the word. The photo actually looks like an image from 110 millimeter film - does anyone remember using 110 cameras? They would take really grainy photographs. And remember when they used to develop film with round edges? If you've never used a 110 speed camera, you'd best watch out. It's so retro it came and left before we realized it was ever here!

But, back to the word. Laura has these amazing tattoos on her shoulders of the Mayan Moon Goddess(es), and she was telling me about her recent life-changing trip to Mexico. So, with pride, she wrote "Mexica". I feel proud just wearing it.

Today, I used my third lifeline. I forgot to get a word. It's not that I didn't have opportunity. I went to an art talk at the Jones Center. I went to a party at a friend's house. Forgot to get a word. And it's not like I didn't think about it. I actually did. I thought about the fact that I have less than 30 days left. And I looked at my calendar where I marked the last day of the project. But I forgot. Somewhere between images from the Hirschorn and viewing Elizabeth Axtman's video "American Classics", I forgot. Oops. Somehow, though, I don't feel bad about it. I think omphaloskepsis kept me going for a couple of days. Let's see what the word is tomorrow.

Graber July 25, 2007

Omphaloskepsis - it's Graber's favorite word. Of course, I had to try and figure out what it meant. So, I thought about the "skepsis" and guessed "a skeptical man"? No. Not at all. That is not even close. Though, you could make a case for it, I suppose.

It means the contemplation of one's navel as a form of meditation. Or navel gazing, but in a mystical sort of way.

It's a cool word - and it's on my arm. So, I'm off to skep my omphalo peeps.

Oompaloompa Oompaloompa Oompaloompa...