20 + 10 = It was a year of living

+  31 December 2010  +


= Twenty and ten.

= It was a year that commenced with multiple bowl games, a vial of Vicodin and a kidney stone. A month later, the kidney stone was surgically removed. Who knows where all of that Vicodin went. <

= It was a year of witnessing my wife became a casualty of downsizing on the same day she learned that she was invited to Delaware in the fall to deliver a paper at a conference. Months later she was at the conference. ≠

= It was a year of learning when friends invited me to help complete the construction of two condo buildings in Berkeley, California. As a determined and spirited rag-tag construction team what we did not know about the use of construction equipment , "code", materials and resources and tools, we learned. We learned quickly and we learned well. And what we did know we shared for the benefit of our fellow workers. It was communal spirit big time. We built four condos, a green home environment for future condo owners whom we will probably never know. We took pride in our accomplishments. Was this a case of building to live and love, or of loving and living to build? Or both? >

= It was a year of living when my urologist receives from his son two of my pool drawings that he bought as Father's Day gifts. >

= It was a year of living when my wife receives a job offer after six months of unemployment and she prepares to return to work. >

= It was a year of continued swimming. >

= For Kathryn Bigelow and "The Hurt Locker" it was their year. Awesome. >

= Old and young dogs can and do learn new networking tricks. It was a year of applying for many jobs, writing countless cover letters, revising resumes, developing new job search strategies, exploring avenues to promote myself as an artist and educator and preparing for an interview or two. The accumulated applications and rejections stack a mile high. <

= It was a year when when my drawings and photographs were exhibited not once, not twice, but three times in the Bay Area. >

= It was a year of meeting someone for the first time as a fellow construction worker (see Berkeley condo project), only to learn that she would die before summer's end doing something she truly believed in: cliff jumping in Italy with her Brazilian husband. Thank you Allison for your presence and friendship during the course of the Berkeley project. <

= It was a year of losing 20 pounds of body weight. Or was it ten. Or was it 20 + 10? My BMI also dropped. I am now officially at "at weight" status. <

= It was a year of learning of another side of Donald and Doris Fisher's lives, founders of The Gap clothing chain. The Fishers built an amazing collection of modern and contemporary art. A portion of their massive collection was on view at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. What a stunning philanthropic gesture on the part of Donald and Doris Fisher. During the course of the exhibition's run, I practically lived at SFMOMA. San Francisco rejoice for what the Fishers and SFMOMA have done—Close, Diebenkorn, Guston, Hockney, Kiefer, LeWitt, Martin, Richter, Thiebaud, etc. Way to go SFMOMA. >

= It was a year of keeping Joan Baez Sr. continuously entertained, with or without my pants. And for her I did a dance on a stage. The sans pants idea was hers, not mine. The dance on the stage was the play director's idea, not mine. Don't ask for the pants and dance details. ≠

= I have not produced any large scale drawings for a few years. But it was a year of completing one, and creating another large scale pool drawing 24" x 36" in size. Along the way I did a few smaller pool drawings. >

= Goodbye. It was a year of saying goodbye to a very bad and embarrassing dietary habit I have had since my teenage years. It was a long goodbye that should have, could have come sooner in life. But my mind was elsewhere. <

= It was a year of watching "Mad Men"'s Don Draper discover that perhaps there really is something reflective, spiritual and cathartic about swimming. Don, I have been saying that for years. ≠

= In the driveway the car was parked. It was a year of challenging myself to see how many destinations I could reach by foot. The answer was: more than I thought. Thank god for my I-Pod shuffle walking companion and a decent pair of shoes. >

= It was a year when my friends and urologist made it possible for me to attend a symposium in Palm Springs. Swimming pools in Southern California, post WWII was the topic of the two-day symposium called "Backyard Oasis". While in Palm Springs I met one of the symposium speakers whom I initially made contact with in 2007 on the occasion of a book he wrote on the social history of swimming pools. The speakers confirmed what I knew, believed and lived and intellectually and emotionally accepted about a swimming pool. >

= It was a year of living on less $ and eventually living with less. "Hmm, where does that next pay check come from?" "Hmmm, when will those front tires be replaced?" "When will…", "How will…" <

= It was a year of recognizing that the time has come to give some, but not all of "it" a rest.

= Eating well is sometimes the best revenge, or only revenge, or both. It was a year of making edible things from scratch: cinnamon rolls, strawberry jam, peach jam, cranberry sauce, banana bread, pumpkin spice cookies (using fresh pumpkin, not canned), gazpacho and so on. Less sugar + less bread + fewer calories and cookies + less red meat = less of me. <

= It was a year of purposefully digging trenches, feeding chickens, washing cars and dogs and clearing brush for pay. For the sake of making my mortgage payments the labor made a lot of sense and carried a lot of weight. My spare change was a nickel or two, a cup of Roberts' Market coffee and a compensatory dozen of freshly laid eggs. You see, when you feed the chickens well, they tip you with fresh eggs. ≠

= It was a year of accidentally coming upon an indoor community pool in Berkeley, California that was surrounded by a chain link fence. The pool was in a noticeable state of neglect and abandon. I see the empty water bottle floating in twelve inches of stale water. "What is wrong with this picture?" I asked myself while my fingers grazed the chain link fence as I walked the pool's length. <

= It was a year of listening to an overwhelming number of people complain about not being able to get anything accomplished. A breath or two later they proceed to blame others for nothing happening, yet refusing to stand and take action. Obesity comes to mind when I think of such cases.

= For the first time in my life, my "home town" became home to the newly crowned World Series champions—SFGiants. Speaking of champions, sometimes they are underdogs or bulldogs, or both. Just ask Butler University's men's basketball team. These two teams are proof that it is possible to rise to the occasion. >

= It was a year of returning to the retail environment for holiday season employment and to quickly realize that, yes there are people who convincingly share and embrace the team spirit at the work place. Sometimes. Bags and egos should be checked at the door.

= In a year of abundant means and ideas stacked against limited ends, it was a year many of us stubbornly forged ahead. Regardless. Regardless. Regardless. "When you are going through hell, just keep on going".—Winston Churchill

= It was a year of pushing pretense into the shadows of pragmatism. ≠

= It was a year of remarkable reading about other people's remarkable lives. Thank you Patti Smith—"Just Kids"; "look me in the eye"—John Elder Robison; "Open”—Andre Agassi; "Born on a Blue Day"—Daniel Tammet; "Parallel Play"—Tim Page. >

= It was a year of living with a lot of potentially perpetually fucked up minds and situations knowing that you are limited in your power to change or remedy those minds and situations. Elizabeth Edwards once said "we live with the God we have and not with the God we want." ≠

= Three hundred and sixty five days of getting older. It was a year of that too. It was the same for all of us. At least in that category of life I have comfort in knowing that I was not alone. You know, as long as I am able to get up each morning and put one foot (plantar fascitis or not) in front of the other and step forward, life will continue to be strings of experiences that are defined in nanoseconds of living. It's another way of saying "live with zero expectations."

= Up or down, high or low, here or there, fast or slow, it was a year of living. Grab it, hold it and own it. Live with it, learn from it. I have a headache from it all now. I think I'll take some aspirin and lie down.

Now its time for twenty and ten and one? Ready or not.

Dennis

Sopczynski

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