A bit of sage advice...

...from a 1969 newsletter called The Harpsichord. I found it on an actual harpsichord in the piano lab at Cosumnes River College.

The snowboarder's favorite cookie

Excuse me, you're sitting on my hand

The Virgin Mary...

...with a tiny St. Cecilia backing her on piano.

I said I wanted it medium rare.

New painting by Nina Weiss

... done at the Vermont Studio Center.

The World Music Ensemble...

...at the Peace Corps Midwinter Dinner.

Experience God with all your senses

Another fine poster

Poster at Espresso Metro

A messy house is a sign of a rich life

Outside(r) art

This sculpture is in front of the house of a beloved local bandleader.

House calls

My client got this chess set (hand-carved from marble) while stationed in Afghanistan. Back in America, he claims to be the only doctor in Northern California who makes house calls.

You can always learn more about art

New collage

Rest room in French cafe

This restroom not only includes a concrete sink but also a shower.

Chicken behavior

Cartoon I drew for an ad...

For a brain wellness workshop.

Bunny tsunami

In Old Sacramento...

... there are now two tattoo parlors facing each other on 2nd Street!  

This big box...

...has ONE piano key in it, with an ivory repair done by the queen of keytops, Ms. Yvonne Ashmore of Grass Valley. 

Sock clown

When I close my eyes I still see it. Staring at me.

A love letter to Espresso Metro

Little horror movie

Playing around in the black light corner at Evangeline's.

Village Hats

At Village Hat Shop I bought a top hat for the Moulin Rouge themed corporate party. They also sell this menorah hat.

Fairly horrifying piece of sheet music

That's Eddie Cantor in blackface.

A great set of figurines

Union hall turned gallery

The Vox gallery, which used to be in an office building that was set to be torn down, found an old union hall that is set to be torn down in 18 months. It has a big room with a nice little stage and an upstairs with lots of offices, including this glass window where union members must have come to pick up their checks and pay their dues. 

Mail-order piano

My customer bought this piano from a rebuilder in Chicago sight unseen. Not a bad instrument!

Movie poster at Vox Gallery

Another reason California is paradise on Earth

These people replaced their front lawn with a miniature golf-style putting green.

Some nice street art

...on an honor box near Jack's Urban Eats.

A very popular painting

On This American Life today, I heard about Alex Melamid and Vitaly Komar,who took a series of polls to find out what people liked in a painting. The favorite subject was landscape, and the favorite color blue. Above the piano at my second tuning was this lovely blue landscape. 

You can see their examples of the "Most and Least Wanted Paintings" for various countries around the world here.

We don't have snow, but...

...winter in Sacramento sometimes produces "ice puddles" like this one.

A rare piano tuning cartoon in the New Yorker

Click here.

Some restaurants assume that you know the teapot is hot

But not this one.

Filmspotting

My favorite podcast is Filmspotting, a film review show from Chicago Public Radio. On this week's show they ended by reading an email I wrote them!

You can hear the excerpt here: