African oboe

An email I got today

Hi Mark. I grew up in a commune in Philly near the art museum in the late 60's til about 5th grade around 1977. My dad and mom had started the commune upon their return from the Peace Corps. Anyway, one of the couples that lived with us for a while where John and Claire Dodd. My vague recollection is that Claire was a high school teacher. She brought the piece home from work one day and showed it to me. I so admired it (and still do!) that she gave it to me. Not sure how accurate all of this is, other than Claire gave me it and the timeframe.

In any event, it was on my wall, with thumbtacks all through junior high, high school and college. After that it was put in a poster tube where it has sat for two decades.

I took it into a framer today and on a whim googled you.

I live in the Bay Area, Mill Valley. I see you're in Sacramento. Funny, I have business up there tomorrow.

Do you have a studio or something of that sort? If so, I'd love to swing by and see it.

Anyway, thought you might like this blast from the past!

Oh yeah, one more thing... I married into a family of trekkies!

Warm regards.

Peter

A couple of pictures of Beatnik Studios

...where they have jazz concerts, art shows, and artists' studios.

The shrine at Espresso Metro today

This cymbal will take you to a dark place

Wish I'd had some Wite-Out

I would have changed this to THANK YOU FOR POT SMOKING.

Combining two Western tropes

Cowboys and aliens.

Formerly the symbol of a paint store,

this sculpture now stands in front of Bloodsource, where I donate blood every eight weeks. I found out today that the other Mark Stivers donates plasma at the same Bloodsource! I hope they keep really accurate records.

Somebody taped this to my keyboard

I have no idea what it means.

From the DoodleBlog

Go here to see more.

Flat in storage room

This piece of a stage flat is stored in the back room of the clubhouse at a gated community where the John Skinner Band played today. It looks like a brown-skinned surfer holding a bikini-clad babe in his lap. I wish I could see the rest. (Why was it cut up?)

Pole Dance Studio

When something is taught in the academy, you know it's dead as an art form.

Foodstuffs illustration

This celebrates the "cheese skirt" made famous by the Squeeze Inn, which is moving from its historic location.

Unheated classroom

I tuned today in a classroom at Hiram Johnson West Campus. There were food drive donations in the room with the piano. I froze my toes off!

Cover art by my nephew Peter

Peter submitted this for the cover of a Portland magazine. They chose another illustration, but I love this one!

My picture of Lauren the Espresso Metro barista

Pictures from Jennifer's party

Jennifer's birthday video

Jennifer's birthday party

Sean made the beautiful centerpiece above.

Our oranges are huge this year

You can leave your hat on

We ordered the makings for 16 Italian beef sandwiches from Portillo's in Chicago for Jennifer's birthday party. It came with a great paper hat!

Learn from my mistakes

If you see Mr. Pickles hitchhiking, DO NOT PICK HIM UP! I had to learn the hard way.

Not one of my favorite cartoons...

...but it's gotten the most hits of any on my site — over 73,000.

Corti Brothers has everything.

...including Welsh tea. Quite expensive, at almost 15 cents a bag. Two sides of the box are written in English, the other two in Welsh. (Yes, geometry fans, that leaves the top and bottom unaccounted for. You'll just have to wonder.)

A relic of the good old days...

...when tuners signed and dated their tunings.

Ski cupcakes

Until yesterday, I had no idea what Turkish Delight was

Turkish coffee is also incredible.

My customer raised this newt from an egg

...and it is 16 years old.

Did you ever get so angry...

...that you put your fist through the side of a file cabinet?

No, me neither.

Did you lose a screw?

I found it. Call me.

The Short North Gazette

The Short North Gazette of Columbus, OH has been publishing my cartoons lately, mostly old stuff from more than ten years ago. This week I photocopied all my cartoons from 1991-1998 and sent them to the editor so she can look them over. That should keep her busy for a while.

How he learned to drive

A customer today showed me his first hard drive. Twenty megabytes!

Some people just don't know how to drive

My favorite part of the supermarket...

...is the north end, where all the cleaning products are. It's the least crowded part. If I were staging a dance number in the store, this is where I'd do it.

Music party

I went to the usual New Year's party at the Swetts' house. Big fun, as usual. I played jazz, rock, blues, and opera.

Zoot suit at Konocti Harbor Casino