| Dear Friends, Old and New, Near and Far:
As I continue working on my book, An Unrealistic Life: The Art of Doing What you Love Without Getting a Real Job, I’ve realized that it’s time to find the last few people to interview, and on the way, find a new place to live by the sea. Which sea? Who knows? Last fall I announced to close friends that I was going to sell my house, reduce my belongings to 15 cubic feet, and take off. Yes, I’m leaving a nearly idyllic place for a mostly unplanned journey. How else am I going to experience the “1000 Places to See Before You Die” if I’m weeding in my backyard?
So, if you know of anyone who is seeking a creative space in Pittsburgh, a peaceful neighborhood, a stunning view, and even fresh raspberries in the spring, please have them contact me. See more photos and additional description here.
It will be a busy month as I evaluate what is precious enough to keep, and sell off unused paints, canvas, exotic papers, maybe even artwork.
Of course, I will always return to Pittsburgh for artistic projects, and to visit the creative and cherished friends who have nourished my stay here. My new blog, Midnight Musings, will be up in a few days, so people can keep up with the process and my journey. Can I really reduce my belongings to 15 cubic feet? Tune in and see! |
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| EXCITING NEWS! |
I am happy to announce that one of my photographic montages has been included in the Dutch Buddhist magazine Vorm & Leegte (Form and Light). Coke Buddha: Replacing Icons, part of my series on the Westernization of Southeast Asia is featured in an article on Buddhism and materialism. If you happen to be in Amsterdam, you can buy the magazine at Wanuskewin (that’s the name of the shop) at the Ferdinand Bolstraat nr. 28.
You can see other images from the series on my website.
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| PAEAN TO PITTSBURGH |
Diverse and thought-provoking programs continue to enrich me here in Pittsburgh. Last week alone I was stunned by the photos of journalist Evan Williams, which detailed the devastation that is occurring in Myanmar as the military dictatorship burns the villages of ethnic tribes like the Karen. Thousands of them are starving in the jungles, if they are not caught and tortured. We take so much for granted here in our over-abundant United States. Currently several Burmese refugees are being helped by the Jewish Family And Children’s Service here in Pittsburgh and more will arrive soon. To donate household items or clothing, contact JFCS.The next day, March 28th, the riffs of Marty Ashby and Anthony Brown floated through the Manchester Craftsman’s Guild as part of a program on jazz and creativity co-sponsored with the Japan Society. Writer Dan Pink (Free Agent Nation and A Whole New Mind) was interviewed by Alan Webber, editor of Fast Company, on “Improvisation, Creativity, Collaboration: Fueling Innovation in the 21st Century.” The dessert for this cultural banquet was a presentation by Hiroshi Tasaka, poet and President of SophiaBank, who taught us several Japanese words. One of my favorites is ENISHI: “Our encounter has deep meaning.” What a great lesson to take with me as I travel. Of course I had to have my picture taken with Dan Pink, since his books on right brain thinking bring public consciousness to the artistic approach to life and business. |
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| FINAL NOTES:
Credit for my logo design on this newsletter, my website and blog goes to genius graphic designer, Micki Wilkoff. A perfectionist who meets all deadlines, she’s also a hoot to work with. For anything from business cards to themed event decor, contact her at mickiwow(at)comcast.net.
Sidle up to a star you
love! As a finale to our 
evening at Graceland
Too, thanks to Mike Stanton, our gracious driver and tour guide, the ghosts of both James Dean and Elvis appeared in living
color.
And, don’t forget, please forward this newsletter to anyone who might be interested, and encourage your friends, remote acquaintances, and distant relatives to sign up by clicking on the little white box above. I was told this week by a publisher that my mailing list of 900 needed to be 9000 or they wouldn’t look at my book. How daunting! Apparently I am non-existent without a massive database. (Whatever happened to “I think, therefore I am?”) Whoa, lots of work to do before An Unrealistic Life hits the stands. Until then, keep savoring life, have an artful day, and dream unrealistic dreams!
Elena Hiatt Houlihan
Moving Images |
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NOTE: You may be a close
friend or relative, someone
who’s genuinely interested in the continuing saga of my book, a teacher or student I’ve worked with, an editor I’m trying to impress, a perfect stranger I met briefly in the airport, at an opening, or had an intense conversation with in the Paris market or a Bangkok cafe. (Perhaps you’ve forgotten me, but I have not forgotten you!) Since I’m NOT making any promises to make you RICH, BRILLIANT or FAMOUS in 5 easy steps (not yet anyway), if my stories and observations don’t enliven your day, then hit UNSUBSCRIBE. We have a strict anti-spam policy here at The Wandering Muse, though we acknowledge that some friends in Hawaii actually consider spam quite nourishing.
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| MEMORABLE EVENTS:
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Thanks to grants from The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts
and Creative NonFiction, I was privileged to attend the Mid-South Creative NonFiction Conference organized by Lee Gutkind in late February. The themes were memoir and travel writing, and we met June Thomas, Foreign Editor of Slate, Charles Conrad, editor at Doubleday, and Virginia Morell, writer for National Geographic.
And if I’ve absorbed his lessons, my book will now be enlivened by the techniques on scene writing that I learned from Mike Rosenwald of the Washington Post.Of course, I now have a new gaggle of friends, talented writers all, who sharedstories and laughter with me as well as sumptuous repasts at L & M’s restaurant and salumeria where we savored the world’s best andouille sausage and bacon. For brunch, I had the superb and unusual combination of Pan Roasted Quail over scrambled eggs. If you’re headed south, this restaurant is worth a detour. For Slow Food afficionados, Chef Dan Latham, creates his salumi from local farm raised pork.
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| TALK ABOUT AN UNREALISTIC LIFE! |
From the moment I was picked up at the airport in Memphis, I began hearing about Graceland Too, which took on more drama and mystique as tidbits of intriguing details kept falling into the conversation.
“This guy Paul has dedicated his life to Elvis.”
“Oh, yeah, you can go there in the middle of the night. He’s always open.”
“His whole house is like an Elvis museum, and he has a limo that Elvis rode in.”
So after several days of earnest sessions with writers and editors, six of us succumbed to the lure and drove off into the night to Holly Springs about an hour away from Ole Miss. Lion sculptures draped with twinkle lights and barbed wire to prevent theft graced the entrance, which was also flanked by two white plastic Christmas trees. In an atmosphere that combines folk art with obsession, Paul McLeod has covered every surface with Elvis photos, articles, plastic replicas, 45 records, advertisements, curtains which proclaim “Elvis Lives” in a green and blue 70’s design, and the piece de resistance, a creche with photos of Elvis at the base.
Paul, sturdy and energetic despite the late hour, greeted us at the door and began such a nonstop barrage of Elvis statistics that we could hardly understand him, let alone keep up. I wanted to record it, decided it might be incompre- hensible, and still regret that I didn’t. He confessed later that he drank 40 cokes a day which might explain the rapidity of his monologue. Tours cost $5 and apparently Paul supports himself by selling some of the Elvis mementoes such as carefully cut up pieces of carpet from the real Graceland. Paul’s stories seem only partially tethered in reality, but his dedication to The King is genuinely awesome.
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