I am not comfortable telling anybody else what to do with their Thanksgiving holidays, I believe there ought to be at least one commercial-free holiday in our national lives, one day in which people can rest, reflect, be with their families, read a book or watch TV. I have some young friends who love Black Friday, they fan out to malls and text intelligence to each other and snap up some great bargains. They love it, it is their cultural Super Bowl, in a curious sort of way.
I love this farm on Route 313, it reminds me of the spirit of Thanksgiving, our most American of holidays, once the purest and least tainted by money, hype and greed. Many millions of people love to shop, and it does not seem my role to tell them they ought not to do that, I do wonder if some people, especially younger people, even know what quiet and peace of mind is, they are so engulfed in messages and images.
Life is about change, and just because I celebrated Thanksgiving in one way doesn’t mean everyone who follows me has to do it that way. So I looked for purity and simplicity yesterday and I found some in this photograph I took a month or so ago, it evoked Thanksgiving and it’s spirit for me, I will share it with you.
We just got back from two days away and the farm is rocking. We will not have a quiet day today.
– Maria has launched her quite radical Plaid Friday experiment, yet another of the almost daily things Maria is trying and doing that she would not have tried and done before. Plaid Friday is the local business response to the Black Friday Corporate Theft of the Thanksgiving holiday, artists and small business owners are offering their own great works inexpensively, kicking off their own Christmas shopping season. At 10 a.m. this morning, Maria offered 90 potholders in differing themes — elephants, manly, flowers, Goddess, Minnie and Flo, the Hens and Affirmation Potholders – they are shown in five gallery pages on her website, they are moving fast. Good for her, I am bursting with pride in my former girlfriend, she is the real deal. She takes Paypal and ships almost anywhere. Good shopping. At Bedlam Farm, we embrace the idea of buying local, supporting artists, staving off the corporate takeover of the earth, supporting individuality.
– More good news. George Forss, perhaps the most acclaimed landscape photographer alive today, returned to New York two weeks ago, to visit scenes of some of his most famous masterpieces.
So there are some new masterpieces – shots of the new city skyline with the new World Trade Center tower (formerly the Freedom Tower), magnificent skyline shots of New York and Brooklyn, and shots of his partner in creativity and life, Donna Wynbrandt on the Jersey City boardwalk, one of his most evocative black and white photographs. George captured the grandeur of New York, then and now, two different but beautiful worlds. He is selling his new photographs – most are in color – for $65 plus shipping, and there cannot be a greater bargain on any corporate website anywhere in the world than a George Forss print for $65, there cannot be a better gift for a photographer, urbanite, New Yorker or artist that these amazing photographs. You can see them and buy them on George’s new blog, in between his observations on the universe, politics, God-force and alien beings.
George called this morning to say he was stunned by the orders, he was running out to get some new mailers. I think we may sell 100 of George’s prints in the next week or so, maybe 500 by Christmas at this rate. George is a wonderful human being and a true genius, his celebrated work somewhat derailed by the 911 attacks, the rise of digital photography, and his own eccentric individuality – he does not play the game. He is a master, acclaimed by the great photographers of our time, celebrated in Time Magazine, on the Today, in a book by David Douglas Duncan. His star is rising again, and thanks to you for recognizing this authentic American genius. I can assure you a George Forss print will always be worth more than $65, just check out the prices on the Park Slope Gallery site.
– Then, last but not least, there is me. This weekend marks the next phase of my new kind of book tour for “Second Chance Dog: A Love Story.” I am using new technology to connect with my readers and find an audience for my book, which went into a third printing last week. This is the crunch phase – have I gone as far as I can, as some people in publishing think, or am I just beginning as the Christmas shopping season approaches? I think the latter, time will tell. My book is a wonderful Christmas gift, it is a Christmas story, it is a happy book (no dogs die, or even get hurt) the last chapter is called the “Christmas Miracle.” If I can tap into the Christmas gift book buying market using my blog and social media, I will truly have made some history. Publishing has changed, so I have I. You can check out some of the early reviews here.
For me, one test of sales is the orders coming into Battenkill Books, my local bookstore. We think they will really pick up when people start focusing in on Christmas, which is now. You are eligible to win some free stuff if you buy books from Battenkill – dog food, books, photos, potholders.You can support a great bookstore as well as my work and also help reaffirm the meaning of writing and publishing in this new world. Maria and I will sign and personalize any books purchased through Battenkill, you can visit the store’s website or call them at 518 677-2515.
We have sole well over 800 books at Battenkill, I am shooting for 1,000. At least. Thanks to all of you, we are happy to be offering great and original and affordable stuff to buy for Christmas.
Back home from a quiet Thanksgiving with Maria at a beautiful inn in Vermont. My voice is still shot, my cold is rioting, we had a wonderful time, we are returning to lots of good news and exciting stuff, from my book to Maria’s Plaid Friday initiative to George Forss who seems to have been discovered anew. More later, got to check on a limping sheep. Glad to be back.
