Talked to my Mom today

They had to put in a chest tube today to remove some liquid from her lungs. When I'm up to it, I'll post in detail what went on while I was in Pittsburgh. I am very concerned about what she's going through. There are so many layers of concerns to be dealt with each gets it's own doctor. I feel so helpless, a world away.

Site du jour

"Is This Erdnase", Another piece if delicious writing by Todd Karr.

Engraved Charlie Miller Cups

My Mom

This shot was taken in Cincinnati in February of 2004. She is showing off a coat she bought while visiting us in Seattle.

I hope she is hanging in there. It's a long hard road she's on right now.

Back from a few days in Pittsburgh

Nutty few days visiting my Mom in Pittsburgh following her heart transplant. My brother got her old heart and is taking it to Israel where he will bury it. I kind of feel like I got gipped. Guess I wasn't even in the running for it. We might have drawn straws for it or something. I thought it might make a nice mantle piece in a jar of formaldehyde. Hell, I've broken her hear more than once. Oh well. . . it's gone now. Mike flew out to the holy land where he will be for a month.

It's been a long tiring day of travel. Need to crash but I share more about the trip and my mothers health later.

Flying back to Seattle

Back at the "Family House". Picking up my bag, catching a shuttle to the airport; then back at Sea-Tac Airport where Scotty and Becky will pick me up close to 11:00PM West Coast Time. It was a short trip. Wish I could stay longer to help out, but got to work this weekend and make some money.

I post a more detailed report as well as pics when I get home.

Peace

Greetings From Pittsburgh

I'm here in Pittsburgh writing this at a place called the "Family House", a facility for the families of transplant patients. They have a computer room. My mom is doing well, and it's been good to be here for her. I am surprised how well she is doing after a major surgery like this. Taking little walks every day. Going to the john and so forth. Well, I should walk the hill up to the hospital for the day. Flying back to Seattle tomorrow evening.

"Is this your card!"

Filling orders

After posting the Busker Festival clip, I sold a few DVD's. Got to love the internet! If anyone is interested, the DVD is $25 + $5 S&H Priority Mail. If you haven't seen the clip from the DVD it has a very different feel from that last clip I posted. This was the directors vision. Bob Gerding shot this in High Definition (how many magic DVD's can boast that?) We shot the instructional segment in 1 take. Guess after 25 years of doing the routine, I have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing. Yet, at the same time, I'm still growing, learning and searching with this beautiful piece of work created by Jack Miller.

The clip/link below will take a couple minutes to load. I was playing with MPEG-4 compression settings, trying to maximize the clarity for the web clip. Enjoy!


Linking Rings Video Clip, Click Here

Work

I've been working the Market and the Fenix Underground this weekend. Now one more round today at Pike Place Market, maybe catch Rikki Lee Jones at the Triple Door and fly out tonight. Made an attempt to put together a last minute magic lecture in Pittsburgh. Rather doubt that it will come together, but you never know. Visiting hours end at 10:30PM at the hospital, if there are any Pittsburgh magicians who read this feel free to give a call and see if we can get together. 206.335.1545

I need to get in the shower, get packed, make Buster's lunches for when I am gone and get my shit together.



An early picture if T. Nelson Downs. I used to do this balancing trick. A magician and tool and die guy pal of mine named Larry Payne made it for me around the same time he made my leaning boots (over a decade before there was a commercial version of leaning)

Friday

I talked to my mom!! She finally had the breathing tube removed from her throat and sounded good. She told me that the heart that was now beating on it's own in her chest had belonged to a 22 year old man from West Virginia. She added that I shouldn't be surprised if she started smoking pot and drinking beer. . . funny. I am flying out late tonight on the red eye and will be in Pittsburgh for a few days. It's been a year or two since I've seen my mom, but we talk almost every other day. I love her very much.

My step sister Mary Martha (who has been there for almost a week) sent me this pic.

Thursday

The two hour drive to Ellensburg was filled with anticipation. I was excited to spend time with the kids in their classrooms. I arrived at the school with Hope waiting to greet me. I gave her a big hug and handed her the brown bag lunch that I had made for her. We went to the lunch room and ate our lunches. After lunch we went outside for a brief recess. Hope showed me some of her daring new tricks on the jungle jim as she hung upside down and flipped over the bar. I met a couple of her friends, Mateo & Cory. Playing on the grass this beautiful day warmed my heart.

After recess we got in line to enter one of the the K-1 classrooms. The kindergartners were working on colors and numbers so Mrs. Clasen gathered up her first graders into a circle on the floor and taught a lesson with a balance scale, an apple and some blocks. She taught the kids about estimation, making guesses and predictions. She is a young woman in her early twenties and has a great way about her. After the lesson the kids broke off into small groups and worked on the writing of numbers. I gives me a greater feeling of connection with my kids to know what they are learning and talk to them about it.

Next stop was Max's 3rd grade class with Mrs. Ristine. She asked me if I would like to lead an activity. I said, of course! My job was to help the kids make beaded bracelets with specific colors that represented the life cycle of the salmon. It was fun to talk to the kids in a casual way and listen to their chatter. Then, all of a sudden. . . THE FIRE ALARM! A fire drill! Cool, the school was evacuated in a short time and the kids were amazingly quiet. One the way back into the class room, I reminded the children of the rule, "If you don't come to the fire drill, you're not allowed to come to the fire." The kids got the joke and laughed.

After school Moira met us at the flag pole and dropped Liam off. I need to find out where he is going to preschool and visit him there. We went to a playground for an hour where we played Star Wars with our imaginary light sabers. After that we went to a movie.


Then it was time to go back to the school (where Moira picked up the kids), one final round on that playground and call it an evening.

The drive back to Seattle over the mountains during sunset was spectacular. Started out fiery orange, then magenta and finally the clouded sky turned pink. This sure is a beautiful part of the country