Blue ribbon at the White House...

I took the bus to DC a couple days ago and stayed with friends so I could join the Blackwell family at the White House and a ceremony where they would get nationally recognized. Let me back up. Last year, my friend Susan Blackwell connected me with her brother. His son Tony had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and, seeing no satisfactory resource for calculating health needs for his boy, programmed a resource himself. I provided a few illustrations for what became Tony's Plate. John then entered the application into Michelle Obama's Apps for Healthy Kids campaign. Well, thanks to some hard work from the whole family, they won the popular vote. Fancy, huh? I'm so honored that they asked me to come along. Above right there is a shot of the Blackwells and I in front of the capitol building after the ceremonies were over and the USDA arranged a little bus tour of the city. Here are a few more shots from the trip...


1. There's me at the White House. To be totally forthcoming, I only got part of the White House tour after a bit of a delay. Just as we got to the East Room, our event leaders pulled us from the tour to head to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building for the ceremony... because we couldn't keep the cabinet secretaries waiting. Ah well. I'll have another chance. 2. Me and Lincoln. 3. The Capitol on the skyline. 4. Me covering the Capitol with my umbrella. Oops. But it was raining.


In addition to these sites, I also had the chance to see some art galleries. I saw an amazing exhibit of items created by Japanese people held in camps during WWII. Such beautiful paintings, jewelry, sculpture, practical wood pieces, etc.!! Beauty out of adversity. And I also had the great pleasure of seeing a huge exhibit of Norman Rockwell's original charcoal/pencil sketches and oil paintings... from the collections of George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg. It was nostalgia overload!


I was also able to make the trek out to Arlington, VA and Signature Theatre to see their production of Chess. It was stunning! Really great! And I was also able to visit the remaining pieces I created for Signature. Many have been sold, but there are some left (ironically some of my favorite pieces).

I'd like to thank Cindy and Ash Long, my friend Garrett/Elise's mom and brother. They welcomed me into their guest room for the trip. It was so nice to have a place to stay and it was comfy!

Well, that's it for now. What an adventure!! And I look forward to the next one. Take care, all! Peace and love.

That's a whole heck of a lot of Broadway!

I am EXHAUSTED!! But it was SO worth it. I was a drop in a vast ocean of giving today in the heart of the theatre district. The Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction brought out thousands of wonderful Broadway geeks with money to burn (or even more likely in a lot of cases, money to sacrifice). While I was often super busy, here are a few shots I was able to take of the goings-on...


1.There's the backdrop of the "silent" auction. (I put "silent" in quotes because there are wonderful chatty hosts who steer things along.) There at the middle right is a clock made partially from my art, and above that is a framed and matted original ink piece signed by 18 stars of the autumn's Broadway openings (for the Grand Auction later). Note my logo on the t-shirt in the foreground. They were EVERYWHERE! 2. Some sights from the day: A fellow carrying a life-size cutout of Mandy Patinkin circa 1984. 3. A character named Rose and American Idiot's foam middle fingers. 4. My friend Susan and Daniel Craig. 5. Shubert Alley.


I have to give a shout-out to my helpers throughout the day... Justin Roller my point man and Kevin Munhall who manned the early shift. There were others who were willing to help, but with a pretty small table, we were all set. And then there was the cavalcade of dear friends who stopped by to say "hello" which I was SO grateful for. I don't want to name them all to risk leaving someone out, but know that each and every loved one brought me so much joy today (including phone calls). 1. A westward shot down 44th Street. 2. Kevin and I at the table. 3. The poster in the window of a deli where I got an amazing sandwich. 4. Roller at a rare slow moment at the table. We had dropped prices and had experienced a few rain drops as seen on the signage. 5. Another view of 44th Street, this time eastward.


The Grand Auction was a trip and a half. BC/EFA main dude Tom Viola asked me to be present as they auctioned off my art... the last lot of the day. 1. The "backstage" host's cheat sheet included onstage guests' headshots. So there's Greg Jbara, Levi Kreis, Priscilla Lopez, Jonathan Freeman, John Tartaglia, Nathan Lane, Amy Irving, Anthony Rapp, Bernadette Peters, and ME! What??!! 2. Another cutout of Mandy Patinkin enjoying the auction proceedings. 3. Although I can only take marginal credit for all the amazing work that went into it, I'm still happy to say that this item fetched four figures in the auction. 4. A shot of me being nervous before having to go talk about my art on the auction stage. 5. Yes, I had to directly follow the amazing Bernadette Peters. I then proceeded to the stage where Tom Viola told the folks why I was there. I shared a few remotely coherent thoughts, and then the bidding began. My art, signed by lots of celebs, brought in $1700. I'm blown away.


So I end this day with paper cuts and ink stains on my hands, a dry scratchy throat, and a severely enlarged cranium. It will take my friends and family some doing, but I'm confident they can bring me down a few notches where I belong. Seriously, it was an amazing day and an event I was truly blessed to be a part of. Peace & love, all!