Guerilla interview

I share a birthday with one of my favorite people in the world, Extraordinaire! Although we're quite a few years apart, by a series of fortuitous circumstances, we're both entering (or re-visiting, in her case) a new stage of life. It was fun to catch up yesterday. We go to lunch every year to celebrate the best day to be born, January 19th, and to talk (and talk and talk and talk). I look forward to our outing with anticipation every year.

After lunch we went to do a guerrilla interview with my grandpa. SURPRISE! It was so great to hear his stories about growing up in a small town and working endless days in the fields at his dad's side. Their relationship struck me as a particularly close and tender one. Several aspects of his father's character I see in my own dad: his kindness and never-failing desire to serve, to name a few. I loved hearing about the first time Grandpa saw the ocean and how he took dozens of pictures of the waves. The way he described his personal history in visual terms reminded me again of how influential he has been in informing my understanding of beauty, art, and aesthetic.

I conducted similar interviews with my grandmothers several years ago but for some reason never got around to harassing my grandfathers. But I loved it. I feel such a closeness to my ancestors when I hear stories about their lives. It makes me want to do another sound piece with my grandparent's voices. . .