artman's alphabet

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nancy forrester's secret garden - VIDEO

I met Nancy Forrester about 8 years ago in a time of crises.
Her "Secret Garden" seems to be in a state of constant crises between not enough funding and pressure from the covetous developers who continuously try to weasel the untouched tropical acre away from her.
All the same, with a little help from her friends, Nancy's been able to beat back the mayhem, time and time again.

The place is a living rainforest museum, out of the day-to-day line of fire for weddings, environmental education or a quiet hour of meditation under the canopy of trees.

I like to think it's what Key West would look like without humanity or if humanity was, at least, a bit more user friendly.


Click arrow to start video. Run time, 7:16

Here's a link to Nancy's website. . .
Nancy Forrester's Secret Garden

only in key west

Where could you find a row of rentable apartments living over a laundromat, next door to one of the best Cuban Cafés in town, all in the same building?
Only in Key West!

When I moved to Key West, the first two places I rented were without a washer or dryer. Well no, the second place had a washer/dryer but they were broken. I fixed them once but the fix didn't take. The rust was just too much (down here, the washers and dryers are kept outdoors) and the landlord, some kind of shyster management company, wasn't gonna spring for a new one.

Back then, I still had the T-Bird (my vehicle of deliverance) so I'd pile my dirty laundry in the trunk and haul them five minutes to the closest laundromat, M&M Laundry,
on White Street.

While I waited for the wash to cycle through, I surely did like the good food and coffee smells coming from Sandy's Café
next door.
Before too long there was no way to get the wash done
without a bocadillo de medianoche and con leché.

Later, I moved into a furnished apartment in Old Town near the bight, there was a washer/dryer on prem.
(and they did work)
So much for Sandy's, right?
Not quite.

Sandy's is halfway between Old Town and the White Street Pier where I like to spend an hour or so in the mornings.
(see "AT THE SPEED OF LIFE" for the back story)
So, naturally, Sandy's was the place I'd stop for my morning con leché along the way.

While I was still an advertising madman up on the NorthEast corridor, sometimes I'd ask myself "where is it even remotely possible for a power driven, over-achieving knucklehead ad man to find peace and quiet, to calm the hell down, make use some of that high school Spanish and, just be. . ."
Only in Key West!

my shameless plug - VIDEO

Many of you have probably heard that the BluePaper is coming back to life again and that's a good thing. Key West needs it's "community watchdog".

But my plans to ramp up my personal Design biz are not going to change. So to generate interest and excitement, I've posted here, another of my video Design portfolios.

This video is the portfolio I designed to generate interest up in the Miami area and for nationwide account possibilities I find on Craig's List.
It's slicker and a bit more edgy than my other videos you may have seen and because this blog's audience has grown so much larger since the National Geographic article, it's an effective forum to attract Design contracts.

Thanks for your interest. . .


Click arrow to start video. Run time, 2:27

at the speed of life

This is my bicycle. . .
My main means of transportation around the island.
It's parked here at the almost end of the White Street Pier while I'm sitting on a bench beside it enjoying my morning
con leché.
. . .It's a quiet way to start the day.

I've been riding bikes all my life, it's in my DNA I guess.
As a kid delivering newspapers and as a younger adult, racing and riding Centuries. (nut numbing 100 mile treks)
But in these old days, riding this hybrid like a mule
suits me fine.
Transportation to work or the sailboat dock, to the grocery store, for Saturday morning banking and post office chores and then the occasional speed demon workout up and down Smathers beach.

Bicycling is a healthy and sensible way to get around our little town. Involuntary deep breathing, unstructured exercise and no carbon footprint.

There's sort of a bicycle culture in Key West.
Like me, lots of locals don't own cars so, out and about on our bikes we meet.
They're all kind of slower going, calmer and more laid back. The kind of people I like, and strive to be myself.

I'll admit that for the year I took possession of brother Cooper's car after he got busted for DUI, a silver drop-top Miata, I got a little spoiled. It was easier to visit friends up the Keys on Summerland and Big Pine (although driving that cute two seater at 55mph on US1 scared the holy hell out of me),
I could buy more groceries in a single trip to Faustos, didn't have to time my weekly treks to do post office and banking chores between down pours on rainy days and I even got a few hot dates out of it.
(with my toned and tanned body behind the wheel,
the car was a "chick magnet")

But after a few months I realized I wasn't seeing my friends anymore. They were still in and of the bike culture and now I was driving. When that hit me, I parked the car in front of the house and got back on the bike. Suddenly all my two and three wheeled leg propelled friends were back on my radar.

The white haired guy who rides past on the pier in the mornings with a wave and his coffee in hand, Pete with the big straw hat, Jan pedaling along the sidewalk on her tricycle, Ray-Ray the beach bum, the lady who rides around with her African Grey (named Scorpio) on the handlebars and the gorgeous young girl heading home from her afternoon dance classes at CoffeeMill.
It was, and is, great to see and talk with them all again and, by the way, I never moved the car again. It sat safely in front of the house on my sleepy Old Town street for another 6 months until the court finally gave Dennis his license back.

The take away from all this, at least for me is,
friends happen at the speed of life.

M*o*O*n - VIDEO

With respect for tonight's full moon that we can't see from here, due to overcast skies. . .


click arrow to start video. run time, 4:05

low tide

Bahia Honda State Park, about 40 minutes north of Key West, had been at some point voted one of among the five most beautiful parks in the United States. I didn't get to vote on it but I agree, it is what natural tropical beauty is all about
and what people up north imagine when they dream
about paradise.

Yeah, there are parking lots and picnic tables, bathrooms and a gift shop, snorkeling party boats and a buoyed beach for the kiddies but, turn left where most folks turn right and you find an amazingly peaceful place.

The Atlantic beach is pristine, completely untouched by any kind of governmental intervention or engineering to make it more hospitable for humans.
Beaches heaped with washed up seaweed, coral and an occasional lobster trap. If, as I've seen it happen, a storm season washes away the beachfront, it stays that way until the next storm season puts it back. The air is fresh, the water is clear and all the while the tides roll in and out as easily as nature's breathing.
My restless spirit is quieted and my faith reassured,
every time I walk it's length.

another day in paradise - VIDEO

Its been such a "to die for" beautiful day today I thought I'd reprise this video I shot and put together on a very similar day a couple of years ago.

Enjoy. . .

pictures of paradise

working man blues

Even in paradise, everyone has to pull their weight. . .

It's a big job just gettin' by with nine kids and a wife,
I've been a workin' man dang near all my life.
But I'll keep on working,
long as my two hands are fit to use.
I'll drink a little beer in the evening
and sing a little bit of these working man blues.

I keep my nose on the grindstone,

I work hard every day.
Might get a little tired on the weekend,
after I draw my pay.
But I'll keep on workin'
and come Monday I'll be right back with the crew.
I'll drink a little beer in the evening
and sing a little bit of these working man blues.

Sometimes I think about leaving,
do a little bummin' around.
Throw my bills out the window
and catch a train to another town.
But I just keep on workin',
I gotta buy those kids a brand new pair of shoes.
And yeah I'll drink a little beer in the evening,
and sing a little bit of these working man blues.

Hey hey, the working man, the working man like me
I ain't never been on welfare
that's one place I won't be.
Cause I'll just keep on workin'
long as my two hands are fit to use.
I'll drink a little beer in the evening
and sing a little bit of these working man blues.

"Working Man Blues" is a tune by Merle Haggard.
Given all the construction workers working next door that I've met over the past 6 months and my recently out of work state of being, it just seemed right.

Click the link below if you care to hear the real thing.
WORKING MAN BLUES

this&that

January in Paradise

So it's January in paradise.
The time of year when the cooler weather kicks in and locals huddle back into their cocoons.

Little by little the festive lights lining the streets and adorning the quaint Old Town homes, flicker out. Then somehow, so does the holiday spark in everyone's eyes.

We hang up our "gay apparel" and once again dawn our hair-shirts with the realization that "o sh*t here comes
tax time again".

These are the "grunt months", but there are only four months more to go until we're back on the beach.

Left of Sensible

The Keys, and particularly Key West, have a reputation for being just a little "left of sensible".
(and that's why I like it here)

But when you think about it, it makes perfect sense.
Who was the Spanish explorer who discovered the Keys
back in 1513?
It was Juan Ponce De Leone.
And what was he looking for when he got here?
The fountain of youth. (go figure!)
Our "left of sensible" thing must be somehow genetic.
(or maybe there's just something in the water!)

a new year, a new adventure

For the past 17 years, here in Key West, there has been a newspaper publication called "Key West the Newspaper".
For the last 12 of those 17 years I've been that publication's
Art Director.

During those years, columnists, associate editors and sales people have come and gone, but mostly Key West the Newspaper was a 2 man operation.
Dennis Cooper, the paper's founder and publisher, wrote the news and I made sure it was fit for print.

Early last week, Key West the Newspaper died.

It never paid very well but through the years Dennis and I were successful workmates, drinking buddies,
close friends, brothers.
That for me was, in many ways, more valuable than cash.

For me, Key West the Newspaper was a good gig
and I'll miss it.
But now it's a new year and time for a new adventure.

Stay tuned. . .