Finding little treasures, and an ode to open spaces

One of the most exciting things about new places is heading out with one task or agenda in mind and discovering something unexpected. Today I was seeking a post office, my interview site, and a public bathroom (not in that order, of course) and a place to sit and wait in downtown Oakland for interview time to arrive. Not as easy as you think.

But while trying to communicate to security guards of multiple office buildings in the square the urgency of my request, to convey through that desperate look in my eyes that "my teeth are floating", i.e. I could really use an honest answer to my inquiry about the locale of a public restroom, I stumbled upon a delightful little something-different-altogether.

This lovely little exhibit of objects by Sean Olson (from whom I borrowed the radical image above) put on by the Oakland Museum of California in the lobby of suits-ville. Quiet, peaceful, meticulous and tactile somehow eloquently placed among buzzing, active, stale. I love when that happens, and wondered today if I was getting side-eye glances because I was actually taking the time to look at the art.

I remembered then a similar experience on my trip to Portland in fall, when I was roaming around the streets with "nothingparticularinmind", and stumbled right upon the gallery district and fell right into an exhibit entitled "Ice Houses" by Scott Peterman (again, stole this image from him too, thanks.) Elegant, quiet, simple, and thought-provoking. And having just said a bittersweet sayonara to Alaska for the time being, it was like those little winter huts (from New England, however) were calling out to me like some exquisite corpses; an ode to my months of cabin-life and open spaces.

My other little treasure for the day: a dream-job scenario for fall, and an interview for it that fit like a glove.