Sticks hit the road

To be left in London. I may record the resting places for Tinytheatre.

I'll check in on the second, that may be my last chance to visit before I get home on the Ninth.

Alice in Wonderland/The Duchess

Even the Duchess sneezed occasionally; and as for the baby, it was sneezing and howling alternatively, without a moment's pause.

The above was photographed in the Tenderloin National Forest (see left), which exists in Cohen alley in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, one of the poorer areas of the city. Its designation is real, though the sign is not standard issue. The structure the Duchess is sitting in is one of the a piece by Cameron Hockenson made for an exhibit of Shelters in the alley a couple of years back. A few blocks away in the Civic Center, Patrick Dougherty has installed alterations to an alley of sycamores (see below). Finally, if you must have more sticks before Thursday (when I will have some up on the Tinytheatre blog), here is a link to a youtube video of Nick Caves's Soundsuits.

Stick in Germany

Here is the stick that was sent to Germany, looming over passersby at the Olympia Stadium where it was recently installed. More are posted on the Gerdiary blog, where more frequently there are thoughtful essays in fabric, paired with poems. 

Yup, probably time for more sticks.

Stick on the beach in Portugal

Lucilia at Couve-de-Mar ( wonderful necklaces there, suggestive of sea-wrack) planted this stick on the Portugese shore when she and her twins went to play in the waves. I think this photo will be quite a tonic for people still dealing with the cold and storms of winter - thank you, Lucilia, for the lovely placement.

Spring Sticks for Placement

Here are sticks 10,11 and 12 (small numbers, but they are there) for placement. As always, indicate in a comment if you would like one of these sent to you. The idea is not to keep them, but to place them somewhere passersby can come upon them and people can adopt them. Past participants will attest to the thrill when you leave one of them and return to find it gone. If you take a photo of the stick where it is left (One was placed in the mouth of a tiger - a tiger made out of stone, to be sure, but still a tiger), and email it to me I will post the photo here with a link to your blog. Remember, you can always decorate a stick yourself and plant it!

Edit: these sticks are all spoken for, more to come though.

Nother New Year's Stick, Germany

This clown stick was placed on New Year's Eve in The German town of Erlangen by the proprietor of Lilaphase, who transported from Atlanta, Georgia in her luggage for that purpose. Check this blog for adventures in home schooling and transporting children across borders in the tradition of Shirley Jackson's "Life among the Savages".

New Year's stick in Montana

The above photo is by Tammie Lee at Spirithelpers , who placed Stick #9 at Lake MacDonald at Glacier National Park. Tammie has a remarkable eye for the natural world and has many extraordinary images on her site, a favorite of mine looks like the mouth of winter. The German phrase "Das gros in klein zu finden" (To find the large in the small) comes to mind...miniature fractal worlds. Stop by her site to be amazed.

Edit on Sunday: Bad German, Should read : "Das Grosse im kleinen zu finden", thanks ger for the correction.

Stick in Oslo and Chapter 3

This stick arrived somewhat the worse for wear after its long journey, but has now been repaired and sent out into the world by Son of Incogneato, who writes:

The deed is now done; your magik stick has been released into the population of Oslo.
I placed it yesterday (27.11.08) outside the main public library in Oslo, Deichmanske Bibliotek; it is one of my favourite haunts and attracts artsy-fartsy people like me. I put it at the foot of a statue of Arne Garborg, the famous Norwegian writer. You might be interested to know that Garborg translated the Odyssey into Nynorsk, or New Norwegian, which is one of the two forms of modern Norwegian.
In any case, I hung around with my camera for a while to see if I could document the Taking of the Stick, but as I had no takers, I went into the library to fetch some reading material. Pleasant was my surprise when I exited forty minutes later and your illustrious stick was gone.

Son also took on the challenge of adding Chapter 3 to the purple Prose Story. If anyone wants to take on Chapter 4, leave a comment for him that you'd like to do so, then a second comment when you've done so. You'll need to provide links to the Chapter before and after yours.

Note: Stick #9 is still available

Sticks for placement

Three more sticks for placement. Let me know if you would like a stick (in the comments) and I will send you one. The intent is that the stick be placed somewhere for a stranger to find, simply for the delight of it.  If you photograph it after placement, I will post the photo here with a link to your blog, as I did on November 18 and on November 20.

For a stick cousin with an unusual placement, see born a girl

I will post the first segment of the story with illustration tomorrow, I thought maybe it was too much to have both in the same post.

Edit:Stick #8 has been claimed. Who wants to place 7 & 9? 7 has a silver smile I found on the ground, btw.

Edit; #7 has been claimed. Who would like # 6? It might look nice in snow...

Stick in Louisiana

This stick went to Christine at Forget-Me-Not Antiques and Treasures in Louisiana. Stop by if you are in Denham, or see her site for information about geneology. Christine wrote

"It took me a while to find the right place to "hide" the stick/wand. I finally found the perfect spot on a recent visit to our Alma Mater's mascot, Mike the Tiger at LSU. By the time we took the picture then went to see Mike and came back it was gone!"

I plan to post more sticks on Monday if anyone wants to participate - Just ask and I will send you a stick, the idea being to leave it for someone to find. If you take a photo of it once it's placed, I will post here with a link to your website (if you like). Or, design your own sticks and leave them for people to discover. 

More Sticks for Placement

More sticks for the asking - first three people to tell me which one they'd like get a stick. My hope is that when it is sent to you, you will leave it for someone to find - just as a surprise. If you choose to take a photo of it in situ, I will post the photo here with a link to your blog.

#3 has been claimed. 

Three Sticks

Here is a revival of a project I did several years ago, in which I planted sticks around for people to make off with - just a way to bring some startlement into daily life. I understand now that I was doing guerrilla art. So I'm thinking - anyone want to play? Just ask and I will send you one of these beauties - you can specifiy which one you would like in the comments, then i'll email you for where to send it. I Would just request that you do the same - ie, leave them for someone to find. If you choose to take a photo of it in situ where it's left. I 'll post it here with a link to your web site. If anyone wants to make a stick and send it to me, I'll take a photo for you. 

EDIT: Sticks are all spoken for. More soon - maybe next week