solo walk ends in art gallery

My little secret, that most people know, is that when I write this and talk about our “staff,” I usually only mean one other person. We have a very small office. My “staff” had the day off today, so the staff meeting was even more casual than usual. I still made the run to Morning Times on Hargett, but got the coffee to go, skipped the bagel, and combined the trip with an errand to the bank.

The invitation to these staff meetings stands. Call ahead to get your bagel order in. We like to talk about why we do what we do, and I think that’s helpful.

Also on Hargett is Adam Cave Fine Art. The door has always been open when I’ve tried, and Mr. Cave is usually ready to talk about the work.

These works by Donald Furst stopped me still. Where paintings or photos are often memories of places or things, these prints made places, with a depth I hadn’t experienced before. Adam explained that the secret was in the technique of the etching, but I found myself lost in shadows that moved beyond realism, beyond representation, into something remarkably true.

One of our most exiting projects keeps inching toward reality. The Owner’s rep and I filed a rezoning petition this morning. The zoning we’re pursuing is “Residential Business,” which seems to take every desirable urban attribute and puts it under one convenient ordinance. Mixed use by definition, walkable by practicality, big enough for community, not too big to be dangerous. It’s like a zoning ordinance for “charming,” and it makes you wonder why you need any other zones.

When you try to make the world better, it’s hard to avoid cynicism against the last guy who tried. It reminds me of hearing people talk about sports, whether your team is winning or not. This piece by Matt Lively, also at Adam Cave had just enough of that jab at suburbanism to make me laugh with self-satisfaction, but enough wit and warmth to remind me that there may not be such a thing as bad community.