Fleischman & O'Connell

Throughout ZBOOK you will find a number of quotes gleaned from Northern Exposure, a television show from the 1990's (1990-1995) that has 4ever captured our hearts and inspiration ever since we both discovered the show individually just months before meeting in 1996 (thanks PSL). Jennifer first mentioned our adoration for the show in Clicking Away.  Well, amongst the wonderful ensemble of characters are our main flames: Dr. Joel Fleischman, the New York doctor who we follow into Cicely Alaska in his doomed/blessed 5 year obligation as the town's physician, and Maggie O'Connell, Gross Point (Michigan) beauty turned Alaskan bush pilot.  From their first encounter these two are at each other's throats AND ironically also share an intense underlying desire to devour each other, you know, in the best way.  Either way, this friction creates HEAT.

"You're either lovers, or you're wanting to be lovers, or you're trying not to be lovers so you can be friends, anyway you look at it sex is always looming in the picture like a shadow, like an undertow."
Maggie O'Connell (circus comes to Cicely episode)

"What I really want is to lick her naked body from head to foot like a postage stamp."
Joel Fleischman (the 2 Fleischmans episode)

And so,  Z page this week, "hot," is a reveling in friction and tension and anticipation and... sweet release.  The stories written on this page by our own hands feel like quotes from our psyches, from hot moments, from in or out of time?  Like the page says across the very bottom... 

"               a  fantasy               ...........                a  memory               ...........               both               ...........              "

"hot"   click to view Large

∞ ceci

6

in a sea of tears

I was just up north in the bay area visiting Xman and dear family friends...  and upon my return home I was greeted by this postcard! ...from Jennifer, from her recent travels to Maui...

Postcard from Jennifer in Maui   click for view

Histological image of our eyes' Lacrimal gland

Look closely and discover two kayaking wanderers amidst the gorgeous abyss of this Olowalu reef.  These yellow kayaks seem to have been added into this photograph (up close they appear a bit cartoonish)... and that's wonderful because they offer a scale perspective that suggests how wide and large the reefs really are.  Without the kayakers this image could be anything... from a wider topographical image of a sea between two far larger landmasses, or as microscopic as a histological image of the human eye's Lacrimal gland, which secretes our tears into out tear ducts.  Now what I LOVE to do is imagine our kayakers as huge submarines emerging from the deep waters of a great inlet sea OR imagine our kayakers as microbes traveling in a sea of tears released into the ducts of a human eye.  I can make this any "world" I want, zooming in and out, all while still seeing it as the coral reef it is.  

This is the macro/micro relativity and perspective changeability which I recognize and celebrate in all things, and fervently express in my work.  And like in the postcard, I am now exploring the use of including recognizable life forms in my rather abstract inner/outer landscapes, giving suggestions of perspective levels and access points for stories to be envisioned.  As in my recent painting The Moment.  Which is why it is SO wonderful to receive this postcard right now in the midst of my recent experience with my painting and reflecting on it in here last week.  Thank you Jennifer! You mailed this from Maui, without any knowing about the process I had been undergoing with my painting, 2 days before I posted about it, essentially at the very same time as when I was gathering up photos and composing my thoughts about it.  By now the synchronicity that we experience is not surprising, but it remains quite delightful and a source of great gratitude for the magic that is inherent in life.  

Also noteworthy is the comment that Jennifer made on my post from last week about The Moment.  It is a true refection of this postcard!

It ("The Moment") reminds me of a recent kayak adventure T. and i took on our last day in Maui. The perspective was so new in so many ways, though we were in an area quite familiar, the vantage was expansive. At one point, I jumped in the ocean, and we were deeper than we would be just swimming. I had my goggles on and the view into the depths was stunning, kind of a shock too - the green-blue color and the light rays bouncing off the visible but distant sands - it was disarming. Through that morning trip, I had moments of fear, however, there was also a strong sense of presence of protection - serenity and guidance of where to go and what choices to make - we just had to tune into the instincts.

this post written during week 13 "hot"

Thank you Jennifer, for trusting and following your instincts.  It is an honor to be tuned in with you.

∞ ceci

6

Life is so fi-lipin' Bizarre

'HOT'- a spread with a thousand stories.
click for larger view

Oh my, oh my oh my , oh my, oh my ohh,

it is HOT tonight L.A.,

sweltering heats in the sheets.

All babes are still,

let's take a thrill, down loves eternal flame.

Closet covers layed to coat,

rocking chair, breasts so bare,

edge of bed, back-yard moat,

 living - room, boom bam boom.

Feelin' right, burning light,

ear's sharp sight - faint Saint churning.

Mamma's there, touch and care,

roll to Daddy's burn, returning.

And so, into the dark, tonight, before climbing into my husbands bed...

my thoughts were dear, in flight to steer, my grandmothers home brocade.

In Pico's care, my hearts sheer tear, will sleep, god rest her mind.

'Ancestors behind po-em voices, a few.'
see week  ____for more         -J. Gould

Fruit and water, air and caller, sweety dreams, weary genes.

Yeay, Grandma is home, in her city, friends to caw.

Brave, tired and bossy, sucking gummies and straw.

and for god's sake, "She's not moving!

Tonight, suitcases were loaded, windows adjusted,

and beds to master remotes.

Tonight, roses were gathered, with rosemary and lavendar,

glass vase with a star in one side.

Kisses and hugs, gentle eyes, great big sighs,

we're in need of deep-tissue massage.

Perhaps, when its clear, this new path,

secret seer, takes a hand in the blooming brigade.

And till then, I, myself, every day onward boating,

every moment, swiftly floating.

But tonight, sweat and pet, groove and grind, 

don't be kind, till you're met with your partners straight line.

more to come,

 -J. Gould

week thirteen >> "hot" - JULY: HOT pages!

July is HOT page month, and this week's page is in fact..."hot." It is the page that first gave rise to heat in ZBOOK.  Ignited by words, "hot" is an ode to passion, in which breaths of secret moments tango with moments of secret fantasies. Both captivating and ephemeral, these verses travel like the wind through psyches, guts, loins, and hearts.  The ones of two young women, both vernal and fermented. 

"hot"              click to view LARGE

∞ ceci

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