One

This past Sunday, I sat around a dining room table in a large West Knoxville home with three Chinese women and three Chinese children. The girl to my left is studying at the University of Tennessee. Her plate was full of every type of Thanksgiving cuisine you could imagine, and she tried each one.

The two women that sat on my right are visiting scholars at UT. Their plates were full of fruit, and they meticulously peeled grapes, placing the skins on a napkin. As they talked to me, courageously using their broken English, they had the brightest smiles on their faces.

After we finished eating, we went in to the den to join the other international students there, their spouses and children, and the handful of Americans. Lee, the facilitator of the gathering explained the first Thanksgiving and then asked if anyone wanted to share something for which they were thankful. One after one, people from across the world stood up and gave thanks for their families and for Americans who have shown them hospitality.

I'm thankful for my mother who has instilled in me the beauty and wonder of volunteering.

Two

Monday evening, I went on a walk with my best friend, up Glenwood, down Scott Avenue and back down Oklahoma. It was dark and chilly and we marveled at the homes all ready adorned in Christmas lights.

I'm thankful for Amelia, for being the most patient listener and the most gracious friend.

Three

It took me four hours to reach Nashville from Knoxville on Wednesday because of traffic and rain. When I pulled off the interstate, I called Amanda. She stayed on the phone with me, giving me step by step directions to her house.

"Are all of my friends there waiting for me?" I asked.

"Mark is here. Everyone else must be on their way," she replied.

I arrived to see ALL of their cars parked along the street. Hmmmm, I thought to myself.

The front door opened and out came Amanda. No one else was in the front room, but I heard whispering and then...

"SURPRISE!"

I was showered with Craisins-turned-confetti and a room full of dear friends.

In the midst of the solitude I've felt in Knoxville for quite some time, I'm thankful to have experienced a moment of sheer warmth, fuzziness, and laughter.

Four

Last night, my sisters and I baked in our parents' kitchen. My dad came home from work, delighted to see us all there together. It was dinnertime and instead of sitting, we opened a bottle of wine and stood and grazed and baked together while Christmas music played in the background.

I'm thankful that love can grow between messed up, crazy people.

This Saturday*, November 5, I'm having an art opening at the Birdhouse** in Knoxville. It's from 6-9pm, and you are invited.

This is a big show for me, and I'll tell you why.



1) I haven't had a solo show in a gallery in almost four years. The Birdhouse is not solely dedicated as a gallery, but it's closer to it than a coffee shop, restaurant, or small corridor, places I've been showing the past few years in Knoxville.

2) I've made seven paintings in the past two months. That's worth celebrating!

3) Many of these paintings have been on my mind for some time, and I've finally been able to put them on canvas. It's so fun to finally see them.

4) While some of the ideas I've painted have been around for some time, others came to me in the past month. I've finally found the time to paint ideas right as they come, which is not a luxury I've had in the past.



5) I've been able to delve into and include certain elements I enjoy in architecture, fashion, film, literature, and music. I mixed these things with the style I've been developing over the past few years. I'm making decisions as I go along, letting the paint respond to the initial idea.

6) I see this, and hope it turns out to be, one of my last (solo painting) shows in Knoxville for a while. The idea all along has been to take these paintings other places. I am dying to show in other cities, so if you have any advice on how to do so or have contacts in other cities, please email me. I'm a slow learner with these things, so I can use all the help I can get.

7) In regard to the opening, I'm buying food, beer, and will be present to mingle and talk about whatever it is all of you want to talk about. I don't do a lot of hostessing these days, so I'm looking forward to it.

If you are in Knoxville this Saturday evening, please come out. I want you to be there!!

*Not First Friday, but the day after!
**The Birdhouse
800 N 4th Avenue
Knoxville, TN 37917
Saturday, November 5, 2011
6-9pm

RSVP here

I'm suing Fancy Feast for stealing my diary and making a commercial about my hopes and dreams.

I've been craving sushi a lot lately.

I decided instead of going to a restaurant, though, that I'd buy the ingredients and make enough for a week- a proper response to all the holiday-inspired crap I've been eating the past few weeks.

I went to the fancy Kroger tonight, where I knew they'd carry the items I needed. I was almost ready to check out when I decided to run down the household aisle to see if there was anything I needed.

While there, I noticed an Asian man (pardon my uncultured-self for not knowing what country he was from) kneeling down in front of the Baby section, looking back and forth between a small list of items and the sea of products in front of him. It was obvious he was having a difficult time.

I passed him by and left the aisle with a pang of guilt for not helping him. He'll figure it out eventually.

But then I had this image of his small adorable wife with their baby in one arm, handing him that list earlier in the evening. "Make sure you get exactly what this says," she'd say, except not in English.

And I thought about how overwhelming grocery shopping is for me, a speaker of English- all the different brands and prices and slight differences in ingredients. It's too much.

These thoughts combined caused me to wheel my mini-cart (I love the fancy Kroger!) around and walk back to the Baby section where I found the man still on his knees.

After pretending for a few moments to look for items for my fake baby, I asked if he needed any help. "Yes!" he exclaimed as if he was waiting for someone to ask.

Even with my assistance, I'm not sure if we got what his wife needed. The bizarre twist of this story is that after I got over myself and helped this man, he told me he worked in the Sushi section. It was only then I noticed his hat said KROGER.

He got up off of his knees and asked me to follow him. Moments later, I used my hands to stuff my mouth with one eel roll and one blue crab roll that he had freshly prepared for me. He didn't box the rolls up for me to take home like I expected; he wanted me to eat them right there.

People walked by, confused, yet amused. I felt the same way, with a bit of gratefulness mixed in.


this is not him, btw