I’m so sorry I missed your talks/signings Carson, as you drifted through my neck of the woods …North Beach, West Marin, Petaluma. Pls. Come back again.
Tuesday afternoon, Fourth St, Berkeley: In a shopping for clothes to wear to a wedding coma, I looked up thought I saw you zipping by in animated conversation. Thought, “there’s Carson Ellis,” as if it was an expected, everyday occurrence.
Funny that the Tennessee Waltz was playing on that last video--I have had that song buzzing in my brain for about three months now>the most recent rendition is bonnie raitt with norah jones. Exceptional!
I’m so bummed I couldn’t make it farther west to come see you at one of your stops. NorCal loves you, Carson! It’s wonderful you got out to Point Reyes! A place of much inspiration and regeneration for me personally.
I’ve thoroughly cherished One Week in January. Glad your trip down here was a good one!
What a great California Odyssey! Among the (too many to list all of them) details that particularly resonated with me, was your sketch of Specs - which, apart from its many other qualities, makes me want to head for North Beach and go there. The final video - listening to the Tennessee Waltz through the windscreen of a palsied Mercedes cruising Marin's forgotten byways - was like the unexpected topping on a fresh-out-of-the-oven strudel. But, okay, what really got me was the 1945 reprint of Captain Slaughterhouse... ¡What a damn extraordinary find! Felicitations!
And, being a writer and a word person, I can't truly fathom what it would feel like to lose my pencil case... but I can only imagine it would be akin to accidentally leaving behind my beloved Mac Airbook. Which happened to me once...but that's another story. I have to go now... I need to find a copy of Captain Slaughterboard!
Specs was so nice. It was full of both regulars and tourists / North Beach pilgrims. A woman got up from her seat at the bar, danced silently through the place like a magical fairy for a few minutes, and sat back down again. A rich tech lady bought a gaggle of young people from Vermont a round because she liked their outfits. I loved that bar when I was young and was relieved to find that, to me anyway, it seemed unchanged.
My son left home (the place he lived his whole life) to go to college in CA at Stanford last fall. Many people in our area were aghast that a kid from a farm in rural Missouri could enjoy! and thrive! in CA. He's in his second year and even spent the summer doing research on campus. They call Stanford The Farm, and while it's different than our farm in the Ozarks, he has found his groove and can't imagine himself at any other place. The ocean, the mountains--big and small, the desert, the GIANT trees, the fields of fruits and vegetables, the orchards, all the different kinds of people in big cities and smaller towns. California is a wonderful place to visit and to live. I enjoyed your lovely piece. Thanks for sharing.
Oh I do hope you get to see The Visitors sometime! It was here in Dallas right before the pandemic and I saw it 3 times! I had no idea what I was getting into the first time, then the second two times I was prepared but I still wish I had seen it more. I even bought a very expensive vinyl version of it because I loved it so much. Sometimes I just put it on and lay on the floor with my eyes closed and let it wash over me. A truly stunning piece of art!
Top 3: Cap'n Slaughterboard, meet Sir Toppsallot! "I didn't really feel like talking but he grew on me and we talked the whole time anyway." Losing things all the time on tour. All so real. thanks for bringing us along!
many thanks for the tour of your california book tour, carson. it was a delight. i'm so relieved you were
able to retrieve your pencil case! i love your sketches.
I’m so sorry I missed your talks/signings Carson, as you drifted through my neck of the woods …North Beach, West Marin, Petaluma. Pls. Come back again.
I will!
I love studio shots, especially when one studio's plants show up in the other studio's drawings.
In my head, having read OWIJ, the voice in your newsletter has a slightly different inflection, like the 25yo you isn't really so far away.
And we now understand the whole, true purpose in the creating book was to lead you to that copy of Slaughterboard. <3
I think you're right! I'll show it to you some time. It's pretty great.
Tuesday afternoon, Fourth St, Berkeley: In a shopping for clothes to wear to a wedding coma, I looked up thought I saw you zipping by in animated conversation. Thought, “there’s Carson Ellis,” as if it was an expected, everyday occurrence.
Typed out "Respectfully, what is a wedding coma?" before I finally got what you meant
It was definitely me. I was in a never-ending animated conversation with Mac Barnett for like three days.
Funny that the Tennessee Waltz was playing on that last video--I have had that song buzzing in my brain for about three months now>the most recent rendition is bonnie raitt with norah jones. Exceptional!
I’m so bummed I couldn’t make it farther west to come see you at one of your stops. NorCal loves you, Carson! It’s wonderful you got out to Point Reyes! A place of much inspiration and regeneration for me personally.
I’ve thoroughly cherished One Week in January. Glad your trip down here was a good one!
Thank you! I love NorCal.
I was in SoCal for the first time recently, and even in my short visit there, I get that pull. I really get it. It’s a magical place ✨
What a great California Odyssey! Among the (too many to list all of them) details that particularly resonated with me, was your sketch of Specs - which, apart from its many other qualities, makes me want to head for North Beach and go there. The final video - listening to the Tennessee Waltz through the windscreen of a palsied Mercedes cruising Marin's forgotten byways - was like the unexpected topping on a fresh-out-of-the-oven strudel. But, okay, what really got me was the 1945 reprint of Captain Slaughterhouse... ¡What a damn extraordinary find! Felicitations!
And, being a writer and a word person, I can't truly fathom what it would feel like to lose my pencil case... but I can only imagine it would be akin to accidentally leaving behind my beloved Mac Airbook. Which happened to me once...but that's another story. I have to go now... I need to find a copy of Captain Slaughterboard!
Specs was so nice. It was full of both regulars and tourists / North Beach pilgrims. A woman got up from her seat at the bar, danced silently through the place like a magical fairy for a few minutes, and sat back down again. A rich tech lady bought a gaggle of young people from Vermont a round because she liked their outfits. I loved that bar when I was young and was relieved to find that, to me anyway, it seemed unchanged.
My son left home (the place he lived his whole life) to go to college in CA at Stanford last fall. Many people in our area were aghast that a kid from a farm in rural Missouri could enjoy! and thrive! in CA. He's in his second year and even spent the summer doing research on campus. They call Stanford The Farm, and while it's different than our farm in the Ozarks, he has found his groove and can't imagine himself at any other place. The ocean, the mountains--big and small, the desert, the GIANT trees, the fields of fruits and vegetables, the orchards, all the different kinds of people in big cities and smaller towns. California is a wonderful place to visit and to live. I enjoyed your lovely piece. Thanks for sharing.
It is really wonderful.
Reading this on a slow Sunday morning feels cathartic and dreamy. I’ve only visited California once, and it is so much like what you describe here.
Oh I do hope you get to see The Visitors sometime! It was here in Dallas right before the pandemic and I saw it 3 times! I had no idea what I was getting into the first time, then the second two times I was prepared but I still wish I had seen it more. I even bought a very expensive vinyl version of it because I loved it so much. Sometimes I just put it on and lay on the floor with my eyes closed and let it wash over me. A truly stunning piece of art!
Top 3: Cap'n Slaughterboard, meet Sir Toppsallot! "I didn't really feel like talking but he grew on me and we talked the whole time anyway." Losing things all the time on tour. All so real. thanks for bringing us along!
I love reading about all your travels.