Step-Sitters at Panda

More Panda Express today. I need to have Panda about once a week. Do they have Panda Express in ... say, Pittsburgh? Just wondering.

I seem to enjoy drawing in public, keeping to myself. There’s something about being around other people, listening to whatever music is piped in that lures me into drawing mode. It’s kinda like drawing back in the studio at Art Center. Beats trying to hurry through a meal so I don’t have to sit around by myself.

So, I haven’t gotten my copy of Everyday Matters yet, and haven’t started reading through the yahoo! Group emails. But I think the general idea is to draw whatever is around you, the everyday. You can’t bellyache that there’s nothing to draw! One of the challenges is to draw something with folds (#40), so I’m going to go with a crumpled napkin to be able to check that one off. That’s what was handy after a late lunch at Panda. Folds, crumples; it's about the same. Almost. So here’s my napkin.



There was a group of high school kids there at Panda. A pretty big bunch of ‘em. I looked over and guessed at a clique and thought, “Hey, these guys are probably … not that far off than what we were” … 25 (oy!) years ago. Happy, lively, thinking, creative, a little on the geeky/dorky side. The group laughed, talked about strange sleep-walking adventures, and eventually straggled away in twos and threes. The last group got into the nitty-gritty of what they were struggling with - - auditions and acting, plays and theatre. I paused drawing and thought, “Bingo!”. Another group of Alexander Step Sitters. It would have been complete if one of them had broken into a Monty Python skit, which didn’t seem like it would’ve been much of a stretch, actually. They were singing though, and not music-on-the-radio stuff, but, you know, show tunes, in that show tune-y theatrical performance sort of way. Yup.

So I guess there’s hope for the world (we assume that Step Sitter types grow up to be good people). And there’s something nice about thinking that some things and personalities are sort of universal. I hope they have a lot of fun through the rest of high school and treasure the friendships that they have.