12 months of fun

Sitting at my desk on the shortest and darkest days of the year, I have many thoughts.  With the mental space provided by a break from classes, the thoughts and ideas I have while running first thing in the morning often find their way back to the surface during the day.  I have written a few blog posts about these thoughts and my mind has drifted to thinking about my year in review.  I guess I normally post something here to record my greatest personal hits of the year and at my age, that’s probably a good idea.  If you’ve seen one of my recent solo exhibits, you have an idea of what the inside of my brain looks like.  Mixed in with all those colors and imagery are memories of experiences and funny stories.  With so much competition, some of the memories and funny stories just go missing.  Like, have I ever told y’all about how my cousin and I turned my first car into a 2000 pound water gun?  We simply bent the windshield washer outlets both to the passenger side and kept the tank filled with water.  Any time we wanted to hose down our friends, we just pulled alongside them and started spraying water on them.  It even worked on the interstate when bad drivers irritated me.  Who wants to lose stories like that?  So, with the help of my photos folder, here’s some stuff I remember about 2024:

1. Let’s start with Zeke.  What a great dog.  He has his own post here back in September, but this year started off with him being an old man who acted like a puppy and quickly turned into his final months with us.  We were blessed to have several months to consider how much we loved him and to be grateful for all the kindness and joy he gave us.  We still love you Zeke.  You're a good boy.

2. Freakin' Walter.  He made a big splash when he arrived late in the year.  Puppies are a full time job and this one is like Plankton...he's 1% evil.  We already love him and I'm already his favorite.

3. We’ll call this one “Phoebe/Art/Solo Shows.  When I created Phoebe, I created her with Riverfront Park in mind.  That made it all the more exciting when she was accepted into the juried exhibit there and then won an Honorable Mention Award.  I made a ton of new art this year with 21 new drawings and 14 new sculptures.  I had a lot of good times in the studio.  I also got lucky and had 3 solo exhibits this year.  A very good year for art.  A side shoutout to these experiences letting me meet Devann and letting me spend a week in my old college town.

4. This one will be “students”, but I’ll be honest and tell you it started out just as “MG”.  As I looked through my photos, I kept finding funny photos with MG and I started to remember all the shows and awards she won this year.  It’s really kind of ridiculous but good for her.  But then I kept scrolling through the year and saw so many wonderful memories with my students.  Some of their highest moments and some of our funniest photos.  I was talking to our university president recently and he asked about my fall semester.  I told him it was great and that it was all because of my students.  Sometimes you just get a good group of humans to watch over and I’ve currently got an excellent group.  

5. Speaking of students, Pickle Man gets his own spot.  If you were around campus last spring, you saw him at some point and fell in love with him.  He started off as a student idea for an outdoor sculpture that seemed very ambitious.  I advised Amber in making it, thinking she’d end up making him smaller than she said.  Amber, however, made it larger than she said and I was very supportive.  As it turned out, that was bad for the early decisions we made about his armature, but the fact that he turned out perfect and lasted outside for as long as he did is a testament to Amber’s determination as an artist.  What started out sort of as a joke, ended up bringing so many smiles to campus.  Good job Amber and RIP Pickle Man.  You were a big dill.

6. Family.  So much happened with the family this year.  Blue graduated high school, which came with so many milestone events related to school.  He threw the discus far enough to qualify for State but because he didn’t have to run cross country anymore, it was just Violet and me doing the running this year.  Blue did go to some summer practices with us.  We had a great vacation, lots of shorter trips, lots of fun conversations and we really made a dent in the South Park seasons, even with Blue going away to college.  G and I celebrated our 30th anniversary.  Violet still wants to make music with me and I love that.  Oh, and Blue deserves a shout for getting all As in his first semester of college.

7. You know I have to mention running.  In fact, y’all are really lucky I don’t mention it more.  I love it.  It keeps me healthy and happy and makes me the fun guy you know.  I ran in all sorts of ridiculous situations this year, super early in the morning, in an actual hurricane with trees falling around me, bitter cold, crazy heat, long distances and I still ran a respectable time in my one timed race this year.  Oh, and we brought back slogging this semester and I even had a couple of regulars.  Couldn't find any of those photos, though. 

8. I’ll make this one about the ongoing episodes of Coffee With McAbee but I could just as easily make it about the hot, caffeinated beverage that starts every single day with me.  My love for coffee makes the episodes possible and those episodes have created some really awesome times for me this year.  I had great conversations with current and former students and a few with new and old friends.  For me, this time is sacred and it has become a very important component of my year.  

9. That trip.  Dude.  What a trip.  Going to Greece and Italy was really fun and wonderful but getting to share all of that with Violet was absolutely beyond words.  What a fun adventure to share!  Oh and apparently Alayna and Kennedy got dragged along with us as well.  Tomato Quad Squad for life!

10. A very late entry to the list was concerts.  I had no concerts on my calendar through the first half of the year.  Tickets are crazy expensive now and there are fewer and fewer people I’ll pay that much to see if I have to see them with thousands of other people.  But we did manage a few outings this year in the last half.  Super last minute we got family Weezer tickets nearby and after a great set by The Flaming Lips, we got upgraded to a box with Violet’s school friends.  Then G and I saw Steve Martin and Martin Short and I got to see a bunch of cool people at the Edisto Blackwater Boogie.  Totally worth having to be around people.

So that's 10 good ones in no particular order.  If you or something you're related to didn't make my list, don't worry, you're still important to me and I still love you.  I'm just old and forgetful and there's a limit to how much my hermit brain will allow me to share.  And if the photo that features you didn't make it, know that it lives in my phone somewhere and I genuinely smile when I see it.  Thank you to each person I interacted with this year.  Thanks for making this year a great one.  

trying to remember the year

It hardly seems like it's been 12 months since the last time I tried to remember the last 12 months, yet here we are, taking a look back before we start looking forward.  2023 was a really good year on a lot of different fronts.  Since this is my blog, I get to be the main character here, so what follows is a brief, very self-centered look at what I can remember about my year.  If you're interested, here we go.  None of this is in any particular order, which seems to match the jumbled up memories I have of the year.

I looked up this year and Blue was an adult.  He was driving, he had a job, he had a life outside of the house and he went to prom.  He will graduate high school in May.  Dang.

I got to see Tom and Kathe Stanley a few times this year.  Tom had an exhibit at Lander last January and I got to spend a little time with them when he delivered work, did an artist talk and when he picked up work.  I even got to have a coffee with them.  Even cooler than that, they surprised me in August by showing up to a reception in Chapel Hill and hanging out with me so I wouldn't be completely awkward and alone.  Very cool.

Violet and I got to meet our Instagram friend Kasha Speas in real life!  Kasha has a 7+ year runstreak going, and back in February? she ran the Greenville Half Marathon.  Violet and I drove up to cheer her on.  Nice photo by her husband, Adam.

Violet and I also got to go see Beetlejuice at the Peace Center.  Very entertaining and a fun day.

I don't get to go to many track and field meets because of my class schedule but I did get to go to a couple last year and see Blue throw heavy things and see Violet sprint.  It's super cool to see how much they've both improved in such a short time.

Violet was in the school production of The Wizard of Oz and she did great.

We took an alternate vacation at the end of July and turned it into an adventure.  These two are always up for my ridiculous suggestions of things to do.  This was a quiet evening when we had no plans.  We just walked out the door and started exploring the island while chasing the sunset.  It doesn't need to be a big event to be memorable.

This was probably the same trip.  We had some fun walking around Charleston in search of food and coffee.

I wrote about the significance of running with Blue and Violet as a summer highlight because it was a very cool thing.  When the Cross Country season started officially in August, they both did so great.  This was Blue's final season of Cross Country and I'm so proud of him for running.  I may not get him to run with me again, but it was cool sharing a season of running with them both.  It was also noteworthy that Violet worked really hard all season to improve her time and her hard work paid off when she qualified to run State.  Very proud of them both.

Violet and I got to go to Creighton Barrett's solo show in Charleston back in January.  It was great to talk to him for a while and then we got to have dinner with Jana and Dan.

We didn't get to go to a lot of concerts this year, but the ones we did go to were really good ones.  We scored tickets to Highwater from Anne and Kevin, so Violet and I spent a couple of days in Charleston hanging out and listening to music we may not have otherwise saw live.  We accidentally saw one of the guys from Needtobreathe and also accidentally saw Big Boi without realizing who he was.  We saw Bleachers on purpose and got the surprise of them bringing out Lana Del Rey.  The Wilco set was perfect and Shovels and Rope never disappoint.  We also accidentally saw Kevin, Ali (pictured) Smoak and a few other friends.  I wasn't a fan of the $11 waters, but we'll focus on the positives.

Nothing could be more positive than Mrs. Emmette beating cancer this year.  Everyone's favorite Starbucks barrista got a bad test result last winter and spent the year doing chemotherapy and radiation.  We were thrilled to get the news this fall that she was cancer free and finished with all her treatments.  She is such a bright light and we are grateful. Thanks to everyone who contributed to her gift.

Concert 2 of 2 this year:  Taylor Freaking Swift.  I'm sure I blogged about it so you can read it there.  It was, of course, as awesome as everyone said it was, but the part that made it even more awesome for me is that the tickets were given to me by a student.  What an act of kindness.  So grateful for that!

I got to spend time with people in surprising ways this year.  As a hermit, this is hard to process, but I admit it was cool.  I got the opportunity to do a sand sculpture workshop with Fort Dorchester High and some of my students who had traveled on Sand Sculpture trips in the past, decided to plan to go with me.  The plans turned into a wonderful opportunity to stay with Chick Inn on Main in Summerville where Hannah got to hold that chicken.  

The next day I got to lead the workshop on Kiawah Island with this cool group of people.  

One of our goofy adventures on our real vacation was tracking down the tunnel underneath Ocean Boulevard.  Thanks to Blue and Violet using the internet and TikTok, we jumped out of the car, walked under and then got picked back up by G when we emerged.

And another goofy adventure was staying up until midnight to have our own listening party for one of the TSwift albums that dropped this year.  Here we are showing off my Father's Day haul of gifts and torturing the dogs.

Another cool thing that was gifted to me was this opportunity to show work at a special event at the Greenville County Museum of Art.  This was one of the cool opportunities that came to me this year by the Universe just smiling on me.  

This was one of many great art things that happened to me this year.  I got into 12 shows I applied for, including getting public sculptures into the North Charleston Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit and the new Uproar! exhibit in Chapel Hill.  I made a few new sculptures despite some really irritating welder problems and I made over 30 new drawings.  So grateful for these kinds of things.

My girl-gang.  This hardcore group of friends was forged during Brinana and Katherine's senior year of the BFA and Emily's first year of the MFA.  They were my 3D people during that year and our classes and studio times overlapped.  Because of that, our times for goofing off also overlapped.  We've tried to keep the group together as Emily graduated and the other two started pursuing their own graduate degrees.  They were all kind enough to come to my community lecture in the fall and we took the opportunity to get dinner afterwards.  They're so cool and I'm lucky to be in their group.

Another year of knowing Jana and Dan makes me very happy.  I'm so fortunate to know them and call them friends.  I got to see them a few times this year in person and we also had some laughs by text.  They're so great and these two groups of friends are just a sampling of so many wonderful people I got to spend time with this year.  I have too many photos to feature everyone here but I'll mention a few that come to mind.  I saw Jocelyn a few times, both on purpose and by accident.  I went out of my way to see Kennedy in Charleston and she came to Summerville to hang out with a bunch of us.  Just on that one trip to Summerville, I spent time with Hannah, Ashley, Katherine, Abigail, Victor, Jana, Dan, and Tien.  Or maybe that was two trips?  Who knows.  I got to have lunch with Cessquatch, coffee with Katertot, and got to have dinner with the whole Superfriends gang.  There's also a crazy-awesome group of students that I get to see on a weekly basis.  Most of them provide me with laughter and joy and they have no idea.  I wouldn't dare try to list them all but I do try to make sure they know I appreciate them from time to time.  If you're a student and you're reading this, I'm talking about you.  It really pains me to say this, but I really love being around people sometimes.  

This was the year we discovered Pineapple Whip.  I think that's what it's called.  Whatever it is that we're all holding is amazing.  We found it on Folly Island and also in Charleston and it's almost worth the 2.5 hour drive just for that.  No, the stuff you can buy in the freezer section at home is not the same at all.  Just know that if you go get some while in Charleston without the whole family, the absent ones will be pissed.  I haven't made that mistake yet, but I'm sure it will happen.

I got to be the guest artist at the Blackwater Boogie again this year.  Dan invited me back after last year and I felt a little more prepared this time.  I had to go on my own for the first day because Violet had to run the State Cross Country meet in Columbia, but she joined me for the second day.  Knowing what I was getting into this time made it a little less panicky and it was so cool being able to share my process with the crowd of people behind me.  All four drawings were auctioned off to raise money for Givhans Ferry State Park accessibility upgrades.

So that's what I can remember from scrolling through my photos for the year.  I've edited out some really cool and fun things and I've probably forgotten about a lot more.  If you were a part of my year, I appreciate you.