MR. TOAD

This past week has been a busy one.  Not only have we been preparing for a trip to Europe, leaving this coming Monday, I have also been working to complete two major projects.  The first is the renovation of my website, PeterClothier.com, to be a more interactive and integrated space, where all my various activities are brought together in one place that's in a constant state of change.  In this way, visitors can expect to find something new each time they stop by, as opposed to that old, static site where nothing really happened and I never actually visited myself.

If you take a look at the new site--still under construction, by the way; there are still some graphic changes to be made--you'll see that I have included an old family crest as a logo: a toad (shall we call him "rampant"?) with the motto "Experientia Docet."  Translated from the Latin, this means "experience teaches"--which is pretty much the lesson of the dharma.  Here, too, is what I found out about the toad as a totem.  I think you'll agree that it's a perfect fit for The Buddha Diaries, and indeed for everything I stand for and practice.  (The money part is a little odd, but I'll take it if it comes my way!)  I claim the crest from my mother's side of the family, the Williamses, and it gave me great pleasure to discover all these associations,  I wonder why it took me so long?

Aside from the website, I have been working to bring "Slow Looking" from manuscript to production.  This time around, I'm using Amazon's print-on-demand Createspace, with the intention of getting the book out a bit faster and with less commitment to large numbers of books until (I hope!) they're needed.  It's a short book, a detailed account of the history and practice of my One Hour/One Painting experience, which has been reliably well received by groups in museums and galleries everywhere, so I think the book could do well in museum and art bookstores.  We have a terrific cover, featuring the image of a painting that has hung in our home for many years, and which is the subject of one of the chapters in the book. The manuscript was returned from the copy-editor a couple of days ago, and I went through the whole document yesterday.  It's now in the hands of a friend who is experienced in book production and who will certainly do an excellent job from now until publication time.   I'm hoping for a pub. date in November--somewhere around election day!

These two major projects have devoured a good deal of time; the remainder has been spent on those last minute shopping sprees and list-makings, to be ready for the trip.  Hoping, now, to be able to relax a bit at the weekend, and spend a few hours with Luka.