But there is always time for art. This week’s adventures included: the Ask Dr. Hal show, Mortified, a 60s dance party, and the HOMEY benefit at SOMArts. I had hoped to make it to the poetry night at 16th & Mission but worked late … next week, perhaps.

Last night my friend Amanda invited me to The LAB 25th Annual Auction. One of the benefits of moving to San Francisco is that there are so many talented artists who are supporting the local non-profits during this recession by donating affordable art for fundraisers. The LAB auction was full of work that I wanted to take home and put on the bare walls of my new apartment. I got this idea in my head that the first artwork I purchase in San Francisco should be significant somehow, which in truth is just my way of trying to impose some self-restraint in such a tempting environment. Ha.

Each work there was significant in its own way. There was a painting by Ana Theresa Fernandez that I bid on because I love her work, and because her show at Galeria de la Raza was the first show I saw when I moved here. But I was outbid. 

There was a piece I won, by Kristen Chappa, called Animal Migration study. It is a lovely, quiet piece and the title reminded me of The Starling Drawings by Adam Chapman, which is one of the last installations I saw in North Adams.

I kept coming back to a painting by David Fredrick Benzler, Allium Sativum. The mat and frame were black and brown and the drawing was completely different than anything I own. In fact, I couldn’t figure out what it was, or if it was supposed to be something at all. Allium Sativum. It sounded vaguely familiar, and Latin. The watercolor was white and light colors on black paper, floating toward the upper right corner like a jellyfish, or a science fiction object, maybe an organic spacecraft. 

I liked the mystery. My life right now is all about trying to figure things out. Sometimes, it’s not possible. Not a bad thing. I bid on David Benzler’s painting and won. It’s hanging on my wall right now. 

But this morning, it was haunting me. Allium sativum. So I looked it up. Turns out, not so mysterious. A household staple that exists even in my bare, spare apartment. 

I am a little disappointed that I couldn’t just let the mystery stay a mystery … but I still love my new painting.

Next week … poetry in the Mission! And I am thinking about taking Stephen Elliott’s upcoming workshop at the Grotto. If this blog is any indication, I need a little kick-start.

Going in the reverse direction, I made one of my favorite literary discoveries in recent memory at City Lights, when I happened to pick up a copy of Magic for Beginners by Northampton writer Kelly Link. You can get a signed copy for only $14 at this website.

Last year, I interviewed some Connecticut authors participating in National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo), a movement that started in the Bay Area. At press time, it looked like their website was undergoing some maintenance, but I hope to attend some write-ins where it all started!

That is, after 3,000 miles of American landscape. I’m also seeking out good driving music. Any suggestions?

He will be participating in a Dirty Words literary reading at Real Art Ways in Hartford on June 23 at 7:45pm, and at the Green Street Arts Center in Middletown on June 24 at 7:30pm.

Interview excerpted from The Art Agenda. Originally broadcast on 88.1fm, WESU, Middletown on June 12 2008.