Cart Before the Horse

6/7 AM Olivebridge Sunrise
Bob woke us up extra early this morning to ring the bells so we walked back to the woods where Connie had some large chimes hanging in the trees. This morning was one of the rare occasions I actually experienced the tranquility and special beauty of this time of day. We didn’t just ring the bells, we played them and we listened to each other. It made me wish I had set up for a good audio recording instead of just using the little movie camera.
The performance this morning made me aware of how perfunctory the morning ringings have become and also how predictable they are. Get up, grab some bells, run outside, ring, look around, stop after a minute or two and go back to bed. The habit and formalization of the structure for the ringing and documentation have often overwhelmed whatever is special and unique about each morning.

6/7 PM Speakers Under the Porch
It was really nice to ring bells with everyone on the porch before dinner this evening. However, my insistence to show and direct the action of what was happening obscured the possibility of letting whatever was going on to evolve. The ringing this evening has cemented the realization I had this morning about the effect of the rigid formalization of documentation and the effect this has had on the observance itself. While I am not terribly interested in producing innovative or even especially interesting documentation, I am concerned that the act of documentation itself has overly determined and defined the act of observance. So from now on, I will try to separate the act of documentation from the act of observance to whatever extent that I can. By this point, the routine has been well established and is familiar enough that I don’t need to show the bells or bell ringers over and over again.

Calling all Cars

As I was walking to the subway this evening, I saw all of these police cars sitting at the bus depot parking lot. All in rows. All lights flashing. Since 911, there have been occasional “shows of force” from the police at this location just below the Williamsburg Bridge. So when I saw two policemen walking towards me, I stopped and asked one of them what was going on across the street. He said, “It’s a drill”. I tried to imagine what kind of drill required so many cars to sit together in the parking lot with their lights flashing and no other activity so I asked, “What kind of drill?” He replied, “Sometimes the police need to go places together and they need to practice getting around all together”. As I pondered his reply, I must have looked as incredulous as I felt because he added as he began to walk away, “It’s a drill”.

Last Week of May

5/24 AM One Streetcar Comes and Goes

LISTEN

5/24 PM Marina Deli
We ordered sandwiches to take into the movies and then changed our minds about eating them in the theater. As we were finishing eating in the deli, the sun was setting. So we chose some bells to ring and set up the camera. Norman and Vangie went outside, and I was on my way to join them when I thought that maybe the guys behind the counter might like to join us. They not only make great sandwiches at the Marina Deli, but they are good sports and bell ringers, too. Thanks!

5/25 AM Another Trio
This one for bells and crow- inside the house and out in the yard. If you listen carefully, you can hear Norman ringing from inside the house. The crow is as vocal as ever.

5/26 AM Memorial Day Sunrise

Today is Monday, May 26th and it’s the day we are observing Memorial Day. It was quiet out front this morning as I walked up and down the street. People sleeping in for the holiday. Only one flag flying.

5/26 PM Memorial Day Sunset
We walked alongside Golden Gate Park at sundown this evening until we found a place where there was a break in the trees. Those trees are taller than the houses and block most of the sunlight. There was a spot where the light poured through a small opening in the branches and we set the camera down on someone’s garbage can on the opposite side of the street. After going back to get the camera, we continued ringing bells for another 20 minutes until we got home.

5/27 PM Glad to Be on the Ground
Whoa. What a flight. Instead of landing at JFK airport, we circled for a few hours 200 miles away. Apparently there was a big storm in New York, and we couldn’t land. Then, the attendants announced that we were running low on fuel and were heading to Hartford where we would sit on the ground and wait out the storm. I started to worry about ringing the bells since they were in the belly of the plane, but I realized I could jangle my keys and that I had the camera with me. So I relaxed about that. When we were half way to Hartford, they announced that we were turning around and heading back to New York. The Storm had passed. Ha! We hit those clouds and pitched and rolled and dropped. At first I gripped the seat and squeezed my eyes shut to keep the tears from coming out. And then I thought, well if I’m going to die I might as well let go. In many ways. So in the next instant, the plane suddenly plummeted, and I let go of the seat and lifted my arms. It was like flying. Weightless and amazing for a second here and a second there. Then we broke through to a clear sky with big puffy white clouds. And it was over.

5/28 PM Can't See Stonehenge From Canal Street
We walked really fast over the Williamsburg Bridge to get to Manhattan in time for the special sunset. Unfortunately, in order to see the effect of the sun setting down the centerline of the buildings running on the East to West streets, we needed to be further uptown. At least as far as 14th Street. Lower Manhattan is too curvy and especially in the West Village, the streets are not on a grid. 8th Street crosses 12th Street. So when we realized that we weren’t going to make it to 14th street in time, we headed down to Canal Street which was a big mistake. Canal Street is a nice wide, straight street but it runs slightly on the diagonal. Oh well. It was a nice sunset nonetheless. Just as we finished ringing at the base of the Manhattan Bridge, a man got off the Fung Wah bus and joined us for a moment.

5/30 AM Sunrise J Train on the Williamsburg Bridge
Got it. That train is right on time. I don’t know what happened to the Manhattan bound train, but that little Brooklyn bound “J” train was right there at 5:27 AM.

5/30 PM Sunset Underground
The sun set as we emerged from the Bowery Street Station on the way to a performance at Phil Niblock’s Experimental Intermedia space this evening for an OptoSonic Tea event. OptoSonic Tea “is a regular series of meetings dedicated to the convergence of live visuals with live sound which focuses on the visual component”. Pamela Z presented excerpts from her past work as well a preview of work in progress, “Pendulum”. “Pendulum” will premiere at the end of June in San Francisco. Daniel Vatsky, Chris Jordan and Jon Cohrs also performed. Miya Masaoka was the responder for the discussion after the concert.

5/31 AM Sunrise on Broadway in Brooklyn
I woke up about half an hour before the sunrise so I decided to go downstairs and ring on the street as long as I had the extra time to set up. Besides, I figured we’d seen enough of the Williamsburg Bridge this season.

5/31 PM Tropical Sunset on 14th Street
It had been raining on and off all day and there was a little break in the clouds just as we finished eating. Then we headed over to Illuminated Corridor for outdoor multi screen, multi surface film projections.

Question for Skywatchers

The sun rises earlier here in New York than it does in San Francisco. At this time of year both places have about 14 1/2 hours of sunlight each day. (New York actually has 10 more minutes). Why? Is it because New York is further north? New York is is only 2º north of San Francisco. Is it due to our relative positions in the time zone? Any ideas?

Who is Out and About at 5:00 AM?

5/25 PM

We were invited to have dinner with Marlita and Luis. As the sun was setting just when dinner was ready, the timing was perfect. So everyone rang bells, and then sat down to eat. During an earlier conversation, I had mentioned that because the sunrise was occurring earlier and earlier, my contact with the Baylink driver was due to expire. We were discussing other possibilities for early morning activity in the city where people might welcome the bell ringing. Some ideas that I can recall were: MUNI depots, flower market, farmers’ markets, taxi stands and police stations. Any other suggestions about where I might go with the bell between 5:40AM and 5:00AM? Please flood me with suggestions.

Offerings from Others

Paul Stepahin sent this link about a relatively rare but regular occurrence that happens in Manhattan at sunset. If you are in New York this May 28th at sunset, and it is clear, "Manhattan will flood dramatically with sunlight just as the sun sets precisely on the centerline of every street".

Sherri Woods sent a photo of this sunrise from the road when she was on the road with her Mantra Trailer this spring.

Got Fear?

I am beginning to believe that we know everything, that all history, including the history of each family, is part of us, such that, when we hear any secret revealed, a secret about a grandfather, or an uncle, or a secret about the battle of Dresden in 1945, our lives are suddenly made clearer to us, as the unnatural heaviness of unspoken truth is dispersed. For perhaps we are like stones: our own history and the history of the world embedded in us, we hold a sorrow deep within and cannot weep until that history is sung.

- Susan Griffin. Denial from “A Chorus of Stones”.

There are three interrelated components to my thoughts about fear or at least the reluctance on the part of the general population to engage with strangers in public. These three elements are in addition to the widespread and vague suspicion that people have when confronted with unfamiliar or unusual behavior or activity in public. What does this person want? Is this a performance? Is this person soliciting for money, religion, political and other causes? Does this person merely need information about time, directions, etc? I am not dismissing these thoughts as insignificant, but I would like to set them aside for a moment to think about what might be underlying factors to this type of suspicion in the first place.

What the three parts may have in common is some relationship to memory: history with a capital “H” as it is forgotten or misrepresented; family history denied and the memory of personal behavior as it is projected into expectation about the behavior of others.

I’ll jump right into a major source of cultural shame. We are a nation founded on genocide and fed by slavery. These acts provide the basis for the narratives we teach our children in school. These narratives are more like the “based on a true story” or “inspired by real events” versions of real events that we see on television and in movies than factual and accurate accounting of “what happened”. Of course, the privilege to “tell what happened” is one of the spoils of victory and the narrative is entirely at the discretion of those in charge. Depending on the stories they/we want to tell, writers decide what to emphasize, what to include or exclude. We don’t teach our children about genocide. We teach them about “the Pilgrims” having Thanksgiving dinners with “the Indians”. We teach them to believe that the land didn’t belong to anyone. We don’t say that this is because we believed the inhabitants were less than human. We don’t say that because we believed they were inferior to us, the inhabitants were conveniently invisible and without rights.

By not openly and honestly talking about the underlying assumptions and imperatives for our behavior (economic and political as well as ethical) we compound our initial guilt with deception and silence. We fabricate a partial cover-up, a lie, which becomes an accepted historical narrative. With each repetition, this deception becomes more accepted and eventually replaces the truth.

We forget that we are history. We have kept the left hand from knowing the right. …We are not used to associating our private lives with public events. Yet the histories of families cannot be separated from the histories of nations. To divide them is part of our denial

In her essay Denial from “A Chorus of Stones”, Susan Griffin speaks of the “habit of denial”. She writes about a particular type of narrative that is passed from generation to generation. It is a story that is only partially told if it is told at all. She talks about what is transmitted by a retelling based on omission. For instance, someone from an earlier generation in a family does something that everyone at the time regards as transgressive and shameful. It is so awful that no one speaks about it directly. However, the shame associated with the person and with the act they committed is always present. After a while, perhaps the initial incident is no longer remembered or spoken of, but the obligation to know and feel the shame associated with the transgression has been internalized by subsequent generations. It is this internalization of the unnamed shame (or guilt, or etc.) that gives it weight and substance. And as long as the source of transgression remains unknown, even unsuspected, we inherit only the warnings and admonitions and not the reasons. Without understanding what happened or why, we can only hold onto the dread, the shame, and the unease. These can become our filters and affect the way we see and behave towards others.

The Golden Rule advises us to treat others, as we would like to be treated ourselves. A slightly different way to think about this is to expect others to treat us as we treat them. As a nation, it makes sense that such atrocities as genocide and the enslavement of human beings would plant the seeds of fear into the national consciousness. If we as a nation act that way, then of course we can expect others to do the same. On a more personal level, if we habitually deceive people, we might believe that most everyone else behaves the way we do. Based on that assumption, we would not be inclined to trust other people. Liars expect to be lied to. The opposite may also be true.

In fact, neither the way we behave or expect others to behave may have anything to do with what actually happens. But our expectations do influence the way we behave toward others. One of the basic points of the Buddhist teachings on Emptiness is that there is nothing inherent in or about reality. Everything depends on everything else for it’s significance. Said another way- nothing exists or means anything independently of anything else. In his book “The Diamond Cutter”, Geshe Michael Roach uses his experience in the diamond business to illuminate teachings on Wisdom that he studied while training as a Buddhist monk. At one point he discusses how his fellow workers generally regard a particular coworker as irritating and annoying. Roach speculates, however that this same person may have been well loved and regarded by his family and friends. A simple example of the relativity of perspective. He then goes on to say:

1) This person has no quality, within him, of being irritating or nice. He himself, from his own side, is ‘blank’ or ‘neutral’ or ‘empty’
2) The reason that we personally experience this person as being irritating must be coming from somewhere else

Of course, since that “somewhere else” is ourselves, we could think about our fear and suspicion of others in this way as well. Whatever the cause, perhaps our shared or personal histories, our stories and memories, the reluctance to engage lies within us. That’s not to say that people do not behave in ways that can harm us or that we should be stupid about our personal safety. But perhaps we can withhold judgment for a moment or look more closely or ask questions when we encounter something we don’t understand. I would love it if people would ask me what I was doing, or stop and say hello or even acknowledge my presence and activity.

Third Week of May

5/17 AM Trio for Bells and Bird
It is Saturday morning so I stayed at home for the sunrise and recorded audio only. Norman rang from inside the house and I tapped on the glass to cue him when to start and stop. It was a nice little trio with the two of us ringing bells and that one very insistent bird.

5/18 AM Can anyone tell what kind of bird this is?
I recorded another quiet, very foggy morning out back with that one persistent bird. Anyone recognize this song?

5/18 PM Schultze Gets the Blues, We Got the Bells
We had dinner at our friend Mardi’s house and then watched the movie “Schultze Gets the Blues”. Just before we started the movie, we rang bells in the living room. A few of the people got cut off because I put the camera on the television and it wasn’t far enough away to include everyone.

5/19 PM LATE LATE LATE.
I don’t know what’s happening lately, but I was 8 minutes late this evening. Norman asked me about the sunset or I would have continued to be preoccupied. Thanks, Norman. It was still a bit light out, although the fog had never burned off and it was dim. Here's an audio recording from the evening, for a change.

5/20 AM Just Fog
When I woke up, that one little bird was peep…peep…peeping away- close by and strong. As soon as I went outside to record, he took off and so we are left with the sound of the garbage trucks and street cleaners. And the one streetcar making its way to the beach.

5/20 PM Bells and Blessings
These are the people in my mediation group. We meet every Tuesday night and sit with our teacher Howie Cohn. Each week, we follow the same schedule so that at around 8:15, we take a short break between sitting and discussion. This is a very small window of opportunity for everyone to ring bells at sundown. There might be two days in the whole year where the sundown coincides with this little break. Tonight was one of them.

5/21 PM Imposing on Our Guests...(Again)
One more instance of imposing on our houseguests. Sorry guys. We walked across the street to where my car was parked at sundown and rang a few bells before dinner. Short and sweet and SO windy!

5/22 AM Absence
Linda and Lamar are leaving this morning so this is our last morning to ring together. Linda brought her bell from her home over 3000 miles away so she could ring it at sunrise here.. When I woke up at 5:45, Linda was already up and ready. Usually I straggle out of bed in the dark and stumble around by myself, so it was so nice to see someone standing there, bell in hand, ready to go. Encountering someone more awake than myself made me realize how UN-awake I really am at that hour. I can’t really talk or see, and if I didn’t lay everything I need out the night before, I wouldn’t be able to remember where anything was or what I should actually do. Fortunately, the bells were on the table, next to the minidisk recorder. Force of habit had the cell phone in my pocket and I just had to say’ “Let’s go out back”. Which we did. That little bird wasn’t there this morning so it was quieter than usual, and Norman, Linda and I rang the bells. I was so grateful for that moment. I realized how much I will miss my friend, Linda when she goes home. And in that moment of anticipating the absence, Ann was there.

5/22 PM Great Concert, But Where Are the Women?

Tonight was the final concert of the Electronic Music Program at San Mateo Community College. These are Krys Bobrowski’s students, and this is the 4th year in a row I’ve been able to attend. I love these concerts. Bravo Krys and congratulations to everyone. Thank you all. One observation I must mention is that out of 20+ performers, there was only one woman. This is by no means an isolated occurrence. Any ideas about why so relatively few women are involved in composition and electronic music in general?

5/23 PM Another Divine Evening

Dinner with Liz and Norman at Café Divine again. It was so cold that Norman stayed and rang his bell inside the restaurant while Liz and I went outside. Short and sweet and chilly.

End of the Ferry Saga?

5/16 AM We Broke the 6 AM Barrier

Stephen (the driver of the Baylink bus) and I rang bells this morning to an attentive audience of birds. Today’s sunrise was at 5:59 AM and getting earlier…

5/19 AM San Francisco Summer Sunrise

Monday morning at the Ferry Terminal. Stephen, the driver was there but was off taking a walk while I rang the bell. We spoke afterwards, and I asked him if he would ring the bell on Wednesday morning because I wanted to walk away and hear what the bell sounds like from a distance. He said OK, and I’m looking forward to that.

5/21 AM A Rude Awakening?
My friend Linda and I have known each other since High School. When I was towing the big bell around the country in 2006, I stopped by to visit Linda and her husband Lamar in Maryland. We hadn’t seen each other in 20 years, and it was like no time had passed except that we looked so much older. Same voice. Same laugh. Solid connection. We decided to stay in touch, and they finally came out to visit Norman and I in San Francisco. So, I woke Linda up at 5AM and we went down to the Ferry Terminal. The Baylink bus was there but we didn’t see the driver. I had been expecting that Stephen would ring the big bell in the back of the car so I could wander around and listen to it from different distances. While I was setting up, I suddenly noticed someone sleeping on the bench, resting his upper body on a big suitcase that was also on the bench. He looked like he was waiting for an early, early bus. Sound asleep. I felt a little bad about waking him up but kept on getting ready. When it was time, we rang the bells and I wandered around with the ship’s bell and the camera. From far away, I saw the driver approach Linda and saw her offer the bell to him. He obviously refused and I headed back there to let see what was going on. As I passed the formerly sleeping man, he smiled- a big smile and said good morning and thank you. His spoke with an accent and I thought that he was from somewhere else and that maybe he thought that this is how we did it in America. Somebody came down to the water and rang bells at sunrise to wake up the people sleeping in public. I found it hard to believe that he really did seem to appreciate and enjoy the bells. As I got closer to the car, I saw the driver was not Stephen. Linda didn’t know that though, and when the man had approached her she said, “Oh I’m doing your job”. And of course he hadn’t the faintest idea what she was talking about but tried to accommodate her none-the-less. He rang a little bit, but he wasn’t really comfortable. I wonder where Stephen was.

5/23 AM Baylink Bus On Holiday Schedule

No Baylink bus at the Ferry Terminal today. I was so surprised. Then I thought that maybe it was because of the holiday weekend. Sure enough, the Baylink is on a holiday schedule . This means that it will still be the same schedule on Monday and that the bus won’t be at the Ferry Terminal until 8:00 in the morning. So I never got a chance to say goodbye to Stephen, the regular driver since he wasn’t there on Wednesday either. I go to New York on Tuesday and the sun will be rising at 5:47AM by the time I get back. We’ll see if the bus arrives that early…

Finally, thebellproject disappears

One morning after returning from the Ferry Terminal, I got a wild hair and decided to update the blog information on the side of the car. I ran in the house, got some soapy water and washed only as much of the car as I needed to in order to change letters. I realized that I didn't have enough B's or L's so I could only do one door without manufacturing letters from parts of other letters. Since it was 6:30 in the morning, I decided to do it later. Much later, most likely. It is nice to have at least one side of the car with the most recent (and correct) information on it.

Second Week of May

5/8 AM This Bird is Here Every Morning


LISTEN to one very persistent little bird.

5/9 PM More neighbors

The children from a few doors down came running out of the house as we were ringing the big bell in the car. They were so excited and they took turns ringing and ringing.

5/10 AM Just Listening


LISTEN to Saturday morning walking around in the backyard. It was a quiet, easy start to the day.

5/10 PM Celebrating Mothers' Day with Bells and Rock Band
Our next-door neighbors invited us out for Mothers’ Day dinner. Helen and her mother are both mothers. It turned out that Helen’s son, Jerry’s birthday was tomorrow. AND he will graduate from college next week. He will be 27. It was an honor to be invited to celebrate with them. It’s hard for everyone to communicate in their house since Helen’s mother only speaks Cantonese and Jerry only speaks English. Helen is the only one that understands what everyone is saying. Jerry understands the things his grandmother repeatedly tells him like – “He doesn’t work hard enough”. “He’s lazy”and other such encouraging statements. We finished the meal just in time to ring some bells out in front of the restaurant while Norman went to get the car.
Then Jerry invited us back to his room to play a video game called “Rock Band”.
Jerry is about to graduate from school with a major in communications and broadcast. For as long as we have known him, he has played video games. A lot of games and a lot of time. For years, if we woke up in the middle of the night, we would see his light on in the basement next door. He played all night. While going to school he worked in the summers beta testing video games. So when he invited us over to play, we were excited and curious.
The game has drum pads, guitar and a microphone for interfaces instead of a computer keyboard or joystick. Once we got familiar with the interfaces we played a few song. We were pretty terrible. At first we couldn’t even finish a song (you get points for rhythmic accuracy- at least in the easy mode). But we persevered and managed to get through Roxanne and “Gimme Shelter “(both selections from the easy menu). Norman was our singer; Jerry played drums, which is the only one of the interfaces that demands real and comparable skill to playing the actual instrument. Norman and I switched interfaces in the middle of the game so that I ended up playing the guitar with the long black haired wild man avatar and Norman was the gladiator woman. It was fun. I sure hope Jerry can find a job doing this.

5/11 AM Can't see, Might as Well Just Listen

I set the microphone in the backyard and then walked through the garage to the sidewalk out front where I and rang the ship’s bell. Pretty streetlights going out as I looked away.

5/11 PM Calling All Bells

Mardi called up about 15 minutes before the sun was due to set and asked what time we would be ringing bells. In twelve minutes, I told her. So I grabbed some bells and Norman waited on the sidewalk out front. She must be a fast walker because we still had a few minutes to set up the camera and choose bells before the sun went down when she arrived. My car was parked pretty far down the block so we treated a new neighbor to the loud-ish bell experience. I could see them through their living room window, and they didn’t seem to mind.

5/13 AM Dead Christmas Tree

Hopped out of bed, grabbed those old camel bells and started to hurry out the back door. As I was rushing past the bed, Norman asked for a bell so I ran back and snatched the loud and clear bell from Tijuana. Zip and zoom. Out and in. That was an energetic one.

5/14 PM Showtime and Sundown
Thea Farhadian performed at the Meridian Gallery this evening. It’s such a beautiful building and they are currently showing work by the interns and the teachers in the Intern Program.The Interns works are amazing and for sale. If you live in the Bay Area, go there and check it out. Thea’s concert was wonderful. She performed on her laptop using MAX/MSP and I know that she had been living in technical hell all week. But everything seemed to be working and she played for an hour. The piece, entitled “Tattoos and Other Markings” was surprisingly classical in structure and can be heard from this link. I loved it. Thank you and congratulations, Thea.

Since 8:00 performances usually begin 10- 15 minutes late, and the sunset was at 8:12, I had planned to sit in the back and quietly slip out to ring the bells and then return to my seat. However, when I mentioned the plan to Thea, she invited me to ring the bells before her performance and to include the audience. Tom Bickley who is the curator of the program made the introductions and we rang the bells. It was so lovely. Adria Ott who had rung bells with the interns this past winter shot the video. Thank you everyone!

5/15 PM Goodnight Bob
Going through Bob’s stuff in Sonoma. It was very, very hot today. 104°F. We ate dinner in the town of Sonoma and then walked around town, got some ice cream and went home. We spent the day going through Bob’s stuff- papers making categories for the papers mostly. Bob had often warned us that one of the dangers of growing old was “hardening of the categories”. Well, Bob certainly didn’t leave his things organized into any particular categories. I would say he was fluid about his categories right to the end. While happily avoiding a misc. category, we ended up with many, many others as we sorted through his papers: writings, other people’ writings, original artwork, patent, archival and original documents, medical, musings- (mostly scraps of paper), schedules, lists of names, correspondence, accolades, Clear Lake museum, Osher Fellow, Exploratorium exhibit lists, memories and improvements, etc. Spinning like your mind, I miss you, Bob. Here are a few links to Bob’s life and work:
Bob Miller's Light Walk
Reminiscence of an Explainer
Asymptotia- Remembering Bob Miller

Miscellaneous Musings

Treading Water...
I have yet to finish writing about my speculations on why we are afraid of strangers in public (or at least some strangers- OK, maybe it's just me). It's more difficult to articulate than I thought it would be, so in the meantime, I'd like to share some light musings and observations about the weather as well as a photo of interest from Peter Richards.

It is a navigational device used to focus the sound of the bell at the end of a pier in SF. When the sound of the bell got really loud out in the fog you knew where you were.

Entry from 5/12 PM Why It's Cold Here

After dinner Norman and I walked down the street to the Walgreens for some snacks. It looked so nice outside. Springy. But it wasn't. We passed a couple coming out of their house and they looked at us as we walked by and simply said, “Cold”. It’s not the east coast. True. But on the east coast, the temperature generally matches expectations. Buildings are heated in the winter and cooled in the summer. If it’s cold during the day, it’s usually a bit colder at night. If it’s hot during the day, it’s most often a little cooler in the evening. Winter, cold. Summer, hot. Spring and Fall transitional. But not out here. The people who are always cold are usually from the east coast, and we are cold because our expectations are unrealistic for the Bay Area. No matter what it’s like during the day, in the evening it’s freezing. In the summer, it’s really cold because of the fog. The reason it’s foggy is because it’s super hot everywhere else and that heat sucks in the ocean air and smears it all over San Francisco. In fact it’s hardly ever hot here. It just looks like it’s warm because it looks like summer or spring. It’s spring light or summer light (on the rare days you can actually see the sun). And the light fools you into expecting a corresponding seasonal temperature. Anyway, we paused on our walk long enough to ring the bells and take a little movie of the windows across the street as they caught the last bit of that warm looking sunlight.

A Ringer at the Ferry Terminal?

5/9 AM Meeting the Baylink driver at the Ferry Terminal
The bus driver for the Baylink was there again and he told me more about the motorized tripod that I could get. It sounds good and isn’t very expensive. I learned that the Baylink runs between Vallejo and San Francisco and during the winter more people ride this bus than take the ferry because the water is rough and people get seasick. For now, the bus is pretty empty. He has only one passenger to bring from San Francisco back to Vallejo. He used to have more- 10 or 20 people- who worked all night in San Francisco, but not anymore. He didn’t say why. As for ringing the bell, he waited to leave until just after I finished and says he will ring it next week. We introduced ourselves today, and his name is Steven. I look forward to seeing him next week.

After Steven left, I began to pack up the bells and another man came over. We said hello and I asked him if he wanted to ring the bell. When he paused, I said I was there regularly to do this and he said he hadn’t seen me before. I said that was because I was following the sunrise and it had finally come early enough for me to run into him. He liked that idea and I told him that by next week, the sunrise would coincide with his shift and that I would bring hearing protection for him if he wanted to ring the bell. He said OK and then rang it a few times anyway. I might have a lot of company next week.

5/12 AM Taking Turns?

After only 3 hours of sleep, I felt bad waking up at 5:00. But I was also excited because the driver from the Baylink bus was expecting me to be there. This is a first. As I approached the driveway where I turn into the parking lot at the Ferry Building, I saw the bus waiting there, but Stephen, the driver, was nowhere to be seen. Usually he stands by the log that I back the trailer hitch into every time I park. It was pretty early, so I set the alarm and took a little nap. That’s when I realized that he might be doing the same. When I woke up, I set up the sign and put out the bells as usual. Still I didn’t see him. So I put the earplugs in and started ringing. When I looked over to the bus, he was standing next to it just listening so I waved him over, and he finished ringing in the sun. I was so excited to have company at that hour and that someone wanted to ring the bell that I just stood there and watched. Next time, I’ll ring along. Yippee! As soon as we finished, Stephen hopped on the bus and drove away. As I was putting things back in the car, I noticed the security man looking out of one of the terminal building doorways.

5/14 AM Was Once Enough?

There was a fancy looking bus at the Ferry Terminal there this morning: all black and covered with that see through advertising. That material is amazing. You can see out of the windows from the inside but from the outside the bus looks like it’s been dipped in black. Anyway, the bus stayed the whole time I was there, and Stephen, the driver, came out after I had finished ringing to say that he enjoyed it. Then he drove off. Hmm… Maybe once was enough?

I MISSED THE SUNRISE THIS MORNING

May 15
I missed the sunrise by 40 minutes. The alarm was set, but the ringer was OFF. My reaction surprised me. This didn't disappoint me as much as I imagined it could have. Neither did I think the whole project was now ruined. I just made an immediate shift to thinking about this day in particular. May 15th. What else happened on May 15th? In general, this is not an important thing, but in terms of a daily vow, it is. So I am treating the occasion seriously and want to mark it by observing the day and associating with other events that occurred on May 15th. What has happened that you remember that makes May 15th special in some way? Or how about something that this reminds you of? Big things and small? Personal and historical? It makes me realize that there is something more important going on here for me than vigilance and a perfect record.

First Week of May

This week the Baylink bus has replaced the boat at the Ferry Terminal. And pretty soon this bus won't even be here. I have been going to the Terminal on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at sunrise and have met the driver of the Baylink. He's the only person who has said more than "good morning" to me here so far. He drives the bus away while I am ringing the bell but maybe next week, his departure schedule will allow him some time to spend ringing the bell. On the other mornings, I have stayed at home, and recorded audio only. So there are several audio recordings for your listening pleasure this week. The rest of the time, I merely documented where I was when the sun rose or set. Sad, joyous and mundane.

5/1 AM It’s May Day!
I quietly observed the day in front of my house with an audio recording. I rang 3 little bells as I walked across the street and back. There were a surprising number of people out and about at that time. A few hours later I was looking for the bells from the sunrise ringing and couldn't find them. It turned out that I had left them on the sidewalk next to the telephone pole. Two thoughts immediately: 1-how wonderful people are that saw these lovely little bells and left them where they were and 2- what a sleepy idiot I am at that early hour. I would have felt awful if I lost those bells—One of the bells belonged to Norman’s brother-in-law who is now retired. It had hung over the office door when he was in business, and it’s Norman’s favorite.

5/1 PM 4 STAR SUNSET
We went to a film called “Hollywood Chinese” at the 4-Star Theater with Bernie and Mardi. The movie started at 7:20 so I set my phone to vibrate at a few minutes to 8:00. The 4-Star is a very small theater and several years ago, they made it even smaller by splitting it into a 2-screen theater. It’s my favorite place to see movies—they show at least 6 different films a day and you can stay there all day and watch all of them if you wanted to. The person who sells the tickets, also answers the phone, runs the projectors and makes and sells the popcorn, candy, etc. While the films are running there is a lag and some quiet time for that person and it was during that time that I emerged from the theater to ring the bells. The guy was really sweet and agreed to simply hold a bell up in front of him at his seat by the window since he couldn't really ring it during the show. So I went outside and set the camera on top of the trash can and stood next to the window and rang one of the quiet tinkly bells. I love this photo.

5/2 AM Time out
No ferry building today— I was wiped out. Listen to the audio I recorded in the back.

5/2 PM Bugging People

The neighbors from 2 doors down didn’t want to ring the bells this evening. Fortunately we had a visitor who rang with us. Visitors are one step removed from the captives at the bus stop. But at least your friends have some idea what to expect when they come to visit around sundown. Thanks, Paul.

5/3 AM He Prefers Cat Food
Home again. Norman and I ring for Malcolm. Sometimes I think he doesn’t care about the bells. He just waits for us to finish so we will come in and feed him.

5/3 PM Maker Faire Farewell
Sunset at the Maker Faire was at precisely 8:00 PM. We found a small stage – one of many in the fairgrounds. Three pedaling cyclists powered the PA, and that alone was a good reason to choose that place. Fossil Fool provided the PA and was also the name of one of the bands to perform. When I spoke with the man in charge of Fossil Fool, he said he liked my project and that 8:00 would be a perfect time since that was when he would be performing. There was a band already playing on the stage, and it seemed rather unlikely that any band would stop right on time, but I thought maybe …

Anyway, I came back about 7:45 and the band was still playing- another long song and as it got closer to the time of the sunset and they were still playing I figured we’d better just go with whatever was happening at 8:000. So I went around and passed out bells among the small but happy audience. By some miracle the band stopped playing at about 3 minutes to 8 and I thought wow- what amazing luck. But then they launched into one final number. So we all rang our bells for 5 minutes or so—you could barely hear them over the band but they were there and people were smiling. I collected the bells after the sun went down, while the band was still playing and everyone seemed to have enjoyed the experience. That Maker Faire was a fun day.

5/4 AM Bob's Bell
Audio only out front—I decided to ring Bob’s ship's bell—It’s been great since I discovered that even that fairly loud bell doesn’t carry very far so I can include it in my arsenal of morning bells. Then back to sleep.

5/4 PM Sushi Interrupted

Sally came to visit. She’s been in Miami and will return to Paris where she now lives. We decided to walk down the street and have dinner near our house and we weren’t quite finished eating when it was time for the sunset. So we momentarily left our table at the restaurant to go outside and ring the bells. Thank you, Sally. We miss you.

5/5 PM Bells With Our Beans
Dinner was ready at sundown so we stopped eating for a minute and rang the bells. It was cold and foggy and gray outside and so cozy in the kitchen. I thought an indoor evening ringing might be nice for a change.

5/6 AM Big Pink Guard Dog
Listen to this morning.. We carried the bags and boxes of Ann’s clothes out to the curb at 6:00 this morning. United Cerebral Palsy has a regular schedule for curbside pick up of household goods and clothes. They were scheduled to pick up in our neighborhood sometime today. After we brought all the bags out to the curb, we set a big pink dog on top. It was the saddest heap I ever want to see. Later that morning I had gone out and come back to find the pile still in front of the house but with the pink dog missing. Maybe the little girl next door?

5/6 PM Ocean Beach Sunset (again)
Norman wanted to go down to Ocean Beach this evening. It looked so beautiful and clear outside but it was cold and windy. It usually is in the evening and especially by the ocean. When Norman began ringing the big bell, there was a man in the car next to us that looked over and smiled. I offered him a bell, but he shook his head.

5/7 PM Stretching the Bells
We were running late to go to see “21” at the movies. So it wasn’t until we were halfway there that I realized I had forgotten to bring the bells and any recording device. Fortunately our friend Carl was with us and he had a cell phone that took still photos. The movie had just begun when Norman and I went out to the lobby to observe the sunset. Since I didn’t have any bells, I set the alarm on my cell phone to ring at 8:06 PM. So we took a picture of my ringing phone and followed it up with some jangling keys. Unfortunately, Carl doesn’t know how to send the photos from his phone. And now he’s gone to Venezuela for 3 weeks to attend a wedding. Maybe when he returns… (They’re not that great anyway)

Early Mornings at the Ferry Terminal

5/5 AM No More Ferries. First Bus to Vallejo

There were no boats at the Ferry Terminal this morning. However, there was a bus that I had first noticed as it was pulling away when I arrived there last week. Today it was sitting by the curb when I arrived, and it pulled away as I was setting up. So maybe whoever is on that bus will enjoy the morning ringing. This bus goes to Vallejo, and it leaves about 25 minutes before the ferry from Vallejo arrives. I wonder if there are any scheduled boats or buses that will appear even earlier than this.

5/7 AM A New Ringer?
When I returned to the Ferry Terminal this morning, the Baylink bus driver was standing by the log that I back my car into each morning. We said good morning and he watched as I taped up the sign and took things out of the car. I continued to set up to ring the bell and as I opened the back of the car, he looked inside. When he saw the bell he got a little excited and exclaimed- “Oh an antique bell!” I asked him if he would like to ring it, and he said he had to start the bus. I told him that the sun would rise 2 minutes earlier on Friday and that maybe he could ring it then. He said OK. We’ll see. I’ll get there a little earlier just in case. For the next few minutes, I snapped some pictures before ringing the bell. Just before the driver left, he came back to the car and gave me some pointers for shooting the scene. He recommended some kind of motorized tripod, and I told him he could take the pictures on Friday if he wanted.

Got Fear?

What are we afraid of?
Over the years of working with strangers in public spaces, I have experienced a great deal of reluctance on the part of people to engage with me and whatever activity I happen to be doing at the time. It feels like anxiety and fear and I don’t understand it. I was planning to speculate a bit this week, but my musings have gotten out of hand and they are holding up the posting. So I will offer my opinion next week- my ideas about this general societal fear center on genocide, denial, the flip side of the Golden Rule and emptiness.
What do you think? Why are people reluctant to engage? Any thoughts or ideas? Let’s hear them.
Regardless of the root of the fear or anxiety or even indifference, I believe that the cultivation of curiosity is the antidote. From my personal experience, I know that curiosity trumps fear. If I want to know something bad enough, I will do whatever is necessary to find out.

So my current regular visits to the Ferry Terminal are motivated by the desire to provoke or stimulate curiosity in the people who pass by each morning. Maintaining a constant schedule and repeat visits to the same location is part of the plan to both reassure people and to provide multiple opportunities for people to find out what is going on.

Unfortunately, because the regularity of my schedule follows the cycle of the sun and not a 24-hour clock, I have already drifted past the earliest ferries to arrive at the terminal. However, come September, the ferry schedules will again coincide with the sunrises, and I will return there for a week or two, offering the possibility to investigate once more.

Last Week of April

4/24 AM Sounds in the Neighborhood

I missed the Ferry Building this morning. I set the alarm for 5:25 PM “by mistake”. It was great to sleep in until 6:00. I never thought I’d say such a thing. Anyway. The latest routine is to record audio only if I am in my yard or around my house. It’s nice to just LISTEN for a change.

4/24 PM Passing Ships

Norman and I walked down to the corner so we could look down the street and see the ocean at sunset. There were quite a few joggers out as well as other people just walking around. So we set up the camera to look at the ship on the horizon then walked across the street and back. Ships passing into the night.

4/25 PM 2nd Skin at the Exploratorium

Sunset inside the museum was a festive event. Just a few of us started ringing bells and as people passed by, we offered bells to them. Being that this was the Exploratorium and visitors are used to interacting with strangers, Participation wasn’t conditional on knowing why. They just took the bells and joined in. As if it wasn’t enough noise and wonderful cacophony at that moment, a parade of people on bikes began to ride by. However – not just bikes and not just ordinary bike riders. Michael Brown led a line of huge suspensions of colored fireflies hanging on loose limbed trees attached to the bikes. It made the pedaling wildly erratic. The branches swayed and light bounced and floated in an arhythmic dance. We couldn’t stop ringing and so accompanied them as they careened by.

4/27 AM Are you Sleeping... Are you Sleeping?

We rang from inside the house. It was a quiet morning and we wanted to start slowly. Today is the memorial for our friend Ann Chamberlain and we did a gentle, easy awakening.

4/27 PM To Ann
Because Ann's memorial was planned from 2-4, I thought there would be plenty of time afterwards to go home and get my bells. However, at sunset, we were still sitting in a restaurant with Ann’s family and close friends. So instead of bells we used several wine glasses that were on hand. Catherine took some photos with her iPhone as we very gently clinked our glasses together. Victor began by blowing very softly on a small whistle and we quietly but insistently joined in with our glasses. It was exquisite, and the entire restaurant was quiet for a moment… listening. We were suspended for a moment in a silent bubble- out of time- only the sound of glasses touching surrounded by a high, soft warbling whistle. Another goodbye.

4/30 PM A Divine Toast

Rebecca A. Hoffberger, director of the American Visionary Art Museum visited the Exploratorium today. The American Visionary Art Museum sounds like a unique and wonderful place- definitely check out the link.
After Rebecca’s presentation, we rushed away for dinner and I forgot to bring my bells and the camera. Having recently been at a restaurant in a similar situation, I wasn’t worried. This evening was much more raucous ringing than the other day (silverware tapping not so gently on glasses instead of lightly touching wineglasses). Nonetheless, it was very festive and Luigi documented the moment with his cell phone. When we had finished, it was momentarily quiet in the restaurant (the fabulous Café Divine in North Beach). The other diners were expectant and wanted to know what was going on.
I later realized how perfect this moment would have been to quietly and briefly introduce people to the project. However, at the time, I merely said that the sun had just set and that we did this everyday and had been observing the sunrise and sunset since the beginning of the year. I didn’t have any cards or other information with me either. It was a good lesson—if only I had been a boy scout…

Where Have All the Ferries Gone?

Ferry Building Info , Vallejo Ferry Schedule , Other Ferry Schedules
Since I am continuing to go to the Ferry Terminal 2 or 3 times a week, and since there is very little difference from day to day except for the earlier and earlier times, I thought I would lump this week's Ferry Terminal ringings altogether.

4/25 AM Sandwich Boards and Sun Crossings

We made a little wooden sandwich board type of sign last night. So now I can announce the time of the sunrise and sunset and people can ignore or glance at it as they wish. One side of today’s sign said, “THE SUN RISES AT 6:21 AM TODAY”. The other just said, “SUNRISE 6:21 AM”. As a result of that beautiful sign, this morning was the first encounter I had with someone getting of the ferry. The man saw the sign as he was walking by. He looked at his watch, paused for a second, looked at me and said, very pleasantly, “You must have been announcing the sunrise”. And I said, “Yes. I was”. Hallelujah!

4/28 AM This is For the Birds

Back to the Ferry Building this morning. I finished ringing before the ferry ever landed. So I packed up the camera but went back and rang the bell as the boat docked. Then I got in the car and left. Even the custodian had yet to arrive. I hoped that the people on the ferry could hear the bell and associate it with the sunrise. (The sign on Friday should have been a big hint). I also felt vaguely smug like "You had your chance (to ring the bell), but you waited too long". It made me think about how the window of opportunity opens and closes and how it's not always convenient.

4/30 AM Resume the quiet landing

Ferry Terminal- I finally passed the time table for the Ferry from Vallejo and the one that gets in even a few minutes before that one. The Vallejo Ferry was still out in the bay making it's approach to the dock when I finished ringing at 6:15. So I packed up the bells, tied the big one down in the back of the car and left the signboard out until last. The boat was just docking as I drove away, and the sun had already cleared the hills in the east- Very beautiful and clear. I felt a small twinge of smug glee as I pulled out of the parking lot. The passengers on that boat had walked past me for several days -- not looking or acknowledging the bell ringing. No curiosity or good mornings, and hearing the ringing bell must have been a lovely way to get off the boat. Oh well, I hope they are pleasantly surprised in October if I still manage to go there.

Thanks for the Camel Bells

4/26 Camels in the AM and PM
Pat and I had rung bells on the morning of February 10. At that time I had mentioned that I needed more bells. Yesterday these lovely old camel bells arrived in the mail.We rang them in the morning and the evening.
Thank you, Pat

Come Make Some Noise

Come to the 3rd Annual Maker's Faire this weekend, May 3rd and 4th at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds. Either day should be a lot of fun, but if you come on Saturday and stay into the evening-- BRING A NOISEMAKER and join thousands of other people in observing the sunset at 8:00PM by ring bells, clicking clickers, banging drums, singing, etc. (Like New Year's Eve- only earlier).

Third week of April

4/17 PM Ringing Bells with My Next-door Neighbor on the Left
Several months ago near the beginning of this project, I had asked my neighbor, Helen to come ring the bells with me. She was in the middle of watching a Chinese Opera on television and couldn’t do it then but she joined me this evening. Thanks, Helen.

4/19 AM Enough with my Yard Already...
Everyone who has been following this project knows what my yard looks like. They know what the front and back of the house looks like and what my neighbors’ yards look like. I have covered both corners and gone around the block many times. I think that’s enough for a while. You get the picture. See if you can imagine what the morning looks like from listening to the audio recordings. I thought it would be a nice change for a while to concentrate on the audio for the mornings when I stay close to home.
SILENT MOVIE
LISTEN. It was so windy this morning. More windy than I remember in a long time. Except for those big winter storms. Usually it’s almost impossible to record the wind. However, when I set the microphone down this morning, there was none of that boomy,popping mic distortion- just a beautiful and clean apprehension of that powerful wind. It was so rare and amazing that I continued to record even after the sun was up.

4/20 AM For Whom the Bells Toll
Enjoy another
Listening
morning. When Norman returned from the East coast last night, he brought a bell that had belonged in his brother-in-law’s office. It used to hang over the door so that when people came in, the bell rang. His brother-in-law no longer works, and his office is now empty. This morning I honored that little bell and Norman’s brother-in-law as I rang it 56 times for my friend, Ann.

4/20 PM Our Other Next-door Neighbors
While Norman was away, he missed the big bell. So at sundown he went out to the car to get reacquainted with it. Soon after he started, our neighbor on the other side came out of his house with his young daughter. We rarely see this neighbor, so it was a pleasant surprise.

4/21 AM The Ferry Building again.

Norman and I met the 6:twenty-something ferry. I like greeting people as they come off the boat. After a few days when the sun rises too early for this group of people to be there for the bell ringing, maybe they will miss the noisy greeting. Wouldn’t it be amazing if by the end of the year everyone coming off the sunrise ferries would be ringing little bells as they walked off into the city? I need to find a cheap source of little bells to give to people if they ever get curious enough or interested enough to come and find out what’s happening.
Ferry Building Info
Vallejo Ferry Schedule
Other Ferry Schedules

4/21 PM Visiting the Visitors

We have some visitors from New York who just arrived today. They rang bells with us at sunset. Friends of their drove up to meet them for dinner and one of them joined in. It was great to have someone pull up in a car, hop out and ring bells.

4/22 AM Stairway to IceBox

Mornings at home are sound only. I went out to the porch that is sealed in between our building and the one next door. It’s the space where the iceman used to deliver blocks of ice from the street. Now it’s accessible by the door next to the cat’s litter box. It’s a sheltered space and I thought the staircase might make for an interesting architectural feature- both acoustically and physically.

4/23 AM Ringing for the Gull

Back to the Ferry Building at the Embarcadero. Norman stayed home this morning. Some people actually said good morning to me.
Ferry Building Info
Vallejo Ferry Schedule
Other Ferry Schedules

4/23 PM How Many Bells Do You Hear Here?

We were in the backyard with our visitors from Brooklyn accompanying the sunset when the phone alarm rang followed by a call from Ann’s sister Lucy. We had been taking pictures of each other while waiting to hear from Lucy to see if she wanted to join us for dinner.

Imitation and Flattery? Contagion? Synchronicity?

I RECEIVED THIS EMAIL FROM SOMEONE ON MY MAILING LIST:
Hello!

I have this show in LA at this new place on Sunset Blvd. siteLA 2522 Sunset Blvd.

It's April 19 - May 03. There was no opening, but there is a closing on May 3 at 9pm ish w/ performances by Barr, Infinite Body, and an absent performance by Lucky Dragons.

The main content of the show consists of me leaving the gallery everyday of the exhibition and taking buses to the end of the Palos Verdes Peninsula where I watch the sunset, photograph it, and return to the space. I put up a photograph each night - so each day there is one more image. I am attempting to call attention to these 15 sunsets that happen during the exhibition and trying to get people to actually go from the gallery to Palos Verdes, instead of just going to the gallery.

There is a free artist-book I made for it. There are only 100. They are free. If anyone wants one, if you mail me $3 worth of postage stamps I will mail you one for free! Send stamps here:

David Horvitz/ siteLA
2522 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026

These photos with a correlating text are (hopefully) getting published in the next issue of Someone's Garden (art publication out of Tokyo), which prints next week (ahhhh).

If anyone is in LA, come to the closing, or go watch a sunset!

http://davidhorvitz.com/shows/pv/sunsets.html

MY RESPONSE
Hello David-

I assume since you are on the Bard mfalist you are aware of the dailybell2008 project-- In the interest of spreading awareness and community surrounding the observation and documentation of the universal, I'd like to post your project on my blog and hope that you will call attention to my project as well---since it is very closely related.

Thanks,
Brenda Hutchinson
http://dailybell2008.blogspot.com

HIS REPLY
Thanks for your email!

Your blog is great! It'd be nice to get everyone around the world to do the bell ringing, so that there is always a constant sound somewhere in the world. But, there'd have to be people on boats in the ocean doing it too.

I'll blog about this on the blog for my show.

Thanks!

- David