Love

Hi,

It's been an amazing three days since I last wrote to you. The art show opened, we went to a dedication, had dinner with friends, and went to an art festival.

'Old School Friday' song must have been easy. Lots of you knew "Sixteen Candles" by The Crests. For 'Easy Monday' we pay tribute to what happened on Sunday. (Ha) The title is three words but I'll have to blank one of them so as not to totally give it away. "__ __ __, sweet comic __, you make me smile with my heart..." Hint: It has to do with something that is celebrated all around the world these days. Some blame it on greeting card companies. As far as the artist goes, choose your favorite. Hmm.

Saturday evening we got dressed up and went to Le Meridien Hotel for the opening of 'Farang Rai', the art exhibit that featured four expat artists. Lisa was one of those artists. They each had eight of their works on display and the show will be up until March 6. We had a great turn out and saw lots of people we knew and made tons of new friends. Many of Lisa's friends brought flowers. After the show, Khun Jaffee arranged a dinner for the artists, at the hotel. We sat in an outdoor Italian restaurant right by the river. Good company and great conversation had us there way past our usual bedtime.

We were invited to a Sunday morning dedication of a new project being launched by our good friends at Sahapaiboon. They're now in the house building business and the event began with a ribbon cutting by the owner, the governor, and a monk. We learned that the monk had given them the name for the project, "Treasure of the King". It will be a planned community, and they had models for the four homes one could chose. After the ribbon cutting there were speeches and then refreshments. Floral arrangements were brought by many people and they were hung in front of the showroom. It was quite a display.

Sunday evening we went to Boron Art Kitchen with our friends Alan and Ten, who were in town from Chiang Mai. We had another delicious dinner and more good conversation. Alan has been in the country for a little over a month, and will return to America in a few weeks.

This afternoon we went to a beautiful park that we'd never heard about. It's called Rai MaeFarluang and it was the host facility of the Sixth International Art Festival Workshop in Thailand. Approximately 130 artists, 27 of them from foreign countries, spent three days creating works of art in their respective disciplines. Today was the closing day and we attended at the urging of Jaffee and several other members of the art community. As we entered the area where things were happening, we heard what sounded like a gong, and a stringed instrument. When we got closer we saw a man standing before the audience holding the instrument that was making all these sounds. It had several strings and what looked like a bowl at one end that he held to his chest. It's hard to describe how he played it, but it was very hypnotic and the movement of the bowl would change the gong sound. I spoke to him after he finished and he called it 'playing from the heart', since that's where he held the bowl. He made this device and I'd really like to try it myself. Maybe someday. All around the big pavilion were easels with the work that had been created. It was almost too much to absorb. There were paintings, and sculptures. One artist created a traditional type dance piece and it was performed in a courtyard by four dancers. We left feeling inspired, in awe, and grateful that we got a chance to see all that we saw. I even had a long conversation with an artist named Mark, from Los Angeles.

Have a Great Week.

Peace,
Danny

"Love doesn't make the world go 'round.
Love is what makes the ride worthwhile."
~Franklin P. Jones

Gettin' Funky, Thai Style
www.flickr.com/photos/gratidudepics
http://blog.risingstardom.com/
www.lisamosesgallery.com