A Maze - Page 27

No doubt all of you readers out there have caught up on your maze homework and visited with family and friends for the last week. Now it is time to put your nose to the grindstone once again. Today I have the next page of my first maze. While you all were generally goofing off, I was fully dedicated to working on my fourth maze. Cloistered in a monastery retreat high on a mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean, I labored like one of the the Irish monks of old over a manuscript.

True they labored on works of knowledge and truth such as all but lost works of Greek philosophy and literature. Or the gospels and other writings which where the key to the Christian faith. Read the fine book by Thomas Cahill called “How the Irish Saved Civilization” for a brilliant view of the work of the early monks.

In contrast to this, I was working on a grand time waster. A long tedious winding twisty maze which if indulged in would at least for a time leave one lost and confused. That is one way of looking at my time and the work. Another way to look at it is as a meditative device. Like rosary beads, or a candle, or a mandala

the maze can focus the mind for deep thought. Very occasionally, all too rarely in fact, I work on the maze unconsciously with myself detached and looking down at my fingers still working away as if they are another persons fingers. It is a strange feeling and I don't know that it does me any good, but it is a feeling that brings great satisfaction.

Despite the solitude and silence of the place I was still unable to complete the fourth maze. I was left with two pages to go. If you have read my posts for the last month you know that it was my hope to finish it by the end of the month. So you will not be surprised to know that I'm quite disappointed. Oh well, that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Anyway enough of those profound thoughts, here is today's page. First the scanned and edited version.

Page 27

Here is the same page in the wild. This is still the Ravenswood Estate in Livermore California. The main house to the right is where my friend and his family lived, but they had the run of the whole place. Behind my maze, there is another couple of buildings. One is a guest house which I never entered. There is another building behind that one which is the tank house. This is a building with a few rooms in it. The whole thing built around a large water storage tank.

One of the most interesting buildings for a kid was the barn which you can see at the end of the road. At the time my friend lived here, the barn held an amazing collection of toilets. Hundreds of them it seemed back then. Probably far fewer than that in reality. I couldn't figure it out. Where did they all come from? Why were they there? I didn't spend a whole lot of time thinking about this. There was always something else to do around his place, but every time I saw the huge collection of broken white toilets I was stunned a bit. I didn't go look in the windows, but I doubt if they are still there. But I wonder.

 

Tomorrow I will have an update on my Line Around The World project.

Jonathan

The Trip Is Over - Sigh

Well, I'm back from my much anticipated trip to the New Camaldoli Hermitage. This was the second year running that I have made a trip down to Big Sur to stay at the monastery retreat house. This year the weather was warm and clear all six days and five nights. It made it a much more pleasant stay than last year's storms and rain. I probably spoke less than ten words while I was up there, but I did one trip up to Monterey and Carmel midweek where I got to talk to various people.

The whole point of these retreats, whether for spiritual renew or as in my case as an working trip, is to experience total solitude and silence. You might come face to face will another person in the common kitchen when it is time to pick up your midday meal, but heavens, don't say a word. Usually I couldn't help but smile and say, “Hi.” Everyone was older than I and probable thought I was the frivolous kid on the block.

I didn't finish my fourth maze. I got through page 88. Only two more pages to go. Here is where I worked most of the time there. Each room had its own private garden overlooking the sea.

The good news is that I rolled out my Line Around The World four times during the trip. It was very exciting, pitting Man (me) and Art (the Line) against Nature (everything else). I will begin posting the updates on Tuesday.

Here is my favorite place to sit up at the monastery. The bench is on the driveway that leads to the Hermitage. From up here you can see the vastness of the ocean and still hear the breakers down below. I want to go back!

Monday I will have the next page of the first maze.

Jon

A Maze - Page 26

This will be the last post until I get back from a little trip. You will have plenty of time to catch up on the maze. Or if you have kept up all along it will be an opportunity to see your family and friends again. Here is where I'm at on my fourth maze.

This is page 81 with only nine more pages to go. Since I will be going to a place where I will have absolutely no distractions, there is a slim chance that I will actually finish the maze by the time I am back. This is important so that I can get back to work on the Line and some other ideas.

Anyway, that's enough stalling. Here is the next page of the first maze.

Page 26

 

Here is the same page in the wild. These last few in the wild pictures have been taken on the grounds of the Ravenswood Estate in Livermore, California. A friend once lived here when we were kids. Back in those days it was out in the sticks with no other houses nearby. We use to make long range shots with his 22 to make puffs of dust bloom in the open fields.

Expect the next page of the maze to be posted on January 31. Hopefully while I'm gone I will be able to roll out my Line at least once. If I do I will post the update on February 1^st.

Jonathan

A Maze - Page 25

There is not much news from here. I'm is focused on finishing my latest maze. This morning I completed page 79. I feel a bit guilty about wasting the streak of very fine weather we have been experiencing lately. Just think how much further along my Line Around The World would be. This is one of those life lessons that take dense people like me decades to learn. That is, that there are opportunity costs associated with everything we do. If you do one thing, you cannot use that time for anything else. Sure there are other costs involved other than time. But time is the only non sponge-able one. Once a moment is past, it is gone forever.

For today I give you the 25^th page of my first maze. First the scanned and edited version.

Page - 25

Here is the same page in the wild. This masion is in Livermore, California. It is a popular wedding location now.

That is it until next time.

Jonathan



A Maze - Page 24

The work on my fourth maze is going well. At times I almost believe that I will finish by the end of the month. Then I do the calculations and see that it is quite unlikely. It is the internet that makes the posting of my mazes possible, but it is the internet that proves the biggest distraction to the work. Last night it was YouTube again and the music category of Folk Metal Bands that side tracked me. Here is a band new to me. As you will see, it is pen and ink and calligraphy related.

This video shows what the dark-ages might have been like if they had invented electric guitars but not light bulbs. The lead singer should try an anger management class to see if it can help his singing. Still, the music sounds great. I love the hurdy gurdy.

I think you can see why I might find it difficult to work while listening to this kind of music. But yesterday morning I did get something done. Here is page 77 which was in progress yesterday.

For today I give you the page 24 of the first maze.

Page 24

Here is the same page in the wild. This is a closeup of one of the trees lining the entrance to the mansion. It is pretty darn old for a planted tree in California.

 

Now I must start page 78.

Jonathan

A Maze - Page 23

A while back I posted the solution graph for the simple three page maze I drew with the brown ink drop ink. If you missed it here it is:

I also had to do a graph for this longer maze that I have been posting for the last couple of months. Naturally the resulting graph is a bit more complicated. Here it is:

Of course you, the solver, don't need to visit each node. You only need to find one path through the maze. Today I give you the next page, page 23. Enjoy!

Here is the scanned and edited version.

Page 23

Here is the same page in the wild. This is at the same place as the last in the wild picture. These trees are pretty darn old.

That is it for today. Again I'm working on my newest maze. I've just about finish page 76, so I havn't worked on the Line Around The World Project for awhile. So sorry I can't do an update for you tomorrow.

Jonathan

Drawing The Line - 14

This segment of the Line Around The World was rolled out on Thursday December 30^th. It seems so long ago now, way back there in 2010. I received help from my wife Laura doing this segment. She was able to capture some truly exciting action shots of the process.

So here we go. We drove down to the start of the segment. I was actually very surprised by the number of people around the area. Many people witnessed the rolling out of the Line. Many people stopped and gawked at the sight, but only a couple actually asked what was going on.

Here is the start of this segment. This is roll 43. Yes, that is a police car, but it is not here because of me.

Here is an actual action shot of me rolling out the Line.

This is the view from the end of roll 43.

The reason for the swarms of people was that the building to the left is a court house. The judges there think they are sooo superior to us normal people. See, they even call it Superior Court. Well la de da. How about some modesty. How about calling it, Pretty Darn Good Court. I guess I shouldn't judge. Judge not, lest ye be judged and all that.

This is the view from the end of roll 44.

At this point I was beginning to get excited because I was about to reach my first goal. Remember at the very start of this project I speculated about getting corporate sponsorship? I mentioned Subway and the possibility of calling The Line Around The World, the Subway Line. Well we were about to pass by the Subway shop my wife and I go to. Here Laura is standing at the end of roll 45 which happens to be right outside the Subway.

Here is the view from the end of roll 46 which is the end of this segment.

This is another riveting action shot showing the gathering of the Line.

This is another view of the Subway. It was almost lunchtime so we decided to come back to get sandwiches.

When we did get back to the Subway, the guy asked if we had been measuring the sidewalk. I almost felt sorry for him as I replied with my standard, “I'm drawing a line around the world and I've gone over a mile now.” This seemed to take him aback abit, so I added, “I'm going to try to get corporate sponsorship from Subway.”

“From corporate?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I replied. I don't think he was very keen on sponsoring me. He seem to avoid the subject of the Line as he made our sandwiches. Since the year had not turned yet and I hadn't started my diet, I got cheese on my sandwich. Chips and a cookie too. Judge not, lest ye be judged.

Jonathan

A Maze - Page 21

It is great to have almost an entire year ahead. It is like having a blank canvas or sheet of paper in front of you. The post for today is the 21^st page of my first maze. By the end of the year I will have posted the last page and will have began posting the next maze. Once the last page has been posted, an experienced maze solver will be able to solve the entire maze in a matter of hours. Posting it as a serial puzzle makes it much more difficult to solve.

Here is the scanned and edited version:

Page 21

Here it is in the wild in Santa Cruz. This is a Portrait of the Artist as an Afternoon Shadow. I think this is the last picture from Santa Cruz for awhile.

Tomorrow I will have the next update from the Line project.

Jonathan

Musical Interlude - Robert Carty

It is at this time of year that one of the community radio stations I listen to does their Visionary Music Marathon. It is a fund raiser for the station. The station is KKUP which was until last year located not far from where the end of my Line Around The World is now. They have since moved to a studio somewhere in San Jose. Unlike most of the public TV or radio fund raisers, this annual one does not bother me much. In fact I truly look forward to it each year. For two, three or (one glorious year) four days they play visionary music nonstop. Hey, wait a minute … I think ... that may be why they call it the Visionary Music Marathon. Anyway, as I write this I have it on in the background.

In one of my earlier musical interludes I posted a YouTube video by an artist that falls in this genre of music. That was Robert Carty. One more artist who is somewhat similar in style is a very prolific composer named Steve Roach. Here is a very cool video featuring his music.

Sorry that the embed code is not working, but here is the link to YouTube.

Wouldn't it be a blast to travel on a star ship across the galaxy like this. One reason I enjoy this kind of music is that it brings me the illusion of the eternal. It helps me work on my mazes because it makes time seem more plentiful and spacious. Sure, I may be drawing something that no one will ever solve, but what the heck, you have to do something with your time and it was just blank paper before I started.

I think it was sometime this year, or it may have been last year, I discovered an awesome website. It plays this kind of music 24/7/365 (hey, I'm hip!). Now I don't have to wait for these once a year specials. I can tune in and zone out and work anytime. The site is StillStream.com. Sometimes you can even chat with the artists in the chat area.

On Monday I will have the next page of the maze and on Tuesday I will have another update on the Line.

Jonathan