Weekly Dose of Mark
Sunday, March 22nd 2026
It was a small group at Freelance Fandango this week—just Paulett, Greg Spence Wolf, and me. I’d brought in a previous edition of the Graphic Artist Guild’s Handbook for show-and-tell, which sparked questions about its history and copyright that gave me a few minutes to ramble. Afterward, Paulette read a poem, then shared that she now had a dancing student. She doesn’t charge much for her lessons. We both have morning routines; most of hers involve dance moves that help her maintain agility and reflexes. Though just entering her seventies, she moves with youthful energy.
Later in the week, on Later that week, Friday night, Sam and Jane Day picked me up, and we went to Lynn DiNino’s house for dinner. She cooked chicken meatballs, pasta, and a salad. It was delicious. Just before dinner, a deliveryman stopped by the door. I recorded Lynn opening the package. It was from the estate of Dona Anderson, a textile artist. Unrolled before us was a four-foot-wide, six-foot-tall, rippling fabric that looked like violet-red to pink cascading water. It shimmered and was beautiful.
The four of us carpooled to the Tripod Show. Lynn was the host, and Sam was the third speaker. The first speaker was Adam Martin, who shared his various activities, including creating social events celebrating artists and the community through lamination. He mentioned John Stark as an influencer and an authority on NW waters. Eddie Harris, an artist who loved airbrushing cars and airplanes, and Mindy Barker, another artist. I met Eddie Harris some years ago as he would come to Freelance Fandango from time to time. The second speaker was Teresa Owends. Her Tacoma artists’ initiative project is to crochet three large panels simulating lichen. Of course, the project is too large to do by herself, so she holds workshops where she teaches the pattern and has many volunteers assist her. She recommends an app called “Seek” for naming flora and fauna. She uses it to tell various lichens apart.
Sam’s presentation is a technical misfire, and his slides come in out of sequence. But he quickly adjusted his presentation. And by the end, the glitch was resolved. Sam looked very sharp, and I think even got him into a good headspace for the next day when he went onto King TV (channel five) and spoke about a new children’s book, the first he’s illustrated. The book is about a color blind tulip farmer. Sam was hired by a colored blind tulip farmer to draw the book. And with tulip season just starting, the release of the book is just in time for all the tourists going to LaConner to tour the tulip farms.
One of my favorite memories is of Krista and me riding our bikes through fields of blooming tulips. The roads out there are very narrow, and the traffic is often a slow crawl. So Krista and I would park away from the farms and ride our bikes in. It was a lot of fun.
After the show, Lynn caught a ride home with another one of her many friends, while Sam and Jane dropped me off. As a fun conclusion to the evening, Lynn had given both of us uncooked pasta, but I absentmindedly left mine in Sam’s car. He later texted a photo and teased me that I might never see my pasta again.
Normally, I would have gone to Friday Night Frights, but I was scheduled to meet up in the morning with Randy and Evi at Mom and Dad’s soon-to-be-empty house. Everyone in the family has been pitching in with the packing, and everything was in boxes. The week prior, brother Scott went to the storage unit and made space by separating items already there into trash, donation, and keep. As Evi directed the movers on which items in the house to donate and which to store, I drove Randy to the storage unit. There, Andrew and Natalie helped us move Kat’s items into her own storage unit at the same facility. That made space for the items to arrive from the house. I then drove Randy to get his Truck. I said goodbye to the troop and drove to Silverday to give Mom and Dad an in-person update.
I found Mom in their apartment and realized Dad had missed me in the large lobby—he’s now using a scooter. After catching up, we visited the fourth-floor café, saw the arts area, and the gym. Back in their apartment, I helped hang some photos and Dad’s sculpture. I left with gardening items, fishing gear, and family history boxes from Aunt Audra—since becoming a bit of the family historian.
Silverdale is much closer to Tacoma than Hansville. This will make visiting easier. The next time I visit my parents, I’ll have to ask them for their new WIFI password.
I got a text from Evi today. She took Mom out for donuts, then a haircut, and then for sushi. She reported that the house was now completely empty. She said she would call and cancel the house’s newspaper subscription on Monday.
Here are some of the dreams I had this week:
March 16. #idreamt I arrived at a client’s house the night before a business trip to discover I’d left my bags, medication, and phone behind and had to return home to pick them up.
March 17. #IDreamt magicians were being recruited by the government for military service. One magician was not submitting and instead was trying to repair the damage caused by the conflict.
March 18. #idreamt I was asked to do a mural for a radio station, on the side of a four-story building with windows interrupting the yet-to-be-agreed-upon design. #workdream
March 19. #idreamt the same family formed every century. The well-meaning father, understanding wife, intelligent older sister, and adventurous younger brother. From the Bronze Age to now.
March 20. #idreamt while walking home on I-90 with our luggage, my wife and I stopped at a bank in Bellevue so she could open a bank account and invest in a CD.
March 21. #idreamt about four people wanting to create a show. They had identical costumes and a shared ability to teleport. They decided to do a public flash appearance before an interview.
March 22. #idreamt it was very late, and I grew tired driving. I pulled over to rest, and a person in a doorway motioned me to come in. They fed me a steak at their table.
I watched some movies this weekend:
35, March 17. One Battle after Another (2025) Rating: 9
I watched this most excellent thriller on HBOMax. The subject matter is extremely relevant. Institutionalized racism, passionate revolutionaries, paranoia, contingency plans, and family drama. With a fast pace and precise writing, this is a stunning movie.
36, March 18. Dead of Winter (2025) Rating: 7
I watched this movie on HBOMax. This thriller draws on many genres. You have neo-noir, abduction, and survival. All of it set in the winter on a remote Minnesota lake. Emma Watson’s acting is showcased as she faces some cruel elements. She definitely has the accent down.
37. March 19. Nobody 2 (2025) Rating: 7
I watched this sequel on Netflix after eagerly waiting for it to arrive on a streaming service. I thought it did a wonderful job of staying true to the original. True, there were fewer surprises and world-building than in the first one, but it did gain a dog with a name. It has been pointed out to me that there was a cat in the first movie. I went back to read my review of the first movie and decided to raise my rating, since many of the scenes just urge you to replay them.
More next week,
Mark