Some days everything seems to be going right, and some days everything seems to be going wrong…Monday was one of those days.

Originally I had agreed to leave the Explorer on the Dash for two weeks and then move him Sunday, 8/6.

On Saturday, 8/5, I rode the Raspberry bus with Dalton, the bus driver who was so delighted to have the Explorer on his bus that he convinced me to see if I could leave the Explorer on for at least another week.  He said that there were folks who got on the bus specifically to ride with the sculpture, and kids who just did not want to get off but instead chose to ride with the Explorer for a round trip or more.  Dalton also told me about the dad who pointed to the figure and said to his unruly kids, “Why can“™t you be more like him?  He“™s sitting there quiet and he“™s reading a book!“  People have been having their photo taken with the Explorer; they have put sunglasses on him and given him a magazine to read.  Dalton wants to dress him up in a hat and maybe a scarf; he realized that putting a shirt on him would not work.  I am pleased that people want to interact in a positive way with him.

SO I left the Explorer on the bus, and contacted Donna at Intercity Transit, and thought everything was okay. 

But the Raspberry bus has been in the maintenance yard since Sunday, and the Explorer sits there, lonely.  Hopefully, he will be back on the road on Wednesday.

I have to take him off this Sunday, 8/13;  then he gets to take a ride in Sue G“™s convertible to the Farmer“™s Market and Percival Landing or somewhere.

Bil said that he would give him a ride on his bike sometime.  Anyone else want to take him for a spin?  How about a boat ride?  Leave a message on comments!

The Explorer did make it as a picture of the day at K records the other week, and was also mentioned in OlyBlog and  Spew .

MEANWHILE, I placed the Observer at Last Word Books , where she remained until Monday, 7/31.  Last Word Books has a special place in my heart: when Jason Webley played there with Andru Bemis , my son, Hobo Joe, who was 11 at the time, performed an acoustic version of Boulevard of Broken Dreams in between sets, singing and playing lead guitar while his 5th grade teacher Rich Sikorski backed him up on rhythm guitar.

ANYWAY, after 7/31, the Observer then was in the hands of my “handler,“ Olympia Arts Commissioner Patti M , who put the Observer at Mansion Glass for a few days, then Olympia Coffee Roasters, and then at Bello, a hair salon right below my studio.  I was supposed to move the Observer to Ehrlich“™s on Monday, 8/7, but there is a note on the door saying that due to an emergency, Kevin is out of town, so the Observer remains with her mirror at Bello until further notice…