Humbeek, Belgium May 23-June 5, 2000 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Marlise: Celebrates her 22nd birthday during the project. The caterers pull out all the stops, decorating the room, laying out party hats, breaking out a bottle of sweet red wine. She has been on the road for nine months and is looking forward to moving back into her room in Delft after the project ends. Her room is in a very old house in a bad part of town with a jazz club downstairs and a ladder to get up to her floor. She makes this sound so interesting that I really want to go see if for myself and she in fact extends an invitation and I realize how dumb it was of me not to plan a few extra days of sightseeing into this trip. I will know better next time. Fiona: weaving unsteadily down the streets of Mechelen after our night at the disco she tells me one must take 25 sips of water before going to sleep to ward off hangover demons - and if you lose count, start over again. I do and it appears to work. Antwerp: Big mounds of frites. Walking around utterly astounded by the buildings and statues and here I am with dead batteries! It takes a while but we finally find a shop open and I buy batteries but they are mostly comatose and it is too dark to shoot much of anything anyways, but by experimenting with the batteries I already have and those I have just purchased I manage to take a few shots, anyway. In the dark. Self-avowed Sandaholic Henry makes a special guest appearance and it is cool finally getting a chance to put a face to the e-mail. He tells me that the Sandaholics will be descending on Harrison for the World Championship this fall - is HHS ready for this? I think so. David O'Brien is one funny guy - his George Bush impression of the sculpture has us rolling on the floor at the 11th Commandment Tavern where we are surrounded by statues of saints and I discover Krieg (sp?) -- cherry beer! While I was traveling through Italy by myself last summer the only way to get myself in the picture was to hold the camera directly in front of my face and try to get some interesting background stuff happening as well. This is a hard habit to break. Last but not Least Lars: Who is this goofy guy dancing around the sandpile having way too much fun and making everyone around him have fun too? Meeting Lars was one of the best things that happened to me on this project. We worked together on the canal workers when I first arrived and it could have been awkward because he is so much better at carving characters. But he is kind and helpful and patient and we exchange dog stories and carve some silly things and he translates things for me and helps me try different beers and wears silly pants that he makes himself and when we finally part ways after the project is over I miss him very much but feel like I have made a very good friend indeed and hope that we have the chance to work together on one sandpile or another sometime in the not-too-distant future. See his cardboard art installation here and his dog Pom in action here. next [sand] [web] [new] [virtual tour] [trips] [e-me] [home]