“Painting transcends its physical reality – it’s just colored dirt on some cloth wrapped around wood strips.” ~ Chuck Close

Chuck Close is an artist I’ve only grown to appreciate recently. Through high school and college, I really didn’t get the whole modern art thing – and more specifically realism.

It’s still certainly not my favorite, but I find more value in it today than I did in the past. Close has gone through so much in his life personally to create an amazing body of work, and though they may seem like so many overgrown portraits of somewhat unattractive people, they’re more than that. His technique and style has grown within the tightly defined world of portraiture he’s chosen for himself.

From abstract paint brushstrokes, to thumbprints, to pointillism – Close is constantly reexamining how to paint in new ways. The subject matter is secondary, and that’s exciting to me.

Here is Close with Charlie Rose earlier this year. I found it inspirational to hear about his long career and his friendships with other influential artists. I’d love to spend a day in his studio in Bridgehampton, soaking up that “millionaire bohemian” lifestyle that he and his cadre of friends have created for themselves.

With the California wildfires consuming everyone’s attention last week (not to mention a couple thousand homes), I’ve been wondering what I’d grab if we discovered our condo was engulfed in flames. I’ve seen the insulation under our hardwood floors… and seriously – it looks like dried up tobacco leaves. If just one of my 24 neighbors forgets to blow out a candle, the entire building is history.

Here’s what I’ve come up with so far.

The List

1. My wife. This goes without saying. Yet, you’ve gotta say it. And it includes my neighbors as well – the whole list presupposes that I’ve already pounded on doors and made sure everyone has escaped.

2. Computer stuff. My Mac laptop and external drives immediately come to mind, putting them high on the list. Losing years of photos, music, illustration, financial documents and email archives would be a bitter pill to swallow.

The good news? I don’t care about the hardware – that’s insured. So if I regularly keep copies of all my files in a remote location (perhaps burning them on DVD and tossing them in our fireproof safe) I can take this one off the list entirely.

3. Photo albums. I don’t have many photo albums (I abandoned film over 5 years ago) but there are lots of photographs still scattered around our place. Shots of my parents, grandparents and even further back would be wonderful to save. Then there’s Grandpa Bob’s silver gelatin photographs of the 1933 Century of Progress – I’d be heartbroken to lose that.

There’s also the album I gave to Melissa a few years back – a large, cloth hardcover in a slipcase. I had twenty-five photos from our wedding day printed in black and white, and hand bound by a local bookmaker. It could be remade, but it’d be much easier to just tuck it under an arm as we’re running out the door.

4. Bun. I’ve talked about Bun before. He’s terribly special to me, even though he just sits in a dresser drawer. I guess it’s just hard to imagine him not being in the world.

Melissa obviously feels the same. She kept him during her last year in college when we were dating. He was the only thing she grabbed when someone in the sorority tripped the fire alarm.

5. Books. I have several old, rare children’s books that I just love – some would be very difficult to replace. There are also newer art and architecture books that I cherish. But being big, heavy, and (in most cases) still available in print means that books stay put at number 5.

6. Artwork. I don’t have much artwork in our house that I just can’t live without. Several antique prints of Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair, and two 1911 lithographs from Frank Lloyd Wright’s famed Wasmuth portfolio come to mind, but these could be found again. Artwork that I’ve done has largely been digitized at this point. So thankfully I don’t have many giant, framed pieces demanding to be dragged down three flights of stairs.

7. Furniture. I love some of our furniture pieces – the quarter-sawn oak partners desk, antique barrister bookcase, and Re and Bob’s French armchair that we’ve reupholstered in a contemporary, gray wool. They’re full of character and happy memories, but I’d only shed a few tears if they were gone.

8. The GS150. I love that 47 year-old Vespa, and would certainly save it if I had a shot. But realistically, it’s similar to the furniture: great to look at and connected with good memories, but nothing I can’t learn to live without.

9. The car. It’s hardly even worth smelling like smoke to save the bikes, but the car is on the list. It would probably play an important role after a fire, and it’d certainly be better to save it than to wrangle with the insurance company over the replacement value.

10. Tchotchkes. (Always strange to see that word spelled out, isn’t it?) Nothing I can’t live without in this category. If someone tossed me a duffel bag as the flames licked the ceiling, I might be tempted to grab Papa’s old camera, Re and Bob’s small ivory Eskimo carvings, a maquette of the Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza – and a couple other neat items. But to be honest, I’d probably have a difficult time remembering what I’d left behind.

So there it is. Certainly adrenaline and shock would change everything in an actual situation, but I’d like to think that planning could be of some use.

1930 travel poster by one of my favorite artists, Leslie Ragan.

Melis and I are heading to Cleveland this afternoon to spend the weekend with my outlaws. To kill a couple hours with them in the evenings, I’m bringing along Meet the Robinsons, a just-released animated Disney movie. I’m a big fan of children’s book author William Joyce, and this movie is based on his stuff. Who needs kids when you can be one?

Beyond that, I’m hoping to spend the majority of the time in jeans, boots and a thick sweater. There’s nothing better in this world than spending a chilly afternoon traipsing through a pumpkin patch, forest preserve or abandoned farmland, as we did during our visit last Thanksgiving.

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Speaking of turkey day, that’s the deadline Melis and I have given ourselves a deadline for finishing up the little improvements around the house. Well.. we’ve given me a deadline, to be more accurate.

• There’s the new dishwasher to buy and install.

• There will be my attempt to earn my carpenter stripes by building a window seat to cover the radiator in the living room.

• Finally there’s the small issue of a full demolition and rebuild in the master bathroom and Melissa’s closet.

It hasn’t been easy, watching this poor woman over the past five years as she crams a 2007 wardrobe into a 1924 closet. I can only surmise that everyone back then dressed like Wilma Flintstone: five little dresses, a necklace made of rocks, and no shoes.

Suffice it to say that November will be busy.

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We may also squeeze in a weekend trip to Oregon during November. As we consider relocating someday, and with Melissa’s frequent flier miles piling up… now is as good a time as any to head to the great northwest and explore some of the area’s beautiful towns: from Tillamook and Astoria, to Portland and Hood River. We have wonderful friends there with a vacation home in Cannon Beach that could serve as a base camp of sorts. There’ll be lots of photos and video generated on that trip… so stay tuned, kidlets.

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Just in time for the weather to turn cold, I’ve organized our garage to the point that our car now fits inside once more. The Prius has been on the street all summer, so with a lot of recycling, some donations, and the garage sales… everything now fits into the tiny, 20’s brick garage. Yes, even the Vespa – which is tucked into a corner under my custom-built shelves.

I’ll post a photo sometime. I’m happy with how the scrawled-on-a-napkin storage system became a reality.

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Finally, I boasted earlier this month that I’d be posting the occasional podcast here. But I’ve run into some complications with the plug-in that displays the player in the browser, so until I can figure out what’s causing the conflict I won’t be uploading anything. For anyone who was looking forward to these, sorry – I’ll try and straighten it out.