Lost - Story

Yes, Lost is one of my favorite T.V. shows, but this is wholly different.  In this story, Claire gets lost on her way home from a New Years Eve party.  She is biking and can't find a bridge across the river to get to her parent's house, where she lives.  She is joined by a crow, who is menacing.  Claire converses with the crow, sort of, and the crow taunts her and says things that seem mean - but also true.

Lost is a story about how our lives are continually being destroyed by our own growth.  We can never live the life we lived last year because we are not the same person.  We can never find our future if we are clinging to the past.  Claire is at that point in her life wherein she needs to do what will help her grow into her own person, but does not recognize it.

Riding down Third Avenue, she passed the last tall building and came to the river.

“Wha…?” Claire breathed as she looked up and down the river for her bridge. She did not see one. All she saw was darkness and a crow sitting on a street sign staring at her – head cocked looking out of one eye.

“Oh, shoo,” Claire said.

The crow did not shoo. Instead it spoke, “Where’s your bridge, little girl?”

“My bridge is right here. At least it should be. I’m not imagining things. I know its here.”

“Where? Kaaa,” said the crow. “Surely a whole bridge can’t move.”

“Maybe it is just around the bend of the river,” Claire theorized as she headed west down the road that ran along the river. The crow flapped its wings and vanished into the blackness.

Claire rode past many buildings and through several intersections. She turned the bend in the river and still did not see her bridge – or any bridge.

“This is crazy. How can people cross the river?” asked Claire.

“Maybe they can’t,” said the crow as it landed on the ground next to a box of Donkey Fries lying along the curb. “Maybe they aren’t supposed to.”

“People have to be able to get across the river,” said Claire. “There’s got to be a bridge somewhere. Where could they have gone, there used to be at least three of them?”

The crow picked up one fry with its mouth, tossed it around and then spit it out. “This doesn’t belong here, either,” said the crow.

Claire thought that she saw something back where she had been and biked east along the river. As her legs felt the ache of an incline, she thought about the first time she met Ned at Gerald’s house just a couple weeks earlier. She thought about how she liked his dreds, the manner in which he spoke and how he seemed to be nervous around her. She remembered how excited she was when they parted and he said he looked forward to seeing her at Topping’s party.

Claire passed many buildings and biked beyond her original point, yet no bridge was in sight. How could this be? She couldn’t even call her mom to come pick her up if there were no bridges. How would she get back to her parent’s house? In a little while they would start to worry about their little girl.

Asking someone for directions would be a good idea, thought Claire, but there was no one in sight.

“You could ask me, kaaa,” squawked a black shape perched on a bus bench.

“Oh, go away. What do you know, dumb bird,” said Claire to the crow.

“Dumb?! Me?! I’m not lost. I haven’t lost a whole big stone bridge,” replied the crow. “I can see what’s right in front of me.”

“This makes no sense!” Claire said, and worry began to creep into her voice.

“Makes perfect sense,” said the crow. “Can’t find what you don’t need. Kaaa. Not supposed to be on that side of the river. Don’t need to go there.”

Lost will be published on February 22, 2013 at bookofbartholomew.blogspot.com.

Bartholomew Looks At Love Performance

On February 15th, Mark Granlund read three stories and played two videos, Kelly Jo Roth played three songs, Dustin Haug played one song, Thea Ennen played two songs, Dave Peterson played three songs and Nate Lindstrom played two videos.  It all worked together into a fun, entertaining and thoughtful performance about relationships, love and woe at Dreamland Arts.

The show opened with Dustin and Kelly Jo performing a Josh Ritter song on guitar and ukelele.  Mark then worked with the audience on creating the sound effects for the first story: Bartholomew and the Cabana Fire.  People were acting like cats and fire engines and making the crackle of fire.  Someone even made the sound of underwear glowing in the light of a fire.  Not something that happens everyday.

After the first story, Thea and Dave performed one of Thea's relationship songs and then the following video was shown:


Many thanks to Hamline University and their students for partaking in this video.

The second story, What Will Be Will Be, is a story about Claire and Ned's relationship which is a little rocky.  Actually, it is a story about a fight.  Oh, we know that scene, don't we?

That was followed again by the lovely Thea and Dave with a wonderful song that included some excellent guitar playing by Dave. Which was then followed by this next video:

Many thanks to the elder residents of the Hamline-Midway neighborhood.

The third story, Someone to Call Home, is, in my mind, a love song from Topping to Charlotte.  Topping loses his job, but life is great because he knows he is loved.

Kelly Jo finished with a song she wrote, a simple and beautiful song about bodies.  Then, everyone, sang Elvis' Can't Help Falling in Love, ate some chocolate covered strawberries (thanks for the help Nina), and answered some Bartholomew Asks... questions as we filtered out the door and into a night full of love.

A big thanks to everyone for a fun and entertaining night of many kinds of love.  I will let you know when the next show.  Video for this show will soon be available for viewing.

Bartholomew Makes Another Decision - Published Today!!

This morning, Bartholomew Makes Another Decision, the fourteenth story of The Book of Bartholomew was published.  This story about a New Years Eve party is illustrated by Justin Terlecki.

Bartholomew goes to a party at Topping and Charlotte's place.  This is the first social event with his new friends.  Bartholomew wonders if they will still be his friends after they really get to know him.  But his fears are quelled by an old friend - a Dionne Warwick song.

This story marks the end of what is considered the first volume of stories in The Book of Bartholomew.  It has been a fun project so far.  I have met some amazing artists and have had a great time writing about these characters who I am still getting to know.

I want to thank so many people who have made the past year a rousing success for this project.
The first is Mary Swalla Holmes whose initial response to the idea and the first couple of stories encouraged me to continue.  I can't really be a writer, can I? 
I also want to thank Beth Waterhouse for being a supportive editor and a believer in art and expression.
I want to thank all of the artists who have been involved: Matt Wells, Martha Iserman, Tim Jennen, Mary Esch, Raighne Hogan, Krista Walsh, Mary Sandberg, and Justin Terlecki.

Thanks to all the people who have read my stories.

The Book of Bartholomew will be taking a little reprieve to update some software, make some illustrations and get ready for a story reading on February 15 at Dreamland Arts.  There will be some announcements and postings on the blog and at the Facebook Page, but the regularly published stories will return February 1, 2013 with the story Lost.

I am looking forward to what is ahead in the world of Bartholomew.  I will share with you soon what is going to happen this following year.

Take care,
Mark Granluind

Bartholomew Makes Another Decision - The Music

This week's story is a party story, so there is a partying song from JR and B3DH3D, who are part of Last Triumph Collective.  This song really rocks!  It is a remix of Above and Beyond's You Got To Go.  Sit back, or get up and dance, and enjoy it.

The second song for this week's story is so fresh it is not yet recorded!  Whoa!  Patrick Larkin, of Miami Dolphins, is hopefully be recording Then Came You, originally by the Spinners and Dionne Warwick.  So, I hope by next weekend I will have a dynamite second song for you.  Until then, you will have to wait.

Bartholomew Makes Another Decision - Illustrations

The story Bartholomew Makes Another Decision, the 14th story in The Book of Bartholomew, is illustrated by the illustrious Justin Terlecki.  Some of you might know Justin from his daytime gig at Wet Paint art store, the greatest art store in the country with the finest staff this side of Alpha Centauri.  Justin is a fine print maker and painter.  He creates detailed narratives inspired by memory and personal experiences. Technology and human relationships are consistent themes throughout his work.

For The Book of Bartholomew, Justin captured the excitement and energy of a New Years Eve party at Topping and Charlotte's apartment.  At this point in time, these are the only images of Topping.  I think Justin did a wonderful job of representing what I think of Topping. He is outgoing, uncensored and a bit loud, but friendly and welcoming.  When I wrote in the story that Topping had a Happy New Years hat on, it was kind of a throw away image.  As I continued writing, in my mind, I forgot all about the hat.  BUT in Justin's illustrations the hat is Topping and gorgeously energetic and frenetic and spastic and... friendly.

I also enjoy the energy of the group scene with Dionne Warwick singing in the ethereal background.  Can you say "Party Atmosphere?"  

Originally from Youngstown, Ohio, Terlecki moved to the Twin Cities after earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Youngstown State University. His paintings and prints have been exhibited at The Soap Factory, Minnesota Museum of American Art, Gallery 13, Central Lakes College, and Highpoint Center for Printmaking. In 2009, Justin received a Jerome Foundation Emerging Printmaking grant, funding a series of prints based on his travels to India and Spain. He is currently working on a series of acrylic paintings exploring ideas of communication.

Justin will be illustrating another story in the future.

You can see the final story and illustrations for Bartholomew Makes Another Decision this Friday at bookofbartholomew.blogspot.com.

Bartholomew Makes Another Decision - Story

If I may continue on my previous track...

Making friends is a funny and mysterious process.  How much do you share with people before you really know them well?  Do you share your dreams?  There are times when it is perfectly normal to share your dreams and hopes with total strangers.  Like at a New Years Party when everyone starts talking about resolutions.  This is what happens with Bartholomew in Bartholomew Makes A Decision, the fourteenth story in The Book of Bartholomew.

Have you ever blurted something out, something that was the truth and embarrassing?  Bartholomew is so excited about his possible new friends that he shares more than he is comfortable with - but somehow he is comfortable with sharing a little too much.  He wants these people to know who he is and what is important to him.  He is happy to laugh at himself a little bit if it means he is actually getting closer to others.  Besides, sometimes laughing at yourself helps relieve the sense that you're a nerd.

This story is titled similar to the very first story in The Book of Bartholomew, Bartholomew Makes A Decision.  In that story, Bartholomew makes the decision that he needs friends in his life to help him make good decisions, so he doesn't get taken advantage of by people like Gerald.  In this story, he makes another decision - what he wants to do with his new friends.

Here is an excerpt from Bartholomew Makes Another Decision. 

             Topping stood in the doorway with a New Year’s hat on his head and a beer in his hand.

“Bartholomew, come in!” he yelled above the din of music and conversation while handing him the beer.

             Bartholomew entered the small, warm apartment that was packed wall-to-wall with people. He had not been around this many people in a long time and felt a momentary sense of dread. But then he saw Ned standing in the kitchen by a table full of food. Ned waved a Donkey Burger at him. Topping and Bartholomew made their way through the crowd.

“Hey, Bartholomew. How’s it going? You have a nice Christh-muth?” asks Ned as he stuffed a pig-in-a-blanket in his mouth.

“Yeah, it was okay,” Bartholomew lied. Bartholomew had not enjoyed the holidays since his parents died. Was this really the third Christmas he celebrated without them? Could their deaths be that far away already?

             “What’d you do?” Ned asked as he grabbed another pig.

             “I went to Aunt Josephine and Uncle Jeffrey’s house and had brunch and exchanged presents. And exchanged presents with Oliver.”

             “Who’s Oliver?” asked Topping.

             “Oh, he’s my cat.”

             Topping snickered, “What did Oliver give you?”

             Bartholomew blushed a little. “My Aunt Josephine and Uncle Jeffrey buy me a present from Oliver every year…and three presents from Santa.” Bartholomew wasn’t sure why he shared that last part.

             Topping and Ned laughed.

             Wanting to change the subject, Bartholomew asked, “What did you guys do?”

             “I just went to my parent’s house,” said Ned after he finished laughing. “Nothing special.” He surveyed the cookie tray.

“Charlotte and I went to my parent’s house and then her mom’s house,” said Topping. “My parent’s dog gave me a Christmas present,” he said looking mischievously at Bartholomew. “He took a whizz on my shoes.” They all laughed together.

Bartholomew, feeling hungry, glanced at the table. It was the usual party fare: store bought foods and a few homemade dishes that were of questionable origin but whose creators insisted they were the most delicious things they ever made. Bartholomew did not doubt these assertions, but chose to pass on the food for now.

Bartholomew Asks... What was your worst job?

In light of the present wrapping job Bartholomew had this holiday season, he wants to know: What was your worst job?



Share your response at The Book of Bartholomew Facebook Page.

Bartholomew Asks... What are your holiday food traditions?

After the story reading at Dreamland Arts at the end of November, some people stuck around to answer some of Bartholomew's questions.  Here, they answer the question: What are your holiday food traditions?



Share your response at The Book of Bartholomew Facebook Page.

Lunch Rap - The Music

The music for this week's story is by some guys over at Last Triumph collective.  I met JR at an art exhibit about rock and roll over in NE Minneapolis.  JR is a photographer and a musician.  His band is called Sine Circle and will be highlighted at a later story.  But JR is part of this collective and so he works with a lot of different people and they have put out cd's.  JR is responsible for hooking me up with the Dalia songs that were featured in stories #1: Bartholomew Makes a Decision and #6: Claire. 

In that tradition, this week you can hear some of JR's work in collaboration with MaLLy and DJ Snuggles on a song called Hot Sauce.  And it is HOT!!!!  Then you can hear Crunchy Kids  on a song called Opus.  Check out the music this week and check out the Last Triumph collective.  And thank JR while you're at it.

Lunch Wrap- Illustrations

I recently was creating a logo for Donkey Burger, the fast-food restaurant in The Book of Bartholomew. A donkey was the first order of business. I needed to create a comical donkey head. Below are some trials of different donkey heads. You can see that I had a pretty good beginning and only tweaked hair, mouth, ears and eyes from this point. My first go is the upper left image in the group of eight. I didn't like the hair, so I printed out several incomplete donkey heads and then tried different hair styles.

After I settled on a hair style, bottom left, I wasn't happy with the ears.  I had one thin ear and one big ear.  They didn't match.  At first I copied and pasted the thin ear to the other side of his head, so they matched.  I didn't quite like this.  Then I created a big ear for the front, to match the one in the back. I liked this better.

Now that I had the donkey head like I wanted it (although I still want to change the eyes slightly) I made it into an official Donkey Burger logo by adding the name, some circles and stars and the tagline. I like circular logos.  I don't know why.  But I like how the donkey is in it, but also coming out of it with its ears overlapping the rings.  Stars and a red, white and blue color scheme for obvious patriotic reasons - only in America can you find the finest donkey meat burgers.  I like "Meat with a Kick," which is safer than the other choice of "Eat My Ass."

This logo will appear on the next published story in The Book of Bartholomew. The story is titled "Lunch Rap," and will be published on December 28, 2012 at bookofbartholomew.blogspot.com

Lunch Rap - Writing the Story

Things were quiet for a moment as everyone decided it was too depressing to talk about jobs and money.

“Bartholomew, could you pass me the fries?” asked Topping.

Topping noticed a tattoo on Bartholomew’s arm as he handed him the plate of french fries.

“Nice tat!” said Topping.

Bartholomew was a little embarrassed but held out his arm to show everyone the moon tattoo on the tender underside of his right wrist. Then he showed them the sun tattoo on his left wrist.

“Cooool,” said Ned.

“Wow, I like how intricate they are,” said Claire. “Did you design them yourself?”

“Sort of. I worked off of some designs I liked. They were originally drawn by Aristotle. But I did change them quite a bit,” said Bartholomew

“What do they mean?” asked Ned.

“Day and night,” said Bartholomew.

“Well, duh!” said Topping with a mouth full of fries.

“Why is the moon on your right wrist? Is there some meaning to that?” asked Claire.

“Well, actually, yeah.” Bartholomew wasn’t sure how much he should tell them. He hadn’t really explained the tattoos to anyone before except to Uncle Jeffrey, Aunt Josephine, and Oliver his cat. Uncle Jeffrey and Aunt Josephine did not approve of tattoos, and especially of these tattoos.

“Uh, the moon is on my right wrist because I am right handed and… at the time I got them… uh…my life seemed more dark than sunny,” Bartholomew said not looking at anyone.

“Why was that?” asked Claire with a sympathetic look in her brown eyes.

“Well…I got them soon after I lost both my parents.”

The other three wrappers sat stunned for a moment. Everyone heard the sound of a half-chewed french frie hitting the floor as Ned opened his mouth in disbelief.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Claire as her face blushed red for having asked earlier if Bartholomew lived with his parents.

The room got quiet again.

The Butler walked in and began to remove empty plates and glasses from the table. He disappeared through a swinging door, returned promptly, and waited to the side of the table for Bartholomew to finish his lunch.

The four wrappers talked about a few recent movies they had seen. When Bartholomew had indicated he had finished eating The Butler grabbed his plate and announced, “Lunch is over. You may continue wrapping.”

The sound of chairs scraping on the floor reverberated throughout the room and Bartholomew, Claire, Ned and Topping filed out the door.

Lunch Rap is the second story dealing with Bartholomew's experience wrapping Christmas presents for Gerald's kids and meeting his new friends: Topping, Ned and Claire.  I originally wrote the two stories as one, but found it was getting too long.  I determined to make the first story about Gerald's children and how horrible they are.  This second story is about the process of making friends.  How do we talk to each other?  How do we ask questions?  At what point do you determine that an acquaintance is worthy of the investment of friendship?  What do you do then? How does your communication change at this point?   I find this all fascinating and explore this in several of the stories in The Book of Bartholomew. 

Even in my forties I find making friends an interesting endeavor.  It is much more complex, often with children and partners involved.  How does one man in his forties say to another man who is in his thirties, forties or fifties, "I like you.  Let's hang out."  I still haven't decided if it is even more awkward making a friendship with a woman, with all the possible sexual thoughts or feelings cropping up for both.  Either way, a true friendship, one where you freely share yourself, can lead to awkward moments.  But, it is worth it to muddle through in order to find a friend with whom you feel completely comfortable.  I have a few of them in my life and lean on them when I am confused or unsure about things.  They may not have answers for me, but they have an uncritical ear.  Most of the times that is all I need.  They are also the people with whom I laugh most freely.  It is sweet.

Lunch Rap will be published on December 28, 2012 at: bookofbartholomew.blogspot.com

Christmas Wrap! - the Music by Barbara McAfee

Music for this week's story, Christmas Wrap!, is by Barbara McAfee.  These are two beautiful winter seasonal songs.  One is called Holy Cold and the other Simple Season.  Barbara is a singer/songwriter, keynoter, author, and voice coach who merges lessons from 12 years in organization development with the transformative power of music. Check out her website for her many cd's and her hot selling book Full Voice, the Art and Practice of Vocal Presence.  And, hey, have her keynote your conference.  You won't be sorry.  Thank you, Barbara.