WTFeREE! Show N Tell Night (2018)

This “Just For Fun” project was inspired by my personal collection of objects that make one react with “WTF!” (in a good way…..) and followed from a talk I gave at Pecha Kucha Seattle in 2013.

I founded the WTFeREE! Society to bring general awareness to things that don’t make sense and collaborated with fellow Ballardite Lynn Reed and the Ballard Alki Lodge Independent Order of the Odd Fellows (IOOF) to hold five “show N Tell Nights’ to showcase a particular genre of WTFeREE!. Our intention was to build community through humor by celebrating the quirky inexplicable objects and experiences that surround us. Each night featured exhibits and presenters who shared stories about their quirky wonders.  It was a fun, participatory event and inquiring questions from the audience were encouraged. 

Topics were:
1. WTF is WTFeREE!?
2. Natural Phenomena 
3. The Currency of Exchange: Money and More
4. WTFeREE! On the Interweb
5. Holidaze & Solstice Shenanigans

My collection of WTFeREE! is growing. Someday I hope to make a WTFeREE traveling exhibit in a converted vintage trailer.

Miss Direction’s Checker Cab Ride Service Project

Delight. Surprise. Play. Ritual. These are things that make my heart sing and that I bring to others. I thrive on experiencing and creating life’s “A-ha” moments. This is my passion and contribution to the world.

My mandate is to transform the mundane. As a glass artist, I make kaleidoscopic drinking glasses and color shifting jewelry. As a teacher, I teach children about the wonders of glass, lead adult creativity groups, and provide individual creativity coaching. As an enviro and lover of the natural world, I have a “Thank You Water’ project, and work on river restoration. As an artist/prankster, I have an occasional Thai restaurant, a phone booth in my backyard and lead “WTFeREE!” Show n Tell Night, a humorous event that builds community by celebrating the quirky objects and experiences that surround us.

My alter ego, Miss Direction, transforms the mundane with her complimentary ride service. She gifts rides to strangers waiting at the bus stop in exchange for hearing their life stories. She creates moments of unexpected delight and has given rides to people ages 15 – 89.

Her current project “Miss Direction’s Checker Cab Ride Service” is the restoration of an iconic ’67 Checker Cab to help bring everyday magic to Seattle, a city that is changing so rapidly that people are feeling a loss of connection to each other and their place. The Checker Cab will bring the Ride Service to a new level of visibility and impact and remind people that indeed Seattle is a place where the unexpected happens. Funding to restore the car came from a 2018 kickstarter fundraiser. The car will debut at the 2020 Ballard Syttende Mai parade (May 17^th).

(the Mythical) NonThai Restaurant

When I first moved to Seattle, my favorite Thai restaurant was “Siam on Broadway”. Imagine my surprise when the restaurant on Capitol Hill folded and its neon sign was offered up for free on Craig’s list. How could I refuse? A crew of friends took the sign off the building and installed it on my studio as a piece of bright pink neighborhood bling.

Well, the idea came to me that there was fun to be had with my sign so I started hosting Thai dinners and pretending that my studio was in fact a legitimate restaurant. One thing led to another and soon I had a Yelp site with fake and highly favorable reviews posted by friends from across the land. The city of Seattle got wind of this and sent me a letter telling me I needed to license my restaurant or pay a $513 fine. A hair salon sent complementary haircutting vouchers for my staff! The shenanigans went on for several months with three dinner seatings and Yelp updates. One night a confused couple appeared at my front door looking for the restaurant. When I explained it was a pop up restaurant, they realized they’d been had. A few days later the Yelp site was gone . . .

The restaurant continues as an occasional restaurant that offers unexpected international dining with fine glassware in an unconventional studio setting. Infrequent sing-along entertainment is provided by the “Non Thai” dancer trio.