The clock on the dash read 6:50 when I pulled the mighty Scion into the garage of the new facility housing Stikmantic Intergalactic HQ (aka The Townhouse). Between now and then I have managed unloading the car, a cold supper and this. Plus dozing seated on a folded chair. The evening ahead promises a few minutes noodling on my bouzouki as prelude to a hot shower. Anything more than that will be frosting. Tomorrow brings with it a start on the task of unpacking and arranging my cult objects and cargo. Tomorrow, the several personalities will confer about tactical occupation of this space. Likely there will be much weighing of delight in open space against surrender to acquisition of convenient furniture and other forms of predatory domestic matter. Tonight, I wish I knew in which of the twenty-seven boxes of books I packed Tristram Shandy, because suddenly I want very much to reread it.

Complete character set of Dvarsh Bold, a font for the Dvarsh writing system created by Robert Stikmanz.
Copyright 2013 by Robert Stikmanz.

I have completed the character set of Dvarsh Bold, the first font for the Dvarsh writing system. The character set is presented here (in red), including six mathematical symbols that will not be part of the initial release. Click the image for a larger view. What remains to be done? Much. Each of these glyphs must be imported individually into a font-making application and assigned a place on the keyboard, and a keyboard layout must be produced to guide use. Once I reach that point, I’ll be looking for beta-testers, folks to type up some Dvarsh in order to provide a working sense of how the characters set in combinations, and what tweaks may be necessary before final release.

One notable departure from the original calligraphic form of Dvarsh writing is that Dvarsh Bold is designed in reference to a single baseline. The original glyphs reference three. The design also indicates a looser set, or placement, in combination than the original glyphs.

Once Dvarsh Bold has been squared away, the regular text weight, Dvarsh Book, has still to be created. Since there are no capitals in Dvarsh, I’m weighing an eventual release that assigns Dvarsh Book to the lower case and Dvarsh Bold to uppercase in a single font. I’d love to hear comment on this idea from prospective users. Also, it is not too early to express interest in joining the team as a tester.

Now that character design has been (98%) accomplished, my hope is the technical steps between here and tapping keys to make Dvarsh text appear will go quickly. I hope this not least because I need to use the tool. Across these silences, I am working to bring a new edition of Nod’s Way into being, and this version of the oracle demands greater Dvarsh presence within its pages. More news on that development in the future. As I study this group of characters, I begin to see how Dvarsh Book hides within them. Excuse me, please, while I return to my previously interrupted sketchbook already in progress.

P.S. My plan for Dvarsh Bold, and any other font I create for the Dvarsh language, to produce a release free for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license. This is a tool for all of you who have responded with such enthusiasm to this project.

Two other people who have contributed hugely to the successful realization of this dream are Paul Elard Cooley and Thomas Fang. Confabule’s entire web presence exists in a stable form because Paul Cooley put in hours making sure it would exist and that it would be stable. He twice traveled to Austin from his home in The Woodlands to provide hands on intervention when that was needed to move us forward. Even last night, as people gathered in Kick Butt Coffee Music & Booze for our live event, Paul went under the hood of my computer to make it possible to show planned videos.

Like Paul, Thomas Fang has risen to help whenever I have called upon him, and it has been often. As a sounding board and a source of wise advice, he has contributed from the earliest moments of the project, when all I could articulate was “a party with weird electronic music, telepathic poets and lots of guacamole.” Thomas was the patient videographer for our fundraising appeal, and the center around whom our schedule of performers came together. During our event last night, he smoothed out unanticipated wrinkles capably and quietly.

The debt of gratitude I owe Amanda, Paul and Thomas is incalculable. From the moment Amanda’s showcase appeared on Confabule, I have been having a blast. I wanted a mechanism for letting the influences of my life know that they matter to me, that they matter hugely and that when they create, I am paying attention. 3000 Weeks is doing that, and it is able to do that because of Amanda and Paul and Thomas.

Other people also gave of themselves to make sure this peculiar ornithopterian contraption would fly. Elizabeth Renee Smythe has aided and abetted and kept enthusiasm high, and done so daily. Alycia Christine Sears swooped into town to staff Confabule’s sales table last night. Kevin Harrison provided legal services and advice. Every one of our participating authors and artists contributed a treasure of the imagination. Everyone who came out to Kick Butt Coffee Music & Booze last night contributed to the festive ambiance.

One intention behind 3000 Weeks is to establish points of contact between  creators that I encounter in different spheres. In this I am ready to declare a measure of success. Enormously gratifying last night was to witness the enthusiasm several writer friends had for the performances we heard. Maybe now when I assert that performers like Thomas Fang and Jill Kieschnick, Martin McCreadie, Henna Chou and Gregory Elliott are brilliant and wonderful, I’ll be believed.

3000 Weeks continues. I spent a chunk of the day today mounting the original of my 3000 Weeks illustration, and preparing to cut a mat tomorrow so that I can deliver it to its new owner. Amanda and I have a few weeks to get the e-book catalog and anthology of the project assembled and released. I have personalized e-books of my novels still to send to each of our financial supporters. And, I think we’re going to continue this as a living project, adding video and who knows what else over the ninety days of its planned exposure. It is certainly worthy of continuing upgrade. As my good friend and 3000 Weeks contributor Karen Pittman said to me last night, “You know some pretty awesome people.”

At some point, I’ll have to do something about the missing guacamole.

Proud as I am of the number of authors and artists who responded to my invitation to participate, there are many individuals I wish were represented who, for a variety of reasons, are not. A few are among my honored dead, deceased friends for whom I had not time or resource to track down heirs for necessary permissions. The late Diane Bertram, Albert Huffstickler, Brett Palomar and Bill Narum are especially yawning absences. Of Rhandon Hurst and Ricardo Sañchez, unfortunately, I could scrape together only traces.

The 3000 Weeks project went public today, but the project is not complete. There will be tweaks and enhancements, and we’re hosting a live event Saturday night here in Austin. This evening, I sit down to sign contracts and write out checks. This, too, is 3000 Weeks. It is not the creative part, but it is a chore undertaken with the satisfaction that it is part of what creates.

Robert Stikmanz takes a break from ceasing to practice two songs.

It looks like I’ll attempt to perform three songs in Dvarsh at the 3000 Weeks live event on January 26th. This is the celebration and performance hosted by Confabule at Kick Butt Coffee Music & Booze scheduled for that night as the live, in-person aspect of the 3000 Weeks project. I have been trying to work up five songs to contribute, which is the total of all songs extant in the unspoken Dvarsh tongue as of this moment. These things change from hour to hour. I’ve been yodeling to the most recent tune I’ve teased from strings, but a sudden burst of lyric writing could draw that air into the Dvarsh canon. If that happens, however, the chance remains imperceptibly small that I’ll add the new song to my January 26th set, largely because of the lack of time between now and then to grind out the worst imperfections. I am unlikely to attempt to work up a late addition in no small part because, of the songs I have been practicing for the 26th, a sober look with critical eye reveals unmistakeably that two of them are not yet ready to send into the world. They have still to gel into stable, performable pieces. As a result, practice has contracted to the three songs that work best as songs, first and foremost—assuming I do not fool myself about the merits of these untutored efforts.

Amanda Kimmerly and I were recently on KOOP community radio, talking about 3000 Weeks and other subjects on the weekly interview show, Writing on the Air, with host François Pointeau and fellow guest Michael Casares. If you missed the program and would like to hear the conversation, a link to the podcast can be found on this page.

Maybe two. Maybe I should play only two songs, and let the program get on with more substantial talents. There is still time enough to abandon another, or not.

3000 Weeks meets funding goal!

3000 Weeks reached its funding goal on December 31, 2012! I am incredibly grateful to each and every contributor to this achievement, and even more so to Amanda Kimmerly, who worked hard and long to make our fundraising effort a success. Despite the onerous workload that is her part in preparing the grand unveiling on the Confabule website on January 24th, Amanda managed to pop her head above the surface long enough to give proper thanks to our supporters. Although I have not been idle, I have not done so well at acknowledging the generosity from which we benefit. Permit me to pause now and say to each and every contributor, thank you, to each and every participating artist, thank you, and to all our many well-wishers, thank you.

We roll onward. Ms. Kimmerly busily carves contributor pages from electronic wilderness. I’m beginning to organize my associations with each artist and trying to learn my set for our January 26th live event. Recently, I collected video of poets Michael Gilmore and Francois Pointeau reading their poetry, and this, too, will transform into artifacts for this celebration of mind, imagination and influences. I have gotten permission from Teresa Sánchez to reprint a poem by her late husband and my late good friend, Ricardo Sánchez. High school pal David Hargraves was in town just this past weekend, during which he confirmed his enthusiasm for the project and belatedly supplied recordings of a couple of his songs. The project continues to evolve even as we labor to bring it to its public. There are moments when the whole enterprise feels crazy, but that is okay, because every minute it feels like a dedicatory act to the storied troika of beauty, truth and art.

In bringing 3000 Weeks to fruition, tons remain to be done. Tons have been accomplished. Look for a new version on video of an old poem by me—maybe even with early release—as well as more art and modest wit. All told, we have contributions from fifty creators to feature in our showcase, and we are planning short features on about a dozen others who absolutely must be represented but who were prevented by circumstances from submitting work. It’s a fine aggregation of diverse, beautiful, excellent work we are preparing.

Our fundraiser has entered the nailbiting zone. With one week to go before our deadline, and despite heroic effort by Amanda Kimmerly,  we are still short $750. I’m crossing my fingers and holding my breath. If you have not yet given support to 3000 Weeks, please visit confabule.com and think about doing so. For art, truth & beauty!