More salutes to guerilla artists

Back in January, Beans posted about guerilla art. Art that mysteriously appears in public. For free. For us to enjoy, crack up over, marvel at, wonder about. One of the coolest things about guerilla work is wondering who the heck did it. Random acts of kindness and beauty (and humor) abound -- with no one taking credit for them.

Back in that January post, we blogged about the gaggle of birdhouses that grace telephone poles and trees on San Geronimo Valley Road in Woodacre, California.  Log cabin-style birdhouses.  Apartment-looking birdhouses.  Even an Airstream trailer birdhouse.

Check it out here.

In the seven months that have passed since that posting, not a single week's gone by that this post wasn't one of the top-visited.  (Yes, we keep track of our stats.)

In other words . . . and if you find this post . . . people care about you and your work, oh guerilla birdhouse artist!!!  And thank you again for keeping us charmed, entertained . . . and wondering who you are.

Moreover, we're here to report there've been more developments.

Last month, Beans blog friend (and terrific landscape artist!) Barbara Lawrence sent us this photo of the guerilla art street sign . . . that only lasted a very short while . . . so short that though we live only a mile away, we missed it.  But it's safe here on this blog, for posterity.

The guerilla birdhouse artist is still building and adding to the collection, too. This is one of the most recent additions -- a kind of sunny birdhouse skyscraper.

Guerilla Birdhouse Artist, we salute you! Your devotion to your craft, your whimsical mindset, your dedication in making these pieces and mounting them out on San Geronimo Valley Road . . . wow!  If this is just your hobby, you must really kick some butt in all the rest of life. Good work! Keep it up! We appreciate you!

* * * * * * *

And now, for our next guerilla artist.  Of a different sort.  The mysterious, the mad genius behind @Laundry_Chat on Twitter.

For those of you not familiar with Twitter (and WHY AREN'T YOU?  IT IS SO FUN!!! Read about it here!) . . . .

It's a place on the internet where you create a name/internet address for yourself (most often called your "handle") from which you send what are essentially text-messages out into the Twitter stream of billions of other ongoing similar texts that everyone else on Twitter is sending.  

The "tweets" (texts) you see on your own screen are the ones from the "handles" (of  "tweeps," your Twitter peeps) that you've chosen to "follow." It is a fast and furious world where tweets fly over your screen at lightening speed, about anything you want to follow -- your favorite sports team, celebrity, politician, neighbor down the street who happens to be on Twitter, too.

You also create an "avatar" for yourself -- an image folks will see next to your tweets.  

This spring, some incredibly funny, creative, smart-assed person created @Laundry_Chat . . . with a mission to be, according to the account's bio, "sort of like a support group of those who do laundry."  

Here is the cool avatar that person created for his/her identity.

@Laundry_Chat started tweeting about where, when, and how people were doing laundry.  The most mundane of chores.  

And guess what?  

Within weeks, folks from all over the planet flocked to follow.  As of this writing, @Laundry_Chat has over 1,600 followers.  

@Laundry_Chat may begin a day by tweeting, "Good Sunday morning, everyone!  How is the laundry situation today?"  And folks will tweet right back.  @Laundry_chat will also find other folks'  tweets about their laundry situations (as in, "Just killed a freaking big scorpion in my laundry room") to begin tweeting back and forth with them. 

Tweeting discussions have been had about styles of washers and dryers.  The merits of clothes lines.  Whether it is necessary to separate into cold and hot loads.  What kinds of soaps work best.  About laundromats across the country, and the amenities they offer.

In other words, lots of good clean fun. 

Best of all, in Beans' opinion, is that the person behind @Laundry_Chat remains a complete mystery.  

The location on the account's bio simply reads "Laundry Rooms - World-Wide."  And, at first, people tweeted @Laundry_Chat questions about where and who he/she was.  But @Laundry_Chat suavely dodged those questions.  Today, it remains a mystery.

When I get together with my Twitter friends -- all of whom follow @Laundry_Chat -- the "Who is it?!?!?" question invariably pops up.   And people bandy-about some ideas.  But there's apparently no way to know.  And maybe, we don't really want to.  There's quite a charge, charm, and draw in a mystery.  

@Laundry_Chat, we salute you!  Your own style of guerilla art . . . developing this persona and taking the time to keep up what turns out to be such a hoot for so many . . . is a blessing in this world where too often, every single thing we do during the day is supposed to make sense and be absolutely spelled-out.  Thank you, thank you, for your time, humor, creativity, and for keeping it mysterious.