Frost Park: Eye Heart Tacoma

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Adam chalks his love of Tacoma at the Frost Park Chalk-Off, and makes some observations about change.

Adam visits the Frost Park Chalk-Off for the first time in far too long, expressing his love of Tacoma and musing on the inevitability of change.

MUSIC:

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

ADAM: Hello, Earthlings. It’s Friday, September 5th, 2014. I’m down at Frost Park in Tacoma, Washington for the FROST PARK CHALK-OFF!

[THEME SONG PLAYS]

It is a wonderful, glorious day. A day when I have finally gotten off the farm, out of Oregon, and back up to Tacoma, and back to my beloved adopted city where chalk is bountiful. I was actually a little bit worried that there wasn’t gonna be a chalk-off this week, because when I first got here, nobody was here and I didn’t have any chalk. But then, MY SAVIOR ARRIVED!

MATT: I’m Matt, this is Malcolm.

ADAM: You are the Chalk Savior.

MATT: The one chalker to draw them all!

MATT: Yeah, you can’t have a chalk-off without the chalk. It’s like the 13th Commandment, or something, of the good book: thou shalt always carry chalk.

♫ Be like a trembling branch ♫

♫ Follow the water’s way ♫

♫ When a cool wind is blowing ♫

♫ Just be like a trembling branch ♫

♫ We’re falling like leaves from a tree ♫

♫ We’re fading like memories ♫

♫ We’re falling like leaves from a tree ♫

MATT: Today is the first day of the Washington State Fair, so I’m gonna try and draw a tractor.

MATT: They had the big cattle stampede in downtown Puyallup, and people getting in for free, so it seemed like we needed to bring a little bit of the local farm community right here into downtown Tacoma.

ADAM: Clearly, the chalk-off has been dwindling in people, and we need more people to come, so, like, plug it! Plug it! Plug it now!

MATT: Yeah, come on down!

ADAM: Come on down!

MATT: Fridays, Noon to One! Bring your lunch, bring your friends and co-workers! Draw some chalk after lunch so your hands don’t get your sandwich all dirty.

ADAM: Your life is not complete unless you have covered your hands, and your pants, and your food, and your camera in chalk.

MATT: That’s probably true, too.

ADAM: Speaking of low attendance at Frost Park, I mean…Shaun, why have you not been coming here before today?

SHAUN: Oh, God…now there’s proof of my lack of attendance.

ADAM: Lack of attendance, yes. And proof that you should be attending, because you draw amazingly.

SHAUN: I call it “Paisley’s Third Cousin”. Because it’s not quite paisley, but it looks very similar to it. As a general rule of thumb, if you can’t draw, draw shapes. I’m really looking forward to looking at it in a few days, and seeing what kind of fading people do with their footsteps.

♫ We’re falling like leaves from a tree ♫

♫ We’re fading like memories ♫

♫ We’re falling like leaves from a tree ♫

♫ Under our feet we’re pushin’ daisies ♫

♫ Under our feet we’re pushin’ daisies ♫

ADAM: So for a bit of sentimentality, I drew this week how much love Tacoma.

SHAUN: A very elated alien!

ADAM: You know, as sad as I am that the chalk-off is dwindling, it just kind of goes to show that change is inevitable, and things rise and things die. That’s something I was thinking about on the walk down here. No matter what this city does to change, I will always love it. I love it and love it no matter what it changes into. Though I hope it continues to change into something awesome.

I mean, you want an example of change, this did not used to be this lush. This did not used to be this lush. This is amazing.

And more positive changes: I see Dorky’s next door, the barcade, is expanding into another venture over there. I’m not sure what it is, but I’m always happy to see Dorky’s being successful.

No matter what it changes into, and no matter where I am, Frost Park will always feel like home, and Tacoma will always be my home.

Well, it’s one o’clock, the chalk-off is over, and we done got some drawin’ on. It has been far too long since I got my hands and my camera covered it chalk dust. And it is a glorious thing!

So remember, if you live in or near Tacoma, or you visit, the Frost Park Chalk-Off in theory happens every Friday from Noon to One on South 9th and Pacific Avenue from April through October…sometimes extra.

We used to go online to FeedTacoma.com to vote. FeedTacoma no longer does comments, so you can go online on Facebook to facebook.com/FrostPark and vote there just by saying who you vote for. Make sure you use the word “vote” though, otherwise it’s just very confusing. Sometimes there are prizes, sometimes there aren’t. We just come down here for the love of the art, the community, and just having a good time.

Until next time, I’m Adam the Alien. Shaun’s over there.

SHAUN: Fare well! Or, yes…fare THEE well.

ADAM: Fare thee well!

MATT: Hey, thanks for coming down! Up! Thanks for coming up!

[MUSIC PLAYS]

[PREVIEWS OF OTHER VIDEOS PLAY]

SONICS GUY: How you doin’, man? Good to see you.

ADAM: I’m doin’ all right.

SONICS GUY: Back in town for a little bit?

ADAM: I missed Tacoma.

ADAM: I’ve been coming to this park for six years. And in all that time, I thought that the design down here was just random.

Writer. Actor. Director. Chalk artist. YouTuber. Nerdfighter. Traveler. Pansexual. Genderfluid. Millennial. Socialist. Living a complex life beyond those words.

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