It starts with a wedding. The bride wants pink inflatable hearts for her reception. The ceremony and the reception will be held in a legendary San Francisco hotel. The bride also loves to design events, and I hear she loves props. This one will be fun.

I had just finished one of my most ambitious installations yet -- 4 shows in 3 cities in 3 days.

It all began at my shop early Thursday morning, where I carefully packed 250 pounds of gear into 5 containers and headed off to San Francisco to pick up even more gear before crossing the bridge to the Epic Arts Gala Benefit and Art Car Fest opening party at the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley.

I had 2 hours to set everything up; 1 hour to take it all down; and no idea where I would be sleeping that night.