Painter in the Cinema

I just discovered a small series of youtube entities containing movie trailors whose subject matter is an artist. (several of Vincent) If you use "Painter in the cinema" as the search key they should all come up. Delicious, however, not all of them are as clear (visually) as this one of the movie Jackson Pollock.

Slow and Sure said the Tortoise

I'm testing blogger's 'upload image' feature. If it uploads more than three photos, then its better than picasa. I think. (I just grabbed things that have already been seen on my blog... nothing new here folks.)

I feel like my hair should be flowing in the wind as I see and hear about Dusty Duck (I love that name) teaching herself all kinds of things.... she just whizzes by like a road runner. And my hair would probably be flapping if I ever stood up to see what is going on. My feeble explanation of why I'm only just now getting around to checking out some of the blogger features. (In a crackly old woman's voice)"Whadda mean push the buttons.... I can't even see 'em!! Where's the rotary dial?! Huh? What does that mean... LOL... are you cussing at me?!!!"




Oh... I like it. I wonder where the image is stored or where its being displayed from? Guess I'll go and reread the info about posting images. I do know I don't have to worry about resizing the photos...the display program takes care of that. Way kewl. (I think I decided to check this out after clicking on "i am" blog to see a bigger picture.)

Illustration Friday: The Blues

 

Sometimes the blues come early in life....

I did this for Illustration Friday and although its okay with me (since I'm still 'learnin') I decided not to post it over there. I sent it to myself in an email so I could see how it looks on the pc first and it looks too "worked on". I don't mind posting it here but I'm not going to put the link over on the other site. (I used a black and white photo from a old book about Johns Island (North Carolina I think) folks back in the 60s. Desparate poverty.)

Rain

 
Three in the morning and we have rain. Not sprinkles, mist, or showers, but strong rain. It seems like its been a very long time, but its here now and 'they' say we'll be wet for a while. For a long while. The morning commute will probably be full of fender benders.

Nothing much going on here. Quiet. Quiet is good, too. Especially at three in the morning.

I'm sitting here in the dark, with only the glow of the monitor shining in my face. The blind is open so I can see the rain drops on the screen. I have a fan going to move the air. This apartment gets stuffy easily. I had opened the windows for a few minutes earlier, you know... just to get some fresh air in, but the rain came in at an angle so I had to close things up.

Well.... guess I'll go lay down again. Eye lids are getting droopy. (Remember the cartoon character Droopy? Which has nothing to do with anything.)

Another Beautiful Day

 
 
 
Another beautiful autumn day. A perfect day.

These pictures were taken at my friend's house. I went over to visit last Saturday. She has a table in the dining/nook area of her kitchen where the light comes through the windows the entire day. Her plants love it on the table, although these pictures don't show the plants. You'll have to take my word for it.

I'm having an unproductive day. I must get off this pc and go do something before the sun goes down.

Queen does Phoebe

I just saw Queen Latifah perform one of Phoebe Snow's hits, Poetry Man. (One of my faves) She absolutely does it 'right'.

Youtube also has Phoebe doing Poetry Man, if you wanted to hear/see it. (I was searching the web on Phoebe and saw a report that stated her daughter died (brain injury from birth) this past March.)

Two Inches!!

 
Ohmygawd... I just pulled out a two inch long EYEBROW hair. Can you say Andy Rooney?!

We've All Seen Them... Church Bulletin Oooops

This, below, was in an email this morning. Some are old, some are new (at least to me).... I thought it might get a chuckle outta a few of my cyber friends.

~~~~~~~
They're back! Church Bulletins. Thank God for church folks with errant keyboard skills. These sentences actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services:


Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at St. Martin's Church. Please use the large double doors at the side entrance.

The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.

The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water." The sermon tonight "Searching for Jesus."

Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 PM in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.

Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don't forget your husbands.

The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.

Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say "Hell" to someone who doesn't care much about you.

Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.

Miss Charlene Mason sang "I will not pass this way again," giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.

Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Father Jack's sermons.

The Priest will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing "Break Forth Into Joy."

Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What Is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.

Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.

The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.

Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM - prayer and medication to follow.

The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done.

The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.

Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.

The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.

The Priest unveiled the church's new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: "I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours!

Dust Bunnies.... OHMY!!

'Dust bunny' is really too sweet of a description for what I discovered. DIRT DEVIL, in all caps, is really more like it. Let me elaborate a little.

I've been having a lot of trouble with my Dollar Tree Store computer mouse. I could do ferris wheel turns with my arm and the cursor would just sit there mocking me... mock-ing-ME?! How unkewl is that? The mouse ball (yes, mice have balls, too) felt like frozen cottage cheese. What I mean by that is it felt hard and lumpy at the same time. It felt like an overdose of Viagra for a shriveled... ah.... er.... a shriveled avocado pit. (sorry, thats all I could come up with... ) A hard avocado pit. Imagine how lumpy that is!!

I cleaned the $$ mouse and still the problem remained, so I pulled out the old mouse. I thought a good cleaning might make it work better than the $$ mouse. However, I forgot that the older mouse no longer 'clicks'. The thingy no longer goes up or down. So, just to wrap up this part of the story, I cleaned the $$ mouse again and I switched balls. So far, so good.

But here comes the DIRT DEVIL part of the story. I had to plug and unplug the mouse at the back of the computer... the 'tower', the brain (insert mysterious music here). The back. The part I never look at....the part that sits close to the wall, thats where I had to work. (work as in plug/unplug.) And I have one thing to say....

OHMYGAWD!!!!

Oh my poor little baby....drowning in an oily crowd of dust bunnies that looked and acted like DIRT DEVILS!!! My poor poor baby.

Well, I spent another hour getting two inches of oily dust off and out of the two fan areas. I used tweezers to get some of the dust out of the vent areas. oh lordy, I can only imagine what the deep insides must look like. Too scary. (I also wiped off the outside of the vents with alcohol.)

Have you taken a look at your computer's backside recently? I'm just saying.

Monday's Show-and-Tell

Like Sandy (Sandy's Monday Show And Tell site) I was racking my brain for something to show and tell this week and I was coming up with nothing. Thats the downside of living a simple life. A boring life. Finally, I decided to promote my favorite incense. Well, my second 'favorite' incense. (Prasad's Patcholli is my all time favorite.)

 

And now not all Nag Champa incense smells the same. I've been burned a couple of time. It is only the Nag Champa that comes in this box above that smells as sweet.

 

By putting it in a container (above) I can enjoy the fragrance without even burning it.

 

Above is a shot of the retail display of the Wild Oats store where I can find various sizes of containers.... $2, $5, $10.

Time Lapsed Painting Video - 4 minutes

They selected the perfect music to match her "speed" painting. (It looks so easy, she whined.)

Cat Painting 2.27 minutes

Timing

Some times life's timing doesn't mesh well with human intent. Or perhaps I should say 'corporate' intent.

On the tv news the other evening there was a short segment about a community crime-fighting meeting where a city police officer shared his opinion (based on his experience I imagine) about an upcoming additional Light Rail route soon to take place. MAX is the name of our light rail system that connections East and West communities and suburbs. Soon there will be a North and South route, too.

At this meeting there must have been a question about the violence that happens on the MAX trains and at their stations. The officer, who agreed with the comment/question, said he would never ride the MAX at night and he is always fully armed. It did not make the neighbors feel very secure. It also did not please MAX management or the city police department, but I'm just guessing here.

The police officer is on vacation (???) and could not comment. Max management said there was only one reported incidence of violence (physical and/or verbal) per 100,000 riders.

(Is this called bending the stats to fit the need? I'd rather hear how many reported and suspected incidences there were per train trip and also have it broken down between daylight and night time incidences.)

Then last night there was breaking news about mob action going on at and around one of the outlying MAX train stations. The initial estimate is between 100 and 150 people were there. There wasn't any more info shared during this mornings news cast nor is there anything on the news web sites. (Its a weekend and things don't get updated.)

This area (where the incident happened) is the border line between two cities, although you wouldn't know it driving down the street. One city melds into the other. Because of so many past violent things happening here, both cities had increased patrols in the area within the last week. That might be why last night's incident didn't turn into something bigger.... police were probably there within minutes.

Anyway, I couldn't help but put these two things together. It was like the mob activity was an explanation point to the police officer's comments at the community meeting. (The city police department has responded by saying the officer was voicing his own opinions and he was not speaking for the police department.)

I thought the timing for all of this was impressive. It was like last nights mob activity was telling the neighbors who would be living near the new MAX route to take care and be on the alert. I suspect there is also some buyers-remorse happening with those who have recently purchased a home in the area. I feel for them. And I sincerely hope all of this prove me wrong in my observations. Yes, there are some times when being wrong is best.

Have you ever.....

Have you ever read an article, column, or even a blog where the author is ranting ... I mean listing the reasons why a particular politian would be a nightmare? And after reading it you think "hey, I wasn't leaning towards this guy/gal but shoot... s/he might just be who I'll vote for after reading this."
BWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA That, my friends, is called a backfire!! HAHAHAHAHAHA

Hairy Balls... go figure

One of my friends, Traveling Goddess, posted an entry on her blog about her hairy balls. Imagine how my ears perked up when I heard Martha Stewart also talk about HER hairy balls.

What Martha said, besides how great they look in a bouquet, was that hairy balls is/are from the milkweed family, they stink, they grow large, and they are poisonous. So... when you come across hairy balls you'd best be careful about how you handle them until you know what you're doing. I'm just saying.

I did a search on 'hairy balls' and didn't come across a site (I searched quickly) that had the info the way I wanted, so I didn't hot link the term. If you are interested, you'll find a lot of sites that mention hairy balls. (and I didn't come across one porn site... but then I didn't look very closely.)

Today

You know what 'they' say.... Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Well, for me today is Thursday and ohmygosh where'd the week go?

Below are a couple of shots of the small mom-and-pop store across the street. They have a bright neon OPEN sign in the windows. (there actually two, but one is behind a screen and doesn't show up very well.) The little sign, turned on its side in order to fit the small window, always attracts my attention. Its so cheery and bright, especially at dusk when everything is getting dark. I'm waiting to be able to see it at dusk in drizzling rain.

 

 

Today I must chain myself to the easel. Although a real chain is not used, I do get blocked into it when I'm really to paint. There's a small plastic set of drawers to the left of me, a wooden TV tray to the right of me.... and my chair does not slide easily. So, once I get set up, its not all that easy to get away. I wonder if thats one of the reasons I procrastinate? hmmm... naw. Procrastination is just me.

So... here I go. Well, as soon as The View is over. (Its much better with Whoopi there. She maintains control without yelling SHUT THE F**K UP!! She does it with fitnesse... "Let me finish, gorgeous." Style, huh.) When its over then I will put myself into position until I get some decent progress done! Honest. I will. Sigh.

It kind of fits!

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Wanna Guess Who?

I kinda had fun guessing who Cat's Mamma drew when she posted her portraits. Do you wanna take a guess at this little lady? Being of a certain age probably would help but is not completely necessary. After the guessing is over (tomorrow?) I'll see if I can also post the reference picture.

 

The blurry picture below is to show wip... to show I really did it.

 

Here's the reference photo:

The drawing was done with pencil on cardstock.

Artist Laurel Burch

I read on someone's blog that artist Laurel Burch has died. I was not familar with the name so I went to check out her web site. If you like a bit of whimsy and lots of brilliant color I encourage you to go check it out. (tabs at the top of the page "art" will bring up menu... art is displayed in automated slide-show format.) Her art is beautiful.

Her "about" page gives you a glimpse of her personality. A free spirit, to be sure.

Whenever someone passes on, it leaves a hole in the lives of those left behind. May it eventually be filled with Peace and loving memories.

My Challenge

My personal challenge... actually I have two. The first one is to get something posted here to push my political rant down the page. (I may not know what I'm talking about because I may not have gotten all the facts. Imagine that!!) I decided art is fairly impartial, so my second challenge was to willingly post some bad art. The second part is/was not difficult. And it isn't that my intent was the 'bad' art, it just turned out that way.

So... create or find some art to post. Perhaps that was really the challenge. Well, I didn't have anything that hasn't already been shared so I decided to WHIP something out real quick. And lets make it something spontaneous... something loose and flowee (Sandy's comments on her blog in mind). I remember 'coloring' some watercolor paper with a background. "I could see what comes to mind, using that!" Well... nothing came to mind. I kept thinking about Sandy's rooster and fish. I didn't want to copy her. You know, follow her around doing what she's doing. But its ended up that way. I couldn't think of anything but a fish. I can make something look like a fish without having one in front of me. Artistic license, doncha know.

I was sitting on the couch and spotted some dried up watercolor paint sitting on the edge of the coffee table. Water-color. If the water dries up, just add more, right? I can do that.

 

Then I retrieved the paper that already had background color on it. If it looks fuzzy thats because it is....I had moistened the paper and then put color on it. It looks fuzzy in person, too.

 

And here is my made-up fish. It will go in the pile of other stuff that I will call "my practice pile." Yeah, that works. My practice pile.

 

I'm Just Saying.....

Have you ever looked at something and it didn't seem right, but you couldn't put your finger on it? You know, like the formula for rocket fuel or the answer to the question 'what is the meaning of life'? You may not be able to identify what the hitch is, but you know its there somewhere.

Thats how I'm feeling about Clinton's view of how to solve the health insurance crisis. Her view seems to be let the little guys pay for it. I'm beginning to wonder if she isn't a republican at heart. You know... deep down where the truth can be found. ("eeeeuuuuuuu. I'm not putting my hand down there. Its full of dirty politics!!!")

She wants to pass a law requiring businesses to provide health insurance coverage for their employees. Where does she live? Fantasy Land or something? Thats not where the problem is.... the problem is the high cost of medical care AND the high cost of health insurance. Can you say 'follow the money?'

Making employers provide coverage is like putting another bandaid on a severed limb while you wait for it to grow back. It ain't gonna happen, folks.

Employer provided insurance coverage started as a way for companies to attract the best employees. This was back when insurance premiums costs were realistic. It was a side benefit. You know, something like a signing bonus for basketball players. Then it became too expensive, so how to cut costs? Cut jobs. Outsource them to China or India. And we all know how thats working out, don't we.

Now there are some big companies who may need a law to do the right thing by their employees, but generally speaking, all this is going to do is destroy more jobs. More companies closing because it can't survive under the new law. Its a downward spiral, folks. Bandaids aren't going to help. In order to solve the problem you have to first identify the problem and then solve it, not the symptom. Taking care of the symptom does not cure the disease.

I don't get the logic of her proposal. I don't get it at all.

Oh... and in case you're wondering, I'm not a democrate or a republican. I'm registered as an independent just because I had to chose something. There's so much corruption on both sides, I don't want to take sides. (and don't let me get started about "following the party line." What a bunch of bullshit.)

Monday's Show-and-Tell

As I turned sideways and shuffled my way past the extended canvas and stove I had a scathingly brilliant idea to show and tell readers about my art studio. These few pictures are just a few views.

Below, currently the action area for the creation of more formal pieces of art.

 

Below, one of several storage areas throughout the apartment.... I mean, the studio.

 

Below, a slightly different form of storage.

 

I hope you have enjoyed your short tour. Thank you for reading.

Simply Painting

At noon each week day our public TV channel broadcasts a how-to paint program. Oils one day, watercolor another... each day is a different artist.

I've come to enjoy Jerry Yarnell's programs, especially after he's gotten more comfortable making the videos. Lots of good information there for oil painters. I'm also currently enjoying Buck Paulson's mixed media knife painting. (He looks and sounds like he should be conducting a Sunday school session. A Mr. Rogers type. Very nice.) Background monotone painting in acrylics with oils as the top 'finish'.

I've begun to skip Wednesdays. Thats Bob Ross' day. He's also a good how-to instructor, but I'm saturated and if I see another tree added (when I think its too much) I may scream at the top of my lungs. You know, to help him hear me in heaven. And his paintings all seem to be the same. This time a few dozen trees on the left, that time a few dozen trees on the right.... and the background is always a majestic mountain range. Absolutely nothing wrong with it, but I need a break right now. Thats all.

What I've come here today to do is tout Frank Clarke's Simply Painting series. I failed to appreciate it before. That is, before I picked up some watercolor and tried to do something with it. ("ohmygawd, what the hell is that suppose to be?!")It hit me today... what a gem Clarke's series is for the beginner. The painting subject is simple, his instructions are simple and entertaining, and following his lead, I, too, would say "anyone can paint." And "paint for the fun of it."

Clarke looks like someone you would find under a four-leaf clover. He'd be sitting on a pot 'o gold drinking a stout. And such colorful shirts he wears! It was his shirt he was wearing today that was the final clincher on making a post about his program series. You see, I went to check out his web site (had never done it before) and there is a tab at the top of the screen labeled "videos." I clicked on it and a short teaser began without me doing anything. He talks about equipment needed to get started. And in this video he is wearing the same colorful shirt that he had on today in his instuctional video. I chose to decide it was an omen that I should make this post.

Anyway.... if you're one of those who say "oh I can't paint" but you'd like to give it a try, you know, just for the fun of it... check out "Simply Painting" if you have a chance. Seriously... for the fun of it. You can do it. You can do it with Frank Clarke helping you out. Honest.

I Thought This was timely....

I was reading The Painters Key newsletter that came today and found myself chuckling over the struggle to get a likeness. It seemed appropriate since 'portraits' seem to be the subject of late. Many of you will have already read it, but I felt like posting a little of it here for any who may not get the newsletter. You know... maybe one of my five readers doesn't get it. (The newsletter is free, by the way.)

"One morning a couple of years ago I got the idea to paint a
self-portrait. I wanted one with my dog Emily and me peering
around the canvas like that Norman Rockwell cover everyone has
seen. Giving the job a bit of forethought, I remembered that if
the likeness isn't there, the whole thing is a loser. A
portrait without a likeness is like an Airedale without a wag.
I wanted my likeness to be fresh and simply done, with as few
strokes as possible. This was going to be the hard part. I also
wanted to get that look of stunned smugness that people notice
about me. I set up the mirror, squeezed out, and started.

The head was number one, and right off the top I got my face
too big. Roughing in the second important thing, my hand, I got
it too close to my big head. Taking down a fresh canvas, I
started over. This one worked better. In my case I often notice
I get a pretty good likeness within a few minutes and then
gradually tighten up until it begins to look like another
person. My second attempt was also better proportioned, even
with its minimal strokes. Applying the enormous self-restraint
for which I'm noted, I stopped working on me right there."

"Taking down a fresh canvas" hahahahahahaha I can so relate!

Don't read if death bothers you... or you are feeling down

The subject matter is about how cats (or some cats??) know when someone is going to pass on (remember the cat in the nursing home?); this is what happened to someone else's older cat. I thought it was very sweet and loving, but those not comfortable regarding death... I'd suggest you pass on reading this.

"This morning she dragged herself onto my newspaper, it was her favorite place in the morning, so I let her stay there. About 10am Booger's kittens started gathering around her, they refused to budge as Booger cleaned her and nuzzled her. Booger wandered off but the kittens stayed, and suddenly at 1034 [am] they all got up and walked away from her and it was over. I have never seen anything like this before, they have been laying on her blanket ever since she passed away, clearly there is mourning going on.... she was a very loving, sweet kitty."

Should you be wondering, the pet owner had taken her cat in to be seen (middle of the night)... nothing could be done. The owner opted to let the passing happen naturally. She [the cat] had others who loved her around, both human and of her own cat-family, when she passed on... it sounded very loving.

I wasn't going to post this...

I wasn't going to post this because it doesn't look like the well-known person. Its an okay sketch, but doing "beautiful women" is something a much younger person might do. (Give me the old and decrepid (sp) any time. They're much more interesting.

 

I want to feel free to post the crappy stuff without feeling people are obligated to stroke me... know what I mean? I mean the SUPER CRAPPY stuff will not get posted, but the I-missed-the-boat-on-this-one will be... I got my spunk from Cat's Mamma!

Playing with the Sharpies again

 

I drew the above loosely based on an ad in the October issue of Vanity Fair. Its altered a bit, but the basics match up. And speaking of Vanity Fair... their printer is going to be in trouble this month. The entire magazine is missing about a quarter inche of all the pages and many of them are falling out. Not good for their image, but accidents happen. I couldn't help wonder if they had sent the issue to China for printing? (snort)

 

 

I went to their web site and sent a comment in to them just to let them know about the situation. While I was on their site I noticed the October issue is available for reading there, sans all the advertisements. I let my friend (who maintains this subscription for me) know that she didn't need to renew anything. I can read it all online. Kewl.

No Particular Point

Chatting over the fence....

I've decided to cross Indonesia off my list of possible retirement communities.

Just heard a statistic that had my mouth hanging open, but my head nodding as in I KNOW... I KNOW!! I didn't catch the time frame, but the cost of health insurance has risen 78% while during the same time frame wages/income has risen only 19%. Coverage for a family of four costs around $12,000 a year. (00)

I participated in a telephone survey yesterday. Based on the questions, someone (read local government) is trying to determine the best tactics to use for presenting a 5% tax to phone services. Taxes/fees on the most basic phone service for landlines is already a third of the cost. It may be called taxes or fees, but it still adds up all the same. Personally, I don't think any more taxes should be applied to basic services, but I have no problem with an additional tax being added to the luxury features.... caller ID, call waiting, etc.

I like our current mayor who is retiring and is not going to run for a second term. I like him because he does the right thing, even when heavily criticized. He put 'humane' into his decisions, even when it cost money. Most people are not humane when it comes to money.

Too bad Britney doesn't have enough money to take a sabbatical or something. She clearly is not 'in to' performing any more. I heard her outfit for the vma awards program was her own choice. The costume presented to her to wear was "not sexy enough" so she used her own. I also read on a celebrity blog that they saw her partying at a club before the awards ceremony. Her lackluster performance probably helped her stay upright. She seems to have lost her way. Too bad. I wish her well.

Yay weather... going to be a little cooler today. YAY!!

With Time (experience) Comes Wisdom

The title I was going to use on this entry was Time Brings Such Sweet Revenge", but it didn't actually fit, because it isn't about revenge. Its more about I told you so.... only I didn't 'told you so'. I just let it happen and watched it play out over several years.

This is a tale about one of my daughters. The forth child (4 out of 5) who is now a mature mother of two and lives in Texas. I recently received an email from her asking me to send her pictures of her childhood. Pictures I no longer have because she took them back in 2002.

Let me set the background.

In 2002 she and her family stopped by for a few minutes. I don't remember why. While there she spotted a large photo album with some loose photos sitting on top. She "innocently" asked if she could take them. "I want to scrapbook them and keep them from fading." Yeah, right. I knew right then she was taking them because she didn't think I would take good care of them, you know, since I wasn't anal about them. (These are pictures I've been lugging around for decades. Thirty years or more in some cases.) To her credit, she has since admitted that was why she took them. Good for her.

And as far as the anal part goes... I'm not. Oh sure, pictures are nice to look through once in a while, like at funerals or incarcerations, but I'm not a freak about them. Know what I mean? So I said "sure, go ahead if thats what you want to do" but deep inside I knew she would lose them. I had that 'knowing' feeling. And now that 'knowing' feeling has become a fact and its come home to roost... just not on my head.

It took several emails back and forth before she remembered she had custody of the photos. And she no longer has them. It doesn't freak me out any and I'm very glad she's finally remembered who had them last so she isn't going around trying to get someone else to pick up the blame.... however, her poor hubby might have to get it dumped on him. He gets blamed for a lot of things. He's handy, that way.

I would bet money on how and when the photos got dumped, although I'd never say anything to my daughter. She would just jump all over hubby and it wouldn't be fair. He may still get jumped on for losing them, but it won't be because I said anything.

Wanna know what I think happened to them? If so, just keep reading.

I think they got left behind during a move from a house to a townhouse apt. During this move my daughter packed up a few boxes and then spent the rest of the time at the new apartment. That left hubby to pack up everything else and move it. One person. One person with a full time job. One person with a two story house and a full garage to be the only one moving anything.

They had asked several of their friends, their church friends, to come help them move the heavy furniture. There was suppose to be five big strong guys, but I think only one person showed up. (Hubby had to go track him down, too.) After the furniture was moved, it was back to hubby being the only one to get all the crappy stuff thats at the end of a move. I suspect he got to the place where he just said "screw it" (to himself, of course) and started dumping things. And I must say I don't blame him at all, either. In fact, I think he should have found his backbone and told his lazy wife to get up and help him.... but he didn't. My guess is the photos got dumped during that move.

If wifey would have helped with the move, then maybe she would still have the photos. Or if wifey hadn't judged me as being incapable of maintaining them, she might have gotten them now. I'm not sure if she'll get the connection to what her contribution was in all of this.... but I'm sitting here smiling. Not meanly, or nastily, but smiling with a touch of an unspoken 'I told you so'.

I hope I'm able to apply bits of this crusty wisdom to some of my own life lessons, but its harder to see when it involves the self. Know what I mean?

My guess was right!

Last week I had guessed that the fifth person on The View was going to be Sherri Shepard (although I couldn't remember her name.) And its official today. YAY!! I like her. And I like Whoopi. Great choices.

 

Apparently it wasn't a very well kept secret, but I hadn't heard it until this morning.

Monday's Show-and-Tell

I wasn't getting any scathingly brilliant ideas for show-and-tell this week so I had to sort of scramble for something....

I was up, showered, and out the door early this morning to go to the store. 'They've' issued a heat advisory for the valley today and I wanted to get this trip done while it was still cool out. I had run out of my coffee 'flavoring' that I enjoy and I also needed something for dinner.

 

A fresh pot of coffee was brewing as I snapped this picture. (The coffee that is already in the cup is left-over.) I was going to be clever and snap a picture as I poured coffee into the cup, but then the voice of reason was heard. "Damnit Crusty, stop making life difficult!" My camera doesn't do action shots very well. And my coordination is sometimes suspect. For this photo shoot (snort..."photo shoot") I decided to use my Happy Cup... the rainbow cup, you know, for the color and all. My regular cup is just plain white but a little bigger than this one. Isn't it amazing how much one can sometimes talk about nothing? wow.

Just for the fun of it, I decided to also include a photo of dinner. Non-cooking dinner.

 

I'm going to have a turkey sandwich with provolone cheese, sliced tomato and onion (ooops... Wallowallo sweet onion not pictured), a little lettuce, and some potato salad on the side. The Snapea Crisps are there for the hell of it.

And thats my show-and-tell for today. Thank you for coming and I hope you enjoy the rest of the show.

Playing with my Sharpies

Last week I got three sets of Sharpies for the price of one. I just got around to playing with them. Sharpies and using up the little bit of watercolor that was left. (Based very loosely on photos in a Vanity Fair magazine.)