Site trouble

For some reason I don't yet know, my gradualdazzle.com site is down and all my images hosted there are unavailable. If it continues much longer, I'm contacting Yahoo to find out what the heck's wrong. I know I paid my bill...

Slitting my wrist

Okay, that sounded a bit harsh. But it's true. On Thursday, my wonderful superfantastic orthopedic hand surgeon is going to slit my right wrist open and slice through... okay, instead of describing it, how 'bout I show you just exactly what he's going to do?



Nice, huh?

I won't lie... I'm a little keyed-up about it. I realize that it's an extremely common surgical procedure and that the chances of a foulup are infinitesimal, but still -- this is my RIGHT HAND he's slicing open. Something goes wrong and I could be forever unable to play the piano or paint with that hand.

On the flipside, however, I wonder how it's going to feel to finally be able to FEEL my fingers and to be able to manipulate very small things like earrings and necklace clasps again. I wonder if I'll be less shaky with the paintbrush? I wonder how it will feel not to drop things all the time because I can't tell how hard I'm gripping?

It will be an interesting experience, in any case.

I'm a Modern, Cool Nerd!!

Take The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test

You scored higher than 86% on nerdiness

You scored higher than 80% on geekosity

You scored higher than 69% on dork points

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd.

Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)!

Congratulations!

Ummm... yeah. Okay. I think.

We meet again!

Brett from Beat Canvas came over tonight to pick up the painting he bid on and won the other day. I find him to be an incredibly inspiring individual. I wish I didn't feel like such a tongue-tied ninny when he comes over to visit; I can never think of anything to say! I'm much better on paper than I am in person, I have come to understand. Anyway, he is a truly COOL person and I am privileged to know him. I can't wait to see how his new business venture works out... if it does, it could be huge. If it doesn't, well, no harm -- and he will have put forth effort into making a dream happen. There's value in that process, even when it doesn't bear immediate fruit.

But I think this one could potentially be very, very fruitful.

You know what's even cooler about Brett, however, is that he is one of the most encouraging individuals I've ever met. He never sucks up and says things that aren't true to butter you up, but he finds the good and highlights it. He has pointed out the things he likes about my work, which gives me a direction to work toward and a "niche" to carve out more cleanly. He has also given me a couple of fabulous ideas which I'm going to put into action in the coming days.

The choice to celebrate a life

Even if it's a very short life.

Grief, Gratitude, and Baby Lee

Go. Read it. Be sure to take a hanky with you. And don't forget to look at the photos.

Tuesday's Auction

Today I'm offering a little winter color for this drab, gray Midwestern world I live in. "Cardinal" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 10x14, image size is 8x12. Bidding starts at $25; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please! By bidding, you're helping a poor, struggling musician to purchase good equipment.

If you have any particular requests, I do take commissions. I've already gotten several private commissions, but if there's something you'd like to see me tackle for the daily auction painting, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

A little story for all you musicians out there

(hat tip to my Aunt Patti in Oklahoma for this one)



A C, an E-flat, and a G go into a bar. The bartender says: "Sorry, but we don't serve minors." So the E-flat leaves, and the C and the G have an open fifth between them.

After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished and the G is out flat. An F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough.

A D comes into the bar and heads straight for the bathroom saying, "Excuse me. I'll just be a second."

Then an A comes into the bar, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor.

Then the bartender notices a B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and exclaims, "Get out now. You're the seventh minor I've found in this bar tonight."

The E-flat, not easily deflated, comes back to the bar the next night in a 3-piece suit with nicely shined shoes. The bartender (who used to have a nice corporate job until his company downsized) says, "You're looking sharp tonight, come on in! This could be a major development." This proves to be the case, as the E-flat takes off the suit, and everything else, and stands there au natural.

Eventually, the C sobers up, and realizes in horror that he's under a rest. The C is brought to trial, is found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of DS without Coda at an upscale correctional facility. On appeal, however, the C is found innocent of any wrongdoing, even accidental, and that all accusations to the contrary are bassless.

The bartender decides, however, that since he's only had tenor so patrons, with the soprano out in the bathroom, and everything has become alto much treble, he needs a rest, and closes the bar.

Recovering...

I missed work on Friday due to a slowly-creeping migraine headache. It had begun last Tuesday with an eye twitch, and progressed very very slowly through the week until it was completely debilitating on Friday. I slept in a dark room most of the day until the light sensitivity phase passed.

On Saturday we were supposed to have SoulFire practice, but I got a call from Amy saying that they had taken Mark to the hospital in an ambulance. I went up there to be with him and with Amy & Tim & Mikey, who had also gone up to be with him. The doctors did a CT scan of his abdomen and have found that his prostate cancer has returned and is now in his liver. They released him to go home, but we decided to forego practice and go home and pray instead. We had a gig on Sunday night, and we weren't sure we were going to be able to make it. Mark insisted he was going to play anyway... and he did.

By Sunday morning my head, neck and back were so stiff I couldn't look sideways. I guess that either the headache "traveled" or I had been in such pain that I was sleeping in an awkward position -- who knows? Anyway, I was in abject misery. There's nothing like continual physical pain to completely change one's personality into someone unpleasant... at least that's how I felt. I am usually a cheerful person and I don't think I was able to work up to that level. It was as if there were a heavy fog hanging in my brain that prevented me from connecting with people around me. After the service was over, my friend Pat (who's an artist) hugged me and prayed for me, and I went home to try to crash for a while. SoulFire was going to all go out to lunch together, but I begged off and went home.

After I woke up, I was quite a bit better. I was able to do the concert almost pain-free. It's always rather energizing to do a concert; Tim is such a dynamic and energetic leader. It was inspiring to see Mark keeping the faith, too.

The migraine left me waaaay behind on my painting, however, which is why there was not a new painting posted today. I'm working hard to catch up, and hopefully later tonight there will be a new one for tomorrow. We shall see...

Happy New Year!!

It's already January 29th in Asia right now, so here are some photos from AFP and AP of the celebrations.













Aren't these beautiful? I love the bright colors and the festive atmosphere... very inspiring, in an artistic sense.

Weekend Auction

This weekend I'm offering another flower portrait, this time of a pink plumeria, inspired by this photograph which I found on Flickr. "Plumeria" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 10x14, image size is 8x12. Bidding starts at $25; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central on Sunday night, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please! By bidding, you're helping a poor, struggling musician to purchase good equipment.

If you have any particular requests, I do take commissions. I've already gotten several private commissions, but if there's something you'd like to see me tackle for the daily auction painting, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

X-Men 3 Trailer

X-Men 3

Coming May 26th to a theater near me -- and I couldn't be happier about it.

Your Arctic Terminology Lesson For Today

Ivu: a gigantic ice surge, like a frozen tsunami, which pushes onshore in arctic regions

See, Mom, it could be worse. Rick and I could be living in Barrow, Alaska.

Arctic Ocean Ice Crashes on Alaska Shores

Ridges of Arctic Ocean sea ice were shoved onto a Barrow road in quantities not seen in nearly three decades.

Two ice surges, known to Alaska Natives as ivus, stunned residents who had never seen large blocks of ice rammed ashore.

"It just looked like a big old mountain of ice," said L.A. Leavitt, 19, who left his nightshift job at the city early Tuesday to check out the ridges.

Ivus are like frozen tsunamis and crash ashore violently. They have killed hunters and are among the Arctic's most feared natural phenomena.

Residents said the northernmost ivu, about 20 feet high and 100 feet long, contained car-size blocks and left coastal Stevenson Road with only one lane.

The ice stopped about 30 feet short of a borough pump station that provides access to Barrow's underground water and sewer system, said North Slope Borough disaster coordinator Rob Elkins.

Strong winds from Russia and eastward currents began pushing pack ice toward Barrow on Saturday, Elkins said.

By late Monday night, thick, old sea ice, called multiyear ice, had shoved younger, thinner ice onto shore.

Elkins, who got a 5 a.m. Tuesday wake-up call from police, said a second ivu on the south side of town came to rest near a smaller coastal road and an empty playground. That ridge stretched about 200 feet.

"It was just an amazing sight," said Elkins, a five-year Barrow resident. "It looks like huge stacks of huge ice cubes."

(hat tip: FARK)

Friday's Auction

Today's auction is going to cover two days, since Blogger was down last night and I was unable to post my painting. This time, however, I'm offering four paintings at once.

A few days ago, I picked up a book that our school library was tossing out. It was a book of old maps, which fascinate me anyway, but after I had the book I noticed that the binding had some very interesting little patterns stamped all over it. One of the 1-cm squares had a stylized oakleaf design inside it, and I have always liked the shape of oak leaves, so I decided to do one as a pattern-ish sort of painting rather than something fairly realistic.

After I finished one, I wondered how it would look to do three more and to do them thematically -- in a seasonal sort of way. This all evolved into four separate Seasons paintings, so I'm going to offer them all up as one package.









"Seasons" is a group of four paintings; each one is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 10x14, image size is 8x12. Bidding starts at $100; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please! By bidding, you're helping a poor, struggling musician to purchase good equipment.

If you have any particular requests, I do take commissions. I've already gotten several private commissions, but if there's something you'd like to see me tackle for the daily auction painting, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Apology

I couldn't post today's painting last night because Blogger was down for maintenance. We'll try again tonight.

Wednesday's Auction

No worries here... "Matata" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 10x14, image size is 8x12. Bidding starts at $25; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please! By bidding, you're helping a poor, struggling musician to purchase good equipment.

If you have any particular requests, I do take commissions. I've already gotten several private commissions, but if there's something you'd like to see me tackle for the daily auction painting, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Crazy day

All day long they kept mysteriously referring to the Secret Assembly during the last class period... rumors were abundant and ranged from a presidential visit to a principal reprimand.

Last class began, and the power promptly went out all over the building. But we had the assembly anyway; they just opened the exterior doors to let in the light. Apparently our local NBC affiliate, WHO-TV channel 13, was giving one of its "Golden Apple" awards to a teacher at North High School. We were thrilled to find out that it was being awarded to First Sergeant Jackson, who's the teacher in charge of the Marines JROTC program there. Of all the teachers at that school, he's who I would've picked too. He's an exceptional individual. My very own Erica was one of the students who wrote a letter recommending him for the award, and she was interviewed by the TV crew, so she may be on TV.

Anyway, it was a good thing, and NHS is going to be on the 10PM news tonight -- for something GOOD instead of something unpleasant.

The power outage is apparently spread over the entire north and east side of DSM and is due to high winds taking out a transformer somewhere. I'm thankful that our own power here at home is fine... although I just heard some glass shattering outside, and when I went to investigate, I found that the neighbor's upstairs storm-window had blown off and shattered on the sidewalk in front of their house. Yowza.

Tuesday's Auction

"US Map Blues" is in response to the enthusiastic requests of so many of you. If you want a watercolor map, but don't like the color schemes I've used, please e-mail me privately and let me know what color you're needing, and I'll get to it.

"US Map Blues" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 10x14, image size is 8x12. Bidding starts at $25; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please! By bidding, you're helping a poor, struggling musician to purchase good equipment.

If you have any particular requests, I do take commissions. I've already gotten several private commissions, but if there's something you'd like to see me tackle for the daily auction painting, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Some days...

...you just feel like retreating back into your shell for a while with a box of Stam chocolate.

Life has its ups and downs... most of which can be palliated with the most excellent chocolate ever made.

Got an e-mail from the school secretary this afternoon warning us that there would be an emergency all-school assembly tomorrow during the last class and that we should warn the students to be on their best behavior because there would be cameras. Makes me wonder if the President is going to be there or something... at any rate, I hate most assemblies and find them to be as colossal a waste of time as any other meeting. I'll be interested to find out just what sort of earth-shattering event merits an emergency all-school assembly. I'll be sure to let y'all know... unless, of course, it's classified top-secret stuff.

Kidblogging

Got a few pix, mainly of interest to the Family Back Home...









And lest we forget, our wee doggie Bijou:

Monday's Auction

Today's another hidden pony picture; this time in shades of red. "Red Horse Running" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 10x14, image size is 8x12. Bidding starts at $25; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please! By bidding, you're helping a poor, struggling musician to purchase good equipment.

If you have any particular requests, I do take commissions. I've already gotten several private commissions, but if there's something you'd like to see me tackle for the daily auction painting, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Weekend Auction

For you Kanji aficionados, here's the symbol for "happy." Color makes me happy, and I wanted to share some of that "happy" with all of you as well.

"Yoroko" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 10x14, image size is 8x12. Bidding starts at $25; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please! By bidding, you're helping a poor, struggling musician to purchase good equipment.

If you have any particular requests, I do take commissions. I've already gotten several private commissions, but if there's something you'd like to see me tackle for the daily auction painting, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Buddy Holly lives on

Buddy Holly lives on in the hallways of North High School, where I teach. I was tickled to see that one of NHS' students, Richie Lee Luckenbill, has made the pages of the Des Moines Register:

D.M. teen keeps Buddy Holly's hits hot

Meet Richie Lee, a 15-year-old sophomore at North High School. Lee lives so far in the past, musically, that it's not a question of whether he pays attention to the rappers and rock stars idolized by his peers.

This kid has yet to succumb to Beatlemania.

Lee is fixated on Holly down to the tiniest detail. He even styles his hair into a pompadour every day.

"I've got naturally curly hair, and it pretty much stays in place," he shrugs. His mom is his stylist.

He wears glasses, but he reserves the Holly-style black, horn-rimmed frames for performances.

In his bedroom, he straps on a replica Fender Stratocaster (the guitar Holly helped to popularize) and sings into a microphone on a stand, recording his own versions of "Peggy Sue" and "That'll Be the Day" on a primitive cassette recorder.

Primitive by today's standards, not the 1950s.

Lee is taking his vintage sound on the road throughout 2006 - at least on weekends, when school isn't in session.

This kid is really, really amazing. I look forward to seeing where life takes him, because he's definitely going places.

Best. Country. Music. Ever.

Okay, maybe not... but some of the funniest you'll ever listen to, that's for sure. Rick Moranis (remember him from Honey I Shrunk the Kids and Spaceballs?) has cut a CD of country music that you absolutely MUST go listen to. NOW. And be prepared to laugh out loud -- take care not to be drinking anything while you listen or your computer keyboard will need to be replaced.



The Agoraphobic Cowboy by Rick Moranis

Friday's Auction

In tones of pink/mauve and navy blue, we have a verse from one of the Psalms. "Nations Praise" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 10x14, image size is 8x12. Bidding starts at $25; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please! By bidding, you're helping a poor, struggling musician to purchase good equipment.

If you have any particular requests, I do take commissions. I've already gotten several private commissions, but if there's something you'd like to see me tackle for the daily auction painting, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Thursday's Auction

Today I'm offering another hibiscus; this one's white with a red center. "White Hibiscus" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 10x14, image size is 8x12. Bidding starts at $25; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please! By bidding, you're helping a poor, struggling musician to purchase good equipment.

If you have any particular requests, I do take commissions. I've already gotten several private commissions, but if there's something you'd like to see me tackle for the daily auction painting, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Your Art History Lesson for Today

Apparently one of the descendants of the former owner of this painting has been determined to be the painting's rightful owner



Interesting painting, eh? Gustav Klimt painted in the early part of the 20th century, during a period called "Art Nouveau," and many of his works ended up being seized by the Nazis. This painting was in Austria's possession, but now the courts have ruled that it truly does belong to the Altmann family. Maria Altmann is a descendant of the former owner, who was a Jewish man who fled Austria when the Nazis took over. The woman in the painting is Adele Bloch-Bauer, wife of the original owner.

Klimt was very influenced by textiles and their patterns and textures. He could obviously paint in a traditional, realistic style, but chose to stylize his paintings with textile designs and non-traditional substances. Art Nouveau design was characterized by vines and twisting flowers and patterns, and a mix of traditional and non-traditional. In the US, Tiffany's glassware and lamps are very good examples of the Art Nouveau style.

Yet more evidence that people in the media just don't get it

The Jordan Times ran a statement on Sunday about journalist/hostage Jill Carroll:

"Jill Carroll worked at The Jordan Times for one year - long enough for anyone who would come across her to be convinced beyond any doubt of her genuine interest in the Middle East, her sincere admiration for Arab culture and utmost respect for the Arab people."

"A few months after the US invasion, she left Jordan for Iraq, prompted by the desire to show to as vast an audience as possible the human tragedies caused by the war and the hardships of the Iraqi people."

"The kidnappers who abducted her could not have chosen a more wrong target."

"Jill has always wanted to know and experience as much as possible about Arab identity, and she is keen on absorbing it, learning, understanding and respecting it."

"An open-minded, sharp, intelligent, dedicated and highly appreciated professional, Jill makes one of the best ambassadors Arabs could ever hope for."

That's just it, people. The creeps who are taking hostages don't feel "misunderstood." They're not just trying to get attention or respect. They're trying to make more non-Muslims and Westerners DEAD... and scare as many other ones as possible in the process. It doesn't matter how well you understand the Arab mind, how well you bridge the gap between the cultures, because they're NOT INTERESTED IN UNDERSTANDING OR BUILDING CULTURAL BRIDGES. They're rabid, crazed, shall I say demon-possessed wackos bent on destruction and death. They hold their own lives in just as little regard as any other life, and look forward to the "reward" they've been promised for dying and taking out as many infidels as possible in the process. We need to be all about sending them on to the next life and preventing them from fulfilling their stated mission, because that's all we can do. They're murderous freaks, not reasonable rational freedom-fighters.

I'm sorry if that offends someone. Deal, 'k?

Wednesday's Auction

Yes, I know. It's a map. But work with me here -- it was a request. I do take requests! And someone told me they had a geography theme going in one of the rooms of their home and that they'd love it if I did some sort of map. Well, here it is.

Today's painting is a couple of inches larger than the ones I've been doing up to this point, because I used up the other size of paper. Today's painting, "US Mainland," is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 10x14, image size is 8x12. Bidding starts at $25; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please!

And here come the ACLU screams in 3... 2... 1...

New Braunfels, TX school district adding Bible class to its elective curriculum

If they had announced that they were creating an elective class about the Koran, I'll bet nobody'd blink an eye. In fact, didn't a few California school districts actually force elementary schoolers to endure a study of Islam and the Koran a couple of years ago?

Anyway, as irritable as the pseudo-intelligentsia will be about this, it's true -- the Bible is something that our founding fathers knew forwards and backwards and it influenced them a great deal.

Back in the early 1990s, I was taking a graduate class in English Lit at a university in Texas. The professor was a woman, probably in her fifties, unmarried and rather crabby just as a general personality trait. I didn't mind her, actually, but I found her to be unbelievably ignorant in one major thing: she seemed to have no idea of the Bible's influence on the literature we were reading at the time. I'm not the kind of person who sits in a classroom and makes a nuisance of herself preaching to everyone -- not by a longshot. In fact, I often just keep to myself and let other people talk. But we were discussing one piece of lit from the Enlightenment that was an OBVIOUS knockoff of one of the books of the Old Testament. As she discussed it and asked questions, no-one spoke up. Finally I said something to the effect of "I found this to be incredibly similar to the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament of the Bible." The prof looked at me blankly -- I swear to you, this was an OBVIOUS CORRELATION, not something arcane or obtuse, and she had NO IDEA. Most of the rest of the class was spent on angry feminist literature, poems about women being brutally raped, etc... eesh. It was lovely, really. I endured it quietly and said little else, and got an A, but MAN I was shocked at the ignorance, and while it's not a valid leap to assume that ALL profs are that ignorant, I'd be willing to venture that a goodly number of them are.

The Bible, like it or hate it, is a work of literature that had/has a profound influence upon Western culture and deserves close academic study for that reason alone.

But don't tell the ACLU.

Tuesday's Auction

Click the picture to see it in a larger format.

Here's a monotonal study in blue using the theme of sheet music to one of my favorite hymns, an ancient Irish one called "Be Thou My Vision."

"Vision" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 9x12, image size is 7x10. Bidding starts at $20; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please!

Watercolor blogging from Iraq

I'm not the only blogger who posts photographs of my watercolor paintings. Steven Givler, one of our heroes over in Iraq, has posted a number of his own watercolors which chronicle what he's seeing over there. Scroll down to find them; they're worth a look. He's incredibly talented.

Extreme Punk'd?

With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Russians spend millions to pull pranks on friends

...when Mr Denis Matsuev, one of Russia's best-known pianists, turned 30 recently, his friends didn't give him a champagne party. Instead they arranged for him to be arrested.

As part of a carefully planned practical joke, Mr Matsuev was met at a Moscow railway station by real armed police, put in their van and threatened with torture.

But instead of taking him to prison, the police delivered Mr Matsuev to his friends, who had put a piano on the van so that he could play while driving around the city under police escort.

Mr Matsuev, who claims to have enjoyed his 15,000 ($43,000) birthday treat said: 'I was so scared I nearly passed out.'

Russians are paying millions of roubles for elaborate pranks organised by a company that promises to cater for the most bizarre sense of humour, the newspaper reported.

'Our clients are people with money, influence and taste,' said Mr Sergei Knyazev, whose company sets up the practical jokes. He said he was inspired by The Game, a film in which Hollywood star Michael Douglas plays a businessman whose brother pays a firm to spice up his mundane life with dramatic events.

One of the ruses in Mr Knyazev's catalogue of jokes, yet to be ordered, is called Robinson Crusoe. For 20,000 a group of up to five friends are invited on to a yacht and shipwrecked on an island with no food or shelter.

Other jokes, already used, include having 'heroin' planted in the car of an unsuspecting businessman. He was then locked in a cell for hours with actors posing as criminals and questioned by an 'investigator' who threatened him with a 15-year jail sentence.

MANIAC

The escapade cost his friends 50,000 and included a stunt in which he was tricked into believing at one point that he would receive an award from President Vladimir Putin.

Another popular prank is to invite friends to a party at an isolated Russian country house or dacha on Moscow's outskirts.

After a while the host vanishes, the phone lines are cut and the guests are locked in. For an extra fee, an actor posing as an axe-wielding maniac can break in.

I'm not sure how well this would go over in the U.S. I am quite sure I would not find any of these pranks humorous in the least. I'm also quite sure that whoever pulled the stunt on me would be on the receiving end of a rather ugly whoopin'.

[yawn]

Teachers underpaid but appreciated

Gee, thanks, Mr. Carlson. That makes up for it.

I'm not sure [Coach Sheehan] left me with any life lessons, other than knowing to keep quiet when a big guy with a Southern accent is chewing you out. It came in handy in basic training.

Heh. I've discovered that there's nothing quite like my own Southern accent to get some kids' attention. It's definitely disconcerting to some of them, believe it or not, because they've never heard anyone speak in a Southern accent except perhaps on television. I have found it can be an advantage, too, in being disarmingly nice.

Teachers who, yes, are shamefully underpaid, can be absolutely certain they'll go into retirement with something most fat-salaried executives can never imagine.

They will be remembered - and appreciated - and respected - for a very long time.

Whatever. Still means I get to live in a 120-year-old firetrap in the inner city while the executive in middle management enjoys his house in the quiet 'burbs.

Meh. There's a lot to like about my house. And my job. But the pay? Particularly when you pair it with the expectations, it's rather dismal.

I do think I'm getting tired of the obligatory "We love teachers and they don't get paid enough" opinion column. How many times do we read that before anyone actually GETS it? Either suck it up and pay us more, or quit loading us down with piles of crap that have nothing whatsoever to do with actually TEACHING STUDENTS.

I knew I shouldn't have clicked

When Lair Simon posts something about a "mechanic smoothie," he isn't talking about an icy fruity drink. Do not click on it.

[shudder]

Monday's Auction

There's something compelling about the way a guitarist lovingly cradles his guitar. My goal was to try to capture that instance here. The music is colorful and rich, the fingers gentle. "Guitarist" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 9x12, image size is 7x10. Bidding starts at $20; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please!

How often...

...do you see Tajikistan in the news?

Not a lot, I'm thinking. But CENTCOM has a press release from a few days ago about Tajikistan, and I thought I'd share it with you all.

U.S. AIRLIFTS WINTER SUPPLIES TO TAJIKISTAN BORDER GUARDS

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan - The U.S. recently began a $3 million airlift of winter supplies and equipment to assist border guards in Tajikistan. Deliveries of food, winter clothing, medical supplies, tents and other needed supplies began arriving in Tajikistan on January 2 and will continue over the next several days.

The first supplies flown in by U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft from Afghanistan, consisted of 100,000 ready-to-eat meals for the border guards. The supplies are being delivered at the request of the Tajik government to assist border guard units during the winter months.

U.S. Charge d'Affaires Thomas Armbruster and Head of Tajik Border Guard International Relations Department, Erkin Tojibaev, helped unload the first shipment at Dushanbe International Airport January 2. Charge Armbruster noted how Tajikistan recently supplied Pakistan with emergency food assistance following the devastating earthquake there and how the international community responded to assist the people of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. "This airlift is in the same spirit of friends helping friends in need," said Armbruster.

Increased attention to the challenges for the Tajik Border Guards is an ongoing effort of the United States, Tajikistan and other partners including the United Nations Office of Drug Control and the European Union's Border project to better secure Tajikistan's borders and to stop the trafficking of people, drugs and weapons in order to encourage regional trade and help ensure global security.

The ability to rapidly shift assistance to areas needed has been a hallmark of U.S. - Tajik cooperation on border security and is a sign of the confidence the United States has in Tajik border guards.

Just thought you'd want to know. We don't hear enough about the good stuff that's going on with our military forces overseas, in my opinion.

You may ask, "Where the heck is Tajikistan, anyway?" Unfortunately, our woeful lack of geography education has made us Americans a rather ignorant lot when it comes to such matters. Tajikistan is nestled in the mountains along the northern border of Afghanistan. On the east it's bordered by China, and on the north and west it's hemmed-in by Uzbekistan.

No more highlights

Martha decided she didn't like the way the highlights looked, so I did an allover dark brown tonight to cover it all up. I think we've rescued it; we'll see in the morning when it's dry and she tries styling it. I warned her to be very careful with it now, because it had been double-processed and was much more fragile than it used to be.

Carnival time

The Carnival of the Recipes is up for this week!!

YUM!!!

The recipes I plan to try are Elisson's Duck-Breast Sammitches and Dave's Pork with Curry, Squash & Mushrooms. Wowzers...

Now THAT'S good customer service

In case you didn't know it, Scott Adams (creator of the Dilbert comic strip) has a blog: The Dilbert Blog

I saw a reference to this DilbertBlog post on LGF and thought it was worth quoting here. Dilbert tends to steer toward good business principles, and "good customer service" is a great principle. Scott Adams thinks the Devil gives great customer service.

According to MSNBC, about 50 people died in Saudi Arabia during the annual ritual of throwing stones at the devil. Apparently a stampede broke out when somebody tripped on luggage. That sounds like a poorly conceived punch line, but it actually happened. And it isn't the first time. In 1990, 1,426 people died in a stampede while throwing stones at the very same devil. (No word as to whether luggage was involved.) And in 2004, the devil killed another 244 stone-throwers the same way. By my count, the score is Devil 1,720 and Believers 0.

This is on the same day that the guy who shot John Paul II was freed. Clearly, the devil is having a good day.

I think it's interesting that when you pray to God for a new bike, it hardly ever materializes in your bedroom within seconds. But when you throw stones at the devil, quite often you get an immediate response. That's an example of good customer service.

[snicker]

Weekend Auction

I've decided that in order to give myself some extra creativity time, I'll just post one painting for the entire weekend. The weekend auction will close on Sunday evening at 10 PM CST, so you get two whole days to think about it.

This weekend's auction is a seahorse with a black pearl. I'm not entirely pleased with the photograph because it doesn't quite catch the colors correctly. At any rate, it's mostly in pastels and pale jewel-tones -- perfect for a bathroom decorated with an ocean theme.



"Seahorse With A Black Pearl" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 9x12, image size is 7x10. Bidding starts at $20; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please!

Incentive

My dad just sent me this; apparently someone saw this next to a cash register in a store. I thought it was rather motivational, really.

Highlights!

Martha decided she wanted her hair highlighted, so we spent a couple of hours tonight doing the foil thing in the kitchen. I'm not the greatest foiler, mainly because I don't do it very often, but I do know how it's done. Here are the results:





There were a couple of blotches down in amongst some of the strands, but all in all, it didn't turn out too hideously. I think she likes it. Of course, you can plainly see the results of her trichotillomania here, since she obviously has no eyebrows or eyelashes. I'm just thankful she doesn't pull the hair on her head. There really isn't much a parent can do to combat trich, because anything we would do would just aggravate her stress response and anxiety, driving her to do it even more. She's done it for two years, so I guess I'm just used to it now -- although my heart still wishes she could stop, because she's really a beautiful girl and I hate that she's altering her appearance in this way. But it's the way it is, and I love her regardless.

Today I met with the SPED people at her middle school. It was a staffing meeting, meaning we're officially writing her IEP (Individual Education Plan) and she will officially be classified as SPED -- with all the accommodations and services available to SPED individuals. This is a very, very good thing, in my estimation. For a long time I didn't want her to be labeled as such, but now I can see that it's really the best course to take. She needs to succeed, and she needs to be instructed in a way that will best educate her. The system isn't perfect, but it's better for her nonetheless. I really like the people who are working with her over at the middle school, and they seem to like me as well, so I think that between all of us we'll be able to steer her in a better direction.

Friday's Auction

Today I have a painting based on a photograph I saw on Jeff Gitchel's photoblog. Jeff is an Iowa photog who posts one photograph each day on a photo-blog. Some time ago he posted a photo that he'd snapped at Gray's Lake here in Des Moines, of a couple of wild rose blossoms. The wild rose is the state flower of Iowa, incidentally. Anyway, I loved that photo instantly and knew I would want to paint it at some point in the future. Well, now's the time.

Here's a link to his photo: Cement Flower

I'm calling my painting "Wild Roses" (original and creative, yes, I know, but let's not complicate matters, okay?)... and it's an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 9x12, image size is 7x10. Bidding starts at $20; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please!

Scallops Provencale

I am in the mood for scallops. Actually, there haven't been very many times when I'm NOT in the mood for scallops...

Be careful not to overcook them; they are delightful when they're perfect, but like bits of rubber when left over heat too long. They shouldn't look pink and translucent-ish anymore, but if you cook them until they're totally opaque it's probably too late.

Scallops Provencale

1/4 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced
28 oz. plum tomatoes, seeded (reserve juice)
1 T. olive oil
1 T. butter
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb. sea scallops
2 T. red wine
2 T. parsley, chopped
1 T. lemon juice
1 t. fresh oregano (1/4 t. dried)
1 t. fresh basil (1/4 t. dried)
salt & pepper to taste
hot cooked rice

Heat butter and oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and saute 1 minute. Add scallops and saute 1 minute. Add mushrooms and cook another minute. Add tomatoes and juice, wine, parsley, lemon juice, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Mix well. Reduce heat; simmer 5-7 minutes. Serve immediately over hot cooked rice. Makes 4 servings.

And after you're done, why not visit the rest of my blog and check out the watercolor paintings for sale? Plus, I do actually post other stuff. I'll bet you'll enjoy it.

Really. I think you might.

Living the Dream

Brett over at Beat Canvas has been writing some VERY inspiring things lately about living the dream. He has been quietly encouraging to me, both on his blog and via personal e-mails. I'm watching him strike out on interesting ventures, taking risks but not without careful consideration and homework, and doing things that he's passionate about, both artistically and career-wise.

In the seasons and stages of my life so far, I can usually look back and see God's hand and his direction in where I've gone. He leads, I follow (to some degree), and he takes whatever I give him and makes it into something useful for his purposes. Sometimes I can see where my disobedience has caused me grief and has prevented me from experiencing the full "coolness" of what he would've liked for me to do, but he always takes whatever I give him.

In this final year of my thirties, I can see that I'm getting better at saying "Yes" more quickly, and I can also see that the adventures God has taken me through have been much more fulfilling than when I was the one in charge. He has taken what I once considered "failed efforts" at piano and shown me that not one single moment of my piano training was wasted. He has shown me that the person he created, Kris, was imbued with gifts that he intended to use at some point in my life and that there was not one single extraneous or unnecessary ingredient used to make Me.

This has helped me come to see that the things I really love doing -- musical and visual arts -- are not just add-ons to my life that I do for fun. They were really, truly meant to glorify God to the fullest degree possible. Anything less would be a misuse of what God gave me. The supposed fact that "you can't make money with those" is not only untrue, it's an attempt by the enemy to prevent God's purposes from being fulfilled in me.

While I love my students here at the high school, I can clearly see that the "education establishment" is not my true calling. As I observe my colleagues who are called to do it, I can definitely see a difference between me and them. I can teach, and I can do it effectively -- don't get me wrong -- but it's not the sum total of my existence, nor is it really what I care to think about once 3:00PM rolls around every day. This doesn't mean that I need to give notice tomorrow, but it does
mean that this job takes second place to the pursuit of what I really am called to do... and that at some point, I may be called to leave it in order to do what God wants me to do next.

I half expected this latest venture of mine, stepping up my production of paintings to auction here on my blog, would become tiresome very quickly, but I was mentally prepared to continue doing it until I had achieved the goal of earning enough money to purchase musical equipment.

But I'm not tired of it. In fact, it has been energizing.

In fact, I can hardly wait to get home every day and paint. It's the first thing I want to do when I get up in the morning, and I have to say "no" because I have other obligations. It hasn't been drudgery, it has served only to spark more and more inspiration and creativity within my mind. As I'm performing my tasks here at school, I'm thinking of what I'm going to paint next and what colors I want to use.

Last year when I joined the music team at my church, I found that it was all I could think about. I couldn't wait to get down there and practice in the evenings and play on Sunday mornings or at gigs. I went to work at the school and did what I was required to do, and even developed some awesome relationships with teachers and students, but I barely gave school a second thought once the day was done. And that enthusiasm for making music with these people has not waned even a little bit, to my surprise. I still feel the same way, and doing it still makes me happier than just about anything else I do. Getting up at 5AM on Sunday mornings this past year has never once been difficult, while the same thing on Monday through Friday is always hard for me.

I think that's what has really struck me most -- usually I'll start something that sounds fun, but I soon become bored or tired of it and my interest plays out. Not so with these recent ventures involving music and painting. Which speaks volumes to me about what I'm supposed to be doing with my life.

Years ago I noticed that truly good salesmen were people who used their product and believed in it and were enthusiastic about it. It wasn't just a sales pitch, it was a personal testimony.

It has only recently occurred to me that this very same observation applies in my own life. The things I'm most successful at are the things for which I am most passionate. I can do other things for a season, but they're always going to serve the purpose of facilitating what I love.

It is precisely this kind of fulfillment that I hope to encourage in those around me.

Are you living your dream? Why not?

Caffeine information

I read this on braingle.com and thought you guys might be interested.

Caffeine is probably the most commonly used chemical stimulant. More than 90% of Americans consume caffeine on a daily basis in their coffee, soda, tea, or chocolate. Pure caffeine is a white bitter-tasting powder that can be extracted from coffee, tea, the guarana berry, or from other sources.

Caffeine is a brain stimulant. It works in the brain by blocking the natural effect of adenosine on the nerve cells, causing increased mental activity. It also causes the body to release adrenaline, which causes the heart to beat faster, blood pressure to rise, muscles to tighten up, and extra sugar to be released into the bloodstream for a burst of energy. This is why it is often used to counteract sleepiness.

Caffeine is an addictive substance. When the effects from caffeine wear off, the feelings of fatigue, depression, and irritability set in. Taking more caffeine can counteract these feelings, but this leads to a dangerous cycle. With prolonged use, it can interfere with the brain's ability to reach deep sleep and become fully rested, which means that the person will feel tired in the morning and be more inclined to take even more caffeine.

In addition to working as a brain stimulant, caffeine has also been shown to improve athletic performance and endurance.

Two additional things to keep in mind about caffeine are that it is a diuretic and causes increased calcium loss. So, if you consume caffeine you should make sure that you are drinking enough water to avoid dehydration and that you are getting enough calcium in your diet.

It's probably a good idea to limit your caffeine intake to 250mg per day (less if you are pregnant). Unfortunately, companies rarely label their products with the amount of caffeine that they contain. Here is a little chart to help you.

Drip Coffee (8oz)	95mg
Instant Coffee (8oz)	85mg
Decaf Coffee (8oz)	3mg
Espresso (1oz)	40mg
Coffee Ice Cream (1 cup)	50mg
Brewed Tea (8oz)	50mg
Instant Tea (8oz)	28mg
Iced Tea (8oz)	25mg
Snapple Tea	42mg
Cocoa (8oz)	6mg
Chocolate Milk (8oz)	5mg
Chocolate Bar	10mg
Mountain Dew	56mg
Diet Coke	47mg
Coke	35mg
Pepsi	38mg
Barqs Root Beer	23mg
NoDoz Max Strength	200mg
NoDoz Regular Strength	100mg

 

Catblogging

No, they're not ours. They belong to Jeff & Linda, hosts of my small-group meeting from church, and when I came into their house tonight the kitties were perched up high like kitties like to be. I grabbed my camera, which is always at the ready for such moments.

This handsome, glossy-black gentleman-cat is Bear.



And hiding smugly in the highest point in the entire kitchen is the lovely and talented ladycat, Sammi.



I am looking forward to this spring, when there will be barncat kittens everywhere at Russ-From-Winterset's brother's place. I'm hoping we can make an outing of it and the kids & I can go pick out a couple of them for ourselves.

Thursday's Auction

I've always been fond of fancy, veil-tailed, googly-eyed goldfish. "Goldfish" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 9x12, image size is 7x10. Bidding starts at $20; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please!

Wednesday's Auction

Today I have a light-pink hibiscus bloom for ya. "Pink Hibiscus" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 9x12, image size is 7x10. Bidding starts at $20; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please!

Tuesday's Auction

For your enjoyment today I have some cool, summery coleus leaves. "Coleus #1" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 9x12, image size is 7x10. Bidding starts at $20; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please!

My hand hurts

I have severe carpal tunnel syndrome in my right hand, and today it has flared up more than usual, preventing me from finishing today's painting on time. I'm scheduled to have surgery on February 2. I waited to schedule it then because SoulFire purposefully accepted no gigs in February so I could have surgery. I'm a little nervous about it, but my dad assures me it's no big deal.

I don't think it's flared up because I've been painting more. It seems to be unrelated to overuse, really, and more just a capricious thing. As it is, I'm in a great deal of discomfort and am unable to hold the brush for more than a few strokes at a time.

I am thankful that it does not seem to affect me when I'm playing the piano. No, it comes only when I'm gripping something, even very lightly. Like a pen or a paintbrush or a steering wheel or a button. I can barely button or zip or tie shoes anymore. I cannot handle earrings at all, because I can't feel my fingertips to know what I'm holding.

Three weeks from Thursday... that's when I'll get relief, I hope.

I can't put this book down

Memoirs of a Geisha has got to be the most riveting book I've read since Girl With a Pearl Earring. I can hardly stand to put it down. If I didn't have so much to get done tonight, my nose would still be buried in this novel.

I absolutely loved the movie adaptation of Girl With a Pearl Earring (it captured the mood and the feel of the book EXACTLY), but as usual I'm a bit nervous about the Geisha movie. I have had ample reason NOT to trust Hollywood in the past. Peter Jackson's LOTR movies were a welcome relief from the insipidity of most adaptations. I was disappointed in the Little House TV programs and in the Anne of Green Gables movies; even though they were nice, none of them were true to the original books and really captured the essence of the characters the way they were written.

At any rate, I intend to finish this book and hand it off to my bestest pal Cindy so she can read it. Then probably the two of us will go see the movie and see if it lives up to the book.

Oh. my.

I just met the student teacher that's been assigned to our math class, and I don't think I've ever seen someone look or act more shellshocked than this individual. I greeted her after having been introduced by the lead teacher, and the poor girl did not even meet my gaze or speak to me. I then spoke directly to her, thinking maybe she didn't hear me. She still didn't look at me or talk, but her eyes darted nervously all around the floor and the wall. I'm wondering now what's wrong with her. If she's this timid, she won't last another week at this high school. Holy cow.

Monday's Auction

Today it's just a fun, random pattern of colors... no deep significance or higher meaning, just haphazard patches. "Crazy Quilt" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 9x12, image size is 7x10. Bidding starts at $20; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please!

Sunday's Painting

Here's another monochromatic study; this time in blue, with a treble-clef sign outlined in silver for all you musician-types.

"Treble Blues" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 9x12, image size is 7x10. Bidding starts at $20; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for looking!! If you like what you see, spread the word -- please!

101 uses for pre-teenagers

At BestBuy tonight: "Mom, I really want a cell phone."

"I'm sure you do." I explained all the various costs and complications, then told her that if she could actually scrape together $50 at one time, that would prove to me that she was able to earn enough money to pay for a cell phone bill every month.

"But this phone right here is only $9.99," she insisted... as if what I had said had meant nothing. Which is technically true for her -- it's one of her learning disabilities, that she can't hear something and apply it. Anyway, I re-explained it all to her. Twice.

So for now, she's motivated and wants to earn money. Which means that maybe... just maybe... we'll finally get a few cheerful chores done around here. Which is the sole purpose of pre-teenagers, if we're going to be truthful, because they can't go out and get jobs yet. They're God's gifts to parents; even though they're often mouthy and obnoxious, they're big enough to be able do real chores AND they can't get in the car and drive away anywhere yet. Captive slaves... heh

The Pledge of Allegiance, according to Isaac

Isaac just made me a little paper flag to use as a bookmark, and he wrote out the Pledge for me. I thought you'd enjoy reading it, just as he wrote it:

I Pleg ALeaGens to the Flag of the Younidid States of Amareka and to the RiypoBliCK for which it stans one nashoin under God in duviseBle whith LiBRityh and Justis for all

Okay, NOW I'm depressed

My six year old son (who, admittedly, is a genius) can operate the television/cable box better than I can. We just got home from practice, and I wanted to watch Fox News, but I couldn't get a signal to come up, so I gave up and quit worrying about it. Isaac asked me a little later if he could watch TV and I said, "Sure, if you can get it to work."

In about ten seconds, "Jimmy Neutron" was showing and Isaac was parked on the recliner.

I think my son IS Jimmy Neutron, actually.

Today's auction

Okay, so I don't often paint quite in this style, but Erica requested a dragon, and I know that the Chinese New Year begins on the 29th of this month, so in celebration of this, here's a happy little dragon (complete even with a little shiny gold enhancements) and he's looking forward to celebrating (the Kanji symbol in red is "celebrate") the New Year with you.

"Dragon" is an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 9x12, image size is 7x10. Bidding starts at $20; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for helping me out!!

Heh

This is probably on my top five of all-time best blonde jokes.

[still holding my sides]

Today's auction

For those of you who decorate in shades of green, here's a study in green plus a bonus surprise hiding in plain sight. I call this "Capriole Vert" and it's an original watercolor painting on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 9x12, image size is 7x10. Bidding starts at $20; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for helping me out!!

I am so sick of this dipwad

Pat Robertson suggests Sharon's stroke the result of God's punishment for "dividing the land of Israel."

Can someone... ANYONE... convince this idgit to SHUT UP??? Can he not see that every single time he opens his mouth, he makes a fool out of himself and makes the rest of us evangelicals look like fools as well?

FOR THE RECORD: I do NOT agree with this moonbat and I consider him to be on par with Cindy Sheehan as far as the validity of his idiotic, dumb@$$ opinions.

As a college student, I briefly showed interest in Robertson's candidacy for US President... but then, I also briefly showed interest in Dukakis, so there's perspective for ya. When I grew up, I shunned both.

Now, do I deny that the very Bible which I read actually does say those things? Nope. Nor do I claim that they AREN'T valid. I'm just saying that it's really, really stupid to publicly and widely proclaim this sort of thing. God's ways are much, much bigger than ours, and I just don't think we can make these kinds of claims about His purposes. It's the same as the idiots who claim that AIDS is God's broadstroke punishment for homosexuality. The people who say these sorts of things don't really know God very well, I'm guessing.

Governor Fallon

I know, I know... some of my more right-of-center friends will cringe when they read the title of this post, but I'm off the fence. State29 is right... Ed Fallon is the only one in this pack of politicians who has the potential to do a decent, upright job as governor of Iowa. Which means, of course, that he won't win. But just the same, he's my guy, even though he's a bit of a greenie and a populist. To be fair, State29 also has confidence in Patty Judge, but I have to draw the line there. As for the Republican nominee, Nussle is pathetic and I just don't think I could stomach voting for him.

I'm especially fond of Fallon because he bucks trends and goes with what he believes to be right, regardless of what agenda either party happens to be pushing at the time. He's dissed his Dem pals almost as much as he's dissed the Repubs. If nothing else, Ed Fallon as governor may mean that nothing happens for four years -- and THAT kind of gridlock is something I can happily live with.

And I can't quite believe I'm saying this about someone who wins accordion-playing contests at county and state fairs... but he's still by far the best man for this job. Read this to find out why I think so.

This is the kind of stuff that really does give me nightmares

Tropical spider the size of a hand hides in elderly man's house for weeks, biting him while he sleeps

WALES, UK

A tarantula-like spider which has been biting an elderly man in his sleep has been in his house for several weeks, according to the RSPCA.

The 76-year-old man first noticed a large spider running out of a box of bananas he bought some weeks ago.

Police inspected his house in Newport, south Wales but found nothing. The man subsequently suffered two bites.

He finally spotted the spider early on Wednesday morning. The RSPCA is now trying to remove it from his home.

The arachnid is described as being as large as a human hand.

RSPCA spokesman Gethin Russell Jones said a collection officer had been despatched to the home in Bettws, near Newport, to retrieve the spider and take it to a vet for identification.

He told BBC Wales' news website: "He's quite an elderly gentleman. He noticed a large spider months ago when he bought the bananas.

"The police came around and environmental health came but couldn't find anything. He thought it had gone away."

Mr Jones said the pensioner had been bitten twice while he slept but had he had not initially connected it with the spider.

Recently though, he began to feel more ill and while lying in bed in the early hours of Wednesday, he saw the spider running up a wall.

The man, who did not want to be interviewed, was reported to be dehydrated and sick, but it is not clear whether this was as a result of the spider bites or not.

First of all, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that RedFish won't be reading this one, even though it will download onto her PDA tomorrow morning before she goes to work. The thing she needn't worry about, though, is that the nasty creature emerged from a box of bananas... and she's allergic to bananas.

Anyway, this kind of story literally makes my skin crawl. This large arthropod, known as a "kwabaryen" in Haiti, lost in one's home? I don't think so. Living in Iowa, however cold and miserable it may be otherwise, isn't home to many nasty spiders. Oh, yes, the funnel-web spiders and the brown recluses DO show up here from time to time, but not nearly to the degree that they did in Texas. We also don't have poisonous snakes here except for a very few rattlesnakes in one isolated area near Winterset (where John Wayne was born, appropriately enough).

I have a deep-seated, irrational, visceral fear of spiders. I have tried in recent years to acclimate myself to them; to study them, to try to understand them, and in some ways I am less prone to flattening any and every spider I see. I've learned to recognize the ones that will "get me" and the ones that have no intention (or even ability) to harm me.

I still get heart palpitations if I see one in the house, regardless. I'd probably lose all bladder control if I saw one like the poor man in England did.

Today's auction

Colorful stylized gecko, watercolor on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 9x12, image size is 7x10. Bidding starts at $20; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for helping me out!!

Back to the grind

Today was the first day back for the Des Moines school district. For me it was rather uneventful and calm (PTL!), although I got a spontaneous hug from one student and countless congratulations for the slideshow (even after two weeks of vacation, everyone's still talking about that thing). I was sort-of dreading going back, but it wasn't so bad.

I am a bit tired at the moment because I wasn't able to get more than an hour or two of sleep last night. Dunno why; I was certainly tired and I felt sleepy. I just couldn't sleep, and I kept tossing and turning. I can't even blame Rick because he wasn't coughing.

I think as an auction update I will post a link to a page which has all the previously-auctioned paintings on it and whether they sold or not. That way someone can see what's gone before and get a better idea (maybe) of what my work is like... AND if they see one they like that hasn't sold yet, they can buy it.

Today's auction

Colorful stylized gecko, watercolor on acid-free 140lb. Canson paper, paper size is 9x12, image size is 7x10. Bidding starts at $20; use the Comments to bid. At 10PM Central, bidding's over. Winner pays through Paypal, Amazon, or money order. Personal checks must clear before I will ship. If you are the auction winner, please inform me of your location so I can give you an exact shipping amount to add to your payment.

Thank you for helping me out!!