from Camus

I was just sitting down to read a bit before heading to bed. I am still working on Camus' writing for Combat. It is taking me a while, but it isn't really a novel you sit and read, rather it is a series of editorials that you read in small quantities. With this war in Iraq going on, his comments on what is justifiable in war, taken in context, reveal much of what seems to be wrong right now. Today's interesting note, from the 2nd paragraph of the editorial dated 14 November, 1944: "Modern warfare is so lethal that no country, no matter how numerous its population, can allow itself to go to war half prepared." If this was so sixty years ago, has anything changed to make it untrue? If so, perhaps our Executive Branch would care to enlighten us.

too much time online?

I think I spent too much time over at LOLCats today, only to find this picture (text is mine) at Davo's blog (see sidebar link).  Hopefully, he considers that appropriate credit.  I haven't been down to the Puyallup fair here, but I have heard it is trans-fat free.  Leave it to Washington to ensure something like that makes front page news.  There is slow new and no news, and aside from some shootings down at the Market (Pike's Place, I think, since it is the only one capitalized around here), this has been a no news week around here.  That's about it.

August already

Today, browsing the web while munching on dinner, I found this article in the Guardian UK.  For some reason I don't recall seeing any articles recently in the American papers about 190,000 weapons which can't be accounted for in Iraq, but were distributed to the security force by the U.S. and its allies.  Is a joke about shooting ourselves in the foot appropriate here?

In business news, I feel sorry for all the employees at Chrysler.  I think Daimler gave them a raw deal, and I think their new owners will give it to them even worse.  I wonder what sort of parachute they gave the Home Depot guy.  Good thing for Chrysler he weaseled 200 million out of Home Depot, since he won't have negotiated for nearly as much if (or when) they ask him to leave.

Random thoughts on International Affairs

For whatever reasons, perhaps because of the book on Picasso I am reading, or perhaps because I just finished the last Harry Potter novel, some thoughts have come to mind about world affairs:

Will China's surge in demand for natural resources lead to a mending of fences with Russia, allowing Russia to play China against Europe for resources?  Russia has not proven itself unwilling to use this card.

How many more, Iraqis & Americans, will die before something is really done there?  (The same holds true for Afghanistan too, but from what I have read, it seems the Afghans are at least trying to help restore order, though if we keep bombing our friends, that may end as well.)

How long will Pakistan hold out against the "Islamists"?  Musharraf's friendly dictatorship just doesn't seem all that stable.

While not really a blip on anyone's radar, how long will the poorest classes in India refrain from revolution, causing turmoil there as well?  If something happens in Pakistan, will the new regime look to Kashmir to bolster their strength (not wanting to give up what they consider theirs).

Africa & South America are strangely off this list for now, but Chavez is causing a right fit in his part of the latter, especially amongst the neighbors, the poorest of which probably hear him and think how nice it will be to have natural resource revenues split amongst them all.  To some degree, part of the profits in such things do belong to all, and probably more than any country really taxes the companies involved.

There was something I saw somewhere, me and my lousy documentation, about young Israelis not being keen on staying in Israel, but without the article to refer to, that will remain to speculation, and to the speculation on what will happen there if a voluntary exodus occurs (which I don't think is mentioned in the Bible).

An entry because it is something to do.

Sundays are weird sorts of days sometimes.  Today was one for me.  I wasn't terribly up for anything, and spent the day accordingly, doing a bit of this and a bit of that.  While surfing the web, I came across a few blogs which featured the "farewell for now" message.  I guess I find it kind of interesting to post that sort of message, though I guess if I had any regular readers, it wouldn't seem so odd--letting people know there is no reason to continue checking on a regular basis is good manners.  (Manners on the Internet? Maybe that is why it seems an odd blog topic?) 

Weekend is over...again...so quickly

At the OK OK Gallery, there is a show by Gregory Euclide, and I stopped in today, as I try to monthly, just to see what was there.  Some big stuff, and then there were these.  It is as if someone decided to cut up packing bubbles and glue them over quarter-sized watercolors.  The result was then mounted to a nail which had been hammered into the gallery wall.  The upper double row on the postcard show what they looked like, but there is really nothing to indicate the look of abject horror on the staff's face when I suggested popping the bubbles.  This, apparently, is not interactive art, though in looking at it, I was reminded of a couple of things.  When I was a kid, back then, there we these decorative pieces which consisted of a couple of colors of sand sandwiched in between some plastic, as you turned it, the sand would change patterns.  His pictures, inexplicably, reminded me of those sand patters.  They also seemed too precious, but that is strictly an opinion.

Tuesday...only Tuesday...

Here I am wishing it were some other day of the week, I don't know if it is because of the temperature (upper 80's-lower 90's), or some other reason.  I added a handful of books to my Librarything, but haven't otherwise done much today, aside from work of course.

If I ever decided to do a series of silk screens, it did occur to me that the Forbidden City would be a fun image.  For the record though, the Starbuck's which is there, is really unobtrusive--even more so when you you consider the shop it is in would remain a retail knick-knack establishment if Starbuck's were forced to close, since it takes up less than half the space in that souvenir-coffee shop corner.

Progression...

Here is what it looks like now:

And here is what it looked like on July 4th when it was originally painted:

Personally, I like the current version better, though there is still some work to do on the chin.  I am pleased the hair no longer resembles some sort of bad Afro, while it still isn't textured correctly, at least it is a major improvement.

The work week has been a bit odd, with the holiday in the middle and everything.  I haven't really done much, though went out for a few beers, and while I highly recommend the Lock and Keel's Ranch-Style Quesadilla (BBQ Chicken), all I can say for their version of a french dip is to politely request a bit less salt in the au jus, as it was promising that point aside.

Finished...I think

Last night I added a few more touches to this picture, and I think I might call it finished.  I don't know that I consider it very good, but for a painting at the end of a single oil painting class I will consider it passable, as I do think it could have turned out much worse.  Likely, it won't ever make it into a portfolio, at least not without further tweaking.

I also think my study in purple and orange is going to get a major revision, but I still have work to do on what I need to add.  Of course, a picture will arrive, hopefully better than the one posted, when the process is complete.

I am trying to decide what to do on my day off tomorrow, though I believe my decision will probably include paint, nothing is yet in stone there.

Sunday in the Kitchen

Yesterday, I did a bit of touch-up on this painting which I did mostly last weekend, but one of my hills was too pointy for my liking.  I still can't say for sure that I like it and that it is done, but it is a nice experiment.  I had been thinking about doing some color variations on the work by Moser that I copied earlier this year, but not much has come of it.  This is one of the color combinations I was thinking about, though I do think a bit larger scale would do them justice, as from the books in the background, this is a small painting.

Today, fighting against the beautiful weather and the normal Sunday blahs, I did manage to get to work on my portrait of a woman sitting.  I think there was some improvement, but I am not sure if I managed to get it where I want to call it finished.  

Apologies about the glare on both pictures, but I wasn't in the mood to fuss with lighting today, and since the portrait is still very not dry, I would rather not take the chance of messing it up.

One nice thing about today though, is that it was another day where I was so absorbed in painting I didn't realize the time passing, being quite shocked when "The Seven Deadly Sins" wrapped up.  I hadn't really thought about the next music selection, so if I wanted music, I needed to either turn the radio on, or find to play, both required me to put my brushes down.

Bogle & Gates

Today I noticed a bar code on the wooden base of my new sofa with the name "Bogle & Gates" on it.  Not having much of a clue as to what they did, but figuring it was an inventory control sticker, I decided to look it up.  It seems they were a 100+ year old law firm in the Northwest which dissolved in the late '90s.  It doesn't make me feel any different about my sofa, and I can't say that I am unhappy the firm who defended Exxon in the Exxon Valdez dissolved, but I am sure the lawyers all found someplace else to litigate.  By the way, it doesn't appear from what I read that the Exxon case had anything to do with their dissolution, but rather some firm in Minneapolis who hired a bunch of partner and associates from them at a single time which seems to have done them in. 

 

Oops...missed a week again...

While it seems I have been doing a good job lately of not writing, I have in the past week, finally acquired a sofa, and reread all the extant Harry Potter novels in preparation for the new one.  I have also thought about the new iPhone, but still can't justify the cost or a two year contract.  Finally, when I get a good picture of it, I will post the painting I was working on earlier this week, which I may or may not be finished with.  

My modem made an odd noise earlier, so I hope there is nothing wrong.  Everything appears to be working correctly, but appearances are just that.

On top of all that, a book I ordered last weekend came in, "Glitter and Doom:  German Portraits from the 1920s."  I started reading it this morning, after perusing it some last night.  It is a catalog from a show about the Neue Sachlichkeit artists active during the Weimar Republic, generally focused on those active in Berlin (I can not yet say exclusively).  So far, it is interesting, and I am really only breaking the reading up because it occurred to me that I needed to update here, before people lost hope and stopped reading.

Today is looking to be a nice day, so hopefully I won't get too caught up in my book and will get outside.  If I feel like painting, then nice day or not, I will work on that.  I have a small canvas, now I just need an appropriate image.  Enough for now, time to continue reading until I am done with my coffee, then to something else.

Dumpster diving to a new level

I don't recall hearing about "Freegans" until reading this article. I find it interesting, if not inevitable, that eco-consciousness has hit this level. While I believe that just driving a Prius and buying eco-indulgences (carbon offsets) does minimal good, minimal is still better than none. Somewhere between these scavenging (I don't know if there is a preferred term for this sort of shopping by these 21st century hunter-gatherers) souls and rampant consumerism there is a ground where most can live, and live comfortably. Personally, I prefer to save time and buy my food at the grocery, though I don't drive there, preferring to walk. Dropping out of capitalism, while a fun-sounding idea, isn't really practical for most people if you want a balanced life. If you don't have to come up with rent money (because you own or live with relatives), then spending time scavenging your next meal and a dinette set is fine, but I have rent, and I have things I would rather spend my off hours doing, so I will buy. For some of us, it is easier to modify some habits rather than reject that which we were born into. Personally, I buy a mix of new and used stuff, whether clothing or furniture, walk many places, including work, and try to remember to turn lights off, not let faucets drip, and other small things (yes, I recycle as well). I do own a car, and even though it isn't currently running, don't drive it to work when it is, nor do I generally drive it to the store. It is the small things done by large numbers which will change things, rather than the large changes to one's personal life made by the few. Like it or not, this is a capitalist country, and in this country, money talks and business watches where dollars are spent. Only changing the habits of current and future generations will bring about responsible eco-awareness. Remembering that just because something new is out there (I think an iPhone would be great, but my current cell-phone still works), it doesn't need replacing until it is no longer functional--please don't confuse functional with stylish or newest or more feature-laden. Let me emphasize, that I don't believe these people are wrong, but I do think there is another way, not better, but different. One last thing, if everyone stopped buying things, there would be no grocery stores or restaurants to scavenge behind, nor dumpsters full of still good stuff.

still meddling

Shortly after finishing my last post, I changed the color of the church building, and yesterday I turned the dark line across the bottom into a dark triangle. I am still trying to assess the damage or improvement. I do like the church as a darker color, and maybe still need to go darker with the entrance, but don't know. I am also still having compositional issues. There are some nice areas, but overall, I think there is too much going on, hence the problems I am having deciding where next. It seems for basic unity, either I need to put a street or square in front of the thing or bring the horizon down and fill the foreground with housetops. Such pesky decisions, but at least I know a few of the options open to me.

Working something out.

The image quality is pretty bad, so my apologies ahead of time. I am trying to work on some sort of small scale picture combining various impressions of Romania, including the view from the Hotel Prahova where we were whisked for our first week or so of training/acclimation. Some things in this gouache I like, while I am not sure the whole thing works as well as I would like. (The pencil lines which can barely be perceived indicate the size of canvas I am working with, which is tiny, only 5"x7".) I like the way the church dome fits into the sky, but don't care much for the way the factory works compositionally, though it is the balance to the church. With the exception of the trees, the lower portion of the picture is dull and pretty boring. (I have to start putting my fingers in the right place for typing, as I am tired of constant correction.) Considering the way this picture is being done, perhaps I only need to adjust some colors.

I really should have something brilliant and witty to add, but frankly, it hasn't been one of those summers (or late springs, if you must). I have read some 20th century art history and artist biographies, but nothing so stellar I feel it must be shared. My car died a few weeks ago, and there is still the issue of getting it fixed, which involves me going over to my boss' one Saturday and displaying my mechanical ineptitude. Otherwise, there is nothing aside from work going on.

Romania...again...

It may have been de-crimalized in 2001, but Romanians still have an issue with gay people. It would have been fun to be there, more fun to have been at the first two years ago, when the marchers weren't dodging stones. I don't have much more to add, but articles on Romania catch my eye, this one was a bit unfortunate. Hopefully, the link will work for a bit.

Hopper and Bauhaus

I just finished reading a couple of Taschen publications, their books on Edward Hopper and the Bauhaus. From their book on Hopper, and my personal experience, I would say he painted ennui and the dislocation one feels even in the most familiar of places. Somehow this is an American theme (as the book implies Europeans still don't "get him"), perhaps because of how technology transformed the country, and how there were centuries of thought fighting for survival while it did so.

The Bauhaus book was enlightening for what it said about the history of the school, most of which I didn't know. The almost mystical leanings of the early Bauhaus (due to the influence of Itten), and how a couple of painters (Kandinsky & Klee) were instructors there for most of its existence, though I normally don't associate either with the movement, as I always thought of it as an "industrial" design and architecture movement (though architecture wasn't officially taught until the latter half of its existence. I think only in America would one forget how "small" Europe is and be blind to how everything else going on in the twenties would have influenced it--there was even bauhausian theatre.

Explaining Beer Tastes

I don't quite know how you explain beer. I have never been told which flavors are what, regarding malts, hops, and other fun things. Regardless, I rather like beer in its variety, and constantly try new and different ones. Today, the beer happens to be a doppelbock, Salvator, from Paulaner in Germany. This was available by the bottle at Fred Meyer, so that is what I bought, a bottle. It has a strong flavor, which always pleases me, now if I can place the flavor, it would help me describe it. Oh well, with time and some effort at explaining things, this will get easier, but I thought if I can add a bit of variety to the blog, it would make it both more pleasurable to write and to read. It is still only Tuesday and XTC are Skylarking while the oven is pre-heating and I am drinking. Cleaning and straightening are on the agenda this evening as well. For more on bocks, go here.

Actually, I have the suspicion this will turn into something as oblique as wine or Scotch tasting, but let us really hope it doesn't move into something so sublime as vodka tasting.

Another Week Begins

Another week, with bits and pieces of everything all over the place. I have managed to do a bit of work around the house in preparation for a house guest, but there is still work to do, of course. I wish deep thoughts were abounding today, but Yma just finished Wimoweh, and if she doesn't blow away deep thoughts, then perhaps something along Eno's ambient line is for you (if you can't blow them away, just put them asleep). Work today had little going for it, other than it seemed that a lot of people called in, and considering how dreary it was outside, chances are they might have really been sick. Maybe later I will add more, but for now, this is it--mindless puff, but I felt the urge to cut up a picture, and once done, felt the urge to put it somewhere, so here are words to go with those urges. Never a cleaner urge...except when I decide to clean the toilet. By the way, other than cropping the image, it isn't manipulated in any way, shape, or filter. I thought it kind of cool, and I hope it isn't too pretentious.

Weekend Wind-down

While Romanians voted to keep Basescu in office over the weekend, there was also another major election--that of Miss Travesty Romania. In addition to the lovely contestant pictured, more can be found here. Hopefully they won't be too upset with me using their picture, as I gave them proper due. Actually, I don't think ten years ago a contest such as this would have been dreamed of, so the EU has brought some changes, though obviously not everyone is happy on the political front. Luckily, with the political situation the way it is, the ladies can continue to perfect their travesty, and we can hope the government doesn't become one as well.

For me, the weekend hasn't been terribly productive, but that happens now and again. I am looking forward to things building up this week, and a friend from Peace Corps Romania will be visiting next weekend for the NW Folklife Festival. Really, that is about it, and hopefully next weekend won't be quite as dismal as this one.