Wisdom is Proved Right By Her Actions

Very excited about the set up for the new drawing: a bust of Pallas Athena.

(Fret not: the unsightly line and red thumb tack--behind the bust's right shoulder--will not be included in the drawing)

up yer nose wid a rubba hose...pick this...and other witty titles having to do with the proboscis

The nose is done. Although I just destroyed it (while spraying fixative on it, a nasty blob sputtered out of my nearly-empty can and landed on the lower right hand corner of the nose shape). But it lives on in digital memory. Enjoy.

PS--A little tid-bit for observant blog-readers: notice that I have change the way I will be signing art work.

Interview

I almost forgot that I had been e-interviewed a little while back, and I failed to post my responses to the questions. (Maybe it had something to do with all the real-life interviewing I was doing at the time).

1. You have to eat from one fine fast food establishment for every meal for the rest of your life; which is it and why?

Is IHOP fast? 'Cause that would be it. If not, I'd pick Smoothie King: it has variety and I could probably stand to eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

2. If you were given the chance, what famous person (dead or alive) would you want to interview you?
You

3. What song do you want played at your funeral?
"Estrella" by Brave Saint Saturn (slightly modified)

4. Describe the last time you were really embarrassed.
Tough...I don't easily embarrass. Maybe today in class when I tripped over a kid's chair. Only it didn't feel like embarrassed...it felt like rage.

5. What is your biggest regret?
Not having pursued my artistic development from an earlier age.

"What the BEEP!" said the Conceptual Artist

Our microwave is broken. Well, not broken, exactly; it is muted. When we press any button, where there was once sound, there is now only eerie silence. NO BEEP!!! It's so scary not knowing when my food is done because there is no alarm to alert me!!

I'm being mockulatory, of course. This "travesty" made me think how soft and cushy we have it these days. The idea struck me that it would be a worthwhile experiment to, whenever any piece of modern technology broke (as they so often do), instead of paying ridiculous amounts to have a contraption fixed, to simply try to live without it. In this case, it would be relatively easy. What does a microwave do that couldn't be done by something else? Really, it's just a matter of time; and how sad that we've made our lives all about compacting more crap into less time.

But then I realized it would be much harder in other instances. If a car breaks down, it's harder to walk, ride a bike, get a horse, or bum rides off people. If a computer breaks down...life as we know it is over. But as another example, my ipod is broken. I need to take it to the Mac store to have it fixed, but I have been living without it for several weeks now, just because I don't have time to make that trip. This time period has shown me that I can in fact live without 24/7, at my fingertips, musical wish fulfillment. This thought then led me to the title of a story or scholarly article I would like to write: "Solomon, In All His Splendor." (That is the conceptual artist in me: all these great ideas, but no time or specified expertise to complete them. If only I could get paid to come up with ideas and sell them to suitable buyers/creators.) Basically, it's the idea that in Ecclesiastes, Solomon hired musicians to play for him in his palace. Back in the day, you didn't have easy-access music. Only the rich got to hear the good stuff from the good people during good times. But today we want all the best, all the time. We "hire" thousands of musicians playing millions of their best songs by downloading them into our pockets. The folly of this, however, is that it does not stop with music. I mean, who can argue that it' s a beautiful thing to be able to listen to great tunes. MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! It's nice not to have to be uber-rich to afford a good band these days. But we heedlessly charge off, just like Solomon, to get all the other trappings. The sweet pad, the gardens, the servants, the sexual conquests...and we never get filled enough so we think we need to get more. Enter debt, misery, discontent, dissatisfaction, despair, bondage. It's a shame we can't just listen to the guy who did it all way better than we ever could and figure out, before we start, that it's just not worth it. We are trying to live in the glory and the splendor of Solomon, but it would be better if we dressed like flowers and ate like birds.

So the time has flown by. I must go and spend some time with a real, live person...and not another piece of soon-to-be-broken technology.

Monochrome Family

Spring in Texas lacks the vast array of colors found in Dutch tulips, but when it comes to blue, the state flower provides more than enough color for your average roadside.

You Can't Take No For An Answer

If Saturday was like "American Idol," today was like "Muppets Take Manhattan." I tried to meet with three different individuals today to discuss the possibility of me working in the Keller ISD. I was unsuccessful with all three. But at the very least, I reasserted my name and my desire to teach high school art. I'm a bit like Kermit sitting at Pete's, unsure what my next move will be. But for now, I'm simply refusing to take no for an answer.

sanJAYa

I just participated in what can only be described as the "American Idol" of education: the job fair. Along with thousands of other (would-be) teachers, I arrived at Flower Mound High School Saturday morning. We were herded like cattle into the gym. We were then scheduled for screening interviews, and as I was seated in the third row, I was able to interview immediately. The judges approved of my performance and sent me on to Hollywood (actually, it was called the "Opportunity Gym"...I kid you not). Once there, I scheduled 2 interviews...for 3 hours later. I sat around a lot. Did a little work. Then returned for two of the fastest interviews I've ever been a part of. And they were basically identical. So that was nice.

In the end, I failed to do some things I would have liked to have done (like show the interviewers my artwork), and perhaps did not leave quite the impression I desired. That's okay. It was basically just practice, since I'm not even really looking for a job (necessarily). Tomorrow I will hunt down the principals of Keller high schools to attempts to get a job there. I do plan to leave quite an impression there, as I will take further cues from "American Idol" this time and plan to wear my hair like Sanjaya. How could I not get a job?

Man, I Never Post Anymore

Because I fear I'm getting to be as bad as Diggity, I will push through the fatigue and post tonight.

It was a beautiful day. I literally SAW cool breezes rippling over fields of tall green grass on my commute home today. It was like a movie; like a cartoon movie, where they can't quite get the affect right but you know what they mean. But not like that, because it was the real thing. It just smelled perfect, looked perfect, felt perfect. There was a brief, shining moment when I felt carefree and like a kid again, gazing at the prospect of endless summer days filled with delight. So for a brief, shining moment I enjoyed Texas.

And then something about the combination of that moment struck me. I was driving a pickup truck, listening to country music (which I don't often do, believe me), and cruising through the heart of Texas. The words of Lenny came to mind: "How did (I) get here?" It's just so odd. I never could have dreamed this up. But I am actually loving it. I had to convince myself that Texas isn't so bad after all.

But then I came within 10 miles of Texas Motor Speedway and saw flocks and droves of fans with slogans emblazoned upon their vehicles (mostly trucks and campers or RV's) such as "Redneck Girls love NASCAR" and (I swear I am not making this up) "Show me your hooters."

Artist

My son Aydan makes me extremely proud. Check out his artwork at:
www.artsonia.com/Aydan2

He told me all about his artistic influences (Henri Rouseau) and the media of the work (collage) so he's a flat-out genius artist, if you ask me.

Be sure to leave him a comment at artsonia...he'd love to hear from you.