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.

typing is hard...i'll try to keep it short

First: a great story.

I was playing basketball yesterday, and while playing defense on a man going up for a lay-up, I either hit my hand oddly, or I got my finger caught in his shirt, but either way, I dislocated my left pinky. I tried to take pictures of it's current state--all swollen and bruised--but they didn't turn out like I wanted. So just know that about 30 hours ago, my finger looked like this.

That is why it's hard to type.

Now, I'm not the hippest cat in the world, but I know enough to understand that a lot of what is contemporary...that which is felt and expressed and observed by millions...happens all over the web. One such place is YouTube. My wife and I frequently check out videos together and just this evening were showing my sister-in-law one of our favorites. (as an aside, I really enjoy Jim Gaffigan's "Beyond the Pale" and just about anything by Mitch Hedberg. They make me laugh.)
But I digress. Occasionally, I will go to the "Favorites" section (or whatever) and check out that which is popular. After fighting through a lot of temptation to look at a lot of garbage I discovered the (apparently) very popular scene of video posts and responses. It's like a blog, only with AV. Well, I found this very commented-on video posted by an atheist in response to a video titled, "Atheist, what do you offer?" or something. This guy talked for close to 20 minutes, and I will refrain from poking any fun at him or his material because, really, who am I? I will also refrain from refuting anything he said or "arguing" with him at all. I walked away from the video feeling sad for all the times I belittled someone or picked fights just to try to show some superiority.
This video then led to another, called "The Blasphemy Challenge" in which people deny the Holy Spirit. One response had a group of Germans affirming their belief in Christ. While this video was heartwarming to me, I will admit that one comment was particularly insightful and humorous (commenting that Germans had not lost their ability to produce propaganda and that the video contrasted bad examples of atheists--for bad, read "dorky" or any such word you use to typify people who may be considered on the cultural fringe--with hip, attractive examples of Christians. Good point.) In addition to video responses, there are comments posted. The saddest thing was the hateful banter going on back and forth. Not just the atheists calling Jesus "gayboy" but also the willingness of Christians to argue.

I am not saying a believer should fail in his or her conviction to be a defender of truth. But why argue truth with one who says that objective truth doesn't exist? Why throw hate back and forth? The odd thing about the "gayboy" comment was that it had a pointed ending: "why not do the world some good?" Instead of fighting in ivory towers, wouldn't it be better to serve in dirty streets? And a hundred other thoughts flood my head. I wonder if an atheist's heart is warmed when they hear someone bashing "mindless belief" in a religious devotee? I'm not being antagonistic. I really do wonder if it makes them glad, just like it makes me glad to hear others affirm, in the face of an onslaught of people condemning and jeering and ridiculing and denying, their faith in Jesus.

Perhaps this makes less sense than I wanted it to. I'd better quit while I'm ahead...and before my pinky swells up like a balloon from all this typing.

Nose Progress

Here is a succession of images showing the progress of my most recent drawing. Spring Break is coming to a close, and it's still not done.
(Warning: The color in the first picture, previously posted as "(Lack of) Progress" is WAY off. The others show a more correct glimpse.)

(Eric: if you'll tell me how you make your montages i'll repost this and make it more prettier)

Falling Deep Into the Rabbit Hole

I heard of a study recently in which it was reported that many Americans now spend more time in front of a computer than they do with their kids.

I saw a night-time news program in which a person on one side of New York City was asked to find someone very different from them socioeconomically on the other side of the city. This was performed successfully, both "ascending" and "descending."

And most recently, I "listened" to the thoughts of wildly different people from all over the states and all over the world. I peered into the vast chasm that is internet blogging, and I fell deep inside the rabbit hole.

And this made me wonder if any of the people whose thoughts I was voyeuristically accessing knew anyone in their day-to-day, non-virtual, actual living and breathing geographically transversing lives whom I might also know. Could a blogger in Canada be friends with one of my dear friends and I randomly get to them through the much discussed six degrees of separation? It's fascinating, and time consuming. Fortunately, my kids were in bed, my wife was at class, and I was on spring break, so I didn't have to feel guilty about falling under the aforementioned statistic.

Although virtual reality is no longer science fiction and is very much a part of daily life, it is still sometimes fascinating to gaze upon this Wonderland I "walk" in.

So to all you other "strangers" who randomly found your way here, and to others like melanie pearl who stopped by via a connection with an old friend of mine, welcome and thank you for your feedback.

(Lack of) Progress

I am terrified of color.

Keep the Customer Satisfied

I know that when I go to a blog and all too often there is no new post, I become more sporadic in checking that blog. That being said, even though the following post may be lame, I'm trying to keep something fresh up here just to keep my ever-so-loyal fan base returning.

"Theorizing that one could travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the quantum leap accelerator...and vanished....

He awoke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror-images that are not his own, and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, and observer from his own time who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear.

And so Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home."

Believe it or not, this was all recalled by memory on Sunday morning during church. I was thinking about this during church because on the way to church, I heard the song "His Eye is On the Sparrow." I love this song, and the first memory I have of this song is from an episode where Sam leaps into an African American congregation where the father/pastor is feuding with his daughter/singer who wants to go mainstream. At the end, they reconcile and she sings, beautifully and full of emotion, with both of them weeping, "His Eye is on the Sparrow." It struck me how amazing it is that a simple thing like a TV show can shape your life at an early age. Other beloved bits and pieces of me, while not totally due to QL, have strong links to the show as well. There's the song "Imagine," by John Lennon. I swore I'd never listen to any indivual stuff from John or Paul (or Ringo or George, but really, who listens to them anyway?) post-Beatles just because it seemed so wrong. They should only be remember in the sum total of their brilliance. Or so I thought in a young, misguidedly-idealistic way. Then I saw Sam singing to his sister on "The Leap Home" (where he had to play No-Nose Pruitt in the championship game) and he played "Imagine" to his sister to prove he was from the future. He said it was one of his favorites. I listened. It became one of my favorites too. And although I owe my love of Don Quixote to my dad and early viewings of "Man of LaMancha," I can recall Sam and Al walking off-stage at the end of a production of the play (in which Sam was the star) and, just prior to leaping, applying the dialogue between Sancho and Quixote to their situation: "More misadventures?" "Adventures, old friend."

If you're looking for something profound I could fake it. I could say that you should be careful what you watch on TV, or what you let your kids watch. But really I'm just reminiscing...and planning on watching all 5 seasons on DVD in the very near future.

A Better View

Superpowers

BIFF!
WHAMO!!
ZOCK!!
POW!!

Okay, so I grew up wearing Thing t-shirts, Superman underwear and watching "Batman." It may be ingrained in my thinking, but as I was climbing in bed last night, I asked my wife what super power she would want most. She is very wise, and responded, "Teleportation. Then I could go anywhere and not pay to travel." I did not have the heart to tell her that teleportation usually requires the power holder to have visited the place previously. Listen to me...talking authoritatively about fantasy; the next thing you know I'll be giving you all updates about the upcoming comicon.

All this to say, I played basketball last night (poorly), which I've been doing a lot lately, and enjoying it. But that has ended for now, because I sprained my ankle. Now those of you who were with me on my last sprain, I am proud to say I learned something from the experience. I did not go out and clean my garage. I did not continue playing on the ankle (oh yeah...same ankle as June). Instead I stopped immediately, went home, popped some meds, dunked my foot in a bucket of ice water, and kept it elevated the whole night. Sorry John, that meant no drawing. I am pleased to say the treatment worked. Little swelling/bruising, little limitation to range of motion. Either the sprain wasn't as bad, or I did something right afterwards.

Back to superpowers I have always loved Superman, but I am no longer fanatical about him. I have always dreamed of flying. But last night, I switched my preference. I would rather be like Wolverine and have rapid healing/restorative power. That can mean only one thing: I'm getting old.

But Heather tried to tell me it was a good choice. And just as she would grab me in her arms and teleport me with her (which is, of course, possible...comically speaking), I could touch her and others and heal them. This time I did have to correct his naivete, because that simply is impossible; healing doesn't work that way. Silly woman.

To A Mouse

Thank God for Robert Burns:

But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men,
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

I had intended to draw tonight, but I find that my schemes of becoming an artist at times go awry and leave me nothing but grief and pain when I expected joy. For instance, I finished my skull drawing last week. You can see some semblance of what it looks like above. I'll explain the crappiness in just a bit. Well, you would think I'd be pretty pleased, having produced a satisfactory drawing. But then I went out to Jon's studio to draw from life and it was revealed to me that I am a far cry from an outstanding artist. It was intensely frustrating and bothersome, and I walked away feeling like I couldn't draw, nor did I want to draw.

So instead of drawing, I played basketball at the gym until the kids' bedtime tonight. Then, I figured I wouldn't draw, but would post a picture of the skull. Then my digital camera was out of batteries. Then the house was out of batteries. No...not out. We had some D's and some A's; just out of AA's. Now I had intended to post quickly, then eat some dinner, play a little guitar, read a bit...enjoy some of the things I normally crowd out in my pursuit of artistic perfection. But no. My plans went all screwy because I had it in my obsessive little head that I had to post a picture and it had to be tonight. So I take the world's most ridiculous digital camera into the studio: my laptop with a web cam tacked to it. And with this unsightly monstrosity, I snapped the pictures you see above. They look so butt because the web cam is tugging atthe cord and being held sideways at full extension of the arm, etc. etc. So I'd better quit ranting so I have just enough time to choke down one bite, strum one chord, read one sentence...and then go to bed.

To Eric

I can't figure out why I didn't root for the Bears last night. I actually remember the '85 team, and their glorious Superbowl Shuffle (though after seeing Sweetness and Funky QB, I lost steam and cut out with 2 more minutes to go in the video). I can see in my mind the Fridge rumbling over those red Pats jerseys. And then, of course, there was going to see the Bears train in Plattville, WI. But those fond memories couldn't pull my support to their side. Maybe it was all those years of rooting for the Vikings...which necessitates hating the Bears and Packers. Still, I think it was mostly the fact that I wanted Manning to get his ring.

Regardless, that is not why I post. I was glad to read today that I was not watching the game alone, though I may have been the only one drinking a certain beverage (and while I do enjoy a good brew now and again, it's not what it looks like, folks). Still, I wanted to send my well-wishes and say cheers. I missed you this year.

The Death of Me

I am home sick from school today. This is nice, in a way, because it allows me to sleep and get better, but it also allows me to work on my "Memento Mori" project (which must be completed by tomorrow).
Now, fortunately the skull does not look as it does in this picture. I've worked on it a bunch since taking this picture, but the thing that's killing me is that there's something wrong with the lower jaw. I say "something" because I spent a bunch of time trying to fix it last night, and I couldn't come up with the right way to do it. So that will be part of my labor today: to figure out the problem and find the correct solution. From there it's just straight rendering until this puppy is finished. Here's to finishing inside 3 months!!

Because if I don't post now, I never will...

5 days and counting until the drawing must be done. So this week will afford me no time to blog, and I'll just pass along some notes I jotted down during church tonight.

Imagine you had a great idea for a revolutionary new gadget. You think it, you plan it, you discuss it. Then, one lazy night while watching TV at midnight, you see your gadget selling out on QVC. Later, you go online and see it selling like hotcakes on various sites. Hearing news reports of the phenomenal success of this item and the millions made by the creator, a feeling rises up within you.

Is it rage, or pride?

"Creativity is judicious immitation."
Go to a modern art museum. Have a docent explain the artwork, the concept behind it and how the artist executed it. I guarantee you, you will say, "I could've done/thought of that." Yeah...but you didn't. Now, as an artist, time and time again, I come up with some extraordinary idea for a project...and then read a book or go to an exhibit only to find it's already been done (incidentally, it's all been done). There are 2 option at that point: rage, frustration, envy, jealousy; OR pride, encouragement, confirmation. Are you mad when someone beats you to the punch, or happy that at least you wer punching at the right target? Recently I've been delighted to hear that others have already thought what I've been thinking. I feel like a freakin' genius. I made a comment on prayer, and a friend told me CS Lewis said the exact same thing in his book, "Miracles." I posted here about the falacy of infinite choice being equal to freedom, and then was directed, within the last week, to a book called, "The Paradox of Choice," written on the same topic. And most recently, my thoughts--formed in isolation with sociological observation, of a sort--on church (particularly owning a building, facets of ministry, service, community) were confirmed by a pastor and his reference to similar conclusions being reached by pastoral leadership all over. I don't want to get cocky, but how cool to observe, think, pray and discover on my own, and then find out I'm not on my own. It is evidence of a rebirth of thought, desire, insight, influence, growth..and dare I say a return to ministry...which has been occuring in my life recently. My prayer is that Jesus would continue to reach into my life and grant me wisdom (James 1:5) and through wisdom, "the knowledge of witty inventions" (Proverbs 8:12, KJV).