Point Made

 I'm a creature of habit.  My daily activities are rituals. After waking up, making my bed, brush my teeth, etc. I make a press pot of coffee and turn on my computer while the coffee brews for about four minutes. Then, I read my online news sources. At about 7:00 am, I prepare my breakfast. The sun has yet to rise.  Skipping through my daily activities, I fix my dinner around 5::30 pm. The sun sets at about 4:30pm. So there you have it. I eat most of my meals when natural lighting consists of the moon reflecting off my neighbor's windows. And that is why I gained five pounds. And that is my story, and I'm sticking to it. (This item will be on the test.) I don't know how things are in Lake Wobegon, but it's been a busy week in my world.  I had lunch with a friend, and another friend and I attended a play at Theatre Gigante. This is a manageable schedule, but you must factor in World Cup Soccer.  I reported that none of the platforms I use showed the games. Finall...

The Once Dominate Green Bay Packers  If you haven't thought that Matt LaFleur's house might be for sale soon, you're not reading the sports page. If you don't think it could happen before the end of the season, ask his predecessor,  current Dallas Cowboys coach, Mike McCarthy, how it happened to him. In the sports world, you're good until you're not. I'm almost sure that Lafleur did not decide to let Davante Adams go to the Raiders. and I'm positive he didn't injure Rodger's thumb. But you have to be terrible at the front office stuff before there are cries of firing the General Manager or Club President. And let's face it, if Rodgers wants to play with an injured thumb, the heir apparent will not surface. Those of us who lived through the difficulties of the Packers teams in the 1970s and 1980 know how to handle this situation. However, they no longer let you bring your own liquor into the games. Art I'm Working On Keith Richards 2022 9 ...

 The Good News My friend had her lumpectomy procedure last week. So far, she reports everything is okay. The surgery seems to have left things in good shape. ( Tongue in cheek required) Before we further discuss the subject of male and female breasts, let us look at my latest sketches. Chilling Out Gouache 9 x 12 Sitting On Top of the World Gouache 9 x 12 There is a truth that most of us don't discuss breasts in polite company. I believe that if we look at the lithe figure of a runway model or the earth mother with ten to fifteen extra pounds buttered generously over her body, there is a man lusting after that woman. The diversity of women that creates interest in men is a comprehensive and varied collection of types. One feature that quickens men's attention to women is their breasts. The common impression is that the bigger, the better, but I caution you not to accept that myth. Before we engage in that battle, let's ask the bigger question. Why the fascination exists at ...

 A no-brainer, right? Maybe not, bear with me.  First, let me give credit to Dave Nitz webmaster for the St. Louis Park Class of 1959. If that didn't give you a laugh, it's only because you're holding your breath waiting for election day to pass and the traffic in your email will dwindle to something that's manageable. Here's the other side of the story. Let's agree that a vote for this issue was not fixed, tampered with or stolen. The breed with the most votes brings home the bacon.

 At my age, I can tell all of those old folk's stories, such as a pack of Luckies was 25 cents and gas was 35 cents a gallon. But let's condense the story a little bit. Last week I had a video conversation with my son and another with a friend. My son lives in Barcelona, Spain and my friend, Larry, lives in Lisbon, Portugal. We made contact without using an operator. I can't remember exactly when we had to place a long-distance call with an operator. But I remember in the nineteen sixties placing local calls with an operator.  There are no charges for these international calls, and we could have added a third party if we wished. I vaguely remember when Skype was a big thing, but few of us used it. Now we have several choices. WhatsApp,  Facebook, FaceTime,  Messenger and Zoom all have video call features. And I'm sure there's more. Frankly, technology is getting to be like trying to keep up with the latest music groups. If they win an award or have a hit song, I hav...

One of my latest efforts. Sketch: The Lady Is Blue Gouache 9 X 12 Reporting: I enjoyed a pleasant evening with my friend Michelle Mooney. I took her out for dinner to celebrate her birthday and to thank her for the many first-rate haircuts she's given me. We were surprised at the number of people who dined alfresco in the balmy night air. Whatever we've done to please Mother Nature, she had deemed acceptable by giving us a shot of summer just when late fall weather was wrapping her fingers around our throat. If I have one complaint about the friendly confines of The County Claire, it's the noise level that makes it difficult to converse. The rumble is an acoustical problem with the customers speaking in normal conversational tones. This is without audible TV showing some game or background music selected by a dance DJ.  I know! We should have eaten outside, where the only noise is the occasional 14 bus snorting by.   Maybe It's Me Since my two soccer teams are not doing...

  Still Life, In these flowers. Gouache 9 x 12 Sentinels Gouache 9 x 12 For those of you who may wonder, gouache is a translucent watercolor medium. I became frustrated with watercolor because the process is the reverse of my thinking. Working from light to dark is just hard for me to visualize. I understand I'm not alone. Because of my experience, I have nothing but admiration for people that do it well. I became much more comfortable once I moved to oil painting.  A tried-and-true method of learning to paint is to copy other artists. I became fascinated with the work of Carol Rhode Curly . Now the point of copying other artists is not to reproduce their paintings, but to have their work inspire your version of the subject. Curly is a mixed media artist who incorporated things into her work like found objects and fabric. Essentially, she works with chalk pastels. I was frustrated because of my inability to get the look I wanted to emulate from her work until I tried qouache. ...