acting out

quick changes

2011-02-06T09:52:00.000-08:00

the youth of the world world is responsible. Young people have the passion and the energy but not the experience in governing to know how to change and reform their worlds, several different kinds of them. It isn't even possible to model a new one after an old or existing one, athough they do model the desire to change after that of their neighbors and want to do it YESTERDAY. This means that the methods are usually direct and often violent. Makes me think of children's "temper tamtrums". Growing up is hard to do.

time takes its toll

2010-10-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

It is time to start avoiding mirrors. This eighty-two year-old face is unrelenting. . . sigh so where did it go. . . the image I just tried to put in here.

GOTCHAAAA

Round and round we go

2010-10-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

Don't Ask Don't tell is unconstitutional but congress is playing it upside down and round about as if it were not and having to be enacted. Harry and Barack are also noncomittal. Will there be a reconstitution of the financial rights lost to fired military people when it is at last settled and shown to be unlawful to have denied them in the first place.

Of course prisa, or

get a warant before listening in on others conversations was illegal too, even with the seventy two hour repriseal.

We are going to have a lot of confusion undoing all the rigamarole caused by the criminal acts of the bush administration which were done in denial during not only its administration but continued by the following one. Once a law or proclaimed as such, always one and to be enforced???

2009-08-13T19:53:00.001-07:00

so this still exists. It has been so long I thought it would have drifted away.

politics is downright silly right now with congress on vacation and the republicans disrupting democrati townhalls with shouting and intimidating and making up all sorts of outrageous lies about the still un finished healthcare bills still to be designed. not worth talking about. S. Palin still exists on tv since she said something memorable last april which is lately being reversed regarding living wills or as she says death boards for the elderly. sigh. previously in april 2008 as govenor she declared a day devoted to living wils although she called them something else. if she were not so pretty . . . .well that is it people like to look at her which is fine if they don't also belive her.

I have a Kindle and that has given me back my love of reading forty one in my archives since march 17,2009. I can blow the text up six times which is the only way I can read now that my MD and cateracts are growing faster.I love it.

government sponsored enterprice fannie mae freddie mac

2008-10-20T23:56:00.000-07:00

the definition of fannie mae and freddie mac no longer includes a connection to the government as of 1992 although it is a government sponsored enterprise GSE as a result of a history beginning in 1916 with an idea but actually beginning in 1938 as a way for the government to finance low cost housing HUD and later the VA. since then it has transformed itself many times until finally into a privately owned and run corporation with no real regulation or anything having to do with the government. the reference to goverment government sponsered enterprise remained only as a suggestion that it would be a safe investment with the treasury involved. this was effectively a LIE.

With its eye on the stockholders bottom line it has created the beginning of world wide financial ruin.

the information here I got from google when I asked for fannie mae and the private sector.

it gave me a batch of links to follow.

if it interests you to explore the beginnings of this financial CRISiS. just go to google and plug that in. have a nice journey.

complainingand computer art

2008-05-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

the new google combined with blogspot which is now blogger has kept me out for a long time. there are too many options to find yourself if you happen tobe from the old setup. I finally found it through gmail and my regular e-mail which I used to have here only it's gone too I think
anyhow I have dones ome computer art which could be posted here if I can remember how now after a year and if this cranky system will let me.

ART--homemade

2007-05-29T13:57:00.001-07:00

But what is it?

three guesses.

GETTING OUT OF IRAQ

2007-05-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

My usually sensible friend, an ex-patriot sent me this.

"I don't trust any of the Democrats. The weak botch they made of doing something decisive about Iraq turned me off for the whole bunch."

I've heard it too often from people who just are not keeping even slightly in touch with the political facts of life. that wasn't weak that was smart.

giving the repubs a gift by cutting off all funds immediately would have been
weak and stupid and no more effective. The bill would never have made it through the
senate. As it is THEY are responsible for the delay and the many lives lost because of it.

COMMENCMENT SPEACHES

2007-05-27T22:04:00.000-07:00

I watched, listened to two of them today, the first by John Edwards and just now one by Hillary Clinton.

Edwards spent most of the time TELLING the graduates what they MUST do as citizens of the world now that they belonged to it as fully prepared adults. Clinton spent the time praising the graduates for their accomplishments and making a detailed plan for the recovery of New Orleans. So How would you feel if you were lectured about your responsibilities, rather than praised for your hard work, courage and accomplishments?

I visited the Guiliani speech a couple of times but he wasn't making sense and I couldn't stand him. Maybe I should learn to spell his name correctly but I hope I don't have to have that much contact with it.

I'm taking a strong position in whom I will support for president and if you haven't guessed already, It's Hillary Clinton from the get-go. . . not only because she is a woman but because she is better qualified than anyone else in the field.

I find her very likable and wonder where the reputation for her negative impact came from. She's outgrown the mistakes she made as a beginning "first lady" way back when. She is able to work in the senate with people, colleagues of all persuasions. I believe her to be sincere, that she has LEARNED how better to accomplish her goals and I think she should get credit for this accomplishment. It couldn't have been easy.

GAIA . . .maybe a poem

2007-03-24T23:31:00.001-07:00

GAIA--the earth

You are Gaia -- a goddess? perhaps, but more than that.
You claim to be the whole of everything within and on and
about the Earth. You live in flesh and air, in stone and
diatoms floating in the sea.

You are orphaned . . . . your predecessors unknown.
Perhaps there were none and you spontaneous
birth out of great expanses of space and it's
endless matrix of dust and stars,.

Deep within you are bubbling masses, molton rock hot
red death growing and pressing against your walls,
forcing, pressing, utimately breaking loose,
streaming forth upon your tough outer skin, to build, to destroy,
reshape all within your path making mountains,
transforming self into something other.

Gaia, restless, changing, ever growing,
shrinking, exploding, and coming together again, forever
becoming. . . .somethings?

I am Gaia as are you and you and you and the rocks
and the sea and the plastic keyboard on which I write. We
gaze into the endless dark of night and wonder why it is so
dark, so cold, yet bright with the light of other worlds.

Are these, too, are GAIA. Are they your
parents, are they your family, your own, our own, to beget us and
our world?.

We ask questions. You have much to tell us, but we are
not ready to understand .We seek, we quest. We
dig in the earth. bringing up the bones of our predecessors.
are these GAIA? Is this you oh Goddess of everything?

What of the times when you rumble fiercely deep within
your bowels and bring forth hot red blood?
You destroy plants and animals, melting rock , steaming
boiling
away the seas, destroying self. Is this you in a frenzy of creation
singing your song?

Here I sit in my plastic chair in my plastic world. Even it is
made from the oil within you, created from plants, rotten to
become the coal and oil beneath your skin. The metals and
woods have been wrought by you and brought forth for our
use. Our very flesh is yours, given jealously with a limit on
its life before it changes, disintegrates into dust or is eaten
to become flesh again.

Everything is connected. My wandering spirit feels your
presence, especially when the skies glow with the setting
of the sun or the electromagnetic curtains of the northern
lights.
.
The Greeks called the earth GAE and the sky, UR,
floating in a chaotic soup until accidental forces
brought them together to make order, to create the Titans
and their offspring, symbols of the human condition as we
know it. Is this you GAIA?

CREATION, the story of Adam and Eve , finds them naked
in the garden , innocent of their destiny, their flesh and it's
purpose.

How could gaia not know her basic nature, to give birth,
to nurture, grow and to change. Smiling to yourself you sent a
serpent with the vital message and we have all suffered
since. What was begun in innocence has become
sophistry and pain.

Gaia intends only to change, create, nurture
and destroy, a spiral of spirit and life, chaotic,
without course.
In the end there is no GAIA,
there are only the imaginings
of the human mind and spirit.

There is only, ME.

OUTSOURCING OUR LIFESTYLE

2007-03-04T10:44:00.000-08:00

OUTSOURCING AMERICAN JOBS

Wendlell Wilke spoke of ONE WORLD in which each place in the world produced what it could do better and more economicaly than any other place in the world. It was thought that eventually all would enjoy the resources of the planet in terms of what each could produce most naturally and effectively.

It’s happening in that work formerly done for higher wages here in the United States is now being done for much lower ones in other countries where the standard of living is lower and workers are available for much less than they are here. . . .and . . . it’s destroying our economy.

According to the idea then of the ONE WORLD philosophy our standard of living is unaturally high and should be reduced according to our ability to produce such services at competitive costs.

The winners in these situations are not only the workers abroad but the “BUSINESSES” which hire them.

In my opinion, These entities should have to pay taxes on such operations which would equal the costs to them if they remained here in the States using American workers.

Not only are our jobs and markets and our standard of living at risk with the outsourcing procedure but the tax base which provides income to our government services is reduced adding to our deficite problems.

now if only I could spell. . .

Linda Hirshmans --I hate her too.

2007-01-31T17:20:00.000-08:00

I read her article about the lack of political savvy that women have, many depending upon their husbands to "fill them in" on what is happening in the world. Women of all ages and even seniors (my age) are voting and they are a special group -- mostly women. see Seniornet at:

http://www.seniornet.org

and check out the six hundred round table discussions there.

so back to Linda HIrshmans article on Why Women won't vote for Hillary in 2008. She should speak only for herself since she is the woman women love to hate.

check this out. frustrated and seething. I'm going to vote for Hillary. The only thing held against her is her trusting enough in the administration's intelligence, both kinds, to believe their sources re WMD in year 2003.
Bob Woodward has denoted what happened that year and before as the Republicans searched for an excuse to invade Iraq and settled on that issue. Too many of us believed them, but I didn't. Read STATE OF DENIAL and shudder.

so . ..Speak for yourself Linda girl. . . .and I will speak for those others.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/26/AR2007012601626.html?referrer=email&referrer=email&referrer=email

grrr.

GLICHES -- wouldn't you know

2006-10-30T00:17:00.000-08:00

Half of my posts didn't get published and that is one of the problems the yare having so I"m making this little post and when it gives me a chance to publish the entire blog I'll let it try to do that if it can. otherwise you will miss out on my early stumbling about which began last year sometime or was it earlier. I htink a picture would be nice to add here. will go and find one on my own disk since that seems to be working well.

I fund the old posts but there is something wrong with the color in the art. it is so contrasty that parts are blanked out. if it's not fixed I may remove it and just institute thumb-nails os links to my host. . . .or maybe let this thing go entirely. . .

IRAq --in the news today

2006-10-29T11:10:00.000-08:00

can you believe this. there is no direct line like the red phone in the cold war between bush and the prim minister of iraq so the notification of a major raid wasn't made to him and the next day he bashed us for making the raid which he thought was made without his knowledge,

Bush shot himself in the foot with this one. . in this communication age what can he be thinking.

MEANDERING -- no one cares anymore

2006-10-28T21:13:00.000-07:00

I was about to discontinue this blog because I can't seem to keep it up, only someone said she liked old fashioned liberals which made me change my mind. There aren't very many of us around now. Lots of really extreme ones willing to toss out the baby with the bath . . .cliche but it works

What is extreme right now would be the requirement that we should IMMEDIATELY withdraw from Iraq. It's the numbers that are upsetting them. Comparing them to other losses in other tragedies as in Pearl Harbor and the Twin Towers.

It was OK to lose a couple thousand of our young men and women in that meat grinder but hey, it's 2800 now and this month of October is the most disastrous one yet. It's not OK anymore so bring em all home. We don't belong there and never did, but some of our legislators couldn't plan ahead and like the republicans voted for the war in the beginning. Conservatism must be catching.

That's not only impractical and impossible but not thinking ahead or planing how it should be done. Planning has been the problem with the republicans all along let's not take it on and make it our problem too.

You would think that the business world which is so good at planning how to make money and how to ecxpand their range etc could plan a war . this with an unlimited budget, and the freedom to do it as they think best. . . war powers act.

all that has happened is that the Bush administration has taken advantage of a law to create license.

Doesn't anyone care anymore enough to use their heads to exercize common sense???

JOHNS GARDEN . . .The lilies are blooming now

2006-08-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

John lives in Sweden where the climate isn't aways kind, but it is to him, or maybe it's a talent. His pictures are certainly lovely. . .see some more.

FAVORITE PLACE ON THE WEB

2006-08-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

Mine for classical music. . . .enjoy

Classical Music Archives

still watching that smokey mountain

2006-08-12T17:27:00.000-07:00

It's interesting to me and I guess others. Mt. St Helens wearing a smoky ashy cap continues to fascinate me. In 1980 when she erupted blowing out her north side no longer able to contain the fire in her bones, I was diagnosed with fire in mine. ARTHRITIcE and painted this picture about it.

The bones of the earth relate to a Greek myth in which the GOOD MAN and HIS WIFE all that were left of humanity after one of the many purges, as the gods continued to experiment, were told that they could repopulate the world with THE BONES OF THE EARTH.

It took them many years to figure out what that meant and only then by accident when clearing a field of rocks they tossed them away over their left shoulders. Each rock as it fell to earth sprang back up as a warrior (in one version just a person in another) and I suppose began fight each other forth with. Anyhow, here is "MOUNT ST. HELENS AND ME". in oil paint and four by seven feet 1980.

for current conditions use this url click here.

More wag the dog

2006-08-04T01:35:00.000-07:00

how is it that there is so little attention paid now the the stem cell research issue and immigration and the minimum wage and connecting it to another tax brea for the wealthy. If no one caes I've got some more flowers. . . .

hopeless to deal with Hezbolla . . .so why not some picture of pretty flowers.

2006-08-04T01:28:00.000-07:00

these are firlds of mosty golden ones cuddleing up to Mt .Rainier in Washinton

there I fixed it. as for the talent . . . sigh..

Age is Relative . . . mine is much more REAL than I thought it was

2006-08-02T03:01:00.000-07:00

In fact it's thirteen years more than i thought it was. No wonder I feel and look like a fat mumy . ok there is a way to find out what your REAL AGE is too if you want to. I'm not sure what REAL AGE is, but these people who run this site think they know.

They have extensive plans for you to undertake to make it better. Frankly my real age is killing me but I'd rather have it do that while having fun then ruining the rest of my life with their limited requirements. You gotta live . . .and enjoy it as a positive experience __ exercise too can leave me/you feeling warm an prickly, a good feeling. So be what ever actual numerical age you are and live it in your own usual way in this REAL world.

now to practice what I just PREACHED.

In 1980 Mt. St. Helens . . . ERUPTED

2006-07-27T23:17:00.000-07:00

and she's still doing it although it's mostly steam these days. this is the link to the web cam that keeps track. There are also movies of past web cam days -- keeping track and available for us to do it too..

the link is under the title but here too just in case you haven't figured that out yet.

go see and enjoy.

http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh

My Friend Lee Starr . . . .

2006-07-23T00:04:00.000-07:00

wrote many poems. After she died I asked her husband if I could put them on my web page and he gave me permission to do that

Lee was also an artist and a musician. She was able to look OUTSIDE THE BOX and someday I'll tell you more about her, but for now -- here is one of her poems.

Kon-itchkå Cockateil

crest of gold
black shining eyes
feathered in pearly gray
orange suns on your cheeks
you laid five ivory eggs
before life fled you
be gentled ittle one
fly gracefully in death dreams
trailed by your phantom nestlings
as I bury you with your five pearls
wrapped in a silken scarf
uder viridian green pines whispering sutras

Leonora Cetone Starr

And I just found another one. The font is very small and has to be tweaked to get it here. It's worth it though.

THE VIRGIN

up over a hill in a
round cage of glass
was a shape
whose life was a perfect arc

its one eye
could only see inward
and its one foot
could only hop in circles

its body was
thin like tissue
from being presseed
to the glass of the cage

It's veins stood out
and whispered
little songs to each other
as they passed up and
down that shape

it never cried
or laughed
or anything

one day the inward eye
felt that something was wrong
although it could not see

surely enough
the glass cage
had crack in it
there must have been
a molecule of air
that got into the cage

as the shape
begn to tremble with
fear and dread

the POOR inward eye
strained so
trying to look out and see
the cause of that strangeness

suddeny the shape
was touched by
a gust of breeze
never in its whole being
had it been touched

the little veins
on the shape
became so startled
they became one big stream

mixed with rainbow colors
and song
in a million voices
a noise like the color of purple
fruit filled the air

the poor shape became
so terrified and maddened
it burst into a stream
of rainbows
spilling over the broken glass
sucking into the crack
singing softly
mixed with
murmurs and sighs . . .

Leonora Cetone Starr©1996

I love this Link

2006-07-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

and so will you if you like history and wildflowers.

once again in visible language. . .http://tinyurl.com/j5jqw

A POEM by me

2006-07-01T16:15:00.000-07:00

Pablo got me going. He's written a lot of poems about ordinary things. The most important ordinary thing right now is the computer and the connection to all you great folks on the internet but it costs me. . . .like this.

ODE to touch
by Claire Read
July 1,2006

my keyboard is on an angle
as I type
watching my hands
hands are
wise in the way of keystrokes

I close my eyes
they hurt
an attached magnefier
a great round eye
to aid my eyes
exacting a toll
making them hurt
especialy
if I duck
straining upward
inconvenient and painful
I touch type
with lots of typos.

forgiving keyboard
underlines them in red
easy to correct

my eyes still hurt.

with respect to Pablo Neruda
claire read

bloggers for hire

2006-06-27T18:12:00.000-07:00

Hilary has hired a blogger to help her campaign for whatever or whichever. My first thought was that this was a good way to expand ones exposure in the news coverage and it only cost what you have to pay a blogger to do what he would be doing anyway as opposed to taking out advertizing in major newspapers and buying TV time.

Economically sound? unless there's a law aginst it. CLEVER GIRL.. .

3 detainees

2006-06-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

at Grantanimo hung themselves last night. They cut their sheets into strips to make ropes. The remaining prisoners don't have sheets on their beds at night anymore. Does this make sense?

Is it this politics or desperation . . . I only know that it is

WRONG.

COMPUTER ART really is ART

2006-06-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

It's been said that COMPUTER GENERATED ART isn't REAL ART.

Galleries don't show or sell it. But they do show and sell for extraordinary prices other multiple forms of art. . . the print media of etchings, lithos, seragraphs, multimedia etc. So why not sell limited editions of art generated by computer. It's really just another tool.

We have a discussion called COMPUTER GENERATED ART at seniornet which has become very lively. It helps that we've broadened the scope to include anything about any art within the guidlines of the Seniornet organization. Do drop in and join us or lurk. You don't have to be all that senior even, Age fifty is the population we are addressing but w'ere pretty accepting of art by your grandkids and children and even ordinary people who haven't reached this interesting period in their lives yet.

The overal address for SENIORNET is http://www.seniornet.org and
the address of this one discussion, one of over six hundred round table discussions, is

http://discussions.seniornet.org/webx?14@221.cINiat9gfCa.0@.8622c156

which is also linked to the title here. This is something I was doing, still responding to my interest in the Franz Kiline compositions, only on the computer and it came out looking, as one of my friends said, as if I'd dropped my drafting tools on a blow up of a city map. That's exactly right. then she asked for the faces, since my work often has some that simply live there on their own. I'll show both here. Adding faces this time and still keeping the original is one of the options I have when I use this tool. In fact making suites of variations is to by simply SAVE AS title change for each version. It's time for this to become an acceptable form of FINE ART as well as a useful tool for the commercial world.

IMMIGRATION . . . A Simple Solution

2006-05-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

In an article entitled “End the Immigration War and Open the Borders”

This was offered among others of the opposite persuasion at SeniorNet Discussions in the heading of the CURIOUS MINDS discussion, a two week period for discussion this issue only. It brought real participation but nothing on the possibility of simply opening the borders except from me. I think it deserves much more attention than that and this article covers the ground very nicely.

open borders this is the link offered there.

SLEEPING at 3 AM . . . ? . . .or rather not sleeping

2006-05-24T01:50:00.000-07:00

but I bet he is. His name is Humphrey and this is his baby picture

My friend Jan adopted him one day after a careless seagul lost it's grip on his tail and dripped him at his feet, minus the tail feathers. It was winter and cold and there was nothing for baby birds to eat. . ..no mom or pop bird to bring seed and or bugs pre-chewed to drop into a babies gaping beak. Jan took him home and tried to get him to eat bits of stuff that he thought birds must like. . .after all we do. After a few days he discovered the magic elixr. . .honey in water. Or maybe the baby was hungry enough to try something new.Jan wasn't sure of the gender or the species but named him anyway. It's good to have a name.

Humphrey grew, replacingt fuzz and fluff with feathers and eventually even tail feathers. The studio apartment became his home and within it another home concocted by Jan by putting THINGS together, Jan is a retired industrial designer and the cage he made for Humph is beautiful as well as useful, Humph likes it so much now that he won't come out. I wish I could show it to you. . .have a picture here somewhere. maybe later.

It's clear that these two have become friends as well as room mates, that they have something for each other, both living freely but caged al the same time. Wild birds are discouraged from living with people at this establishment, so it must be done secretly.

What is freedom anyway, maybe CHOICE? I know I don't begin to do all the things I'd like to do, go to all the places that beckon. I'm free to do so but seem to prefer to stay in my cage. We can do that if we Choose. We are lucky birds.

IMMIGRATION is us . . . .

2006-05-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

as if everyone who doesn't claim to have been related to a Pilgrim is a foreigner. We are all immigrants here in this country which exists only because of us.

US . . .the United States says more than that, the legal definition, it says that we are UNITED as we must be. I believe in open borders and that eventually all of us will find a way to live together. This country is a perfect example of evolution. . .evolution of a society a heterogenius society . . . .the survival of the fittest, and what is that . . .the fittest.

Rodney King, not a perfect example of what we wish to become, but he did have the right idea. . .
"can't we all just get along".

It's occured to me that all this sudden attention being paid to PROBLEMS of IMIGRATION is simply a case of WAG THE DOG. a political move to distract us all from the war, the economic situation, the corruption in government, university raping if not pilaging. The coming elections and the fear of the Repubican party that they wil lose control of congress and that DOG.this one whose aanscestors came from Scotland is asleep on the job. but some of us are not.

SEACLIFFS and ROCKS . . . my daughter's birthday painting

2006-05-16T01:17:00.000-07:00

As requested I painted for her again this year. We may have started a yearly practice since giving gifts has become increasingly difficult as we just go and get most of what we want these days.

My daughter has an eye for beauty and there is much to look at around here where I live that is beautiful. She photographs what she likes, so I asked her to send me some that would reflect her vision of Cliffs and Rocks. I waited for them to be sent to me via e-mail since we live far apart and when nothing happened began without them. I was almost finished when four of them arrived. The painting I did looked very much like a cropped version of one of the photos. They are very lovely in themselves.

And here is the painting . . .it seems we share a vision of cliffs and rocks.

MOTHERS DAY . . . getting there

2006-05-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

This is a day for our children to celebrate us mothers, but I found that I wanted to celebrate them and wrote them this letter. You can share if you wish at my home page. . . like this . . . http://www.geocities.com/artetal/motherhood.html It's also available as a hotlink under the title of this entry. . . .Have a wonderful day . . . remembering.

City somewhere at night

2006-05-12T23:32:00.001-07:00

somewhere out there each of us is living a life and now we get to share it with others in this lively cyber world. It's really "SUMPTHIN" isn't it.

Buearocracy bites

2006-05-07T13:09:00.000-07:00

This high lighted title when clicked will take you to the site of a good friend of mine, and an exceptional person. I want to share it with you. There is probably a way to do it more formally but this will do for now. Please meet the Muse Monky at http://spaces.msn.com/musemonkey/ in case you missed the link above.

MSN wants to know too much about me so I didn't finish signing up. but my friend, who is happy there listed me amongst her referrals and they've been coming here and commenting. I find that because of their systems requirements I can't write back or even comment so I will here.

Edie I loved your cat story and MaDork good for you. . .go for it.

A LIFETIME OF CLASSES and learning

2006-05-06T22:56:00.000-07:00

TAKING CLASSES forever it seems

I think I”ll make a list of those that I can remember taking after I left UCLA and got maried. I worked for two years and then had babies no time for anything else for a while although the books we used then were Gessel an Spock and I practically memorized them.

Now and not in any specific order because . . .well because I remember the following.
modern dance
tai chi
yoga
tennis lesons
golf lessons

auto one at the city college
creative writing there too and the following ones
Photo one and two on slides
drafting. four semesters
space design
illustration
architectural rendering
mythology
lithography
serigraphy . . .
etching

at the local park I begain learning to throw on the wheel. took two classes of that so as to have more time.
glaze chemistry

handbuilding workshop with wood firing one weekend
handbuilding indian style a few months
got my own kiln and continued on

classical guitar lessons
folk guitar lessons in classes
voice lessons class and private six years
music composition lessons. . private

computer classes at rop. regonal occupation program run by the state
computer drafting
computer pre press local college all on a mac

monoprint classes and private instruction
pil painting six weeks with ted gillian his studio a class

all of this after four and a half years of psych and art major at ucla.

that’s about it for now. I’m sure I’ve forgotten something. self help doesn’t count I supose but they were in there to to control weight etc. etc. I’ve been busy working on my own thruout nad teaching as well the nine years of folk guitar to classes and privately in my living room.

then my room mate taught me about her thing astrology.
and oh yes there was an aqupressure class at every womans village. .which I practiced for a year or so on anyone who would let me

life offers one exciting challenge after another. Eventually I might even learn to spell without the spell check. . .
and each new computer and operating system offers continued challenges. ME..

A LETTER to a friend

2006-04-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

April 27, 2006

Dear Friend,

It's just occurred to me that like us, what my mother had was blepharitis. She was complaining about her eyes tearing all the time especially the right one and she had a painful nerve situation as well.

Except for non crippling osteo-arthritis, she was an active seventy five year-old who chose to have a blepharectomy if that is what it was called, while we were out of town between xmas and new years as teachers do when take their vacations

.In December 1969 we went to the california desert came back new years eve and planned to go see her in the hospital the next morning. WHICH WE DID. but sooner than we had expected.

Sometime around eight-fifteen a nurse called and told us "you better come. She's real bad" and by the time we crossed town and got there she was dead. It wasn't the blepharectomy that killed her, but a pulmonary embolism caused by the anesthetic and lying around for five days.

This thing couldn't happen now because older people's legs are bound and they are gotten up and walked the same day, and sometimes even sent home. You reminded me when you said you were considering having the surgery, and gave a name to what she had. I'd always called it "tear duct or eyelid surgery". . . . so ironic to die from that.

I've not quite understood what the benefit was. I still don't.

I've just done the hot compress treatment which does help, when I remember to do it. . so I don't know if this story helps you decide . . .it's made a lasting impression on me I avoid all unnecessary surgery which is why I never had a hip replacement in 1980. Something which would have changed my life completely

abstraction --a naughty word to some

2006-04-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

A good friend on line really liked an old self portrait I offered in our art discussion and went to great lengths to tell me how she didn't like my abstractions, apologetic to the end. I know that the area requires aome special background in order to understand what's happening and some folks even get angry over it. " a chimpanzi could do better", so I'll give you all a taste of my long ago experience in oil painting . . .ME about forty years ago. She really liked that so maybe you will too.

Franz (Fritz) Kline . . . powerful Art

2006-04-21T11:16:00.000-07:00

When I first saw his work, reproduced small in magazines and books, I wondered what all the fuss was about. . .just some black lines crisscrossing this way and that way.

When I visited the university gallery at Berkley and entered a room dominated by that work. . .wall sized, I was blown away. As an artist myself I never thought about size being so much part of the message. This painting was indeed expressive, painted on canvus attached to the wall with house paint and big brushes, the media was part of the message.

Recently a knowedgeable friend compared the blue painting you see below with his work because of the angles and general composition. I went to Google for an example and found a poster of this. the black lines meant something archetectural to me but then also when I analized it something more. see the copy with the red lines showing angles and rectangles. . only a beginning of a proper analysis, but this work is very carefully constructed and CLEVER.

in the end I took off on it and did this. very much me but with an under painting of his structure. . . .

Making Art . . .is what I do

2006-04-12T16:25:00.000-07:00

Since my principal interest is in making art, I think I'll take a little time out from politics to show you some of it. It's still on the easel because I haven't removed the staples yet. Here I tacked a piece of Rivas grey print paper to my favorite messy board, sponged it with water on a paper towel, and attacked with paynes grey acrylic paint, the only color I used for this and a large brush, .

It all happened in less than an hour as some of them do and I knew enough this time to leave it alone. There was a minor touchup period of about ten minutes after it dried, but otherwise I let these strange faces have their say.

No I didn't plan for them or draw them, they simple grew on their own. This happens all the time. It must mean something but so far I've no Idea what . . . As I recall, I started out with a vision of a city, of buildings and a winding road and that isn't what happened although the verticals can be indicative of buildings and there is a road-like feature on the right side. I just never know how it will turn out and I think that happens with other artists as well. It's this mystery which enchants me.

SUCH GOOD NEIGHBORS . . .

2006-03-26T21:45:00.000-08:00

About six years ago my son and his wife emigrated to British Columbia, bought property there, built upon it, went into business there, real estate, he became a dual citizen and recently invited me to come and live near them in their island community. I even saw a property listed with them that would meet my needs and decided that although I'm getting on in life, it would be wonderful to have one last adventure.

I called the realtor who handled the sale of my house and the purchase of this condo, which I've never liked because of the many restrictions, and he began the process of evaluating it for sale. Since I'd been in it for over two years, I wouldn't have to pay capital gains taxes on the considerable increase in value and so "well heeled" I could move to canada. pay my own medical bills so as not to be a burden. and live near my family.

I made at least five calls preparatory to doing this and my daughter-in-law arranged to speak with an immigration attorney.

And there IT ENDED.

I can visit my family for six months, but I can't live with or near them because. . . guess what, I AM TOO OLD. I am 78-years old.

I"m not a terrorist. I'm not poor, I haven't got a criminal record or even a current driving accident or ticket. A quick hop via medivac to Seattle where Medicare would kick in would take care of any serious medical problems. But at 78, I'm too old.

As I recall a few years ago when I was considering this, the cut off age for medical insurance, even the private kind was 74 and I was 75. That I can understand but, to become a legal resident, to own property, to be with family and a community where they are well established???

I am TOO OLD.

Such good neighbors these Canadians.

When I sent a goodie box to my son for his birthday containing dried fruit, nuts chocolate and a good book it took a little while to get there but eventually made it. When He an his wife reciprocated on my birthday which was two weeks later the box they sent contained a wonderful fleecy thing to wear, four stephen King novels and two candles, off white, they looked a little like white chocolate. My son answered my unspoken question . . .what is this? . . .by saying that Canada cannot send any foodstuffs to the United States because of the threat of terrorism, although we can send such things to them. OPEN BORDERS? Well, not quite. Such good neighbors, these Canadians.

I don't get it. . .do you?

ABOUT WOMEN

2006-03-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

My daughter asked me, one day to paint what I thought about women. this is her painting.

The idea took hold and I did an abstract image that simply grew by itself. As it was happening I kept taking pictures and ended up with this, now stored at my geocities web site . the title here is a hot link to it but here it is again just in case. .

http://www.geocities.com/artetal/become_women.html.

I just signed up to a WOMENS blog where I wanted to post it. I wanted to say something about women. . . and this is it, but am unable to figure out how to do it there. A single image is worth a thousand words they say. . .or is it only nine hundred.

A powerful statement . . .

2006-02-11T22:06:00.000-08:00

Actions speak louder than my words. This site is being shared where ever people feel the need to do so. . I do and encourage you to do likewise. . . .

http://nobravery.cf.huffingtonpost.com

In case you missed it in the title.

MORE about "WORE" . . . .

2006-02-07T08:13:00.000-08:00

My friend at one of the senior discussion groups says it like it is. . . .not exactly the way I would but with passion, conviction and RESEARCH. ,. . an invaluable combination.

"my friend - 11:11pm Feb 6, 2006 PT (#555 of 557)
Hello all

I think that single word, "WAR" could be the defining point in much of this. While "we're at WAR" is a neat catch phrase and a rallying cry, it does have a very special real life meaning. The definition of war is quite precise.

Article 1 - The Legislative Branch Section 8 - Powers of Congress of the constitution states that it is the job, the duty, the sole obligation, of the Legislative Branch to declare war.

No other mention is made within the section as to other acts of military action. War is a thing declared by the congress. PERIOD.

Article 2 Section 2 Article 2 - The Executive Branch Section 2 - Civilian Power over Military, Cabinet, Pardon Power, Appointments

Within this section there is not one single mention of the word "war". There is not one single mention of "executive powers to the president at time of war".

There is the mention that "the president shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States;" The word "CALLED" relates to the "declaration of war" defined within the previous cited article and section.

Now, I will be the first one to tell you that when you got yourself what we got in Iraq and Afghanistan, with people shooting at you and people dying, you got yourself a war. That may not be the case.

I could say that we got us a asshole leading this country and many people would agree, but technically, in the proper way, by the proper definition, according to any lawyer, I would be told, that an asshole is not a person. It, in and of itself is not a living thing.

That is the point. The total legal Constitional definition of what the word "WAR" means in relation to what our Constitution says.

There is no provision within Art.1 Sec.8, for any special allowance short of an actual declaration. There is no provision for anything other then a declaration, or NO declaration. No backhanded permission. No congressional authorization. No anything other the a declaration of war or no declaration at all.

U.S. Book of rules--The Constitution

WHEN IS A WAR . . . . not a war

2006-02-06T20:47:00.000-08:00

When is a war not a war
. . .when it's a police action

When a nation must protect itself from the criminal acts of individuals and small groups. For Example: the war in Iraq was effectively o over when the govt. fell, when the army was disbanded, when the heads of government hid. what has followed has been a police action, not against the army because it no longer exists having no one to lead it or to pay the bills. The remaining violence is undertaken by individuals some of whom are native to Iraq and others who have come in from other countries as insurgents, criminals engaged in criminal acts of violence.

Alqaeda is only one of many groups determined to anaellate the democracies of the world for what ever reason . They are not even united in that. Their sole purpose is to kill and kill again. To create an atmosphere of fear so that democracy can not work as it has. Their aims are destructive.

When Hammas won an election they were somehow caught off guard. It was said that they did not want to win. that they did not want the responsibility of actually running a government. The only thing they knew how to do was to disrupt a government. They have much to learn. The people have overwhelmingly demanded that they do so.

Hammas has been at war with Israel forever it seems, but where is its army? where was there a head of state other than a fat little man in a striped head cloth, himself a terrorist. No, this was not a war and neither is our continuing problem with the terrorists organizations the members of which have made violence a work-a-day job and a way of life. They wouldn't know what to do without it.

GETTING AWAY FROM IT ALL . . . .maybe

2006-02-02T10:09:00.000-08:00

This from my sons online journal. He and wife found "paradise" here on a beautiful island with a nice community and . . .well . . . a few complications. However, they think positive most of the time.There's a good side to this too. read on. . . .

January 14, 2006

Rural septic system moment

When we lived in the city we took the sewer system for granted. We could flush and forget about it – and you could flush almost anything. In contrast, the majority of households on Texada Island use various forms of "on-site sewage disposal," to borrow a phrase from BC's bureaucrats. Now, when we flush, we are making a deposit in our own septic tank, and the liquids involved, after passing through the tank, filter into the soil through a nearby leach field before joining the local water table.

Up until last year, British Columbia law required rural households to construct a conventional septic system with tanks and a leach field for new homes. Now, the law allows for "alternative systems," including composting toilets. The main difference, from my perspective, is that conventional systems are inherently wasteful, while composting systems are designed to turn human manure (a euphemism) into a rich fertilizer.

The larger photo on this page shows our septic tank being pumped, last week. The partially decomposed shit (ok, no more euphemisms; instead I'm going to use a perfectly good English word, with a 400-year history) is pumped into a truck (smaller photo), then taken to Powell River and dumped into a "sewage lagoon" for further decomposition. Eventually, the lagoon is pumped out, and its contents go to a landfill somewhere "far away."

Of course, there really is no "away" where we can forget about it. In reality, we as individuals should come to terms with our shit, and ideally we should find a constructive way to recycle it back into growing more food. That's what the Chinese have done, safely and efficiently, for more than forty centuries.

That's also what we would like to do someday here at our place. But for now we're using the conventional septic system that we were required to install five years ago. Maybe five years from now, by our next septic tank pump-out, we'll finally be ready to close the loop with a composting system.

--Tom

Eugene Robinson at the Washington Post

2006-01-27T10:27:00.000-08:00

. . . writes about the Bush administration's attempt to keep track of all our internet search activity via the use of GOOGLE. It represents another personal intrusion, one I really resent because Google is a member of my family of friends now. I like Google . . . .it's as if the GOOG is a trusworthy old uncle who knows everything. When I want to know about KANT and --how do you spell it --Neizche? -- is that it? I just go to old GOOG and he tells me more than I can really digest, but by golly he's always there with the answers.

You'll note that my gender identification of Google is male? I guess I've never had an aunt who knew much about the world or at least anything that she would admit to knowing. Historically INFORMATION BELONGS TO THE MEN, or did until lately.

I'm a woman and I love the information that is available to me now on the web. No one there raises an eyebrow and asks me " what do you want to know that for?" . . . a form of male dominance.

I think many women are conflicted about the mistakes and errors and over-reaching of our president because he is a father,brother,uncle image as president, and we have always expected them to lead us.

Have you noticed Hillary lately? SHE says she's only trying to get re-elected to the Senate but she's very visible and very vocal . Are we ready for a woman in that job? Other countries have done it. Will the women here in the United States support a woman for president? I would. It's a question for GOOGLE.

WE DO HAVE A CANDIDATE . . . . and his name is . . . .

2006-01-16T10:43:00.000-08:00

Today, January 16,2006 on C-Span I watched a speech in constitution hall, to the Liberty Coalition . The multi-level room was packed to the ceiling with enthusiastic supporters of political action and this time responsive to the speaker who was AL GORE.

. Well thy might be. He has improved his delivery, maybe even gotten his face lifted, but aside from his appearance his message was clear, well thought out, and applicable to both parties in that the final word at this time of confusion and danger to the separation of powers that rests within our constitution rests within a fourth power . . .THE PEOPLE

This speech was brilliantly conceived and delivered, made to appeal to EVERYONE, not just activist supporters of the LIBERTY COALITION in CONSTITUTION HALL. I dare to hope and believe in this individual's personal power to reach all of the people.

As a lifelong Democrat, concerned with the suggested lack of leadership of our party, I believe that we were right the first time. That we actually won that first truncated Florida vote which was taken from us at the last minute by the political action of the SUPREME COURT, a supposedly a-political body. That we DO have a candidate for the 2008 presidential elections and his name as
before is AL GORE.

Let's IMPEACH The President

2005-12-26T00:52:00.000-08:00

I have to share this article from the Nation. The president is now openly breaking the law and daring us to do anything about it. THIS is something I can do. What he is doing with his cohorts is called RULING BY FIAT. . . and a danger to our representative lawful constitutional government. Read and get mad. . ..do something!. This is the e-mail address of the person at the NATION who gives permission to reprint this article. habiba@thenation.com

"LETTER FROM GROUND ZERO | posted December 20, 2005 (January 9, 2006 issue)
The Hidden State Steps Forward
JONATHAN SCHELL

PRINT THIS ARTICLE
EMAIL THIS ARTICLE
WRITE TO THE EDITORS
TAKE ACTION NOW
SUBSCRIBE TO THE NATION
When the New York Times revealed that George W. Bush had ordered the National Security Agency to wiretap the foreign calls of American citizens without seeking court permission, as is indisputably required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), passed by Congress in 1978, he faced a decision. Would he deny the practice, or would he admit it? He admitted it. But instead of expressing regret, he took full ownership of the deed, stating that his order had been entirely justified, that he had in fact renewed it thirty times, that he would continue to renew it and--going even more boldly on the offensive--that those who had made his law-breaking known had committed a "shameful act." As justification, he offered two arguments, one derisory, the other deeply alarming. The derisory one was that Congress, by authorizing him to use force after September 11, had authorized him to suspend FISA, although that law is unmentioned in the resolution. Thus has Bush informed the members of a supposedly co-equal branch of government of what, unbeknownst to themselves, they were thinking when they cast their vote. The alarming argument is that as Commander in Chief he possesses "inherent" authority to suspend laws in wartime. But if he can suspend FISA at his whim and in secret, then what law can he not suspend? What need is there, for example, to pass or not pass the Patriot Act if any or all of its provisions can be secretly exceeded by the President?
Bush's choice marks a watershed in the evolution of his Administration. Previously when it was caught engaging in disgraceful, illegal or merely mistaken or incompetent behavior, he would simply deny it. "We have found the weapons of mass destruction!" "We do not torture!" However, further developments in the torture matter revealed a shift. Even as he denied the existence of torture, he and his officials began to defend his right to order it. His Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, refused at his confirmation hearings to state that the torture called waterboarding, in which someone is brought to the edge of drowning, was prohibited. Then when Senator John McCain sponsored a bill prohibiting cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners, Bush threatened to veto the legislation to which it was attached. It was only in the face of majority votes in both houses against such treatment that he retreated from his claim.
But in the wiretapping matter, he has so far exhibited no such vacillation. Secret law-breaking has been supplanted by brazen law-breaking. The difference is critical. If abuses of power are kept secret, there is still the possibility that, when exposed, they will be stopped. But if they are exposed and still permitted to continue, then every remedy has failed, and the abuse is permanently ratified. In this case, what will be ratified is a presidency that has risen above the law."

2005-12-17T10:43:00.001-08:00

THE IRAQ ELECTIONS . . . they've done it in SPADES.

A writer at Seniornet Round Table Discussions writes . . .

"Jerry Jennings - 07:01am Dec 16, 2005 PT (#975 of 993)
The Fallacy of Low Turnout
In the United States we calculate the voting percent using as the denominator the total age-eligible population, persons 18 and over, without regard to whether they are registered or not or whether they are citizens. Although this is the most efficient way of determining what proportion of the population participates in this important activity, it has the negative effect of making our voting rates look bad.   In a Presidential election, turnout in recent decades has been in the 50-60 percent range using as the denominator the total age-eligible population. Were we to recalculate those percentages using the registered population as the denominator, our voting percentaqes would rise to the 80-85 percent range. This is to say that 80-85 percent of registered persons in the United States vote.   Comparing our voting rates based on the total age-eligible population with the rates of European and other nations who use as denominator a figure more nearly comparable to our registered population, is what makes us look so bad. But this appearance is very misleading, because, as I've tried to explain, our voter turnout rates are not nearly so different from those of other democracies once we use equivalent denominators. In off-year elections, all percentages drop 30-40 points, probably we can be faulted there. Primary elections produce very low turnout rates, in the 10-20 percent range in most cases (using age-eligible population as the denominator).   I don't how voting rates are calculated in Iraq. Before we can make a judgment as to whether turnout was good or bad, we need to know the denominator for the percentage, whether it is total age-eligible persons or registered persons (if they have a registration process--and I think they do). "

Cyber communication

2005-12-14T10:21:00.000-08:00

What did you say??? What do you mean??? Do you know what you mean??? sometimes we don't know, but others can tell . . . ..
_______________________________________________________________________________
I've just watched Sarah Jessica Parker, our beloved Carey Bradshaw of Sex and the City do a line from her new movie, out today. . THE FAMILY STORE. She plays an uptight, defensive unlikable character, the absolute opposite of Carey Bradshaw. Her line is this.

"What did I do to you" and the emphasis she gives it is on the word do. as in
:what did I DO to you. . .saying it out loud I find that it's a sincere request for information from a personally vulnerable position. She cares and she wants to know.

All the others are different.
What did I do to YOU. sounds like an accusation.
What DID I do to you sounds like she doesn't think it's worth worrying about
WHAT did I do to you. . .could be made clearer with the addition of the word NOW and suggests impatience with a difficult person.
What did I do to you. . . the I is a bit of a whine not accepting responsibility for whatever it was
the only word that doesn't seem to carry a message, at least for me is the word TO. . .uncomfortable within the context of the others.

So, this is why I find cyber relationships so inadequate and need the use of the telephone to really begin to understand the person on the other end. This in addition to body language and appearance makes this cyber-land into a kind of fairyland, but it's still amazing. I get to talk to and with people from everywhere including YOU.

POLITE CONVERSATION

2005-12-13T11:24:00.001-08:00

POLITE CONVERSATION: Usually starts with the weather. Here in southern California we are said not to have any. For example it's 50F here today , during the day. Now that is news to us long time residents but to the rest of the world?. I took a look here . . . .http://home.accuweather.com/index.asp?partner=accuweather. There is a nice picture of a rabbit and all sorts of things happening everywhere, even a selection of blogs about the weather.

The global warming issue makes the weather important, but that is't apt to come into polite conversation because it involves politics. Politics and religion are no no's in casual discourse. so perhaps I should discuss them later when we know each other better.

I plan to feature some writing by my friends here and THAT will be more interesting than either and still POLITE.

Another one . . .another thought or two

2005-12-12T21:58:00.000-08:00

This one is a monday and because of the rainy season the Wild Cam at Pete's Pond in Botswanna is going to be shut down the 14th which is tomorrow? I'll miss it. I even spent an hour today watching the wind and rain play with the water there.
No one was minding the store, and the camera, on automatic was wending it's way back and forth across dirty green water which now and then added another leaf or twig to its surface. The riples reflected light. The rain splashes showed as crystals which came and went too suddenly for me to capture.
The simplicity of the scene and the mechanical bopping sound which was probibly the camera motor was hypnotic for me. I snapped captures whenever something disturbed the wateer in an interesting way. It was simple but as I looked I began to see the detail and the variations. Some were quite striking.

If I know a person long enough and let myself pay attention I begin to see the details and variations there, as well as the themes which make up a given personality. I find this fascinating. . . It's not an intellectual thing with me, I can relate this way more on an emotional level, with empathy enjoying their joys as well as comforting them with their sorrows. Intimacy is the reward. I'm an INTIMACY JUNKY. . .

The war is always on my mind

2005-12-11T10:27:00.000-08:00

and us, you and me and all the other homo sapiens, the ""wise men" who make it happen.

It's clear that we aren't wise enough to live peacefully all the time. Some of us need excitement. Some of us are paranoid and don't feel safe with simple ordinary lives. some of us go to jail and others go into the military or law enforcement.

If you build it they will come . . . and they do.

today like another except . . .

2005-12-10T15:41:00.000-08:00

I'm at Claissical Archives playing preludes by Procofioff if I spelled it right. It doesn't matter the one I'm playing number five and it's familiar and smoother than most of his compositions. I wish I had better speakers though. These little Yamahas were adequate for midis, but now that I have mac OSX I expect better sound.

I checked out the story in the Wash. Post on Lieberman and his Republican friends. It concerns his take on the war and I can see why they like him and I have to give up on him. He is a hawk. . ,seems to like to go to war. too bad.

How do I get comments on these posts of mine or yours. This is my second attempt at writing one so there is much t learn. enjoying the music for now.
later,

getting started

2005-12-09T11:56:00.000-08:00

this is just like the upgrade probs I'm having after getting a new computer a mac-mini which is six inches square and two inches deep and POWERFUL. a new operating system OSX or TIGER, and it is one, and new ISP and finding my way around the new NETSCAPE which isn't as good for me as the old one so back to the ISP.

I'm asked to make a post in order to continue setting up this thing, so it has to be mine. Puulllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeze bear with me. . . .because