Toe Jamb

 

Ouch! This posting starts off with a clever pun for a title. While moving barefoot from the bedroom, where I had finished a pleasant yoga session, to the bathroom- a distance of approximately eight feet- I succeeded in ramming that awkward space between my little toe and it's neighbor (ring toe?) into the jamb of the doorway. (*1) Two days later, I'm still limping. It is somewhat better, but my plans to ride my pony were hobbled by my inability to get any pair of boots on my hoof with causing excruciating pain. My old sneakers are the best I can do. I am resigned to sedentary indoor activities.

We do have a new(er) car, however, which is big news and good news! It was shockingly debilitating to be transportation-less and although helpful friends volunteered rides to stores and Insta-Cart-like experiences, we succeeded in locating a likely car rather quickly.

Hooray! We're very happy with our new red rocket, although temporarily I am unable to drive it as my right toe is part of my right foot which is required to depress the gas and brake pedals. That causes pain! But it looks good sitting in the driveway and Bob can drive it. 

In the meantime, I am eagerly awaiting the start of the seventh January 6 Select Committee hearings. It was supposed to be on at 10:00 am but got moved to 1:00 pm. At least this is something I can do while incapacitated by a swollen and painful toe. Lock him up!!!

(*1) I am aware that "toe jam" is a nasty, smelly substance that develops between the toes of unclean individuals. Fortunately, I am not one of these sufferers! And on that note, do you know anyone who admits to toenail fungus? Is this really an epidemic? Because I see all kinds of ads in magazines and on-line that want to cure it!

Politics as Usual

 

I hope it is easy enough to read ("Eat The Rich"). I photographed it quickly and the bottom is darker than the top, which made the letters harder to read. Obviously, the name of this piece is "A Modest Proposal". Possibly the rich are tough and stringy as they mostly seem to be pretty scrawny (*1), but this could solve some of the dilemmas facing our country at present. The President's (*2) proposed budget keeps shrinking as filibuster and renegade Democrats refuse to fucking raise taxes on the hideously wealthy and meanwhile "we the people" are still reeling from the pandemic and want free college and expanded health care, baby! So tax the rich and then eat them. I wouldn't miss Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos one bit...

My work is morphing from the last president's constant infuriating idiocy compelling me to immortalize his bizzarre rants(*3) to more measured ravings on my part about income equality and social justice. I should be busy for quite some time to come, as none of the societal ills we're plagued with are in danger of being solved any time soon. Call me a Socialist but I'd like to see some redistribution of wealth. (*4)

See what I mean? Plenty of raw material to go around! I know some philistines wondered where my work would go after "He Who's Name Shall Not Be Mentioned" (Thanks Stephen Colbert!) was expelled from the White House, but he was a symptom of some of these persistent dilemmas. Hell, COVID is still as major factor in our daily lives (whether many people would like to ignore this or not!), things are hardly "back to normal" and I'm still on unemployment. What kind of crazy job do I want to risk my life for? I'm content to make art and cause trouble. Revolution now, baby!

(*1) I think they're thin because they have private, at-home chefs that fed them exclusive omelettes comprised of egg whites and kale. And then their personal trainers boot-camp their sinewy muscles and force them to do a thousand squats. 

(*2) And for god's sake, how can Biden's current rating be lower than the Orange Buffoon's ever was?!??! I ask you?!?!? Things are a slow-go for Biden (again: filibuster, recalcitrant turn-coat Democrats in thrall to big money and obstructionist rethuglicans. I don't agree with everything Biden presents, but he's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy better than The Orange Menace- even on a bad day!!

(*3) Remember "Person, Woman, Man, Camera, TV"?!?!? Here's my piece "Cognitively There" for old times sake:

(*4) Of course this reminds me of the time that Bob and I were driving home from Home Depot (where we had gone in pursuit of N 95 face masks) when a man in a pick-up pulled next to us and- no doubt admiring our Bernie Sanders bumper sticker- screamed "Socialism Sucks" as he roared away. I assume he doesn't like, oh, I don't know, hospitals and schools and roads and libraries and fire departments and Social Security...

 

A Post For All My Artist Friends! (Public Service Announcement)

 

A new piece in progress! One of several. As promised, I am moving away from documenting the many verbal (and otherwise) atrocities committed by The Orange Menace- at last! Good riddance! I am returning to a subject near and dear to my existence: income disparity and the hard scrabble life of the artist. Plenty of raw material there.

So the above is being offered as a semi-sarcastic, but heart felt plea. That phrase, "Just Fucking Buy It", popped from my mouth as Bob and I discussed an all-too-common problem of viewers of art work. Supposing to be supportive, or encouraging, or maybe to make themselves feel like big-time art collectors, people frequently lead artists on with comments like, "Oh! I LOVE your work! I should collect it!" or, "Let me know when you make another one! I'd love to buy a piece!" (*1) And all too often, they never do.

I cannot begin to count all the times that this has happened to me, to Bob, to every artist friend we have. And the sad part is that some small, eternally hopeful part of us artists swells and grows large and vulnerable; we actually expect the speaker of these words to follow through and exchange money for the artwork and take it home with them. I don't even know how we still fall for this cruel ruse. But we do.

There was even a scam going around a few years ago; apparently it's been dusted off and renewed. Artists (myself included) receive an email stating how much this particular person admires our work. They often have some story about how they'd love to purchase a piece as and anniversary gift for their wife or husband. They lead you on for several emails... until the ugly truth dawns: they were never a perspective client. How does this make them happy or excited or aroused? Leading on poor, unsuspecting artists is cruel! Call a stock broker and pretend you want to purchase shares or something! Just leave artists alone! (*2)

 So I retort with "Just Fucking Buy It". Tell me you like my work; relay how wonderful it makes you feel. Or how you like the colors, the subject matter.... whatever. But please don't then feel somehow special for adding that you'd like to buy it. Unless you have a check book, or credit card or (even better!) cash in hand. I- and no other artist I know- needs the hollow flattery. Shit or get off the can.

(*1) And I cannot for the life of me figure why they're sometimes interested in whether I make another or- or one in red, or blue instead. If you're not going to buy this one, what earthly good is another one?!?!?!?

(*2) I recently had a gentleman (and his wife and child) love my original WTF at an open studio event. They came back several times, admired all my work... and then walked away. The next year, they re-visited my open studio, ask about the same piece- was it still available?... and walk away. And then- six months later- I got an email from the same guy, asking measurements etc etc... and then he dropped off the face of the earth. What gives?!?!?

10th Year Anniversary Railing!

 

This was supposed to be a jubilant post, my first of the New Year, touting all the good things happening. Soon (not soon enough) a new president, vaccinations coming, celebrating 10 years of life at The Bauhaus Chicken Coop and most importantly- a new railing up our stairs to go with that amazing balustrade that Bob constructed... (what did we do before the railing?!?!?)

But instead, I find myself (and almost everyone else I know) reeling from the crazy-town, rethuglican, trump-inspired mayhem that happened on Wednesday. This is me RAILING against the mob. Has anyone out there ever seen anything like that storming of The Capitol? I mean, many of us are old enough to have witnessed the Viet Nam War on TV or Nixon resigning... but this truly was like a page out of the Shit Hole Country playbook. Scary, disheartening, appalling, disgusting; how many more words can we conjure to describe what we saw. Stupid, ravenous, ill-informed followers of The Orange Menace being egged on by the (non) president himself and many of his fist-pumping evil henchmen, seeking to overturn an election because they didn't like the results. 

But here's another shot of the railing, before I go off the rails:

Look at the way it seamlessly ties into the balustrade! Bob meticulously painted the uprights the same color as my closet shoji screens and the railing is the same ethereal pale blue of the balustrade. I am going out of my way to find reasons to go up and down the stairs, so that I can enjoy using the railing!

Thank goodness that I have a railing to hang onto as Wednesday and the insurrection at Capital made me weak in the knees and sick to my stomach. If I hear one more rethuglican try to imply that "antifa" was present, I'll puke. I needed that railing on Wednesday night after hours-straight watching this awful violent mob smash glass, smear feces, put feet up, stumble around- pointlessly!- like a bunch of drunk teenagers with nothing better to do... I'm sure we all saw some of the (low life) "highlights": no, I'm not even going to re-introduce them. May they all go to prison and rot. (*1)

(Looking back down). I'm exhausted and full of wine and cookies, antidotes to the toxicity and poison that we've all witnessed. But I really need to end on a good note so lets take a minute and toast Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff! Thank you Georgia for delivering the Senate! Thank you Stacey Abrams for tirelessly working to get the vote out! Democracy is alive and (somewhat) well.

(*1) At the very least, we can expect many of these epsilon sub-morons to get sick with COVID as this was a super-spreader event par-excellence! No masks, no social distancing and lots of open-mouthed, spittle-flinging screaming and chanting going on.

Pop Quiz: Solstice Edition

Okay kids: What are the two things that Rita enjoys about the Holiday Season? If you said, "Xmas tree!" and "Cookies!" than you have a splendid memory. Above is the partially decorated pine tree that Bob harvested from our vast acreage. It's actually a bit taller than some recent models and boy is there plenty of open space to hang ornaments! Looks great!

                                     

And here's the beginnings of several bouts of cookie creation. We didn't have the ingredients I needed for a few of the other cookies I intended to make, so I resorted to that pseudo-healthy standby of oatmeal raisin cookies. They're half gone already.

Here's our tree illuminated at night. I think this was from our Solstice Celebration. We like to hold celebrations; what else can you do in times of COVID 19 and continued Trumpism?! Let's break out the booze and have a ball... (*1)

It is strange to be decorating and thinking that we'd ordinarily have family (Hi Cathy! Hi Beatrice! Hi John!) over for pork roast, which Bob is just now starting to cook in the CrockPot. (Or, The CrackPot as it IS at our house!). We're cooking the pork roast a day early, thinking we'll enjoy it for Xmas eve as well as Xmas day because Holy Hell! The weather people are predicting heavy rain! High winds! Flooding! Armafuckinggeddon!! Power outages! Darkness! Despair! Our energy company (don't get me started on Eversource (*2)) left a weird robo-message excusing themselves in advance of any responsibility for power outages. They advised to remove or tie down any outdoor decorations... yeah, right. (*3)

So we're having a small feast: mashed potatoes, roast pork, gravy, Brussels sprouts and our own carrots. And we have a warm spinach artichoke dip as an appetizer and a punkin pie to finish up. Slosh it all down with a nice red Bordeaux and boy are we livin' the good life!

In the meantime, I'm doing everything with one hand tied behind my back as I had a freak accident (*4) and my left hand looks like I decked someone in a bar fight. I'm swollen and can't bend two fingers. Thank goodness I'm a Rightie! 

So... Happy Holidays from us and ours to you and yours!

(*1) To quote Miss Peggy Lee.

(*2) And there were a couple of degenerates (one, whaling away at a rose vine with a machete!!) sent by Eversource to prune the trees that line the driveway so as to prevent outages. But walking out to the mailbox and surveying every bloody inch of the driveway, I was unable to discern that they had done anything!!

(*3)  But I will bring Burned Santa inside for the night. Remember him? Rescued from the wilds of Shamokin Pennsylvania where he had been badly burned in some heathen Xmas sacrifice. He gets tied to the fence every year as our one concession to outdoor holiday decorations.

(*4) Don't ask how I managed to hook my sleeve on a gate, pull on it and cause my poor, innocent left hand to come careening across and POW! impact on the side of the horse food bucket. I am swollen and can't bend two fingers.

Exhaustion... And Relief!

 

I'm so relieved! So relieved, in fact, that I am starting a new piece that has NOTHING TO DO with The Orange Menace or all the lies and trouble he has caused. How's THAT for radical??!?! Although when I was shopping for fabric, I had three people exclaim, "Oh! that's such pretty material! What are you going to make?" (I think they expected me to say, "A winsome frock!" or some such nicety.) I replied, "I make profanity-laced political banners." One woman retorted, "Oh, that's nice." Another older (even than me) woman asked and I once more offered that I make political banners. She suggested that the election is over... implying that there's no room for politics anymore. I replied that although I was very happy with the outcome of the election, as an artist, there is always something political to address. Such is my mission!

But yes, relief and exhaustion. I know that many of us are experiencing this combination. I wanted to call friends and sing praises of democracy in action, but I've been so tired that crawling into bed and reading and then... YES!! SLEEPING!! Deep, restful sleep. Or, more to the point, safe and restful, sleep, sleep, sleep.(*1) I am certain we face many up-hill and stupid battles between here and inauguration day (biggest one EVER!!) thanks to intransigent rethuglicans and a little poor-loser dictator that just won't quit. But we won!

And how's this for a hopeful sign? I was walking past the compost pile and I spied something orange. It was a gazania, alive and still in bloom despite last week's below freezing temperatures and being chucked out of a pot. A bit of sunshine to help us along!

(*1) Although I did have a truly weird dream that Rudy Giuliani helped me steal a very large (blue) dump truck to help try and rescue someone. He was actually a good person in the dream; how warped is that?!?

 

 

Pleasant Pictures Amidst Turmoil and Despair

 

I'm not even being facetious about my blog title this time around. This blog posting is going to be a visual interlude; a swan song to summer and an appreciation of flowers on this chilly, rainy October day. Above, brilliant sky blue plumbago, blooming it's proverbial pants off on our kitchen table. Such an amazing color! It's almost enough to make us forget that the consequential presidential election is a mere 22 days. Yikes!!!!!! Wait, wasn't this post supposed to be soothing pictures of flowers?

And look at the fiery vibrancy of our good friend Roberts's "Caliente" dahlias? Coupled with lime green coleus (I believe that's "Wasabi") and the equally lemon/lime leaves and red seed pods of "Jewels of Opar (Talinum) it's a pop of much needed color in the house as summer fades. And alas! Most of our dahlias have already died in an early frost; Roberta's garden is only 15 minutes south but much warmer. The heat of these beautiful blooms almost eliminates the chill I'm feeling when contemplating the possibility of four more years of The Orange Menace, steering us towards death, destruction, mayhem and NO!!!!!

Here's a small and innocent group of the last marigolds from the cut flower garden. I like to offer up a small arrangement to the residents of my dragon shrine. Maybe they bring us good luck? I sure hope so because we sure as fuck need good luck! Over 212,000 people dead of COVID 19 and no end in sight of isolation and social distancing and mask wearing and STOP!!!!

Okay, okay: I promise to end on a note of simple, glorious eruption of color. Asters! One of my absolute favorite type of flower. They're so late and yet sport pinks and purples and powdery lavender blue that I might more readily associate with spring. They're tall and wild and smell like hay fields and they billow in explosions of end of season exuberance. Just as I give up on the garden and  dread the approach of winter and try to think of next year's garden... Ta Da!! the asters explode and prolong what remains of this season. See? I kept my word and ended in a better frame of mind... Just keep thinking "flowers".

Patriotic Interlude

I had another theme/story in line for this posting. But then I realized that it's the Fourth of July and extreme times call for us patriotic artists to do our duty. Therefore, I shall rant and wax leftist on this Independence Day.
We forgot to get hotdogs so we will be dining on hot Italian sausages and baba ganoush this holiday. I think mixing things up and exploring the diversity of our American food heritage is a healthy way to celebrate the Fourth. And what more perfect way to wash down all this Internationalism than with (British Imperial) Gin and Tonics?
Oh, and the piece above? This is what The Orange Menace calls "never trump" republicans. And also the occasional (lucky) member of the press corps. Hahahahahaha! Human Scum? I got news for you: all the "human scum" we'll ever need resides in The White House! And very happy to report that this brand-new piece is in an exciting and important on-line exhibit! (*1)
So here we are, with 60+ % of Americans thinking the country is a mess- and a fine mess it is! A death toll over 125,000, Corona Virus, high unemployment (due to the COVID 19 pandemic), a racist xenophobe in the White House... the only bright spot is the rethuglicans cozy with The Orange Menace giving into the hoax and coming down with COVID 19. (Thank you Kimberly Guilfoyle!) And then we have the charming, newly-arrested Ghislaine Maxwell. Where do these people come from? Human Scum to be sure! For some reason (several hundred really big ones) she disgusts me even more that Jeffery Epstein; perhaps because she referred to the young women (girls!!) that she procured for Epstein as "nubiles". Yeeeeeech!! What kind of miscreants are these people? Of course everyone is placing bets on how Ghislaine commits "suicide"...
Oh please! I don't seem to have a single good thing to say; everything seems pretty messed up out there. But have a safe and healthy holiday! Don't attend any suspicious political rallies, especially ones thrown by science-denying, no mask-wearing, non-social distance-keeping thugs who've been sprayed odd colors. I think you know who I mean... Human Scum!!!!

(*1) https://sites.google.com/…/artistsreacttothepandemicge…/home
A wonderful show full of the work of amazing artist activists! Can only imagine what The Orange Menace thinks of artists like us!

Black Lives Matter

 I know I am in the company of many when I say how disturbing the murder of George Floyd was. The video of him saying, "I can't breathe", (echoing Eric Garner's very words from several years earlier), and the fact that three fellow officers stood by and enabled this brutal crime had sickened me and made me despair. But then to hear The Orange Menace somehow imply that, "It was a great day for George Floyd" and how George Floyd be "happy" that unemployment figures had fallen and the economy looked to be recovering made me feel crazy. I almost cried. The man was murdered...
On Sunday, I ran out to our local Stop and Shop to pick up a few items. I bought what I needed and as I exited the parking lot onto the main road, I spotted a gathering of people. I knew what was up and drove home quickly (as I had butter and several other perishable items in the car) and grabbed Bob, who was mowing the lawn.
"Quick!", I implored Bob, "There's a Black Lives Matter protest rally!" The week before there had (apparently) been one- that we missed- and it had made the local paper. I had vowed if there was another one, we'd attend.
We got there a few minutes late, having missed a brief introduction or speaker, but we took our places along the side of the road, holding up signs printed with the names of African American citizens who had been murdered by police and racist vigilantes. *(1)

(Not great pictures but the sun was really bright and I find phone photography especially challenging outdoors. And then you have to type in tiny letters...) I was so happy that Bob and I were able to stand along side fellow towns people (259 of us!!) and make a show of support for justice and change. This is a town that often votes rethuglican!
Many people passing in cars honked support and flashed fists and peace signs. There were also several tense moments where angry looking men in large trucks gunned their engines in an aggressive fashion; you had to think of previous protests where people drove cars and trucks into the crowd! But civility prevailed and several police officers even attended and offered bottles of water and thanked us for gathering (!!!). A woman standing next to us told Bob that the week before, three police cars had cruised past slowly, in an intimidating manner. I'm sure glad they changed their tone!
We will go again next week if there are further protests. It made me feel that we can do something to change the system. Hopefully, real change will finally occur.

*(1) And yes we all stood at least 6 feet apart and everyone wore masks.

Behind the Green Door

Hahhahahaa! Isn't that the name of a 1970's porn movie? (*1) Well, behind this green door there is our living room and- nothing to see here! Anyway, the picture is simply to show our attempt at a "classic" "formal" container planting by our front door as we're clearly such classic, formal individuals!
So as a complete break from the COVID 19 crisis and the newly minted crisis of The Orange Menace threatening to call in the military to squelch protesters after a million too many deaths of Black Americans at the hands of racists, I've been gardening! And making ART! Two entirely wholesome activities that help keep me from having panic attacks...(*2). I'm sure I have company in alternately despairing over the violence and hatred in this country and trying to avoid the news altogether.
So here are some recent wholesome activity updates:

Here's a view of the newly weeded and resurrected Blue Garden. This are was so full of escaped run-amok Blue Lyme Grass (elymus arenarius to those with a penchant for Latin) which does tend towards being an aggressive- but attractive!- grass. I dug up about three hundred cubic miles of the stuff and re-planted it in two metal surrounds. Hopefully, I can enjoy its powdery blueness while controlling its zeal to conquer. I also planted two more sky blue truly beautiful Delphinium; a close up please!

And that color is accurate. I am holding off planting the deep purple Delphinium here as we're still enjoying its company on the terrace in a pot. The Blue Garden is an endlessly entertaining exercise in pigment restraint; so few flowers are really blue. Most tend towards a smudgy off-lavendar kind of shade. As most of you will notice that I tend to be pretty rampant in my color interactions in other parts of the garden. In general, I like a lot of color.
But what else did I rip out beside Blue Lyme Grass? This bed was (and parts still are!) totally overrun with poison ivy. The bane of my gardening existence! Here's a lovely shot of what I'm up against:

Weaving its evil way through everything. I carefully donned dirty clothes, latex gloves and tall boots and commenced to rip it out. Then I stuffed it all in a trash bag and left it to rot. I carefully peeled all my clothes off, jettisoned them to the washing machine and scrubbed my hands, wrist and face (as I knew I touched it) with Dawn dish soap. It was interesting because I think the poison ivy juices that contacted my face wanted to erupt, but couldn't so my face felt "funny" for a day and then nothing happened. But look at knee where I had a tear in my pants:

I got a minor case there! I wish I had thought to wash my knee. But I'll live and I did remove most of that noxious weed. Not bad for a day's digging.





(*1) Yup! A "classic" of the kind (apparently).
(*2) And no, I am not denying the awfulness of what is occurring. You know me: I have three pieces going in my studio- directly in response to The Orange Menace and his evil ways! The newest one is "Human Scum", inspired by his description of Never Trumper Republicans. Really?

Earth Day!

(This post was going up yesterday but some ghost in the machine wouldn't let me add pictures!)

Happy Earth Day! I guess our present to the Earth has been diminished travel by airplane and car and decreased factory production leading to an all around cleaner environment. Something good had to come out of COVID 19! We're all breathing better if we've been fortunate enough to NOT contract Corona Virus.
But Earth Day dawned majorly cold and windy so quick strolls sufficed for any outdoor celebration. My one big effort yesterday was mixing organic Holly Tone with a wheelbarrow full of compost and applying this to the rhododendrons. I hope they enjoy as they're covered in buds and need nourishment! But I also had to yell (yes, YELL!!) at "the dog" (otherwise known as Robin the Good (ha!) who liked the smell of the Holly Tone and wanted to try and eat it. I hate to yell at (or otherwise reprimand Robin- who can generally do no wrong) but I was so afraid she'd get sick.
So here are pictures of all the lovely white daffodils, surrounded by vinca:

 

I couldn't be happier with my Spring Garden! The lilacs are all budded- even the small ones. Even in the midst of pandemics (you will notice that I haven't mentioned that mess) I am trying to be upbeat, happy and yes! "positive" in this time of plague and pestilence. Again, I stress how lucky Bob and I are that we have a yard and an outside to run around in.

Also, I continue to acknowledge how lucky we are that we both have studios. I've been creating up a storm... well, a few of my new works allude to  the COVID 19 pandemic and how fucked up things are in general...Here's a quick view of two pieces in progress in Atelier Rita:

This one is tacked/pinned together as I arrange the words and get the spacing right. I wanted the text to read as sort of Philip Guston-inspired*(1) lumpy, exhausted schlumpy words. Bob astutely noticed that some of the letters resembled poop emojis *(2). Hahahahaha! I like that as a reference! Remember when "Our Fair Leader" (otherwise known as "The Orange Menace") said that we'd be "so tired of winning"?  Well, somebody better tell him that I am!
And I'm also playing with this beauty:

Yes, "Thoughts and Prayers", another one of those ineffectual "sounds nice but does nothing" hollow sentiments that needs to be retired fast. I actually think they may have stopped intoning this after every mass shooting as that became insulting pretty fucking quickly! I'm working white on white because I felt that summed up the "hard to see how this makes a difference" theme visually. I'm going to be spending the next three weeks of my life embellishing this with equally white beads. Keeps me out of trouble! *(3) *(4)


*(1) A "typical Philip Guston looking Philip Guston.
 

  *(2) In case you missed poop emojis somewhere along the line.

 

*(3) Boy do I like foot-noting my blog posts!
*(4) And why did my formatting go hay wire?!??!

Checking In During Quarantine

More precious than gold... rarer than emeralds... more in demand that contemporary art! Toilet paper! the stuff of dreams!! A friend dropped two rolls in our mailbox; it was like Xmas. In fact, I confided to Bob that despite it's being on our toilet paper dispenser, I've been afraid to use it. I feel like I should save it for a special occasion. *1.)
Anyone else suddenly sick and tired of COVID 19? It's sort of like the Donald Trump of pandemics. Every time you turn on the news or look at the Internet... or decide it would be a nice afternoon to visit a museum or go shopping, there it is, being awful and you wonder what did we ever do to deserve this!!?!?!?
And it's been a boring slog having to wade through unemployment applications on line, arranging for simple shopping trips that used to be a cinch. Wanting to go some place else, but having no place to go as most destinations are shut down. And going to the store is scary stuff: everyone masked or now wearing those plastic face shields*2.) and furtively eyeing each others carts to see who got that last roll of toilet paper. Some odd price gouging going on: ice cream (for which I've had a hankering) is over $5 a pint (fuggedaboudit!!) and eggs are over-priced and tiny. But gas is ridiculously cheap! I marveled at a sign advertising $1.89 a gallon and then saw another station offering gas for $1.79. Those cynical rethuglicans again. There's some price was going on in OPEC and we have no where to go so our prices come down. We're no doubt bailing out EXXON and Shell...
Bob and I finally got around to cleaning (a few parts of) the house today. I keep reading about people who claimed to have immediately set to cleaning their apartments once the quarantine was announced. I kept feeling like I had better things to do, but today- maybe in advance of the holiday to which no one can come, we cleaned.
So tomorrow is Easter, a good pagan holiday of earth reawakening and fertility. It will be quiet and I miss my family members not coming. Hell, I miss everyone right about now. Talking on the phone is one thing but I wish friends and family could see how nice our gardens look. (I promise to post pretty flower pictures next time.)

  

1.) This is what has been starring as toilet paper at our house. My sister Beatrice asked if it was "septic safe". How the hell should I know??! It's what we have. But it's time to admit that I've always suspected I'm either a bit on the Asperger's scale or mildly OCD. Even as a child, I searched for patterns where there should have been patterns (like on kitchen tiles or ceilings.) I found it alarming when none was discernible and kept looking, hoping I'd missed the pattern somehow. Well, as an adult, this behavior still dogs me. The damned pattern on the side of this particular kleenex box is driving me bonkers. Every time I look at it, I insist there must be a reason they blocked in the deep orange and paler orange and beige in the way they did...


*2.)But there are a few cavalier, no-doubt-rethuglicans striding through the stores with no protection of any kind, wearing a disdainful "look at the bunch" of pussies expression. They make me so angry, but their fearless Orange leader has decried he will wear no mask!

Day Something in the Mass Quarantine

The empty chairs obviously symbolize the lack of social interaction that we're all currently experiencing. I took this picture a few (more innocent) days ago yet thought it appropriate to our present plight. But... hi everyone! We can still blog and talk on the phone and text and send Facebook greetings!
I wasn't kidding with the title: I wasn't sure if today was Friday or Saturday. Bob set me straight. But in all honesty, Bob and I frequently aren't sure what day it is. Bob works from home and I work a shifting schedule so I'm often saying to Bob, "Is this Monday? Am I supposed to be going to work?" Go with the flow! And because I'm now out of work, hopefully temporarily, that time driftiness becomes even more vague.
Other than that, we're doing well and our spirits are relatively high. Bob admits to liking the quiet (eerie in my book!) that has settled over our neighborhood. Much less traffic, fewer airplanes; you can hear the peepers and birds. Lots of spring birds!
And speaking of "high spirits", when Bob informed me that non-essential businesses were to close as of Monday, I changed my clothes and drove to our local big box package store to buy big boxes of wine. I mean, if the fucking zombie apocalypse is coming, I may want to have a glass of Pinot Noir under my belt. Hell, I have my priorities straight! But then, ironically, package stores are deemed essential services; I guess our governor has HIS priorities straight!
So here we are living but not certain what is coming next. Don't get me started with how the present administration has mismanaged a horrific situation that could possibly been better contained. There was a report in this morning's news of two utterly disturbing facts: 1.) That there was a study done last year of how entirely unprepared for a pandemic we as a nation are (ya think?!?!) and 2.) that The Orange Menace was warned by intelligence agencies back in December that this pandemic was looming because of what was being seen in China. Fake news! It's all a hoax! Until it isn't...
So I'll keep checking in on my family and friends. It's been good to communicate with several people I haven't talked to in a while, and really nice to laugh with (and scare the shit out of) friends with whom I interact with on a regular basis. Stiff upper lip!

Corona Not Flu!

The title is a play on a Ramones song, "Carbona Not Glue" that I hope you remember. If not,
here it is: The Ramones: Carbona Not Glue
Anyway, it's been a crazy roller coaster week, not only because of much personal busy-ness but the ever changing line up of democratic presidential hopefuls and that pesky "novel" virus. The stock market gone hay wire, people are dying (not good!) and our government is dropping the ball, as usual.
One week truly feels like a year. Here's an instructive and complicated anecdote: Last week, it was mentioned that a young woman who works in the office of the auction house (where I have worked for 14 years (!!!)) was off on another trip. Not paying too much heed, I casually inquired as to where she had gone. The answer was, "Washington State and Seattle." I was struck later that night, as we listened to the nightly news, that Washington State was being implicated in a couple of unexpected Corona virus cases. A day later, one person had died and a few more cases were diagnosed. I began to wonder if her trip had been a good idea and what was going to transpire when she returned. I asked our general manager- who just happens to be the young woman's mother- what her daughter was up to in Washington.*
Her mother (our equivalent of a HR person along with other hats) gave a perplexed laugh and shrugged and said, "Maybe I shouldn't have let her go. Maybe I'm not a good mother! Hahahaha."
 I became concerned.
Yes, perhaps the media likes to inflate the next enormous or tragic story but this particular issue has some teeth. F'rinstance, "they" (health care providers, epidemiologists and the like) aren't even sure exactly how where virus this came from or how it has spread so quickly . And we know there is no cure, and that it seems to be popping up all over the place... and worst of all is that we don't seem to be doing anything to effectively contain it here! The Orange Menace has proclaimed it "shut down" and "under control" and has incorrectly stated that "a vaccine is just around the corner" (in reality, a year to 18 months away!) He also "had a hunch" that few people would fall ill and that "many
people will have a mild case and even go to work". NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!                                                                                                    
I became increasingly alarmed when I was greeted with the morning news that 11 people in Washington state had died as a result. I expressed my concern to Bob and he agreed that I had a right to feel uncomfortable about working next to a person who had traveled to the very region that's Ground Zero. I shared concern with two of my co-workers and approached my boss. I guess I made it clear that I wasn't being alarmist and that many of us are older than 60 and are in a high risk age group, even if we tend to be pretty healthy. (My boss is well into his 70's and has had a nasty respiratory infection for several weeks: I don't think he'd be smart of mix in a possible cross-pollination with Covid 19!)

 
Fortunately, he was responsive and went to talk to our general manager about having her daughter "self-quarantine" for a week or ten days. It still remains to be seen whether she will have the self restraint to stay home and check herself for symptoms. I am already preparing for my response if I go to work on Tuesday and she's there. But hell, her father as well as her mother work with us and won't they bring germs to work, even if she resists coming in? Stay tuned!

* And I'm not being judgemental, but this young woman is in her 20's, not considering her own- or anyone else's mortality! and probably being age-appropriately irresponsible. She comes back from her trips with tales of binge drinking and the like. I think I'm trying to get across the thought that her life is probably a seething petri dish!

Where Have I Been?!??!??

Above, giant amaryllis  in full spectacular 3 foot tall bloom! The bulb was big last year, but after summering outdoors and living inside, it's totally out performing itself! Amazing!! (Thanks Bob Santin for an remarkable specimen!!)
I apologize to my dedicated followers: I have been a bad blogger. But... I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!
I had hit one of those occasional junctures in one's life, when you realize that you have probably over-committed and everything is due at once and even the things out of your direct control are clamoring for your immediate attention.
Work (like actual salt mines hi ho hi ho kind of work- as opposed to WORK as in life's-calling-studio work) has been appallingly busy what with auctions coming helter skelter one after the other. Typically, I can easily rearrange my schedule but the last two weeks has been raucous and
un-rearrangable. (And how I haven't succumbed to a bad cold, the flu, hell, CoVid 19!! is beyond me. Every person I work with has been snuffling and hacking and in general sounding like death. Our general manager actually left early.)
And then I got it into my head to apply for a really large grant- that I will not get (and that's just reality, not me being "negative!) but I suppose I feel like WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! I'm on  a roll because I did get the State of Connecticut grant (in case you forgot) and strike while the iron is hot and all that. But it was another deadline, complete with me having to set up budgets and images and about thirty assorted not-very-art-oriented question and references. More corporate than sensitive artist! But they dangle that big, big money...

AND we had to celebrate Mardi Gras, which sort of snuck up on us, but thank god they had King Cakes at our local Shop Rite!! (Pictured here, slathered in multi-colored festive icing and sugar!) and watch primaries.
And that's not even mentioning having to pick up work for one show, while dropping off work for another show AND finishing a piece that I have to drop off today before going to an opening this afternoon. No wonder I'm tired! (And wearing two different socks; I was too harried and impatient to search for a match.)
Oh right; we're also off to NYC tomorrow because I'm on a panel discussion at Artist's Talk on Art series. We'll be discussing how artist activists (like me!) fight against The Orange Menace. It should be enlightening and fun but I also feel honored to be part of this panel. We are all doing what we can... but most important is to motivate people to vote! VOTE! VOTE!!!

Finally on an altogether sillier note, the cold weather provokes a static electrical occurrence on the top of Robin the Good's head. A small cluster of hairs (seen here enhanced) persists in standing up. It looks totally adorable, but very silly! I'm not sure if she sees the humor in this, or whether she's even aware that her hair is doing this, but I had to share it anyway! (Don't tell Robin, but she looks like on of those kids in the Young Rascals. No! I mean Spanky and Our Gang; why did I think "Young Rascals"?!?!?)

In Which I Get a Grant and Then Can't Sleep

The title of this posting pretty much says it all. Yaaaay!! Hooray for me! I got a grant from the state, which makes me a National Treasure (all friends/family members/coworkers/sycophants take note!) and worthy of the utmost respect. Hey! This is my third (3 time's the charm!!) grant from the state so I must be doing something right...
After all that excitement and the general craziness at work, I was so tired and strung out that I couldn't sleep on Monday night. That meant I was doubly tired and mixed up on Tuesday, so of course I couldn't sleep again and had another of my crazy post-Apocalyptic dreams. That made me such a mess on Wednesday that I actually cancelled my riding lesson. Boy, I KNOW I was tired if I bagged on that as I look forward to my ride all week long. I tried napping but Robin the Good keep poking me with her nose and paws to make sure I wasn't dead and I never really did sleep until later that night. I think I've caught up now, but it still hasn't entirely sunk in that I got a grant.
So what does one do after all the dust settles and reality hits? I start a new piece! *(1) Seen above is another of that awful Rush Limbaugh's portmanteaus... "Feminist" and "Nazi" make "Feminazi", of course: a title I will proudly claim if it makes me deplorable in Rush Limbaugh's lard encrusted eyeballs. I began this piece when I heard that The Orange Menace had awarded Limbaugh The Fucking Medal of Freedom for (apparently) being a racist, sexist, homophobic right-wing moron. I swear, what won't they dream up next? I read that The Orange Menace was dictating what kind of architecture is to be used in governmental buildings- shades of Mussolini!! Could things get any weirder??!? Dangerous question, that! *(2)

*(1) Well, yes, I started a new piece but it was so cold my studio wouldn't warm up so I actually began a through house cleaning. I vacuumed upstairs, downstairs and the actual stairs and am going to clean the bathrooms once I post this. Maybe I should hire a cleaning person with that grant money! Hahahahahah!


*(2) And now reports have The Orange Menace wanting to do a victory lap in the presidential limousine (nicknamed "The Beast") at the Daytona 500 or some other NASCAR event. Banana Republic here we come!!