A Brief But Heartfelt Post

Right now I am not happy with people. We have had several mass shootings: one (in El Paso Texas) being handled as a hate crime (as opposed to a "love crime"? Most crimes seem to involve hate!) by a guy who felt that Texas was being invaded by immigrants. The other (in Dayton,Ohio) seems to have been committed by (another) young white guy who had a "hit list" and a "rape list". Nice young man! And there was a shooting last night in Chicago- maybe not quite as splashy, but people are dead.
And don't get me started on the glib rethuglican responses of "thoughts and prayers" and video games being responsible and questions of mental illness. The rethuglicans need to grow up and take responsibility.
I had to suffer through some of the scripted remarks recited by The Orange Menace. I'm so cynical about the rethuglican comments on gun violence; it makes me gag. The same platitudes are invoked and there was some weird mention of "their deaths won't be in vain". WTF?!?!? These poor people were shot while buying socks and underwear at WalMart, or enjoying a night out with friends. Of course their deaths are in vain. They died because our country is too stupid and corrupt to pass meaningful gun laws.
And this was going to be a happy post about nice plants growing in our lovely garden and how happy I was to spend the day on Saturday designing and planting a whole new area. Instead, we finished up the day with the news of 20 people dead in Texas (and of course, the death toll has now risen to 22.)
I'm not going to spend time dwelling on the idiotic rethuglican (woman!) who ranted about the causes of this violence being gay marriage, drag queens, fatherless families and marijuana. Really? How about the vile anti-immigrant rants of The Orange Menace; the "leader" of our country who smirked when someone at one of his truly terrifying rallies suggested "shooting them" as an answer to immigration issues? The El Paso shooter obviously heard that suggestion.
And how come the rethuglicans have such a hard time admitting that the problem IS guns? The ease of getting one, the fact that almost any asshole can buy an assault rifle... why is the idea of a background check or a gun registry so appalling to rethuglicans?
I know several one issue voters and guns is that issue. They intone their 2nd Amendment "right" and think their wish to have "fun" reducing targets or animals or people to hamburger should trump someone else's wish to stay alive. We'd better do something fast but I know we won't.

Where Do I Begin?

I have been mulling over three utterly different subjects for this post. I could either describe our recent trip to Vermont (fun), the lovely stone and mosaic step that Bob and I constructed outside my studio (useful), or the scary meeting Bob and I attended about passing an ordinance prohibiting the carrying of gun in public places in our town (weird). As you can see (sort of) from the above picture, I chose to write about an "interesting" (in all the worst ways!) experience...
I had received- and not paid too much attention to- emails about a Southbury town meeting that was so well attended and so large, that it had to be postponed and moved to the high school auditorium. It was a meeting about an attempt to pass an ordinance that would prohibit the carrying of guns on public property. I also received a phone call from a woman on the Democratic Town Committee who explained what was involved. Bob and I decided to attend.
As you can see from the above picture (which is a re-photo of a shot posted on a news website) there was quite a crowd. We, the gun safety proponents, were on one side of the main doorway and they, the gun advocates, were on the other. We sized each other up.

Bob was initially hesitant to actually go into the auditorium (as were other people that we talked to outside) but I was pretty adamant that we were here, we should hear what people were presenting as arguments. It was packed and lines formed for attendees to testify. We had been handed signs that announced we were residents of Southbury, and this mattered as many of the gun supporters had been urged to attend even if they lived in other towns. I had checked the CCDL website and learned that they were actively encouraging members to attend and "wear CCDL swag". I think the majority of the pro-gun people were out-of-towners as I didn't recognize many of them...
There was an introduction by the resident state trooper about what is in the actual existing gun laws. There is apparently a bit of room for interpretation in the carrying in public places rule that is already on the books; a murky "need for a special license". 
Residents from our town and surrounding towns then addressed the Board of Selectmen. Many spoke movingly about being from Sandy Hook (the next town over from us) and how crazy it is to allow- or promote! the idea that we're safer if we're all "packing". I was entirely in agreement with the woman who said simply, "I don't want to think about the person next to me at the library carrying a gun. Or the person next to me while I'm licensing my dog or paying my taxes..." But it was disheartening to hear the people who gave their ideas about the 2nd amendment and how it was their right to bear arms. It was terrifying and I seriously began to wonder what I was thinking, encouraging Bob and myself in coming into this auditorium to be surrounded by so many gun totin' whack jobs! I felt my eyes opening wider and wider and I started breathing so that I thought I'd hyperventilate; it was not a good place to be. PTSD, anyone?
Ultimately, we stayed through about a third of the speakers and then left. We had had enough. Honestly? The police on duty (and there were more present then I've ever seen before in town (except at the local pizza joint) looked a bit uneasy, too.

But we got tee shirts and placards and buttons and I plan on wearing my tee shirt to work. I have requested that the auction house be declared "a gun free zone" as I know that several of my co-workers think very differently from me about their right to bear arms.
And this meeting took place after Las Vegas but before the (most recent mass) shooting at the church in Texas! And don't forget the shooting at a Walmart in Colorado, in which it was described that the gun man "nonchalantly" opened fire on people shopping!* Good grief! where does this end? Cynically, I still fear that if the death of 26 children and their educators didn't provoke a change in the gun laws, then what will? And how did we all wind up in a replay of The Wild Wild West?

*Interestingly, the argument was raised that if everyone has a gun and starts shooting at the person who initially started shooting, when the police arrive, how on earth are they supposed to know who the "good guys" or the "bad guys" are? And the two men who pursued the shooter in Texas were driving at 90 miles an hour and shooting. What if they had shot an innocent bystander? Or caused a traffic accident? And how did they really know the story behind who was shooting? Too many disturbing details...

Noisy Night and Various Blessings

(Seeing as it's nearly impossible to take pictures of sounds or noise, the photos here are going to be drawn from other inspirations. Personally? I don't like blogs that lack pictures! However, last night, I went to use the bathroom and happened to see a few of Bob's recent sculptures, illuminated by the downstairs hall light. It was atmospheric enough to stand in for an illustration of "sounds".)
In any event, last night at The Bauhaus Chicken Coop was spectacularly noisy. As Bob and I donned our sleeping caps and settled down for a early summer's night nap every possible thing that could make noise made noise.
I don't remember what was first, but there was an odd persistent sound somewhere between video game electronic music and herds of ruminating hoofed animals. We kept going to the open windows, attempting to isolate just what was making that sound. No luck. But it soon mixed with tree frogs, birds and the occasional giant airplane transversing our yard, directly over the sky light. Also heard were endless drones of motocycles or cars and trucks from the nearby highway. Then there was the persistent yapping of various neighborhood dogs as well as the sharp and protracted complaints of what sounded like at least ten coyotes, near and far. And suddenly there was a tremendous BOOOM!!! from what must have been a gun shot, probably fired at the coyotes. And next- inexplicably- the rapid explosions of fireworks. And it's not even the fourth of July. So much for the sound effect portion of this posting...

(Eerie, no? So it was 2:00 when I went out to take these photos, but unlike the night before, it was utterly silent! But you have to look closely to see Bob's sculpture...)

And, yes, I received several blessings recently. Maybe it stems from my new-found appreciation of a pope who actually seems to have a heart and a mind. (Gotta like a pope that not only states that human life is causing climate change, and also remarks about income disparity and our wasteful consumer culture. You go, pope!) In any event, last week I had just wheeled a hefty barrow full of horse manure around to the compost pile when I spied a car in the driveway. I approached, thinking it was probably some of Bob's customers for his garden metal work. But as I got nearer, I saw a thick book in the hand of the lady who had alighted from the car. She said, "I'd like to invite you to a study group that I'm certain you'll find interesting." I responded, "I don't think you really want to talk to me or invite me to your group. I'm an artist and a heathen." Without missing a beat, she asked, "And how long have you been a heathen?" That was pretty funny! But she threw some sort of all purpose blessing at me as she got into the escape vehicle.
And a a week or so earlier, while in Brooklyn, Bob and i passed by an open air worship service of some sort. Hell, we were looking for art but we received a free blessing from a young woman trying to drag us into prayer. And of course, I walk by the house of the retired nuns up the road and they're always dispensing blessings to me and Jules the Dog. For being a heathen artist, I seem to be awash in blessings!

Better Be Seen to Be Believed

No, this blog posting isn't about the Russians invading Ukraine (and a week after the homophobic, dog killing Olympics!) although that's pretty depressing and on my mind. This is simply a posting about random weirdness. Like the above photo.
I have been enjoying re-photographing (Appropriation! Oh my!) things that I have (unfortunately) seen on the Internet. All kinds of stuff is out there; I don't even want to know. Take this photo- please.
We see a dog that looks for all the world like a Muppet, sitting in a bathtub surrounded by mirrors and a lady with a child... and PINK assault weapon of some sort??!?!? No, just tell me where these people live so that Bob and I never accidentally move in near them. But once you've seen something like this, it's very hard to un-see.
Suffice it to say that I'm at work on an artist's book entitled, "Better Guns and Gardens". One of my favorite things about a new project is immersing myself in disturbing and bizarre worlds. Like when I was working on my "A Salty Psalter", I got to purchase strange pornography to illustrate my work.  I had to visit back rooms at magazine shops, where I ineffectively tried to convince the proprietor that I was an artist doing research... no, really! My friend John T. helped out with a hefty donation (Thank you John) of his gently used collection of gay magazines. But for the world of guns, I'm on my own.
It was therefore a bit astonishing that I didn't even need to visit a specialty store to purchase copies of titillating titles like "Power Guns Monthly" and "Your Magnum Force". I simply went to the magazine section of my local Stop and Shop, and believe me, there were several selections to chose from. Does this strike anyone else as a problem?
Of course, this is one of the reasons I'm doing this project. I am trying to come to terms with our nation's fascination with guns. After Sandy Hook and the ineffectual inability of "lawmakers" to pass meaningful legislation on banning assault weapons, setting up gun registry lists or more stringent background checks, I despair. Somehow, Second Amendment wackos (who don't think they're mentally ill; I KNOW they are!) trump common sense and we are left with no real protections. I suspect it's easier to buy a gun than to adopt a dog from a rescue group. Those people run all kinds of investigations on you and visit your home, not to mention you have to fill out piles of paperwork and explain why you want a pet. And they won't give you one the first time you walk into a shelter. But a gun? It's your friggin' constitutional right!

Starting a Revolution

Here's the flag at the end of our driveway! Tattered and twisted- a fitting image for where we're all headed. Dog Bless America!*
What a holiday: people blowing off their digits with fire crackers, explosions that replicate gun battles, dogs and cats (and people) being scared out of their wits by the aforementioned loud noises, people consuming way to many salty, high calorie foods. Truly American, this Fourth thing!
The idiot up the road- and others surrounding- will be dusting off their muskets, powder kegs and assault weapons to prove they are the true patriots- not peace loving, art making heathens like Bob and me! Our ears will be 21 gun saluted with a deafening din.
Let us be thankful for all the wonderful state of the nation.

The funny thing is I wanted to post an update on the State of the Studio but it was my patriotic duty to acknowledge the holiday! Check back tomorrow...

*Dog, of course, being God backwards.