Moving On To Art 102

When I purchased my first painting, I was asked if I was a collector? I didn't know what to say. Certainly had no idea where it might lead a few years later. I can now answer yes to that question. Not just paintings though. Photos, illustrations, glass, clay and ceramic pieces, antiques, etc. And almost all from local artists. It's been a great time searching for items that grab my attention. There's an anticipation for what I might come across next. It's almost as addictive as record collecting. I find it amazing how over a few years time, I went from zero interest to thinking about it all the time.

Varying Shades of Blackness Friday

Black Friday observance for me is making it down to the Record Store Day event before they lock the doors for the day. Having succeeding in that goal I picked up The BBC Recordings by The Zombies and a 7-inch EP from 1965 by The Kinks. I've been pining lately for those classic rock sounds of the mid-1960's. Also picked up Folk Singer compact disc by Muddy Waters .... Finally getting around to listening to some samples from it and knowing that I had to have the recording.

Saw a photo of people waiting in line this morning for the doors to open and thought, "No thanks." It must have been elbow to elbow inside the very limited space of that store. As fanatical as I am about record collecting, I'm not that fanatical. I'm content to browse through whatever remains after the mob clears out. Besides, I learned that they didn't even get in the Otis Redding release that I was hoping to get my hands on.

I greatly enjoy just being there when some people walk in and begin to talk about their personal record collecting interests. I'm always thinking: "What am I missing out on? Why don't I appreciate that band or sound?" Maybe I should reconsider or expand? It certainly seems essential to that person.
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As far as all other types of stores, I stayed far away. I just don't care for all that insanity even for a 58-inch screen TV for $39.95 or whatever the hell the sale price is.

Oregon - Oregon State football and no one gave the Beavers a chance but they made a game of it in the second half, twice getting to within three points. I saw several Duck fans comment afterwards that they were'nt worried and I don't believe a word of that. The Ducks won 52-42 but there was a point in time where it just had the feel of a major upset.

Post Thanksgiving Notes

• Came about as close as I'll ever come to recreating a Thanksgiving dinner as mom would have prepared it. Turned out good by my less than mom-like standards and enjoyed leftovers as well but it's still not comparable. More than anything, I miss those days. 
• Life Lessons 101 ..... Been working on a scrapbook using photos that I've collected. Photos found in magazines mostly. It's helping to teach the importance of planning things out beforehand. Not to put the glue into play until you're sure the direction that you want to take. It's funny though .... When you put it all under plastic sheet covers, even what you were initially unhappy with, ends up looking kind of artsy.
• Black Friday upcoming. Right now, there's people out there in thirty degree weather standing or sitting in lines for hours. I just can not bring myself to even consider that. Even if it was for that one rare vinyl record that I've been waiting all my life for. In past years, I might have taken a late night drive just to look around but I can't even drag myself to the car anymore. These days I value being home more than ever.
• No idea why, but I'm reminded tonight of the title of the R.E.M. song, What's The Frequency Kenneth."   
• Extremely grateful just to be alive and though I'm currently aching all over from work (a condition that I've aggravated just by sitting in a chair today), for being relatively healthy.
• At halftime of the traditional Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving game, they had some country music, flavor of the month, on the field giving a performance. Hell I don't know, for all I know it might have been a country superstar. I had to change the channel. Thankfully there was some real music on elsewhere .... A Tom Petty documentary film!! 

If Only They Added Two More Days To All Weekends .....

..... That would certainly rank as one of the world's alltime greatest evolutions!! This earth-sun-moon revolutions and night and day comings and goings and whatnot is overated anyway. Why do we have to play by the old accepted rules .... Just create a whole new time keeping system. Create a longer weekend!!

The much anticipated four day weekend has arrived and at some point during this period I'll probably wake up in the middle of the night in a state of panic thinking that I've overslept and I'm late for work. An occasional occurance that will likely carry over long after I've passed away from this worldly existence. It's just the way that I roll these days. I would love to someday master the experience of total relaxation.

The best aspect of the four day weekend? ..... Not having to deal with 6:00am iced up windshields. I'm very thankful for that this Thanksgiving!! Absolutely hate that sensation .... Nice hot shower, warm clothing just out of the dryer, resulting in a warm mind and thoughts, then walk outside to dealing with ice.

Matilde shared some crock pot turkey at work yesterday. It was so yummy that I'm going to try it myself in celebration of a, "Just Because I Love Turkey Ordinary Tuesday" day (or any other given random day) someday soon.

Evening Chuckle

It's one of my goals. Sometimes I think it's already in progress .... the driving thing that is. Not that I'm drinking or texting and driving or anything like that but I'm always glancing left or right for a potential photo op. And I tend to take my time getting to most places nowdays which likely slows everyone else down. Then there's the occasional moments where I'm driving down a road traveled daily for over 40 years and it suddenly seems like I'm on that road for the very first time.

And recently I saw a friend post something on facebook as being bad driving etiquette (though not dangerous) and I was thinking to myself: "Hey I do that all the time."

But at least, I'm probably the world's most mindful driver when it comes to not tailgating. I don't think that it's bragging to say that, I ALWAYS keep my distance. So I have that going for me. I only wish that the insurance companies could monitor that and give an appropriate discount.

So where's all that leading me to? Senility I sometimes wonder? Though I like to think that I'm still pretty alert of my surroundings and that the mind is operating at full speed.

Day Before Thanksging Eve Notes and Musings

One more day at work ..... Then four days off. The light at the end of the tunnel that keeps you going in August when it feels like a day off  is a thing of the past. If it wasn't for wanting to make use of my camera and the ongoing search for the ultimate image, I might just catch up on sleep the entire time.

Six years ago, I was boarding a train for Idaho. A trip that I like to think, changed my life. The realization that after all the years, I have earned the right for something better in my life. The changes became action within a day (maybe an hour or two) after returning home. Certainly not my usual procrastination involving change. It must have been a powerful eye opener!! And I'm extremely thankful that I had the means available to make a change.

I was a traveling man back at the end of 2009. Idaho for Thanksgiving. Tennessee for Christmas. Old fears set aside. Bus stations and airports. Trains and planes. If I could only write music, there's a song in there somewhere.

It was shortly later that I became interested in the art world. Just walking by a painting that caught my eye was all it took. I sometimes wonder if I had I kept my head down and not glanced to the side that day ...... I had never been interested in art galleries and antiques before. But again, the Idaho influence. I was intrigued with what a friend had done with her home. And now, I love the search!! I love finding objects of interest.

My Mother's Voice

Listened to an old cassette tape .... My moms (young) voice with cameo appearances by both of my brothers. It's a spoken word letter to her mother in South Dakota and the activities going on in our world in Oregon. She calls her mom, "Darlin." There was a reference to me being a junior in high school so it must have been from the summer of 1973 though I think there may have been bits and pieces recorded over several months. She started out with what sounded to me like an obvious midwest accent or twang in her voice. Several references to things I don't remember or never knew. Other references felt like yesterday. One reference that kinda stung a little to me being lazy at the time. She mentions how she had just attended a play at the local live theater for the first time and how much she enjoyed it. Pentacle Theater .....That became a passion for her for several years afterwards. I don't know if it still exists today. No references to other things that I know were going on at home that might have caused her mom to worry. Funny how so much of what I remember nowdays is missing from this tape. (I don't know how to explain or clarify that last sentence ..... just a feeling.)

And without going into detail, it may help with my understanding of this one recurring dream that I've had over the past ten or fifteen years. A dream that I've occasionally struggled with. With what was bringing on its general theme, tone or feel?

It was nice to hear her voice, young and strong again. Because most of what I remember now several years after her passing, is her voice slowly fading away. And her frequent private apologies for family events that happened thirty or forty years earlier and which would often turn into tears ..... Things that she had no control over at the time. Things that I never blamed her for but was so relieved for her when she finally was released from. I've always wondered if she ever shared those issues with anyone besides those there to witness them?

Old People

Having dinner out the other night at a local buffett, which I rarely do anymore. Buffett's scare me these days since I've become somewhat obssessed with germs, bacteria and hand washing. Since I failed to bring any reading material along for distraction sake, I couldn't help but eaves drop on the conversation between these three older people a few feet away. The general topics, their multiple physical health problems and their many differences with society these days. It scared the hell out of me!! I made a mental note that when I'm 86 and there are other people around, to either keep my voice way down or just shut the hell up entirely. (Or if I do speak show them all how hip I still am.) People don't really need to hear all the graphic health details and dated opinions from yesteryear. At least not while they're trying to enjoy a meal.

Considering The Pickle

I'm thinking that the wise old saying should actually be" "A pickle a day keeps the doctor away."

I mean as long as that's not totally false fact-wise about pickles.

Because I can eat two or three apples in a day no problem, but a pickle? ..... I enjoy them and all but can realistically speaking, only eat one per day. That's my limit. And while I like them "with' my sandwich, I don't especially care for them "on" my sandwich.

Which all led me to do a tiny bit of research and my findings are that pickles are indeed good for a person as long as they are consumed in moderation. And without the exception or two involving combinations of chocolate and peanut butter, you'd likely see my picture in the dictionary defining moderation.

Feeling Speechless

Yesterdays terror events in France. I don't know what to say. Feeling speechless and a little hopeless.

How do you really have any reasonable hope of stopping these things from occuring? Someone's determined to attack in these ways, they are sometimes going to find ways to go undetected and carry out their plans. You can't gaurd against every possible surprise that they might dream up, can you? And if they can pull off their attacks in places like Paris and other large cities, then they can get through just about anywhere it seems. You can possibly detect and stop 99 potential attacks but unless they give up their efforts in frustration, one will eventually get through.

It just leaves you shaking your head ..... and wondering what's next, when and where?

On The Street

Don't know if today I witnessed a grateful reaction to a random act of kindness or if the two ladies knew each other ..... I had pulled off the road into the parking lot at Bush Park, to enjoy my cup of just purchased salmon chowder and directly across the street from me, heard a horn tapped and the car stop and the driver get out and ask an elderly lady on foot if she needed a ride. The elderly lady stepped toward the lady offering the ride and embraced her in what must have been at least a thirty second hug. Like long lost friends, or a long separated mother and daughter, suddenly finding each other, before they got in the car and drove off.

Movie Time

Watched the 1944 movie, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo ..... There's a few parts that are a bit hokey and maybe even mind numbing, (I can't stand what I take as the whiny voiced wife and they could have left that out), but I was fascinated with the scenes where they are flying low over Japan before and after dropping their bombs. I read where they used some authentic footage from the actual raid. Regardless if this part of the film was created or authentic film or a mixture, it's still amazing to my eyes.

Also watched Blackboard Jungle. ..... From 1955. I love movies made around the time that I was born. I enjoy seeing what things looked like back then since I have recall issues from the immediate months prior to birth. I grew up liking Vic Morrow in the television program Combat. I enjoyed this movie but don't like Vic Morrow playing a punk.

That Confused Look Again

A father showed a photo of his daughter's college soccer team. He reminded me that I was one of her early instructors in the sport. It's a genuinely nice feeling being reminded that you had a part in her success, though a bit shocking that she's currently a Junior in college. Thirteen or fourteen years ago. I think that he took note of the confused look spreading across my face. It was not because I didn't remember. I recall him bringing his children out on Saturday mornings for youth soccer. It's cliche but it truly seems like just three or four years ago ...... How is it possible that that much time has passed by so quickly?

"Who knows where the time goes?" ..... Sandy Denny

Weekend Notes

• Had a moment or two of: "God, I'm almost 60. Where has the freaking time gone?" But now I'm back to the "bring it on" attitude.
• Incredibly amazed at the visuals and sensations all around of late Autumn. Colors, rain, leaves blowing across the street, dark clouds, feel in the air, etc. So many seasonal sights and sounds. Just incredible! Wish it could stay this way.
• Why does everybody else's record collection always seemingly look more interesting than mine? Probably because there's always some great obscure record that I'm missing.
• A power outage of several hours last night has caused me to feel like I missed out on the extra hour gained this weekend when we "fell back."
• How can a sub sandwich shop be out of white bread on two consecutive visits? That's what you do!! Bread is your starting point. You claim to bake your own bread in-store ..... OK bake some more!! There I solved your problem. It doesn't exactly have you looking good in my eyes. It's not just business missed today for you but also possible business missed tomorrow.