tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63633867836031659722024-02-20T01:06:55.811-06:00izyperspectiveA little nook where I share my daily trifles and epiphanies, my work, and my insignificant musings about being alive.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger254125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-40513288959689947802013-10-15T22:53:00.001-05:002013-10-16T00:30:17.327-05:00Back to GrumbleIt's time to break the blogging holiday.
It's midterm time in our college. Handing out grades is seldom pleasant. I've always tried to drop hints along the way in hope to get through to some young skulls that unless they step up efforts, their grades won't be pretty.
Invariably, I have failed to impress the ones most in need of my impact-levelling message.
It means right about these two Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-68407171017525341242013-09-23T08:08:00.001-05:002013-09-23T08:08:26.658-05:00Gator To my friends and random readers of this blog,
I've decided to take an indefinite holiday from updating this blog. The statement may strike you as unnecessary as the place is obviously uncouth, in disrepair and criminally neglected. Well, I just thought it would still be polite to stick a yard sign among the weeds saying "Gone fishing, will be back some day" to those who give a hoot. After all, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-2083754192383293542013-08-10T17:34:00.000-05:002013-08-10T17:34:00.494-05:00Who is Steve GershomIn an earlier post I mentioned Steve Gershom and his blog Catholic, Gay, and Feeling Fine. Well, yesterday, the feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, "Steve" not only revealed his real name as Joseph Prever, but also that the blogger Shimcha Fisher is his sister!
After blogging under the pseudonym Steve Gershom since 2012, Joseph "Joey"decided to take his identity out of the shadow. The Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-64546583766973672972013-08-03T13:40:00.005-05:002013-08-03T13:40:53.912-05:00What I Had...for supper on my birthday:
garbanzo beans, avocado, and boiled egg with Italian salad dressing
Yum. Thanks for the "recipe," Jan!
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-19501908405684424912013-08-01T19:42:00.002-05:002013-08-01T21:55:27.499-05:00I Shop, Therefore I Go On Yours Truly turned forty-six today. My reply to everyone who wished me happy is that I've been indeed happy for forty-six years.
Life is good. No complaint by me.
I had planned to start a brand new drawing on this day. It didn't pan out. My original ideas bummed out. I spent nearly two hours on a still life arrangement only to work myself into an unhappy (Ah ha! You got me there!) mental Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-72180557759072728272013-07-29T09:54:00.004-05:002013-07-29T11:31:33.652-05:00Unbelievable: Pope Francis Loves Gay PeopleThe Catholic Church is about many things, yet in today's press it's really just about two or three things, you know, only those deemed important by the self-important Western world. Check out the screaming BBC News headline on Drudge Report, right below the photo of Pope Francis: "Who Am I to Judge Gay People?"
Surely a juicy entrée on the menu.
Read and find out more.
Update: Elizabeth ScaliaUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-57845760043340782262013-07-25T17:38:00.000-05:002013-07-25T17:39:30.570-05:00Remember Spain in Prayers The train derailing happened in Spain yesterday, the eve of the feast of the apostle Saint James, patron of that nation, was horrific. More than 80 people were killed. Based on the reports, many of the passengers were pilgrims to the famous shrine of Santiago of Compostela. The incident will likely provoke the question why God allows such disaster and suffering happen to His faithfuls. Why death Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-87386763253537591542013-07-23T13:45:00.003-05:002013-07-23T13:45:48.165-05:00Pope ScareSo this is what was behind the chaotic scene I saw on EWTN yesterday: the Pope's motorcade inching through an apparently unprotected (except by the secrete service franticly pushing and fighting back the throngs gushing toward the pope's car) streets. The aerial view broadcast was made from an chopper by, I believe, Vatican Radio. I was thinking to myself how in the world the organizers let this Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-46073043195734578542013-07-22T15:11:00.003-05:002013-07-22T15:11:54.969-05:00Scary WYD Mania EWTN is showing Pope Francis arriving in Rio de Janiero for World Youth Day. I'm a nervous wreck at the sight of the unruly throngs of screaming youngsters swarming the open-sided Popemobile. I no longer sees the point of the WYD, and fear for the safety of the Pope and the poor secrete service guys.
I'm going to turn off the live streaming and hide myself behind an easel upstairs. And pray and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-32791616520294265212013-07-22T11:35:00.000-05:002013-07-22T11:35:26.812-05:00The Subject Is Light
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-70048380220129038552013-07-18T19:34:00.001-05:002013-07-18T19:36:47.614-05:00Occasional Foodie I've been trying all sorts of new, interesting food lately.
Starting with Greek yogurt. I know, I know, by the time I boarded the G.Y. wagon, it's like a rash infecting every grocery store in town. Fad notwithstanding, I like the stuff. Some people suffer yogurt, I'm not one of them. Been drinking and eating the stuff since my early twenties. G.Y. is creamier than the other versions.
Then Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-20280420891776947442013-07-17T10:41:00.002-05:002013-07-17T10:44:15.100-05:00Departure
I snatched this and the one below on the fledgling's Big Day.
The little guy sat in that very same spot all day, while the parent flitted from spot to nearby spots, saying tea, tea, tea, now and then coaxing it to jump the basket with a fat worm on the ground. I spied all this while drawing in the studio.
Then, for a couple hours late in the day, I got lost in the drawing, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-22461972697065164972013-07-15T12:11:00.000-05:002013-07-15T12:11:05.658-05:00We Have Been Chosen
See that white planter with a fuchsia on it? Exactly a month ago today, we left town for a wedding. Upon returning two days later, while watering the plant, I was startled by a bird franticly flying out of it, almost crashing into my face.
The little guy/gal had built a nest inside the planter while we were gone. KDM identified the homesteader as a wren. Further Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-85131789128924247302013-07-11T14:36:00.000-05:002013-07-11T14:36:09.395-05:00Random Find For three days I've been drawing with charcoal. Charcoal everywhere, on my hair, my face, my neck, my tank top and my shorts; charcoal on the floor, over the easel, under my fingernails.
Hello, charcoal! I've missed you.
Next to oil, charcoal is my favorite medium.
The artwork I'm sharing below is unrelated to my rekindled enthusiasm for charcoal. I simply came across it on Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-32893751746677953822013-07-08T10:38:00.001-05:002013-07-08T14:39:25.834-05:00Knot Not - with updateAm on the brink of giving up a painting I've worked on for 3 weeks. As the sentence indicates, I'm indecisive. But if I do, there'll be a mourning process. Call me a drama queen. You don't give up something you've hung on for that long without feeling defeated. Besides, there's enough good moments in the same painting, almost good enough to go on fighting for. That's where the bitterness comes inUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-86531856225558529482013-07-06T10:34:00.001-05:002013-07-06T10:34:17.554-05:00Hello AgainSure, it's been a while. So what if I considered calling quit my pathetic blogging only a half hour ago, and at this instance am back at it again? Just ask my indestructible peony (the one I bought five years ago labeled "Guaranteed to Grow," and which I proceed to pronounce dead at end of each subsequent growing season, and which resurrected every following spring), it will tell you that for me Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-14384213595423775972013-05-27T17:27:00.000-05:002013-05-28T13:00:07.144-05:00Art Ed Breeds Contempt A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I had felt contempt for my students at some points of the past school year. This video may help explain what could cause such singular emotion to erupt within the soul of an college art instructor - this was literally a hair away from happening to my little flock:
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-58923751308535735182013-05-20T11:50:00.000-05:002013-05-20T11:50:31.357-05:00Were You Slapped by Your Bishop?
In honor of Confirmation season, go over to First Things, read Brian Doyle's piece, which I quote below. Read the rest and laugh your head off. Norman Rockwell would have mined the scene like a treasure trove.
I will have my print issue in the mail soon.
"The day I was granted the Sacrament of Confirmation and was admitted with full rights and privileges to the Church Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-39695454453219495822013-05-19T12:53:00.005-05:002013-05-19T12:54:08.675-05:00Catch the Fire
Pentecost by El Greco
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-38420234812152105892013-05-16T15:39:00.002-05:002013-05-16T16:14:36.059-05:00Hello, summer!It's official: I'm on summer vacation. I have had to pinch myself to be sure.
Let's revise that: I HAVE BEEN on summer vacation since Tuesday, that is, after I posted the grades online.
Since the final exam, I had dithered, deliberated, over the grades I was going to assign, enduring repeated flashbacks of each student's quality of work, extents in efforts, time spent at the easel, pursued Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-31224195857097849822013-04-23T01:44:00.000-05:002013-04-23T01:44:07.815-05:00Busy Hands A few recent paintings of still life -
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-21508537087098232402013-04-19T14:37:00.002-05:002013-04-19T14:37:18.979-05:00Remember Her? Ms Bass? Well, she turns 99 on this fine April day. I got to see her and wish her a Happy Birthday a few hours ago. She looked spunky and spiffy, sweet and serene, just as I remembered her from our last meeting at the opening of my art show in 2009.
It did my heart good to see her at 99 and going strong. Someone took a picture of us, which I don't have access to at the moment. For now, I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-7058255592152439652013-03-21T11:06:00.000-05:002013-03-21T14:01:20.288-05:00Update on MamaSeveral of you have learned the news that my Mom was diagnosed with cancer a few weeks ago, and have sent words of sympathy and prayers. I hope you know that your compassion strengthens me greatly in this trial, even though I have not said anything on the topic via this blog. Please forgive the tardy and allow me a brief update of Mom's condition.
She has gone to see a cancer expert practicing Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-54257353932845311092013-03-20T15:20:00.002-05:002013-03-20T15:20:56.220-05:00Current Diversion To spring break with love -
This is the fourth day I've worked on the painting, literally a work in progress.
As you can see, the upper part of the painting is in a rough stage. The tripes in the fabric behind the red box are a toss-up - to keep or not to keep, still a question. My present instinct is to keep, as the upper right hand corner of the painting needs something active, something Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6363386783603165972.post-21806652854311835642013-02-20T14:46:00.001-06:002013-02-20T14:46:02.937-06:00On the Other HandA lot of unexpected bodily mortification, involuntary penance, has visited upon my quarter, more specifically, upon my left hand, courtesy of sputtering-hot cooking oil.
That entire sentence brought to you by the entire team of fingers from my right hand. I learned to type properly with both hands from day one. I must say, this one-hand business is an all-new sensation.
In case you Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4