Okay, I give up.

I now realize that there is only one way I can turn my creativity in cold cash. CUTENESS. So I will open "The Cuteness Factory," where I will sell pink T-shirts with lots of puff lettering, pictures of cartoon puppies with big sad eyes, nostalgia out the kazoo, coffee mugs with "I heart my shikapoo" and  "Love makes coffee taste better," and "Butterflies make me happy," and stuffed animals with the face of Justin Bieber, and pictures of baby pandas playing Chinese checkers, and rip-offs of all the Disney princesses, and whatever else I can come up with to bring just a little sunshine into someone's day and a little money into my pocket.

Then I will feel like I've done something to make the world a better and more fun place.

Wow. I feel better already.

But...

I know much of the world's population goes to bed hungry, but I can't resist that $60 gourmet meal with the modest sized stack of delectable morsels so beautifully served.

I know billions live in makeshift houses crammed with family members, but I do love to entertain in my outdoor living room with the $5000 Bar-B-Q oven.

I know millions of women walk hours each day to get water for their families, but how can I keep my lawn perfectly green with regular waterings.

I know more than half the world's population lives on less than $2 a day, but that $5 Starbucks mocha latte is the only way I can get my day started.

I know that refugees struggle in camps and on the move hoping for a better life, but having three homes just seems to fit my lifestyle best.

I know children across the world possess only the shabbiest of clothing, but those designers heels go so well with my little black cocktail dress.

Can I still be a hero?

I'm not chiseled and buffed. Can I still be a hero?

I don't possess any magical powers. I'm just human. Can I still be a hero?

I don't have any special clothing to identify or protect me. Just my skin. Can I still be a hero?

I don't have a twitter following in the millions. Can I still be a hero?

I don't need to go into special mode to do good things. Can I still be a hero?

I'm not on anybody's pedestal. Can I still be a hero?

I got knocked for a loop by life, got up, learned my lessons and make that a gift to others. Can I still be a hero?

Thought for the day

I'm more and more convinced that the important thing is not what art is but what are does.

TV

A disclaimer: I watch TV as most people do. I use it to inform me, entertain me, numb me and put  me to sleep.

Still. thins like this drive me crazy:

200 channels, 24 hours in a day means almost 5000 hours of TV programming. How much of it has any real substance?

The network world news has not more than 25 minutes to cover the day's events. The last 5 minutes is about a pet, a child or new network programming.

The same time is devoted to the evening network news as is devoted to celebrity news.

Is this what we want, or what the sponsors will pay for or just a what we get?

Back from an experience

Two weeks with my dad, virtually 24/7, after his stroke was a humbling and eye-opening experience. At 91, how does he deal with this and how do we, his family, deal with this.

Years ago, I watched a video about a nomad tribe. When an elder realized she was no longer able to contribute to the tribe, but would become a burden, she simply sat down and waited to die as they moved on. We are nomads. We are constantly on the move, running errands, going to work, vacationing. Families are spread across the globe, all living their lives.

I've realized I need to anticipate the likelihood of a time when I no longer can contribute and am a burden and simply find a way to sit down and die.

A hiatus

For the next 2 weeks, I will be dealing with some urgent family problems and will not be blogging. Thanks for your loyal support, and I will be back again soon.

Thought for the day

Initially, I didn't much like falling on my face. But when I learned to laugh at myself, it turned out to be a great thing. The pursuit of perfection became a ridiculous goal, and the regular doses of humility became refreshing. I can't say I'm fully there yet, but I have come to realize how important the job of jester is.

Thought for the day

If you think the world has meaning, then where does that meaning come from? Does it change over time and culture? How? Do you play any part in this?

If you think the world is absurd, then does it need meaning? Who puts it there? Can it really have meaning if it has multiple meanings? Fluid meanings? Personal meanings?

Thought for the day

The Donald in the news lately reminds us of our appetite for ignorance, stupidity and bad behavior. Media attention for questionable behavior is better than no attention, and we eat it up. Issues that require time and thought are glossed over so we can get to the entertaining shenanigans of celebrities.

I don't know about you, but I don't give a damn about how much movies grossed last week or
grade-D celebrity birthdays or the results of the nth self-serving awards event. Still many people must, because it fills the daily news.

Sometimes I think Americans are so numbed by media and entertainment that thinking comes just too hard. If I'm a cynic, let me know.

Thought for the day

Here's an interesting exercise.

Sit quietly for a few minutes and ask yourself what values our society identifies to us as the most relevant and significant. And I mean by example not by words.

Thought for the day

Is it possible to be surrounded by too much beauty?
Is it a human necessity to put beauty in the world?
Is beauty an active agent as well as a passive agent?
What is the range of beauty that exists between the decorative and the sublime?
Is beauty ever to be feared?

Thought for the day

The sound bite has led to the sight bite: logos, billboards, instagrams, screen shots and the discouraging stat that the art museum goer spends on average 6 seconds with a work of art. This reduces visual imagery to merchandising, brainwashing, entertainment or decoration or fluff.

Thought for the day

Beware. The time is coming that each of us will need a brand identity, a webmaster, a reputation manager, a personal trainer, a cosmetic surgeon, a personal security guard, a nutritional chef, a career coach, a financial planner and a therapist. Did I forget anything?

Thought for the day

Learn to listen and you will have something meaningful to say.

Learn to be less greedy and what you have will become more valuable.

Learn to love and you will  be lovable.

Thought for the day

Organized religion, like any bureaucracy, becomes dysfunctional when it lives for itself and not for its spiritual purpose. Organized religion must model its fundamental beliefs and aid its followers in forming the kind of personal consciences that result in actions of love and justice.

Thought for the day

As I get older, it gets harder to decide if my worldview is based on wisdom or on just being an old fart.

Thought for the day

The DNA of human reality is the actions in our day to day lives.

Thought for the day

Years ago I visited a convent of cloistered nuns. Throughout the day and night at regular intervals, they came together to sing and chant. At other times they worked in the fields and gardens or other such jobs. At the time, their lives seemed to have little meaning to me.

But I never forgot this experience, and one day a realization came to me. I go about my day rushing from task to task, not realizing that many of them are not really meaningful at all, while they glorify each day, piece by piece, job by job, acknowledging the gift that each day can be.

The daily tasks can be the same, but the attentiveness can be transformative.

Contemporary art

Contemporary art is generally a lonely creature. For the passion that's put into the making, there isn't so much passion put into the looking. It sits there waiting to be admired, waiting to have a conversation, waiting to have its meaning unravelled and its integrity challenged. Daily life passes it by. Who hums its tunes? Who quotes its lines? Its venues are empty. Why?