Deconstruction

 Marketing spends incredible amounts of money and creative effort to produce TV commercials for their ends, not ours.

Every parent needs to show their teens how to deconstruct a TV commercial.
How are the actors, experts and spokespersons carefully selected?
What about their clothing, makeup and fitness?
How do the music, dancing and actor voices work to have an effect on the viewer?
Is the setting of the commercial realistic?
Does the commercial tell YOU what you should need or want?
What emotional effect does the commercial have on you?
Does the commercial promise what it can’t deliver?
Does the commercial subtly question your self-confidence, femininity or masculinity?
Is this product the best way to achieve any personal goals?
How does this product make you think about your wants vs. your needs?

Sacred

 Though my perspective may be limited, I don’t see that the spiritual or the sacred is of much interest to artists today. I don’t mean religion, though that could be an aspect of it. I mean a sense of awe before the beauty and complexity of the world, a search for the sublime, an appreciation of the connective web we all belong to, a belief that the sacred is pervasive.

In today’s world of power and brutality, art can make us see beauty or understand where we’ve gone astray. Unless we affirm the spiritual or sacred in the world, we lose the energy needed to make the world fully known to us and fully a part of us.
The choice to largely ignore this aspect of our human experience is a failure of contemporary art.

Art

 Art was a part of who I was as a kid, but so was mathematics. Mathematics was what I studied seriously through graduate school. Though I didn’t leave math behind, art emerged again and became the language that allowed me to express my own vision, my own way of making sense of what intrigued me. Art became a big part of who I was in the making and my teaching. Many artists and art lovers became friends. In the end, I think art made me more than I made art.

contemporary art

 Contemporary art is a hard nut to crack. It morphs into myriad forms and has so many things to say. It’s always new because its practitioners are always new. It can be confounding, funny, complicated, profound and provocative. But isn’t that its job?

Being overwhelming and demanding shouldn’t be off-putting. It should be a challenging adventure for the curious and those who are open-minded. Even the experts can be flummoxed by it. So take heart. All you need is to take it seriously, keep educating yourself and be open to what calls you.

Some questions

Some questions:
How is it that all of Trump’s trials only boost his numbers, but Hunter Biden’s legal battles bring down Joe’s numbers?
When Melania was on her dicey immigration path, was she vermin?
How come Trump followers seem to be radios with only one station?
If Trump thinks he is the victim of a witch hunt, why not give him an old-time test. Tie him up, dunk him in the pool at Mar-a-Lago and see if he floats?

If reelected, would Trump be a dictator or just a dick? 

Humanity

 Though the cause may be just, it’s hard to imagine that a people who have experienced the Holocaust would wage a war that was so brutal and deadly.

Innocent men, women and children killed in great numbers, their homes destroyed. Survivors starving and diseased without medical care. Displaced with nowhere to go and little food and water.
When we take away the humanity of others, we relinquish our own humanity.

Violence

Face it America
Violence entertains us
The bloody hero

Bullets in the head
A knife thrust hard in the gut
Any means for blood

Men fight, women too
Bloody faces and knuckles
Fight Club in the home

Soldiers see what’s real
Live it in their own bodies
PTSD kills

The Civil War drew
Spectators on the hillside
TV brings it home

No longer cowboy’s
Black and white morality
The streets decide it

Are we animals
Infected with hate and fear
Violent beings

Brutal, thuggish, mean
Violence is a language
Why do we use it

No, we’re better folks
Who haven’t figured out love

Or how to live it 

Calenius

 They call me Calenius. I was the Majestrate of Bethlehem during the time the Christ child was born. This was a bustling time of year because of the Roman tax mandates. The weather was not unpleasant but was unseasonably cold. Because I was busy--actually overwhelmed--by my duties, I did not visit the newborn nor meet the kings. All that I heard was testimony and rumor.

The innkeeper was of little help. I took the long walk to converse with the shepherds, who at the time the only remaining witnesses. One heard angels, the others did not. One saw the family leave toward Egypt. All felt they had been transformed but had not fully sorted out how.
We briefly thought about turning the manger site into a holy shrine, but some were ambivalent, some did not think we were prepared for the crowds of visitors and we all knew Herod would make this impossible.
Then the slaughter of the innocents.
You know the rest.

Melchior

 My name is Melchior. In my time we depended on the stars to guide the important decisions and directions in our lives. The Bethlehem star was an intriguing sign, and I was not the only one to be fascinated by it. By sheer coincidence, I met two other two kings guided by the same star, and we agreed to make the rest of the journey together.

When we arrived, the sounds of angels were like sweet lullabies, their wings aflutter, and the stable was surprisingly warm. The animals had wandered away, but the shepherds still knelt near the child. The child was not any more beautiful than any new baby, but his demeanor was so open and inviting, though he seemed a little unsettled by us. Maybe it was the camels.
The light that enveloped the manger was not the light of night or day, but a light that seemed spiritual or divine. This maybe most of all was affirmation that our journey had been worthwhile. We left our gifts, ignored the advice of the oily Herod and made our way home, discussing among ourselves what had happened and what it meant.

Micah

 

Yearning

 The first time homo sapiens filled burial sites with artifacts of life, there emerged a yearning and a hope for a life after death. The gods became the locus of this, and the vision of God became as varied as the languages, dress, art and behavior of human beings. God could be benign, obscure, loving, vengeful, fatherly and much more.

In a contemporary world of easily shared knowledge and many spiritual choices, how do we find a God that directs us to live the life we want to live?
The belief that there is no God, still does not dismiss the yearning toward something higher that is part of the full human being.

Circus

 Welcome to Barnum & Bailey’s Congressional Circus. Enjoy the trained elephants and donkeys go through their routines. Watch the politicos walk the tightrope. Thrill as they try to time wild legislation. Enjoy three rings of dog and pony shows. Watch as they flip and flop between trapezes and land in their safety net. And of course, clowns galore.

Finish up with the snack food and cotton candy they want to sell you.

Art student

 To many, an art student is a strange bird who has made the choice to pursue a relatively useless degree. While there may be a bit of truth in this from a social perspective, this idea comes from cultural stereotypes and the way art is perceived in K-12 education.

So, to clear this us, consider that art students study not only the visual language—arguably the most powerful in contemporary culture—but also written and spoken language, critical thinking, aesthetics and other disciplines in liberal arts.
They are problem solvers who work hard to develop their own personal voices.
They make art in a range of 2, 3 and 4-dimensional media, including the computer. They learn to use all the tools in the woodshop and might even learn to weld.
Is there a more complete area of study in the college curriculum?
So, art students, work hard, develop your voice, educate others when you can, persevere.

Adult Jesus

 Ever since his experience with the elders in the synagogue, Jesus felt he was a different person. He wasn’t sure how, but he was much more attentive to the world around him and how it worked. The words of the Bible he loved to read acted on him. He took many solitary walks to try to understand what this new life was.

He became so close to God that he sometimes thought he was God’s son. The miracles surprised even him, but he thought that they were not the real message. He felt at home with fishermen, prostitutes, lepers and other marginal folks. It was exhilarating, even with the increasing weight he seemed to be carrying.
And you know the rest.

Baby Jesus

 The angels left their perches on the stars and swarmed Bethlehem with their horns and crystal voices, making magic with their wings. The animals mooed and baaed and lowed. Baby Jesus reached out to pet them as children often do. The humble shepherds came, the ones whose job it is to care. The Three Kings were a different story. They were a bit intimidating to Baby Jesus. They brought him gold, frankincense and myrrh, and all he wanted was a teddy bear and a rattle. The innkeeper did bring blankets and keep the warm fire going.

The dream talker encouraged them to pack up and make the arduous trip to Egypt. In those days people listened to their dreams. Imagine a new mother and baby making a trip like that on a donkey.
Once they were there, Joseph took on odd jobs in carpentry and Mary made flatbread and sold it from their home. Jesus taught himself to read, studied the Bible and played joyfully with the Egyptian neighbor kids. He liked them a lot.
When reports came that Herod had died of liver and kidney failure, the family returned to settle in Nazareth.
You know the rest.

Hollywood

 It’s the Hollywood awards season glamour fest. Red carpets, cameras clicking, lavish, attention-getting gowns, rented jewelry, funky tuxes, gift bags worth thousands. It’s all part of the excess of their narcissistic circus.

Their rewards for entertaining us.
But what about the anonymous folks who risk their lives for us, who keep us safe, who see to our health, who teach our children?

3500

 Today is post 3500. I guess I did have something to say.

At war

 At War

The cold, bloody axe
Splits them again, choosing hate
As their engagement

Peace is buried now
In decades of sand and dust
While deep fear takes root

Who will remind us
We are all human beings
And that is what counts

War is a failure
To speak for humanity
Letting weapons talk

Mounds of bloody flesh
Dead children in mother’s arms
Will not deter them

Children are fodder
Hostages are brutalized
No one thinks of love

This is human beings
Shedding their right to glory
For the choice to kill

The sane have no voice
The peacemakers are stifled
War’s engine prevails

This is all of us
What we keep choosing to be
Noble words seem cheap

Peronal convenience

 Certainly, use of fossil fuels ais a part of climate change and climate disasters. For me, though, the real culprit is personal convenience. Personal convenience has created an explosive dependence on plastic products, excess packaging, high demand for fuel and incredible waste.

We have become so used to personal convenience that we can’t acknowledge our part in climate change. We are probably no longer capable of making the fundamental changes we must make in our lifestyles.

Silence

 We are afraid of silence. The silence that leaves us alone with our thoughts. The thoughts that come from deep within us. The thoughts that call us to be human. The thoughts that remind us we have souls.

We are addicted to the distractions of noise, hoopla and spectacle. We think the substance of the world is outside of us, when the world in us is waiting to be found.

Little shit

 I was a little shit when I was a kid. During that phase, I learned a lot about human behavior, and I learned about what kind of person I didn’t want to be. With effort I turned myself into a decent human being.

This made me think that Jesus was very possibly a little shit as a kid, too—precocious, rebellious, hanging out with the bad kids. God the Father had to prepare Jesus for the difficult life he was destined to live, and being a perfect son just wouldn’t do that.
Just a thought.

Athlete/teacher

 A highly paid pro athlete enters the elementary classroom volunteering a few hours of his time. Then the inevitable hoopla and media attention. The kids are excited. But the teacher, there every day and working for only a modest salary, gets no real attention. This is the microcosm of our culture of celebrity worship.

Trump

 I don’t mind saying. I have compassion. I have integrity. I have intellect. I have a moral compass. That is why I can say with assurance that Donald Trump has none of these. He was never loved and doesn’t know how to love. He tries to fill his emptiness with wealth and notoriety—which will never be enough. He is a political coward and broke his pledge to uphold the Constitution. The number of his followers confounds me.

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Freedom

 Freedom comes with responsibilities, otherwise freedom is anarchy. Freedom is a gift that requires a thank you note. Freedom comes through citizenship, which is the connective tissue that makes a nation. That does not mean that personal freedom is given up. It means that personal freedom must be continually and consciously assessed in terms of the good of the community and the consequences of personal actions.

This to me is a mature understanding of freedom.

Donald

 The Ballad of Donald Trump

I’ve blonded my hair
And oranged my face
To get myself ready
For the Republican race
My home’s Mar-a-Lago
Where I golf and I play
Where top secret documents
Are all locked away
Nikki and Ron way behind in the pack
My numbers are great
And there’s nothing I lack
My suit is dark blue
And I only own one
My tie is bright red
And my outfit is done
The witch hunt continues
From courtroom to judge
I’ll lie and I’ll wriggle
But I’ll never budge
My rallies are awesome
The crowds wildly cheer
I open my arms
To tell them I’m here
I ramble out words that
Fall like the rain
I offer my victimhood
But never explain
I value their ignorance
Keeps them loyal to me
Though I’m a crook and a liar
As is easy to see
So morals be damned
They get you nowhere
My only advice
America beware

Calling

 When art is seen and practiced as a profession, there are expectations on both the artist and the client. These deal with sales, marketing, quality and “professionalism.”

When art is seen and practiced as a calling, it’s a different story. Art is a drive, even a compulsion, that often starts in childhood. It’s relentless in search of a truth and pushes aside public criticism or rejection. The journey must be taken; the art must be made.
There are ways to make art between these two practices. But any way chosen should be driven by commitment and integrity.

July 2024

 In July of 2024, I will turn 80. So I’m starting early with my efforts to look my best. Here are my plans.

--eyebrow reweaving
--eyelid rejuvenation
--botox for puffy, kissable lips
--nipple reconstruction
--navel and tummy tightening
--butt tuck
--calf and pec implants
I think that should do it.

Baby Jesus

 Baby Jesus is in the manger

So I’ll stop by after I finish my discount shopping
The ox and the ass came to the stable
Some ass tried to grab Bargain merchandise from me
The Three Kings have arrived
Oh, was one of them “King James”
Some plot to abduct and kill this child, Jesus
My guess is it was Hamas
They had to flee to Egypt
How long did they have to wait at the border crossing
His birth was to be a sign of renewal and hope
And how did that work out

Mental illness

 A view from the inside.

I’ve spent my entire life on the roller coaster of bipolar Illness. I know what messed-up brain chemistry can do. It offers sadness, depression, sleep disturbance, suicidal thoughts, alienation, isolation, low self-esteem, racing thoughts and more. Mental illnesses are not easy to diagnose or live with or cure.

America now.
America is experiencing an alarming increase in mental illness, especially among young people. Social stigma is still a hindrance to care, as it was many decades ago. There are not enough professionals to meet the current needs of the mentally ill. We must also recognize that all of us have contributed to the society out of which these problems have emerged.

Us
Sometimes I think we fear the mentally ill more than we do mass shooters or terrorists. We must pay attention. We must educate ourselves. We must care. We must act as best we can.

More Donald

 Imagine Donald Trump were President during this Israel-Hamas War. He would invite Netanyahu to Mar-a-Lago for a round of golf. He would send Melania in her famous safari outfit to Gaza for a photo shoot holding a couple of preemies. He would send Don, Jr. and Eric to negotiate the contract for rubble removal in Gaza. He would send Ivanka to negotiate the sale of Gaza for Trump Properties. He would finish the border fence quickly to keep the Palestinians out.

Absurd

 Great efforts are being made to negotiate the release of a small group of hostages and to give them a safe and supportive transition back to their families and their societies. At the same time, thousands on both sides of the conflict have been killed. Babies’ lives are put in jeopardy by the war, and great effort is made to save them.

This is just one example—a terrible one—of the absurdity of human behavior. What makes any sense? Why are calls for peace drowned out? Why are these dramas of human hate and destruction repeated over and over again? It seems that rationality is just a thin skin covering the worst impulses of humanity.

War

 All across the country teachers are trying to help their students make sense of the wars that are raging. To my mind, the first thing be said is that any war is a grave failure of the human race. War is a gigantic rebuke to “love thy neighbor.” The few find fame in history. The many suffer and die in obscurity.

Spectacle

 I think the world could be a better place if, just for one day, each of us could be the center of a spectacle. Glittering costumes, fabulous music, large adoring crowds and physically fit and scantily clothed backup dancers. Maybe a Blue Angels flyover. Just imagine that we could become the people we dream about, an uplifting day that we could treasure forever.

Creator

 

Medals

 I watch the President or the Kennedy Center give out awards for bravery or lifetime achievement, and I wish I could give a medal to every ordinary individual who has done the demanding and unselfish work of being a decent, loving human being.

We would see who these folks are, how many there are and believe again in the goodness of humanity.

Piles

 Piles of rubble

Piles of spent shells
Piles of premature babies
Piles of abandoned clothing
Piles of dead women and children
Piles of worn shoes
Piles of dead fighters
Piles of shrapnel
Piles of hate
Piles of angry rhetoric
Piles of relief supplies sitting
Piles of bloodied wounded
Piles of children in one bed
Piles of belongings left behind
Piles of rockets ready
Piles of diplomatic jargon
Piles lost of what makes us human

World

 All the world spills out to the artist. The artist searches for meaning in the world, filtered through their talent, skills, emotions, intellect and spirit. The work that results is offered to the viewer as beauty, message, heightened awareness, social commentary, perception of the sacred, provocation or personal vision. In this way the world is given its due attention.

Football

Football
Football has now taken over Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
83 of the 100 most watched TV shows in 2022 were football games.
A recently fired Texas A&M football coach will make $77 million in payouts.
Competitive tackle football begins as early as age 5.
The NY Times recently reported that a Michigan State football player earned $750,000 a year.

And, of course, Joe Burrow’s quarter-of-a-billion deal. 

Superficial

 Americans have become a sadly superficial people. They fear change. They lack critical thinking skills. They are suspicious of the creative impact of the arts. They bury themselves in spectacle. They listen for what they want to hear.

Unfortunately, the forces of politics and money have made K-12 and college education complicit in this. From the beginning of human civilization, critical thinking, intellect, curiosity, creativity and courage have been what moved humanity forward. So why not now?

Media

 These are the creative media I’ve used so far.

Drawing / graphite, charcoal, ink
Painting / acrylic, watercolor
Color pencil
Collage
Cartoons
Illustration
Printmaking / etching, lithography, woodcut, linocut
Assemblage
Artist books
Wall murals
Wood working
Sandblasting / stone and glass
Installation
Intervention
Performance
Text art
Poetry
Dance
Photography
Chorus
Acting

Cursive

 Today is PRACTICE YOUR CURSIVE Day.

Write a letter or a poem or start your memoir.

Small thing

 Today is PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION TO A SMALL THING Day.

A pebble. A peck on the cheek. A seed. A sigh. A blade of grass. A child’s eyes.

Dance

Today is DANCE WITH A STRANGER Day.
Tango. Fandango. Waltz. Foxtrot. Polka. Samba. Mashed Potatoes. Twist.

 

Underwear

 Today is TAKE AN UNDERWEAR MODEL TO LUNCH Day.

Toes

Today is WORLD OBLITERATE TOENAIL FUNGUS Day.
Toes are people, too.

 

Veterans

 It’s the men and women of military service who most directly represent American values. They volunteer, are trained and often risk their lives for their country, sent by an older generation who fails to respond to the life needs of them and their families.

Many of these veterans, when they leave the service, go into service professions that again put their lives in jeopardy—police, fire and EMT for example.
They are disciplined workers in a very undisciplined world. They are true heroes among the empty heroes we so often find in sports and entertainment.
I thank them and wish them every good thing.

Pluck

Today is NATIONAL PLUCK YOUR MAGIC TWANGER Day.
So do it.

 

Talk back

Today is TALK BACK TO YOUR TV day

Trying to sell you useless crap. TALK BACK.
Underestimating your intelligence. TALK BACK.
Trying to dump medications on you. TALK BACK.
Shoving beautiful people in your face. TALK BACK.
Seducing you with excess violence. TALK BACK.

Whatever annoys you about TV. TALK BACK. 

Thanksmas

 What about this. Let’s combine Thanksgiving with the frenzied consumerism of Christmas and call the holiday Thanksmas. Thanksgiving is about family and sharing, so why not just pile it on. Then Christmas can become Christmas once again, a holiday celebrating hope and new birth.

College

 Many college students expect that they are buying an education that will guarantee them a career with a good income and the quality entertainment of highly-ranked major sports. And this is how colleges and universities market themselves as they discard low enrollment liberal arts majors.

This is not how I view a college education. If you fail to gain an understanding of yourself, a voice to express your ideas and beliefs, a sense of awe in the world, a basic moral compass, an engagement with ideas of great thinkers, an appreciation of beauty and a sense of what it means to be a human being, you have missed the point of a college education.
This is a lot to ask of yourself and of the educational institution, but its what guides your life beyond material wealth and comfort.

Decent

 Becoming a decent human being is not a natural or easy thing. It takes committed parenting that teaches life values. It takes strength against the 7 deadly sins. It takes compassion that can see the other in yourself and visa versa. It takes a loving approach to the world.

We see every day how often humans fail at this and what the consequences are.

human being

 At birth, we are not yet human beings. Getting there is a demanding life task driven by experience and conscience. Rather, at birth, we are quickly assigned the signifiers that separate us from one another—race, gender, ethnicity, culture, class, sexual orientation, education. In the midst of all of these splintering categories, who reminds us of the goal of being human—its demands, rewards, obligations and commitment to love?

Celebrity

New celebrity tell-alls

Why Didn’t Taylor Swift Pick Me? by Joe Burrow
I Pulled 4 Billion Out of My Butt, by Kim Kardashian
How to Be Proud of Your Children, by Donald Trump
Official Clown of the US House of Representatives, by George Santos
4th Down and 400 to Go, by Tommy Tuberville

My Happy Florida Lockdown, Ron DeSantis 

Israel Hamas

 To me, for all the other aspects, the Israel Hamas war is a religious war. This is sad because religion should affirm our spirituality and humanity. Instead of being the voice of God, religion has become the voice of hate and retribution. Religious leaders are now politicians. The news brings us the voices of generals, politicians, soldiers, victims, strategists and commentators. We see the destruction and brutality firsthand. But there are few voices of peacemakers. The spillover of these animosities across the globe is a sign of our failure as human beings.

my art

 I thought I was making my art, but all along, my art was making me. No artist has a guarantee of acceptance or understanding of their work. But every artist has control over how their work transforms them. The thought, the creativity, the physicality and the passion that crystallize in the work first inhabit the artist.

People don’t often understand this, but artists must.

Angels

I sometimes swell with yearning
For the heavens to be what they once were
Angels dancing on the stars
God somewhere among them
They no longer play their harps
Angels dabble more in romance now
Human brutality crushes in from all sides
They cannot hold it back
The little brutalities and the overwhelming ones
Dreaming is disillusion
Blood is real
Believe that hope is the real angel
Only if you are willing to do the work
The work of a full human being
Giotto’s weeping angels
Know our human failure

And our courage to persist 

War

We watch war happen in real time. Cover it. Analyze it. Comment on it. Picture it. Weigh in on it politically, militarily and diplomatically. Make it intensely real. Just a click of the TV remote.
But what we now know about war, we’ve known about war from the beginning of human civilization. It’s driven by power, greed, religion, envy, conquest and arrogance. It benefits the powerful while destroying the lives of the commoner. It reminds us that hate is easier than love and easier to be an enemy than a brother.

For all the wars—justified or not—we are not able to transcend the ways we separate ourselves from one another. We are not able to see ourselves first as human beings. 

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Feet

Feet in the toxic floodwater.
Feet in the warm spa.
Feet in the mud of the hillside slide.
Feet playing in the sandbox.
Feet bare on the hot asphalt.
Feet in $150 sport shoes.
Feet in the hot desert sand.
Feet in the warm sand of the beach.
Feet in badly worn sandals.
Feet in spike heels.
Feet in the rubble.
Feet in the warm blanket.
Feet on the burning earth.
Feet in the cool grass.
Feet swollen with insect bites.
Feet soothed with rich lotion.
Feet standing in pools of blood.

Hands in the pools of blood. 

Targets

 

2 poems

Two Short Poems

Love

Tireless emerging grass of life
And ordinary
Full with roots and seeds
And ordinary is not weeds
But green and slender
Bent with nighttime sorrow


Tomorrow

I whispered promises
In Tomorrow’s ear
And heard the laughter
Of yesterday…

Who overheard 

Stars

 No need for the densely starred heavens

Too much mystery to absorb
Besides, we have Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”
And magic lights of the sprawling city
And clubs where we can dance
Around our own navels
Living a whole life
Believing stars are only neatly
Sprinkled for human romance
When we could have the universe
In our pockets

Football

 

Conversation

 

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2024 teachers

 2024 requirements for teachers:

1. Each teacher must develop the voice of a TV announcer to hold students’ attention.
2. Each teacher must have a real or animated class mascot.
3. Each teacher must adopt a football player hero for the class.
4. Each teacher must post a personal dance video on a social media site to indicate they are cool.
5. Each teacher must interview the parents of each child to determine their religion, politics and values so they can individualize teaching to each child.
6. For this, teachers get a 2% raise and a personal PTSD therapist.

This world

 In the midst of this world of brutality and hate, I try to focus on some of those who tried to teach us to be human—MLK, Jr., Dorothy Stang, the Delai Lama, Albert Schweitzer, St, Francis, Desmond Tutu, Pope Francis…

Brief life

He was birthed into the world on the farm his parents worked. He was industrious and responsible and began each workday by picking up a handful of dirt and letting it crumble through his fingers. He was the only one of the 3 boys who didn’t go away to college and stay gone. He took a sturdy, reliable woman for a wife and had kids of his own. He was a student of the weather, which made him the best damn farmer in the area. When his wife died in childbirth, he managed the boys and the farm alone. When he died, each of the boys threw a handful of dirt into the open grave and watched it hit the coffin and crumble.

Unrelenting

 The thing about artists is the unrelenting aspect of their work. It’s never resolved. There’s always something more beautiful, deeper, more profound, more human to be discovered. And, of course, the artist is transformed along the way.

Peace

 After decades of hate, war, destruction, civilian deaths, fear, insecurity, political chaos, cost of weaponry and the acceptance of this as the norm, how can peace not be worth all the effort to secure it?

This war only poisons the combatants with hate and makes their lives unbearable. And who wins? The powerful, the wealthy and the weapons merchants. How much money has been spent on conflict and how much on peace?
I have listened to many government officials and commentators, and none speak about peace—not just the end of the war, but a permanent peace. How can people want to continue to live this way?

Unimaginable

 

Fragmentation

 

Israel

 Israel is at war. And this is being covered by the media as a war. Casualties, strategies, security, destruction, analysis, interviews—the whole thing. But how many times have we seen this hate manifested—intifadas, terrorist acts, Palestinian men throwing rocks at Israeli tanks, walls, destruction of homes, killing of civilians, settlement expansions by Israel. The hate and brutality don’t end.

This life for both sides is the consequence when power and hate are more important than the courage to make peace. But this requires seeing the other as a human being.

Shoot the chidren

Let us shoot the children.
Let us train the children for terrorist attacks in their schools.
Let the bullets of AK-47’s rain down.
Let 3-year-olds get shot at home.
Let us narrowly interpret the Second Amendment.
Let assure there is a gun for every person in America.
Let us put law enforcement in danger of their lives.
Let us throw our hands up in hopelessness.
Let the mentally ill have their guns.
Let us put no restrictions on gun shows.

Let us Republicans protect the glorious Second Amendment. 

Hero

 A hero is chosen and accepts the harrowing and mysterious quest. They take the journey, even at the peril of their lives. They return to society transformed and enlightened with the task of enlightening others, a gift they freely give.

These days, media popularity is enough to make cheap heroes of entertainers and athletes while real heroes are lost to us. The real hero should inspire action, not envy and adoration.
The real heroes are not in comic books, but in the military, refugee camps, among the homeless, crusading against injustice and against climate destruction.
Fake heroes abound in the media. The real ones go about the business of making the world a better place.

Anatomy

Think of aging as an anatomy lesson. Suddenly, all the body parts you never knew you had or never paid attention to, all of a sudden cry out to you. Lungs, heart, liver, blood, skin, kidney, spleen, bladder…you get it. Through you and your friends, you get to know all the way they are misbehaving. Oops, a blood clot. Oops, some afib. Oops, an enlarged prostate. Oops, a hip replacement. So there it is. Your body telling you all about itself and it complaints. 

College education

In my experience, a college education is a chance to swim in the ideas of the great minds. It’s a chance to develop your voice. It’s a chance to develop the critical skills that you will use to make sense of the world. It’s a chance to understand what it means to be a human being.

But I think higher education is failing at this. Major sports have been pushed forward in fundraising and student recruitment. The public face of the university is sport. Graduates celebrate getting the diploma and expect the big paycheck to follow. Many don’t ask for more than that.

Descartes, Oppenheimer, Hawking, Hildegard von Bingen, Harriet Tubman, Schostakovitch, Lewis Thomas are all names that are less important that the names of basketball and football players. Coaches make more money than university presidents. 

Visual art

One of the least understood professions is that of visual artist. Media gives us some insight—though sometimes twisted—about what medical professionals, police, FBI agents, soldiers, teachers, social workers, firemen, mechanics, even pimps do.

But visual artists are often portrayed as simply strange. Visual art is a backdrop of decoration in stories, the actors not even looking at the art. Late night talk show hosts invite authors to discuss books we haven’t read when they could invite visual artists with their work right there.

Visual artists follow their own truth, tackle social issues, search out beauty, and help us understand what it means to be human.

If this short discourse doesn’t encourage you to take visual artists more seriously, they try this. Imagine the world with all visual art gone. Does that help at all? 

Cloud haikus

Cloud haikus

The clouds tell stories
White and floating, shifting shape
What are their secrets

Laying in the grass
Wishing I could sleep in them
My cottony bed

Billowy and white
Clouds are home to my daydreams
The sky is heaven

Black and threatening
Heavy as stone, rain pounding
It’s what we need

The clouds are painted
By the sun, cotton candy
Butter, tangerine

Chilly nighttime clouds
Mystery against the moon

They bring quiet sleep 

Conscience

 When we are born, we are only potential human beings. The task to become a human being is a lifelong effort, and some—like Trump, Putin, Xi, Kim, Maduro and the many other brutal dictators--never get there.

I’ve often asked myself how it is that denying humanity and choosing evil and brutality can seem so easy. It’s the seductiveness of power, wealth and control and the false belief that these can fill the gnawing emptiness of a person.
Don’t we all have a conscience? It may be evidenced through religion or spirit or soul or may simply come out of an observant life. But we each have one, and we have the choice to acknowledge and live by it or not.
Living by your conscience is not easy. Look at the current state of American politics. Power hungry people know well how to seduce and control the masses. People with consciences are not as good at this. Often the conscience is a single voice—Malala, Greta Thunberg, Al Gore, Mandela, Tutu, MLK.
Conscience can love. Conscience can rage. Conscience is compassionate. Conscience inspires. Conscience endures. It’s a mystery how some are called to profound acts of conscience and others are seduced by evil.

Rage haikus

 Rage haikus

Rage belongs to those
Oppressed, with empty bellies
Bellies fill with rage

Rage, the only voice
They have to scream injustice
No one wants to hear

Rage and love are strange
Bedfellows, love in a rage
At our brutal world

Some use rage to kill
They kill all that is human
Their rage is poison

Some use rage for good
They burn with the urge to heal
A world of sad oppression

Failure haikus

Failure haikus

Every human fails
But some are better at it
They won’t ever learn

A spectacular
Failure can be a teacher
Of lasting impact

Don’t aim for failure
Aim for the courage to learn
Failure shows the way

Society is
Not the judge of your failure
It’s much too timid

Be among the greats
Whose failures were stepping stones
To their achievements

We will surely fail
Reminding us we’re human

Taking it in stride 

I'm old

I’m old.
Standing up and sitting down is exercise.
Working the garden is outdoor adventure.
Sleep is what’s between nighttime bathroom visits.
A meal is just preparation for a bowel movement.
Sex is what pretty people do on TV.
The past is what others tell you it is.
I learn anatomy by what hurts each day.

I value friendships more than ever. 

Bengals

Yesterday I watched the 6 o’clock news on Channel 9. Except for minute report on a hit-and-run, the entire news was devoted to the Bengals. There were fan interviews, reporters revving up cheering crowds, even the weather was reported from Pay Cor Stadium. As if this were not ridiculous enough for news reporting, there was another story.

The stadium has not been maintained. (The county at fault?) Estimates for repairs are near half a billion dollars with $200,000 more for added fan amenities. Another option is a new stadium, tearing down this one before it is even paid for. This would be at least another billion, with the Bengals 1 billion business asking for everything and willing to pay for nothing. Another scam like Paul Brown stadium. No cheap thrills. 

Newly leaked

 NEWLY LEAKED document details Donald Trump’s plans if he is elected President.

--He will construct the world’s largest escalator to ride to take the oath of office.
--He will commission Eric and Junior to write some poetry for the Inauguration.
--He will pardon every person convicted in the siege of the Capitol.
--He will commission plush toys of Putin, Xi, Maduro, Kim, and Bashar for the Oval Office and invite these dictators to the White House to see them.
--He will require Melania to say at least one full sentence per week in public.
--He will complete the border wall, making it 20 feet taller and electrifying it.
--He will pardon himself for his past criminal behavior and pre-pardon himself for any future criminal behavior.
--He will expand the size of Melania’s closet at the White House and re-landscape with palm trees.
--He will give a MAGA hat and a roll of paper towels to every poor child in America.

From 100 Lives (Condensed)

 His father was a Marine, his mother worked part time as a classroom aide. He was comfortable in his body and played several sports in middle school and high school. He graduated from a small college and soon worked for the government. Then he didn’t. Then he did. Then he didn’t. He was a corporate consultant for a short time and then retired. His impact on the lives of his grandchildren and on the T-ball teams he coached would be something they would always recall. He was diagnosed with invasive cancer, refused chemo and within weeks was dead.

From 100 Lives (Condensed)

 As a baby, he laughed all the time. He kept laughing through elementary school and middle school. In high school, classroom learning became the dead time between his social education in the halls. In preparation for the SAT, he gave full attention to his hair. After graduation he went to beauty school, opened his own shop and became an accomplished and sought-after beautician in his hometown. One day on his way to work, he was knocked from his scooter, killed instantly by a drunk driver. His obituary reported, “… he was a beloved hairdresser with a bubbly sense of humor, and a Baptist.”

Student athletes

 I don’t know about you, but I get very discouraged with all of this “student athlete of the week” business. Athletics is extra-curricular, but what about academic studies in the curriculum? What about honoring the student scholar of the week, or the student musician of the week, or the student artist of the week, or the student scientist of the week, or the student poet of the week?

The best we can?

Sometimes I am overcome with a deep sadness.
Is this the best we can do as human beings?
Is this the best we can do with all our creativity and imagination.
Is this the best we can do with all our wealth?
Is this the best we can do as a human community?
Is this the best we can do with our formidable minds?
Is this the best we can do with all our wisdom?

Is this the best we can do with our capacity to love? 

Sins

 Every day we are flooded with corporate marketing that sugar coats our age old sins in very sophisticated and entertaining ways.

Vanity? No, it’s youthful beauty, creams, oils, botoxing, weight loss plans, eyelid rejuvenation, hair styling, fashion and more.
Envy? No, we deserve the most and the best and everything that others have. Why not?
Pride? No, we are the center of the Universe of Me and we deserve it all.
Gluttony? No, it’s all we can eat right there in the grocery snack and candy aisle.
Sloth? No, mindless leisure can never be out of reach.
Greed? No, to get the newest, the most stylish, the stuff that celebrities tell us we need, we must consume, consume, consume. Every day is Black Friday.

Death

 I’ve been thinking about death. I’ve seen too many elderly in nursing homes who have no awareness of who they are or where they are. They sit drooling, with infrequent family visits. Others where suffering can only be alleviated by drugs. If I cherish life, I have to ask myself: What is life? If I affirm human dignity, I have to ask myself: What is human dignity?

I don’t want to be the object of obligatory care and awkward visits that I have no awareness of. The personal resources I’ve accumulated during my life were meant for family and charity not simply for care to keep me teetering on death. Life is not simply still breathing. Life is joy, pleasure, consciousness and dignity.
I know I can be dead while I’m still alive. I know my dignity is what I earn while I am still alive.
I’m thinking about death.

Strangness

 From the time I was born, I knew I was strange—at least in relation to the rest of my family. So, I developed a veneer of normalcy to cover up this strangeness. After a time, I realized it was time to come out of my strangeness closet. This was a good decision because I came to understand that everyone was strange in their own way, and that this was a key indicator of their uniqueness as a human being.

So, come out of your strangeness closet and be your own strange self. The only caveat: Do no harm.

Aging

 Aging is a journey that takes you:

From bikini underwear to Depends
From bras to breasts you can’t locate
From passionate romance to pecks on the cheek
From Senior Prom to the seniors prom
From working to raise kids to the hit-and-run tactics of grandparents
From walking briskly to walking .30 miles per hour
From burgers and fries to an all-liquid diet
From tripping on weed to tripping on the sidewalk
From life dreams to reality checks
From wedding bells to 5 minutes to answer the doorbell
From not worrying about any of your organs to worrying about all of your organs
From good sex to wondering where it went
From going to the doctor to going and going and going to the doctor.
So the advice: pay attention to all between.

Bugs and dogs

When I say to my wife, “Bugs are people, too” or “Dogs are people, too.” She thinks I’m a jackass. But consider this.
Bugs work hard and relentlessly to do the jobs they were assigned. They contribute as part of their community and their ecology. We wish more people could do this.
Dogs can be trained to faithfully and enthusiastically do many useful jobs, even to giving their lives to help. We wish more people were like this.

So indeed, bugs are people, too, and dogs are people, too 

Joe B

 Joe Burrow wanted $275 million. Joe Burrow got $275 million. Good for him. Now he has to prove he’s worth it. He has to show how to “do some good.”

We must recognize, though, that we are the ones really paying his salary. We have mor power than we think. We want 3 stadiums, we get 3 stadiums. We don’t want low-income housing, we don’t get low-income housing.
In the end, the community we have is a reflection of our societal values.

Measure art

 Measure the success of art by how deeply it penetrates you and by what it releases from inside you that you never knew was there.

MVP

 I never understood the concept of MVP in football. It’s a team sport and the MVP couldn’t be an MVP with the rest of the team. It’s almost always the quarterback anyway. How do the rest of the team feel?

Women should be paid fairly in tennis. But right now it’s equal pay for unequal work.

When a receiver catches a touchdown pass, he’s simply doing what he’s paid a big salary to do. So what’s up with the dances and other attention getting antics? The people who care for and educate our children, keep us safe and risk their lives don’t do this. And they’re paid a lot less.

Visual art

 

Dancing

 Have you noticed that in commercials lately everybody’s dancing, dancing because their kitchen is so clean, their medications are so right, their house is so beautifully appointed and free of dampness and odor? These are messages of happiness and joy at your fingertips.

No. They are disguised messages of shame. Shame on you for not having and wanting these things and the joy they will certainly bring.

Awe

 We need to practice awe in relation to the world around us. There is awe in a leaf. There is awe in a singing bird. There is awe in the pebble and the shell. There is awe in the capacity of our hands. There is awe in the complexity of our bodies. There is awe in the mysteries of the universe.

Without awe, we are mundane creatures living mundane lives. Awe pulls us into the universe as participants. If our education system cannot make awe a reality for us, we have failed.

Decent

 What kind of culture enables violence, mass murder, depression and suicide, child and spousal abuse, drug use, addiction, overdose deaths, poverty and homelessness, racism, anti-Semitism, sexual abuse, sexualization of marketing, consumerism, waste, and lack of confidence in its legislative and judicial systems to exist in the levels we see in America today?

We spend incredible amounts of money and effort trying to mediate all these problems. How successful have we been? How much time do we spend really identifying and attacking root causes?
Is it possible to find a means of raising decent, loving and capable human beings in a culture with this as its primary goal?

Labor

 The world has been built by labor—slavery, forced labor, migrants, indentured servitude, cheap labor, peasants, sweat shops, even child labor. One day is not enough to recognize the contributions of workers.

Grandma cheer

 A new phenomenon is sweeping the grades 1-3 football community: The Grandma Cheer Squads. Grandmas decided that since they had to attend games, they might as well be overt about it. Uniforms and pom-poms are being designed and regular practices are in the works. Said one grandma: I haven’t kick this high in a long time, and I don’t care who sees my panties.

A few grandpas are being recruited as well to help with the flips and pyramids.

Art haikus

Take an artist’s hand
Search for beauty everywhere
Ground, sky, mind and heart

Ride with an artist
To places of mystery
Where life’s most alive

On an artist’s back
You walk unexplored regions
Now with eyes agog

Sit with an artist
Conversing is a journey
Mind will open wide

Ask an artist why
Answer rambles like the art

And questions linger 

Language

 

Fine arts

 The “fine arts” are not fine because they are elite. On the contrary, the task of the fine arts is to search out beauty and to come to a deeper understanding of what it means to be human. This is an effort aimed at everyone, and access to the fine arts is often free or less in cost than access to entertainment or sports venues.

But in my estimation, there are two hitches. First, the fine arts require some work in response to the work of the artist. Second, the fine arts are not given the level of attention and support they deserve in K-12 education.

Local TV news

 No. I won’t let go of this.

The major college sports locally bring in a great deal of revenue. These teams are sometimes only mediocre. The major local professional teams are billion dollar businesses, and they are sometimes mediocre. Yet local TV coverage of these teams amounts to a great deal of free advertising.
The fine arts institutions in Cincinnati are rarely less than excellent and bring international attention to the city. They are non-profit and must constantly fundraise. Yet, they are almost never given TV coverage.
What’s wrong with this picture?

Apocalypse

 Not so long ago we thought the Apocalypse was God’s wrath punishing us for our brutality, avarice and abuse of power. But now we see God wasn’t needed at all. We’ve done it by ourselves to one another—fire, floods, earthquakes, cyclones, hurricanes and plagues.

Personal art history

My personal art history:
Art is scribbles.
Art is Mother’s Day cards.
Art is drawing on the walls.
Art is lettering and perspective.
Art is craft.
Art is put on the back burner for mathematics.
Art is design work for friends.
Art is printmaking.
Art is drawing.
Art is drawing on the walls.
Art is serious business.
Art is teaching art.
Art is curating art.
Art is collage, mixed media, photography, sculpture, intervention, performance and public art.
Art is working with kids and disabled folks.

Art is writing about art. 

Haikus

Thoughts in Haikus

Thousands for Taylor
And what about their student debt
Priorities count

Politicians yap
Promises to dupe voters
Why not educate

Trump boxes them in
With fear, lies and victimhood
Stubborn, hapless sheep

Limit who can love?
We need every bit of love

To keep us human 

Rafe

 As a youngster, Ralph (“Rafe”) picked up tunes from the streets

And played them on his penny whistle
Often he would skip school
To sit on a rock by the sea and listen for new tunes
Whistled and sung by the fishermen
As a young man he frequented pubs and churches
Listening and replaying the melodies he heard
Occasionally, a bit drunk, he would dance
On the pub tables playing his flute
When he matured as a composer Vaughn-Williams
Deftly wove these tunes into his compositions
Of course Greensleeves was one

Copland

 All little Aaron wanted was a pony

But, of course, that was impossible
In his family’s small Brooklyn apartment
So for birthdays, he settled for
Chaps, a cowboy hat, boots and spurs
He grew out of the chaps
And the spurs shredded the sheets
While he slept
Mr. Copland never grew out of
His fascination with the West
And he embedded it in “Rodeo” and “Billy the Kid”
An East Coast cowboy all the way

Bitch

 Yesterday at Kroger I saw a man with a T-shirt that said:

BITCH I’M A BENGAL.
I thought to myself, what the hell, why don’t I get a T-shirt that says:
BITCH I’M AN ARTIST.

Weight loss

 New weight loss plans:

getoffyourass.com
bellybusters.com
psychoblubber.com
nabtheflab.com
onlygreensmoothies.com
buttburners.com
fatzappers.com

Bach

 

Brahms

 The young Johannes was a portly child

He sat on the balcony, sat in the garden, sat in his room
His mother said: Johannes, take up tennis or racquetball
Or even tae kwon do
But he sat unproductive
Unless he was at the piano where he was brilliant
Brahms went on to create many musical pieces
But none had a tempo faster than he could walk

Shostakovitch

 Shostakovitch sat at the family table about to eat

A bowl of his mother’s homemade borsht
He had not yet reached puberty
But he had many manly characteristics
A knock on the door
Always chilling for this family
Of at most lukewarm Communists
This time it was a neighbor
But it wouldn’t always be that way
Later in life, Dmitri would knock on their door
With the drum beats that
Open his Fifth Symphony
Drum beats that are fear, heartbeats and defiance

Ravel

 The young Ravel, barely 18

Frequented a small cabaret in Paris
Shy, but a good dancer
One night he spied a comely young lady
And asked her to dance
They danced all night
She called him Maury
He never saw her again
And only much later after composing
La Valse and Bolero
Did he realize that she had planted
The seeds of melodies in his head
He did keep the shoes he danced in that night
And polished them regularly to a shine

Mozart

 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was strolling

In a Salzburg cemetery
A forest of delicate wrought iron memorials
He was whistling the overture to the Marriage of Figaro
The cemetery caretaker heard him
And copied Mozart in exact detail
That’s how music was passed along in those days
Later in life, after Mozart’s passing
The caretaker made a modest living
Whistling Mozart tunes in Salzburg pubs
He retired though when humming replaced whistling
Mozart would not be known to us today
If not for the whistlers and hummers of Salzburg

Prokovief

 

The DT's

 I’ve watched and listened to segments of Donald Trump speaking to crowds. His entrances are ego on parade. When he speaks, he never stays focused on his audience. He looks upward and away from the audience. He is speaking to himself. He is not particularly articulate, and he uses and reuses his playbook of hate-inducing phrases. His time on TV and his sleazy business dealings have made him very skilled at the role of victim, martyr, crowd manipulator and media influencer. His character is built on lies, half-truths, deceits and greed. He is always coming down the escalator.

The fact that he continues to have such a large following is a sign of the decay in democrcy in America.

Dementia

 You stole intimacy.

You stole memory.
You stole intelligence.
You stole the ability to see a big picture.
You stole skilled language.
You stole rational thinking.
You stole joy.
You stole self-reliance.
You stole friendships.
You stole the pleasure of family.
You stole the chance to be a full part of the world.
You stole my wife.
God damn you, dementia.

Choir

 Here’s a suggestion.

All moderate-sized groups—charitable, governmental, educational, administrative or otherwise—should form a mandatory choir. This would require working together to produce something of beauty, taking direction and appreciating the talents of others.
How could this be a bad thing?

Essential workers

 I think of artists as essential workers. If not for them, the world would be visually dull and uninspiring. If not for them, beauty and truth would be greatly diminished. If not for them, culture would be pedestrian. If not for them, we would too easily stay in our boxes. If not for them, we would be at a loss for the risk-takers who call us to be more human.

Yes, artists are essential workers.

DJT

 The key thing to recognize about Donald Trump is that he is a smart man with absolutely no moral compass. That is the real danger. He can steal, lie, cheat and even break his oath to defend the Constitution with no remorse. He is masterful in both the role of manipulator and the role of victim. His ego leads him to listen only to his own voice, to surround himself with yes men.

History is already clear on the damage he has done to this country and its democratic processes. It defies reason that he still has any followers.

Practicing

 

Dear Ron

 Dear Ron De Santis,

I am writing you from the well-documented and researched past. I was a white-fearing slave, bought and exploited by a white God-fearing Christian. His wealth came off my back, my labor. I was not free to choose my own work. I did the work he forced me to do. I did what he needed done or I suffered mightily for it. He did not prepare me for the end of slavery. I did not think that would ever come, and he hoped it would never come. I made my life as I could, out of my own resourcefulness.
So Ron, get your head out of your ass. Look honestly at the world as it was and is and come to your senses.
Signed,
A slave no more

Stars

 Looking at the stars reminds us that the present is the past. The present is continually slipping into the past and the past is always alive in the present.

Journey

 Greetings from my wellness/fitness journey. I just came in from my daily 20-mile run. I will do my supinator pull ups and my 50 one-armed pushups, alternating arms. I will have a spinach and kombucha shake and a few seaweed crackers. After my 15-minute power nap, I will do my 1-kettlebell and 2-kettlebell workouts. I hope to be an influential influencer one day.

I think everyone’s body should be a temple. Don’t you?

Attention

 Making art is not so much a means of getting attention as it is a means of paying attention.

Galileo

 Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler, Darwin, Einstein, Watson and Crick and Hawking, among many others, by challenging religion’s ideas of God, made scientific truth confront faith. Faith had the choice of locking away these scientific truths in a little box or facing them.

Facing them meant facing our human-made conceptions of God, believing that a deeper understanding of our reality could lead to a deeper understanding of God.
For me, God is a reality and a necessity, and it’s my job to find God.