If it's Tuesday, this must be Richmond

It's good to be back, but also odd: everything has shifted ever so slightly. In many respects it's like I never left, but... something feels off. But, as I said, it's good to be back, at least for the time being.

I know it's the equinox...

But I feel like Frosty the Snowman:

"Frosty the Snowman had to hurry on his way,
But he waved goodbye, saying don't you cry,
I'll be back again someday."

But I didn't get a blowout while driving down the interstate (this time), so there was no "thumpity thump thump," luckily.

Rained Out

I won't be painting today, at least not outside at Towers Mall. (Both of these are old articles, and the traffic problems have been addressed.)
Given that I dropped my phone into a bucket of paint yesterday, that might be a good thing. I doubt the manufacturer would approve of me digging paint out of the keypad with my 5-in-1.

My latest painting

For some reason, people always guess wrong when I tell them I've been painting. When I've been busy with my pen and inks, they assume I'm painting a house; when I'm house painting, they assume I'm working with my pen and inks (or acrylics, or oils...).

Just so there's no confusion, I offer an example of my recent work. I'll admit the influence of Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko, but don't tell James.

Sundae Funnies

This probably won't be a regular feature of this blog.

Pass with Care

I don't actually draw while I'm driving, but I get ideas for drawings while I drive. This came to me in West Virginia, while I was following behind a pokey car for miles and miles and miles...

You may also notice that I've updated the layout. This new layout has two things that I really like. First, it shows who posted which cartoon, which hasn't been clear before. Second, it shows the time of the last update for the blogs I read. (I've also updated the header, but that may change with my mood.)

Monday... oops, Wednesday

Not much going on with me, and I'm losing track of the days.

This painting is part of a series I did earlier this summer. I was reminded of them after attending a production of "Oklahoma!" this past weekend, where the sky and the landscape was portrayed as a quilt.

That's not quite what I'm doing here, of course.

"Il n'y a pas de hors-texte."

I haven't been reading Derrida lately (that is, I haven't lost my mind completely), but I ran across this phrase after talking to a friend about a class... it's a long, pointless story, and while I have the capacity for vast rambling monologues, I'll just quote Tony Domestico, who translates it as, "there is nothing outside the text or, more literally, there is no outside-text."

I've been reading John Sanford's book, Evil, while I wait to hear back from jobs. It's not particularly well written (and I'm happy to elaborate if there is interest), but it hasn't been a particularly successful job search, either. I'm particularly irritated at a mid-sized university in the Mid-Atlantic region, who shall remain nameless because I may file a complaint about their sloppiness.
I don't like feeling jerked around.

Govy Electron Music

"I have a feeling that tonight you're going to see one of the Riviera's most fascinating sights," said Frances Stevens to John Robie.


To preempt comments and/or phone calls, the title is taken from the closed-captioning of a commercial, which presumably was supposed to read, "Groovy Electronic Music."
And I've been watching Hitchcock's "To Catch a Thief," which I've enjoyed greatly.

Dog Days

August is here, but Gaius Octavius Thurinus is not.

Kodos lifting off!

Here is Kodos's personal spaceship. I might improve it, or leave it as it is.

Not quite a full deck

I Love a Dog Named Biscuit

A Parable: An old man and his dog were walking down a dirt road with fences on both sides, and came to a gate in the fence. They looked in and saw that it was nice grassy with wooded areas--just what a 'huntin' dog and man would like--but it had a 'no trespassing' sign, so they continued to walk along the dirt road.

Further down the road, they came to a beautiful gate. Standing beside the gate was a man in white robes, who greeted the old man: "Welcome to Heaven!"

The old man was happy, and started in with his dog following behind.
The gatekeeper stopped him. "I'm sorry, but he can't come with you. Dogs aren't allowed."

"What kind of Heaven won't allow dogs?" The old man thought for a minute, then sighed. "If he can't come in, then I'll stay out here with him. He's been my faithful companion all his life, I can't desert him now."

"Suit yourself, but I have to warn you, the Devil's on this road and he'll try to sweet talk you into his area. He'll promise you anything, but he won't let the dog come with you either. If you won't leave the dog, you'll spend Eternity wandering along this road."

The old man nodded his head and turned to go, with the dog trotting along behind.

After a long, desolate stretch, they came to a rundown fence with a gap in it--not a gate, just a hole. Inside, another old man sat in the shade.
The first old man leaned in and asked if he and his dog could come in and sit in the shade for awhile.

"Of course! There's a brook, with cold water under that tree over there. Make yourselves comfortable."
"Can my dog come in too? The man down the road said dogs weren't allowed anywhere."
"Would you come in if you had to leave the dog?"

"No sir. I didn't go to Heaven because the man said my dog couldn't come in. I guess we'll be spending Eternity on this road, but a glass of cold water and some shade would be mighty fine right about now. If he can't come in here, I guess we'll keep walking."

The man smiled a big smile and said "Welcome to Heaven."

The old man was shocked. "You mean, this is Heaven? And dogs are allowed? How come that fellow down the road said they weren't?"

"That was the Devil, and he gets all the people who are willing to give up a life long companion for a comfortable place to stay. They soon figure out they've made a mistake, but by then it's too late. The dogs come here, but the fickle people stay there. God wouldn't allow dogs to be banned from Heaven. After all, they were created to be man's companions in life; why would he separate them in death?"

Author Unknown

A friend shared this with me a few weeks ago, and it seems to confirm that, for me, Indiana is Hell.

It also seems to shed some light on the character of the woman who asked me to leave Biscuit behind.

PS: This same woman left her bicycle with me--asking me to take care of it--but took the bike rack.

Farrago

"A confused group; a medley, mixture, hotchpotch."

A Follow-up to Putnam's book...

When there's a bad accident on the freeway, and people are so impatient that they either: change lanes incessantly in order to get into whatever lane is moving fastest at the moment with no regard for the other people stuck in traffic, or worse, start driving down the shoulder, only to block oncoming emergency vehicles trying to get to the accident, I can only think that society has gone from "Bowling Alone" to "Dying Alone."

And to counterbalance the heavy commentary, three cartoons inspired by Saul Steinberg.

Thursday...

and I'm heading to Roanoke in the morning. Have a good weekend!

Summer is finally here...

but that doesn't really change anything for me, since pretty much I've just been sitting in my living room with the curtains drawn, messing with various "art" projects.

The Search Continues...

So mostly I'm just waiting for jobs to be posted.
None today (yet), so here's a news story:

Iowa's governor privately requested that candidates Obama and McCain cancel campain visits to Iowa, fearing that the visits would use needed resources. Obama cancelled, McCain didn't.
"As a courtesy — and as we did for Senator Obama — we privately made an effort to make sure that Senator McCain knew that state and local resources were still being deployed to support the flood fight and that now may not be the best time for a campaign trip," Dillon (the governor's chief of staff) said in a statement.
But wait, there's more: McCain opposed a bill last year that would have allocated funds to help flood control in Des Moines.
(from the Daily Kos)