Artist of the Day: My Porcelain Life - Kris Knight

my porcelain life kris knight

Happy Halloween & early Dia de Los Meurtos.

---

artist bio: Kris Knight is a Canadian painter whose work examines performance in relation to the construction, portrayal and boundaries of sexual and asexual identities. Drawing from personal histories of rural escapism through imagination, Knight paints disenchanted characters that are lost between youth and adulthood; they hide their secrets, but desperately long to let them go. His mythical and ambiguous portraits are a synthesis of fantasy and real-world memory; they tiptoe between the dichotomies of pretty and menace, hunter and hunted, innocence and the erotic.

Throughout Knight’s professional practice, he has created thematic bodies of work that reference historical notions of regality, mysticism, romanticism and symbolism. He often skews these concepts with contemporary interests in androgyny, psychotropic alterations and the post-modern gaze. Knight’s lustrous classical cum illustrative figurative paintings, stride between a contradicting palette of sensual primaries and ghostly pastels, reflecting his adoration for 18th Century French portraiture.

The Day in Cartoons: After Sandy - Manny Francisco

After Sandy Manny Francisco, Manila, The Phillippines Now that the storm is over, it's time to roll up our sleeves, get to work, and help our neighbors.  --- Interesting Reading: Red Cross - Your Help with Sandy is Needed Time - Sandy’s Aftermath: How to Help HLN - Volunteers needed: You can help with Sandy cleanup CNN - How to help after the superstorm

The New York Times - After the Devastation, a Daunting Recovery
The Wall Street Journal - East Struggles to Recover From Sandy
USA Today - Obama, Christie tour storm damage
The Guardian - Obama tours shattered New Jersey and promises help for Sandy victims



Artist of the Day: Pumpkin Soup with Pine Nuts - Monica Pinto

pumpkin soup with pine nuts monica pinto

Hot soup and crusty bread are comfort foods for me. Just looking at this lovely photograph elicits a smile.

This photo by Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal artist Monica Pinto reminds me to be grateful for all I have, and that those I love are safe. And most of all, for Grace.

May all those affected by the storm find warm shelter and comfort.

---

artist bio: I´m a freelance photographer and stylist, with a great love for all things food, lifestyle and nature. I exhibited my work in galleries, magazines and newspapers.
In my spare time I write my blog Pratos e Travessas, for which I cook, style and shoot every single recipe. A lot of those recipes are developed by me, others are from books or cooks I admire.

You can also find me here:

http://pratos-e-travessas.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pratos-e-Travessas/342391935871
http://twitter.com/pratostravessas
http://pinterest.com/monicapinto/

The Day in Cartoons: Hurricane Sandy - Immoral - Bill Day

Immoral Bill Day, Cagle Cartoons  

Does anyone have a sock they can lend Mitt?

---

Queried directly on the topic of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's functions by CNN's John King during the June 13, 2011 Republican presidential primary debate at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, Romney said the federal government "cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids."

"We cannot -- we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we'll all be dead and gone before it's paid off. It makes no sense at all."
from The Atlantic

Interesting Reading:

Business Insider - Mitt Romney: It's 'Immoral' To Borrow Money For Disaster ReliefWashington Post - Hurricane Sandy highlights how Obama and Romney respond to disasters

The Atlantic - Mitt Romney in 2011: 'We Cannot Afford' Federal Disaster Relief

Huffington Post - Mitt Romney In GOP Debate: Shut Down Federal Disaster Agency, Send Responsibility To The States

Fox News - Hurricane Sandy barrels toward East Coast, expected to bring 'life-threatening' storm surge

The Weather Channel - Sandy's Top 5 Right Now

American Red Cross - Red Cross deploys emergency response vehicle in advance of Hurricane Sandy

The Wall Street Journal - Fugate: FEMA Has Funds for Sandy Response

Reuters - As election, Sandy draw near, pressure mounts on disaster chief



Poetry & Music Mash Up: History of Hurricanes - Teresa Cader + Sandy - Caribou

hurricane sandy the telegraph

Sandy

+

History of Hurricanes

Because we cannot know—

we plant crops, make love in the light of our not-knowing

A Minuteman prods cows from the Green with his musket,
his waxed paper windows snapping in the wind,
stiletto stalks in the herb garden upright—Now

blown sideways—Now weighted down in genuflection,

not toward,

And a frail man holding an Imari teacup paces at daybreak
    in his courtyard in Kyoto

a cherry tree petaling the stones pink and slippery
    in the weeks he lay feverish

waiting for word from the doctor, checking for signs—Now

in the season of earthenware sturdiness and dependency
    it must begin, the season of his recovery

No whirling dervish on the radar, no radar, no brackets
no voices warning—no Voice—fugue of trees, lightning

Because we cannot know, we imagine

What will happen to me without you?

Artist of the Day: Junie de Lune -Catherine Zacchino

junie de lune catherine zacchino junkerjane

Don't you think that if a little zombie child had a doll, it would look exactly like this?

 I've featured Zacchino's Junker Jane dolls before, but with Halloween only two days away, this macabre little darling is absolutely perfect to usher in the darkest and most eerily fun holiday.
---
artist bio: My name is Catherine Zacchino, a.k.a. Junker Jane. I am an artist living in Portland Oregon. My art consists of one of a kind soft sculpture art dolls, original paintings and prints made from my original works.When I began making dolls 6 years ago, my designs were simple and basic. Most of my dolls were made from single pieces of fabric — one for the front and one for the back. They have since evolved into more detailed works, including pieces that have been stained for an aged effect. From the beginning though, I have always used recycled fabrics as part of my art. I find vintage fabrics and clothing to be huge inspirations for me, and it even inspired my business name, Junker Jane. I love all things aged and weathered! Many things inspire me to come up with my art doll characters, but my main influence comes from my childhood — images from make-believe stories and books that I read. Nothing compares to childhood experiences, and it is from this that I pull most of my ideas. As a child, I was always fascinated by anything otherworldly and supernatural, along with charming stories, such as Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. These influences have stood with me into my adult years, and I think this contradiction shows itself in my work, as my dolls seem to hold one foot in innocence and another in the shadows. I rarely begin a doll with a concrete idea. I usually have several loose images of what I’d like to achieve, and then I start grabbing fabrics and buttons. I find it easier to create in this fashion as a doll will seem to come together itself.

Poem Therapy: Sonnetesque - Lynn Emmanuel

28 October 2012 3:14 P.M.

Sonnetesque

I love its smallness: as though our whole town were a picture postcard and our feelings were on vacation: ourselves in mini- ature, shopping at tiny sales, buying the newspapers—small and pale and square as sugar cubes—at the fragile, little curb. The way the streetlight is really a table lamp where now we sit and where real night, (which is very tall and black and at our backs), where for a moment the night is forced to bend down and look through these tiny windows, forced to come closer and put its hand on our shoulder and stoop over the book to read the fine print. ---

abab cdcd efef gg. Blank verse. Iambic pentameter. 14 lines.

And that's it, the not so secret formula to one of the most beautiful forms of poetry.

Without Shakespeare's sonnets, how would we speak of love? Would we speak of love?

Lynn Emmanuel is one of my favorite poets. If you haven't read her, google and read everything. I'm not kidding.

Her "sonnet" is not traditional, other than it adheres to 14 lines. So what. It's sonnetesque. It is also beautiful. 

Watch & Listen Play List: October 26-28

This has been a week of revelations.

As in, politicians and their political party revealing their true nature. Again.

You would think we'd all traveled in a time machine back to circa 2nd Century - 20th Century, with all the ridiculous "news" and "debate" commentary that, women are hysterical, ruled by their wombs and hormones, incapable of making reasoned decisions, so could a benevolent man please show them the way, or take away the ability to make decisions for themselves.

And then the the trump that trumped even the Donald and his hair: God approved assault, and the tacit approval via deafening silence from the man who would be president, and the hoard of all the other gray- faced chumps with two dollar haircuts, who chose to look the other way for the sake of political expediency.

Well, it's enough to make a gal a very cynical and bitter pill.

Instead of staying angry, disappointed, and maybe just a little scared that this kind of talk is actually part of the national discussion (instead of on some loser's Facebook page), that these comments are for the most part tolerated and condoned, despite public outcry, I am going to make some calls, write some letters.

Then, I'm going to put on this play list, click on the noonday collection site and check out artwork by world artisans, mix up my favorite witch's brew of the moment, and cast a spell.

With any luck, by Monday, there will be one hellofa lot of frogs ribbeting without any hope of a princess kissing their warty faces.

Babel - Mumford & Sons
Yet Again - Grizzly Bear
When the Devil's Loose - AA Bondy
Spitting Image - Freeland Whales
White Liars - Typhoon
Bushwick Blues - Delta Spirit
In God's Country - U2
This is Not a Song, It's An Outburst: Or the Establishment Blues - Rodriquez
Wooden Chair - Angus Stone
Good Arms vs Bad Arms - Frightened Rabbit
Feels Like We Only Go Backwards - Tame Impala
On Melancholy Hill - Gorillaz
The Honest Truth - Typhoon
Sugar Man - Rodriguez
Boy with a Coin - Iron & Wine
Lips Like Sugar - Echo and the Bunnymen
Box Full of Letters - Wilco
A Simple Answer - Grizzly Bear
Say So - Allen Stone
Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution- The Black Crowes
Stop Your Sobbing - Pretenders
Let's See Action - The Who
When the Movie's Over - Twin Shadow
Leaving Time - Patterson Hood
Patient - Twin Shadow
Hope in a Hopeless World - Widespread Panic
Hang On - Dr. Dog
Common People - Pulp
It's Only Life - The Shins
Jubilee (Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around) - Bobby Womack
Something Good - Alt-J
Can't Hardly Wait - Replacements
The High Road - Broken Bells
Hold On - Alabama Shakes

Artist of the Day: Harvest Fields - Mariann Johansen-Ellis

harvest fields mariann johansen-ellis artcanbefun

The  fields behind my house are plowed and ready for spring planting. Harvest is over. Even so, the tomatoes and herbs in the flower beds that flank my house are still fresh, despite the first frost this morning.

I just discovered Malaga, Andalusia, Spain-based artist Mariann Johansen-Ellis artist, and admire her aesthetic.

I also love the process of cutting into a lino block and watching my images emerge.

My latest project employs the same techniques as lino cut. I'm carving clay jewelry, and I have to tell you the process has been deeply satisfying. 

I'll post a few examples here once the pieces are finished.

---

artist bio: Cascada Studio in Mijas, Andalucia, Southern Spain, offers printmaking courses all year round! Go to www.artcanbefun.com for more information. I am a print maker and a painter.... I love printmaking, and sometimes I love to paint, art, comes first in my life. I don't have a formal art education, but after 18 years of arts and crafts I am in a place I am quite happy with, and had some serious fun in the process... on my website www.MariannJohansen-Ellis.com you can read all about me, or why not watch one or all, for that matter, of my movies about printmaking, go to www.artcanbefun.com and click on printmaking movies.

Artist of the Day: Tree - Irene Suchocki

tree irene suchocki

 

I woke to the first snowfall of the season this morning. 

 

My corkscrew willow lost so many large branches it appeared as if wind, rather than snow was the culprit.

 

It snowed off and on all day. My mood pitched wildly as each new layer deposited itself on the trees. This does not bode well, especially this early.

 

I have decided that since there is nothing to do but accept the cold, the waning of the light, the heavy ice that has hovered inches above my head every winter for the last few years, I will keep a daily winter diary of winter's landscape and my inner landscape.

 

Perhaps by merging photographs and writing, I can find a way through the ice. 

---

artist bio: In my photography I combine my love of travel and place with a dream-like aesthetic to create visual poems that evoke a sense of magic, delight, nostalgia and romance. I love to photograph iconic places such as Paris, New York, and Venice in a way that gives the sense of having tumbled through a secret doorway into a previously unseen world. When I am not traveling, I turn to nature for inspiration and for subject matter, with a particular fondness for trees and coastal landscapes.

Song of the Day: Knives Out - Radiohead

knives out radiohead

There is less than two weeks left in this election and both men have traded in thier barbs for much sharper weapons.

Artist of the Day: Great Horned Owl - Stephanie McDowell

great horned owl - stephanie mcdowell stephsshoes

Two years ago a great horned owl took up residence in the Honey Locust tree behind my house.

I remember my daughter and I walked through the field and then directly under the tree while the owl watched us, barely turning its head in acknowledgement.

I took the owl as a portent of fortune. I remember it being particularly stressful, unsettling time, and the sudden appearance of the owl was reassuring.

The "situation" ultimately resolved in my favor.

This photograph reminds me to remain watchful, and look clearly for the better nature or potential fortune of any situation.

---

artist bio: Driven by a deep love and respect for the natural world, I passionately capture the scenes and wildlife of my native New England and enthusiastically share the wonders of it all with you. https://www.facebook.com/StephsShoes & http://www.flickr.com/photos/semcdowell
 



The Day in Cartoons: Assorted Romney - Adam Zyglis

Assorted Romney Adam Zyglis, The Buffalo News

I really wish Governor Romney would just pick a position.

 

Any position.

 

On absolutely anything.

 

And just stick with it.

 

For the next thirteen days.

Interesting Reading:

Wikipedia - Political positions of Mitt Romney

Reuters - Romney's Etch a Sketch foreign policy

Huffington Post - The Many Faces of Mitt Romney

 



Artist of the Day: The Nomad - Allison Merriweather

the nomad allison merriweather

If I had a million dollars, besides being rich, I would reimagine myself as a global nomad, traversing the globe in search of art, story, and spicy food.

---

artist bio: Painter living and working in Houston, Texas.



Poetry & Music Mash Up: Eletelephony - Laura Elizabeth Richards + Wolf Like Me - TV on the Radio

sheep in wolf's clothing chetart

Wolf Like Me

+

Eletelephony

Once there was an elephant,
Who tried to use the telephant—
No! No! I mean an elephone
Who tried to use the telephone—
(Dear me! I am not certain quite
That even now I've got it right.)
Howe'er it was, he got his trunk
Entangled in the telephunk;
The more he tried to get it free,
The louder buzzed the telephee—
(I fear I'd better drop the song
Of elephop and telephong!)

Artist of the Day: Driftwood Heart - Marisa Redondo

driftwood heart marisa redondo riverluna

I've had a bit of a heavy heart for a while now. There are a lot of reasons for this, but I'm finding focusing on beauty, making art, and writing are peace of mind life jackets.

This is such a lovely painting, it makes my own heart a little lighter.

Art really does save.

artist bio: I'm Marisa, the artist behind River Luna. My paintings are inspired by nature, space, culture, and my awesome 4 year old, River. He's pretty much one half of my work. Animal paintings are usually requested by him, and together we gather feathers, leaves, stones, and pretty twigs covered in moss which grace my painting table.

The Day in Cartoons: Binders Full of Women & Binders of Women - Bob Englehart & Bill Day

Binders Full Of Women #120597

By Bob Englehart, The Hartford Courant

Binders of Women Bill Day, Cagle Cartoons 

It may be an oldie, since it's so last week, but it's a goodie. 

Incidentally, the year Romney asked "folks" for qualified candidates wasn't 1955. It was 2002 and 36 % of Harvard's MBA graduates that year were women.

Interesting Reading:
bindersfullofwomen.tumbler.com
The Atlantic - A Meme That Means Something

Women Are Watching - Mitt Romney

LA Times - Obama and Romney (heart) women. Who (hearts) them more?
TPM - Group Behind Romney’s ‘Binders Full Of Women’ Doesn’t Remember Story The Way Romney Does

Christian Science Monitor - 'Binders full of women' and Romney: the presidential debate

The Washington Post - Mitt Romney’s revelatory ‘binders full of women’

The Daily Beast - Mitt Romney’s ‘Binders Full of Women’ Comment Sets Internet Ablaze
NPR - Presidential Debate Spins 'Binders Full Of Women' Meme, Fact Checks
Chicago Tribune - Romney's case to women fails to convince
The Economist - Diversionary Tactics

Presidental Debate Round Three Wish List: Vintage & Homemade Gifts

If Round One was a sleeper, Round Two was a bruiser.

Here's hoping Round Three is a TKO!

the boxing baby joel henry

them's fighting words kella macphee

the boxer steve mitchell

raging bull ciaran monaghan

muhammed ali americanallstar

rock em sock em robutts beenznrice

dempsey and firpo  sherrylovesvintage

Poetry & Music Mash Up: Found Letter - Joshua Weiner + Adventures in Your Own Back Yard - Patrick Watson

thankful katya horner

Adventures in Your Own Back Yard

+

Found Letter

 

What makes for a happier life, Josh, comes to this:   

Gifts freely given, that you never earned;   

Open affection with your wife and kids;   

Clear pipes in winter, in summer screens that fit;   

Few days in court, with little consequence;   

A quiet mind, a strong body, short hours   

In the office; close friends who speak the truth;   

Good food, cooked simply; a memory that’s rich   

Enough to build the future with; a bed   

In which to love, read, dream, and re-imagine love;   

A warm, dry field for laying down in sleep,   

And sleep to trim the long night coming;   

Knowledge of who you are, the wish to be   

None other; freedom to forget the time;   

To know the soul exceeds where it’s confined   

Yet does not seek the terms of its release,   

Like a child’s kite catching at the wind   

That flies because the hand holds tight the line.

Artist of the Day: Tangerine Fall Leaves - RacyTay

tangerine fall leaves raceytay

This photograph expresses the day's weather, literal and figurative: warm, bright, hopeful.

How's the weather for you?

artist bio: I am a passionate photographer with a background in graphic design. I love to create. I've often said "I don't take photographs, I make photographs." The photos in my shop are among my favorites and they represent the world as I see it, as I want you to see it. I hope you like them.



Poem Therapy: Telling - Elisabeth Frost

Telling
Elisabeth Frost

They keep telling me why I do what I do. I do it so that one day

someone will do for me what I'm doing for her. They're saying, then,

that my motivation is to be, down the line, the recipient of the

doing. According to their logic, I buy her the Times and irises for the

bed table, renew the nitroglycerin and Cardia, throw in the

chocolate that isn't allowed, and, back home, scour the tub, scrub

the toilet—I do these things in order to have them done for me, if

not by her, who can't do them (let's be honest), then, second best,

by someone else. They say that's the reason I study so closely her

happiness, her lack of happiness. And their gentleness in the

telling, the lowered chin and eyes, the slow enunciation, the hand

reaching toward my wrist—it all tells me that things won't end

where I think they will, that what I do isn't like a mitral valve (thrust

open, clamp shut), an act without volition, but is, like the refusal

finally to turn away, something chosen, which may or may not do

anything like what one hopes it will.
---
Could be the heart won't let itself do what the head knows is best.
Could be that what you do isn't about what you want done for yourself.
Could be it is just doing what has to be done, right at that moment.

Perhaps out of obligation. Perhaps out of the knowledge there is no one else to do it. Perhaps from the same impulse that drives you to right a bee spinning on its back, or to throw a stranded crustacean back into the ocean.

It is difficult to turn your back, even on an enemy.

Presidental Debate Round Two Wish List: Vintage & Homemade Gifts

I will admit I am a little anxious about tonight's debate.

Whenever I'm feeling like this, especially about things over which I have no control, I tell myself that this, whatever this, is, won't matter in a year. Or ten years. Or one hundred years.

In this case, the outcome of the debate will matter.

Here's hoping tonight's Obama/Romney debate is a mix of the following:

debate jessianpress

debating monks tomaz kunst

abraham lincoln eahkee

float like a butterfly sting like a bee eager illustration

pow whammo uppercut vivian weaver

Presidents of the United States of America justin potts


The Day in Cartoons: Blame - Milt Priggee

Blame Milt Priggee The reality is that Obama inherited a 1.2 trillion deficit. Yes, it grew to 1.4 during his tenure. So, nobody, and I mean nobody wants to say George W. Bush's name three times in the mirror and raise his specter. I mean, raise his name, and there's a good chance of being guilty by association.  Interesting Reading: Slate - Where is George Bush Foreign Policy - Why Mitt Romney can't talk about Iraq News-Record - Republicans never mention Bush years Fact Check - Romney wrong on deficit, auto bailout



Artist of the Day: Be Careful What You Wish For - Peggy Bjerken

be careful what you wish for peggy bjerken unmasked

Be careful what you wish for has been the theme of my working life the last two years.

I finally understand the saying, thank god for unanswered prayers.

I'm not regretting the path that got me here. I'm enjoying myself and am very grateful for these new opportunities, and for the struggle.  This period of transition, something I wanted very much and actively sought, feels very much like an incarnation of Rumi's The Guest House, where everyday a new guest arrives, sometimes a meanness, sometimes a joy. Some arrivals have literally cleared me out, but new arrivals have knocked on the door bearing gifts.

What these years have taught me is to ask the question, what is it I desire, and to wait for an answer that is true. I am still listening.

artist bio: Some of you may wonder why I'm putting so much energy into the making of masks. Well, after years of being a maker of many different things, I finally began to dabble in masks (inspired by my own collection of masks from around the world). It dawned on me, after the first few that I made, that a path was opening up before me. I knew that I didn't want to copy foreign masks or even to borrow ideas from them. I did want to be a part of the mask tradition. Thus began my journey. Very early on, around 1998, I decided that I would make "American" masks with contemporary ideas - my contribution to the tradition. After a while, the masks became more and more personal which seemed a natural progression. I continue making them with the hope that some of the ideas I present are universal. Please take a look at my portfolio website and blog for more information.
http://www.maskwoman.com and http://the-maskwoman.blogspot.com.

Watch & Listen Playlist: October 12-14

This month came in swinging a volley of hard right jabs, didn't it? I've even been having pugilist-themed dreams. In one I wrote a speech for Muhammad Ali. It began, My name is Muhammad Ali. I was a fighter of men. Now I am a fighter of disease.  So why all the boxing metaphors and dreams? I'm guessing one word: debates.

It is hard to believe that October is here, or that snow is on its way.  We're only two months from the new year, or from the Apocalypse, if you believe the Mayans.

If you're following the election at all, the Eye of the Swallow video from Bad Lip Reading is a bright spot of levity. Hilarious!

Here's a mix to listen to while sipping on a Halloween Spiked Cider from one of my favorite blogs.

Hello - Poe
Hold On - Angus & Julia Stone
Stand Up - Hindi Zahra
Tell It Like It Is - Martha Wainwright
I'm An Animal - Neko Case
I Am Not Waiting Anymore - Field Report
I'm Getting Ready - Micheal Kiwankna
Ready to Start - Arcade Fire
Yet Again - Grizzly Bear
Cruel - St. Vincent
Bottom of the River - Delta Rae
Bottom of the World - Tom Waits
Little White Lies - Deer Tick
The Walls Are Coming Down - Fanfarlo
Burn It Down - Los Lobos
I'll Walk Right On - Noonday Underground & Paul Weller
Outta My System - My Morning Jacket
All the Rage - Moon Taxi
Dark Star - Policia
Don't Gotta Work It - Fitz and the Tantrums
Civilian - Wye Oak
Don't You Evah - Spoon
Ain't No Easy Way - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
It's Only Life - The Shins
The High Road - Joss Stone
To Just Grow Away - The Tallest Man on Earth
It's All Over Now - Them
I Don't Mind - The Cave Singers
I'm Writing A Novel - Father John Misty
Something More Beautiful - Beth Orton
Billie Hoiday - Warpaint
Not Broken - Skye
The High Road - Broken Bells
All Parts Of Me - Love and Laughter
Rise Up - Shemika Copeland
Good Intent - Kimbra
My Sweet Lord - George Harrison
Lotus Flower - Radiohead
Winds of Change - Fitz and the Tantrums
King and Lionheart - Of Monsters and Men
Set Your Arms Down - Warpaint
Would That Not Be Nice - Divine Fits
Silence - Lucia

Artist of the Day: Mechanical Spider - JM Gershenson-Gates

mechanical spider jm gershenson-gates

Before my husband and I were married, he commissioned a jeweler to make a spider pin with a moonstone abdomen for me. I loved it so much I had another spider pin made with a turquoise stone set in the cephalothorax.

On the macabre side, I suppose. Both spider pins are delicate and lovely, in an darkly artsy way. And, they are great conversations starters.

Spiders are fascinating, but I am not a fan of spiders creeping around the house.

I do love my pins, though.

artist bio: Grandson of a Railroad Man, son of a Gearhead.
Perpetual tinkerer, doodler, sandcastler, idler.
Spent too much time wondering and thinking...time to do.

Vice Presidential Debate 2012 Wish List: Vintage & Homemade Gifts

It's Biden and Ryan tonight.
Anything can happen. Anything is possible.
Last week's debate, for example.

vintage boxing gloves shawnstpeter

boxer nathan koorhan

the fighter papergarage

barney ross charles miller

muhammad ali mediagraffittistudio

fight stories bigphilsemporium

The Day in Cartoons: Steady Leadership - Mike Keefe, Cagle Cartoons

Steady Leadership Mike Keefe, Cagle Cartoons  



Mitt just cannot make up his mind.

He's firmly pro-choice. He's staunchly pro-life.

He's both. And that's just one issue.

Maybe he just can't decide. He's just not a decider. 

I thought I would write Candidate Romney a letter and let him know that he only has twenty-five days to make a decision on the issues and stick with it, otherwise he just looks, well, like a liar, or maybe a fibber.

I decided a vocabulary list would be way more fun to write.

Vocabulary Words of the Day:

inveterate

disingenuous

indecisive

contemptible

egregious

indefensible

unconscionable

meretricious

bogus

Interesting Reading:

The Economist - A question of procedure

Salon - Mitt’s abortion Etch-A-Sketch

The Examiner - Mitt Romney is pro-life except when he is pro-choice, depending on the audience

Wikipedia - The Positions of Mitt Romney

Middle East Online - Etch-A-Sketching Foreign Policy

Artist of the Day: Monster Mash Collage - DadaDreams

monster mash collage dadadreams

This image made me smile, and somehow also represented the day.

Just try and read the title of this collage and not think of that campy song.  

---

artist bio: Hi! I'm Michelle. My curious collage creations are all about the pop culture stuff I love - horror, comics, pin-ups, dinosaurs, and more. It's vintage pulp, but with a strange slightly off-kilter twist. My work has shown at Arison Gallery in Manchester, UK. It has been published in: Cosmetic Surgery: A Feminist Primer; Tubby Book; and Plateform Magazine. It has also been used by General Mills and by the band, The Veda Rays. You can find more of my art and photography on Flickr:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dadadreams/

This Moment: 10:08 A.M. 6 October 2012

I drove to yoga class this morning in the near dark. The small dog is lying next to me, licking the salt from my hands. I have yet to wash the sweat or the anger from my body. One half hour into the practice this morning I stopped pushing the anger down and let it flood until I could no longer breathe. I have been pushing this from me for five years now and I am too tired to hold anything back. A gun is popping in the distance. I imagine the geese halting mid-flight, then plummeting. The small bones of my sacrum slide in and out of place as I shift position. Cars whoosh or roar down the road.I have tried and I have failed to make the untenable an ordinary problem with a reasonable solution. The last green leaves are vivid in their optimism. The autumn sun dapples the foilage with gentle light. The small dog is at the door whining to be let out. The old dog barks it jealously at my hand reaching down and attaching the leash. Now she pads over, nails clicking on the hardwood. My eyes are closing on the day.

Watch & Listen Play List: October 5-7 2012

The debate put my teeth on edge. How about you?

These are the songs that will be filling my head for the next three days. My plan is to not pay one second of attention to any of the spin out there, and just focus on the spin on my virtual turntable.

Enjoy the music and the crisp air.

Babel - Mumford & Sons
Karma Police - Radiohead
It's Real  - Real Estate
1957 - Milo Greene
Modern Times - RND M
Trash Tongue Talker - Jack White
I'll Be Your Man - Black Keys
What's the Matter Here - 10,000 Maniacs
You Can Never Tell - Chuck Berry
Theologians - Wilco
Carrying the Torch - Generationals
Presence of the Lord - Blind Faith
The Honest Truth - Typhoon
Going' Up in Smoke - Eddie Kendricks
They'll Be Some Changes Made - Ray Charles
Pa Pa Power - Dead Man's Bones
Penance Fire Blues - Bobby Long
Cool Me Down - The Black Seeds
Okay, Alright, I'm Alive - Bahamas
There, There - Radiohead
Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
Yellow Brick Road - Angus & Julia Stone