Last seven watercolors for a while

 As you may have seen previously, I recently started purchasing black and white prints by a Mississippi artist Walter Anderson. Traditionally, his prints are colored in by local artists. Originals colored in by him are hard to find. But any of the are locally beloved and collected. 

I then frame and sell my colored prints. It gave me the fun of coloring and hunting for a great frame. Selling gives me extra money, and lets collectors get things they love. Win-win.

Walterandersonart.com is where I purchased the prints. You can learn more about the artist there as well.

Here are seven I did today.

Yes, there are more watercolors

 As you may have seen previously, I recently started purchasing black and white prints by a Mississippi artist Walter Anderson. Traditionally, his prints are colored in by local artists. Originals colored in by him are hard to find. But any of the are locally beloved and collected. 

I then frame and sell my colored prints. It gave me the fun of coloring and hunting for a great frame. Selling gives me extra money, and lets collectors get things they love. Win-win.

Walterandersonart.com is where I purchased the prints. You can learn more about the artist there as well.

Here are five I did today.

Even more watercolors

As you may have seen previously, I recently started purchasing black and white prints by a Mississippi artist Walter Anderson. Traditionally, his prints are colored in by local artists. Originals colored in by him are hard to find. But any of the are locally beloved and collected. 

I then frame and sell my colored prints. It gave me the fun of coloring and hunting for a great frame. Selling gives me extra money, and lets collectors get things they love. Win-win.

Walterandersonart.com is where I purchased the prints. You can learn more about the artist there as well.

Here are four I did today.

Some more watercolors

As you may have seen previously, I recently started purchasing black and white prints by a Mississippi artist Walter Anderson. Traditionally, his prints are colored in by local artists. Originals colored in by him are hard to find. But any of the are locally beloved and collected. 

I then frame and sell my colored prints. It gave me the fun of coloring and hunting for a great frame. Selling gives me extra money, and lets collectors get things they love. Win-win.

Walterandersonart.com is where I purchased the prints. You can learn more about the artist there as well.

Here are four I did today.

Some watercolors

 Recently, I started purchasing black and white prints by a Mississippi artist Walter Anderson. Traditionally, his prints are colored in by local artists. Originals colored in by him are hard to find. But any of the are locally beloved and collected. 

I then frame and sell my colored prints. It gave me the fun of coloring and hunting for a great frame. Selling gives me extra money, and lets collectors get things they love. Win-win.

Walterandersonart.com is where I purchased the prints. You can learn more about the artist there as well.

Here are the ones I’ve colored in so far.

Hi, this is me...

     Hi, so... I felt the need to talk to someone today, sadly, I don't really feel that there is anyone in my life that I can truly talk to. I mean I have friends and family, and even coworkers who'll listen. But they'll also judge or weigh-in or try to fix or just not understand. I don't know maybe I'm not giving them a fair shake, but it's how I feel. I feel like with them certain topics are off limits; that even bringing the topics up would be a relationship ender. 

    So what do I do? I joke. I kid. I swallow the topics I want to talk about. I stay in the safe zone. 

    Sure, I'll bring up oddities or strange things. But those are safe. 

    So I talk to myself. And I answer. I read somewhere that psychologists say this is a sign of feeling that you don't feel you are being heard and that the only opinion you can truly rely on or trust is yours as others let you down. Or you fear to be let down.

    I guess my desire is for someone with whom no topic is off the table, that I feel safe and comfortable enough with to talk about anything and everything. While this doesn't preclude prayer, prayer is not as immediate and physically satisfying as a person to person conversation. 

    Well, thanks for letting me vent.

Book Review: Equalize (Ether Collapse Series) by Ryan DeBruyn

I won an e-copy of this book and decided to give it a go. It is LitRPG (Literary Role Playing Game) wherein the world functions on game mechanics: people have screens, stats, quests and the like. It is a fairly new and growing genre that exploded into popularity with Dr Aleron Kong's The Land series. I find it to be entertaining.

So Equalize by Ryan Debruyn is set in modern Earth at the start, no magic or game systems, then Gaia (the Earth) wakes up from her eons long nap, sees what we'd done, and then starts "fixing" it. Magic comes back with a vengeance and reality changes, monsters appear and devastate humanity. Within days over half of humanity is dead. The Main Character is on a mope-fest nature retreat when this happens and lucks into empowering acts. Ostensibly determined to locate and save his sister and mother he heads back to civilization. Along the way he gets a monster pet, a ghost guide, and a host of problems. Eventually he's finds a rotten egg military holding civilians as serf labor for their own protection against the monsters and decides he must rectify the situation.

The main character reads like a hormonal teen jumping from anger to laughter and back and often thinking he knows best. (Kill a guy then look at someone and think how pretty she is. Sociopath, much?) The ghost guide is a the leading lady and is just as bad. She's a general and soldier of wars and fought on multiple worlds, she's been around the block, but she reads more as the everyday neighbor girl and is clearly written by a man. (Prime example is she wakes up and cups her breasts...really?!) The main from time to time says he's out to save his family and gives token service to this, but takes every excuse to put it off. Often he even seems to forget that that is his goal, until of course the McGuffin is needed again to humanize him. A personal peeve was the portrayal of merchants a greedy dishonest price gougers with a laissez faire, caveat emptor attitude. (Seriously, merchants try to take each other out, not the customer. Con-men go for the customer.)

Even with those, the book was enjoyable. The writing style captivated. The pace was pretty fast, and the was a lot of action. The MC was NOT perfect and made mistakes and paid for them now or in the future. The world building was fascinating and layered, without being too bulky or detailed. The game mechanics were present without being too forward or detracting from the telling. I did enjoy the book and will continue the series. But I do hope the MC "grows up." ;-)

Today I Lost My Mother

On Saturday, April 9, 2016, my mother passed away. She had been recovering from breast cancer for nearly a year and laid down for a nap to die in her sleep.

The days that followed were a whirlwind of chaos and tasks. The funeral had to be arranged. Family had to be gathered. Finances had to be looked into. There was no time to rest, no true time to stop.

Now the funeral is over. Family is leaving. Finances still need work, but nothing can truly be done until the Death Certificate comes in a few weeks.

Now I have time to be alone, time to realize that she is gone. In this life I shall not hear her voice again, I shall not see her smile, feel her hugs. Saturday my mother died, today I lost her.

I made a book

I've been wanting to try book binding for a while, and this last week (July 1-2, 2015) I finally tried it.
I started simple and went for a sketchbook.

I used some manila drawing paper I had for the pages. I halved the 8x10 pages. I then folded the resultant 5x8 pages in half and sorted them into signatures of four sheets. I punched holes along the fold every 1/2 inch leaving 1.5 inch on each end. I sewed the signatures together forming a text block. I glued the spine.  Then added some dark brown card stock cover pages on front and back, and glued a paper support strip along the spine. I used a craft knife to trim the edges. I cut some picture matting to size for a cover, glued on some fabric, and then glued the cover sheets to the inside of the cover.

I know, I know, you didn't need the details.

Anyway, I think it was a decent first effort. I can see see where I could do better next time. It was a quick fun project; one I'm proud of. Next I'm going to try binding some printed text and see how that turns out.

Here's two photos. I know it's hard to tell anything about the book, still bragging rights. Thanks. :-)

I Choose to Believe or Faith is a Matter of Choice

Central to my and many others belief systems is the idea that we have free agency. Free agency means that while we may be influenced one way or the other we are free to choose our path. Most often people refer to this in context of visible life choices: what to wear, where to go, what to do. And this is true, they are choices we can make. Within our domains, we are surrounded by choices daily. The vast majority are insignificant: apple or orange, this or that. Some are more profound: take the job or refuse, say yes or no. Then comes the conundrums: moral or not, right or wrong.

Still these are the obvious choices. These are the ones we think about; the ones that consume our lives. But there are other choices to be made, the invisible ones. I say they are invisible because we really don't think about them as a choice. Most often we think they just are. It could be we are naturally inclined to make some choices and so act on them. Sometimes the choices we make are justified by existence, other times not.

Take, for example, the Speed of Light. Science tells us that it is about 300,000 kilometers per second. It's a fact. There is seemingly no disputing this. So we believe it. For one microsecond, one split moment of infinity, we had to choose whether we believed it or not. We chose to believe it because people we respect tell us it is so, the math shows it, we can observe it; in short evidence abounds.

But what if I told you that the Speed of Light is in flux and not constant? What if I showed you that it was infinitely faster the closer we were to the Big Bang or Big Crunch? What if I said that the closer light was to a Super Dense Cosmic String the faster it would be? Would you reconsider your choice? Probably not. You chose. You chose what you observed and those you trusted.

Another example and one dearer to many people is that of religious belief. I speak not only of which religion we follow, but of the very idea of an external system or force directing the universe. At some point we choose to look at the universe and see a guiding hand or a series of coincidences governed by a few physical laws. That choice will support the following choices. If we choose the coincidence, your choices become more worldly. If we choose the guiding hand, we must choose if we will follow it or not. We must choose where we think it is. We must choose how we think it should be followed. We must choose. And keep choosing. In either we will see evidences to support our thoughts, we will have choices to support our choices.

A famous quote from the Book of Joshua talks a little about this choice:

"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)

The Jews had an actual choice. They could choose to follow other gods. They would not be forced to follow the God of Abraham. Joshua recognized this and chose.

Psychology tells us that we can learn to trust by choosing to trust. We can choose to share, to confide, to open ourselves up to others. It also says that we can learn to love and increase the love we feel by choosing to love. The same is true for faith. We can choose to trust God. Choose to love Him. Choose to follow and love Him. This choice will be shored up by the evidences we then see and the following choices we make.

I myself made this choice. I chose to believe in the Judeo-Christian God. I chose to trust Him. I chose to believe what I learned of Him and follow those teachings. As such I have seen evidences in my life. These support my choice, and help me to continue to choose as I have. I believe it is our choice as to what we believe, as to how we act, and how we live. As such I hope we all choose wisely.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

A good many don't know this, but Christmas is my favorite holiday. I sing carols all year long. Most of the music I own is Christmas music. I think of what I can make to give and to whom through-out the year. And when the tree is finally, socially, allowed to be put up, I will sit in a darkened room, in the quiet solitude and and watch it.

The lights blur and twinkle. The ornaments shine. And a calm joy fills me.

I remember Christmases past and the events, foods, and gifts fade. The Spirit of it remains. I remember the joy, the friends and family, the connection. I remember being loved.

In December, Christianity celebrates the Month of Christ: Christmas. In it they make a show of loving, of caring, of whitewashing their souls in the Season.

And for me, even with all the frustrations, aggravations and problems associated with the holidays, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

So, please, allow me to wish you a Merry Christmas. May the joy and light of the Season see you through the coming year. Bless you all.

I Still Wait For Santa

My dear friends, I am no longer a youth wide-eyed and letter writing. The magic has faded as I know the magician. No longer does Santa come to visit me at my house. No longer do I waited with baited breath, straining to hear the tale-tale sounds of Santa Claus visiting. No mysterious presents appear beneath my tree.

I have known the meanings of the symbols and trappings of the season since childhood. I learned the customs of several cultures. And I don't think the trappings, symbols or myths detract one bit from the purpose of the season. They add to it and give it flavor.

And knowing Santa as I do, I still wait for him. I feel the hope within my chest as Christmas approaches that this year he'll come again. This year the magic will return and I'll wake to the joys of Christmas morn as I once did in childhood.

You might say that this is but wishful thinking, or stupidity upon my part. It might be. I choose to think of it as hope in things greater, things unexplained, in possibilities and dreams. I choose to hope for the magic of innocence and the beauty therein.

And so I will keep waiting for Santa. One day, he will come again. I hope he will find me ready and waiting.

Merry Christmas.

Book Review: The Soprano Sorceress

Title: The Soprano Sorceress
Series: The Spellsong Cycle
Author: L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
Publisher: TOR
ISPN: 0-812-54559-1

This was my second time reading this book. I recall my first time, about ten years ago, reading being a fast paced romp. I wish I could say the same on this read through. Instead I found myself growing agitated at the protagonist and putting off reading as it became a chore. But let's start at the beginning.

At its most basic the story is that a music professor from our world is yanked into a world where magic is music based and due to her immense training she is the most powerful sorceress there. So we have a fish-out-of-water, boy-meets-world scenario going. Okay, now we get complicated. The protagonist, Anna Marshall, is a heart-broken divorcee who also just recently buried her eldest daughter. Upon being transported to the new world she recoils at the politics and situations she has been thrust into, even more so at the medieval worldview at pertains to woman's role which is to say subservient and of less apparent worth. Anna is trapped in the new world and so begins plotting her survival and winds up saving a nation from invasion[1] on two fronts. In doing so she forces her worldview upon her new world; women are equal, central formalized education (at least for the elite), accounting, germ theory, et cetera.

One problem, the main one, I found on this reading was that it was more a vitriolic lecture on the chauvinism of men as a gender. At almost every turn Anna blames men for power games, politics, war and violence. She outright lectures supporting characters in exposition that seems more like the author lecturing the reader. She treats almost everyone as if they are intellectually inferior and morally. And yet in the end she was guilty of every crime she laid at the feet of men. I found her to be an overly judgmental female chauvinist and an “ugly American”.[2]

Oddly, I still like the story, however I don’t like the telling of it.  One person I discussed this book with offered some interesting opinions; one in particular was worth looking into: that the story was promoting feminism[3]. So I went to L. E. Modesitt’s website, via a quick web search, and he had a blog post on the subject. He seemed a little befuddled that his portrayal of a woman in a book “which depicts a woman in a fantasy world fighting against situations such as [the one Anna finds herself in], it’s called by some feminist propaganda or ultra-feminist[4].“[5] However, I don’t think it’s so much her actions that give the novel a ultra-feminist bent, I think it is more her thoughts that tip the scales towards ultra-feminism. 

Numerous times, it appeared to me that Anna thought that women were socially better than men. But in the end she was just as bad… So yes it is a feminist, quasi-ultra-feminist novel.[6]

It occurs to me that I’m harping on the subject, so I’ll draw to a close. It’s a good enough story, but it can be a trying read.

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[1] Okay technically she stops one invasion and one incursion or occupation.

[2] “an American in a foreign country whose behavior is offensive to the people of that country” – definition courtesy of Merriam-Webster.com

[3] “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities” – definition courtesy of Merriam-Webster.com

[4] “Ultra-feminism is like feminism but with the belief that women are better than men.” – definition courtesy of Urban Dictionary.com

[5] Modesitt, L.E., “Feminist Propaganda?”, http://www.lemodesittjr.com/2011/04/22/feminist-propaganda/, Paragraph 4, Retrieved: April 16, 2014

[6] I’d give examples to support my ideas. But I didn’t take notes while reading and finding specific examples for a review of a book and not an analysis just isn’t worth the extra effort.

Logic

Every so often I have a problem with logic[1]. My problem is people citing logic, without understanding logic. It has become like a mantra: “Be logical,” “Logic tells us,” et cetera.  Sadly, the people who do so say logic when they mean “I think”, not necessarily acknowledging the other side except to dismiss it out of hand.

So what then is logic? Logic is nothing more than a tool. It is an aid to assist in finding the best solution for a given problem. The simplest form of this is a basic if-then statement. If your PIN is correct, then the ATM will grant access to your accounts. In some cases this can be an oversimplification, but I’m ignoring that. I’m great that way.

Before I go further, I will say I am not fully versed in Logic. I don’t know all its listed pitfalls (called[2] fallacies) save a few: Reductio ad Hitlerum (reduced to Hitler) and Reductio ad absurdum (reduced to absurdity). I don’t know its myriad of types and forms. In fact you could probably fill a thimble with what I do know about it. There, I’ve said it. Now accept me as an authority[3] on the matter and lets keep going. Okay?

An example I once heard of a logic problem presented to a computer. (I haven’t researched to see if this story is true in any way, so take it with a grain of salt.) The computer was asked to determine which was the better choice: a watch five minutes off, or a “broken”[4] watch.  The computer returned that the broken watch was the correct choice as it was correct twice a day, whereas the other was never correct. For me at least, this was the wrong answer. Strictly speaking both watches are right all the time, just not necessarily where you’re standing on the globe. I know that’s a quippy response, and I’m keeping it, but it’s still true. So there has to be restrictions, or assumptions and givens[5], to guide the decision and the course of logic. In this case it would be assumed that the watches would be analog, as a broken digital watch would render the argument moot. Assumed that we would only consider time related to one locale.  It would be given that there are two watches. This is getting verbose, and annoying. So moving on.

Anyway, the goal is to get the argument as close to a black-and-white question, an either-or answer. Right or wrong. On or off.  In the watch question the computer went for the best choice, which it (or the programmers) took to mean the most correct. What happens, however, when the best choice is taken to mean the one that serves the user most adequately. Then the answer would be reversed; the right choice would be the watch that is five minutes off as it would be consistent and the user would be able to tell the approximate time all day. The broken watch, while still right twice a day, cannot tell the user when it is right. So then which is the right choice, consistent or correct? I would say consistent based off of usefulness alone.

So what does this rambling monologue have to do with my problem with logic?[6] Basically, uh… huh, I guess it’s not with logic, but the people claiming to use it and demanding that you do too, all without themselves knowing how to use it.  So come on people, be logical, learn to use logic.[7]

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[1] I can hear the snarky remarks from here, thank you.

[2] One in the same really, but reductio ad hitlerum is a specific vein of reductio ad absurdum. It boils down to, “if Hitler did it, it is evil.” i.e. – “Hitler liked abstract art, therefore abstract art is Nazi art.”

[3] This is probably an example of the fallacy of false authority or something.

[4] I put broken in quotes, well, because we’re talking logic here and I wanted to cover my bases as some people can be real sticklers for detail and wordplay. So here we define broken as “non-functioning, but whole and intact; a drained battery”.

[5] An “assumption” is something that is not necessarily true, but will be treated as such for the argument. A “given” is something that is true.

[6] Again with the snarky comments! What’s WRONG with you? ;-)

[7] See what I did there? I did something that ticks me off when other people do it. Aren’t I delightfully hypocritical?