If you receive this in your email and want to see the photo, click on the title “Happy 2024”.
(no reason for the photo other than I like it)
Happy 2024!
Ten New Things Learned in December
If you receive this in your email and want to see the photos, click on the title “Nine New Things Learned in December”.
One of those things is actually a relearning situation. I’ll put it last because it makes my head spin, which makes it hard to type.
- Did you know you can order pet prescriptions from Chewy? You need a vet to allow you to connect with them, and the vet has to approve the order, of course. But it certainly beats trying to wrestle this guy into a box or pen for a long car ride, although I did have to restrain him while my vet friend/neighbor examined his boo-boo. Jackson was very displeased with the entire situation.
2. You know all those ads for “miracle cures“, prescription-free supplements guaranteed to fix whatever your health problem is? They all employ the same tactics of “Call now with this special code for this amazing one-time offer”. Then, it turns out that you have to order a 12-month supply of their product in order to get the promised discount. They all guarantee their stuff for 90 days, but it is supposed to work after 90 days, so how are you supposed to get the refund when you don’t know if you have used it long enough? Despite knowing this pattern and recognizing the hard-sell tactics, once again hope has triumphed over experience. I ordered a 3-month supply of a “mystery herb, recently rediscovered” and expect it to fix my peripheral neuropathy.
3. apricity (noun): The warmth of the sun in winter. I find myself seeking apricity during December.
4. Apple cider vinegar is a current cure-all food trend. If it comes with the mother, it is better for you. This means it contains natural probiotics. So, if you want to use “ACV” as it is known by its aficionados, pay twice as much as store brand so it comes with its mommy.
5. The mystery of why some of my blog subscribers can see the photos in their email notifications and other blog subscribers cannot is getting closer to being solved. Those with Apple devices who use either the app that came with the device or use Yahoo to read their mail cannot see the photos. Those who use Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, or AOL are able to see the photos. After spending 1-1/2 hour on the phone with Apple, all they could say was that I need to call the host of my website. Ugh.
6. Kaweah Arts will have a new location. They will close right after First Saturday (January 6, 2024) and reopen in March at The Dome! This is so excellent—I rely on Kaweah Arts to do my selling in town.
7. When I told a bank teller that I was having trouble balancing a checkbook, probably because the ink is too faded on my printing ten-key, she taught me how to change the ink cylinder. I didn’t even know it had such a thing!
8. “Lido” means outdoor swimming pool. I learned this while reading the novel The Lido, by Libby Page. I’d heard the term “lido deck” in reference to a particular level on a cruise ship but had no idea what it meant. It’s been 10 years since I went on that cruise, so I can’t remember if the lido deck contained a swimming pool. I do remember a pool on the way to one of the dining areas that was always loud and splashy with children, but I didn’t photograph that one.
9. A friend once told me that Adobe and Mac are like 2 people in a bad divorce. This little piece of wisdom came alive again when it took me about 2 hours to design a little sticker using Photoshop Elements. I searched and searched for help online, and every piece of instruction said to use tools that were not there. I finally stumbled across what I needed, no thanks to “Photoshop help”, Adobe, or online tutorials. No matter how many times I have used Photoshop Junior or InDesign, or even Word, each time I return to it nothing makes sense.
10. Reimer’s Candies and Gifts in Three Rivers has sold to Stafford’s Chocolates from Porterville. I know no more regarding name changes or products, although a friend enlightened me to Stafford’s a few years ago, proclaiming their chocolates to be superior to any she had ever had in her well-traveled life. (Good grief—I’ve lived in Tulare County 64 years, and she’d only been here 2 years at the time!)
Did you learn anything in December? (I hope it didn’t include frustrating head-spinning sessions with Adobe programs or non-functioning photos on Apple devices.)
In case you can’t remember what we learned in previous years, here are the past three Decembers for you.
EIGHT THINGS Learned in December 2022
ELEVEN THINGS Learned in December 2021
ELEVEN THINGS Learned in December 2020
Favorite Internet Places for You
If you receive this in your email and want to see the photos, click on the title “Favorite Internet Places for You”.
There are some places on the internet that are too good to not share with you. It is hard to find well-written blogs with regular posts, blogs without ads or with too much self-focus or excuses for not writing or no posts for months at a time. So many that I used to like have just gone splat or poof, but these have endured.
STILL is a blog with photos of natural found objects arranged in patterns. The background is just plain white without ads or words, but if you want to know what you are seeing, you can click on the tiny word “Details” on the lower right. It is simply stunning.
I took this screen shot off the site without permission. (Ahem, STILL blogger, please forgive me, and I hope this results in more followers.)
Tim Cotton Writes is a blog written by a retired policeman in Maine. He tells stories and observations about his life in a manner that feels a bit like Prairie Home Companion meets Mike Rowe (which is where I “met” him). You can read about him on his home page here. (I have his first book The Detective in the Dooryard if you’d like to borrow it.)
The Frugal Girl has become my favorite blog. Kristen is consistent, honest, personal, and responsive to her very active commenting community. She regularly posts lists of frugal things and things to be thankful for, encouraging her readers to do the same. She feels like a friend, and she even answers emails.
Everyday Cheapskate has so many helpful tips about almost every aspect of life. Look under the heading ARTICLES on her site and be stunned by the tremendous amount of wisdom available. Want to clean your shower? Keep brown sugar from going hard? Want to read some “News You Can Use” articles?
GoodReads is not a blog but it is the best place to learn about any book you might want to read, WITHOUT A USER NAME AND PASSWORD! It is also a place to keep track of what you have read, what you are reading now, and what you want to read. (That requires the hated user name and password routine). I use it regularly to decide what to read next and to keep track of what I have read. And you can sign up for give-aways, when authors have random drawings for their books. (I won one once!)
Happy New Year! Consider these sites and recommendations a gift to start your year off with learning and entertainment.
Inspired by Beauty
If you receive this in your email and want to see the photos, click on the title “Inspired by Beauty”.
Earning a living with art in one of California’s poorest and least educated counties often causes me to reflect on the difficulty of my chosen career in this location. Art is a luxury, and most people around here are just trying to keep gas in their cars, food in their refrigerators, cell phones up to date, color on their hair, and acrylic on their nails.
But while art is a luxury, I believe beauty to be a necessity. Art is a way to introduce beauty into a squalid place. For example, look at the before and after of my studio:
Beauty restores and heals. You cannot overdose on beauty. (I got these concepts from John Eldredge.)
Something about painting a mural sets the stage for people to have deep, personal, and meaningful conversations with me. While I was painting at St. Anthony’s Retreat, an observer told me that the reason people strive for money is so they can use their riches as protection against ugliness. Wow!
A friend used to send me articles by Gerard Vanderleun of American Digest. He once wrote that most contemporary art is garbage, has no soul, and is shallow. Harsh words, but they contain some truth when one considers the lack of attention to beauty in much “modern art”. Here is a direct quote:
“When I thought about why that was, a host of reasons presented themselves to me. Perhaps it was that the ability to draw was no longer taught and expected to be a basic skill of those who would call themselves our ‘artists.’ Perhaps it was that the proliferation of art schools and ‘art majors’ gave the baby boomers and their offspring a way through college that required as much intellect as a point guard, but not nearly as much talent and dedication.” (I added the bold for the part on drawing.)
I heard an artist interview several (many?) years ago. Sherie McGraw said this: “There is a beauty to solving a problem.” She also said something that could have come straight from your Central California Artist’s mouth: “I am somewhat of a dinosaur but what I am inspired by is beauty.”
So, in this unlikely place to earn a living as a professional artist, this place I’ve called home for 64 years, this place of high unemployment, low education, and low income, I persist in doing my best to capture the most beautiful parts and places, on paper and on canvas.
Boxing Day, Bonus Week
If you receive this in your email and want to see the photos, click on the title “Boxing Day, Bonus Week”.
Boxing Day is what the English call December 26, because that is the day all the unwanted and excess gifts get boxed up to donate to the poor people.
In America, people probably box up the extras and ship them back to Amazon.
That’s not what I came here to tell you. The week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day has always felt like a bonus week to me. It doesn’t really have any obligations, many people are not at work, kids are not in school, and it seems as if the entire world is just on vacation (and driving through Three Rivers).
So, this week I will write about topics that are out of the ordinary. Tomorrow I will tell you about being inspired by beauty. Thursday I will give you links to five internet places that I really enjoy and hope you will too. On Friday, well, let’s see. . . it’s close enough to the end of the month that it will be our monthly Learned List.
Next Tuesday I will return to showing you paintings in progress.
Merry Christmas!
Quickity Peek at the Mineral King Road
Trail Guy, The Farmer, and The Supervisor (retired) worked on the Mineral King road this week, clearing culverts and cleaning gutters. This was all volunteer work, sanctioned by the Park.
The contractors repaired the damaged parts that were marked by Federal Highways; our guys did preparations for the winter, with rain predicted up to higher elevations in a few days. Their goal is to prevent the sort of troubles we had last winter.
The weather has been mild, and with all the water from last spring and summer, there are still WILDFLOWERS IN DECEMBER! (Yeppers, Trail Guy took the camera and came home with these photos).
Two Outings
In 2023, I participated in exactly one art boutique/fair/bazaar. ONE. It was in Exeter on a Saturday at the history museum/art gallery, CACHE. This was the inaugural event, the reviews are mixed, and I am guessing it won’t become an annual event.
However, I had a good day! One painting sold (Citrus Row) and many smaller items too, all adding up to YES IT WAS WORTH IT.
Being sort of accidentally semi-retired this year*, I decided that a good day of work deserved a good day of hanging out with friends. Because I still live in the same area where I was reared (children are reared, vegetables are raised), when long-time friends return to the area, they often request a get-together. This isn’t always practical, but it is usually a real treat.
I left the house at 10:30 AM and got home at 5:30 PM, just to “go have lunch”. This is why I often turn down such requests, unless I have recently had a good day of work and don’t have any looming deadlines.
The drive was interesting (I actually left Tulare County!), the company stellar, and lunch was delicious.
Our post-lunch walk was exactly up my alley.
Two outings: one work, one semi-work related, both social, one closer but more taxing (talking to people all day makes me tired), the other far but entirely up my alley with 2 close and long-time friends in the country surrounded by foothills and oranges.
*Because I had no work this summer I may have forgotten how to work.
Thank you—Inconclusive Conclusions
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO TOOK THE TIME YESTERDAY TO TELL ME WHAT THEY SEE AND DON’T SEE IN THE EMAIL BLOG NOTIFICATIONS!!
Please excuse me for shouting. I am so touched by your responses and willingness to help.
In my attempt to see a pattern about who can and who cannot see photos in the email notifications, I learned this:
- Mac laptop – some can see the photos, some cannot
- Mac desktop – some can, some can’t
- iPhone – some can, some can’t
- iPad – some can, some can’t
- Android phone – all can see the photos
- Non-Mac desktop – all can see the photos
There must be some settings that we don’t understand on our iPhones, MacBooks, Mac desktops, and iPads. Now I might have to dig around on settings for Mac mail on every device they manufacture.
This hurts my apple-shaped heart. At least I know it isn’t a problem with my blog (using WordPress.org) or the subscription form.
One more thing: I sent out the blog post and left for the day. All your wonderful comments arrived, but I wasn’t at my computer to approve them. So, if you commented and wondered if it “went through”, it did, and once I approved it, it appeared.
You deserve a beautiful picture as a thank you for making it to the end of this post. (I hope you get to see it!)
(I didn’t put the price because I don’t want you to think I am thanking you by trying to sell you something.)
A Pleasant Walk Through Exeter
A week or two ago, I had some time to kill in Exeter. (That is an unpleasant metaphor—forgive me!)
So, I went for a walk. We think we know a place because we drive through it, but walking is the best way to really take in our surroundings. It’s also a good way to find new ideas for drawing or painting. These aren’t necessarily subjects that will sell, but they will be useful to my drawing students who are learning to accurately see shapes, proportions, perspective, values (darks and lights), and textures.
First, I passed a park that someone once told me was called “Spit & Whittle”. However, there were no benches for old guys to sit on, so maybe I had the wrong park. However, I saw this curious structure, imminently drawable in my view.
I walked along a basic neighborhood street. The yards all had little lawns in front, some green, some unwatered, and only one lawn-parker. I wanted to relandscape, but no one requested my opinion. So, I just admired the view of Rocky Hill.
And of course there were some trains. Exeter is a little catty-wompus on a map because it was built around railroads, which follow the shortest route rather than an exact N-S-E-W grid.
From downtown, there is a view of Alta Peak. There are also American flags, Christmas decorations, fall color in some trees, and markers in the middle of the street, warning against parking on an upcoming evening because of the Christmas parade.
Then I felt compelled to visit the building where my studio used to be. I paid for that brick step, so sometimes I like to just visit it.
It was a real privilege to be located in the building of the poppy mural.
And sometimes I miss being there in the heart of such a great little town, sharing space with a terrific gift shop (Rosemary & Thyme), enjoying the patio outside.
On my way to retrieve the pick-’em-up truck with its new tires, I passed this building. The details on older buildings are so charming, and always strike me as good subjects to practice drawing or painting. Bricks aren’t easy, nor is shrubbery but when one is learning to draw, it’s all hard.
Then it was time to go to the Courthouse Gallery CACHE to teach the final drawing lessons of 2023.
I love to teach people how to draw, love my drawing students, love this location in this little town that I also love.
Aw shucks, isn’t that just sweet?
And remember tomorrow, the little holiday gift bazaar at CACHE, from 10-4.
