Why is it that preparing for tacky day at school leads to my daughter raiding my closet?
Before and After Chair
A quick shot from the phone of the latest upholstery project to find its way into the house. In this case you see a before and after in one shot — no fancy image editing here, there really are two chairs. Green one is before and the next in line. A small couch waits in the studio.
Looks and feels great. Much more comfortable and inviting. A tired person worked hard pushing to finish this chair and is now ready to enjoy it. Just to be clear, I am not the upholsterer. I am the beneficiary of her upholstery efforts.
Art Literacy Valentine
Practicing the art literacy project coincided with Valentine’s Day preparation, so for my gnome loving daughter I created a Valentine Gnome card. Enjoy!
Here are a few pics of the original drawing and the block for printing.
Block Printing for Art Literacy
Art literacy at our daughter’s school turns to block printing. I remember doing block printing in middle school and still have the relief block. That artwork was of an airplane. In honor of that middle school experience, my practice project in preparation for the next generation is a new airplane block print. My fighter is now an ace and closing on his next target.
Google Ngram Viewer
Like the rest of the world I’ve been playing around with Google’s Book Ngram Viewer. I can’t say I found anything truly unique in my playtime searching with Ngram that others haven’t already reported, but I was able to find a nice short story while searching for “google.”
In this case Google is the nickname given to an infant by a caring burglar in “The Transfer of Google” by E. J. Rath from Everybody’s Magazine in the January 1908 edition. Google is found home alone one evening by a nurturing burglar. The relationship between these two needy souls has each fulfilling a need in the other’s life. What makes one feel better than to be cared for by a loving person (regardless of their status) or to care for someone in need? (Okay, maybe I read too much into the story but it is cute and worth a few minutes of your time to read.)
Much like the burglar searching for treasures, our searches for information have their own Google. Sometimes too much time can be spent and I too can end up feeling like our besieged burglar, knowing I need to move on or, as the burglar states,
Well, I can’t waste no more time with Google.
But you just can’t let them go.
Origami Samples
More art samples for art literacy. This time a little origami fun. I’ll stick with these simpler designs for now.
Progressive Me
Yes, I have new glasses. Yes, they are progressives. Yes, I feel a bit older.
A Tattoo to Honor Me
After my brother passed away my nephew honored him with a tattoo depicting portions of the life we had lost. My nephew did a beautiful thing, but I’m warped enough to have a bit of selfish concern.
A Tattoo to Honor Me
It was an honorable gesture
Nephew to an uncle just died
He depicted a life lost
In color and design
A tattoo on his arm
Cleverly, a whole lifeline
My only worry is
Given my place in the line
Nephew, where ya gonna put
A tattoo to honor me
My momma’s got your back
Grandpa’s goin on your knee
Your chest is your momma’s
Another arm your Daddy’s
With five more uncles waitin
What ya gonna do with me
Nephew, where ya gonna put
A tattoo to honor me
It makes me feel real proud
Knowing I’ll be with you
And you can rest assured
I’m always there for you
It don’t sound right but
I wanna be on your bod too
Nephew, where ya gonna put
A tattoo to honor me
Reserve me your ankle
Or maybe your wrist
Joining my brother
Will let me rest
But nephew, favorite nephew,
don’t set me on your…
Nephew, where ya gonna put
A tattoo to honor me
Twitter Use and KFC
Interesting conversation here on demographics of Twitter users. Everyone had their favorite “study” to reference.
One question was use of Twitter amongst the younger crowd. There are many new reports on an upswing in use over just a year ago. This contrasts the theory that Twitter is a place for older West Coast programming types.
KFC apparently agrees that usage is up amongst college age students. They are offering a healthy scholarship to one deserving tweeting student.
The contest is going well if #KFCScholar hashtag usage is a valid indicator. Alas, some are using the opportunity to bash KFC and others are playing with them by running another competition.
I choose to stay publicly neutral on the KFC front, but it looks like everyone is having fun. We’ll see if this healthy offering of student support gives KFC warm hearts or heartburn.
In the end it will be nice to know a deserving student is getting much needed support.
Giving Thanks
I’m thankful I have a wonderful and thoughtful daughter.
To live well in money, is to live well in life.
To live well in heart, is to live well in heaven.
— Ava Menchu
Of course she probably won’t appreciate me posting this, but that is what proud dads do.