Friday, January 16, 2009
Andrew moves into the Lighthouse at last
Andrew Wyeth left this plane, early today, while sleeping they said. Fare thee well and Godspeed. You will be missed of course, selfishly I admit. I wanted to see what else was coming, but after thinking about it hard and long this morning, I see what happened. You got so close to Nature's perfection you breathed-in the last deep scent of her seasons and chose to stay. And now you are all you ever wanted. I think of you, today traveling beyond Christina's World, somewhere you are hanging out with John Lennon, Jimi and JFK and Bobby and Leonardo and Pablo and Winslow and Whistler, pitching-in with the making of rain and wind and mixing mysterious tints human eyes cannot perceive, and maybe flirting just a little with Georgia, the way you did with my mother, in Maine, before you grew up and met the woman who would stay with you for the remainder of this brief journey in your handsome envelope which in the end, could never contain such a survivalist's soul. Goodbye for now, but not forever.
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73 comments:
Thank you nina; I enjoyed the show very much. Wyeth's work brings sweet memories of the golden parts of my childhood on the Dakota prairies. What a master.
Charles Walters, the founder of AcresUSA magazine and so much more passed on a couple of days ago as well; my book is dedicated to him as "the keeper of the flame" but it seems he won't get to read it now.
The great ones have done their work and are leaving us behind, feeling lost and unready. All we can do is our best.
Well said, as always, Michael. Even if we have nothing else, we still have our best. Will our epitaphs read "They Tried"?
LOL, nina. :)
I'm pretty careful with my words. Recalling Yoda from Star Wars, do or do not, there is no try.
If my epitaph read "He did his best" that would be OK by me.
Better than "He meant well" anyway.
The works are absolutely brilliant. The Carry looks alot like Upper Michigan.
I was wondering where you'd been! Was just about to leave you a check-up message.
Good observation, Stacy. Pennsylvania and Maine are Wyeth stomping grounds. They has a universal familiararity. I think its in the dark seasons. What do you think?
It took me a while to see what it is, and what I see of you, that you allow me to see.
I thought I would go over the line that doesn’t exist in my sand and describe a few of you.
—I saw you across a meadow one day—I was fixing a flat tire on the side of the road as the cars and trucks roared past on their way to nowhere-- sounds stopped and colors got a bit more vivid—my vision a little clearer--you were wearing a sun dress walking across a meadow in the distance—barefoot-- with children at your heals and running ahead of you—the light was a little brighter where you walked and moved ahead of you in anticipation of your being there—I couldn’t quite make out the details of your face, just your hair blowing in the breeze—the dress a dancing extension of your being--I could see the children’s faces as they looked up at you to share their joy in only the way a child’s smile, and giggle can—I knew it was you without having to be told—There were no paths leading to where you were yet the trail opened up before you and closed behind as if to say that this was only a place for the gentle of soul—I was mistaken in assuming you were the sun dress…you were the child giggling the loudest of them all----perhaps you were both, or all--
—I had heard the stories from older brothers of the man who lived alone in a cabin in the woods. The stories had been around for as long as anyone could remember—initiations in the clubs of youth—I double dog dare ya’-- going to the cabin and daring to look in the windows which were always too smudged somehow to see what the man looked like and what he was doing—There was the smoke that curled from the chimney in the winter time—that scent that only burning hard wood can make. It was too far back out of the way unless you had a whole day to venture there and back which I did one day.
I got close enough where I could run if I had to…and I was pretty fast. I could make out sounds that I had not heard before as I crept further toward the place. I was being quiet now and getting closer, my heart beating wildly as I got closer to the man with his back to me, sitting on a stump…a low scraping sound, a cocking of the head a little to this side, a little to that…..hands caressing whatever lay on the wooden table out of my vision. The head cocked a little differently, an ear to the wind….i could sense and see the smile lines on his face and hear his thought that someone had finally come, alone—another wanderer with respect for the things that a man makes with his hands.
He continued at his task with no hurry in his motions—this one required perfection—they all did.
We never spoke. As he stood, he reached for an old burlap bag that hung from a hook on the cabin wall—he lovingly placed his work in the bag and rolled it up—tying it with a strip of leather cord leaving it on the stump for the next part of it’s journey. I knew that I was to deliver it—but I didn’t know where—yet, I placed it gently in my backpack and headed off down the trail—a smile on my face, and an indescribable feeling of warmth in my heart—
I walked down the paths from here to there—none looking familiar to a boy who had run all over these woods—there were sounds and smells and colors never noticed before—a softness in the steps that were leaving no footprints---
I laid the bag and it’s contents on the ground at the very edge of the water that was beginning to freeze—getting sleepy-and backed away as if from an altar—the way people did in movies and I assume churches
A young girl, perhaps ten or eleven came out of the woods with purposeful yet soft steps—she almost appeared to glide over the ground as her attention and smile focused on the bag that was now at her feet. She took the bag and opened it, taking the wool hat from her head and transferred the contents of the bag to the hat. From there she walked over to berry bushes that at this time of year should not have been blooming—and then on to flowers in hues of yellow and blue, red and…and…the rainbow. She added one of these, two of those, her smile and eyes, connected, never wavering from her task.
Time seemed to slow somehow, yet I remained the same—maybe it sped up, maybe it did nothing—yet the girl had changed to a woman with the same smile yet something was different—she had a wisdom about here, a knowing—
She reached into the hat and pulled out what must have been 10 of the most beautiful small birds I had ever seen—at once I was by her side as she stood them each on their own rocks lining the shore—they were the most detailed carvings I had ever seen—each feather lighter and more fragile than the next—the eyes had such wisdom and the knowledge of the ages---the colors were beyond imagination—hues never seen by anyone but the two of us—magical colors that danced from wing to wing—feather to feather—yet, sadly, they were not alive and because of this I became sad yet was thrilled to have been there that day.
As we came to where the path went different ways we both looked back down the trail, where we had been and saw a woman in a sun dress with small children all about her—giggling in excitement and amazement at the little birds—ten of them that fluttered in a most amazing display of movement, color, and light—
We complete each other—for a time—within a time—
How Sweet!!
jj
Thanks Nina, these are brilliant. I can't believe I was unfamiliar with them. I was a big fan of his father, whose illustrations comprised a part of my childhood. Those Treasure Island and Last of the Mohican pix are still burned into my brain today.
With that as a spur I recall checking out his pix. I vaguely recall portraits and depictions of yachts none of which made much impression on me. Or perhaps I was just searching for the kineticism of his father? Anyway, I missed out. Thanks for filling that gap.
And that last pic is as good as any of Hokusai's nature prints. Really spooky.
What can I possibly say after Jj's story and Nobody's memories? I have nothing to add. It would be sacrilege.
Thank you for coming around.
Please, a link to Hokusai?
I don't know how it happened, but it seems this place is a lifezone after the fact, a sort of step beyond, as if understanding some important basics was long ago accomplished. Michael and I used to post on a forum where I was always misread. I am saying thanks to people who take the time to read between the lines. It IS sometimes spooky too, especially when people comment about things that I have experienced in almost exactly the same way.
Nobody, you must have read the bio. Andrew said he was pretty much marking time until he lost his father. Doesn't this reaffirm great loss and pain as the route to enlightment?
Jj, whatever it is you do in the world to earn your dough, you should drop it and locate a publisher and just write novels. You've got real talent.
I wish I could take credit for it..it's that maintaining my amateur status thing, otherwise, it may turn into a job and that's what I need to avoid--
I keep getting that message to not push, and I don't--what is written took about ten minutes--I think--Can't even put my fingers on the keyboard until it's time--
What wonderful inspiration all of you provide--
Jj
I am envious Jj. I think Les writes the same way, it just flows. For
me it's more like pouring out a big block that vaguely resembles what
I want and then chipping away at it; the old "take away everything
that doesn't look like an elephant" thing. If I were a painter I
would have to work in oils, and they could always x-ray my paintings
and find other versions underneath.
Greetings Fellow Travelers,
I got a kick out of your comment Michael--I suppose in my case, more is less and Les is, well, Les.
I look at Nina's work and always notice the "size" of the original before it was minimized to fit on her page--the original sizes are generally smaller than i would have expected when I look at them and the reduction obviously even smaller but they speak to me in a big way--I see them the size I imagine them to be I suppose--heck, i just looked at the background on one for the first time that I have been looking at for weeks--always more than meets the eye and size doesn't matter although you may get an argument from someone with "artist envy"--
I see some of your work, and some of mobsters as being absolutely necessary with the detail for the reader-especially the ones are who just beginning to seek in the direction that you are pointing-- mobster does the same thing but on different subjects--When you and Les write, i don't have to look up every name and place because although your breadth of knowledge is much wider than mine, I can glean from "how" it is written, where you are leading me--hope that makes sense--
There is a place for all of us in what we write/create and it's a good idea to not forget our roots, the ones who came before us whose butts we could see crawling ahead of us down the rabbit hole--their places need not be taken, but "sifted", improved upon--so many good writers out there now--don't know if there always were or not as my "study" did not go too far afield and I never started writing stuff until mirrors, and then here with you guys--
I can't even really draw a correlation between Nina's art and what I write here--I don't question the connection--the energy--it balances me somehow though--
These are exciting times and it's nice to know that, even if just a few people get you, it's enough.
Peace to you all,
Jj
I agree with every poster here.
Your works of art and expression are very good.
Thanks for your visit Nina.
I'm doing what I need to do in regards to Les's 'monkey wrench' ideology, which fits in real good with me at the time.
Peace out to Stacy and jj.
As for Hokusai, straight off the bat there is The Wave which is about as famous as it gets. But his nature prints are really something else. They have that spare stripped back style that I see with Wyeth. Actually I wonder if Wyeth wasn't a fan of Asian art. I see parallels.
And apologies, but I just now spent ten minutes with various searches for 'hokusai nature', 'hokusai birds' etc and got nowhere at all. Thousands of repeats of the wave along with a very mixed bag, and half of that ukiyo-e artists who just happen to be on the same page. Between his landscapes, bijin-e (beautiful women), his shunga-e (porn, no big deal back then) and every other thing, his quiet little nature prints don't garner much attention. I'm familiar with them on account of a big library of Asian art, all of which is in storage a thousand clicks away. Sorry!
This seems like a safe enough place to mention the idea I had tonight, esoteric monkey-wrenching of consciousness. Assuming the collective consciousness (aka genetic mind) is a real thing, analogous to a computer memory, how do we hack it? And once we hack it, what do we input? Or what simple virus do we infect it with?
On another note, are you saying that nina's paintings aren't the same size in real life that they are on my computer screen?
Interesting last comment Michael--I was thinking along the same lines in that so much is electronic--warfare-data mining--the "new" digital TV--computer banks--it's all just electrical impulses and may lead to simply overloading itself if the right frequencies are "tweaked" I think it's possible--not to necessarily overload, but to divert--become transparent so to speak--out of the matrix, yet parallel--kinda like hitching a ride as the fly on the wall--
Jj
Jj- guess someone would have to have someone on the inside to do much about it though, or have the technical knowledge to insert it from outside. Reminds me of your comment about moving along in the still spot at the center of the cyclone.
At this point I'm casting about for ideas of what sort of alternative thought programs one would want to insert. One obvious one would be along the lines of "we are all one" including all life on Earth and the planet itself.
What a fine artist. It's sad that it's only with his passing that I learned of his work ... but that's often the way, for me (I'd never heard of Cobain until after the shotgun....) There's a melancholy, a longing in his paintings ... for what I can't say. Christina's World especially had me feeling that....
So Jj, man, when are you gonna get your own blog? Much as I dislike the idea of you having less time to comment, I love the idea of being able to comment on something you've written.
On to the subject of hacking the collective consciousness: this is already being done, of course. It's the whole purpose of the media. The vast majority of television 'programming' is just that, though of course the ends are not those we'd choose. Still and all, higher powers than the merely human may well be inspiring writers, artists, and directors with an eye towards subtly shaping the mass mind in ways the elite would try and prevent, were it possible to be aware of it.
Crop circles are a good analogy for what I'm talking about here. Laura K-J's Cassiopaeans say of crop circles that they're messages from cosmic light beings which do their work on human consciousness at a deep subconscious level just by being seen, with conscious efforts to understand being almost superfluous. I'm thinking of something similar here: layered behind all the overt programming to shut up, accept and obey there may well be subtle 'wake up!' signals being transmitted that will take years to unpack themselves.
Hacking people's brains is treacherous ground for humans, however. If it's overt, it's basically just propaganda, and this is actually fine in the sense that it's honest about what it is and people more or less know what they're getting. If it's hidden, though (for instance, subliminally hidden 'JO911B' messages scattered in between frames) then you're abridging free will, an act which - regardless of the message - is fundamentally wrong. It's using the enemy's tools, and in this struggle when you behave as your enemy you become that enemy. Fight fire with fire and all you've got is more fire.
The consciousness-bypassing messages theorized for crop circles, and the speculative hidden messages in media that form the basis of synchromysticism, circumvents this problem, I think, by being both overt - you know you're looking at a crop circle - and acting more as a key than as a straightforward message. The knowledge being transmitted is less along the lines 'believe this!', and more 'remember this?' Cosmic light beings are capable of subtleties we talking monkeys just can't manage.
Mr. J & Mr. Astera, allow me to insert something: it doesn't matter how you get there as long as you get there.
Truly, you both have your individual styles, but you would not be read by me if you were unable to express your insights so well.
I hear what you are saying, Psychegram, but my idea was not to subliminally program anyone. Perhaps you were addressing Jj, but allow me to clarify my end please.
I am imagining hacking the genetic mind directly, not through local access points/human minds. I don't want access to the memory from local computers, I'm aiming for direct access to the the central data bank. Is there such a thing? I don't know. What I do know is that I'm in a war here that if I lose all of humanity and the planet goes down, and the opposition cares little or nothing about either. I, however, am a part of that genetic mind and my free will allows me to do anything at all in the name of self-defense as long as I don't do it to cause harm to another who is not harming me.
As I see it, the only way humanity is going to survive with free will and a livable planet is to affect the mass consciousness enough to reach a tipping point and tip. The present data bank has been deliberately corrupted with lies and my future and that of the planet are at extreme risk because of this corrupt infection. I don't wish to introduce another lie or corruption, I wish to heal the infection by introducing truth.
I am also pretty tired of waiting for the angels to get around to doing it, and I don't see that they have any bigger stake in it or more right to defend myself, humanity, and the Earth than I do.
So, any problems with the truth of "we are all one"? Any better suggestions?
KevinJohn, after seeing Visible Origami this morning, your's was the very next stop. I knew I'd find the just the right sarcasm and optimism for the moment. And indeed, there is was.
Too neat!
Thanks.
Thank you nina. You are the soul of graciousness, and no slouch as a writer yourself.
Would you prefer that we take this off-topic thingy that that has arisen (mea culpa, per usual) elsewhere, or do you find it of interest?
Nobody, we all have storage longings.
And I have always loved the Wave.
I had a "Duh!" moment on your comment. I should have known. I've only used the theme a hundred ways over.
Michael, I just saw this, surely I am skipping some and will be brief, was this place not already declared a free speech zone? I am honored to have these conversations. Do proceed.
I just don't want you to delete it. How can I fawn and reread? Out with it and go forth.
One obvious one would be along the lines of "we are all one" including all life on Earth and the planet itself.
The trick would be to insure truth is at the root of any strategy, which in the above, is true.
Yes, I like that one. Very good.
Psychegram, astute. You bring to mind a Milton Glaser article where he carries on about portion sizes of bleu cheese.
How did we get there he asks. He was cooking and used the whole package between two eaters and discovered afterwards the package was portioned for five.
It was intesting, as an aside, that of all people ... iconic-image man himself ought to have known very well how we got there.
You are correct, of course, messing with people's brains is just 21st century Mengele. More Tuskeegee triumphs in progress.
Sorry, Milton Glaser
Wow, you go to sleep for a while and the world goes on without you-- My thoughts have shifted this morning to something simpler--I plan on thinking about Nina's paintings when I am in close proximity to others--waiting in line here or there--traffic--any time people are around me--amber waves of grain, sunshine days, kids laughing swimming in a pond--those types of thoughts and smiles--that way, i am not shoving my thoughts and beliefs on others--they can choose to enjoy the moment or not--I'll probably never know, but it's the thought that counts--
Instead of ramming thoughts down peoples craniums, give them (and myself) an alternative--
Jj
Re: crime scene of the chukar shooting--
The BQM-74 Chukar is a series of aerial target drones produced by Northrop. The Chukar has gone through three major revisions, including the initial MQM-74A Chukar I, the MQM-74C Chukar II, and the BQM-74C Chukar III. They are recoverable, remote controlled, subsonic aerial target, capable of speeds up to Mach 0.86 and altitudes from 30 to 40,000 ft (10 to 12,000 m).
Must have been one hell of a shot!!
Jj
Gracious Nina-
I'm requesting moving further discussion of my viral hacking of the genetic mind over to The New Agriculture, where it seems to tie in better with the Onwards thread.
http://thenewagriculture.blogspot.com/2009/01/onwards.html
I like the art discussion here better.
I think I've mentioned this before: I read a book a few years back on the history of color in art. Blues and reds were rare and expensive pigments until quite recently; the best blue came from lapis lazuli which in Europe in renaissance times was worth its weight in gold. I don't recall the source for good reds but a lasting stable red is not easy to achieve. It's hard telling what the paintings we look at today looked like when they were new 500 or 600 years ago.
Browns and blacks have always been cheap and available; they are what the poor artists used as they could be made from local clays and lampblack (carbon). Rembrandt was just such a poor artist and did most of his work with such free pigments. Velasquez, though employed by a prince, also did a lot of his best work with that limited palette. Primary colors were used sparingly and only for highlights or special items.
These thoughts are of course inspired by the palette employed in the Wyeth works you linked to.
Nina,
Did a drive-by over at Origami and left you a scribble......
Jj
Thank you for all those links Nina. I'm not really up to date on artists and such even though I do enjoy various types of art.
Thank you for speaking up Skye, I don't think you have to have knowledge about art and artists to live art the way you and Silverfish do it.
Let me take the opportunity to welcome you to this impersonal/personal situation going on in blog world. Its a neat way to advance our thinking especially for people who don't live in urban areas.
Jj, thanks, Les just never lets us down. Never.
If we get re-incarnated, i want to come back as a cat. That way I can chase my tail....and actually see it from time to time--
Jj (meow)
Jj, here are Mama Chukar and chick. Chukar being raised
Oh, I have so much to say... I ran across this artist (I love the 3 animal prints, and he has comsiderable skill, though most of his works seem a bit too... art school for me - let me know what you think) based on a link Kevin-John left at the mirrors (dark star theory).
http://cheltenham-art.com/andylloyd08.htm
Master_a - I would say that "we are all one" would make most minds recoil in fear, due to the incessant programming that we are divided and different, and "others" are to be feared...
Nina - definitely the dark season. I regret that I don't spend more time over here. You are all so wonderful to me, but I must confess - I feel completely out of my league. You know, I have never (NEVER) in my life, questioned my intellect... that is until I started commiserating with the folks at mirrors and the other sites I have found as a result.
Don't get me wrong, I won't leave or be scared off. Far from it! I am only encouraged further, the more I share and experience with, by, and through you wonderful people. I just feel a little beyond my depth sometimes. Les wrote a poem a while back that grabbed me in my soul and twisted, spinning emotions outward, until I submitted. I was lost... but, knew exactly what he was saying. (???)
Nina, your paintings do the same for me. Not all of them (no offense), but a select few. I appreciate all of them, but there are a few that have reached into my head and refused to let go. "They hate us for our glowfish"
and for some reason, "Work is never done". I don't know what it is about those barn boards, but they are intoxicating.
Jj, Michael, Silverfish, Miraculix, and Nobody are brilliant writers, as well as keen intellects with scores and scores of wisdom. If only...
I just thought I'd take the opportunity to point out, again, how much I appreciate the folks who loiter here and elsewhere.
LOVE - to all. That's my hack. It runs counter-intuitive to everything I have learned in life, but I send it to all. LOVE!
John Frampton, English John, as Nobody coined him, has a unique piece up now ALL nature lovers/art enthusiasts might find as interesting and informative as I did. Do have a look. Green Man
For a one mind people, we sure have diverse talents.
Jj, You are too kind! Here's another idea. When you are standing in relief lines and you become bored with the banality of your surroundings, its an opportunity to meditate.
Watercolors are notoriously small. The best stock has standardized sizes which dictate your working space. I work as large as the papers I am able to get my hands on. That's just the way it is. Sometimes I stich them together which is why Ventanas is in actuality twice the size of anything else here.
Stacy, the truth is everybody likes different things. Why this is so is not our concern. Visceral is.
This is what is so appealing about Wyeth's work, the master technician part appeals to me because I learn from him, dry brush for example - grasses. But to other people, they identify with his landscapes or his characters or his stories.
Interesting, your two faves are mine also. Well, I kinda like the Outsiders a lot, see, different, right?
In league now?
Nota, have you been down making the acquaintance of the wild one chained under the basement stairs that we spoke of?
I'm hearing you. What I have been getting is that I have enough intellectual information. I don't need any more facts, not even esoteric ones; I have enough to work with. The new energies pouring in since Jan 1st are not about the intellect, they are about the heart, which has its own higher intelligence. Time for it to be educated and for us to be educated by it.
"We are all one" won't work as a popular slogan, I agree. Nonetheless it is true on many levels and will have to be integrated into the consciousness somehow.
I know, we can hand out free toasters with every conversion and get some of Nina's artwork on postage stamps!!!!!
See, that wasn't so hard was it!!
Jj
Nina,
Again drinking in your creations I was stopped dead in my tracks by the painting of Rwandan, Evariste's house alongside his neighbours abandoned homestead.
How you have relayed this being's experience is mind blowing.
The fullness of the survivors house and the slow decay of the murdered neighbor.
The lack of judgement, and your ability to inject love into every situation.
Standing some time ago
downwind from a mob
with the smell of burning
rubber and flesh intensifying the fear
there can be no blame
only understanding that we are all capable of doing things beyond
ourselves
And still the stars shine
Still the crops grow
Still your heart weeps and mine alongside it.
Friend or foe
who be we tonight
what does the collective of
experiencing demand of us at this moment.
I recall a few months ago one the kids telling me that my friends father had just been murdered.
Sarie adored this man. I got on bicycle immediately and rode over to her place.
I walked into her room and the peace was palpable.
She had lit a candle and placed two roses in a vase.
Her words were "this rose is for my father, and this one is for the man who killed my father".
Never before have I been so humbled in the face of such vast understanding.
It turned me inside out.
Well, uh.....
OK, we have the prizes. Now what do we convert them to?
There was an analysis done some time after WWI of soldiers in battle. Returning veterans were questioned extensively. I don't have the details, but the conclusion was that only around 15% of the soldiers would actually fire their weapon at another human being, even if their own life was in danger. 15%. The other 85% simply didn't have it in them to kill another human being. This is why the boot camps of WWII were instituted, to break the young me down and deliberately re-program them to become killers.
Apologies for disagreeing with you, susana, but I don't think that we all really do have it in us to commit atrocities and murders, much as the psychopaths would have us think so. I know I don't.
I looked at the painting Su is talking about and I saw van Gogh in the doorway--the frame is tilting back at the top ready to fall back creating a border fence--you can't tell by the angle if the houses will be inside or outside the new border--or if it will crush the houses and the man in the doorway--does the border fence create safety or death or simply the illusion of either?
Jj
Thank you for the welcome Nina, like you say, this is a neat little place to learn.
Cheers
Love the cows Nina--I'm going to join them for a smoke and a martini--guess I'll have to park the car and walk over though....
Jj
Yes, I like the cows too, nina. It's also good to see someone who "gets" cow geometry. :)
You really do have the whole arsenal at hand. I'm continually amazed.
Thought I'd do a little more on the pigments that poor artists used in the olden days.
The four basic earth colors are raw sienna, burnt sienna, raw umber, and burnt umber. These are made from two naturally occurring clays. Sienna clay comes from the Siena area of Tuscany in west-central Italy, umber clay comes from Umbria in central Italy.
Raw sienna is a yellow clay, not bright yellow but pretty yellow for a clay. When it is fired (burnt) it turns terra-cotta color, reddish/orange.
Raw umber clay is greenish-brown; burnt umber turns chocolate brown.
When all painters made their own paints (or had the apprentices do it) these clays and others, as well a colored stones such as lapis lazuli, were ground extremely fine using a stone mortar and pestle; the longer and finer the clay was ground, the brighter the color and the better the paint. Ground fine, they could be mixed with various binders/vehicles that would dry out and harden, or they could be used in a water suspension or paste and painted on fresh plaster (fresco) where they reacted with the plaster and became part of the surface. Egg yolk was used as a vehicle and binder for many centuries, called tempera. Linseed oil paint was rather a latecomer and didn't become widely used until late renaissance times.
The two siennas and the two umbers, along with carbon black, can be used to create any earth-tone color. I'm not a painter, but when I'm doing wood finishing I always like to have all four on hand, as with them I can easily match the tone of any wood, from pine (raw sienna) to rosewood (burnt sienna and burnt umber) to black walnut (raw and burnt umber with maybe a little carbon black.
Michael,
Feel free to disagree with me.
I am not attached to my point of view.
I don't believe this being would have thought him capable of this act before it happened either.
One can only say what one would do when that situation is upon us.
Avariste is ready for top billing. He has quite the story. "Forced by a mob to club his neighbor to death, a man he liked and often drank with."
You know, my friends, its always a dark season somewhere.
As Psychegram pointed out at my blog yesterday, one still retains free will even with a gun to one's head. In this case, a person of weak character made a choice that his own life was more important than his honor. I'm using honor in its higher sense here, not as foolish pride.
My point, though, was that psychopaths, who kill without compunction and for pleasure or profit, would have us believe that their actions are common to all of us. In order to hide their own bizarre difference they attempt to tell us that we are no different than they are, it is all circumstantial.
True psychopaths make up around 5%-6% of society; another 10%-12% willingly go along with them. That still leaves at least 80% of humanity as decent people. Perhaps the percentage varies in a society such as ours that is ruled and controlled by psychopaths and their media, but I don't think it varies that much.
Q: Would you club your friend and neighbor to death to save your own life because a mob "made you do it"? My guess would be no, that you would find your life not worth living after doing such a thing.
Susana did not specify the circumstances under which her friend's father was "murdered". In the passion of anger a blow may be struck harder than one intends, and a death can result unintentionally. That crime is called manslaughter. Murder is when death is the intended outcome. I don't think that even a court of law recognizes "the mob made me do it" as an exculpatory defense, though I may be wrong.
Experience has not given me a very high opinion of the morals and honor of people in general but I don't think most of us would club a friend to death to save our own lives, nor would one who did be accepted by their neighbors as normal or trustworthy ever again.
Black African society may operate under different rules; from my perspective it appears to. Make of that what you will. I can only judge from my own experience and past actions and I don't buy into collective guilt.
The government (aka "the mob")can force a person to join the military, give them a gun, and tell them to kill a stranger who has done them no harm, but it cannot force them to pull the trigger of their own free will.
Think of the politicians in the USA and elsewhere who have someone else kill people every day for a few pieces of silver or so that it doesn't get out that they like 10 year olds sitting on their face--
Like a fighter pilot though, they can do it from a distance and never have to get their hands dirty or hear the screams--how about killing someone else so that not you, but your youngest child is not slowly and brutally tortured to death right in front of you--not that someone who would "make" you do that would have any guilt in killing you or your child after you killed the stranger, but that is often how it works--How about the purveyors of drugs and foods that kill people, albeit a bit slower?
If the hereafter is "better" than here, would you not be doing this other person a favor by sending them there, they're going anyway, why not sooner?
It's that fear of death thing that is bigger here than we think it is-- and how it works, or doesn't-- in the real world, not in dreams from a mountaintop--
Why this drive to keep living if "the other side" is supposed to be so much better?
Why not just check yourself out today with a pure conscience and joy in your heart--after all, it is your life?
Jj
Jj you say
"Why not just check yourself out with pure conscience and joy"
So strange you should say that, I woke up considering doing this very thing.
Su,
I guess I'm just too curious to see what happens next, and will float down the river with the current for now and see what is around the bend--not the nasty stuff--fuck that, it's my river and I decide what scenery and serenity to take in--with gratitude
Jump in, the waters fine--or just dip a toe in for now
So much would be so much less without you--know that as truth
Jj
As one who seriously considered ending it all on more than one occasion, the conclusion I finally came to was that me not being here wouldn't solve the problems or make them go away; all it would accomplish would be to make it impossible for me to do anything about them.
It is my opinion our sister Su is as solid as a rock. It is only normal in these darks seasons to have dark thoughts pass through one's mind especially when you are aware of the full scope of the human predicament. When I first met up with Su on Origami around two or more years ago, I knew right away she was a survivor.
It is also my opinion she is entitled to post whatever she wants without readers here getting out of joint. Free Speech Zone, you know. Did anyone have a hissy that Nota has been depressed? No. You'll note that posting about our depressions is healing and therefore, very positive medicine.
There is another way to look at Su's comment, which is that of acceptance of our prediament and going with the flow. It makes it easier to live with. Clears the mind for decision making so our roles are always in the forefront at any time whatever the external crisis.
I didn't see it as "out of joint", only out of concern for someone I care about-it came from the right place, of that I am sure, and would do the same thing again for any of you--I have corresponded with Stacey and never had the same "feeling" I had go through me today--
I don't want to feel that sad again--but i probably will--
Jj
The more I look at your comment Jj, the more ways there are to interpret Su's comment.
I apologize for using "out of joint", that was awully slangy of me. I just don't see cause for alarm here. The global WOT has made our world into a trembling suspicious batch of hand wringers, oops, there I go again, has made Americans paranoid conclusion jumpers. Let's say you were to act on your concern, what exactly could you do?
I've never been someone who thought the worst until I had exhausted all other possibilities. I realize I am in a minority lately but I'm not alone.
Anxiety is a dis-ease passed on unintentially through others in the same way a head cold is. Depression is the state of seeing things as they are, not as you want them to be and being helpless to make them as you want and need. (Insert Visible's Budda quote here... All life is pain caused by ignorant desire.)
"All life is pain caused by ignorant desire"?
See, there's another nail in the coffin of religion. What a stupid and negative statement.
This is the Creator's creation. It is a grand adventure with glorious props and scenery, not to mention free will, good food, and beer.
And what is the goal of Buddhism? To free one's self from the "pain" of this adventure? To cease to exist? To commit some sort of "divine suicide" by merging back into non-existence?
Here is the purpose of life and incarnation: To make known the unknown, to explore new experiences and gain the wisdom of them, and to find and create our dreams.
You can take that to the bank.
Buddha the whiner. :)
Thank you for the whole arsenal comment Michael. It takes one to know one.
I once developed a personal law about it which goes when its not feeling right, change the medium. From the looks of things, I'd say you have a similar law. Its a good law, isn't it?
Rasta wood carvers revere Linden. They get pigment through shoe polishes.
Cow Geometry, yes. I'm stealing it.
Do you think its a carnival and our package deals allow us to participate on whatever level is sealed into the deal? What would make God subject some to crummy deals and others to cruiseline packages?
I believe its in the 'tude we carry. That's where Budda comes in handy.
I decided to maximize my carnival carrousel—I was thinking of a magnificent structure weaved of barn siding and driftwood—Michael carved, and Nina painted horses with sails made of colored cloth rotating as the wind blew and sun shined—but it stayed in one place and that simply wouldn’t do—then I thought, what the fuck, the whole earth is a carrousel much more magnificent—
Things happen for a reason—we see, hear, and smell things that bring us back to another time—at times--but some reasons and memories I’ll have to keep to myself for now—
I have my own rules and can’t raise certain questions without opening something up that perhaps needs to remain in another time when I wore a younger mans clothes—
Nothing painful—don’t want you to worry about me (lol)
Jj
Steal from the best, that's my motto. No sense in robbing the poorhouse. I doubt your muse would allow copying any more than mine would. Y'always have to make it your own. Anyone who was really original would make up their own animals anyway. And their own tools and media. And reinvent the spiral too. Let's get really original.
There I go picking on Buddhism again. Really I'm just objecting to the phrasing, and I apologize for getting a little over the top. Religion quotes do that to me, not that that's an excuse. My buttons were being pushed from a lot of directions this morning. It seems to me it would be more accurate to say that emotional pain is caused by ignorant desire, or by attachment. But who is truly free of attachment? Is the Prime Creator not attached to its creation? Does he/she/it not care? The Creator cares; I'm very sure of that.
Shoe polish is high grade staining wax. Good stuff. Highly recommended. As is linden/basswood. Tilia in Spanish; they sell tilia flower tea for dieting and weight loss.
I agree that attitude is key. Some people even like pain. Karma seems pretty real too. I've also heard of the concept of racial karma as opposed to individual. That would explain what happened to the American Indians, could explain what's happening to some Arabs, and you-know-who has it coming big time.
In my case, I have accepted the nightmares of my childhood as lessons to be learned early; in addition, it was a price I was willing to pay in order to get on the playing field with the genetics I wanted. The ongoing pain is always related to attachment, a lesson I may never learn and I don't know that I really want to.
Alas, there are also those on this plane and above it who are concentrated eeevil. It is much worse than need be, and I think it would be a good idea to change that, which is why it's my pet project. It's time to dream a new dream.
I'm very glad to have you-all along on this carousel. I've missed you.
not a fan of carousels,me... but I would be happy to fix the thing, if it should ever break down. I would like to be the guy who comes rushing in to fix the ride so you kids don't lose your smiles...
NOTA-
Seems like there's always some sorta grimy looking guy who needs a shave at the controls of all those carnival rides. Would that be you or are you more mobile than that?
Had a nice dinner at a little greek place tonight with the younger son (cole) after guitar and karate practice today--stopped and got Juli some blue roses and fresh organic fruit for all!!!
Then, I get to come in here and see what presents you have all left--
What more do I need----
Jj
dear nina,
so sorry to hear of your loss.
i hope you've achieved some measure of peace w/it.
love
k*
master_a - no,no...sir. That's not me at the controls, just waiting in the wings to get the ride going again... and occasionally electrocute myself (as I am prone to doing). :-)
I've heard that if one stands in a metal bucket full of water one will be immune to electrical shocks.
I hope everyone knows that last comment was a joke. Do NOT try that, please.
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