Agave14" x 20"
watercolor on Arches
There have been problems posting vertical images on the header lately. I will continue to try to position it at the top in a larger size, but this may have to do for awhile.
UPDATE: 24.02.09 It is suiting that Susana's harmonious accompanyment be included in this entry on Agave. Thank you Su. You make it complete.
susana said...
I used to be shining and new
My presence could get some hearts
pumping through
some jealousy flowing around and about
but never heavy, just jibes from the crew.
Gliding along pretty country roads
to destinations of simple pleasures:
the harvest picnic
the easter service
the village dance
the drive on the days where there was nothing to do.
My rear filled with laughing people
delighted to feel the wind on their faces
Lovers loving up front.
The privacy of the cabin their aces.
Cool water washing me down
smooth polish would create a shine
Now -Well strangely I'm no less content
despite the rust and numerous dents
The sun and moon still do their thing
Still catch the breeze and her gentle me-anderings.
Life as a pick-up is different now
and some days to pass time I pretend I am a cow.
33 comments:
I used to be shining and new
My presence could get some hearts
pumping through
some jealousy flowing around and about
but never heavy, just jibes from the crew.
Gliding along pretty country roads
to destinations of simple pleasures:
the harvest picnic
the easter service
the village dance
the drive on the days where there was nothing to do.
My rear filled with laughing people
delighted to feel the wind on their faces
Lovers loving up front.
The privacy of the cabin their aces.
Cool water washing me down
smooth polish would create a shine
Now -
Well strangely I'm no less content
despite the rust and numerous dents
The sun and moon still do their thing
Still catch the breeze and her gentle me-anderings.
Life as a pick-up is different now
and some days to pass time I pretend I am a cow.
It seems to work well Nina, I do love seeing your artwork :)
And Susana's poem, wonderfully done!
Girls can be cute, pretty or hotties--but women, I have found, are only truly beautiful around, and after 40--just an observation--
Maybe the "dents" give a character and depth that the newer models lack--each to their own--there is also a "sparkle" in a girls eyes until they reach about 16-when they start to know it all--or so they think--it doesn't return in most cases--but in some cases it does just around 40 or so--some do maintain the sparkle which is directly connected to the smile--a radiance of sorts--just right--
Jj
Nina,
Thanks for your reply to my post on your feb 22 entry--
I guess I knew it, and you said it, but I was looking more at the spiritual end of things with all of the dalai this and bible that--end times-2012--blah blah blah--stopped searching there and figure i will know what I know when I know it--isn't that always the way--
Micheal has a nice article at his place--
Thank you for always being there--and here---
Jim (Jj)
Well, that seals it Skye, no reason to fool around with a good thing, thanks!
Jim, I like older men myself. In fact, I like people in general who have been around the block a few times.
About your comment on Petri, maybe it was Petri, I share the feeling. I would have to place my opinion on these things somewhere between Visible's and Michael's observations. Of course, there are times its closer to one than the other depending on what is going on externally and how it manifests internally. "New Age" is just the same as Marshall McLuhan co-opting the peace movement into floor wax and toiletries. "True Age" is timeless, Nature, universal, cyles recyling in accord with the great river of the Ever-Now.
Desmond SuSu, I have no words. You've got them. I only have my little paints. I am awed. I am going to put your piece on the back of Agave so when someone turns it over they will see what it is. Um, no, actually, I am going to hand write it around the border. OK with you? I've got 3" of white space all around waiting. Your call. There are good arguments for either location.
Nina,
The painting appeared in front of my eyes and these fingers started typing.
Your art triggers this response before "me" is even aware of it.
Your call where to put it.
I think maybe the last verse is all that is needed.
But entirely up to you.
Definitely behind the painting.
Ahhh, good choice. This prevents the arbitrary framer from covering it up and saves a happy surprise for an unknown someone way up the road. Anybody who really likes the work is going to be someone curious about the past, how people lived at a particular time ... which you stated so clearly.
Maybe we used to live there.
I'm a town in Carolina, I'm a detour on a ride
For aphone call and a soda, I'm a blur from the driver's side
I'm the last gas for an hour if you're going twenty-five
I am Texaco and tobacco, I am dust you leave behind
I am peaches in September, and corn from a roadside stall
I'm the language of the natives, I'm a cadence and a drawl
I'm the pines behind the graveyard, and the cool beneath their shade, where the boys have left their beer cans
I am weeds between the graves.
My porches sag and lean with old black men and children
Their sleep is filled with dreams, I never can fulfill them
I am a town.
I am a church beside the highway where the ditches never drain
I'm a Baptist like my daddy, and Jesus knows my name
I am memory and stillness, I am lonely in old age; I am not your destination
I am clinging to my ways
I am a town.
I'm a town in Carolina, I am billboards in the fields
I'm an old truck up on cinder blocks, missing all my wheels
I am Pabst Blue Ribbon, American, and "Southern Serves the South"
I am tucked behind the Jaycees sign, on the rural route
I am a town
I am a town
I am a town
Southbound
This is a Mary Chapin Carpenter song that I listened to today and thought of so much of your artwork--I'm a big fan of her work--I'm sure you can probably find the song on youtube or somewhere if you have not heard it before--"I am a town"
Jj
That's absolutely beautiful. I have not heard it. Now we have a picture, poetry and music. A regular little festival going on...
And for the festival I am juicing organic hannepoort grapes for us with a twist of lemon verbena and mint.
Jj, thank you for the music offerings. Played several times and then again.
Would not have happened upon it otherwise.
And as I left this address on Visible and no-one ventured there I reciprocate by urging you to look into it.
There is no clearer pointing to the truth, there is no teacher either, he is pure pointing in the http://avastu0.blogspot.com/.
I dare you!
susana, whyever would you think that no one ventured to your link? I did, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one. I read a bit and plan to go back.
As to pickup trucks and agave, I'm partial to both. For some unknown reason, I have only owned Chevy pickups. They are just what I ended up running into and buying whenever I was looking for another truck. Nothing against Fords, Dodges, Jeeps, or Internationals, they just didn't show up.
My Chevy lineup so far has been a '53, a '54, a '55, a '65, and an '80. The '54 was the best, last year they made that rounded body style with the curved corner windows. What a sweet truck that was, fire engine red with a big chrome grill, four speed trans with granny low and a posi-trac rear end; you could put a ton of weight in the back and haul it up the steepest hills.
Agaves, when they are small to medium sized, are quite handy for sewing. Just snap the spine at the top of the leaf and pull down; needle and thread all in one neat package. Nature loves us.
Hi again, susana and all.
"What you are seeking is what is doing the seeing, right now."
From the website susana linked to.
This one shys away from comparisons at first brush; it's too easy a trap for the lazy mind to say "Oh, I already knew that, it's the same as this".
But it's rather humorous that all three of the suggested readings were about the observer.
Very nice Nina. I love style, and I'm just a musician, but I've always
been able to discern the components
in different media in art, as to who is being honest, and who is not.
I guess that ability helped with the 911 truth start...to being an Extremist.
Anyway...(!)
You are an honest artist, and that is the highest I bestow on
anyone I consider an Artist.
Oh, and by the way...
If you happened to "catch on"
and made 2,000,000 a shot, and were
still being honest, I would still be a fan.
Just as I am of Pat Metheny, who is the richest Jazz musician off all time, but who has NEVER compromised, ever.
randall--i am looking for someone to guide me through some jazz and blues music selections but not the elevator kind and no new orleans jazz--not my taste-
sultry and smokey with excellent musicianship--who do you recommend--
Su: I'll check it out and get back with you--just got in last night from fla 15 hours and I can't feel my butt yet--metaphorically speaking of course--I have a little 88' dodge pickup that i drive around town and the surrounding county--not much farther--just something about a pickup truck--i'm a fool for a woman driving a pickup if it's a little ratty--the truck, not the woman---lol--
catching up on the blogs--coffee and smoke in hand--as it should be on this cold sunny sunday morning--being home is good for my soul--
Jj
Su,
I left you a comment at your place--what you wrote about birth was so appropriate to your link--it's in the witnessing of the moment and giving it honor, and grace through not just the witnessing but in the participation and sharing--THAT is what gives it, and us meaning--
thank you all for sharing--
Jj
About the sharing,
As I mentioned before I always feel provincial and small when I talk about this life here in this space as opposed to vast political, social matters, which interest me but which I am unable to comment on for some reason.
And Nina, Sylvia has just given birth by the first darkness of this evening two three babes. Two Abyssinians and a smooth one. Beautiful, alert and present, a lot like Matthew.
So birth is in the air. George is sniffing around them with much pride, although his paternity is in serious question. But we'll let him continue in his joy.
greetings, all! Just returned from a much-needed break with my wife and kids. We rented a house on Toledo Bend Reservoir(TX/LA border)- of the Sabine River. It was freezing cold, but that didn't stop me and the kids from having a blast. Campfires, fishing, and s'mores.... As most of you know I've been spending a good bit of time preparing myself - this is an extension of that planning. I'm spending as much time in nature w/the kids as possible before things head south. The painting is beautiful. I saw two paintings over ther (Toledo Bend) that I would have sworn were yours, Nina! They were that GOOD!!!
Jj - May I suggest some Billie Holliday? Ella Fitzgerald? Satchmo? Count Basie? If you can find Lady Day in chronological order, you can actually hear the heroin in her vocals (not some macabre enjoyment - but rather the sadness makes her voice richer)... How unfortunate that the world has to lose so many artists to self-destruction. You know, Satchmo would never have gotten a record deal in our beauty obsessed culture...how sad!
LOVE TO ALL
NOTA
Hell for bad cows, that's your masterpiece, don't give it away. :-)
Hey Nota-
Guess cold is a relative thing. The folks in Winnipeg would probably think things were balmy on the TX/LA border in mid-winter. These days I get cold when it drops below the mid '70s. Catch any fish?
Hell for Bad Cows reminds me of when I had an industrial woodworking shop in an old slaughterhouse back in the 1980s. This place was pretty big, an 11 acre property with a couple acres of pavement and cinder block buildings. We had the machinery set up in a big barn at the top; to get to the office and lunchroom, the shortest route was to walk down the concrete cattle chute and through the killing floor, all white tile, long abandoned, leaky roof and few working lights. One got used to it after a little while, but it wasn't a short cut to take at night. Don't know if cows have ghosts, but it wasn't good vibes in there.
Okay M I guess I have to tell this story. -)
For some reason this painting reminds me of another painting I saw years ago. There I was a young man, had a little house painting business. I was working in this nice house. The woman there was so attractive, yet sweet and refined. Her Jewish husband Doctor had divorced her and ran off with a younger woman, she was alone for the first time. I heard her mother consoling her and they were talking about a party she was going to. And she was nervous and unsure about the whole thing. Never trust painters or house keepers, they know too much.
She had this painting on the wall and for some reason I fell in love with it. One day she called me over to ask a question. I was painting in the bathroom surrounded by mirrors, and I went out to see her. I tried to put on the best face I could muster up. It's obvious I have no grasp of the English language but I did my best to sound intelligent and professional.
And I was pretty good looking in those days, picture this, 6'4 blond hair, blue eyes, and I went out there to see what she wanted. And when I returned I happened to glance at the mirror and to my horror I realized that I had managed to splash a drop of paint about an inch in diameter on the very tip of my nose, I looked like a clown.
Why she didn't laugh hysterically is a something of a mystery. She was a real wonderful person actually. That idiot Doctor, what a putz.
And previously I fell into a few bucks so offered her 10,000 dollars for that painting, and she said no. Which was a good thing because I didn't actually have that kind of money.
Anyway your watercolor reminds me so much of that painting, thanks for bringing back that memory. I still don't have 10,000 dollars so...
But if I did...
Painters and housekeepers (and anyone in those lowly trades who actually works for a living)often know far more about what's going on than the homeowner thinks they do.
Shakespeare had it down "Little pitchers have big ears". He may have been talking about children, but the same goes for "servants".
And yes, John Prine cribbed that line.
I spent many a long year doing high-end custom work and remodeling in some pretty fancy places; about ten years before I got out of that I made a decision that I was no longer going to work for people who didn't appreciate me and pay me gladly. From that point on my work became much more of a joy to do.
word verification is "sackitio"
Baaaaby.
Oh, yes. He here is one example. I have to be vague, but a certain wealthy individual got a phone call from a certain Governor of a certain state pleading that he needs to do something to repay his benefactor, and his benefactor said, wait, just wait, someday I may need you. All this going on without his knowing that the housekeeper was hearing all this from another room.
Housekeepers know more that most heads of state hehe.
I used to be a Yacht Captain, and after that, an Estate Manager for multi-millionaires and billionaires--lived around the country and world managing homes and staff, etc.--some were nice, and some were just totally lost--those who "earned" it were easier to work for, those who married into it, or had it given to them were mostly fucked up and empty--also, beware of bleach- blonde second (or third) wives with little yipping dogs--they are nut crunchers.
Long ago and far away now...and better for it--but I learned a lot about wealth, and myself--
Jj
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqO2yoC8MXQ
This is for all the weed smokers, and those thinking about it--tee hee
Jj
Su, congratulations to Sylvia and George. Great news. Sending a big international welcome to the little ones.
Jj, the video, whatever it is, must be truly scary stuff. I get "This video is not available in your country".
But I can assure everyone that weed is available in this country.
On the other subject, did you ever notice that the rich are not actually any smarter than you are? And as a rule, not any happier? What's with that?
Maybe those bleached-blonde second and third wives with the little yappy dogs are a symptom of the above.
Big fleas have little fleas,
Upon their backs to bite 'em
And little fleas have smaller fleas
And on ad infinitum.
hi michael:
the bands name is Insane Clown Posse--I posted the words at mirrors I think--it's great to hear them sing it though--has a weird power to it--
rich people aren't very happy it has been my experience..and they are generally bored--they change staff every time they flush the toilet because their miserable life can't possibly be their fault-it's the same thing..they think they can buy happiness or a thrill that will take them to where they want to go, or think they can/should be--That experience for me has been a wonderful learning experience for what lay ahead--as one of those billionaires said from the back seat as I was driving him somewhere he said "Jim, if it flies, floats, or fucks...lease it"
They are in tune when they make it in some ways, and then when they get it, they spend like drunk sailors (or their wives do) and are afraid of losing it which makes them paranoid...not a good situation to be around....
Jim (Jj)
the tilt-a-whirl lyrics?
One of those people hung up on what they have, a fellow that I used to do quite a bit of business with until he underestimated me and tried to screw me (a move that backfired on him bigtime), anyway one of them, left me with some wisdom. It wasn't his wisdom, just something he heard.
One morning he was telling me about an old sailor he had met in a fancy bar in Ballard (part of Seattle)the night before. The old sailor was telling old sailor stories, and in the midst of them was a gem that went something like this:
"People who can be happy when they are poor and broke, will be ecstatic when they are rich. People who are unhappy when they are poor will be miserable sons of bitches when they have money."
The money comes and the money goes, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. I always know when I have it that it won't be there forever, and when I don't, I know it will be coming around sooner or later.
The only thing I've learned to do about that is to put some aside when there's plenty around. That seems to be what Nature does too.
I have lots of sailor stories and this is one of my favorites--and true:There was a guy who used to race a boat on the great lakes called "FUJIMO" and we would race against them from time to time--beautiful boat about 48' of race machine--anyway, turns out that his wife would only come down to the boat once a year or so--like most sailors, "just a few feet more" was this guys thought from year to year--what he would do is buy a new boat every year or two--have it painted the exact same color each time-same lettering--same dock-boats went from 27' to 30' to 35'--you get the picture--anyway his wife: Jane came down one time and noticed about 20' extra feet of boat past the end of the dock and the jig was up--Jane mandated that it was either her, or the boat--totally pissed that she had been deliberately hoodwinked--well, this guy made his decision and it was "FUJIMO"--which stands for F-U Jane I'm Movin' Out--I think he was living on the boat after the divorce settlement--
Oops, yeah, tiltawhirl!!
We have been comfortable, never rich, and we have been SOL--but we have always been together--wouldn't be as much fun otherwise--much better to see clearly when the loot arrives--wisdom is a friend of mine and will guide me when that ship comes in--
Jj
My sister and her husband have a fully-rigged 1700's style wooden pirate ship; I guess it's around 75' stem to stern, three masted as I recall. They spend the summers sailing around to the tall ship festivals and movie shoots and make a living at it, so far anyway.
My brother in law always was a pirate at heart; he traded his Harley away as the down payment on the boat.
FUJIMO indeed. Good one.
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