Traffic is way up on this site
I attribute that to one thing: the relatively new collage art page. That’s good as I want folks to see the new art; beyond that I haven’t a clue as to how to sell it. So far, sales have happened through the comment box and those have been people I know and they send checks. (Thanks, people I know!)
The main site always gets a healthy bump when the blog comes out, and it’s always the same—the number of those who signed up for it and a few more who check it out due to Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
Here’s the collage art link in case you haven’t been there or wish to return.
It’s lagging behind as I haven’t yet sent the newest batch over for still photography. Some are on 1950’s road maps, others have topo maps as backgrounds. Even a 1960’s era The Village Voice is the bottom layer of another. And a 1935 Popular Science provides the backgrounds for several, as do the current Cherokee weekly newspaper and a very old KC phone book.
I use coins, crypto, currency, stamps, tokens, old ephemera and photos on many, plus oils, acrylics, and dyes for what I call the energy signature, an ever-present personal abstract device that I hope gives each piece some drama and power, and a base for the coins and interest items that often make an ironic statement all their own. (BTW did you know that Bitcoin ATMs just declared bankruptcy and withdrew all those machines? Link That’s part of the narrative of some of these collages, technofads like NFT’s, Crypto, AI)
Music Break
Bathrobe casual redefines relaxing yet very crisp jazz, a Stevie Wonder cover that just had a refreshing shower. The crowd is worth watching; the gent with the long pony tail is in an entrancing trance and the short-haired guy who just joined him has his own moves. Oddly, many folks in the crowd don’t seem to notice the band or anything else. But the band, I think you’ll agree, is so worth noticing. Wowsers. Enjoy. Here’s the link.
And then there’s Deaf Man Vinyl
Have you ever wanted to own a record store? Well, this gent tells you how in a very effortless, entertaining, easy-to-take way. I found myself hooked on this by happenstance, and watched all 25 minutes of it. I don’t do that often. Here’s his link.
Usually there’s far too much padding and BS in these things and I flee about a minute in. It made me wish this guy was closer than Georgia so I could just stroll in and say hi.
Oh, and if you have time or inclination, here’s another record guy with the 20 most requested records of all time. You might have some big money vinyl sitting around—take a look at (Link).
And this: do you have this Elvis Costello record? Interesting story here. Link.
Booooooaaarrd!
Train trip. Amtrak rules. (Yes, it does, and yes, there are some.) This is a fun few minutes that’ll prepare you for a low-stress trip in a long swaying view-tube that goes clickety-clack and shows you bucolic countryside like you rarely ever see it anymore. People wave as you pass. Cows look up, mid-chew. Some cars are reserved for quiet. Some for other stuff. Seats are wide. Leg room is abundant. Well, take a look. Here’s the link.
A book for the ages
Annie Proulx wrote it so you know it’s good. But it’s also, by turns of pages, sad, instructive, unflinching, embarrassing (but only if you’re human), scary as hell, and so important in these declining days of our taken-for-granted planet which shows unmistakable signs of imminent decrepitude and a few million years without human habitation. Or destruction.
Whew. Sobering and necessary, if, indeed, it’s not too late already. (It is, in some areas) Read Fen, Bog & Swamp, A short history of peatland destruction and its role in the Climate Crisis. (Link)
And this: Since 1950, the world’s population has increased 200%. What’s this mean for deforestation due to more cropland? For food? Raging wildfires? For drinkable water? For disease? For weather violence? Sorry, but it’s serious. Anyone glued to the tornado warnings in Kansas and Oklahoma the last couple nights might agree.
I leave you with The Stroll
I might just have to learn this. F won every dance contest she ever entered so I’ve got a heck of a teacher…could be a funny video coming up.
I mentioned strolling a couple of articles above and it stuck in my mind; here’s THE Stroll on American Bandstand, 1957. I was in college then, too old for such shenanigans, but we had our own versions. Alas, we were never this cool in Junior High. (Link)
(Caution) The Diamonds song, The Stroll, will stick to your brain’s innards like Gorilla Glue. I hum it daily. And that line about the candy store—anyone remember tiny waxlike coke bottles? You’d bite the top off and swallow the sugary liquid inside. I bought those things and smuggled them into class. Why? Who the heck knows. Awful stuff. Dentists loved ‘em.
See you in June, God willing and the creek don’t rise. Enjoy the rest of May. Stroll through summer and be kind to your planet—make a move, anything, to conserve or at least not deplete, to mitigate. Soften the shocks of change. How? Read Fen, Bog & Swamp. F and I are planting tomatoes. Seems like the right direction. That, and rethinking the giant carbon-depleting crypto mine planned for the north pasture. (Sorry, not that funny.)
Xoxo, truly. G-Man.