Politics

The absorbing politics of sport, I hasten to qualify. I appreciate Brett Farve. Having watched him for less than maybe 2 quarters his entire humoungous career.... I can appreciate him with a clear and biased conscience. You see... nothing has buried New England's Spygate quite as efficiently as this Bacholerette episode. Every day I click on Yahoo's NFL and the New England Patriots aren't on the front smear. Yes they have decent odds of going 16-0 again. (I would plead clemency... from the base of my dirty fingernails and never-was-in-fashion T-shirt. Patriots? You do that again and you WILL owe me a beer. Kraft, listen up.) And they even have the best odds of winning the Super Bowl. (Last I looked... and I quickly averted my eyes.)

But I'm excited... in a quiet let's-just-sneak-up-on-them-this-time type mode.

I enjoy watching the pre-season games. Though, this being Red Sox nation also, its sometimes difficult in a bar this time of year. Last year I was psyched... I had my rookies to root for... hoping they made the team.... I wowed at the new offensive weapons and would wonder if Moss could really be that good. This year is different. I do have rookies I am rooting for. But more... I hope the team does well. I hope... that... ya know... maybe there's still some of those 19-0 T-shirts available in South America. And I could do with a free beer. A new shirt? Last year's model is fine.

And to start the pre-season... To start a season that recognizes the glory of not worrying about, for a few hours (hahahaha) every week, life details like war and work and automobile repair. To not worry about the much more violent politics of the political kind, healthcare reform and environmental challenges. To instead focus on the fine art of fandom... and its related beer consumption. Here is a video (I switched videos after looking at some of the comments! perhaps it will help explain football a bit! lol!)

Politics

The important politics of sketch books, I should specify. Wikipedia, "Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions." And the first photo demonstrates why I can use the term group. My invaluable assistant, Ms Bird, has the pencil under control though not yet filed under a work bench.

I've never asked how others manage their sketch books. My impression is some folks can be organized with their sketches... and I think that's nice. I'm not. I have (I think) 6 working sketch books that go back years... what happens is. I'm thinking about something... so I start sketching but need another page. If I turn the page I won't be able to refer back to what I was doing... and if I tear out a page I'll lose it. So I open another sketch book. (I tend to open them to some random blank page.) I've thought about starting a file of loose sketches... but. How crazy can you get, really. This morning after flipping though a couple of sketch books looking for a few blank pages to stumble about in, I decided a new one needs to be added to the mix.

Here's an important bunch of sketches I made recently.... ;)

Cruising Groove and Crossed Fingers

He's my guy. There's something about a gargoyle riding a pickup that I think can help me out. I'm into good luck charms. I'm into not stepping on sidewalk cracks on my way to watch Patriots games. And crossed fingers and braided hair while watching.

I'm into positive projecting... carrying my umbrella so the sun will shine.

I try to avoid the number 13 except when I can't. And then, I hope to make it my favorite number.

But there are those days the body the mind the culture of survivance can't propel one into the day like a figure skating olympian. And for those days... those cold grey lump of metal days... Those days of irritation and clumsiness when "right" is an uncooperative hand. When the mesh of existence is a loud whine of an unoiled machine and music unwanted collides in a cacophony behind you. On those days nothing works. Nothing is good. They are tight box days that stack themselves in the consciousness like a wall.

For those days I've got my gargoyle riding a pickup. And no, I don't wear him. I created him.

------
Two notes. I've started a new part time job. And. I have displayed the pickup riding gargoyle before. Its just that recently I've been thinking about wearing him as a good luck charm. Maybe for the Pats games!

Self Portrait Thursday

Etsy has a self portrait Thursday... I think. Might have my days wrong on that. But, here's my attempt! Must say though, I'm not pregnant! just enjoy my brew! My legs might not be quite so long or my feet so small but a bit of idealizing is okay I think. That's why I'm ice skating in a tutu in July!

Plastic Chairs

Nothing says waiting room quite like linoleum and plastic chairs. Having spent 3 chunks of my life in the past week in these surrounds... I thought I'd express my disenchantment with motor vehicles. (It is amazing how the price of a car repair increases over the estimate by a factor of how many time chunks are spent in plastic chairs. This includes whether nothing was actually done (second chunk) or successfully done (first chunk.)) Though to say disenchantment might be putting it too grand, since I only owned a car for 1 year before I was about 32.

This reminds me of a conversation with my mother, of course. She said why don't Americans just conserve. And I'm like, you mean, spontaneous, without overwhelming necessity, the formerly fattest nation on earth go on, essentially, a collective diet? (I say formerly fattest, as rumor has it the Austrailians have overtaken the U.S. in obesity. Can't we be #1 at anything anymore?)

Maybe diets at the policy level would work... I mean, energy conservation. I don't know. I would not mind never ever driving a rattling money sucking time wasting space occupying oil dripping air polluting resource depleting monument of solo consumption again. That is, if there were a more convenient way to buy groceries.

*regarding this video... apropos of nothing, this was in my head while waiting. If you listen, it will be in your head too. ;P

Name It!

This is for entertainment purposes only... an important purpose and reasonably achievable. Well, I'm easily entertained anyway... I promise kudos to anyone that comes up with a name. How about smooches? Usually when I make something the name and the thingy go to the goal line together. Sometimes the name changes, but, whatever. This odd fellow is in the model state *unnamed.* Being a model, he isn't polished or antiqued yet. (No liver of sulfur yet which would bring out the forms.) Here the poor unnamed one is....




Here's a very nice response from itselemental. And thanks to everyone else that looked and made suggestions (in the forums)!
itselemental says:
His (Gollum) one desire was to possess the ring that had enslaved him. He pursued the ring for 76 years after having lost it to Bilbo Baggins.

During his centuries under the Ring's influence, he developed a sort of split personality: "Sméagol" still vaguely remembered things like friendship and love, while "Gollum" was a slave to the ring and would kill anyone who tried to take it. In The Two Towers, Samwise Gamgee named the good personality "Slinker" (for his fawning, eager-to-please demeanor), and the bad personality "Stinker" (for obvious reasons). The two personalities often quarreled when Gollum talked to himself (as Tolkien puts it in The Hobbit, "through never having anyone else to speak to") and had a love/hate relationship, mirroring Gollum's feelings for the Ring and for himself.
(from Wikipedia)

"Gollum's Obsession"
----------------------------

Well. I'm thinking that's very flattering... but maybe too grand. hmmmmm.....

My Inner Sitcom

I don't watch sitcoms... don't own a T.V.. But sometimes it does seem like there is an inner need for silliness that without a proscribed outlet (such as T.V.) life will mimic absurdity at the most inconvenient of times. *sigh* Like the other day.

I'd a couple of job interviews lined up. The first challenge besides getting out the door was finding the place. Okay I should've used google but I thought I knew where it was in my scribbled on one page notes kind of way. But it was on WEST Exchange St.. Not Exchange Street. I went to Exchange St downtown... WEST Exchange St is a few blocks away... does not touch Exchange St, nor does it run parallel or perpendicular to it. I found it by asking a couple, a court official, at the post office on Exchange St. and then a limo driver (who was on an unlabeled unsigned WEST Exchange St when I asked him.) By running I arrived only 5 minutes late to an empty office.

The day proceeded from there. Honest, I need to win the lottery.

And the next interview was one of those times when you've forgotten the tape recorder you didn't know you needed because nobody in their right mind would believe the slush being uttered by, well, me. I need a fall back joke list like any struggling comedian in front of a reasonably intelligent mildly judgemental audience who finds you less interesting than road kill. *I do prefer to laugh than to cry even if I'm the only one in the room doing it.*

Now to follow my logic which may, actually, make more sense than New England roads... if I owned a T.V. I'd have a job! Yikes!