BUT IS IT ART?

I have written on this godforsaken blog many times about the BAD (Beautiful Artistic Daughter), formerly the BRD (Beautiful Rich Daughter), which she could return to if she'd ever sell any of her amazing art output.

But never mind that typical daddy growse.

What we have today is a confluence (wow, he used a big word!) of several thoughts.

One is the fact that I married into a very artistic family.

SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed), whose art you've occasionally seen here.

(She could do wonders with that big ol' black border wall!)

Then there's the BAD, who dabbles in genres on genres, and succeeds beautifully in all of them.

She has a brother who has a long career of doing beautiful cabinetry, kitchen work and makeovers.

(He has been hired to do several Ruth's Chris Restaurants around the country.)

There's another sister who lives far away but whose abilities at sketching at near lightning speed are legend.

There's a niece whose skills and beautiful creations as a tattoo artist have led her to fame, if not fortune.

So anyway, as you can see, there is art all around me.

So today I brought home from the grocery store a Butternut Squash and noting it's shape, I idly said to SWMBO that if one painted a pair of button eyes on it, it would pass for a shmoo.

If you're unfamiliar with a shmoo, it was a character created by the cartoonist Al Capp for his comic strip, Li'l Abner.

Behold!

Okay, if you've been following along I think you can see where I'm coming from.

Or going to.

Judy (SWMBO) took the bit in her teeth, or the marker in her hand, if you must insist on correctness here, and sought the Gods of Creation for advice.

One little warning: Halloween is approaching!

(I may never eat Butternut Squash again without feeling just a tad bit guilty.)

PAST PARTICLES

They aren't past particles as found in a physics textbok or as part of language in an English class.

What I'm referring to here are particles from my past office life.

For example, does anybody use paper clips anymore?

I have a plastic box full of them.

I used some the other day when I was sorting through some recipes, to keep each bunch in its proper category.

How about this?

Those evil looking jaws are designed to pull staples from paper that's been connected together without destroying the paper.

It works well, too.

(Pardon the beat up old desk top. It's a piece of junk but I suppose I could paint it some day.)

Speaking of evil looking devices, take a look at this one.

That's a letter opener and that pointed blade sticking out of the upper left is very sharp.

The device is resting on a cover for that end that protects the user who's searching for it in a dark desk drawer.

But turning back for a jiffy, I showed you a staple puller but does anyone under the age of 30 know what a staple or a stapler is?

Here's mine.

The staples were made by Stanley Bostitch but the stapler came from a different company.

There's a lot of history in these office tools but I was just wondering with the advent of computers and on-line document storage, if any of them are used anymore.

Letter writing, by the way, has been largely replaced by email and texting so that letter opener in my desk may gather more dust than this blog writer.

(Probably just as well, she said, as she wiped up the latest bloodstains!)

LIKE A PHOENIX RISING

The Legado housing and shopping complex is coming back from the dead.

A year and a half ago, it was about 50 percent complete.

Then in the dark of night an arsonist torched it.

Lost were 329 apartments under construction, commercial space and a parking garage.

It covered 700,000 square feet of property in the heart of my town.

The loss was estimated at 60 million dollars.

The site was leveled and cleaned up and earlier this year construction resumed on the rebuilding.

Here's what it looks like today.

The project will rise from oblivion.

The arsonist, believed to be a young man also connected with break-ins and damage at the local high school, has not been apprehended.

Yet.

FRIDAY EVENING

 

Anyone like pepperoni?

FRIDAY MORNING

Fresh Blueberry Muffins

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Well-oh-well, it's been a fairly good week here.

Oh, I had to turn on the furnace this morning when it was only 35 degrees outside and 68 in the house.

But it felt good after it ran for awhile.

And now that it's warmed up outside, it's stayed quiet so the electric bill isn't going out of sight yet.

We're full up on sweet stuff what with my baking the past few days and I'm going to pick up my grocery order in an hour or two.

So all is well.

And now I get to enjoy the fall season and all it brings, like pumpkin jokes.

Siss-boom-bah!

Now that I've punned you into a near coma, let me prescribe for you an adventurously advantageous weekend!

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . yes, once again, you rascal . . . )

CATALYST'S AGES

After posting those pictures of my career meet-ups the other day I thought it might be interesting to get a closer look at how I've aged through the years.

So brace yourselves . .  here we go.

Awww, what a cute kid!

Starting out with my dad.

That happy smile has turned into The Smirk.

But who dresses this kid, huh?

Ah, high school graduation and just a flicker of mischief there.

Then the serious radio and television journalist.

Looks like a lot of Brylcreem up top but I know, you were stopped by that natty seersucker sport jacket.

Speaking of natty, a few years later in Miami to cover a Republican National Convention while sporting a Nehru jacket?

What must those Republicans have thought, eh.

Oh the good old days of dope craziness.

(Just kidding. It was actually a posed picture taking a whiff from a bottle of rubber cement.  Just ignore the eyes.)

Some years later, with the gorgeous SWMBO at a Scottsdale Arts Fair.

This may or may not have been taken the same day though I know it's the same turtleneck.

I loved that chair but I don't think we bought it.

And yes those are muttonchops.

The 1970's, and I still hadn't learned about the dangers of smoking.

Then the 80's and lending my IMMENSE wisdom as a producer to reporter Ron Talley in Washington at Sandra Day O'Connor's hearing to become a Supreme Court Justice.

Later on, after my first retirement and four-plus happy years living in Mexico, Judy and I are heading back to the U.S. of A.

Our friends threw a party for us.

(Did you notice the first hint of gray in my beard?)

A few years ago, not only the beard but the hair have turned gray and I'm seeing wrinkles I didn't have before!

Which brings us to this morning and an older and . . . well, let's just leave it at older, shall we?

Nearly 85 and a half but still kickin'.

As a friend used to say about old age, it beats the alternative.

P.S. The BAD contacted me and told me to replace the last picture to something brighter. So I did.  I hope you're (BAD) all satisfied!