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Blue & White | Sky & Scratches in East Liberty
Drawing June 14 | source photo on Instagram
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I traveled these past few days, to see my Dad. He was born in Washington DC on Flag Day, and this weekend was his 88th birthday. It was also the president's.
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One man hosted a cage fight on the White House lawn, one ordered the Emperors Hibachi Meal from Door Dash and ate it at a veteran's center with his daughter.
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Now days, I ask my Dad all about his life. What he believes, what he knows.
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His life is rich in color and watershed moments. Born into a middle class family with a mom and dad who fought about class. His dad a lawyer for the government, his mom an adopted heiress who required a maid. His grandfather, a printer with ink on his hands. His 5 siblings. Doing his high school senior year twice, joining the Navy, being married a decade, the births of his kids, a presidency for which he was recruited.
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His dad telling him – and him telling me – that Tide was the best laundry detergent.
So I see jobs, class, family, blue, and white and water. I feel waters rising.
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I remember how his mom told him to "always dress well in case the President drives by," and how that one thing shaped his life and may have helped raise him to officer, and the other career peaks that meant so much to him.
Dressing was a ticket of passage in his world: no break in the pants, he'd say, good shoes no matter what they cost. "How you stand means everything," he'd say, "I studied the posture of leaders in college."
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I remember avoiding that hem as a kid: "floods" were not right. Jeans dragging or rolled up a few times tight were instead acceptable: highwaters were not.
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We talked of his childhood, the expectations of his family, and the quirky things we'd come to believe as humans walking this earth.
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The things we'd observed, but without data, we couldn't report as true.
Except maybe in stories. Or in emails.
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I could follow his flowing set of patterns, beliefs, vision, ideas, and opportunities too. Who he respected, who he didn't. The work he did. Why he did it. How my mother's "moon face" was so beautiful. How his second wife was a Queen.
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And during my off-time walking around the streets of my hotel's neighborhood of East Liberty, I saw more floods of visuals from inside and out. And poetic odes to the artist David Hockney, all over. He was another old man, who just passed at 88, who lived freely and painted freer. Blue and white, water and splashes. Patterns. People. Still more color and stories.
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The web is rich with Hockney's legacy. I hope you read about him.
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Mr. Hockney didn't talk quite as much as he showed things. I loved his art and wrote a short piece about him this week (below), hot-linking some of my favorite works, and sharing a little about how to look at patterns in multi-dimensional ways. Hockney also helped me see. And notice things. Just like my Dad.
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And for me, I'm thinking about 88, Navy, White, Water, Tides, Presidencies, and the wide interior matrix of formed beliefs, memory, color, and the flow of long lives together.
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More Text & Images
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I love the idea of covering1. The grace of covering came for me over 20 years ago via a fisherman. Today, covering is at the core of how I make art, how I ran my business, and how I've tried to look out for people. Covering feels good. It's a safety thing. Covering in the sense of veiling has deep …
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Categories: Creativity, Mommess, Uncategorized
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Yesterday, the world lost an amazing painter, David Hockney. He passed away at the age of 88. Has there ever been a painting, an illustration, or even a poster that has stayed with you for a lifetime? Once you saw it, you could not forget it? There have been a handful of works like that for me. Artists' works that …
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Categories: Culture, Mommess, Uncategorized, Visual Art
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You received this email because you signed up here, or I thought you might find this interesting and added you to my weekly roundup of text & images. You may unsubscribe at any time at bottom.
Your replies, questions and comments are welcome. |
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In the days of AI and excessive optimization, mess is leading edge.
Some content here is political, some personal, much of it philosophical, and all of it meant to shine some light into the lives of my readers, because it was written to shine light into mine.
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I hope my work stirs your soul, ignites your creativity, and helps you feel connected to all the good things this life can offer. If it doesn't, please promptly forget it!
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POLITICAL ACTION AREA: Its often best to connect with your local civic groups, and show up in the ways you can. Peaceful crowd sizes matter, as does your positive energy, and adherence to non-violence.
July 17-19 is the Good Trouble Lives On Weekend
in support of civil rights and increasing voter engagement
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“freedom is the condition in which all the good things can flow within us and among us.”
― Timothy Snyder, On Freedom
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