miscellanea

I've been suffering blog withdrawal so I figured it was time for a little on-line methadone treatment. I may even visit a few blogs this weekend. I'm still not caught up on my Real Life, but then when am I, so what was I thinking, anyway? At least I'm doing better now that I've removed my head from the sand re. my father and his many challenges. Thanks to anyone who had to put up with me during this time. If I'm the one who ends up in 'assisted living', you'll know why.

Another challenge was November's weather. What's with more rain (and wind) in one month than the previous six combined? Last I looked we were thousands of kilometres from any monsoon zones. Then there was the cold and snow (as seen off our back deck), rare enough at any time here in Canada's banana belt, but almost unheard-of in November. I take my hat off to my friends in Winterpeg and other cold-winter-weather zones. I've never experienced my windshield wipers freezing for days on end. And if you make any cracks about how west coast drivers are tragic when it comes to handling more than a sprinkling of snow, may I remind you that it takes practice and we haven't had any.

But enough talk about the weather. Casual visitors might think we're all sitting around the bridge table at the nursing home. I haven't been entirely foresaking my precious laptop. First of all, I stumbled upon a hilarious blog that is compulsive reading. Secondly, I have continued admiring the work of a couple of collage artists, but particularly Kristen Peterson.

pictured: The Messages Behind the Birds' Song

But best of all, I've been withholding the following Photoshop challenge so I can enjoy it without having to share. Many of the entries are truly inspired and totally appeal to both my admiration of the great masters and sense of humour, such that it is these days. Check out the Worth1000 contest here and here and here.



This particular van Gogh-inspired entry reminds me of the following quote:

People are fond of spouting out the old cliché about how Van Gogh never sold a painting in his lifetime. Somehow his example serves to justify to us, decades later, that there is somehow merit in utter failure. Perhaps, but the man did commit suicide. (Hugh Macleod)

And, while on that theme (as I seem to be lately), I love these:

Sanity calms, but madness is more interesting. (John Russell)

I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me. (Hunter S. Thompson)

Maybe he's only a little bit crazy, like painters, or composers, or some of those men in Washington. (Mr Shellhammer)

And, for our final course in this blog-post meal (and not entirely disconnected from the quotes on creativity and madness), I want to say a special thank you to my prairie friends. Through blogging I seem to have 'met' an unusual number of people from Friendly Manitoba. Even though my father was born in Winnipeg, and my first (I think) Canadian-settled ancestor (his grandfather) emigrated there in the late 1800s, I have listened to my father's bias against the place since I was old enough to understand what he was talking about. How wrong could he be? That great-grandfather, Ralph B. Pratt, put his stamp on Winnipeg and western Canadian train station architecture like few others, so I've been overdue for a proper tourist visit for way too long. Here's my photoshopped version of First Presbyterian Church (61 Picardy Place), one of his designs: