"Red Barn," Acrylic on canvas, 12" by 12"

My latest art show is finished

I just picked up three pieces from the latest art show I participated in, but first a bit of prologue.... 

A while back, Meg and I were sitting at breakfast when she told me she had a really weird dream.

"Oh, really? What was it about?"

"I was dreaming you had a new body of work." (At this point, I was interested because I haven't started anything new lately and was pretty short on ideas)

"What was it?"

"You were painting superheroes Andy Warhol-style." Intriguing. She didn't have any more details, so I filed that away for future reference.

Fast forward to...May-ish. Anyway, I was looking through a Call for Entries at The Cottonwood Center of the Arts and saw an upcoming show called "Make it So" Fan Art Show and Cosplay Event." Well, this is fate, isn't it? I guess I have to paint some superheroes now, don't I? I ended up doing three pieces and brought them in. All three got accepted, and I was really proud of them.

It was quite fun really...it wasn't a "serious" art show (so low pressure) and we had a good time at the opening with all the cosplay going on. As an added bonus, one of my pieces was reprinted in our local alternative newspaper when they listed the show as one of their Indy Picks. That's the first time I've had anything I've done in print and that was exhilarating to say the least.

What I'm Reading: Grunt

I just finished reading Mary Roach's new book, Grunt. If you haven't read any of her books (like Stiff or Packing for Mars), I highly recommend them. She takes a subject (in this case, the science that goes on behind keeping our military healthy and safe) and answers questions you've never thought to ask, with some pretty hilarious results. She's called "America's funniest science writer" for a reason.

I won't go into too much detail here, but it isn't her style to spend a lot of time on the "obvious" issues, instead going for the stuff you'd never consider in a million years -- think less PTSD, more weaponized odors and designing sniper clothing.

What always strikes me about Mary Roach's writing is her insatiable curiosity and willingness to ask ridiculous questions. I wish I could say that my desire to learn outweighed my fear of looking stupid because when I worry too much about "not looking dumb" I end up missing out on a lot of opportunities.

First post! First post!

Beginnings are hard. I have a second and a third post in mind, but not a first.

Why am I blogging in the first place? I thought it would be nice to share what's going on in my life because my natural inclination is to, well, not. I thought maybe if I talked to you, O Invisible Reader Out There, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Then if you get something out if it as well, hey, bonus! Everybody wins!