Tag Archives: art
Late for class
Trumpery and fantasy
There’s something disconcerting about a presidential candidate whose wife has been photographed in the nude, who has himself been painted in the nude (albeit critically). A single election cycle ago, naked selfies of a political spouse would have doomed a candidate. However, one can’t be embarrassed if one feels no shame. Since that’s how many of us […]
A perfect day
Painting faces
I had intended to announce that I’m suspending my campaign for president today, but apparently it has taken on a life of its own. I’m painting a posthumous portrait of someone who was noted for his conservative political positions. It started out as a fair likeness, loose and easy. Before long my brush was chasing […]
A neighbor I never met
One of my favorite neighbors whom I’ve never met is Jason Philbrook from Rockland. Jason is a photographer; you can see his work here. I know a number of technical people who work to support their photography habit. Most of them have the advantage over the rest of us because they clearly understand what all […]
How to do almost anything
The programmers have spoken. After a full day squinting at monitors at work, they refuse to spend any more time at their computers at home. I am on my own for changes to my website. Bloodied yet unbowed, I press on, summoning up the darkest power of our modern age: I google “How to write HTML.” And, dang […]
Black stovepipes and blacker dogs
Why I never get anything done
The three little propagandists
Yesterday I read the Disney version of “The Three Little Pigs” to my grandson. Everyone knows this story, right? The original story was first printed in the 1840s, but is—like most European folktales—much older. Disney’s print version derives from a 1933 cartoon. The version I read to Jake was copyrighted in 1948. In many ways it’s […]