Friends who know me well, know I’ve spent most of my adult life on the so-called “pro-leisure tour”. (More play than work).
But the new me works all the damn time. Life is funny like that. But I did manage five days off last week and made the most of it.
Went up to New Hampshire and caught so many bass it was ridiculous.
Just one after the next …
And then two at a time. It helps that my friend, Justin, knows all the best spots where no one else goes.
After the bass we had even better luck with native brook trout. And after that we had lunch.
But life isn’t all fresh caught trout and home made tarter sauce.
After my fishing, my car broke down 100 miles from home. A $300 tow, an $800 repair later … and the grind is back upon me. I’m sure there’s a lesson in there somewhere. Something…
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It’s true.
I found this last patch of snow/ice on a trail
that wends deep into some rock cleft today.
That was some winter, huh?:
Elsewhere on the trail, Lady Slippers are in bloom:
Nothing lasts forever.
Reminder: You can see more of my hiking photos HERE.
And see more of the rest of what I’m doing HERE.
After a long, cold, stupid winter, spring has sprung:
more details at my other blog. (Warning: Snakes!)
One of my favorite things as an author is to see a work re-imagined or adapted into a different form.
There have been live productions of the Ugly Pumpkin, and people have recorded musical versions of Five Little Gefitles.
Readers of my most recent post will remember that my favorite story, Humpty Dumpty Climbs Again, is still connecting with readers, too.
A few months ago I got an email from a library in Waterloo, Iowa asking if they could do a puppet show performance of my book. Of course I said YES. Ever since I canned my agent, I always say yes. (It does always have to be about money).
I hope you will enjoy the show as much as me:
As followers of this blog know, I’ve been taking time off from publishing. Every now and then though, I get email from readers and it makes me think about going back.
Lately, my 2008 book, Humpty Dumpty Climbs Again—which I think is my BEST story—has been reaching new people.
Check out this door decorated at Carkenord Elementary in Chesterfield Twp, Michigan where Ms. Ruzicska’s 2nd grade class voted it as their favorite book in honor of reading month:
Boy, how that made my day.
As did this:
Almost makes a guy want to quit his day job, again.
I wonder if All the King’s Men know I’m still waiting for an apology?
What is art?
Since I recently quit art, I’m now properly qualified to answer that question.
Now to be clear, the age old question was not what is “good” art; the question was simply, what is art. Art is what you do because screw everything else.
Back in the early 1990s, my schoolmates, Tylor, Justin and I moved to Oregon to play music. We spent days and days and days in our rented practice space—the Palace Gallery—jamming our brains out. Fortunately most of it got recorded. And more fortunately, Tylor recently catalogued and uploaded it all to a bandcamp page.
So if you want to know what is art, go to one of the Palace Gallery sessions and let it rip. Deep into some random 12 minute long improvisation you will find art. Not the flowers-in-a-vase-type bullshit, not a grilled cheese sandwich stapled to a pillow, but the real-deal-Holyfield.
Buckle up, and start here:
(NOTE: Click the album cover art above to be redirected to Bandcamp).
Stream and download it all for FREE (or pay money if you want; art don’t care).
No, not that kind of Photoshop … but a Photo Shop.
You know … a shop that sells photos.
Dear followers of this blog: Thought you’d like to know I have recently made some of my most popular photos from Kosherhamdiaries and my other two blogs (Inthewoodstoday and Lightswithoutsirens) available as high resolution prints. Both framed and unframed prints can be found on my Society 6 page.
Look for these and other great images just in time for Groundhog’s Day (Orders placed before February 8th, 2015 will receive FREE shipping. Click the bar at the top of the Society 6 page for details):
Just a couple of photos from the new office, yesterday.
1) the hudson river at dawn:
and
2) Coooooookie!!!:
Stay warm out there …
I’ve never considered myself a Photographer with a capital P, but since I’ve been carrying a camera most of the time these days, I do manage some good shots.
I’ve been carrying a camera so I have material for my two other blogs. Since those blogs have definite themes (wildlife and ambulancing) all the photos I post tend to have very definite subjects (i.e. eagles, snakes, firemen, upside-down cars, etc).
But it’s been a long year, and I’ve also managed some eye candy that doesn’t fit the above criteria. So here now, for your scrolling pleasure, is my year in photos of things that didn’t make it onto my other blogs:
Lights at the Bank
Last of the Ice
Oil and Water
Spring
Bleeding Hearts
Rainbow
Black-eyed Susans
Purple Loosestrife
The “Blue” Truck
N’amshure Moon
Vegas Moon
Spider Web
Cloud
Across the River, Hudson
Hudson River School.
• • •
Well that’s it for that. Happy 2015, everyone. Don’t forget to tip your waitress.
A recent review of a book I illustrated, referred to me as “renowned” children’s book author/illustrator, Dave Horowitz.
Well, I don’t know about all that. But reflecting back as one does while driving to work at 4:30 in the morning, I recalled there are two words out there in the world, which I coined. I figured I should post them, here on the internet, for all perpetuity.
NUMBER 1: FROZENDALE (FRO-zen-dale) n. A winter street festival, in the wacky, small, upstate town of Rosendale, New York.
photo: PHILIP KAMRASS/For the Times Herald-Record
I inadvertently named this festival back when I was living on main street, in Rosendale. I was b.s.-ing with a then local business owner, about the poor state of the local economy, and this new upcoming street festival they were planning, tentatively called Winter-Fest.
I was being cynical when I said. “Who the hell has a street festival in the dead of winter…?”
It was probably about 2º that day. “They shouldn’t call it Winter-Fest… they should call it… F-F-Frozendale.”
The name stuck, and so did the festival: Frozendale celebrated it’s 9th year yesterday.
• • •
NUMBER 2: THE MILLENIUM HILTON (the mil-EN-ee-um HIL-ton) n. A big, shiny hotel in downtown NYC.
Many, many, MANY, years ago—in the early 1990s—I had an internship at an advertising agency in New York City. They had a client who was putting up a new hotel. The task for us eager, young dummies working for no pay, or glory, was to come up with names for this new hotel.
The only direction they gave us was to come up with a list of names that meant big, huge or colossal.
My name, Millenium, got picked. But you won’t read about my contribution on wikipedia. You will, however, read this:
The hotel’s builder chose to intentionally misspell the name with one “n” as “Millenium” on the outdoor signage and official literature, even though the correct spelling of the English word is “millennium“, in order to make the name more distinctive.
Oh, really? More likely, no one noticed that I spelled it wrong: Milennium, Millinnium, I still can’t spell the damn word right without auto-correct.
• • •
Anyhow, only time will tell if I am truly to be renowned as an author/illustrator. But the universe has already spoken that I am at least famous for my cynicism and sucky spelling.
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