This weekend was Galveston's ARToberFEST, which is a kind of silly name, but whatever. 4 blocks were blocked off, and various artists had small booths showing their artwork. Some stuff looked like it required actual skill; some of it looked kind of cheap.
I was looking for a male nude, specifically to give viewers apoplexy in case I volunteer my place for the loft tour next year. I think I found the artist that did the nude from this year- he had another but it wasn't what I wanted. Not subtle, kind of ugly, would stick out compared to everything else in my apartment, which isn't quite the idea. There were no other similar paintings, and only a few photos, which weren't artsy enough- they would give the impression of relations or old boyfriends.
I did get my sister some earrings for her birthday, Christmas, or a combination of the two.
Moody Gardens was also having a bit of a celebration on Sunday. I planned to go, but by the time I got there the parking lot was nearly full, so I bailed. I also saw a girl [around 8 years old] walking with an older woman. The woman had that combination of symptoms and things that brought to mind "heroin addict." Who knows, maybe she was dying of cancer or something, but... whatever.
I felt furious and sad driving home, and I took the long way. And quite possibly for nothing, they may be a perfectly happy and loving mother-daughter pair.
And on a completely unrelated note, did you know Houston has one of the highest rates of samesex couples with children in the US? San Antonio is #1. That includes both couples who adopted and who are raising biological children related one or both.
I'm still not convinced someone can be hypnotized that easily, but this is a pretty f-ed up thing to do to someone. Appropriate for Halloween, though.
H/T: Carl
By the way, the guy in charge has a site here.
Instapundit has a link to a Washinton Post article, which started the discussion. Briefly, fewer and fewer kids are being taught cursive. The Anchoress bemoans this trend, saying " the de-emphasis of penmanship is simply another manifestation of the devaluing of the individual over the collective."
Maybe. But for this individual, cursive writing was a freakin nightmare and a horrible mistake. I had an extremely solid private education, grades 1-12, so the quality of teaching wasn't the problem. However, I apparently had a decent block writing style in elementary school, but when we switched to cursive, my handwriting crashed. I had really bad, nearly incomprehensible handwriting through most of school, in spite of several attempts to correct it. Finally, a 10th grade biology course required fast enough notetaking that I had problems deciphering my own notes, and I switched back to print, more or less. It looks kind of weird, and I can pick out my handwriting almost immediately [it would be quite difficult to forge, the style of letters change depending on position], but it is quite legible.
And a subnote: one of the least comprehensible scripts I've seen was from a nurse who wrote beautifully, but incomprehesibly, in cursive.
So, keep cursive, egyptian heiroglyphics, and Norse Runes for art. For trying to communicate information, printing.
So far, no evidence to suggest a terrorist attack, which was the big headline when I first hit CNN. Instapundit, of course, has the link.
This weekend was the loft tours. I ended up going and participating, mainly because a lady in the apartment was looking for volunteers to work for a couple of hours, and get a ticket in exchange.
A fair number of buildings, a couple of which apparently backed out at the last minute. One loft behind an art gallery where the owners lived [lots o art everywhere, one piece that I really wanted {a small metal scupture of an abstract griffin with an owl's head}, very low ceiling in the living area. One apartment that was one of two or three, had a cool balcony. Several buildings worth that were decorated by an interior designer, so the realtor could sell the condo. A couple that were in theory lived in, but looked sterile enough I had to wonder if they were primarily vacation homes. One person had done some cool things with posters, adding paint, glitter, hearts, etc, and then framing them. A Mardi Gras Galveston poster looked especially good.
And then there was the Strand Lofts. Two apartments, one older woman, one guy who works as an interior decorator. The woman's had some personal touches, like some clothes [used as decoration] that had been her mother's and grandmother's. The guy's apartment got a few comments. It's fairly obvious [to me anyway] that a gay man lives there- one nude male painting [penis present but not obvious], one small picture of some naked guys standing [no genitals showing], one copy of a turn of the century photo of a bunch of miners dancing together. He's done some fun things with the space, including what looks to me like a Buddist shrine. All very artistic, nothing pornographic.
At least one woman went on a tirade yesterday, reportedly insisting that if such horrors were to be shown, there should be a "not appropriate for children" warning. Which makes me want to plan to be on the loft tour next year, and specifically buy some male nudes for the place. Preferably, male nudes with owls involved somehow.
None of the places could come close to touching my parents' house when it come to antiques. Or my grandfather's place, for that matter.
Ok. I've been without AC for about the last 2 weeks. Possibly would have been a shorter period of time if I had been more outspoken, but partially because the apartment manager [who is quite competent] was on vacation, leaving his manager [worthless, as far as I can tell] in charge.
New AC, possibly installed incorrectly. Had to order new parts, etc. Finally fixed yesterday. Closed the window, cranked it up. Nice.
Yesterday evening, noticed this large insect flying around the ceiling. Nope, it's a bat. So, turned off the AC, opened the window. He still hasn't taken the hint. Try again tonight, he seems to be taking a nap.
Lucifer, George Lucas, they're so close.
Via LlamaButchers.