Ashley's Day

Like I thought today was pretty much dedicated to Ashley. We both slept in until about 10 AM. Then we started the day watching Cinderella on my computer because she wanted to be close to grandpa. and she has figured out that I am usually at my computer. We sat in the recliner next to my computer desk together and did watch part of the movie between naps. After the movie we had cereal for lunch

I think that at 4 years old she can tell you what we did and even said today much better than I can. I told my wife it is like she has grown a year since she was was here about 3 weeks ago. She is growing much too fast to suit grandpa. We also drew together. She drew pictures of some wooden animals I made for her a couple of years ago. You can even tell what kind of animals she drew. She drew more after grandma came home and we watched another movie altogether. I never see grandma smile as much as when Ashley comes to visit.

We have an angel in our lives over the weekend. This is Ashley who is 4 and thinks she is 16 wearing her Halloween costume. Grandma believes in buying ahead of time. Especially when Ashley is involved. She will take up most of my time this weekend so there won't be any long blogs unless something happens I just can't wait to spout off about.

Stress Test

Yesterday I took a stress test and it was ............well, stressful. That is why I did not post anything. I came home and did more or less nothing. I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and have for the past 8 years. Most of the time I have very little energy and that means I don't move much. I was worried that I might not do very good on the test because I get so little exercise, but I managed 91% of what I should for my age. All things considered that is pretty good.

You wouldn't know anything was wrong with me just to look at me because there are no outward signs for CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) or my other plague which is chronic pain. There is no known cause for either and not a lot of treatment. That is something that makes it hard for people with CFS to get help or even be believed. Many people who are really ill are told it is all in their head. I was lucky to get good doctors who believed me and worked on for me.

CFS is how I got started with art. I was told to find something that would give me a sense of accomplishment because I was no longer working. Art was not the first thing I tried, but it was what I enjoyed the most. I had not drawn, painted or anything close since high school and I didn't think I had much talent then. I was pleasantly surprised that I could do a half way good job.

I want to thank the person who posted to "Another Wasted Day' for their kind comments about my art. I really do enjoy it and the day lily drawing at the top is what I just finished. Anyone who found my blog has seen that I have several galleries of my work on the home page of my site. Most of them need to be finished, but I have a lot of things like that in my life. I have to pick and choose what I do very carefully using my energy.

A slow day

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome pretty much won today. I have slept so much that I haven't drawn anything or gotten into trouble. My letter to the editor came out in the paper today though. There are a few upset church goers who thought they could treat a little kid like garbage and no one would notice. Some how they don't feel my writting a letter to the editor was fair. This weekend is the last big holiday of the summer. Unlike most people we are not going anywhere. My wife works all three days of the holiday. My grand daughter is spendinng part of the weekend with us so I will probably have more fun than most.

Protect Your Computer for FREE

I Promised a friend I would post a link to some of the best free software to protect your computer and tell what I am using. The site is called Gizmo's and the link to it is http:/www.techsupportalert.com . I put a link to it in the links section on the right side of my blog also. On the Gismo's web site the nav bar is on the left and the 1st link is "Best-ever Freeware" under that it has software types listed. If you want antivirus or firewall software go to "Security"

Currently I am using Avira antivirus and Comodo firewall. I also use SuperAntiSpyware for spyware and trojans. You may prefer other software, but all of the top rated FREE software of any kind is listed on Gizmo's website.

Sleepless

Last night like many nights I slept a few minutes to a couple hours and then the pain woke me up. It is too early to take another pain pill and I would rather not anyway. I guess I will talk a bit about my art and how I got started.

When I could not work anymore the doctor (don't remember which one) told me to find something to do that I could have a feeling of accomplishment doing it. I had been working in a job with a lot of satisfaction to me so that was a tall order.

I sort of fell into art. My wife bought art sets for all of the grand children and I was helping a 3 year old water color paint. I ended up painting some myself and it was not terrible. Not good, but not terrible. I started using my grand daughter's paints and got to feeling pretty good about it so I bought better paints and a bunch of good brushes and some good water color paper. That is how I started painting at the age of 55 when I had not drawn or painted since high school. Just the fact that I was fair was a big surprise. I found out water color painting can be either very inexpensive or very expensive depending on how much you get into it. I got into it beyond my ability so it was an expensive hobby. Water color was just the 1st step down the road though. I will write about step #2 later.

I took the main body of my blog about the church hypocrisy and wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper. If they do not respond I am going to ask the family involved if they are willing to talk to a major newspaper or TV station. Somehow this has really disturbed me that a church could get so far from what it should be about.

CherryPal Computer update

On my Yahoo and MySpace pages I posted that I had been chosen to test a new computer that would only use 2 watts of power. I was and still am looking forward to getting my hands on one to test. There is only one problem. They were to ship on August 1st. Shipping was delayed and I still do not know when they will be available. I called the company today and they assured me that they will ship but there are still some technical issues to be resolved first.

Christian Hypocrisy

I know this is a long post, but I ask that you please read it all. I consider it to be very important. Thank you!

Hypocrisy is a big issue. Especially when it is from one of the major churches in a town. There will not be any names to protect a child and because I do not know all of the names of the adults. If I did know their names I would print them here in large print. They should be ashamed, but I doubt that they are. I do know several members of the church are ashamed of the way the church board has acted and are seriously thinking of leaving.

A young child was molested in this church by an older child several years ago. I have no knowledge of what happened to that older child but I can guess based on what is happening now. It probably did not include any help.

Being molested has obviously left severe emotional scars on the child. The child started acting out in the same manner toward younger children because of how damaged he was and how poorly society has dealt with helping him with his problems. The child has not actually done anything yet, but the good church board members have decided that they can not have their church contaminated by this injured and damaged child.. The told the parent the child is not allowed back to church.

If they had adult supervision things like this could not happen. The first case of molestation should have been enough to open some eyes and see to it that there was supervision. Not so. Children and youth of all ages run free even during the sermon. With out supervision it should be plainly obvious that something else will happen eventually. That is just the way children are.

Are they doing the Christian thing and trying to help the child? NO! They are pushing the child away so it will not be a bother and an embarrassment. Do you think the church board has any idea what Jesus preached? How about “let he who is guilty cast the first stone” for beginners. Who did Jesus say he had come for? The sinners of course! If the church casts the sinners out how will they hear the gospel? The church board seems to be more like the Pharisees who asked the question than the ones Jesus said he came to save. Can you find one place in the Bible where Jesus told a sinner to go away and stay away instead of sharing salvation with them? Of course you can’t because there is no such scripture. I could quote other scripture, but do you really need more?

I know the child and this is not the spawn of Satan. Just a young child who has been injured, confused and in need of help. Instead the church takes the sword of the word, the words out of their mouths, and strikes another possibly even deeper injury. Do you think he will even want to darken the door of a church again? Only if he is wiser and more forgiving than the church board is.

I do know that there will be members of the church who probably will not darken the doors of this church ever again because what has happened turns their stomach. Is it any wonder so many people do not attend church in this country even though they confess to believe in God?

Hawgstock Weekend

This is Hawgstock weekend in Winterset. What is Hawgstock? It is an excuse for a bunch of bikers to get drunk and naked and act stupid. I am not against drinking, but I am against drunkenness. When people get blotto they have no inhibitions or self control. I am not against nakedness either, but there is something about public group nakedness and drunkenness combined that seems wrong somehow. Of course most of the nakedness will be the women and most of the drunkenness will be the men. The whole thing has been deemed legal by the courts, but that does not make it right in the eyes of the majority of the local citizens.

That leads to a discussion about democracy and the rights of the majority to rule. Our country has gotten to the point where we bend over backwards to not offend one person that we take away the rights of the majority. That means it is no longer truly a democracy. If it were a democracy then the wants and needs of the majority would rule rather than the wants and needs of one. In the attempt to not offend anyone the government is offensive to everyone. I know there are many people who are better at putting things in words, but I think everyone knows how I feel now.

Oh Yeah! You might take a minute to look at some of my art and let me know what you think of it.

Another wasted day

Day two and I am still playing with fonts and colors so hopefully this day will look different. Like every day, I wonder where it went and I have accomplished so little.

We did get some new additions to our reef aquarium today. A fish that I don't remember the name of but it is black with a bright neon blue stripe,Three mangrove plants that are supposed to help clean the water, A red algae plant, 11 new snails ( we paid for 10) and two star fish that don't look very healthy so far. They have barely moved so I am thinking we will be trying to get them replaced.

I spent a good part of my day replying to drawing club forum messages and private messages. Then my sister stopped just to talk which hardly ever happens. She quit her job and is getting very bored at home.

I have been thinking the last few days about how we barely know the friends we make on line. On one hand we will tell them things we don't tell our friends and family when it is face to face. On the other hand a part of us lives in fear that the person on the other end is some sort of predator who will come visit us in the night if we tell them where we live. Which is it? How do you really know you are talking to who you think you are? If you bother to read this I would like to know your thoughts. Are there people you know you can trust? How do you know?

I sure haven't written much about art for having an art blog so far have I.

Larry's Art

My art is what this blog will be about when I remember I have a blog or think I have something to say. It probably will not all be about art. It might be politics or religion if I feel strongly enough about something to post about it and if I think anyone will read it and maybe at least think about it.