Monday, December 29, 2014

I KISSED THE POPE'S... CROSS

 
 
 
 
It is true! I kissed that cross that the pope directed towards my lips. And I did so without thinking. It was a reflex action upon an involuntary action, by the Pope. About 100 people went before me. I was not in line for that. I was last in line following my Celebrity friend, who was embraced by the Pope, her Pope, as this is her Church... I wanted a picture of her against that background. The Pope gave me permission, as well as many pictures I wished to snap.
                           
 
 
I thanked him, as he pressed the crossed
to my lips. Well, I was not struck down,
I received no thunderous revelations but,
strangely there was a quietness in that
event of gentle authority and a kind face.
 
 
You perhaps guessed by now that this was not Pope Francis

but the Pope of the Russian Orthodox Church, in Forth Lauderdale, Florida. The deeply ritualize sermon lasted for  two hours, even as people paraded in and round lighting candles and kissing, with obedient reverence, the many pedestaled and gilded icons.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Pope walked about frequently and respectfully waving his belled, incensed smoking chalice at all of the icons.
 
I watched silently and wondered why I was not feeling anger or critical. I did though, reaffirm my conviction, as I listened to the prayers and thanks to the fantasy Jesus and Lord in the heavens and wondered why decent adult human beings have submitted to such a fabrication. The choir master and his small choir of three really did do a great presentation, mixing and integrating singing song prayers in perfectly sequence  with the Pope throughout the entire two hour service.
 
The little church was also adorned with colourful stained glass window icons
 




 
As I review the pictures I remember the event with peace in my mind and body. There was a playfulness about the place and the Pope's own words were basically... "Have mercy and be kind to one another"
 
Selamat tinggal      Rod     rod_malay@hotmail.com

 
 
 
 

 

Sunday, December 21, 2014

High Mass - Confessions of the Artist


(Correction to the previous blog: A Sad Woman… A Sad Man. The paragraph beginning with “It is all fascinating and absolutely frustrating…” is a reply to MacD from Xrod, about half way down in the blog.)


The following exchanges between me MacD and me has compelled or challenged me to re visit some graphic oil paintings I did in 1993/1995 on the subject of religious dogma. She calls it “nonsense”, referring to dogma. I understand the word “nonsense” to mean a “bit of silliness“, that has rained terror, death and physical destruction upon humanity and the earth for generations, centuries and even millennia. Have we heard any apologies or explanation or seen any remorse for the unimaginable human atrocities at the hands of those who professed to know the word of God. I cannot imagine any graphic image that could replicate the horror of that reality. Yet I feared aghast and deafening silence from an apathetic public, at least in my own mind, if not in reality at the sight of my works, which represent a period of my life where I was in deep search, deep conflict and ignorance of Christianity and “spirituality“. However, those works were a significant part of my struggle to find enlightenment, conviction and truth on the human journey,

I worked in secret, with a technique of figurative abstraction, to disguise the imagery because I was afraid of authority. The irony was that I myself did not know what was emerging on the canvas. I would start applying paint with no preconceived concept, working consciously, purposely as a child. If nothing was connecting with my consciousness, I would wipe it off with turpentine and start again. Each wipe off would leave a ghost of the layers before it. Eventually and always, parts of an image would begin to emerge. Then I was onto something.

Fundamentally, I am a figurative painter but, detest realism, as ultimately boring. Photography does a better job at that. So, I would work at those emerging images until figures appeared in the fog of abstraction around it or them. That’s where I knew I had to leave it... unfinished?… perhaps! Like this one, which I call “HIGH MASS” , loaded arrogance, sperm and blood in a field of chaos or in a “theatre of war“. That placed me in personal conflict with the religious indoctrination embedded in my psyche.

If I was angry, I was suppressing it… even to myself but, I was taking great pleasure in the actions. I felt a mindless need to strike back. And no doubt, the passionate relationship with Arri Kanina during that time was profoundly important. She participated, never criticised and was always there for support, as I thought at that time, which was decisively important to me and a powerful influence in the sexual elements, for which I offer no apology. I was thoroughly enjoying the art of it, even violating, dismissing the divinity of the “Golden Ratio” for the instinctive (genetic) imperative…not concerned if the light was from one or multiple directions.


                                                                   
                                                            High Mass


When the works were finally realized on the canvas I would title it with religious language metaphors, like the painting above… High Mass. Followed in subsequent paintings with: The Creation of Adam; (Creazione di Adamo); Amor Invigor This is My Body; The New Covenent;


MacD
I am revisiting my statement that all "religion is bullshit". It's not quite accurate and quite a lazy opinion. More true is my position that religious dogma is nonsense, although some common core tenets, such as peace and brotherly love, have value to society. Unfortunately, the organizations are corrupt, and they insist on rules of exclusivity, meaning their way is the only way. The "I am right and you are wrong" righteous thinking has disastrous social implications, which we have seen historically and continue to suffer today.

We are all 99.99% identical, genetically. It's that .01% difference, and religious dogmata that has us killing each other, now and throughout history.

I think that in the bigger picture, non of it matters


Xrod
Where did “Peace and Brotherly love come from? Who created that? That is the question. One assumes it came from the origins of religion which I doubt. Did you ever read the book by Joseph Campbell... Hero With A Thousand Faces. It’s been years since I read it and really must do again. All religions continue to promote a fantasy and has concocted language embedded with this fantasy. Hence, it is still a dangerous institution, that usurps the forces of nature and promotes conflict and war, while at the same time pretending to be saintly with their centuries and millennia of flaming appropriation of human ideals. Ideals that do not need the face of “religion” to be proud and honourable.




                                        Creazione di Adamo (creating Adam)


 
 
 

MacD
Hebrews 13:1 continue to love each other as brothers and sisters

There are many references to 'brotherly love' listed in the Bible, as I discovered via Google. However, that still doesn't determine where it began. The Golden Rule….to treat each other as we wish to be treated. Same thing….not sure where that began. Early philosophers?

But the point I make is that it is a beneficial tenet in many religions, regardless of its source, and remains central to many religious teachings.

Why is the source so critical?


 
Xrod
That is an interesting question and it disturbs me... can feel that in my stomach... need to think about why my reaction to it. Will get back to you after I give it some thought.

Xrod
Your question came across to me as a voice of authority, in the face of which I lost my confidence years ago. I spent my whole life in profound fear of authority. Your question harkened me immediately back to those stomach sick times in my life. I am sure you did not mean it that way. But it struck me that way… like catching me off guard.


It was an excellent question and I thank you for it… reminding me of my weakness. It is ironic that my art deals with that head on. Virtually every one of my art endeavour scares the shit out of me. Basically, I am a whimpering coward. I should be a nervous wreck by now except, consequently I am protected by some mysterious limitation that prevents me from taking real risks or making real challenges to the debilitating mundane social code.

Nonetheless, I am determined to challenge that which I feel is immoral and ingenuous. I grew up in and around religion. All my siblings are religious believers, on one level or another, as are some of my friends in Halifax past and present. I do not fight with them and get along amiably but, my guts are turned over on a regular basis. That culture questions nothing and complains about all the sin in the world and “Jesus” is the only way to salvation. None of my family talk about my art and virtually avoid appearing art my art shows. Those who do come do so only patronizingly… pretending. That does not bother me except, why do they, with smiling faces simply accept all the corruption in the world. So they go to church to have the theologian absolve them of their apathy, which they label. “… love each other as brothers and sisters!” Fundamentally, it means nothing to them. And some brothers and sisters kill each other, as do mothers and fathers because, their lives are meaningless or so pathetically boring. The “brotherly love” garbage does not work. Yeah, there are some martyrs to the cause, but are they happy.

The cause has to work. But look at the poverty, the greed, the dying children, the devastation in the world. Go and get your theological absolution in the culture of apathy, with the “volunteer” pats on your back, until we blow ourselves up. And keep angrily, impatiently blowing your horn at the slow driver in front of us, on our way home from church or to Tim’s to sit around “solve the world problems” before we have to get home to watch Jeopardy, or Dragon’s Den or some other piece of mindless commercial propaganda.



Yeah… who knows where “Brotherly Love” comes from but, don’t use it on me. It is too loaded with vested interest, insincerity, patronization.






                                          Amor Invigor (raising Lazarus)


Yeah, maybe I was angry and ranting but, no apologies offered.

 Ok... “Why is the source so critical?”... it was probably corrupted from some genuine act of kindness because, it certainly is meaningless these days. It would be an interesting etymological investigation.

Ciao m’love


MacD
I am quite moved by your response, and you're correct….I certainly did not intend to be authoritative or to evoke stomach churning. Unknowingly though, mea culpa. Quite naturally and routinely I pose similar questions to myself. Examining the roots underneath the opinions we form is not something many people do, it is usually painful. But how can we be clear about our intellectual premises if we don't question the emotional undercurrent that takes us there?


Our biases form the basis of how we view the world, and if we are looking for truth, we need to be aware of the filters we see through. Whenever I see anger, in myself or others, I know there is hurt or pain beneath it, sometimes not clearly connected to the angry voice, but there nonetheless.



Your self perception surprises me. Through my eyes you are one of the brave ones….defying the pressures of conformity to live truthfully and express it through art.

Socrates said "an unexamined life is not worth living"………he chose death over exile or forced silence. Most lives remain unexamined, like sheep being corralled by corrupt leadership without question.



In friendship,

PS I love the pink fat lady.


MacD
I can only speak for myself, hence all the "I"s that follow.


There is a constant seeking motion in my life, like a current. I listen to people espouse their views, some I am in complete disagreement with. I either walk away, or consider how they might have come to those conclusions. I'm rarely tempted to argue with them because their eyes are closed and they can't hear. But sometimes the source or bias of their opinion is quite clear. Sometimes I can pose a question that makes them think, but not often. I pose the same questions to myself all the time. "What is my true motive here?" Am I seeking attention, praise, confirmation, manipulation? It's important to me that I am honourable to myself in the real reason for my action. It's kind of a self-checking behaviour.

When I find myself adamantly for or against something, I check my motives. Have I closed a door or opened one in my mind. I don't know any other way to discover whether my bias is leading me to react, or if my curiosity remains open and active. The practice of this has led me to be less judgemental (I hope) and more open to ideas I don't currently espouse. I'm seeking to find my own truth, not by getting caught up in the untruths of others, but by staying open and seeking onward. Their beliefs are their life sentence, not mine. But we learn from others. Sometimes being exposed to a new mind can be a gift that results in clarity, or a new way to consider something.

Where I fail miserably is in contributing to society. How can I do this? What can I contribute of meaning? And so all of my knowledge seeking and examination is self serving, and that makes me a sad woman. Those who have the ability and truthfulness to contribute positively, on whatever scale, are my heroes.

 

 



Xrod


"We ought not to die before we have explained ourselves to each other"   Thomas Jefferson to John Adams

I have inserted this attachment in one of my blogs... probably you have seen it.

Maybe that is the first step in “brother and sister” love. I do not feel the impulse to question whether I am seeking attention or praise. I act upon the first impulsive thought in my mind. That comes from the source, like “A Sad Man” project. It broke out and demanded action. Then come the other thoughts... public praise, confirmation, manipulation, success... unavoidable fantasies, which I put aside and get busy with the doing. The ‘source’ being that genetic library on the human journey.

 

Recalling the image of the initial inspiration is the most difficult task, lest the nuances become manipulation from my corrupt mind. I must simply be the

messenger not the editor. I saw a picture of it in my mind and I must re-create that, to the best of my ability. This takes me back to my art school days when the instructor would tell us to look very quickly at a subject/model. Then look away and draw what you remember. The picture you would draw will not look at all like what you saw. One had to be true to that lightening flash memory. The nose may be much bigger, the eyes pop, the lips are angry, the ass is fat or skinny, the model would be happy or angry. It is amazing what the mind receives from the real person in an instant and the difference from one student to another... fascinating.
Wow... what a treat you are MacD!!! to drag all of this out of me and to share your feeling and perceptions. Reminds me of that song by Kris Kristofferson that Janis Joplin belted out so eloquently... Me and Bobby McGee... “Bobby shared the secrets of my soul”.


 
My arms are all cut up with the chicken wire... looks like I have been in a fight with an angry feral cat. I am using the wire to create the body shape for A Sad Man. Am actually wrapping my body with it... in sections... will need nine modular parts, legs, pelvis, torso etc, then cutting them off after shaping. Six parts are completed. When all the parts are completed, I will wire them together and it will be my body shape. And I have the power to make myself six foot six... not a mere five foot eight... Ha

MacD
Thanks for that, and good luck capturing that first image of The Sad Man.


After writing to you this morning, I thought further, and decided I could sum it all up by simply saying….

I try desperately not to buy into my own bullshit.

Such is the struggle...

 



End of discourse with MacD
 

 

I speak not from authority but from conviction, which invigorates my quest.

This was not the state of my mind 20 years ago when I was engaged in that ‘93-’95 painting series. I had no answers nor questions… was simply vacuous but inflamed with passion and terrified of authority.




 
                                This is my Body (take and eat in remembrance of me)



 
 
                               The New Covenant (take and drink from this Holy Grail)

 

 

I think it was not possible for me to reach my present level of consciousness without having first exorcised the mind blowing dogmatic indoctrination seated deep in my genetic memory bank. I might rightfully say that I just got here as of yesterday, so to speak loosely… to this level of clairvoyant conviction

 

 

Salamat tinggal                               Rod                                rod_malay@hotmail.com
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 





       

Monday, December 15, 2014

A Sad Woman... A Sad Man





Intro:
The following is a series of email exchanges between myself and a dear friend I thought I had lost contact with for the rest of eternity. But, the joy of social media resulted in a re-union… digitally speaking. And what a joy, as well as an intellectual challenge it has been. Viewers might simply label it a typical rant between old friends. But, it has been great fun to date. And she has given me permission to publish these exchanges, verbatim. I do hope you will find a little fun in the reading. Minimal editing was necessary for clarity, to ease transitions and to establish anonymity for my friend.



 
MacD.
Subject: hello my good friend!

Well Lord Jumpin' Bye!!! It's so good to finally connect. Looking through

your blog and facebook page I'm smiling broadly because the man I knew as

Roddy still shines on!! Power to you! I can feel your energy all the way

to here.

We are still kicking and living… although leading a much quieter life than you, Rod!! LOL. And enjoying every simple moment of it. Lots of changes in my life after a serious car accident 10 years ago. It affected my body but not my spirit or brain, and truth is I'm on a tremendous journey of expanded consciousness, aligning with the shifting world paradigm, and finding the home of my spirit. Life is exciting! The world, government, corporate politics, religion....it's all a mess

Glad to know you are out there crusading.


We're moving to a new property next month, but my number and email is the

same. So happy to connect again! Send me your number again.

 

XroD
I do not answer that number when I am in USA. But, I just got Viber. Do you

know that system. Anywhere in the world for free as long as the parties both

have viber and are in WiFi areas. My Hollywood celebrity wannabe has WiFi in

her condo.


 
MacD
So sorry about the email address.....which is no end of trouble.

Anyway, sounds like you have been very busy my friend.

Can't wait to catch up on all your news.

Enjoyed our chat today!!

I've re-read your Facebook post about Rex/Jian It still hits like an angry rant. Perhaps that is your intention. What I believe has drawn the ire of some of your women facebook friends is:

a) lambasting Rex for his opinion against Jian (Didn't hear/read Rex so I am assuming) which seems to position you in support of Jian.

b) then follows an intimate description of rough consensual sex you experienced and the notion that slapping dogs induces excitement because they will keep

coming back.

c) your call to followers of the ART to step up in support of....Jian? Rough Sex?



In my view, the story of Jian is not about rough consensual sex, but about the alleged physical assault as 3 women have laid legal charges. Joining the two subjects infers you are in support of his taste for rough sex. Many now see this as his excuse for violent behaviour.

The view of women here is heavily skewed in favour of stopping assaults against women. We've known men that are violent....many of us have been assaulted or suffered with a friend who has. It's a delicate line to walk, as a man, when you discuss this subject.


No matter how deplorable the behaviour media, if he is guilty, he should face the full penalty the law allows. Until then he is innocent
.
Perhaps one needed to see the Rex piece to fully get what you were saying, but I would expect few have.

My personal choice is to recognize, albeit with distaste, the media frenzy, the growing number of complainants etc., and try to understand the true root of the problem in our societal structure that leads to these issues being dealt with in this way. Finding solutions is more important to me than the shock value of a rant.

I've come to the conclusion that government, politicians, media, business.....(everyone therefore) LIES!! We live in a society with an extreme focus on self-interest at all costs, at all levels. It is what has made us so sick.

I have much to say on this subject, but truly I prefer to be encouraged by the positive steps taking place to create a kinder world.

 

XroD
Great to get connected again… what has it been… 20 yrs?
 
Did you get my blog address: www.shakethedevilofftour.blogspot.com ... over 14,000 page views so far, since August this year.


MacD
Got a glimmer of understanding on my part.

So, your writing is raw, uninhibited, free of influence, and impulsive. Such is an artist.

My writing is not about the outlet of writing, but to express thoughts and ideas in a way that the reader understands, hopefully clearly, my point, thoughts which have been considered on my part in advance. Does that make it contrived? Perhaps so.

I've always loved the series of silk-screened prints you created. Loved them. I'm not sure if I ever told you that I used one of your prints in a university class presentation, for a course I was taking at York University.






Nails

The course was about comparative thinking....Einstein vs Van Gogh, science vs art. I brought your print of the eagle and the nest with many mouths to feed.


Crowded Nest

 

I handed out a sheet of paper to everyone and asked them to write down what they thought the image represented. Then I collected them and talked about how a simple image can induce many different and valid reactions/interpretations. I read aloud the notes. It was fun and enlightening----responses so diverse. I concluded by saying that art can be valid with many subjective explanations, while science is limited to objective, empirically proven deduction.

I really enjoyed that


 

 
XroD 
“Perhaps but, inhibition/influence still corral me”

“I am somewhat inspired by Kurt Vonnegut as was his ability, not always easily comprehensible but, powerfully comprehensible. Words do not always communicate thoughts but complexity, to trigger other states in the genetic bank of humanity... states of feelings or action or impulse...like love perhaps or violence or inspiration, without explanation.”
MacD
My interpretation of Facebook:

It is a 'short message' vehicle. Most of it is nonsense. People today are accustomed to texting short cryptic messages rather that talking to each other. Unless it's a facebook page used specifically for publicity, the general public writes "postcard" messages to friends and family. I have one friend on FB, the daughter of a close friend, who posts a different picture of herself every week, and then waits for the hordes of 'likes' and 'oh you look so beautiful' comments. Makes me sick. And she gets them, every week.

I have read that 80% of communication is facial expression, body language and tone of voice. It is easy to misread the intent of a quickly written message. The medium is not without its faults. And, of course, Big Brother is gathering all this data.....creepy thought. I have 21 friends on facebook, too many in my view. I prefer one on one to public broadcasting. But that's me..

 

XroD
It is interesting for me as to what came out of my commentary and the response to it... along with also, the media commentary on women abuse.... a new work of art... a sculpture, which I will title : A SAD MAN. I will see if I can pull it off over the next few weeks in Florida, while in the company of a woman who does not like my art. A challenge, for sure.

I am in Bangor Maine, after an exhausting rainy night drive from Halifax... very little sleep. But, some relief came with the USA Border office being even a bit friendly... checked my passport and wished me a good trip. Like before, I was expecting hours of a harrowing van search and multiple repetitive interrogation questions from very intense officers. This has been my treatment on most past crossings... So, I decided to change my entrance strategy.... by not crossing at night time, when officers have nothing much to do except to harass late night travellers. So, I waited at the Canadian side until this morning. The sun was shinning, the officer looked rested, had a good cheer welcome, check my passport, had a few easy questions and sent me on my way.

So, I am now southward bound.
MacD
 
I'm not surprised by the title "A Sad Man". Would that relate to the global castration of men you mentioned? Interesting subject. I feel sad for men in that regard too. The world has certainly changed. Who is to blame?

Right now there is a lot of media coverage about the actual castration of young girls in Indian culture. Horrific, and even sadder, it is so ingrained in their culture, mothers insist upon it for their daughters, else they will not marry. Be prepared for hot rebuttal re your sad man. Many women will say he has only his brothers to blame, likely me included. (I'm smiling....I know you can't see that).

The Burka.....wonder who thought that one up. Would that be men not wanting other men to see the hair, the face, or the body of their woman?

We've enjoyed tremendous personal and sexual freedoms in our culture...but loss of trust in other humans is the payment we've made for it.

Here's a question I'm asking my close girlfriends, who are all wealthy, retired, living a life of leisure with beautiful summer homes… winters all over the place....and rife with self-indulgence:

"If we each had a bank account entitled "Contribution to Society", what would your balance be?"

 I'm getting some interesting responses, but all of them talk about 'giving' in terms of how happy it makes them, or would make them if they did. A Sad Woman. That's me, on this topic. Can we not give, without it pointing back to our own self-serving interests? We are a society focussed on "me", no matter how you cut it. It all started with my question to them "What is important to you, enough so that you act on it with purpose....other than health, family, friends". To be happy was the response, to love yourself, another, to enjoy life.

A Sad Woman. That's me.

 I'll send you my second email to them, sent this morning.

Keep the faith.

Love


MacD
 
An old Buddhist saying "each man must wash his bowl"-----I heard/read this years ago and it has stayed with me. I've used it many times to get back to the basics when thinking about life. So what does it mean, at least to me?

Responsibility. First and foremost, for oneself. Each well person has the responsibility for not being a burden to society. Secondly, each well person must do their part of the work to make society whole and healthy. I've personally taken it further to mean we should not leave society in a deficit for having been here, and we must replace what we consume in some way. Think of the Contribution to Society Bank and our meagre bank balances. What have we 'taken' from society? We might think that by paying our taxes and keeping our lawn cut we are being good citizens. Really? Have none of us benefited from society's generosity? Have we ever been helped by volunteers? Each man must wash his bowl, and when that's done, wash the bowl of someone who can't.

That's our responsibility. Our entitlements are many in Canada, and yes we pay for social programs to help others, but we've also been given the opportunity to earn money by being educated here and having jobs available to us here. We didn't have to move to another country to hope for a better future. All four of us are more fortunate than most, in fact, incredibly fortunate. So we've taken care of washing our own bowls, made ourselves happy in amazing ways, then what?

What else is important to us beyond ourselves?

 

XroD.

First we must take care of ourselves. We have to accept that as a biological imperative. Lest we die, consequently then… no human race. Well then that might have corrected the DNA accident that has lead to this strident occupation of the homo sapien on this earthly paradise… left it to the four legged creatures.

But, we are here and we are unapologetically arrogant and have inherited, by some command to pro-create and to dominate. And we can all survive together… two and four peds and the creatures of feathers, of air and weather.

And, we as individuals are first, not over all things as in “Heaven and Earth” but, to share and care… which we have not learned well as yet. But, are on our way. And what beauty human invent and construct in this world… granted… to satisfy our insatiable minds, such an ingenious complex organ, that is as deep in and as rich and mysterious as the external space, filled with dark holes and universes and message loaded microwave backgrounds.

We come first but, to learn to share this “paradise”. That will be our ultimate donation.

 
MacD
…to be honest, I'm still not sure what you were trying to say in that post.

You have to assume the reader hasn't been following your thoughts prior to your writing it. I understand what you were saying about Rex and the Media. I agree. After that you lost me.

All writing leaves an impression. Be clear what you wish to impress upon people with your words.

Facebook is not a good venue for anything longer than a cryptic sentence.

Hope this helps.


XroD

 
Yes, so true. That is either the fault of the writer or the reader. That I have not yet figured out. My expectations are not high of the reader given the centuries of entrenched, cleverly devised mind control mechanisms... for example, Christianity, generically speaking. Now, that is one brilliantly successful advertising campaign... not yet successfully modeled upon by modern myth makers... with millions of book sales and trinket icons trashing up earth space.

 
Rock Of Ages
 
 
I have no expectations or disappointments with Facebook. It is what it is... a profoundly vacuous social media outlet, that is obviously an important instrument of star narcissistic connectedness, However, occasionally an important event emerges, of some social significance.

Since you have not included the email to which you refer, I am a bit limited as to a full response, without assumptions. However, my objective in all writing and art is to achieve a profound level of ambiguity... far from the death throws of rhetorical reaction... the ambiguity that leaves the observer in that tantalizing state of wonderment. That is a high ideal but, not outside the realm of the possible, as there are numerous successful achievements in this regard. Leonardo De Vinci imagined humans could fly. Today, we are not only flying around in jet planes but we have just landed a space probe on a comet, 400 million miles away from earth. That boggles the imagination. Mozart has written music that is as powerful today as when he wrote it and it still inspires new/creative music, as in our own great Glen Gould, even from elements that Mozart himself did not see in his own creations. I am listening to Kurt Vonnegut and understand little of his brilliant gibberish yet, he inspires me.

I think the language of words should not intend to instruct but, to inspire. I find reading often results in phrases or words, that rise out of intellectual context for me but, not to what the writer may have intended. Those phrases or words take me into a whole new realm of thinking and I may never get back to that book or paper. It has served a purpose for me, has triggered a new thought that connects me to the genetic library of human evolution. From the emergence of that first cell of life, in that cesspool of toxic chemicals, 3.5 billion years ago, our cells have stored billion and billions of genetic memories, which continue to influence human behaviour to this day. I am trying to tap into that but, not by conscious dismissal, rather by investigating states of emotion or those disconnected feelings that appear in my mind or body without explanation or understanding. We all experience them but, let them pass or employ a psychologist to provide us with an answer (most often his or her faulty assumption, at best).

 My new work of art, A SAD MAN, appeared to me in this way, I believe, from that genetic library. And it is connected to instinctive evolution, with new element/ideas attaching themselves by the hour, to the original idea. What is the SAD MAN. He is a man evolving or digressing from social predator to eunuch. In physical reality : A SAD MAN will be a life size sculpture of a man, loaded with subtle, ambiguous, literal and nuanced visual elements, that may declare the state of the modern male psychic. Let’s see where this will go on the Miami art scene.

Cheers my friend...
MacD
Roddie, I reread my last email. I don't think it fully captures what I would say to the facebook universe on this subject, but I get the sense you are trying to create a dialogue of sorts or reaction from friends? Maybe you could explain that to me.

I would like to understand more of why you choose an invective, ranting style of prose to get your point across. That interests me.

You are indeed the Artist. I can tell you now that I'm sure I would be intrigued by A SAD MAN. From predator to eunuch. Interesting.

I just put today's Nat'l Post paper down. There is a story by Robyn Urbach called "Keep This Creep Out Of Canada", about Julien Blanc, an American who teaches men how to pick up women. His courses attract men unsuccessful in the art of pick up/make out, and teach aggressive techniques, including choking, to get a woman in bed. These are apparently on video and his social media sites. Japan has banned his entry, and now Canada has said it will prevent his entry for some upcoming tour dates. It is with this story in mind that I think of these men going from "eunuchs to predators" through his instruction.

It truly is a complicated world we live in.


How are you managing on the roads? We've got snow here, or icy slushy something. Hope you are getting to the warmer weather by now.


XroD
Yes... I have already signed a social media petition to keep that prick, Julien Blanc, out of Canada. But, now, in retrospect, I ask… where is free speech. Let him come and lets see how we see ourselves when we look in the mirror after his presentation. Let’ s not hide our selves from ourselves, our biases… lest we shall fail the test and make no progress.

 

 
Sun Skirt
 
 

It rained freezing snowed here in South Massachusetts last night and I slept in my unheated van. Tonight, I sleep in the home of my Catholic Priest cousin in Attleboro... a lovely cousin. Tomorrow I will visit Nellie, in Connecticut, have tea with another cousin and then drive on to Virginia to visit another cousin for tea and maybe stay the night and then drive non-stop to Florida. 
MacD
Not good weather for sleeping in the van without heat! It will be better sailing from hereon in. If you don't mind, I'm sure I will have further musings to email.

 

XroD
Look forward to the further musings!!!

 

MacD

“That Lady Again”

No more typicality. No more instructional emails.

 
Xrod

Let me interrupt this discourse to explain what MacD refers to in her last comment above. I wrote a blog article called: That Typical Lady Again. I was referring to some of her comments above, where I felt she assumed I needed some instruction on how to write or even that I was requesting suggestions on my writing style. She also concluded that my writing on the women abuse issue was a “angry rant”… “arrogant” …and “invective” ranting style, I believe she used… a word I did not understand but will never forget… a great word.

Well, in fact, I was not soliciting any of the above instructive commentary. I was very careful in the words I chose, creating as much ambiguity as possible. MacD did somewhat pick up on that, which other readers did not and kind of lambasted me, as supporting violence against women. But, I penned back and advised them to re-examine what I wrote and the words I used.

I wanted them to think, rather that react because, that is the action of so much of society today… REACTION! Mindless REACTION. We are not “innocent until proven guilty”. It is “shoot first” and ask questions afterwards. Everyone is running scare, scare of their own shadows and that includes the police forces all over North America. The media has only to push the digital button and BOOM!, every one starts running in mobs to “Hang’em High”






                                                       Conquest At Emania



I figured I may have offended MacD, especially when I received the following email from her.

 


MacD
No more typicality. No more instructional emails. It is not my desire to incite, but rather to uplift, and useless rants are too costly a energy source. So it has left me, and I am smiling now.

Time for another one of your followers to step up.


XroD
I wondered if she blocked me as a result. Would there be no more emails? Well I decided to wait it out. But not without a mental examinations on a series of my own assumptions on her feelings and conclusions which are rarely ever right and which I most always keep to myself. I actually had more faith in her intelligence than to concluded an emotional reaction. But, finally I sent her this question, weighed with levity.

Are you smiling?


 
MacD
Had a rather good invective rant of my own on the arrogant typicality of the misunderstood artist. But, alas, it is not me


Xrod
Actually... incite is synonymous with inspire ... which is to “uplift”. You made a lot of interesting references here. I am not sure that rants are “useless”... not to imply that you are saying that all rants are useless. But, perhaps all rant are useful…. and arrogant is pejorative in this case... perhaps a lazy descriptive… a kind of mirror on oneself.

I am so happy that we are talking again. Well, am in Florida... arriving in a torrential thundering lightening down pour... perhaps to wash away my sins!!! 

MacD

I'm sure it must feel warm under all that rain!! Woke up to a winter wonderland with snow falling today. And it's bitter cold. But my happy news is that my energy has been good, and my pain minimal, so I've been able to get a few things accomplished. You never know what you'll miss till it's gone, and doing normal things is something I miss quite often.

Happy to hear you have reached at least the panhandle....smooth sailing from here on in.


 
XroD

Great to hear that your pain is somewhat relaxed.. Energy is good...

You are a stalwart girl my friend!!!

MacD
Enjoying the weather?


Buffalo, just 30 minutes away from us, is under 5 or 6 feet of snow! We have just a little snow, but it sure is cold. It was minus 15C last night.

 

XroD
Wow... It so cold here... 66F...Ha!!! But that is cold here... Need to put a sheet over me in bed at night!!!

MacD
Well just getting organized here... Needing to get my internet up and running... A little technical issue to solve here... tomorrow to sort things out!


XroD
... how R U?
Things are starting to level out here a bit. Mission one underway... friend is
enrolled in beauty school... on her way to stardom .

Mission two...am now spending time digging into the Miami art scene... think I have found the locations: The Design District and Wynwood District, adjacent to each other... did some research, places look somewhat like home in Halifax north end, the cultural mix zone of that city... hippies, architects, artists, musicians, professionals, prostitutes ... So, I sent off a package of PR material to Toronto, to my manager...CalPal .

I did a show in Halifax last Fall (2013) and first time looked at the video of that last night ... wow... what garbage... unprofessional bullshit! Boy... I have a long way up to reach the bottom of the top!!! But, I do not know the difference between the bottom or the top. I simply never question my motive, not on my intellectual radar... no wrong or right in my mind, no expectations of failure or success. There is a simple yet irrepressible inclination to follow the “gut”.

It is like I have been genetically dumbed into this mission in life. Like George Chevalier... could knock him in the head with heavy weight punch after punch... but on one could knock him down , not even Mohammad Ali. As with me, I feel totally right with it all... no amount of debate can change the path of my appointment. And I do not think of it as that rubbish… destiny. This takes me back to my favourite subject... genetic evolution and being born on that pathway at a particular time, in the gene pool of two people and the marriage of those DND states.
MacD


Interesting! Love to hear more of your favourite subject. I've been interested in Epigenetics of late, and find it fascinating stuff. Jian has been big news lately....he has been arrested. The Fifth Estate did a show last week where Media brass were made to explain their action/lack of action. You can likely get it online. The interviewer doesn't pull any punches and you'd likely enjoy it.

Enjoy the sunshine.


XroD 

The epigenetics discoveries are fascinating... my interest is a little different perhaps ... dealing with memory but, there might be a deep connection. Will have to explore it a bit. Mine is more a feeling then scientific discovery... feeling or “inspiration”.


 
MacD

Is this a personal theory you have developed about the evolution of your own DNA?


XroD 

“Developed” may not be the process. It is more a conclusion, from empirical data. The first cell evolved by photosynthesis in a toxic pool of gasses and it reproduced itself... from ”genetic” memory? Well, that is what I am going on and over the next 3.5 billion years that process...”memory” or instinct or organic imperative has multiplied exponentially trillions + times into plants and animals... bio-diversity by errors and extinctions and misfits... right up to arrogant homo sapiens. Do you think it is possible, inside the billions of genes and cells contained within the human body that we still harbour the first memory, that strangely emerges in the oddest thoughts, action and dreams, that we call “destiny, soul, apparitions. spirit and all that religious bullshit and after the emergence of consciousness some smart asshole struck upon the idea of vested interests... eureka!!! Power over the weak, corruption, violence, wars, poverty, hunger... world wide strife. If we got rid of all the intellectual crap of social constructs and went back to that great evolutionary divergence and started again...might we come up with a different world?

I am still looking for home.
 
MacD

I am still searching for 'home' too, though I'm on somewhat of a different thought train. Did you know we share 25% of our genetic makeup with dogs? You may be onto something, Malay.

I believe there is more than we see, more dimensions of life than our human limitations afford us. What is it now?....12 dimensions have been discovered....I don't think we can fully comprehend it all with the mental and physical resources we possess at this time.

All religion is bullshit. But that doesn't mean there is nothing else to consider. Just nothing that we have specific knowledge or proof of. As I child I had a near death experience (drowned in lake and revived by brother...parents not around). I'll never forget what went on in my head during that time, and afterward for years, until the age of about 12, I could focus on something and experience absolute unity with all of my surroundings. I thought everyone did this, and I wasn't mature enough to know otherwise. So I KNOW there is something else. I know it. Just don't know what it is. I am a seeker.

Is your mission to discover the truth of the inner Rod, or is it to express your inner truth outwardly through your art?


 
XroD
No... my mission is not the inner Rod, as I, like you, am factually the vehicle in which the truth of all humanity travels and is harboured. It is my art mission to express that. Do you know that we are “less” than 1% different than an ape and not too much further than a chicken and certainly are tree relatives.


Your drowning experience is fascinating... resurfacing genetic memories???

 
MacD

The memories of my drowning experience were very real observances of actual happenings in my young life...nothing like I might have remembered them, but as they really were. I could feel adult sadness as an adult, and childish play as a child in the same scene, and in another and another. And later, I could focus for two or three seconds in a crowded noisy room and feel completely part of the entire room....walls, plants, air, people...while still knowing everything that they were saying or doing because it was all connected as one. Then I would shake my head and be 'separate' as it were. Never told anyone about it because I thought it was what everyone did normally.



Humanity is comprised of predators and prey. In a study 3.6% of high powered corporate CEOs scored high enough on Hare's Scale of Psychopathy to be diagnosed as actual psychopaths, where 1 to 2% is the average within the general population. Only a small percentage of psychopaths become serious criminals...more become corporate bosses. Our corporate society rewards ruthlessness, and lack of conscience or empathy. All that matters is the bottom line. Money, money and more money.

All of the ugliness, injustice, greed and vulgar opulence exists all around us. Our society is very sick, and our world is sick and in jeopardy. And all of this is known.

To point out more examples of this isn't my interest. Rather finding solutions interests me.



 
XroD
I might consider that I am living here with a psychopath, which I am trying to humanize... Just a thought, given your notes.


I think we know the solutions and they are embedded in a rich bio-diverse complexity. The best I can do is use /produce my art with this complexity in mind and hope, by some process of osmosis, it defragments the social/metaphoric layers that blanket our clarity and our humanity. It is a bit like scratching through a concrete wall with my bare fingers.

Don’t have any friends at the Ontario Art Gallery, do you per chance?

 
MacD

Sorry, no contacts at AGO. Maybe 20 years ago, but not now.

I believe I lived with a psychopath for 8 or 9 years. His daughter first pointed it out to me. They do walk among us. And once you become aware of the traits, you can think back to others you may have known.

Very manipulative, often above-average intelligence, always seeking thrills and success. Clever, which to me is more than smart. Have learned through experience how to 'act' empathetic, always to benefit themselves in some bigger plan. At the core they do not know how to feel another's pain, and are not able to empathize which in our society sets them up to have no conscience. They know exactly how to extract what they want from a situation, and often leave spouses and partners in emotional turmoil. They may be sensitive but not sentimental, though they can fake it.

Ah Roddie, I can feel those bare fingers scratching at the wall!


 
XroD
She is a fucking psychopath (my unprofessional assumption, of course)... your description is perfect, absolutely!!! Fortunately, I have been aware of it but, missing the description... thanks. Look up on Google: Bad Romance Criminal Casanova Arrested. That is her… charming, evocative, beautiful! Channel 7 News Broward County Florida. She cleverly uses the victim instrument to solicit sympathy... self preservation? How fortunate am I, to be here in her company. I feel no threat! “Everything is material” Lulu says... regarding her film writing.




 
MacD

Being aware of it is much to your benefit, as you can protect yourself but only if you are careful. It would seem to me that what you have with her now is more like a market transaction. You teach her/help her pass her course, and you can enjoy 6 months of sunshine and new artistic endeavours. Win win. I hope. …


Just checked out the Criminal Casanova clip....looks like one psycopath outsmarted another psychopath. He knew her weakness......$3million inheritance.

Oh, I forgot to mention the most important thing.....psychopaths are incapable of love as we know it. Anyone or thing that they appear to love, is loved only for the pleasure/benefit/reflection it returns to self. Always.


 


XroD
Absolutely!

What is the difference between a psychopath and a sociopath

 


MacD

Question from a friend.....is your present experience moving you forward?

 
XroD

Interesting question.

Today... it does seem like the tanker is moving forward. Nana had her first day at school yesterday, her determination to succeed seems elevated, as does her confidence... pride in herself. This has relieved some of my doubt about her lack of inner dependence. And she does not seem so psychopathic. Of course, I have become somewhat of a keeper, relieving some of the day to day stress in her life with meals and dog duties. She is going at the task 24/7... part time work and now school. But this can also be self enabling. We’ll give this arrangement a little more time.

I have now got back at my art tasks... in short, it is all going according to plan... at the moment... and am still pumping out my social experiment, blogging messages to the masses but, perhaps not getting any feedback. Except the view count is continues to climb... 13,410 to date. I am metaphorically like a mad scientist, dropping bits of calculated silly juice into various test tubes to check reactions but, not sure of the results as yet. The magic elixir has not made itself evident. I have ordered the material for the “Sad Man” project and will try to find an art venue for that in the Miami Design District, which seems quite exciting... at least from search engines. Will make a visit there in the days ahead.

Well my dear caring friend... does that answer your question.

So, what about YO! How does your search go... into those distance places, the universes within. I found a bit of inspiration, reading some of the internet stories on Stephen Hawking. So will do a bit of further research on him and his scientific proclamations and ideologies. There is a movie coming out on him and his wife, based on a book by his wife, titled: Travelling to Infinity. Movie title: The Theory Of Everything. Perhaps you have read some of Hawking. I am just getting around to him now.



 

 

 

 

 
MacD
As long as you are good with the experience, as it were.

Yes, I've read Hawking, well, as much as I can understand anyway, and have followed his programs. The whole field is fascinating....parallel universes, the 'god' particle etc etc. Many interesting new findings, or theories of findings, such as new thinking by the discoverers that the black hole theory wasn't quite correct. Enjoy the journey.



Did you get my email about your painting of the fat woman and her fingernails?


XroD
OH... AND WHAT WAS “THE BLACK HOLE THEORY’?

MacD

The internet.....I both love it and hate it at the same time...I referred to black hole theory being not quite correct when I was thinking big bang theory.



The Big Bang Theory is evolving, as with all theories. When physicists establish these theories, mathematical equations are used, but always there is the 'x' unknown factor, which is given an educated guess value. The x factor gets tweaked along the way. Recently the thinking is that the compressed atom which created the big bang had to come from something and not nothing. Compounding the dilemma is the more recent understanding that 80% of space is dark matter and not 'emptiness' as once thought, and that dark energy is contained in dark matter. They just don't know exactly what dark matter is or how all this impacts accepted theories of how the universe began. It is not to say it is incorrect, but not quite correct. There are string theories, parallel universe theories, hologram theories. I'm not clever enough to understand them or to pursue understanding them, but I am interested in dark matter. It fits with something I used to ponder years ago......if we think of ourselves as fish in the ocean, are we aware we live in water?



I believe that our universe is a grain of sand in a giant ocean, and that at mankind's most brilliant, we cannot conceive 1 billionth of the complexity (or simplicity) that it is. I think there is a wondrous, complex, simple and beautiful matrix depicting a connectedness of which we are not even aware.


It is all fascinating and absolutely frustrating, because, even if there are many universes, paralleling each other, then what contains them? Is there an end to the container, an inside and outside. And, is the container contained within a container. My blood boils because, there is no answer to this question And there is this thing called Andromeda, which is charging toward our universe and will destroy it. and that “is not far away”, as Christopher Hitchens used to question in his arguments against a God... “whose design is that... and that is just 500 million years away and that’s not long” in universe time.
I bought a book called “The Universe From Nothing- Why There is Something” by Lawrence Krauss where he outlines matter and anti-matter. string theory, etc and then I went on the internet and watched just about every lecture he has given.. as I did with Hitchens and bought his famous book: “God Is Not Great”.

Wikipedia: Lawrence Maxwell Krauss (born May 27, 1954) is an American theoretical physicist and cosmologist who is Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University and director of its Origins Project.


I really want to jump off the end of the world but, as Hawking says, ‘”There is no end to the world, it’s round ”


 

 


MacD

I chuckle because we are creatures not able to find a cure for the common cold, yet wise enough to claim that no Creator exists.



We will never know, can never know in our lifetime.



Your last blog.....loved the paintings in the series of 24.

 

 




XroD
Ultimately, probably you are correct but, I suspect the God we knew in 1 AD was rather an ignorant one, steeped in paganism and herbal cures and with vastly little understanding of the sciences, what there was of the day. It seems to me that the religion of modernity can be accused of a parasitic ride on the back of science throughout the ages. Science continually redefines itself with theology following on it’s coat tails. Science has amassed a monumental library of empirical data.

Whata ya think... am not trying to be argumentative, rather investigative.

 
 
MacD
Well I do believe all religion is bullshit. Some religious organizations, even today, are fanatically dangerous. Not just the ISIS or Taliban types either. What we've been taught about religion is largely the work of mankind rather than a Diety. It is the organizations that are corrupt, particularly the Catholic Church. At the core, most religions preach peace and compassion---so there is some benefit to their society. I think churches grew out a need mankind has for order and hope, and the rest is about power and money.




"Science has amassed a monumental library of empirical data"----Well, yes it is true. But what if that only represents 1/1000th of a percentage point of what is to be known? Is the argument Creationism vs Darwinism? If so, when did Creationism begin? What if it began before time as we know it? What if it began before the big bang? Science has proven that it didn't happen the way we were taught in Sunday School. I'll buy that. I buy Darwin's theory too. But I believe we are only scratching at a tiny piece of the scientific picture, and there is so much more science to be discovered before we can even begin to understand Truth.

I believe there is a collective consciousness within all mankind. Can I prove it? No. And I'm sure my thinking is going to expand and change as my own growth allows or limits. It has already been proven scientifically that consciousness can exist outside of the brain (fascinating stuff if you decide to look into it). I know there is more than what we see and can prove at this stage of man's evolution.



 


Xrod
Intriguing. I had not heard of such promising facts(?) as quantum theory of consciousness travelling to other worlds/parallel universes... never dying, in other words. An interesting “theory”... can it be more than that... I do hope so, as that would justify my whole existence in this realm... giving me a whole new outlook on this terrestrial existence. And Stephen Hawking will never die but, surely would be transported. Or perhaps he is in fact straddling many universes/worlds.



I just did a little reading on this and find it curiously distracting that the word “soul, with all of its religious associations” is used in the description of travelling in parallel universes.... such antiquated, suspicious terms in relation to cosmological science and “quantum” physics.

Actually, I always find the term “quantum” confusing... does it mean the sum total of all in a particular field, like mathematics? or the total of known facts about gravity... etc. Thanks... you just gave me another trajectory to investigate to see if I can elevate my level of believability in the continuity of conscious energy.

 


MacD
The question I have struggled with for years.......how can we, a not-so-evolved, ego-driven species in a tiny, insignificant spec in the enormous cosmos, think that we know the questions, let alone the answers? We do not yet even understand how our own brain works. If human evolution is a ladder of a thousand steps, I suspect we are hovering on the rung just above "barbarians".



 


Xrod
Could you have imagined, a few short weeks ago that it would have been possible to land a space craft (about the size of a washing machine) on a comet travelling about 135,000 km/hour and about 400 million km from earth. Apparently, the Rosetta space craft had to travel 6.4 billion km to get there and ten years. I am so amazed at this feat.

Human intellectual advancement is admirable. .. and it ever expands that which we do not know, as it should do and as it does, with humility and graciousness and with profound anticipation. I see no negativism in this, which is coupled with mind blowing discoveries and inventions and longer life spans.



 

 


MacD
Yes, that indeed is a mind-blowing accomplishment for mankind. Our technological advancement is astounding considering we are not far removed from the generation that witnessed the very first flying machine or first automobile (I can remember milk being delivered by a horse-drawn wagon in downtown Toronto!). Yet we still engage in war and brutality. Our social development has not kept pace.



In the 1970s I read a book by Raymond Moody called "Life After Death". He had recorded hundreds of interviews with survivors of a near-death experience. He was the first to do this, though now the subject is being studied and researched everywhere. Perhaps due to my own experience in childhood, I've been drawn to this subject ever since. It seems like every decade or so I go back to it, each time learning more, but ultimately being put off by references that my own bias rejects. I decided to alter those references as I read them....for instance, changing the word God to Source, or Soul to Consciousness or whatever. I tried not to get hung up on a word, or a particular person's choice of reference, and to view the overall idea of their experience. I'm sure by now I've read over a thousand accounts of this phenomenon, and many related books both critical and supportive. It opened some amazing avenues of study for me. And those avenues eventually brought me to my belief in a connected consciousness. That has been my journey up to now.

If you want a mind-blowing example, google Mellon-Thomas Benedict. His 'death' experience is spectacularly detailed.


 

XroD
…do not like to sound negative right off here. But Mellon-Thomas Benedict sounds like more religious bullshit to me. I checked him out just now and the commentary following one of his interviews was mostly God references. Makes my stomach turn.



I do believe in a connected consciousness but, the sources being the genetic library of evolution. These so called NDE I read as (genetic) memory recall combined with manipulated fantasy, generated with smart PR by vested interest advertising executives, from the time of Greek Gods (and before), up through Christianity to the gods of Fifth Avenue and all their starry eyed mimicking rhetorical parrots. They are not very deep thinkers these NDE dudes.



I am interested, though presently a smidgen skeptical, in the scientific exploration of quantum(?) energy transmission equations and mathematics and parallel universes. That is exciting. We know, synaptic energy drives the brain and locomotion. And it is fascinating that we can press a little digital device to our ear and talk with another person or machine 400 million miles away from earth and even get real pictures back. That is absolutely mind blowing. How does that happen. On what energy vehicles is that travelling. My brain thinks... then... synapt synapt synapt and my tongue move a mouth full of air and that little digital device picks up the waves and sends a message to the moon. It is quite possible for a person to send a verbal message to that little washing machine craft on that comet and that Rosetta’s little hand will write a message from earth on a comet rock.

 

 

 


MacD
I'm chuckling here.....I could have predicted that reaction. We each travel our own journey. I don't see religion in his experience, but I understand that is how it reads.

 

 

XroD I chuckle also.... that makes me totally rhetorical... or You!



 

 

 

MacD Or both.

 

 

 

XroD Yeah! but, I know I am

 

 

 


MacD
I am religious about not believing in a Religion, be it Hindu or Atheism because it means that one has closed the door to possibilities currently beyond one's scope. Even Agnosticism proclaims a stance of not knowing. But I feel I do know there is more. And so I say, all religion is bullish.

To me there is not much difference between a Bible-thumping Pentecostal Baptist and a table-pounding atheist. Both are adamant believers of their religion.

 


XroD
There is a contradiction in that... there cannot be an “atheist” if there is no God... they are opposite sides of the same coin.. and not worth much ... a wooden coin in other words. I used to always find those hypocritic idoitologies intriguing and now they are just commercial annoyances that pop up, involuntarily on my screen.

I am not a “believer”... they are simply war mongers.

 


XroD
Would you mind if I use our discourse again in my blog... so much fun!!!???

 
MacD Go for it.
 
 
MacD Just don't call me "That Lady Again".
 

XroD What should it be; Typical Lady Typical Man???

 

MacD I prefer The Enlightened

 
XroD Too arrogant
 
MacD We could call you "Grasshopper".
 
XroD
Too rhetorical? Too boring? Too Hollywood? Too faddish?
 
MacD

Such is true. But I don't think either of us fit "Typical" in any sense. But I guess it will do.

 
XroD

I like to play it down a little... some modesty, humility and let others grade it up, if they choose. I do this in my art, simply explain with no class distinction, no critiquing. Went shopping today... got the materials to construct “A SAD MAN” and will start tomorrow. Should not take more than a week to complete and then I will search around Miami for some art event to wedge my way into.

 
MacD

A little humility is always good. Actually I was just fooling around, but that's hard to communicate on a faceless screen, even with emoticons.

Enjoy making The Sad Man.


Salemat tinggal                          Rod                             rod_malay+hotmail.com Bhushal