The Rains

September 2, 2017 Earnest Painter

Random Photo Day - Rain from Hurricane Harvey

We were not adversely affected by the hurricane that struck the Texas coast. I simply have a tiny collection of pictures that I took of an increasingly rare rainy spell in Central Texas. The temperatures dropped and the lawns and trees were given a much-needed soaking.

Water is the most natural thing in the world. It is necessary for our life, but its force can be the most destructive to the civilizations we have built for ourselves. Things are changing and I do not believe there is a way back. But, I take comfort in thinking that life on Earth will continue, with or without the presence of Man.

Storm

August 26, 2017 Earnest Painter

Carmela contemplates life and weather after Hurricane Harvey made landfall, blessing us with beautiful rain. She is fascinated with water off all kinds - faucets, bowls, buckets, the kind of water that falls from the sky...

We're praying for those along the Texas Gulf Coast, for whom this storm has been more of a curse than a blessing.

Cat on a Quilt

August 19, 2017 Earnest Painter

Carmela, contemplating the world through a window

The first cat I ever owned. She's around 13 years old now, and as beautiful as ever.

Disk Notebook

August 14, 2017 Earnest Painter

So, I saw this at Office Depot, by TUL. And, I just had to have it. I waited a week and I still had to have it.

It's possible that I was just captured by the idea of something new and fun. This is all of those things. It seems innovative enough. As I said, I waited a while... and then ran to the nearest Office Depot to find my notebook. I chose the Junior size, because I like the smaller notebook feel. Also, I chose purple.

As I researched exactly how it works, I discovered that the idea of disc-bound notebooks was not unique to TUL™ or OfficeDepot/OfficeMax. Martha Stewart has her own, and so does Staples. I haven't seen them at Michael's, and I'm not gonna lie; I'm a little disappointed. They seem to be pushing 'Agendas' right now; it seems like this would fit right in.

I should have taken a picture of my notebook, because it went everywhere with me. (Except that one time...)

I'm at a coffee shop without my notebook. It's like a part of me is missing. #writers #journalist pic.twitter.com/MolWPpNCk8
— Earnie Painter (@RatherEarnest) August 4, 2017

I had been looking for a project management system, and this seemed as likely a candidate as any. I can add a calendar in there if I need to. One of the cool ideas is that you can hole-punch any piece of paper and add it to your notebook (assuming you shell out for the hole-punch.) There was nothing stopping us from doing that with 3-ring binders except the space between the rings. The space between the discs does lend itself much more easily to throwing random sheets of paper into the mix.

I soon decided that the small discs were not enough for me. I had ideas of sections that I wanted to divide the notebook into – writing ideas, journal, grocery list, project management sections... So, I acquired a set of the larger-sized discs and quickly disassembled my note-taking system and re-assembled it in the larger version.

My new and improved (?) Note-taking system by TUL™

Now it was just awkward – another reason I would have liked to have taken a before picture. While it was getting crowded and stuffed, at least it held together. These larger disks flop around a bit. I need more paper to hold it all together.

I should have bought more paper while I was at it

I've put all of my pocket dividers and page dividers and everything I have into this. We'll see how it holds up. I'll carry it around and see how it works. It was a bit of trouble to get it all transferred, so I need to work with it before I make the decision to transfer it all back.

All in all, there is a variety of things that you can use to make this work. I do keep it with me and I do write in it. So far so good. We'll see if it can help keep me organized. This together with Evernote and I will be unstoppable.

Houston Museum Day

August 13, 2017 Earnest Painter

The face of the exhibit - literally. This is a mask of the artist's face.

I have piles and piles of laundry to do, and a floor to sweep and mop. Haven't cleaned under my bed in a while. So... it's a perfect time to go to Houston to see the Museums. Saturday crowds? Check. Construction near the destination? Check. Temperatures over 100°? Double-check. Let's go!

Actually, this was the last weekend for an exhibition that I've been wanting to see – Ron Mueck. I've seen his work on Facebook posts, but never thought that I'd see his work in person. I wasn't disappointed. His famous quote is that he never does life size, because he doesn't find it interesting. He either does things that are on a smaller or a much larger scale. Two old ladies confer with each other, a young couple is caught in an awkward moment of new love, a nude man looks skeptically out of his boat, all in a scale from 1/2 to 3/4. Then there's the face of the exhibit – literally. The picture above is a self-portrait of the artist sleeping. It's not enough that his eyes are closed, but each line under his eye is believable, the skin where the face hits the ground is pressed and squished just right and his hair, from a distance, looks just like hair. Whiskers come out of his face and you can see the pores in the skin on his nose. You can almost see a puddle of drool where the mouth is slightly open while he sleeps.

After seeing that exhibit, we ate, had coffee, and passed by the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. Then Barry wanted to go to see something, but he couldn't remember exactly what it was called, just that it was across the street from the Convention Center and it had the word 'Green' in it. After looking for a while, we discovered Discovery Green.

It's a beautiful park in the middle of the skyscrapers, a garden tucked away with public art. We were thrilled to see art by a friend of ours, Margo Sawyer. (I knew she had a public installation, but I thought it was at the airport.) There are green lawns, listening vessels, gardens, public art installations and people milling around. We didn't eat at The Grove, but this is a goal of mine on the next trip. I really wanted to sit in there and have a cup of coffee, but when don't I crave this? We had visited Bosta Kitchen for coffee earlier, so I contained myself.

We watched people dancing tango under the beautiful live oak trees on a wooden deck. They were there promoting Milonga Mi Refugio. They encourage appreciate of the art of Tango dance in Houston, and with Milonga Mi Refugio they have a fundraiser for ACLU. It was the perfect way to end a perfect day.

Thank you for visiting bemol Ardiente. What is your favorite museum? What's your favorite city to visit? Do you believe that people who have passed on can come back to visit us through dragon flies, spiders and other critters? I don't know if I do or not, but it makes me happy to think it's true, so I do. Leave me a note in the comments below. ;-)