BettyPehme - an art blog

BettyPehme: "-

I ran across some of her work a few months ago and was very impressed. We exchanged emails just a little bit ago and I was directed to her new blog. I'm still impressed, maybe even more so...

Now I have to get busy and clean up my own art blog...

Getting old...

Wally Herger is getting old. He has held his safe seat in Congress for 24 years now and we pay him $174k a year (plus benefits) to do whatever it is that he does. And that is always what the Republican leadership tells him to do. Nothing else. This year he is being challenged by Jim Reed, a centrist Democrat with little funding from the Democratic Party and no hope of unseating Wally. Mr. Reed has challenged Wally to debate and Wally refuses. Then, Mr. Reed intimated that Wally might be showing early signs of Alzheimer's. (Based on stories he had read in a local newspaper) OMG! You would think that a bomb had gone off...how dare he say that! Of course it was actually a kind thing to say and Wally should take the time to see a doctor and make sure of his health. He should do it for us. After all, his idol, Ronnie, spent the last 4 years of his Presidency in the haze of Alzheimer's and perhaps Wally wouldn't want to do the same. We certainly don't want him to...

What I found unsettling was the reaction of everyone to the word 'Alzheimer's'. Mr. Reed didn't say 'Syphilis'. Or Gonorrhea. Alzheimer's can strike anyone, it's very 'democratic' in that way. And avoiding the word won't make it go away. And avoiding a debate on specious grounds makes it seem that this particular disease might have found another victim.  

PolitiFact

Obama says most job losses occurred before his economic policies took hold:

Yes; four million jobs lost by the Republicans. Now that we're regaining some jobs, the 'people' want to go back to that business model. Go figure. I'm baffled...

U.S. Economic Growth

Picks Up Slightly : NPR:

See the graph? Way down at the bottom is the date where Bush left us. Yet here we are (but not me!) ready to elect the same crooks that got us into this mess. Why on earth would you elect Republicans again after what they did to you? And will do to you again. Guaranteed.

Once again

The silliest of seasons is upon us; it's midterm election time and although I may have started out by calling it 'silly' it is far from it this year. Those who wish to harm America are out in force this time around and are doing whatever it takes to get themselves elected. Truly; I don't remember a time quite like this. Lies and liars abound on the far right. It's hard to find the truth spoken from the candidates of the rightwing.

I've been voting for a long time now and I will continue. I cannot concede a thing to these evil forces
idiots misguided citizens. It's truly an all-out assault on our intelligence this year as 'intellect' is something that the conservatives have always hated; as they know that an intelligent voter will never vote for the conservative agenda. Sure, there are intelligent 'conservatives' but this year they are being lumped together with progressives by those of the lunatic far right with a conservative mindset. With these people, there is no middle ground and so any conservative official who fails to buy into the tea party ideology is targeted for dismissal.

It's hard to believe, but it is almost 2011. A full decade into the 21^st century. And those idiots
fools that are fooled by the tea party ideology believe that it's still the 18^th century and we need to live as the Constitution dictates. Which it never did. Never has. But you can't tell these people anything. If they had their way, all the Amendments would be repealed. Especially the one regarding slavery. And women. They don't understand or read history, they simply parrot whatever the Koch brothers tell them via their stooges. Oh, if only they could read!

But they can't and so we're stuck with these idiots tea party types until this election cycle is over.

On the bright side…we will survive this assault on our liberties. Hoover was a tool of the rightwing. McCarthy, the drunken fool tried to ruin us and so did Nixon. Reagan and the two Bush's made devastating runs on our freedom but we're still here. If the Republicans take the reins of power again it will be only a short time before they are revealed as the true idiots
fools misguided leaders that they are. Or were. It's two steps forward and then one step back whenever the Republicans take over from a progressive administration. We're still making progress but it is so darn slow!

I'm hoping that the polls are wrong on some of these races and I have good reason to believe they are. I read an article recently which explained the trouble that pollsters are having; cell phones. Almost 30% of Americans have given up their land lines and pollsters hate to shell out the bucks to call you on a cell phone. So they are calling a large number of older citizens and these also happen to be the few who will even sit still for a poll. Most citizens under the age of 50 are quick to hang up when they are asked to be polled.. It's much older citizens that make up the sampling base so you can see the demographics being skewed in favor of conservatives and unfortunately, this is also the group that votes more often.

There is one poll number that I do like and that's the one that shows Jerry Brown leading over Meg Whitman. She does have more money yet to spend and spend it she will. She's certain that being governor is akin to being Empress and all will do as she says once elected. Not! She was a CEO once and everyone did have to obey her, but the legislators, a Democratic majority, will do as they please because she has no political skills…and she can't fire them.

Back to my painting. Writing about politics has soured me and I need to vent with some bold colors on a big scale!

"Race Tightening

In Final Days Before Midterm Elections" - from Liberal Values: "-

I thought this was well stated...

"Regardless of how the Republicans do, long term they cannot overcome the facts that their reactionary views are opposed by the vast majority of Americans. A party which requires supporters to believe so many things which are contrary to fact, which denies modern science, and acts contrary to human desires for individual liberty, will not thrive in the twenty-first century."

Once again

We fall behind. The US of A has fallen to 49th place in life expectancy. Ten years ago we were in 19th place. And during those ten years (7 under a Republican Administration) we spent more per year on health care than any other nation. Facts don't lie. Yet we seem poised to elect Republicans to high office once again. Are we stupid as well as in poor health?

Makes sense to me...

...the word algebra comes from the Arabic language (al-jabr, الجبر literally, restoration) and much of its methods from Arabic/Islamic mathematics, its roots can be traced to earlier traditions, most notably ancient Indian mathematics, which had a direct influence on Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (c. 780-850). He learned Indian mathematics and introduced it to the Muslim world through his famous arithmetic text, Book on Addition and Subtraction after the Method of the Indians. He later wrote The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing, which established algebra as a mathematical discipline that is independent of geometry and arithmetic. The roots of algebra can be traced to the ancient Babylonians. (Modern Iraq)


I confess, I got a D in Algebra. But, the next year, I received a B in Geometry. Go figure. It's a Personality Type thing...


Anyway, I have a feeling that my youngest grandchildren won't have to worry about learning Algebra; not once the word is out that it's really a Muslim plot. I knew that...

From Corrupting Conservatives:

I'm Not Discouraged; I Am DISGUSTED

Even though I'm trying not to waste my time writing of things political; others do so much better! I ran across this post (link above) in my Feeds and really think it should be read by many. By all. Of course you have to read the whole thing! It's not that long and you will be a whole lot smarter when you finish...

Another weekend

And another 4+ miles. Plus the farmers market. And a trip to Lowe's and Home depot to see if I could get some very large pieces of cardboard. 'Ima Wizer' told me (comments in the last post) to start thinking and painting 'LARGE' and so I was going to try...but to no no avail. No cardboard at all. Now I have to look around town or perhaps I could contact Janet Turner (see the last post) and ask her where she buys it.

Since neither Lowe's nor Home Depot carry un-tempered hardboard, I had to buy some birch panels to make some 'canvas' to work on. But I really like these; much nicer to paint on as they can be scrubbed hard with the brush. Plus, I enjoy making the wooden frames to support them.

Early this morning (4:30) I was cutting up tomatoes and roasting them in preparation for making sauce. By 5:45 I had a pot full of juice, spices and garlic simmering on the stove. This afternoon we went out to the garden and picked another 20 or 30 tomatoes. Those will be sauce in a few days; except for the delicious 'Carbon' tomatoes...those go in the salads.

I did finish another painting and this one is also on birch ply. I really enjoyed painting it; putting heart and mind into the effort. It's titled Christmas 1944.

Back out to the 'studio'...I have another canvas calling me.

Last weekend

It was a good weekend. We started with our usual 4 mile walk in the park and then continued on to the farmers market, only an additional quarter mile. We browsed and enjoyed the sights of all the fall produce. We noted that tomatoes are really decreasing in price as the last of them hit the stands. There were tomatoes everywhere. It would be a good time to make some tomato sauce and I just happen to have three baskets of them from our own garden so there was no need to buy any. Finally, with a cup of freshly brewed coffee in my hand, we made our way back to the truck and drove home…only to return in just a few hours. Saturday also marked the second weekend of the Open Studios art tour and we wanted to see what was being offered to view in the local art world. We started with a visit to the home of Michael Mulcahey. His garage is his studio, much like mine, but he had his work lining the walls of his house and it was great! I asked him about the framing he used and he gave me some tips as to how to frame my own pieces. Cheap. I really liked the size of his paintings although I would probably be intimidated by that size if I tried one of my own. I have to work on that fear. After leaving his home we toured some other not so memorable studios until we got to the home of Janice Porter. She was busy working on projects while standing at a table in her driveway. She showed me how she used 'door skins' for support for her paintings, an idea that I might try for those larger pieces that I hope to work on some time. Janice Porter is married to Anthony Peyton Porter, a writer that I much admire. She was also working on some fantastic cardboard creations. She used a small craft knife to cut away, in a design, just the top portions of the cardboard sheets. Then the remaining top of the cardboard sheet was painted, leaving the brown underside revealed wherever she had cut it away. It's hard to describe and I couldn't find a photo anywhere on the 'net. Anyway, they were spectacular and they were pinned to the outside walls of her house for display. I wonder where she gets such large flat pieces of cardboard? They were at least 5'x3' or larger. After leaving the Porter house we drove over to a very old building that houses one of the few remaining blacksmiths in the state. Here, Dave Richer does his magic with iron and steel. The website doesn't show his latest creations; stainless steel bowls. I won't attempt to describe them as I couldn't do them justice. A few more stops and then it was time to go home…where I am looking at two large and blank surfaces for my imagination to fill. They're only 30"x30" but that's gigantic…for me.

In the past

In the past, I would wake up early and start reading the blogs and the on-line newspapers. That would usually generate enough steam for me to post half a dozen pieces on this blog. But now I paint. I still get up early but now I'm reading the blogs of artists along with my usual dose of news. Then I go to my studio (the garage) and work. I have at least four paintings in the works and hundreds more in my head. And I'm getting better. My skills are increasing and I'm not quite as scared of the white surface of a new canvas. Since I'm a painter of abstract art, some people will never know that my skills have increased...

We have a new order in our lives and it begins each morning (after the paintings are set aside) with a trip to Chico for our 4 mile walk in Bidwell Park. The park has already begun to show signs of the change in seasons and it's beautiful. Good for the soul! Then we go for coffee or do some shopping before heading back home. Then it's back to the art until I have exhausted my ideas for the moment and everything I have painted is wet. Around 2 PM it's time for a nap. Now that I have a CPAP machine, I strap the appliance on and 'oxygenate' for an hour or more. It works and I feel better, more energetic, when I wake.

Today I had to mow the orchard after I woke and I also picked tomatoes (a dozen!) and harvested a good amount of walnuts. The pecans are very close to being ripe enough to be shaken out of the tree. I should also mention that I saw the first tomato hornworm of the season. He was about 2 months too late but he was trying to catch up. His appearance made me angry enough to pick him off the plant with my bare hands (yes, I did!) and threw him as far as I could.

After that it's usually time to read for awhile. We will read for a few hours and then it's time to make dinner. I'm preparing some Red Snapper tonight and will try steaming it for a change.

After dinner it's time for a Netflix show. We watch one episode of 'The Good Wife' each night before going back to our reading. Yes, it's a pretty quiet life now and I'm not really sure why I decided to give you a play by play of today's 'life'? I just kept on typing and the words made their way onto the blog. Oh, well...

Our boy in Congress

Little Wally Buffoon is at it again...doing exactly what Mr. Boehner wants him to do and ignoring the needs of his constituents.
 

Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act - Vote Passed (237-192, 4 Not Voting)

The House passed the final version of the financial regulation reform legislation in June.

Rep. Wally Herger voted NO......

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Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act - Vote Passed (247-161, 25 Not Voting)

In August, the House passed this bill to provide $16.1 billion to extend increased Medicaid assistance to states and $10 billion in funding for states to create or retain teachers' jobs.

Rep. Wally Herger voted NO......