Category Archives: art

Tuesdays

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Tuesdays are my busiest days of the week. I’ve started going back to painting class Tuesday mornings. I was taking a class in oil and pastels, but the lady who taught that class ‘retired’. So I had no class to go to for a while.

Recently, they started a watercolor class that I’ve been going to for a couple of weeks. Here’s a couple I started last week. I think I need to add something- any ideas?

I’ve always loved art. Wether it’s making my own, or enjoying someone elses. Painting, photography, writing, music, sculpture, dance, etc. It’s all good. 🙂

Watercolor painting is very different than oil painting. It seems harder to me because you can’t easily correct a mistake (or maybe I just haven’t learned how yet). It seems easier to me in that it’s a lot ‘looser’. You can just paint a lot faster, or at least it seems that way to me.

my latest- it’s not finished yet either

After paint class, I like to go to the movies if there’s anything interesting showing. The theatre has specials on Tuesdays. It’s only $5 for the movie and they have a $5 popcorn + drink special. If I go any other day it’s about $20!

Last week I went to see Just Mercy. Wow! I thought this was a great movie. Not one with special effects or tricks, but high drama and a very compelling story. It’s about a black lawyer (Bryan Stevenson) who graduates from Harvard and goes down to Alabama to work with death row inmates.

The film concentrates on his work with Jimmy D (Walter McMillian)- a black man who was wrongly convicted of killing a white woman in 1986. You might think that people would be glad to have justice served. Nope. It really upset me to watch this film and see how wrong I was (am). It amazes me how corrupt our system (still) is- and not just for black people, tho I am absolutely positive that poor blacks get treated a lot worse than rich whites (or rich anybody).

All of the actors did a great job. Jamie Foxx and Micheal B. Jordan played the 2 main characters, they did a fantastic portrayal. I was raging and crying right along with them. I highly recommend this movie. It’s based on a true story. I’m sure there are many similar stories going on today. We still have a long way to go to achieve our ideals of a free country with liberty and justice for all. A long way. This film is a wake-up call, if enough people will see it and take it seriously.

After the movie got me all riled up, I went to my Tuesday night meet up of the Campaign for Liberty. We meet every Tuesday at the Wayside Pub. I haven’t been going much lately. Mostly because it’s so depressing to me. We get together and talk about all the crazy shit that’s happening around the USA and the world. The concentration has been on what an individual can do to remove themselves from the mess. Some people are seriously committed to that.

I prefer to concentrate on fixing the actual problems. Sadly, I still don’t find any solutions at those meetings. I don’t see any way to fix anything all by myself. It takes numbers and the general populace just isn’t interested in anything but having “their guy” win- regardless of how that will harm the situation in the long run. The meeting is just a social event for me now. I don’t make it a priority anymore, but I do still like to go. At least there I can talk to other people who understand my concerns. I wish more people would, but I understand how it’s so much easier to ignore it all. I just wish I could do that myself.

Casa Colon

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I’ve been able to go ashore a couple of times this hitch. It’s just so nice to be able to get off, walk around, see something different, maybe have a nice snack. Try the local flavors. I love to explore, I live to travel! It’s one of the main reasons I chose to go to sea as a career. I don’t get around anywhere near as much as I’d like to, so I take every opportunity to go out as I can.

I’ve never been to Las Palmas, or Grand Canary before. We did stop at La Gomera (one of the other islands) for a week or so and a short stop on Tenerife when I was on the sailing ship in high school. I remember the small town, white washed houses and hiking through the dry, rocky hills to go swimming at the beach.

Las Palmas is nothing like that. 😉

I love looking at beautiful old architecture and the old part of the city- Vegueta– has plenty of it. The cathedral was one great old building, another was the Casa Colon. The house of Columbus. They didn’t open ’til 10, so we (me and my local friend Josito) went to look around a couple of old churches, wander the neighborhood peeking into courtyards, and had a snack. It was still early when we were allowed entrance (4 euros) to the restored house/museum. We were practically the only ones there for the first hour.

After that, the tour groups started arriving and in the small rooms of the house, it got quite crowded and noisy. The place impressed me. Not only the rooms full of interesting articles, but the house itself.

I especially loved the intricately carved designs of the wooden ceilings. I’m pretty sure they must be modern replacements, but I wonder if they’re copied from the original? I tried to ask at the museum, but no one there spoke English well enough to answer my questions. I’ve since sent an email, but no response yet.

I also wondered about the exterior doors. They’re surrounded by a thick stone mantle, carved with all sorts of decorative motifs including 2 large upright dogs. There are priests and centaurs, I saw a mermaid and a cow. I wonder what, if any, the significance is? I assume the large dogs (I think they’re dogs) represent the Canaries (canis is Latin for dog- canine is English). I’m just guessing though. They’re posted at either side of the entrance along with the shield of arms.

  • #interior courtyard, #Casa Colon, #Las Palmas
  • #macaw

Inside, the house is typically Latin. Two stories surrounding an open courtyard filled with gardens, fountains and a couple of brightly colored macaws that freely wander around the place. We were warned, don’t get too close, they bite.

The recommended route through the house starts with a replica of Columbus’s ship. Wooden masts, blocks hanging from the rigging and barrels line the bulwarks. Steps lead up to the master’s cabin where he’d have slept and kept his charts.

From there, you enter a long room with models of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. The ceiling is covered with the zodiac and the walls hung with flags. Continue on and there are documents (copies) from the times of his voyages of discovery including his logs, letters he wrote to Queen Isabella, important treaties like the Treaty of Tordesillas which divided the world between Spain and Portugal.

Charts showing each of his voyages are hung on the walls. I didn’t realize he did so much exploration. All I remember from school was his discovery of the islands of the Caribbean. I know he went to Hispaniola only because I was there and saw monuments to that effect. He actually spent many years exploring the “New World” before retiring.

The ground floor continues on with the theme of exploration, showing the trade from the Canary Islands and the Americas. The people of the Canaries wound up in some places I wouldn’t have expected. Texas, Louisiana and Florida for example (tho I’m not sure how much I trust their figures since their map shows Louisiana up about where Missouri would be).

Further on, a couple of rooms full of antique nautical instruments (astrolabe, quarterstaff, compass, etc) and historical charts from the age of discovery complete the first floor.

The second floor is full of paintings (mostly oil) from the 16th to the 20th centuries. A lot of them (especially the earlier ones) are of religious subjects. The later ones are mostly portraits, but a couple of nice landscapes are there. I’ve never heard of any of the artists, but that doesn’t mean anything. They’re very good. I especially liked the “Bather” and the landscape with a tree.

Then we focus on the Canary Islands, theres a room with models and maps. There’s a model of the original fort that formed the foundation of today’s city of Las Palmas. Another one of the Castle de la Luz. It’s still there, you pass by the ruins in the surf on the way in from the airport. A model of Grand Canary shows the volcanic origin of the island.

My ship is docked at the end of the long pier off the peninsula

In the basement- the “crypt”, the focus is all on the New World. The cultures of the Amazon, Ecuador and Mexico. There are cases full of ceramics and all kinds of small objects. Careful not to step on the graves (I couldn’t read the Latin-or old Spanish- to figure out who was in there), we passed through fairly quickly and back up to the courtyard.

The macaws were entertaining a group of local school kids, so we decided to head on out. I needed to pick up a few things before heading back to the ship to get some rest before going on watch for the night, so we headed up Triana street. It’s a famous shopping street. Pedestrian only, hung with baskets of brightly colored flowers, benches along the way, occasional musicians busking the people meandering through.

It was easy enough to catch a cab back, and only about 11 euros. I spent 9 for a bag full of snacks to last the rest of the hitch. I love all the history here, but maybe next time I go ashore I’ll look for something different. 😉

Early Morning Vegueta

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I’ve been working here in Las Palmas, Canary Islands for about 3 weeks now. This hitch I’ve been working nights on the DS-11 (drillship-11). I like it. It’s been pretty quiet so far, so I have some time to catch up on writing and photos. I can even go ashore once in a while in the daytime when things are open.

It’s not often we get the chance to go ashore any more as mariners. At least not when we’re working for any of the oilfield companies. It makes such a huge difference in crew morale. I don’t even know how they get away with it. In the Deep Sea fleet, companies must pay overtime if they restrict us to the ship. No such thing in the oilfield. 🙁

I do very much prefer sailing deep sea. Of course I would be doing that if I could. I have been looking for the opportunity to get back out there since I was laid off my last ‘regular’ job- late 2015. There still is nothing out there.

In the meantime, I’m happy to get any work anywhere. It’s been so long between jobs! This gig is one of the best I’ve had lately. I love working overseas (outside the USA). The traveling was one of the main reasons I chose to sail as a career. The other was that the job depended on your skills and knowledge- not what you looked like or how you dressed or talked (too bad that’s changed so much).

I’ve been able to go ashore a couple of times this hitch. It’s just so nice to be able to get off, walk around, see something different.

Plaza de las Ranas

Tuesday morning I met my friend Josito who lives in town. He works here too, but he’s on his off time. I took a cab from the ship in to town and we met at the Plaza de las Ranas (frogs). I get off watch at 7 am and need to get some sleep before watch, so I wanted to get to town as early as possible. But the people here like to stay up late and they don’t get started early in the morning.

Nothing was open, the streets were empty at 0800 when I met Josito. We decided to go to the market in Vegueta- the old town. The market was old too, it opened in 1863. It was full of individual little shops selling fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, cheese, breads- and pastries that made my mouth water (I skipped breakfast). Josito explained that lots of the shops were closed because so many locals go on vacation this time of year.

I wasn’t really shopping for food anyway. I just like to see how other people do. I always like to go look around the grocery stores whenever I travel. Just to see what’s the same and what’s different.

Here, we met a very friendly storekeeper who answered all my questions about his exotic wares. He had so many things on display: guavas, mangos, papayas, passion fruit, huge (6″) tomatoes, raspberries, dragonfruit, lychees, kumquats, loquats, 4-5 different kinds of bananas, all kinds of spices fresh or dried and packaged.

Jose and Josito
me and Jose at his fruit and vegetable stand

He had things I’d never seen before like guanoabana (not sure of spelling). It’s the big green fruit in the photo, above the tomatoes. It was white and fibrous inside, full of juice, and tasted very tart. Jose let us taste anything we wanted. I have to admit, I was not thrilled with a lot of the tropical fruits. We bought a big bunch of Canary Island bananas to bring back to the ship.

Vegueta is compact, it’s easy to wander around the old cobblestone streets and find all the major attractions: the Cathedral, casa Colon, the market and lots of little shops, bars and restaurants. We stopped for a snack as we wandered the neighborhood.

The Cathedral de Canaries (or Cathedral of Santa Ana) is one of the most important historic sites in Las Palmas. They started building it around 1500, they built and rebuilt it over 500 years (that’s why the different architectural styles- gothic, renaissance and neoclassical). It’s dedicated to St Ann.

The people here haul a float through the town with her statue and a huge silver ‘crown’ that surrounds the entire statue. They keep the float in a barred off section of the cathedral. There’s Semana Santa (Easter Week) and Corpus Christi in June, and the feast on the anniversary of the dedication of the cathedral on November 26. I imagine these processions must be a real sight to see.

You’re allowed to go up the towers of the cathedral. The view should be fantastic, since these towers are the highest point for miles around. There’s an elevator, it costs 1.5 euros, but there was no one in attendance so we had to pass on going up.

The walls of the cathedral are hung with beautiful old paintings of Jesus, Mary and the saints. A gorgeous pipe organ stands close to the entrance on the left. They were having a small funeral in one of the chapels while we were there. I felt like an intruder so didn’t get too close to that side of the church.

I took a close look at the pulpit, with its excellent carvings of angels and saints. I’m not really religious, so can’t say much more about the place except that it was cool, quiet and peaceful. A nice place to relax and rest and meditate or pray if you want.

Next to the famous Viva Vegueta sign, we found the Iglesia de San Agustin, another beautifully decorated church. It’s not as grand as the Cathedral, but had some very interesting artwork inside. It’s also mentioned as the Sanctuary of St Rita, patron saint of “impossible causes” (also of abused women). I had an aunt named after her. Mary Rita- quite a saint herself.

There were quite a few more churches to explore around Vegueta, including the Ermita de San Antonio Abad, which was where Columbus prayed while he was here. I would’ve liked to check it out, but it wasn’t open while I was there.

I never have enough time to explore when I’m working, but at least I got the chance to see a few of the more interesting things around Las Palmas. The old area of Vegueta was a perfect choice to spend the morning. I did get to see the Casa Colon too, but it would be too long a post to write it up here. Check back later. 😉

Friendly Friday: Tiled

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I was looking at everybody’s posts for this week’s Friendly Friday challenge, and I just had to post one more time. 🙂

When I made my post the other day, I totally forgot about all the other places in Istanbul where they had such beautiful tile work. Different than the gorgeous stuff some people were posting from Portugal, but beautiful in another way altogether. Combined with the architecture, the artistry with the tile work makes so many of their buildings really special.

Here are a few photos I took in the mosques. I was really affected by how much time and effort went into building these places. The total devotion it must take to spend years, decades, centuries even- to build something so impressive.

Istanbul’s Blue Mosque with thousands of blue tiles decorating the interior

Those were from the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. The photos below, I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure they were in the Hagia Sophia. It was a Christian cathedral before it became a mosque and it’s now a museum. The shimmering gold tiles of these mosaics really shine when the sun hits them.

Imagine the skill and patience it must’ve taken to make these things. How to make sure all those little pieces go together just right. Like a giant jigsaw puzzle! And all such a long time ago too. Of course, they didn’t have the internet to distract them back then. 😉

One more note re: tile. Have you heard of Dixie Friend Gay? She’s a modern day mosaic artist with some absolutely stunning projects. Here’s a photo I took to pique your interest. Check out this earlier post...

Great Palace Mosaic Museum

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This looks like another fun challenge to join. It’s called Friendly Friday. The subject this week is: Bricks and Tiles.

I always like to see what everyone else comes up with. I enjoy taking photos of just about everything, so I’ll usually have something to add that fits the scenario. Here’s one to start with.

This was one of a collection of fantastic tile work at the Istanbul Mosaic Museum. The mosaics were found buried underneath the ground during construction. The mosaics date from Roman times. Most of them are in very good shape- still clear and colorful.

The museum is right next door to the Arasta Bazaar and the Blue Mosque. It’s well worth a detour when you’re tired of the bazaar. I spent a couple of hours there, but I really enjoy both art and history.

Songs of the Sea: On Board a Man o’ War

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Here’s something a little different. It’s a song about the British Navy’s battle of Trafalgar with France and Spain off the coast of Spain. I’ve been reading some of my Sea History magazines and they sometimes write about stuff like this.

I wonder how many Brits will know this song? Spaniards? Any readers out there heard this one before? I’m not that much into military history, but even I remember hearing about that battle, cool that they wrote a song about it. 😉

Farewell Shanty
On the twenty-first of October, before the rising sun
We formed a line for action, boys, at twelve o’clock begun.
Brave Nelson to his men did say “The Lord will prosper us this day.
Give them the broadside; fire away, on board a man-of-war.”

Chorus:
Let him die in Peace, God bless you all, On board a man-of-war.
Let him die in Peace, God bless you all, On board a man-of-war.

From broadside to broadside our cannonballs did fly.
Like hailstones, the small shot, around the deck did lie.
Our masts and rigging were shot away, besides some thousands on that day
Were killed and wounded in the fray, on board a man-of-war.
Chorus

May heaven reward Lord Nelson, likewise protect his men.
Nineteen sails of the combined fleet were sunk and taken in.
The Achille blew up amongst them all, which made the French for mercy call.
Nelson was slain by a musket ball, on board a man-of-war.
Chorus

There’s many a brave commander, with grief he shook his head
But yet their grief had no relief, for Nelson he lay dead.
It was a fatal musket ball that caused our hero for to fall.
He cried `Fight on. God bless you all’, on board a man of war.
Chorus

Let’s hope this glorious battle will surely bring a peace,
And that our trade in England may flourish and increase.
Our ships from port to port go free and turn the hearts of our enemy.
To Nelson’s death and victory, on board a man-of-war.
Chorus
Let him die in Peace.

 

Small Subjects

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Cee’s Black and White Challenge’s topic for this week is: small subjects.

Here’s the kind of thing she’s looking for…

  • Black and white photography
  • Sepia tones (browns)
  • Selective color with the majority of the photo being in black and white
  • Desaturated – very little color tone left in your photo

So, here’s my entry…

I was up in Galveston a while ago. Wandering around town with a friend after dropping off some of my paintings at the From the Heart Gallery where I’ve been trying to sell some of my art. We were enjoying looking at all the historical buildings, taking lots of photos, and window shopping. I took these photos in one of the antique shops around the Strand. Just a bunch of little china statues of cute little buildings.

It’s So Boring

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I’m home. I’ve been back in town since the 19th. It’s been almost 2 weeks already. It doesn’t seem like it. I’ve spent most of that time just catching up on sleep (jet lag) and doing all the things I can’t do from work: mail, bills, doctors appointment, dentists appointment, phone calls, meetings, etc.

I have made some progress. I’ve been able to go to my painting class and I’m working on 2 new paintings and 1 old one. I took my latest finished painting to the From the Heart gallery in Galveston. Too bad I got a parking ticket while I was inside hanging it. 🙁

I thought you were supposed to be allowed to park in front long enough to load/unload stuff. The people who run the place assured me you are. I’m still debating wether or not to fight the ticket. I have no reason to go all the way up to Galveston other than that. I have another few days to decide.

I haven’t been keeping up with this blog much lately. At work I just don’t have the time or access to the internet and at home it’s been hard to find the motivation. I’ve been putting it off for a while now. It’s not that I don’t have anything to blog about. It’s more that I don’t want to bore people and I just haven’t been doing anything very interesting lately.

I did go to a WISTA meeting at the Houston Maritime Museum last Tuesday. That was pretty cool. They’ve moved to their new (temporary) location. It’s much larger than their old place (with plenty of parking). We had a tour by one of the docents who was a real wealth of information. I would’ve liked to talk to him some more, but the presentation was starting (and a full house to see it). Captain Michael A. Morris of the Houston Pilots put on an interesting presentation about the port of Houston and the pilots- past, present and future.

I could write about work, or travel- those things are usually interesting- but I haven’t done much of either lately. I did finally get a job that didn’t get cancelled. I spent a month on the DS-6 in Las Palmas. I even got to get off the ship a couple of times while I was there. It was a nice change. I’m hoping they’ll call me back.

my ship is the one on the left in this photo

In the meantime, I got a call to go to work on April 4. Then it was moved back to April 11. Now it is supposed to start April 16 and I’m only hoping it doesn’t get completely cancelled at this point. Since it’s only for 10 days, it’ll help me get by but it’s not enough for me to actually be able to do anything with my time off (other than keep on looking for more work).

I am SO ready for this downturn to pick up! It’s been 5 years already! I can’t wait for things to turn around so we can all get back to work again. Real work, where there’s some kind of schedule and we’ve got some kind of benefits. Or else the day rates go back up again to where they should be to make up for the lack of those things.

I’m SO tired of spending so much time looking for work. Filling out applications that never get seen. Putting off doing much of anything in case I get called for a job. I should just shut up and quit whining. I’m one of the lucky ones. I still have my license and my ability to go to work. I could just quit and I would probably be able to survive…

But no. I will keep on trying. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life hanging around the house bored shitless. Keeping myself occupied is not a problem. I can do all sorts of things: pull weeds, work on my houses, clean my house, write, paint, work on my book(s), promote my writing (that’s the hard part- trying to find someone who will publish it). I would just much rather be traveling. I’m just bored here. I never, ever thought I’d still be here almost 40 years later.

TPC: Crawl

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I found a new photo challenge in my reader tonight. It’s hosted by Frank at Dutch Goes the Photo. This week the topic is ‘crawl’.

I have a few that will fit the challenge…

I took this photo a while ago at Moody Gardens in Galveston. I used to have a membership and so went fairly often. I gave that up a couple of years ago when I got laid off….

I took this one at the Houston Zoo. They have a ‘bug house’ with a couple of dozen terrariums with different kinds of insects. I believe this one is called a ‘blue death feigning beetle’ which is native to Texas (though I haven’t seen any wild ones around here).

I took this one at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. It’s a tarantula. Bigger than my hand (I’m estimating, I didn’t pick it up). I go there and to the zoo a lot when I get up to Houston. I have memberships to both so it doesn’t cost me anything. Both the museum and the zoo always have something new and interesting to see.

I went again last Friday night, hoping to spend a little while looking around the museum before the event I was going to (Biophilia). Sadly, they had the entire place blocked off so I just had to wait around, bored, for 45 minutes until they let us in to the exhibit. It was worth the wait.

The amazing creativity of the artist was incredible. The museum did a great job. They had a few tables set up where we could make our own art magnets, check out some of the insects they keep around downstairs, and talk to some of the docents. They also had free food (pulled pork sliders, chips, pecan breaded chicken skewers and cookies). Drinks were available too.

There was a pretty decent crowd, the tables were full of people eating before or after looking through all the beautiful artwork. I loved the bright colors and fantastic designs. I never would’ve thought to make something so beautiful out of a bunch of bugs. Even tho when you look at almost anything in nature close enough you can find beauty.

They’re having another event at the museum tomorrow, but even if you can’t make it the exhibit will be on display for a while. Don’t think you have to go only if you can go with someone from the museum. It’s definitely worth going if you like anything to do with art, nature, design.

HMNS: Biophilia

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I’m taking a break tomorrow. It’s not that I’ve been working (I wish that I was), but I’ve been busy catching up on all kinds of things around the house that I’ve been putting off for ages. It hasn’t been much fun, but I have slowly been getting a few things accomplished. Tomorrow I’m going to spend the day in Houston. First at the zoo and later at a members only event at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Here’s how the museum describes the event…

Spend an evening with HMNS and artist Christopher Marley for a look into Biophilia: A Dialogue with Art, Nature, and Science. Enjoy themed crafts, lite bites and cash bar and then dive into Marley’s world of nature and art with this multimedia and sensory experience in this exclusive meet and greet only for members. Reservations required, limited space available.

I’m usually interested in science and art and this sounds very interesting to me. I googled Christopher Marley and I have to say, I really liked what I saw! He combines natural items like bugs, shells, rocks, with design to make gorgeous colorful images. I’m amazed at how he shows off the beauty in so many of the common things we see around us every day. Like these bugs, for instance.

Isn’t that just gorgeous? It’s just a bunch of beetles! If I had a bunch of extra cash and some spare room on my walls, I would definitely go on a shopping spree!

Tomorrow night is for members only but next Wednesday (Feb 13) at 1830, the museum will have a lecture and tour where the director of the Cockrell Butterfly Center Erin Mills will introduce you to these inspiring works of art and the amazing animals that comprise and showcase their beautiful, yet functional, features. After the presentation you can check out the special exhibition. There will be ‘special guests’ from the butterfly center and insect zoo too. 🙂

If you get your tickets before Feb 6, they’re $16, after that they’ll be $20 (members get $6 off).

If you’re anywhere around the Houston area and you’re interested in art, it’s probably worth taking a look. The museum is worth spending some time there anyway.


Surfside Food and Art Festival

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Today I went to the 2nd annual Food and Art Festival at Surfside Beach. I showed up around 1400. There were cars parked all along the highway, filling up both parking lots and even the old convenience store down the road. I found a place to park and headed for the music.

Stahlman Park was as busy as I’ve ever seen it. The beach was full of people with surfboards and kites. It was a beautiful morning, the sun was out and the sky was blue. By the time I got to the beach, it had clouded up and was grey and clouds covered the sky. It was windy enough for the kites. There were a lot of people having fun with them. I saw a lot of different kinds. My favorite was the dragon. 🙂

The Surfside Volunteer Fire Department was out with their fire truck (and mascot). They were cooking up a storm. Art car by Bonnie Blue was parked out front. Downstairs there was a live band playing, people were dancing, and the chili was cooking. Upstairs the artists were set up. The whole place was crowded, a few of the booths were completely sold out. They even sold out of hot dogs. Good news for the SOBA and St Patricks Day folks. 🙂

I was glad to see such a large crowd. The vendors I talked to said they were selling a few things. I had a booth myself last year. There weren’t many people then and I didn’t sell a single thing all day so I didn’t bother to get one this time (I also thought I would be back to work by now, but still stuck trying to find a job).

They had a lot of interesting stuff for sale. Everything from cupcakes and honey to home made soaps and cremes, jewelry, pottery, paintings, wood carvings, and more. They even had a ‘community art project’ where everyone was welcome to join the fun and add their own personal touch to a large canvas near the front entrance. I liked to see that the whole thing was very dog friendly too. I saw quite a few people brought their dogs along and they were welcome everywhere. Nice.

There was a man by the front door who built model ships. He had a couple of really large models, one finished and the other still needed a few details added. It looked very time consuming! Tiny little pieces everywhere. I would never have the patience for that, but it looked like a good hobby for some.

The Fort Velasco people had a table there too. I drove by later and saw they’ve got signs up prohibiting metal detectors and a round wooden palisade. Looks like they’re making some progress but I didn’t stop to talk to them this year.

There were quite a few teams entered in the chili cook-off too. Everyone looked like they were having a blast. I’m not a big chili fan so I didn’t try any myself, but it must’ve been popular since a few of the teams were already sold out.

There was also a craft beer tasting that looked interesting, but I can’t take any chances on that so had to skip it. I think the chili and beer definitely helped the attendance this year. I hope they’ll keep on adding more things like that to the festival. It definitely increased the crowds by a lot this year!

Paris: 3 Great Museums

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I spent Wednesday museum hopping. I bought a 4 day museum pass on arrival and wanted to get good use out of it, so I decided to go to 3 of the most popular museums my first full day in Paris.

I took the metro to the Concord station and walked through the Tuileries gardens to the  Orangeries. This museum is really all about Monet, although there are other artists represented there (Matisse, Picasso, Renoir, and more). The main focus is on 2 large oval rooms where Monet’s huge water lily paintings are displayed. Even with the crowds, you could still enjoy being surrounded by those beautiful paintings.

 

From there, I walked across the bridge to the Musee d’Orsay. It used to be a train station and you can tell if you think about it. It’s huge, filled with paintings, sculpture, and other art objects dating from mid 1800’s to early 1900’s. It has the largest collection of impressionist and post impressionist art in the world. It’s right on the river and easy to find. I spent almost 4 hours there and could probably have stayed longer but they were closing (at 1800).

I really loved the art deco. They had entire rooms full of art deco style furniture. One even had its wall paneling done in that style.

The huge open space was really nice for showing off the dozens of large sculptures, even including Rodin’s famous Gates of Hell.

The space itself was impressive. It has 6 floors, but there’s nothing on the 6th floor but toilets. The 5th floor has a restaurant where you can eat lunch while looking out through the clock facing the river (there’s another restaurant on the 2nd floor). Most of the art is on the first and second floor.

When they chased me out of there, I headed down the river to the Louvre. It’s open til 2200 on Wednesday’s so I still had a few hours left to check it out. It’s huge! It’s the largest art museum in the world. I figure there’s no way I could see everything there even if I spent days, so I’d just hit the highlights and call it good. It’s filled with all kinds of art dating back from the earliest times to the 21st century (tho I didn’t see any modern art).

I wandered around, enjoying the fantastic collection of art, taking a closer look at anything that caught my eye. It was pretty crowded in the more popular sections, around the ‘must see” pieces of art: the Mona Lisa, the Nike of Samothrace (Winged Victory), the Apollo Gallery where the ceiling is covered with paintings and carvings.

Of course I did not have time to see everything. I only saw a few of the galleries in the Denon Wing: Roman, Greek, Etruscan and Egyptian antiquities and paintings from France, Spain and Italy. The Sully Wing: Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Near Eastern antiquities and European decorative arts.

They also had an exhibit on how the museum came to be. It was created out of the former  Louvre Palace, originally built under Phillip II as the Louvre Castle in the late 12th-13th century. You could go downstairs and walk around the original tower of the castle and see some of the foundation walls still standing.

I would like to go back someday and explore some more, but I think 3 museums in one day is enough for me!

 

What Happened?

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It’s a long story. I’m going to start this out by joining in on Linda G Hill’s SoCS. Her theme for this week is “reservation”.

It’s hard to acknowledge that I haven’t posted on here since early February, when I got off work on the Epic Explorer. I hadn’t realized its been that long. I really thought I had been posting more often than that. I’ve been so busy, it just got too easy to let the blogging slip out of mind.

I’ve even had reservations about starting back up again. It’s been so long, I’ve gotten out of the habit of trying to write something fairly frequently (at least weekly) and keep up with what my favorite bloggers were up to. It’s so easy to let it go when I have so many other things going on, and even when I don’t- I just don’t feel like doing anything.

I don’t like to be so negative all the time, but it’s been really hard to try to come up with something positive to say. I’ve always been one of those to see the ‘glass as half empty”. At this point I’m probably ‘clinically depressed’. Here I go again, running off into the so easy to fall into trap of thinking of all the negatives. I’m still out of work, still broke, still trapped here with no money to do anything. There’s still really not much hope of finding work, so no hope of escaping the trap. What am I going to be able to do with myself?

I really don’t think there’s any point to life, other than to live it the way YOU want to. Why bother if all you’re going to do all day every day is what someone else forces on you? I’ve tried my whole life to find ways to live my life according to my values. I work hard, and save what I can so that I can enjoy my time off. Since I’ve been laid off (without any help from unemployment after paying into it for 40+ years), I’ve tried to find other ways to make some kind of income still doing something that I didn’t consider pure torture. I’ve always liked the arts, so I’ve been trying to transition into working in some way with that sort of thing.

I’ve been writing, painting, photographing. I’ve tried to find ways to earn an income from all of those things. So far, I have had a few successes. I’ve won prizes for my photos and for my paintings. I’ve sold a few articles. Few and far between and not nearly enough to pay the bills. It’s hard to concentrate enough to work on this sort of thing when I’m spending so much time and energy looking for a ‘real job’. One that will pay the bills.

won “Honorable Mention”

I tried last night to think of what I have to be thankful for. Mostly in the past. I came up with a few things I can still be thankful for right now. I still have a roof over my head and enough money to keep it for at least another couple of months. I still have my health (in general, tho not good enough to be able to keep working for much longer). I have a few good friends I can always count on. I have rental properties that will bring in enough income to survive on for at least another month. I have internet access again (tho it is still screwed up, just not as bad as it has been). My truck still runs, even at 21+ years old. Without it I wouldn’t be able to get to the few and far between jobs I have been able to get over the last 3 years.

I spent so much time and effort, my whole life, to be able to just live and enjoy life. I did all the things we’re told we have to do. I studied hard, got good grades, went to college, got a good job, a great career. I even went back to college to get a BA degree (in math- which has proved totally useless). I saved as much as I could. I invested what I could spare. I worked hard at every job.

And after all that, what happened? Like hundreds of thousands of others, I was thrown in the trash heap when my company felt it had to satisfy their stockholders.When the price of oil dropped like a rock, the oilfield dried up. When that happened all the shipping jobs were immediately taken. Seafarers around the world are hanging on to any job they can find.

People around the world are clamoring to take captains jobs for $150/day! The STCW has given owner/operators the ability to go for the lowest common denominator- they’re all hiring the cheapest crews they can find. Apparently you can live like a king on $150/day in the Philippines, or India, or Ukraine. Who in America can survive on that? You spend decades and tens of thousands of dollars for your license (and the enormous amounts of responsibility you get with it) and then throw it away for that kind of wage?  It’s been almost 3 years now with no hope of getting a ‘real’ job again.

I hate to think that I have wasted my entire life, working my way up the hawsepipe, doing everything ‘right’ and still to end up in the exact same place as I would have if I had never made any effort at all to improve my life. It sucks! But it seems to be reality.

Yes, I’ve had reservations on posting like this and depressing you all. I’ll hope that even this kind of post is (somewhat) welcome after being out of touch for so long.

Here’s to getting back into blogging. 😉

JusJoJan: Colour

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Today’s prompt for Just Jot It January is: colour. Here’s my entry.

I like to draw and paint in my spare time. I like to use a lot of colour. 🙂

one of my favorites

PS- internet is acting up again here 🙁

Thanks to everyone who checked out my prompt yesterday (liberty).

Where Is My Art?

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A friend asked me after yesterday’s post where could he find my art? I figured I might as well write a post about it (just in case anyone else might be interested). All of my art is always for sale. If you like something, let me know and we can work something out (or you can buy from one of the places I’m at- but they charge more!).

I do lots of different things. When I went to Galveston yesterday to pick up my work, the gallery owner told me what he likes best about my work is my ‘diversity’. 🙂

I do a lot of photography. That is really my favorite. I take pictures of everything, all the time, everywhere. 😉 I have tons of photos from all my travels and tons more from decades of working on the water. I also like to go to zoos and museums and take lots of photos of animals, fish, birds, bugs, and all kinds of interesting things at the museums.

I do pastels, colored pencils, charcoal drawings and I’ve been learning to paint in oils, watercolor and acrylic. I haven’t been able to get to class as often as I’d like. It seems whenever there is any work for me, it’s always on a Tuesday. Tuesday is when they have the painting class at the art center so I have to skip it.

So, I mostly get started on a project in class and then it sits around the house until I get tired of looking at it and then I’ll finish it up on my own. I’ve got 2 oil paintings sitting here now that are over a year old already and not even half done. 🙁

If you want to know where to see some of my work, I have a lot of photos up around the web. At Youpic, Flickr, Bigstock, Dreamstime, and Society6 and FineArtAmerica where you can have my photos put onto t-shirts, phones, towels, etc (pretty much anything you want). You should be able to get a good idea of my range from those sites (and my blog).

As far as my drawings, paintings, etc- right now they are all at my house (except for a few that are in the satellite galleries around town here). I had to pick them up yesterday to bring them home until the From the Heart Gallery can open their new showroom. I’m hoping that’ll happen sometime next week. In the meantime, you can take a look at this link, it’ll show you a couple of the things I was showing up there.

one of my favorites

 

Looking For a Ship

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Not just the title of a pretty good book! I’m back home, rested up and back on the job of looking for a job.

I’ve already called all my usual agencies (C-Mar, Oceanwide, CLS, Northstar, Spencer-Ogden) and no one has any work now or for the foreseeable future.

Some linkedin contacts have mentioned a couple of places overseas. I’ve been trying to contact them, but so far no response. Looks like the situation is still the same. Thousands of us out of work, resumes stacked til filing cabinets overflowing and still no hope of work any time soon.

The price of oil has been flirting with $60/bbl over the last week, but it’s still not enough to get anyone moving. We keep hearing ‘next year it will be better”. It’s 3 days away from ‘next year” and I’m hoping like hell it really will be better!

I don’t know how others are managing to survive. Well, yes I do, most of them have families to help them out. They’re lucky. The younger ones have mostly left the industry and found something else to do. They’ve let their documents lapse and won’t be able to come back. Of course, they didn’t have all that much invested in this industry yet anyway. There’s a huge difference between an AB and an unlimited master as far as costs (and everything else).

I’m heading up to Galveston today to move my art. The gallery where it’s been showing is moving (they’re having their own problems) and all artists are being asked to help move. Looks like it won’t be on display again til late January, maybe February. Just another way to try to survive!

Acrylic Pour Weekend

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Like I was saying yesterday, I think it’s good to be a well rounded person. I think if you’ve been following my blog for a while, you can tell I’m into that. Not so much on purpose, I don’t consciously try to do all kinds of things. I’m just interested in a bunch of different things and I like to try to keep up with what’s going on.

I like to read, to learn, to explore, to travel, to eat, drink, to listen to and play music, to see and do art, to cook, to swim, to walk, to sail, etc. I like to get into deep discussions on philosophy, history, culture, politics, and how to save the world. 😉

I tend to keep myself busy. Even tho I haven’t had a ‘real job’ (in other words, one that pays the bills), in over 2 years now, it’s a very rare day that I just chill out and hang around the house. I always have a to-do list full of all the things I plan (hope) to get done for the day.

Yesterday it rained. Afterwards the sun came out, it was nice and cool, and I had just bought a bunch of flowers (half off) at Lowes. It was such a nice day, I had to get out in the yard, pull weeds and plant those suckers before the weekend (when I knew I was going to be too busy to get around to it).

The yard still looks like some kind of wicked old witch lives here- overgrown with mimosa trees sprouting everywhere and clematis vines covering everything. I managed to make a dent and cleaned up around the almond and orange trees in the front. Cut down all the lantana which I never wanted anyway. Why does everything but the weeds get sick and die?

This weekend I’m going to an ‘acrylic pour art workshop”. It’s a technique I’ve been wanting to learn how to do for a while. I’ve seen pictures of it before but had no idea how the artist made it come out like they did. Today I learned how.

There were 4 other ladies in the class with me. We all had a blast mixing and pouring colors and making a mess. None of mine really turned out the way I was hoping for, but they looked pretty neat even so. Some of the other ladies made some really cool stuff.

I’ll be there again all day tomorrow. I’ve already made a few paintings. I’ll do a few more tomorrow. Hopefully, they’ll be dry enough so I can get them home without dumping paint all over my truck. Maybe I can set them in the back for the ride home?

I decided yesterday to bring my stuff and get a booth at the “Treasures by the Sea” Market. It’s at Stahlman Park, Surfside Beach on November 4th. I didn’t know if I would have enough stuff to bring to make it worth getting a booth (it’s not free). I tried to reach an artist friend of mine to see if she wanted to share a booth with me, but she’s not answering my phone calls. 🙁

After this weekend, I should have at least a dozen new paintings! I already had a couple of things I just got framed (and lots of photos). I think it ought to be enough. If I keep my fingers crossed, maybe someone will buy something!

I’ve got work again in Houston Mon-Tues (and maybe Wed) and another dentist appointment Friday. So I’ll need to be busy Wed-Thurs getting those new paintings ready to show and working on photo cards.

I’ve always heard it’s super hard to make a living as an artist. I’m sure it must be, I would just like to be able to earn enough to help get me through this rough spot. I mean, this is fun and all, but I really, really need some way to pay the bills!

CFFC: Tombstones or Cemeteries

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Here’s my entry for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Tombstones or Cemeteries.

I took these photos (and a lot more) at a meet up for the Brazoria County Models and Photographers group. This one was at the cemetery in honor of Calaveras Day (Day of the Dead).  I haven’t been to many of their meet ups yet, but they seem like a fun group and I’ve enjoyed them so far. I wish they would have more frequent meet ups!

PS- I’m joining in the Blogger’s Pit Stop. I’ve found a lot of really cool blogs by visiting over there. 🙂

Maritime Monday for July 24th 2017: Slippery Sailors

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Looks like another week of interesting maritime news courtesy of Monkey Fist and gCaptain. I haven’t been able to read it all due to lack of decent internet access out here on the boat this week. I can’t complain. I’m SO happy to have work- finally! Even if it’s only for a week or 2.

I hope you enjoy the news. Please comment with your favorites. Let me know what you liked and why. It should make for some good discussions later on. 🙂

Viking longboats on the Thames Oscar Adolf Wisting (6 June 1871 – 5 December 1936) was a Norwegian Naval officer and polar explorer. Together with Roald Amundsen he was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles. In later years Oscar Wisting was an active force behind the preparations and building of […]

Source: Maritime Monday for July 24th, 2017: Slippery Sailors – gCaptain

Maritime Monday for July 3rd 2017: Y is for Yachting

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Time for another weeks maritime musings courtesy of Monkey Fist and gCaptain. I especially liked the articles about the Kursk, the German invasion and the Mariners Revenge song this week. Enjoy…

Lizzie Borden & The Old Fall River Line Everyone from presidents to swindlers sailed the Sound on “Mammoth Palace Steamers” in the heyday of the side wheelers and night boats. The Fall River Line was a combination steamboat and railroad connection between New York City and Boston that operated between 1847 and 1937. For many […]

Source: Maritime Monday for July 3rd, 2017: Y is for Yachting – gCaptain

Maritime Monday for June 19th 2017: Defense for Country- Tobacco for Society

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Here comes the weekly blast of maritime news from Ms Monkey Fist via gCaptain. As always, there is plenty of good stuff in there. I especially liked the stories about the “Unsinkable Molly Brown” and the movie about Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton (to be played by English actor Tom Hardy). This post is the first I’ve heard about this upcoming movie, now I can’t wait to go see it. Be sure to check out the popsicles too. 🙂

Just off River Street, behind the New Heritage Diner, it looms like something out of the Battle of Midway: the U.S.S. Ling, a World War II-era submarine, squatting in a shallow stretch in the upper reaches of the Hackensack River. This 312-foot hulk of gray steel has been berthed along the river’s shoreline since the […]

Source: Maritime Monday for June 19th, 2017: Defense for Country, Tobacco for Society – gCaptain

Girls Gone to Galveston

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Hey! We just got back from Galveston. It was a long day.

I’m not a morning person, but got up early to finish getting my photos ready to take up to the gallery in Galveston. I had to sign them, figure out the best mat to use with them and then figure out which frame fit best. It took a while.

I loaded up my truck and headed to the beach to pick up my friends. I didn’t think we could all fit in the cab with my big painting (49″ x 44″) in the back seat, but we managed to fit all the artworks in the back seat and all 3 of us in the front.

Lucky, I found a spot to pull up close to the shop for long enough to unload my stuff. The lady who I’ve been dealing with wasn’t there. I left my big painting there and traded out a few others. I took the rest of the stuff I brought across the street to a new place (Metamorphosis) that I learned about last time I was in Galveston.

My friend was talking to the owner about making a sign for the place while I was busy across the street. I brought in my photos and set them out for the lady to pick which ones she liked and thought would sell. She liked all of them. 🙂

So far, nothing has sold. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. My friend is really hoping to get the sign job too. She’s been a ‘starving artist’ for a long time. Somehow I never thought that’s where I would wind up in life.

I do enjoy it, but like my BFF always tells me, “somebody always has to buy the beans”. For that to work, somebody will actually have to buy some of my art one of these days.

We tried a new place for lunch (recommended by the coffee guy). It was a pretty interesting little deli type place called Old Moon. We sat upstairs where they had a couple of nice comfortable couches to relax on. We ate our lunch surrounded by cool old photographs and paintings of dramatically lit cats (and dogs) dressed to the nines.

I had a Monte Cristo sandwich, it was really good. I’d never had one like the way they made it before. It had a little bit of honey on it, on the outside of the bread. Nice touch, but made it a little sticky to eat. I didn’t try a pie. They looked delicious, but I always eat slowly and I didn’t want to keep my friends waiting any longer. I did try a brownie and it was really nice. I even saved some for dessert tonight. 🙂

Check out the painting. Cool dog, huh?

Maritime Monday for June 12th 2017: Synalpheus pinkfloydi

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Another interesting week of maritime matters courtesy of Monkey Fist and gCaptain. My favorites this week are the gorgeous photos of the whales, the octopus video and the story on the USS Liberty. I went to a presentation given by one of the last survivors of that attack a couple of months ago. A friend bought me the book but I haven’t had the chance to read it yet. I’m no fan of the NSA (to put it mildly), nor do I support our involvement in most wars we’ve inserted ourselves into, but it’s an amazing (and eye-opening) story…

Fifty Years Later, NSA Keeps Details of Israel’s USS Liberty Attack Secret On June 8, 1967, an Israeli torpedo tore through the side of the unarmed American naval vessel USS Liberty, approximately a dozen miles off the Sinai coast. The ship, whose crew was under command of the National Security Agency, was intercepting communications at […]

Source: Maritime Monday for June 12th, 2017: Synalpheus pinkfloydi – gCaptain

Arts & Antiques in Galveston

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My friend D called the other day and invited me on a trip up to Galveston for the day. We decided to leave around 1000 so we wouldn’t get there ‘too early’ or stay ‘too late’. Our friend B, the artist, wanted to check out a place she had heard about to show some of her art.

I was all for that. I have been working on some arty stuff myself lately. I found a couple of places to show some of my work a couple of months ago. I was curious to see if there had been any interest (at all) in my work.

It was a beautiful sunny day, not too hot yet when we left. We got stuck in some of the cruise ship traffic on the way in, but found our regular parking place near the Strand (only $10/day). There are a lot of interesting shops in that area of town so we checked out a few.

Lots of really touristy stuff right on the Strand, but wander off it a little and there are more small businesses with local people trying some cool projects. One of those is the place I have some of my paintings and photos- From the Heart Gallery. They show all different kinds of work from at least 20 different artists. They also play good music and have classes for kids. 🙂

While we were there, S told us about a new place -Metamorphosis- just opened across the street. We wandered over to take a look and had a nice conversation with Liz who is really excited about getting her shop up and running. Looks like both B and I will have another place to work with. 🙂

We were getting hungry and since we were right there, we decided to give the Star Drug Store a try. They had a really interesting window display with all the old ads, pills, and elixirs from way back when. It claims to be the oldest drug store in Texas. It feels like an old fashioned soda fountain inside. Looking over their menus, I can see why it’s so popular.

We showed up right at the end of lunch hour, but it was still packed. We sat at the bar since there were no open tables. D had already ordered and B wasn’t hungry. I ordered a cheeseburger (my favorite meal) with a chocolate float. 🙂 The cheeseburger would have been 10 times better if they had grilled the bun. Considering how long it took to get it, I didn’t want to ask them to take it back. I ate most of it anyway. 🙂

Their ice cream sundays, floats and cakes really got my stomach growling, but since I already had a chocolate shake I passed on dessert. Diets suck!

I love this sign!

After fortifying ourselves, we started making our way over to the place B wanted to see, on Broadway and 22nd St. D and me were taking pictures of everything. I especially like all the really cool architecture. Lots of different building styles, from classical to island bungalow.

Along the way, we stopped in to check out a few art and antique shops. Lots of really neat stuff! If I was rich…

But I’m broke. So. I had to adhere to my budget and not buy anything but ice cream. 🙂

B bought a cute little statue of a meerkat. D bought a couple of small mementos in one of the antique shops. My taste is too expensive, I would have bought a beautiful ruby ring (if I had still been working).

I think we were all kind of disappointed in how quiet it was. It just seemed dead. I know a lot of people haven’t returned to Galveston after the devastation of hurricane Ike, but it’s been almost 10 years now. I would’ve thought more people would have shown up by now. For a beautiful summer Sunday afternoon, the whole place seemed deserted.

these plaques all around the Strand refer to the 1900 Great Storm- not Ike

We’re planning to go back up there in a week or so. I need to change out some of my art at the From the Heart Gallery and maybe I’ll be able to put some across the street at Metamorphosis too. B is hoping to get a shot at making a sign for them too. 🙂

I was really hoping to hear some good news, that something of mine had sold. But nothing yet. The area around the Strand is becoming known as an arty kind of place. They have ‘art walks’ every 6 weeks. Those can bring in some crowds. We are going to try to make the next one.

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Buildings

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Cee always has some interesting challenges going on. She posts some gorgeous photos and the people who join in put some really good one up there too. Everyone is welcome to join in.

I don’t usually work in B&W, nor do I do much fiddling around with my photos. I may crop them a little, or straighten the horizon, but that’s about it. I can see where it can be a lot of fun playing around with the editing software. Here’s what I came up with…

Galveston has some really cool architecture. I was up there a few weeks ago, trying to schmooze my way into some of the art galleries up there (I actually succeeded and have some of my stuff up at From the Heart Gallery now). 🙂

Maritime Monday for June 5th 2017- Singapore Attacked by Giant Sea Urchins

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Sorry I’ve been away from the computer for so long. I finally got a little bit of work. Not nearly enough, but even those short couple of weeks will keep me going for another couple of months! I wish they had decent internet aboard, but can’t be picky about work at this point!

I got in late Saturday night, it’s taken me this long to catch up a little bit and start to interact with the world again. I got my dose of Maritime Monday yesterday and felt like it’s worth passing on. There’s a cool story about Singapore and the latest cool project over there. Be sure to check out the interesting pottery by Florida sculptor Mitchell Grafton. I really like what I’ve seen of his work so far.

As if there weren’t enough to worry about, Singapore is being invaded by giant crocheted sea urchins.  >> via Trevor Corson, author of the books “The Secret Life of Lobsters” and “The Story of Sushi.”  –TrevorCorson.com National Ocean Service – Looking for a getaway for a few minutes during your work day? Check out our […]

Source: Maritime Monday for June 5th, 2017 – gCaptain

Maritime Monday for May 1st 2017: Sexy Women Holding Carp

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Another always interesting collection of maritime tidbits from Miss Monkey Fist. Enjoy…

Miss Monkey’s Retail Anecdotes Some of Miss Monkey’s closer associates already know that She earns Her beer money working part-time at a Maine based, family-owned clothing retailer that’s been a Portland institution since 1919.  Whilst pulling her Saturday afternoon shift, an interesting tale unfolded. After passing this anecdote along to some of her friends later […]

S is for Spike- #AtoZChallenge

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“S” is for Spike. Today, I’m posting about the letter S for both the A to Z Challenge and the Daily Post. I love it when I can do double duty here. 😉

It’s easy to come up with S words, not so easy to come up with things to say about “spike”. Then I remembered those beautiful doors from my last vacation. Stone Town, Zanzibar has the most ornately carved doors. Many of them have spikes, “to keep out the elephants.”

Maritime Monday for April 17th 2017: Big White Cloud

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In between trying to keep up with the #AtoZChallenge, I still managed to read the weekly post from Monkey Fist. There’s always such interesting stuff in there. My favorite articles this week (other than the stuff on John Cale- who has long been a favorite of mine) was the stuff about the weather. I also really liked the photographs. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did…

Since leaving the band in 1968, he has released approximately 30 albums. Of his solo work, Cale is perhaps best known for his album Paris 1919, and his cover version of Leonard Cohen‘s “Hallelujah“. Cale was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Velvet Underground in 1996, and […]

Source: Maritime Monday for April 17th, 2017: Big White Cloud – gCaptain

J is for Java- #AtoZChallenge

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“J” is for Java. One of the main islands of the Indonesian archipelago. I love to explore and Indonesia is an incredible place for that. 🙂

I usually go to Bali, but Java is the next island over to the West. It’s very easy to get there from Bali. You can take a quick flight, or take a ferry over. I was on vacation when I went (and so short on time), so I decided to fly over to Yogyakarta. It turned out to be an excellent choice and I only wish I had more time to spend there.

There are a lot of things I would love to explore on the island of Java. So many things I just didn’t have the time to do. I’d love to see the sights of Jakarta and especially check out the harbor. I must definitely find a guide this time so I can communicate with the sailors. I am still very interested in their beautiful Pinisi schooners. 🙂

If I ever get to go again, I’d like to hike up Mt Bromo, and catch the sunrise. Cool off at the Hill Stations and hike the rice paddies. Cruise the Green Canyon. Watch the Shadow Puppet shows and a few troupes of traditional dancers. Wander through the markets, investigating all the different things on offer than what we see at home.

One of those things I did manage to see was the ancient Buddhist temple of Borobudur. It’s long been on my bucket list. 😉 I’ve always loved to explore. I love history, old buildings, ancient civilizations, different religions. Borobudur was a combination of all of those things. It is also a world heritage site (along with the nearby Hindu site of Prambanan– which I also got to visit on this trip). 🙂

Prambanan temples Java Indonesia