Technology Love it/Hate it

Today I have been on the Merry Go Round of Technology. Yes, I am among the many who have a love/hate relationship with technology and all it's numerous devices. I have a Toshiba lap top, an i phone, a Blue-tooth printer, a HP office jet wireless printer and my husband has or shares all of the above and a new Android tablet he just got. We even have dongles. When it all works it is amazing and wonderful. When it fails, stalls, hiccups,sends error messages or crashes I want to throw things. You would think that all these genus computer geeks could make things that just work. That are easy to use and have clear and complete directions, but NO.

My theory is the companies are too big with too many people doing things and not talking to each other. So the Geek that creates the thing doesn't write the directions and the guy who writes the directions can't have ever used it or the directions would be better because with his directions you sure can't make it work. The sales people at the store are energetic and enthusiastic and, for a small fortune, will help you get started with actually using the stuff you just bought in addition to the extra warranties. No problem they say!

Tech support is in India, the Philippines, Mexico, or some other foreign country where the folks on the phone have never used or seen the device and are trying to use the same directions written for you to fix your problem. Please, can someone just make it all work?

We are stuck with it. No going back now the genie is out of the bottle.

I once had dinner with astronaut Alan Bean and he was telling the story of how they figured out how to write in space. After numerous pens, technical devices etc. they finally settled on the old fashioned pencil. It never ran out of batteries, didn't need gravity and yes, it just worked. We are creating lots of new stuff that has lots of whiz bang features but just doesn't do what they say it will do when the average consumer, unlike my 12 year old neighbor, gets their hands on it.

Of all the devices I use the best, easiest and most reliable is my I phone. It works, I can figure it out and the directions are written by someone who actually uses the device. It is even Cool, according to my grandchildren. So, for future purchases I my stick with Apple.

The Circus Museum

Today I remembered that at age 10 I wanted to be a "flyer". That was the beautiful girl in the skimpy costume that got flung between hunky guys who were "catchers" on the death defying trapeze. Yep, it was a trip to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus that prompted this short lived idea. I also was reminded today as we wandered through the Circus Museum that is was the first place I saw an Elelphant, Lion and a Tiger. Zoos weren't prevalent then and this was my first African animal sighting. I vividly recall the elephants raising on their hind legs and then leaning their front legs on the elephants ahead of them while beautiful women in feathers headdresses and sequins perched on their backs. I was awe struck!

In it's hey day the circus traveled by train and stopped at all the small and large towns along the way. Staying only one day and moving on. It was a spectacular event in every town. The massive event makes today's road shows look puny with a couple of semi trucks. We are talking rail cars filled with circus wagons. 5 wagons per rail car. Filled with exotic animals, costumes, people, tents, horses, blacksmith shops, kitchens in other words an entire city plus hundreds of horses to pull all the wagons and hundreds of people to put up the tents and keep the whole show moving along. The circus was so good and so efficient at logistics that the military studied how they did it!

Where is the art you might ask. The circus wagons were pieces of art filled with hand carved figures and painted with exciting scenes. The circus posters were used to advertise the circus was coming to your town and were papered like wall paper on walls of buildings in each town. Those that survive are worth a in fortune. It was a time when the circus owners lived in luxury, traveled the world and, like the Ringling's, collected everything from Greek artifacts to Peter Paul Rubens paintings. In addition to the Circus Museums there is an art museum housing their collection and their palatial estate all available for your enjoyment here in Sarasota Florida. Don't miss the experience if you are down this way.

2011 Another New Year

Taken with my i phone in NY.

I am welcoming the new year today and thinking back, as us old folks do, to how things have changed throughout our lives. Let's take radio. When I was growing up in Estes Park CO we couldn't get the Denver radio stations because we were in the mountains but at night we listened to KOMA in Oklahoma City that played the latest Rock and Roll! We missed a few curfews because of the time difference but we loved the music. Now we have I phones, that with a clever app, we can tune in radio stations throughout the world. Last night we were listening to a jazz station in Paris.

How about photography. I began taking pictures with a brownie box camera. Over the years I have used all sorts of cameras including slide cameras and even 8mm movie cameras as the kids were growing up. Now I use only digital cameras and the camera in my i phone that can send photos in a matter of seconds to friends and family. In order to salvage the early years of photos I now have to find someone to convert the slides to digital format, many are so old the film has darkened to just black blurs.

Then there is TV. The first television show I saw was the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. One hotel in Estes Park had a TV and everyone was invited to come see this exciting broadcast. It was grainy black and white but we all thought it was amazing and wonderful. Now we are about to hook up a device to our HD TV that will allow us to use the internet on the TV so my husband can watch live streaming Nebraska football and other things we haven't even considered yet, because over 300 TV channels just isn't enough.

With the advent of Bluetooth we can have wireless keyboards and mice for our computers, ear roaches and hands free conversations in the car. We can have tiny stereo systems that will play the music or radio stations on our iphones.

We keep in touch with friends and family via facebook, email and digital photos. I even play scrabble with my daughter, who can be far away even traveling in foreign countries. I do have a couple of friends who don't own computers so we stay in touch the old fashioned way, letters written by hand and phone calls.

We are moving so fast that technology we buy today will be passe by Christmas. I wonder what new things these clever 20 something inventors will bring us this year.

The Migration

The migration is beginning. Tires on trailers are being checked, paintings are being finished, tools are being gathered, lists are being made. Artists from around the country are getting ready for their journey to Scottsdale Arizona for the 21st annual Celebration of Fine Art. Many have made this journey for years and others will do it for the first time.

They will pack up their easels, sculpture stands, pottery wheels, torches, tools of their trade, art work and in some cases families and children to make this journey. They will spend 10 weeks together creating and exhibiting some of the most beautiful art in the country. When they arrive they will begin building their own personal studio inside the big white tents. A place that they feel will display their art to the best advantage for collectors and visitors to the Celebration to buy. They will paint walls, lay carpet and hook up lighting. By the time they are finished and the art is hung no one will notice they are inside a tent. People are awe struck being in such a magnificent gallery with over 100 individual and unique studios where you can talk to the artists and see them at work creating.


The minute you walk in the door you can feel the high energy. The place sizzles with joy, enthusiasm and creativity. This isn't some quiet stuck up cold gallery experience. Brace yourself to have the time of your life with some of the greatest people and art you will ever meet.

Celebrate with them starting January 15th in Scottsdale.

Grab your fire extinguisher!

After all the coverage of the Quran burning this week and all the recent election diatribe I just have to say it is time for everyone to grab a fire extinguisher! The hate rhetoric needs to stop. There seems to be a new culture, enhanced by the 24/7 media, that supports more and more inflammatory talk. It's time to dial it back.

The gift we have of free speech in this country will go away if we can't have reasoned debate with strong opinions expressed on all sides with out personal attacks, threats and calls to destroy or kill or burn. Whipping mobs into a hate filled frenzy seems easier and easier. The various political opponents and religious zelots have gotten into a "can you top this" frenzie to attract the media which covers the event with delight at having something filled with action video to fill their 24/7 vacuum.

It is up to each of us to get out our fire extinguishers and say STOP! Don't support individuals who try these mob tactics to get support. Express your own opinions with reasoned and information filled discussion. Don't just parrot someone else. Do some basic research and find out the facts before you join the crowd. Be respectful of others opinions. You have the right to disagree with people but not the right to incite riots and continue the pattern of violent rhetoric.

Take a breath, figure out what to say calmly and with passion but without harming others. Keep your fire extinguisher handy.

Make up your mind!

I had an experience yesterday that illustrates so much in life. I had lunch at a restaurant called the Firkin and Crown, the English Pub name and decor were front and center but then things turned.

The place was filled with TV screens like a big sports bar, there was loud hard rock playing from the speakers and then the menu came. It had everything from pot pies and bangers and mash to quesadillas, hummus, hamburgers and stir fry! This was a place that really couldn't make up its mind what it was, who it's customer was or what to do with its self.

I have had this same experience with artists. They present to a gallery or jury for a show and present everything they have done in every medium and every style. This is a sure way to not achieve success. You have to pick something and stick with it, to do otherwise is just confusing your audience. You need consistency.

Let me be clear that artists should always experiment and reach for new ideas, use new mediums and try new things. But the path to success (selling your art) is to present consistency
in your art. Do research before you present to the gallery, show or exhibit, know what they expect. If a gallery sells only watercolors they aren't interested in your oil paintings. If they sell only contemporary work your landscapes and still life subjects probably aren't going to be a good fit. You have to make up your mind! Stick with it, find your niche and work it!

In life your path may have many choices and you can try to juggle all those choices hoping to be a great success but never have time, energy or focus to achieve a successful goal because you are split in too many directions. Make up your mind! Pick a path and follow it! Work it!

We won't be going back to the restaurant because we were just uncomfortable. Too much confusion and not a place we fit. We will stick to the English pub that serves pub food and plays Irish music, it a longer drive but we like it there.

Never give up your pencil

We are slaves to technology. But nature and mans errors will always bring us to heel and remind us that we may have to go backward to stay even.

The astronauts learned this when first in space. Pens wouldn't write in space, so the answer became the old fashioned pencil which worked just fine. When sent to repair faulty equipment on the moon, despite lots of practice and specially made tools, they ended up using their Swiss Army knives to get the job done.

When the volcano in Iceland and the tragedy of 9/11 stopped air travel we had to revert to trains and buses to get where we needed or wanted to go. We have discovered that human hair can help soak up the oil spills.

Now our television is going to be disrupted by satellites crashing into each other. What will we do without our television? Do you even own a radio? I only have one in my car. I wonder how we will deal without instant news, no 24/7/365 updates on our games, celebrities, finances and tragedies.

I am keeping my pencil handy, even though I will have my iphone on my belt.