Flower Power

I have a new occupation: Train Florist.  The next time you see a train go by, look for flowers.  I also put some sculptures on them, as well as Train Children.

I like to make my tools happy, too.

Latest Netflix ratings from our viewing:
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel:  One star.  It stunk.  Sappy, predictable, formulaic acting.
However, there was this great line from Maggie Smith - "Just because I'm looking at you when you talk doesn't mean I'm interested."
The Judge:  Four stars.  Robert Downey Jr is great, he's responsible for the four.
The Contender: Five Stars. Did not expect that twist at the end.
Closed Circuit: Five Stars.  Started out interesting and wound up being frightening in its cynicism. Frightening in that we can totally believe that can happen here as well as in the U.K.

I Draw, I Scuplt. Ergo, I Art

I went to ArtUnraveled in Phoenix in August and one of the classes I took was from Jane LaFazio.  She's what Susan calls "a gentle soul" and her classes are fun and relaxing and helpful.  This picture is the view from our hotel balcony.

I did this picture in the class I took from her.

This isn't what I learned in her class, it's just something I did earlier in the year.  Susan wanted to put it in the blog to remind me not to eat mint chocolate chip ice cream after 9 p.m. at night.  I'm admitting nothing, even though the empty container was sitting in the kitchen sink when she got up at 3:00 a.m.  I can neither confirm nor deny that my thrashing around in my sleep was caused by the fact that my brain was telling me my cow got loose somehow and it's not my fault that woke her up at 3:00 a.m.  You may not know this but people with chronic insomnia get really cranky by noon because, as they will loudly tell you, they've been up since 3:00 a.m.

Who? Me?

Sidebar: This business about deleted/undeleted/secret/not secret Clinton emails and all that deleted email of Tom Brady's deflatedness made me wonder:  Where is Edward Snowden when we need him?  Why don't we just ask him to reveal all that stuff because Inquiring Minds really need to know.  If he tells us that, maybe as a reward he could come back here for a brief visit, just to get some real BBQ or fried chicken or something.

We Remember, September 11

Rest in peace, Pop. We still remember.

Lost Childhood

REUTERS/Nilufer Demir/DHA

What a strange, sad world we live in today.  Several years ago I made little Sweater Children and Seth Apter featured them in a book he wrote.  Go back here to see the story about them because now this child has come full circle.

Recently my Sweater Children have become Train Children.  Go back here (and below) to see some of my Train Children.

I'll keep putting my children on trains when I can, hoping we don't have to see any more sad children like this on the evening news.

Children sit on the steps of the main train station ...
Christof Stachel/AFP