Culture Means Business

Does this bother anybody else. I know how we're supposed to read this: that the arts make an important contribution to the economic life in our State. But there is a plain reading too. Culture means business. It doesn't mean other things like heartfelt human expression, beauty, sorrow, love, joy . . . Culture is valued here because we can make a buck off of it.

Here's my Carnival throw for this year. Way deep inside is an argument I've been having with myself about loneliness, solitude and sadness. I'm told that we mustn't rely on others to be happy, that we must love ourselves first.

But what comes after "first"? We are social beings. We need each other. We can be all sorts of things, successful, beautiful, contented, by ourselves, but there is something we can't do for ourselves. You can scratch your own itch, even in the middle of your back if you use a stick, but you can't tickle yourself. And it's a lot nicer to have someone you love take care of that itch too.

Notice too, we "can" make each other happy. No one forces you. You can step off the see-saw any time you like, and I wish you'd stay.

And the other reason I'm back on this blog is that I'm trying out my new rig. The old eMac finally is out to pasture. There was nothing wrong with it, only that new programs won't run on the old chips. I'm mad at this, but that's a problem for another post.

What would Dr. King do?

When I get mad about something I make a print.

What is it about MLK commemorations and trumped up war in the Middle East? Bush the Elder invaded Iraq on his birthday and our Nobel Peace Prize President wants to bomb Syria when he knows it won't solve a problem he can't even define on the 50th Anniversary of a speech he'd rather preserve than heed. Radical non-violence and racial justice is not a dream we have while asleep. Everybody, wake up!

Carnival 2013

Here's this year's Mardi Gras offering. 

It occurs to me that we celebrate in mid-winter because if we made it this far we will probably survive to see another Spring. We remember those who passed. We honor the elders. We teach the young. We look inward, outward and forward.

Embrace the Maya Apocalypse

I'm looking forward to December 21st. I do every year and this year especially. The solstice gives us a moment to stop and see the turning of the year. We can re-dedicate ourselves to things we have always known to be true. We look back and forward and inward.

Whitman resists

Here's the latest attempt to connect letterpress with our great history of resistance.

Looking to move

Here's a card I printed in hopes of moving out of this rut I'm in. I have lost my nerve and I haven't sent this around at all. I'm going to California at the end of July for a vacation. Perhaps I'll distribute them around then. The real hang-up is that I want to stay close to my son and as far as I can tell,  his mother wants to live in New Orleans. I'm looking for a break here. Any ideas?