The Hidden Gallery

OMG

The last 2 months have been crazy.  So what was that good news I had?  We've finally moved.  The bad news?  Renovations took way longer than expected.  Move in date was for July 1st but had to move it back to the 15th because the washroom was not finished.  Guess what? It's still not finished.  Thank god Khai was generous enough to offer his shower several times over the last couple weeks.

The plumber was utterly useless but what is worse is the lying and the deceit.  When called out on the lying, he got angry and started yelling and would not leave when asked.  Get this.... I had to call 911 before the guy would leave.  Absolutely appalling behaviour.  I have documented 4 pages of their wrong-doings, threats and lies and have taken pictures of what they've done to our washroom.

Enough about that (for now)...  I mean, at least we didn't find a dead baby from the 1920's during renovations, right?  right?  And at least we've got the good folks at the Holmes on Homes forum to ask questions to.

The internet connection is finally consistent but the computer and art materials are still scare around here because of the huge amounts of dust and I just don't want to put those things at risk.

There is still no washroom and there isn't a kitchen.  What have I gotten myself into?!  How does Ellen (
ellenmillion) do it?!  Oh, I know!  She is amazing and fantastical.

With desperate efforts, it will be nothing but working and fixing up the place so that life can get back to normal as quickly as possible without any more dust, damage and headache.  We've got a toilet at least so no longer do I have to pee surreptitiously in the backyard.  Hey, got to look for and appreciate all the positives, right?

And because of this craziness, art is on hold as are auctions and new online listings for the time being.

Hey, at least there's air conditioning here.  I am truly grateful for that.

***

There's no cable.  I was lucky that my old landlord provided that for free and I am in no hurry to hook it up when there is no time to sit and watch tv, but I do miss watching Jon Stewart although the last couple times I watched it, it was so painful even his comedy could not dampen the severity of evil from BUSHCO.  I couldn't even take the truth from one of my favourite commentators never mind actually having to live through the atrocities he speaks about.  Whatever I feel, it utterly pales in comparison to the suffering of others who are dying.  How can their despair continue?

And I don't understand why the American people aren't able to stop BUSHCO from further damaging their country and their constitutional rights for an illegal war.  Lot's of chicken hawks on the BUSHCO team.

Greenwald explains the true nature of the chicken hawk.

"A "chicken hawk" is someone who not merely advocates a war, but believes that their advocacy is proof of the courage which those who will actually fight the war in combat require."

***

I am so saddened and angry about

Col. Ted Westhusing.






He died two years ago.    Robert Bryce has posted military documents of this man's death.

1. Anonymous letter sent to Col. Westhusing in May 2005 regarding alleged misconduct by contractors working for the U.S. military in Iraq.

2. June 17, 2005 interview of Westhusing’s widow, Michelle, by Army investigators.

3. Sworn statements from people who knew Col. Westhusing.

4. Bulk of the report done by the Army’s Inspector General.

5. Bulk of the report done Army Criminal Investigation Command.

 

And about

Pat Tillman

who's death is being covered up by the BUSHCO.

What can I say?  It's too horrible.

***

Dad has been angry with the Korean Christian community regarding all that's happened with the 21 South Korean hostages of the Taliban.  He has very little sympathy for a group of aggressive evangelical Christians going into another country and trying to convert Muslims under the guise of humanitarian aid.  It's sick.  The arrogance of those church groups is disgusting.  And that's what they've been trying to do, I'm told.  These Christian Korean churches get all high and mighty and actually compete with each other to see who sends the most Christian missionaries to the Middle East for bragging rights.  BRAGGING RIGHTS.  No, I kid you not.

Dad is himself a Christian but does not believe in the aggressive tactics of evangelicals.  Everyone has a right to their own religion and everyone has the right not to have a religion imposed on them.  How dare one religious group criticize and hate another and then impose their own religion on them under humanitarian aid?  Christian missionaries have been doing this for centuries by destroying the indigenous cultures and traditions of the countries and people they claim to help.  Don't they ever learn?  It's arrogant and delusional.

***
Speaking of delusions.... I just finished reading



The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.

Recently, I finished



Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris.

I had a couple of jehovah witness yahoos come to my house and once again, after questioning them I find myself being more aware of what is written in the bible than they were.  This seems to be common.  Why am I more educated and aware of what is in the bible than Christians are?  This is baffling to me.  It's like they haven't even read the book!  I'm no scholar on biblical history, but come on!  If you're going around all high and mighty and preaching the bible and stuff, you should at least read the material you impose on the rest of us.  I mean, don't these religious people feel embarrassed or even ashamed that a lowly 'infidel" like me knows more about the bible and the word of god than they do?  o___O

***

If ATMs in churches isn't proof that religion is a big money making operation (organized religion... organized crime?) with ridiculously generous tax-free privileges, I don't know what is...

According to the Bible (King James Version for those apologists) Jesus was pissed that mercantile activity was going on in his father's house.

John 2:13-16

 13And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

 14And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

 15And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;

 16And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.

(emphasis added)

o___O

I'm not even a Christian and even I know that!  How can Marty Baker of Stevens Creek Community Church in Augusta, Georgia sleep at night???!  Oh, I know... very comfortably under a big pile of money.

"The Bakers charge between $2,000 and $5,000 for the kiosks, which come in a variety of configurations. They also collect a monthly subscription fee of up to $49.95 for licensing and support. And a card-processing company gets 1.9% of each transaction; a small cut of that fee goes to SecureGive."

Absolutely appalling.  WWJD?  Jebus would cry.

***

Yeah, damn long post meandering from a thieving plumber, to an evil empire, to the tragic deaths of real heroes in a sea of cowardly draft dodgers, to Christian imperialism, to cashing out at church complete with a user fee.

Yeah, I'm all over the place.

I'm reading



American Fascists by Chris Hedges next.

Yeah, I'm worried about our civilization.  This stuff keeps me awake at night while greedy pastors are, no doubt, are sleeping very well.

***

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction" - Blaise Pascal

***

I have lots of catching up to do with you guys and all that you are up to.  I will try to get on it and will try to get back to posting again. 

Cho was a crazy, murderous bastard.

What can I say about the Virgina Tech shooting that hasn't already been said?  Not much. 

Just what is wrong with stricter regulations concerning guns?  Would it be such a bad thing if there were more limits on who and when an individual can own a gun or how many guns and bullets they can purchase?  Does anyone really need to own automatic weapons like ak-47s?  Guns are made to kill. 

I'm tired of the hunting argument.  Hunting is cruel.  And dangerous as demonstrated by Dick Cheney.

Guns are dangerous and even The Secret Service has accidents.  Yet there are people who think more guns are needed so people can engage in shoot outs on public streets in the name of defense.  Can you imagine a frat party at 2am with a bunch of drunken people with guns?  The amount of "accidentals" or "misunderstandings" that could result with fatalities is too horrifying.

I'm tired of the ol' "if guns are banned then cars should be banned too because they kill people too!"  Here's the thing.  Cars are not built with the intention to kill.  Guns are made with the intent to kill and injure.  That is their sole purpose.

And no, I am not arguing to change the precious American constitution, but how about a little more rational thinking?  Why can 12 year old kids can buy guns?

Why is there so much resistance to rational thinking and reasonable suggestions?

Yes, yes, crazy people who want to kill will find a way to do it, but try not to make it so easy for them.  If crazy Cho can get a gun easily, then terrorists can get a gun just as easily.  Is that not scary enough to reconsider gun regulations?

Meanwhile, in Iraq such violent homicides happen EVERYDAY.  (Saddam is dead.  How about going after bin Laden Mr. Bush??  Remember that guy??!  How about leaving Iraq alone and letting the people mourn the thousands of deaths that have occurred and letting Iraqi's have the dignity to rebuild their country, hmmmmm?!  It's their country!)

The white house and media are just up in glee because this terrible event will be a convenient distraction from Iraq, women's rights, corrupt attorney generals, Walter Reed, etc...etc... They will milk this dry waiting for the next Anna Nicole mystery.


I finished reading:



by Chris Hedges.

I've always hated those stupid David and Goliath T-shirts.  They are ugly and not very funny at all.  I see them selling for ridiculous prices downtown.

I hate them even more now.  And this is why.

I can't believe this guy got away with this behavior for so long.  HE CALLS HIMSELF AN "ARTIST"!  I am appalled that he would put himself in the same league with those that create their OWN art!

He's been selling these stupid paintings for thousands of dollars to stupid, ignorant rich people.  He's been fawned over in pretentious art galleries.  He's been making millions selling t-shirts with other people's art!

It's just so arrogant.

I love this:

"This is just a bunch of hater artists trying to take me down. I'm not an online Web guy. I'm not trying to rip people off. I work with a team of artists at David & Goliath. We create thousands of designs."

No, actually, you guys STEAL thousands of designs.  I love that "hater artists".  These real artists are trying to take you down because you're a thief.  If you were a real artist, you'd know how angry an artist would be if some stupid jackass came and stole your art to make millions.  Of course they are trying to take you down!  You keep stealing their art!  Oh,  I forgot since you're not a real artist you really wouldn't know how angry a real artist would be.

What a riot!

"It's frustrating to have my whole career, my creativity, being questioned because of one mistake," he said.

What creativity is this?!  He TRACED the art!  This was no mistake.  I bet it was frustrating to the original artist seeing you blatantly steal their artwork to make millions.  Someone call the WAAAAAMbulance!  I'm supposed to feel sorry for this guy?

Something Awful Forums
Digg Article
Las Vegas Sun Article
BoingBoing Article

I'm sick of people who reward mediocrity and unethical behavior.  This goes to all those stupid people who paid thousands of dollars for a hack artist's painting and to all those stupid people who voted for Bush.

If you are an artist, please mention this in your blogs.  It deserves attention and artists deserve to be protected.  Heck, even if you consider yourself not at all artistically gifted (which would be up for argument), post about this!

If you see one of his stinking t-shirts in the store, tell the retailer that they are breaking the law by carrying unauthorized artwork from a fraud.

Fraud Artist's (AKA Todd Goldman) email address so you can let him know how you feel about stealing art.

todd@davidandgoliathtees.com

I got into that mood again where I feel like everything has lost significance compared to the crazy stuff happening in the world.  Everything I write  seems trivial. 

Can someone please explain this to me?  WTF is going on?  People buy and wear this?  o___O  Considering how the American government treated prisoners at Abu Ghraib and how the Iranian government treated the British hostages, social commentary such as that makes me want to puke.


Back to my little world.

I never had a fast enough computer to be able to digitally paint with the tablet.  I'd try, but the lag would be so bad I'd give up.  Now I do have a fast enough computer, but when I tried to paint, there was still lag.... until now.

I dunno what happened (well, I did reinstall os x and cleaned up the computer after the nasty hard drive incident a few weeks ago).  Having enough ram now I decided to give it another shot... and photoshop is responding nicely.  There is still tons of lag when I want to use the smudge tool but who cares if the brush is working so wonderfully! (I don't care now, but I have a feeling I will in the future).  These paintings were done with just the airbrush tool.

My first goof off:



Yeah, I know, it was just a quickie.  I had to abandon it because we went to all-you-can-eat sushi for Larv's birthday.

Next try:


Way better I think.  Mostly painted while watching The Daily Show.

Digital painting is way faster than actually painting.  And way cleaner too.  Having control over each layer of paint and also having the "free-transform" tool sure makes it a lot easier.  I haven't decided if this is a good thing or a bad thing.  It certainly makes me sloppy and less accurate knowing I can change the proportions and I can always "undo".  I have to get familiar with the other brushes and tools in photoshop.  Using only the airbrush just doesn't bring any texture to the painting.

The paintings themselves are nothing to write home about, but I am pleased with my use of the tablet with photoshop and for my first tries, they aren't so bad.  This also makes me realize even more that I'm better at painting than drawing.


We played the Wii at Brenden's house this weekend.  I am hooked!  Where the heck can I find one?  I've been faithfully and regularly checking out Zellers, Toys R Us, EB Games, etc...etc... I'll even buy one at Walmart if I have to even though I've been successfully boycotting it for months.

I hate racism, homophobia and misogyny.  I also hate it when people stoop to that level to insult.  Why are those people so evil?  And the phrase, "Compassionate Conservative" is the most ridiculous thing ever.  Compassionate to who?  Other selfish bastards?  (Please excuse my horrid language... I just don't know of a better word to describe these people).

It's too bad that the web images can't pick up all the colours.  I can only imagine how stunning the aceos created by you guys are in real life!  *swoons*

After experimenting with a variety of pens, I've decided to go back to using the old school pens that have nibs. *sigh* None of the other pens worked for me.  I don't like how the line is one width without variation or movement.  It's boring and I am unable to make it interesting or make it come alive.  So, back to simple and affordable dip pens.  How much I love to hate them. 

Well, hate is a really strong word that I try to reserve for things I really do hate, like nazis, racism, homophobia, etc, etc.

The saying "love to hate" is something many of us can quickly understand and sympathize with but they are rather strong words.

I also have a love/hate relationship with religion.  I think in this instance the feelings are penetrating enough to justify using such forceful words.

I love all the inspiration that comes from religion, the incredible art and music, philosophy, poetry, etc, etc.  But I absolutely hate all the wars, perversions, fears, genocide, abuse, etc, etc that also comes from it.

Anyway, back to the pens. 

I'm using Speedball Drawing Nibs


with FW Acrylic Based Artist Inks.

I love all the fine, delicate lines and how they can be used to create different widths.  I don't like the possible ink spillage or mistakes or the scratchiness to the paper.  The problem is that I'm shaky.  It developed a few years ago.  Every single picture I took in Costa Rica is blurry because I am almost always shaky.  At one point it got so shaky that my eyes and vision was shaking so much I couldn't read and navigation started becoming risky.  Going cross-eyed is also becoming a concern.

Fortunately, it has calmed down quite a bit that I am able to make aceos.   I just have to remember to take a lot of breaks!
So that is the compromise I have to make to use this pen.

Oh, and back to the religion thing... I'd like to think it's spirituality that has value.  It isn't a compromise.  It's a choice.  But that's just my opinion.

If you come to my house and we're not cracking out on the PS3 or watching a movie and just watching TV, then you know.  You know how much I loathe commercials.  I always have at least one back up channel/show to goto when the program we are watching goes to commercial.  I usually have two channels just in case the my first back up show is also in commercial.  Yes, I can be a tv remote hog, but I'm trying to spare you.  But you know that already.

When I finally have tv volume just right - not too loud, not too quiet - for the perfect balance to hear the dialog from the tv and listen to music from the stereo (yes, I think I am ADD,  I must need a lot of stimulation) it makes me happy.  It's a perfect mix.

So you can imagine how much it riles me when the show goes to commercial and the commercial is twice the volume of the tv show I'm (we're, ha ha) watching and disrupts this perfect mix.  All I hear is blah, blah, blah, and the clashing of beautiful, sweet music with a horrible voice telling me I need to ZOOM. ZOOM. ZOOM! and it absolutely makes me cringe.  It's such a bastardly thing to do!

My loathing of commercials and advertisements extends to the radio and periodicals too.  But at least I'm not forced to read ads in the newspaper like I'm forced to listen to commercials when I want to hear the weather report.

Here now, I present to you one of the greatest things that's happened on the internet.  It's the AD BLOCKER for Firefox.  wo'hoo!  No more vile porn (it's never the good stuff, eh?), fake degrees from fake universities, and no more insistence on finding lost classmates (as if I cared)!

Because I love you all and want to spare you all the poison of ads and commercials,  I recommend getting the ad blocker plug in for Firefox.  It really works!!!

Firefox Ad Blocker

Hard Core Firefox Ad Blocker

(Hrmmm... pretty lengthy complaining post, but at least there are some solutions!)

Oh, and btw, I just have to say it publicly, Glenn Beck is such an idiot.  How do people like that get to infect the media?  bah!  (yeah, I bitched to Best Buy, in the most polite way of course, for giving the bastard ad revenues).

Don't get me all riled up!  lol

It has not been a good photoshop day.

But looky here!



Here too:  clickey me!

I just finished reading:



I enjoyed this book.  I kept hearing about it and I heard they made a movie of it.  It is thoughtful and gives a hopeful feeling.  It will cheer you up and soothe your soul.  I wonder how the movie was?

And I also read:



Now, I've heard that there was some controversy concerning the truth in this book.  I didn't know much about it - only that it is recommended by Oprah.  So when I saw it in the library on the "Best Bets" shelf, I thought, "well, why not?"  I was curious.

What a disappointment.  The beginning of the book was interesting because I could relate a little to the main character.  But it started getting tired really fast.  About half way through the book, I was wondering when the heck it would end.  It's so long because of all the repeating  phrases and he does
this
a lot.

I mean
a lot.

It was hard to read at first because he uses strange grammar.  There are no quotation marks in the whole book so it gets confusing as to who is saying what or when they say it.  Not very many commas.  And he uses the word "and"
a lot.
I mean
a lot.
So much so that it gets really
annoying.
Annoying.
Really annoying.
And he capitalizes certain words which is fine but confusing.  Sometimes I couldn't tell if it a word was capitalized because it was important or because it was a proper noun.

I had to finish it.  That's the kind of obsessive person I am.  It wasn't easy.  The most interesting thing in the book is the character named Leonard.  I wanted to know more about Leonard and because I'm am a glutton for punishment and a little masochistic, I had to read:



which is just as
confusing.
Confusing.

Losing a couple hours of your life to crappy books is one thing...so thank goodness i didn't lose any $$ over them.  The library rocks!!!

I can't recommend these books and I cannot just tell people not to waste their time with them.  These books are books that you either love or hate.  It seems a lot of people love them.  You'd have to find out for yourself by reading them.

I am looking forward to reading:



which is a parody of "A Million Little Pieces".  I'm sure I will appreciate it!  This will also help me justify wasting time to read "A Million Little Pieces" just so I can enjoy the parody to its fullest.

A little harsh of a review?
Perhaps.
But it leaves me smiling.
Smiling.
Smiling.
Smiling.
Because I'm being Honest and Real and sharing my Experience and I hope you're laughing too and I bet you find it just as funny as I do and if you don't that's okay and this is the kind of writing Structure that works sometimes and you happen to be e. e. cummings and can write beautiful poetry.

(lmao... I'm sure you're laffing at my journal entry too if you've read his books!)

How do you downgrade your LJ? I don't remember making this a "plus" account with advertising but it is and I hate looking at commercials but I don't know where or if I can downgrade back to a basic account.

Help a girl out if you can!

Holy carp.

I didn't even chose education for advertising support, so there is absolutely no excuse for this military junk to be plastered all over here.  Arts and Books were the only ones I had approved of for advertising.

bah!

I am so pissed (that is the exact right word for how I feel) right now.

I can't believe all this advertising for joining the armed forces is all over my journal.  It is disgusting, offensive and totally inappropriate for my journal.

Never once did I chose such advertising to be on my journal.  In fact, I had chosen to have advertising relating to education, arts and books.  Nothing at all with the military was ever approved for advertising in this journal even if other people believe it to be a 'fine' education.