Halloweenies

Happy Halloween Everyone! I found all these lovely photos on the internet. Not one is an original photo.

In my defense, I will state that the entire Williams family, having succumbed to the H1N1 virus, aka Swine Flu, have been a bit delirious as of late.

I feel that I've missed my favorite time of year.

Fall is the time that I am typically painting out of doors. I did paint on the one day I wasn't running a fever. It was also the one day it didn't rain. The painting sucks.

Instead, I am surfing the internet for outrageous Halloween Costumes. A Kate Gosselin wig! Who woulda thunk? Doesn't everyone want to be Kate? Okay. There is the tacky and the tasteless and then there is the amazing!

This one is really, really amazing! Tasteful, creative, beautiful. I would do this.

This is what Halloween is all about folks. A chance to transform yourselves into an imaginary spirit, sprite, creature, monster or whatever. Have fun being creative.

Our school district outlawed costumes back when my oldest was in first grade.

They claimed it was "devil worship". These were the same people who put Dover on the map for "Intelligent Design".
And then we have Martha.

This little ditty was credited to the American icon "Martha Stewart" . WTF?

Uuhh? I wouldn't dress my child like the Thanksgiving turkey?

That is too effing weird.

Thankfully, the baby is just enjoying the attention.

Swine Flu, Stinkbugs and other Vermin

Shazza is having mouse problems. We are being bombarded by bugs! First the stinkbugs. Those ugly shieldshaped insects that cling to the windows, the siding, the screens. You open a door and they swarm with a horrible buzzing sound. If you swat, they emit a foul odor. Worse yet, they cling to your clothing. I endured the unfortunate experience of unwittingly wearing a shoulder stinkbug while shopping! Can you imagine? Fortunately I am not a celebrity. Can you imagine the tabloids? I thought the store clerk was looking at me funny.

The recent Nor'easter seemed to clear some of these critters. They are still around but they are being replaced by aggressive flesh-eating ladybugs. You all know what I'm talking about. Those adorable orange mini-beetles with the black polka dots. Don't trust them. They swarm our house every October. They invaded my youngest daughter's bedroom and snacked on her flesh. She was covered in mini-beetle welts. We had to release a bug bomb.

They're ba-ack.

This is of secondary importance compared to the Big Bug - the Swine flu. Daughter A has come down with it. She was sent home from school Monday with strict instructions not to return until at least 24 hours after becoming fever free (without the benefit of ibuprofen). Looks like she will be home again tomorrow. Daughter D is now coughing. I am missing about one fifth of my students. Many apparently have the swine flu. It has been confirmed through testing. There is a lot of denial going around. For what? School districts are being hush-hush about it.

I called the pediatrician and described my daughter's symptoms. He also spoke directly with A. He told me it sounds like H1N1. They are getting hundreds of calls. I could bring her in if I wanted to wait until midnight to get in and get confirmation. That's okay, I say, I'll take your word for it. Fortunately the symptoms are milder than the hype. Still she is sick and miserable. We have stocked up on hand sanitizers, but I am out of kleenex. Campbells Chicken Noodle soup tastes funny to her. She does not like my homemade soup with real chicken stock. (Maybe she wants to try it again?) I think the Swine Flu beat the vaccine. Our area did not qualify for the early vaccine. Oh well. So much for the hype.

It is now Day 2 at home and Daughter A is obviously feeling a bit better. She was up on her compy giggling and watching Maru the cat. He is an adorable Scottish Fold who lives in Japan. The doting human films his every move. Life goes on after the big bug! Check him out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urizHysauG0

The National Apple Harvest Festival

On Sunday, my daughter convinced us that we should take her to the National Apple Harvest Festival in neighboring Adams County, PA. We hadn't gone for a few years. Doug and I used to work the ticket booth eons ago b.c. (before children). You should know that Pennsylvania is the #3 apple producer in the USA. There are about ten thousand acres of apple orchard in Adams County (just north of Gettysburg). Adams County is home to Musselmans, Motts and Lucky Leaf brands of applesauce and apple juice. The Biglerville High School Football team is known as the Canners.


The National Apple Harvest Festival is the closest thing I've been to an old time, country fair. The only rides are pony rides and hay rides. Kids can make scarecrows and participate in pie-eating contests for fun. Exhibits include antique tractor, steam engine and car exhibitions.

There are lots of apple products. Apple cider, apple sauce, apple fritters, apple pie, apple sausage and plain old apples.


You can see here an old fashioned, steam powered apple cider press. You could buy freshly pressed cider by the glass or the gallon.

The air smelled of apples, and freshly roasted pit beef. I love a pit beef sandwich on a roll with fresh horseradish.

And for those folks who want something a little less healthy....

There is "The Happy Belly". Supposedly Amish made ribbon chips and Fried Oreos.

I could not even think about it.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunny and crisp afternoon. We bought some jewelry and freshly roasted almonds from the vendors.

My daughter's friend is originally from El Salvador. She tried apple pie for the first time! Bluegrass and country music bands were playing at several stages throughout the day. Elvis was heard in and around the buildings (but seen only in bright green Chuck Taylors and skinny pants).



Johnny Cash is alive and well!
This guy was rocking out the Folsom Prison Blues at the Cider Barrel Stage.


He sounded so much like Johnny. I had a better picture, but I think I uploaded the wrong one.

In fact I have a bunch of other photos but blogger would only allow me to load four tonight.

Hope you all enjoy them!

Yosemite Park - Family Tour 2009

Majestic Half Dome - Partially obscured by smoke - caused by natural forest fires due to lightning strikes.

Astonishing waterfalls.
El Capitan and the entrance to Yosemite Valley. Half Dome can be seen in the distance.

Ken Burns. You've gotta love him. His new series is about our national parks. I think it's called Our Best Idea.

You've gotta love a guy who focuses on the good and the beautiful.


I was focusing on the falls. I didn't realize my husband was posing. I did manage to get his hat. (or cut off his head). Heehee if I edited this photo before I posted it... Oh well.

So take a break from Kanye West, Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck and other obnoxious Americans.

Take a break from politics.

Remember that there were once a few visionaries among us. My Grandfather Harrison was a chauffer for one of them - Theodore Roosevelt. Not bad for a guy just off the boat from Ireland.

The National Park Service preserved some national treasures from land hungry developers.

I've only visited three...Yosemite in California, Acadia in Maine, Shenandoah in Virginia.

This was my second visit to Yosemite.

Some of the views weren't quite as clear as they were twenty two years ago due to forest fires.

The National Park Service Rangers have come to realize that forest fires can be a "good" thing. They are part of the natural cycle of things. The redwoods and the sequoia trees are benefitted by fire. I have enough information to bore all of you for many future posts. I am a nature and weather geek who loves this kind of thing.




Doug and Delaney climbed up to the falls.

Here's to the good things.

Don't let the turkeys get you down. Do any of you remember the Boynton cartoons? (I used to have that on a T-Shirt).

Peace.

So much to paint, so little time...

I have been insanely busy schlepping the kids around, attending football games, visiting colleges, teaching, etc. Sorry if I haven't been visiting your blogs much. I did manage to paint once this week but have nothing to show for it. My latest paintings have been crap.

It seems that I must spend my Friday nights at football games and my Saturdays at college open houses. Sundays are for grocery shopping and other household chores.

I'm not complaining, but a bit exhausted. I am accumulating post material.

I graduated somewhere in there. Pictures to follow when I have time. Haven't been to the gym. I have been walking with the dogs for exercise.

Things should calm down in the next couple of weeks. I hope.

Peer Groups and College Visits

This is my oldest daughter's senior year in high school. Little did I know what a stressful year it would be.

It is time to visit colleges. I need to find an institution of higher learning that will stimulate my daughter's young brain and provide her with training for the future. I also have to find a place where my daughter will feel comfortable. The brochures in the guidance counselor's office say: "It is imperative to visit colleges to determine which school will be the best match for your child."

We have visited three colleges thus far. The Art Schools are winning.
The first state system of higher education school did not cut it. The students were wearing Abercrombie and Hollister.

I didn't take any pictures at universities. I did notice that the Art students looked a lot more like my daughter.

The following photos are from Otakon 2009. These are the my daughter's peeps.

Cosplay at Otakon. Trenchcoats and military style uniforms were all the rage this year.

Trenchcoats and uniforms again. White and Blonde wigs are always in fashion.

Green, blue and purple hair are always in vogue.

These photos were from July 2009 in Baltimore.

Doug and I sat across the street at an outdoor cafe. We nursed a few local brews and enjoyed the sights.

They were not considered outrageous by any means. Daughter was in control of the camera and taking photos of characters she liked.

Daughter is seriously interested in digital animation and game arts. We visited the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Saturday. The kids were not in costume, but they dressed quite creatively. Hair came in many colors and at least 75% of them wore glasses. She felt at home. Isn't that part of it?

Conewago Spring - New Painting

I decided to stop whining and start photographing my paintings. I apologize, but I have crappy editing software on my laptop. This is a square format 20x20 oil painting. I laid it on the ground. Couldn't quite get it right without distortion.

Here is the latest of what I call my maniacal obliteration paintings. I paint, then I scrapewith wood scraps, clay tools, etc., then I palette knife, then I scrape. I need to work on it on at least three sittings, but I have to allow 3-4 days in between for the layers to dry. I have been listening to Modest Mouse and Vampire Weekend. They are a bit subversive. The subject matter is traditional, but the treatment is maniacal. I'm having fun. If you like it, leave a comment. If you don't, leave a comment. After I photographed it I saw a few inconsistencies that I might address.

This is an edited post. I managed to crop the photo better. The first photo annoyed me to no end.

I have been obliterating some other older paintings that I thought looked too picky. I'm just having fun. Stay tuned.