I just received the following image from a reader by the name of David Miller in Portland, Oregon. He calls this piece, “Sacrifice for Art.”
The image, in case you don’t recognize it, was made from two photos I posted earlier in the week. One was of me bathing my dog. The other was of some of my artwork scattered around my kitchen table. Both, I thought, were pretty nice images. It’s funny how all of that changes with just a little editing and some splattered blood.
Just for the record, I am only posting this because I know Dave. He and I were roommates for a few years back in our college days at the University of Michigan. If anyone else were to send me something like this, I’d be calling the authorities. It doesn’t bother me so much coming from Dave though. Dave’s a good guy. He’s just got too much time on his hands lately. I think it’s probably safe to say that since moving from Austin to Portland a year or so ago his talents have been underutilized. He’s no longer playing in touring swing band or working at a funky dotcom that provides free massages and fruit juice to all of its employees. Now he’s just sitting around the house, splattering digital blood on my photographs.
So, whether you need someone to build you a website, teach you nuclear physics, beat your ass in basketball, or drizzle blood over your family photos, Dave’s your man. I know that probably isn’t the best sales pitch in the world, but if you’re looking for a brilliant and versatile guy in the Portland area drop me a line and I’ll set you up.
So, would someone please hire Dave? I’m afraid of what he might send next.
Oh, speaking of editing digital images for frightening effect, have you ever seen the work of Bobby Neal Adams? He does this thing called “Age Mapping” where he blends together images of the same person from two distinct periods in their life. It’s freaky.
I can’t look at his stuff for very long. I’m afraid that it will give me a seizure.
I guess I should be thankful. At least Dave hasn’t done anything like this to me yet.
Oh, and speaking of “thankful,” I just received the following note from Frank Baur, a reader of this site who traces his roots back to Eli Yale, the fellow who founded Yale University.
I read with interest your thoughts on MM.com about the Thankful name. Actually in New England Thankful was more commonly a girl’s name, sort of in the same vein of Stacy or Francis or maybe Lee is today. I always wanted to name a girl Harmony, sort of a cool name and also a message to the world.
It hadn’t even occurred to me that Thankful could be a girl’s name.
And here, lastly, is some video footage of Robert Blake playing acoustic guitar and singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” before heading in to the courthouse for his murder trial. I found it incredibly sad. The song makes me sad anyway, but it’s much worse coming from a delusional former child star who’s in the process of being tried for murder.
Oh, and here’s something else that you’ll find sad – Paul Krugman’s analysis of the proposed Bush budget.
With that, I bid you all good night.
