1 Comment BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 3/3/2010 5:33:14 PM Permalink
The Journey is Always More Important Than the Destination
As I painted Tamara's wedding bouquet this past Sunday, I improved as I went. The last element that I painted was the rose, and I remember looking at Tamara and saying to her, "This will all come down to the rose. If I nail it, it will work. If I screw it up, it'll look like 5th grade."
I had to forget that it was a rose. I worked to erase any knowledge of it in my head... it was just colors and edges.
And I think it came together fine. I remember thinking while I was working on it that I had no idea how it was coming along. Nonetheless, I kept pushing ahead.
Only when I was done did I really step back from it and solicit opinion. Aaron, who is always honest with me about my work, nodded his approval. Whew!
So much of life is like that... we have no clue how we're doing in the midst of it, but we must keep pushing ahead. Be it raising kids, cooking dinner, the task at work, etc... if we just see it for what it is and leave our assumptions behind, and apply ourselves to it, it might work out.
And even if it doesn't work out, we need to remember how important it was for us to screw up - to help educate us forward.
The journey is everything...
0 Comments BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 3/3/2010 2:15:39 PM Permalink
Tamara's Bouquet
0 Comments BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 2/28/2010 4:58:31 PM Permalink
11½
Today, my bride is 11½.
Happy birthday, baby :)
ETC: I'm painting her a picture today... about two-thirds finished...
0 Comments BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 2/28/2010 8:58:43 AM Permalink
How to Have Fun
Life is often what you make of it, and a girl named Ashley shows us in this video how to make the best of time in the airport.
Bending a few rules is a good thing.
0 Comments BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 2/27/2010 7:44:31 AM Permalink
Misunderestimated
My son, Tyler, came home yesterday and I had to tell him that he was right.
I was wrong... the Republicans, politicians from a party that haven't really stood for our rights and freedoms in a while, came to do their jobs yesterday at Obama's health care summit. They succeeded, and today, our nation is better for it.
Well, damn skippy.
I will say too that Obama's obvious arrogance was on display. I can never undervalue his ability to be a snobby jerk and to be thin-skinned.
Way to go, Republicans. Now that 56% of Americans believe the government stands in opposition to their rights, the Republicans have aligned themselves with the people.
That also dovetails nicely with the less-than-majority 44% who approve of the president.
Well done, and I am thrilled to be wrong.
0 Comments BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 2/26/2010 10:11:27 AM Permalink
The Pitchfork in the Road for the Republican Party
Paraphrased, McConnell announced that we're about to witness the tragic end of the Republican party.
Obama has no intention of listening to the Republicans. That's a given.
The media has no intention of giving favorable coverage to the Republicans. That's a given.
The Democrats' congressional leaders have no intention of letting their agenda go. That's a given.
The Republicans have very few among their ranks who can articulate principles based upon the constitution. That's a given.
Barring some miracle, I don't see how the Republicans, who really don't fight much for our individual rights and freedoms much as it is, will do anything but screw this up big time and throw themselves six feet into a hole to await the cascade of dirt we'll shower upon them after they screw it up.
So far, us in the cheap seats have successfully kept the juggernaut of socialism from arriving at the station. It certainly wasn't because of the Republican politicians in Washington. They wanted to work with the president and the Dems - until we beat them upside the head and told them not "No," but "Hell No!"
Now they're going to participate in Obama's reality game. Killer chess move from Barry O and company...
Unless the Republicans - to a member - are awesome and stalwart in their defiance in an unprecedented way, this is the end of the Republican party. They will either successfully defend our freedoms and our individual rights and thereby find the American people behind them in a way that they've only dreamt of, or I and millions of others will take part in the funeral procession.
Your move, McConnell.
ETC: Were the Republicans awesome and stalwart after all?
Maybe so... I'll check the rest of it later, but it's awfully hard to argue against Rep. Ryan's assertions - unless you're a socialist.
0 Comments BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 2/21/2010 9:25:33 PM Permalink
Today's Beauty
Pardon the slight blur...
2 Comments BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 2/20/2010 8:29:08 AM Permalink
Lies!
No clearer example of media bias is there than this example from the Washington Post's columnist, Jonathan Capehart, who lies by omission:
Joseph Stack was angry at the Internal Revenue Service, and he took his rage out on it by slamming his single-engine plane into the Echelon Building in Austin, Texas. We now know this thanks to the rather clear (as rants go) suicide note Stack left behind. There's no information yet on whether he was involved in any anti-government groups or whether he was a lone wolf. But after reading his 34-paragraph screed, I am struck by how his alienation is similar to that we're hearing from the extreme elements of the Tea Party movement.
Now here's the lie - he quotes the suicide note, but leaves out a very critical element:
Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let's try something different take my pound of flesh and sleep well.
Joe Stack (1956-2010)
02/18/2010
That's what Jonathan Capehart quoted. But here's how the note actually reads:
Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let's try something different take my pound of flesh and sleep well.
The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.
The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.
Joe Stack (1956-2010)
02/18/2010
Tea partiers are fierce defenders of the free market and capitalism. Joe Stack clearly isn't cut from that tea party cloth.
Jonathan Capehart knows that, but doesn't care. He's a journalist, and he's got an agenda, you see. Never mind that what he reported isn't the truth...
And people wonder why the public pays less and less attention to the media and to newspapers.
1 Comment BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 2/18/2010 6:07:21 PM Permalink
Professor Jones also conceded the possibility that the world was warmer in medieval times than now - suggesting global warming may not be a man-made phenomenon.
And he said that for the past 15 years there has been no 'statistically significant' warming.
So let's see just how dishonest the anthropogenic global warming "science" has been. Two graphs, via SonicFrog:
Q: Is the earth warming? A: Possibly.
Q: Is it man's fault? A: Probably not.
Q: Does anyone know enough about this now to be able to predict what's going to happen? A: Absolutely not.
Q: And if they can't predict with any reliability, should we trust politicians to arrive at a solution? A: Only fools go there...
"The temperature records cannot be relied on as indicators of global change," said John Christy, professor of atmospheric science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, a former lead author on the IPCC.
These stations, they believe, have been seriously compromised by factors such as urbanisation, changes in land use and, in many cases, being moved from site to site.
Christy has published research papers looking at these effects in three different regions: east Africa, and the American states of California and Alabama.
"The story is the same for each one," he said. "The popular data sets show a lot of warming but the apparent temperature rise was actually caused by local factors affecting the weather stations, such as land development."
Local factors? The article cites another researcher who published "photographs of weather stations in locations where their readings are distorted by heat-generating equipment. Some are next to air-conditioning units or are on waste treatment plants. One of the most infamous shows a weather station next to a waste incinerator."
Moving the data collection equipment next to a waste incinerator - wow, I guess anthropogenic warming does exist.
0 Comments BeatCanvas.com, an Iowa Art Blog, by artist Brett Rogers, 2/14/2010 11:36:30 AM Permalink
