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Nothing gives an author so much pleasure as to find his works respectfully quoted by other learned authors.
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A friend sent this site to me the other day, where you can create a dancing elf of yourself (and others). Pretty funny and very well done by the folks at OfficeMax.  |
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Tim Johnson, a senator from neighboring state South Dakota, has had some measure of medical emergency. I learned about this while browsing a few conservative blogs, all of whom wished the senator well. Johnson is a Democrat in a one-vote Democrat majority Senate. Nice to see the kind words. I echo those words. Best wishes to the senator and his family for a full recovery. |
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Some people are making a lot out of the Democrat's incoming chairman for the Intelligence committee's lack of knowledge about the composition of al Qaeda. Some of these same people look favorably on term limits to reduce the opportunity for corruption. Do you see a problem here? I'm pretty up-to-speed on things in the world. I certainly know who the bad guys are. But I couldn't have answered the question of "al Qaeda: Sunni or Shi'ite?" In fact, I heard a report the other day give some pretty great facts showing that a minority of Shi'ites are mostly the problem, so that would have been my guess too. But no... Sunni is the answer. I don't think it's reasonable that our representatives in Congress should have expertise in these areas. Their pre-Congressional lives are not devoted to such things. They get assigned to committees based on whatever abilities they possess and what political stance they have with their leadership. But in no way does that guarantee expertise of any kind. The Middle East is ridiculously complex. Our western mind won't quickly grasp that eastern mind, and so we look to experts to steer us. And more so if we adopt term limits. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, the man in the hot seat here, has been in Congress since 1997. Now imagine him with a two-term limit. A short four years, half of which is campaigning for the next election since he's in the House. The other half would be reading legislation, listening to debate, and attending committee sessions. I just don't see this system to be a recipe for expertise-building. Which says more about the need to re-think our system than it does about the inadequacies of those elected. If we expect expertise, then we need to have a system of orientation/education in certain niches and long-lived representation. Here, the Senate seems more appropriate with its six-year term, and maybe two terms of that is right. If we don't want them to be in Washington long enough to establish their own corruption, then they're going to have less expertise. Two terms of two years each for the House is quite short, and tougher to be smooth at corruption in that time frame. What's the goal? Gotcha politics is fun, such as the recent defeat of our nation's Secretary of Education by the guy who played Lenny on Laverne and Shirley in a celebrity Jeopardy match. But this simply goes back to my firm belief that government should rarely be expected to be an answer for anything. The true experts, the passionate, life-long folks who devote themselves to a subject and skill, they are the ones in the market who will have the right answers. The free market of individuals has the better solution. All the more reason to restrain the power of government. |
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Well, I've found a means of marketing my cards that seems to be doing well, so I'll be investing more time into it. I mentioned a while back that I'd thought of a way to have a small army of salesfolk. To do this, I created colorful flyers and posted them in the career centers of local high schools. One counselor at one of the local schools liked my work and pointed out the flyer to a student who wanted to get started selling on her own. The student did okay and got a few orders, but at this same school, I guess word got back to the counselor that I followed through well in support of the student, and so a couple more signed on. They've submitted their first orders with me and got paid, and so they then referred me to one of their friends, whom I signed up today. So here's the bigger question: can I replicate this model into a larger domestic model that can be profitable? The students like it because there's no pressure to sell. It's their own time and they're not my employee. They make $4 per Connection Pack sold. If they sell two in a few minutes, that's equal to their job at the grocery store or fast food place. So... how do I scale this upward? Great problem to solve :) |
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So, after a year of selling my artwork via greeting cards, here's what I've learned: 1) The cards are generally regarded as beautiful. This is a good thing... it doesn't guarantee a sale, but it's a good start and it does generate interest. 2) Big cards intimidate the crap out of people. For two reasons. Reason #1: will it need two stamps? I get that question asked of me all the time. 3) Reason #2: People aren't that wordy! They look to me, the greeting card vendor, to make communication easy. The big cards are too much white space. 4) Words sell. I mentioned this before, but people, in general, like lyrics over instrumental music. 5) The small cards are more popular than the big cards. All that beauty in an itty bitty living space. Which is good and unique, but they can't be sent. So combining all of these lessons learned, I'm working on revising my cards to the smallest sendable worded card that I can. Here's the first 3½" x 5" card: (Note: I've updated these images based on feedback from a few people...)  And the text inside:  And another one...  And the text inside: 
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The leader of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, hates Israel, which owns real estate that he wants Muslims to have. So he writes a letter to us "noble Americans." "What have the Zionists done for the American people that the U.S. administration considers itself obliged to blindly support these infamous aggressors? Is it not because they have imposed themselves on a substantial portion of the banking, financial, cultural and media sectors?" Him and Mel Gibson would get along great. The difference though is that one wields a camera and the other wields nuclear weapons. One was drunk, and one is very, very sober.So there's the Butcher. And here's the Baker... A bipartisan commission next week will unveil long-awaited recommendations for a new U.S. policy in Iraq that a published report said would call for a gradual pullback of U.S. troops there - without a timetable - and direct diplomacy with Iran and Syria. Led by Bush Sr.'s guy, James Baker, the idea of negotiating with Iran to alleviate the stress in Iraq is a solution. Oh.My.God. Here's a leader of a country very close to nuclear weapons and he has stated repeatedly his disdain/disgust/hatred for the state of Israel, and we want to trust him? I'm not much on Nazi Germany metaphors, but if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck... what the hell is this group proposing?If W goes along with this idiocy, he's going down in my book as the worst and stupidest president ever. Accepting that recommendation makes even the very unappealing John Kerry look appealing. You know, maybe instead of running for president, John could now make candlesticks... nah. That requires manual labor. I don't think he's up for that. |
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beatcanvas needs a makeover. I tweaked it last night and didn't like it. Moving furniture and all that. Blegh. After skating at Des Moines' new outdoor rink last night, I'm thinking about my annual winter beard. I love the feel of cold so gnarly that it grips my face and pinches hard. Of course, my guy reaction to that is more facial hair. Which doesn't help my ears. Thankfully. |
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I've had a few people ask me in the past if I would paint a portrait. Time to publish rates: | Materials | Work | Total | | 8 x 10 | $15.00 | $110.00 | $125.00 | | 10 x 13 | $20.00 | $130.00 | $150.00 | | 16 x 20 | $30.00 | $220.00 | $250.00 | | 24 x 30 | $50.00 | $300.00 | $350.00 |
While I can reproduce a portrait picture, if asked, my preference is to work from something that depicts the person or people doing those activities that best characterize them. Reading a book in a favorite chair, playing basketball, etc. You can reach me at the email link above in the upper right. I'll be glad to talk with you about it. |
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I'm back from my trip south (east, actually) to Georgia and we all had a great time.  I'll write more about it next week, but I couldn't have asked for a better trip. It was wonderful, and I look forward to seeing them again soon :)  |
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