J's Tokibot

24"x16" oil on canvas ••• I could write about this painting and how I somehow missed showing it to you in 2016 when it was painted OR I could write about how our current postal carrier sweats through our mail whether it is hot or cold outside (I am not exaggerating, we have to hang our mail from a line to dry it out) OR I could write about how the interconnectivity of the ether has brought on a new phenomenon for me. Let's see... Monty, I'll go with curtain number three. • The new phenomenon is students seeking me out trying to complete something called an "A Level." These students contact me, ask me all sorts of questions and copy my work. (Let me say, upfront, that I view it as a compliment.) Most are relatively polite, some... not so much. Maybe one or two know how to compose a proper letter/email, the rest... not so much. Onetime, a parent actually tried to do it for their lazy offspring. Another time, multiple students from the same school in England copied and pasted the same paragraph into their one paragraph email requests—sans salutations, pleases, or thank yous. • Student copies of my work are strewn throughout the ether, some... actually... not-so-bad, some... not so much. I try to take their efforts as a compliment and refuse to kick a kid for honestly trying. I also try to be as polite as possible, even when they are not. After all, it was the way I was brought up—some of us go through our entire lives still feeling our parents' swat on our rear ends. But when a student is rude, then goes on to ask me questions that would take me all day to answer—effectively writing their report for them—that doesn't go over too well with this curmudgeon. When that happens, I find myself seeking polite ways to type, "Go take a flying leap!" • And these torturous A Levels apparently occur all over the globe, from England to Nepal. The current A Leveler preparing her questions for me is from Nepal and she is very polite, me... not so much, but trying.

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The Beverly Hills Art Show
(http://beverlyhills.org/exploring/beverlyhillsartshow)
I have been judged into this year's Fall version of the Beverly Hills Art Show. I will be displaying my wares in space #139 in the first park between Rodeo and Beverly Boulevards. I know that some of you are only concerned with whether or not The Spousal Unit will be there. At present, all I can say is, let's hope for the best (and that I do not do anything to upset She Who Controls My Life between then and now—as always, I can make no guarantees as to my behavior). • Show: Saturday & Sunday, October 21st & 22nd / 10am to 5pm both days. • More info to come.

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Posted October 6, 2017