We are Soooo Home

 Ah, we are safely back in our tidy little hideaway in the Nations Nashville. Heavy sigh. Deep breath. Lungs full of gratitude for both the gift of travel and the treasure of home.

I don't know if I believe in jet lag. 

It's 5:42 Central Daylight Saving Time. What are we saving? The daylight doesn't care. 

We have been on terra firma in Nashville for around 32 hours and I'm up feeling pretty durned good at right around my usual time to arise. I did my ~40 yoga breaths quietly in bed, stretched, spent some time reflecting on whatever I reflected upon, and quietly arose, slipped on my royal blue cotton tee sleepshirt, and padded into my studio to lay down a poem. I suppose our nearly three weeks in Spain has enriched my connection with words and with whatever it is inside me that shapes my use of them.

Don't get me wrong, I'm usually pretty connected, but...

If I have learned 

anything

it is this:

Every living being 

with whom I have shared love

in any way

has remained,

is with me now 

in my memory,

in my heart, in my...

what is that? My soul?

Those whom I have hated

are nothing,

are gone,

are wisps,

are past

wrong turns,

wrong items

on my life's 

long

list.

If I have learned 

anything

it is this.

Ahem. Well. There's that. This little ditty came to me while I contemplated the old dog who had slowly arisen and made his way to the bedroom rug from his time asleep safely between my love and me. I then (and autonomically) moved closer to her beneath the sheets and she cupped her hand into mine again without willing the touch, just fingers to fingers drawn together like soft flesh and bone magnets. I continued breathing and laid awash with love, just breathing and loving, giving and receiving  precisely like inhaling and exhaling, like love. The word "living" is the only correction I made to it, considering, as I should, of course, that old dog, and other loves not "human".

And yes, I will use as many commas as I would like. They are necessary to indicate the meter. In case you've forgotten, my poetry (and much of my prose) must be read aloud to really work. It's a fault, a limitation, I know.

^^^^^^^^^@@@@@@@@^^^^^^^^^

Stay tuned. I'm thinking the next few posts will summarize our fantastical nearly three weeks in España.

"san sebastian", 2023, pencil on sketch paper, completed after a photo taken from Hotel Londes

And later, in Barcelona, at the Picasso Museum...

 there's this:

from https://uploads3.wikiart.org/images/pablo-picasso/las-meninas-velazquez-1957-4.jpg

There is a room full of paintings by the artist formerly known as P. Ruiz-Picasso that document his absolute obsession with Velazquez's Las Meninas, and later paintings continued to suggest that that did not abate. After my earlier fixation with the Velázquez painting at the Prado, I was charmed and fascinated by the master's consuming one, and perhaps a little smugly justified. Here, the subject and one of scores of interpretations/variations. Did that room demonstrate that the notoriously egotistical master was humbled? Maybe. I feel that perhaps he felt the balances in the paintings were iconic, sort of the Golden Mean, but not.

A story by our guide, Marta Rioge. Some time ago, two of her clients were told that they were to see the Picasso Museum here in Barcelona that day on their walking tour, as we had been. We were all for it, but that couple said, "Oh no, we don't want to see that. We don't like Picasso." It seems that a friend of theirs, an architect, had shown the painter an unearthed clay object that he was immensely proud of having discovered, whereupon Picasso dipped his fingers in paint and dragged them across the clay treasure, remarking, "There. That is now very valuable." Great story, I think. Another that Marta shared is that Picasso famously once remarked that "If I grew up to be a soldier, I would be a general. If I grew to be a clergyman, I would be the Pope. I grew up to be Picasso."

Side by side Las Meninias, the original by Velasquez, and Pablo Picasso's "copy", untitled by the painter, as were all his paintings (from https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f2/21/e9/f221e90671a5245412616446f2debdb2.jpg)

Puerta Barroca en el Día Internacional de los Museos

Our stellar guide for yesterday's exploration of Madrid--which included a perfect visit to the Prado National Art museum--created with his husband and installed with a team of 10 this amazingly beautiful "Baroque Door" piece. How fun that Pablo shared it with us before we entered the incredible repository of Spanish art and then proceeded to blow American minds with his historical knowledge and expertise around the history of the museum and the artists whose masterpieces inhabit it. Watch this awesome celebration of his own work:

Our 2+ hour long tour focused on the works of Goya, El Greco, Velazquez, and Reubens and I'll never look at any pictures of those paintings the same again thanks to Pablo. Here is one of our favorites, the "metapainting" "Las Meninas", by Velazquez. It's experimental nature was a hard fought win by the artist, whose main assignments were primarily traditional (though masterful) portraits for the King. Lee Ann had to come back for me after they proceeded on and I remained standing there, glued to its magic:

By Diego Velázquez - The Prado in Google Earth: Home - 7th level of zoom, JPEG compression quality: Photoshop 8., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22600614

As an aside, our stellar Madrid hotel, the Palacio de los Duques, is a renovated castle which is Velazques themed. That little girl's face is at almost every turn in the beautiful building!  I will probably never perceive a frozen Margarita the same.

(cross-posted from scheduliberated)

 Here's what I'll do here.

I'll post at least every year. 

Okay, it's my 73rd today and I'm going fishing in a bit. Just got led back to this (now understood as an) "annublog" by a post about a teacher friend's retirement from her teaching career and reread the single post here (cross-posted at scottmerrickdotnet); and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I will have completed my first year of "retirement" in a couple days. In a couple days after that, I fly to Spain with my lovely lovely for over two weeks of luxury travel and culinary and culture exploration (shoutout to RH Travel).

NOTE: If you're a web trolling miner for thievery, we have good friends living in our home to take care of our mean old dog, who is trained to take a leg off if need be. My friends are both martial arts experts and armed to the teeth. There. JK of course, but not.

I have to hit the lake but I do want to say here that I have had a wonderful year. I've completed a Peloton class on meditation, and one on yoga, both taken to refresh my dedication to both. The meditation one stuck as I am practicing daily. The yoga was surprisingly painful but I completed it, and I incorporate elements of it in everyday movements and in the care with which I approach them. I'm still cycling on the machine, but the discovery of classes I can take at computer was a good one. The meditation one may be life-changing for you.

I am painting like a madman (chronicled at scottmerrickdotnet), I've written songs, I've taken masterclass.com classes from John Legend, Futura, Santana, and Jake Shimabukuro; and mandolin classes from Sierra Hull at artistworks.com. I've blogged a bunch, and I've read/listened to a number of great podcasts and books, most notably many of Lex Fridman's long-form interview podcasts and my son-in-law's "You're Good Get Better" drumming jewel.

I've camped, I've attended a great concert at The Caverns (focused on my music crush Sierra Ferrell but with other great Americana folks) and several Finally Fridays from WMOT at 3rd and Lindsley. I traveled to visit my dear brother Ed at his home in Montgomery, Texas, camping in Arkansas on the way and staying with a high school friend in Hot Springs on the way home. Just last week my dear son Colin came into town and we fished, saw Caroline Polachek with Edith Cain at the Ryman, and brewery crawled and just spent good time together. I'm going to head up to his territory, Missoula, Montana, in September, for the Montana version of the week. 

In short, and I will be short, because the out of doors is calling and Lee Ann's alarm is going off, repeatedly as is her wont, in the next room--if you are interested in what scheduliberation looks like, keep up with my primary blog, easily found at scottmerrick.net. It's been up for a long time but this new leg of my life is grand, great, godly, and gee-wiz happy and I'm digging chronicling it. 

You fashion your own life, whatever stage it be, and don't let anyone slip you negative vibes. I highly recommend it.

Here's a work in progress, from a photo taken a month ago at Cheatham Lake Campground:

wip, "from the campsite", acrylics on canvas, by Scott Merrick, 2023

See ya,

Scott

Summer, here, and we prep for travel

 Well, well, well (again), here we are once more. Me and my imaginary readers. 

Wait. I know you're real and I know how grateful I am for you. Let me pop over to my online Gratefulness Journal to say that.

Back.

My boy Colin is in town from his hometown of choice, Missoula Montana. I am so happy to be in the same room, car, or Nashville venue with this centered, talented, and kind human being. I miss him every day when I am not, but I am happy with his decision to live in that beautiful place. I remember when I lived in Anchorage lo those many years ago I hardly spoke and never saw either of my parents for over 5 years. Thank god that's not the case with either of my magic children. Here's me and Colin at table in our Nations Nashville home:

scott and colin at Chez Merrique, courtesy of Tim Buell

And a pic of both our children, smooching on their beautiful mom, on our paradisial back porch:

Colin, and Miranda Lee smooching mom on Mothers Day

Why do I blog, still, after so long? It should be obvious: blogging provides a consistent wandering ripple throughout my years and helps me clear my head and honor my thoughts and those of others. Look back on some posts, from 2005 on, and see for yourself. Take a look at a short story, my novel (available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback), my novella, or a post about the future of education, my bailiwick for nearly 30 years, an original song, or jump around for a poem or two. It's all there. As my dear sis-in-law Amy explains to my cherished wife, "It's his book."

That's a simplification, of course, as the blog contains most of my books, but I like it. Many of my links have gone dead, as platforms used for photo sharing, news sites, and other blogs have crapped out and been nullified; but I likely won't take up the goal of revising anything from 18 years ago to present. I prefer to be here now. It's my thing. But a perusal of past posts will reveal some trends and share some good past, and may be of historical use to the alien researchers who follow us. 

These past couple weeks I've been working on an abstract that I am as of yesterday calling finished. Why do so many of these efforts result in color studies and shapes that are full of motion and energy? I don't know, really, but I'm calling this one "terminal ascension," and it may be whatever it may be to you. I see things and suggestions of events and natural phenomena in this piece. My mentor, Charles Brindley, hasn't seen this, as I completed it at home. There is a lot underneath it, and a concentration on tensions of both texture and color, and I had fun with the palette knives and the brushes. I have promised myself to seek some softness and peace in my next abstract, but here is 

"terminal ascension", photo of 16x20 acrylic painting by scott merrick

On the more realistic side, a study of dusk at Cheatham Lake, my preferred local camping waterside, is underway. Charles has helped with this one with cutting insights on contrast and underpainting, along with color mixing suggestions. It's not finished but it is sneaking up on it, a process that is undercut every time I see something new in the iPhoto I took that delicious evening. I want to express calm here. Maybe that's the thing aforementioned: I work for expressing peace in my landscapes and my left-behind work, like "on the inside" and "rocky's ridge from rocky's ridge." Anyway, definitely a WIP, here is 

"dusk @ cheatham lake", photo of a work in progress, acrylics on 16x20 canvas by scott merrick

I'll end with a little humorousity (sic). My dear love-of-my-life was messing around in my studio closet, rearranging things as she will, and this painting on up-cycled scrap treated lumber (a medium I may well revisit) was maybe precariously propped up on the door trip above the closet door. I'm not sure how, but it decided to drop from its perch right on her noggin, falling to the floor. I'm not sure if it broke on her head or on the floor, but break it did. This one doesn't have a name, as is sometimes my wont, but, anyway, I propped it up on the floor and in between the two halves I placed a curio I purchased in a thrift store years ago, an incense burner just tacky enough to have caught my eye. I sort of like the staging and may do some media work to make it a permanent piece. What should I call it?

"untitled", acrylics on treated scrap lumber, by scott merrick

We are journeying overseas in a couple of weeks, for a couple of weeks. We'll be in Spain excepting for one brief outing into France near San Sebastian, staying in only 4 overnight hotels over a period of 17 days, and hopping from one to the other via train and plain. The trip was planned through consultations with the (highly recommended) RH Travel Design here in Nashville, and we are soooooo looking forward to it. It's all upscale accommodations and travel, and we both are expecting, literally, the trip of a lifetime. There are LOTS of food, wine, cultural, and art experiences built in along the way, along with ample down time to explore or just relax together. I'll be documenting, most likely, but don't hold me to that, and don't expect anything while it's underway. I plan to be here now, there, in my most present ways. Think good thoughts about safe travel for us--we are all in. 

For all the slum bag lurker thieves out there, our good friends Matt and Anitra will be staying here with our killer dog Watson, and the NCA alarm system will be in use. Don't even think about it.

To everyone else, regardless of your politics or any other enlightened or misguided beliefs, I hope your days will be good and that you will remain safe and well and alive as we roll around the center of the planet and circle around the good ol' sun.

Okay, well, I can make it monthly :)

 Well, well, well, here it is--nearly a month after the previous post. Who would have thought I would be so busy in retirement from the education game that I would be reduced to posting so infrequently. It is a good thing, though! 

Been painting. 

I have re-upped for Charles Brindley's open studio class at Scarritt Bennett Conference Center right across the street from my workplace of 14 years, USN. This semester, instead of attending twice a week for three hours a pop, I am clearing the calendar for fishing and camping so I go once a week for 3-6 hours. Here is an abstract I call "exsanguination," which dictionary.com defines as: 

[ eks-sang-gwuh-ney-shuhn ]

noun

the act or process of draining or losing blood:

With an extreme mite infestation, up to 6% of a bird’s blood can be drained daily, causing it to become anemic or even die by exsanguination.

the act or process of bleeding to death:

The consequences can range from minor blood loss to exsanguination.

"exsanguination", acrylic on 16x20 stretched canvas, by Scott Merrick, 2023

I do enjoy me some abstract acrylic painting, because I like to play with textures and shapes. My abstracts often have layers and layers as I struggle to draw out intimated meaning potential. The name came after the painting had been completed, beginning with a coined one, "sinmagination." Funny how trains of thought can derail into meaningful connections.
I was working on a portrait of my best buddy Watson alongside the work on exsanguination. This one hopes to convey his lovely smile. I have had two sets of people tell me emphatically that he resembles Matt Damon. I see it, I see it.

"Watson", acrylics on 16x20 stretched canvas, by Scott Merrick, 2023

I will say here that I have been getting the odd notice that Google has put a warning notice in front of several posts in my "Oh! Virtual Learning!" educational blog, which is no longer being updated but did run from 2007 to 2014, with a random update after that in 2019. I leave it up as an archive to everything I and my small but driven band of merry pranksters did in our efforts to bring the Metaverse to educational use, yes we did, during that period. Those were some days, and we tried intensely and we tried with all we had. The fact that the Metaverse has experienced a flop of epic proportions in the last several years is simply testament to the steadfastness with which human beings cling to the past. Here we are, still educating the masses to be factory workers, grouping them by manufacture date, giving worksheets and tests and grades, in rooms which, even though they may be furnished with chairs arranged in ways other than rows (but often are not), are still rooms.
I have mildly revised those few posts and hit the "request review" button for Google but, really? Google, check your Community Standards and if you are going to put a post behind a firewall try specifying what the alleged offense may be, not just telling the blogger to review the guidelines and make changes. Seriously.
That's it for today. I'm off to continue working on the perfection of my "retirement." Cheerio!

Nationwide Parent/Teacher Strike?

This post is in frustrated response to the murderous killing spree that took place Monday in a K-6 private elementary school about 7 miles from my home. It happened in the school connected to the church where my daughter's independent vocal choir regularly sings. See details at NPR.

A conversation the next day with my dear friend Rocky Alvey brought up this question, which has been bugging me since. I share it here: 

Why is no one calling for a nationwide parent/teacher strike against all school systems? Parents should not have to drop their children off five days a week fearing that they will not survive the day. Nor should teachers or school staff have to go to work daily with the same fears.  

Think about it. Someone has to. And I must admit that I am too old to pursue this. Step up. In any way you can.

Strike end conditions include but are not limited to total ban of automatic weapons by federal, local, and state legislatures and the immediate recall of all such weapons with state-funded compensation for their cost. Send the NRA and their puppet politicians back to the woods with a properly thought out, funded, and implemented online education strategy with true online teacher training, much more than the couple zoom sessions and a "good luck" that the Covid crisis generated, along with commensurate losses in learning. Power/support the strike with a shared set of curriculum and other resources in small homeschool groups utilizing itinerate teachers who, along with their charges, also don't ever again need to fear if they will survive the day.

Following the Uvalde school massacre, Dr. Bindi Naik-Mathuria, trauma physician at Baylor College Hospital, told Yahoo News that the wounds inflicted by AR-type weapons are "virtually unsurvivable."

I wrote this yesterday and if you can navigate the non-scanning lines with care, come up with your own melody and share it with me. Or read it aloud like a poem. A song to consider:

Because They Could 

by Scott Merrick

(soto voce introduction:)

You were so profoundly broken

in ways that went unspoken

that you kept it from your family

until you didn't.

(forcefully:)

Emilie, Hallie, William:

Audrey, why'd you have to kill them?

I'm writing this not because I want to

but because I have to

I didn't know you.

No one did.

Get off your lazy ass 

and to the polls

Send the NRA 

back to the woods

vote them out of office

get their guilty hands out of our lives

the shooter killed those kids

because they could.

And it's your fault

And it's my fault

They couldn't use those guns

if those guns could not be bought

And it's their fault

and it's our fault

They couldn't fire those guns

if those guns could not be bought.

I'm crying now

for those three children

and their families

and the others that you killed,

the hearts your bullets stopped

forever and the cops

who you forced to take your life

with your last free will

Emilie, Hallie, William:

Why'd you have to kill them?

I'm writing this not because I want to

but because I have to

I didn't know you.

No one did.

Get off your lazy ass 

and to the polls

Send those puppet politicians 

back to the woods

vote them out of office

get their guilty hands out of our lives

the shooter killed those kids

because they  could.

And it's your fault

And it's my fault

They couldn't use those guns

if those guns could not be bought

And it's their fault

and it's our fault

They couldn't fire those guns

if those guns could not be bought.

They couldn't fire those guns

if those guns could not be bought.

They couldn't fire those guns

if those guns could not be bought.

Raw Links:

https://momsdemandaction.org/resources/

https://www.alternet.org/tennessee-senator-prayers-nashville-victims/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_congressional_candidates_who_received_campaign_money_from_the_National_Rifle_Association

And a list of US Republican senators who received funding from the NRA and related PACs, from Newsweek:

Republican Senators Who Receive Funding From the NRA

• Mitt Romney (Utah) $13,647,676
• Richard Burr (North Carolina) $6,987,380
• Roy Blunt (Missouri) $4,555,722
• Thom Tillis (North Carolina) $4,421,333
• Marco Rubio (Florida) $3,303,355
• Joni Ernst (Iowa) $3,124,773
• Rob Portman (Ohio) $3,063,327
• Todd C. Young (Indiana) $2,897,582
• Bill Cassidy (Louisiana) $2,867,074
• Tom Cotton (Arkansas) $1,968,714
• Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania) $1,475,448
• Josh Hawley (Missouri) $1,391,548
• Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee) $1,306,130
• Ron Johnson (Wisconsin) $1,269,486
• Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) $1,267,139
• Mike Braun (Indiana) $1,249,967
• John Thune (South Dakota) $638,942
• Shelley Moore Capito (West Virginia) $341,738
• Richard Shelby (Alabama) $258,514
• Chuck Grassley (Iowa) $226,007
• John Neely Kennedy (Louisiana) $215,788
• Ted Cruz (Texas) $176,274
• Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) $146,262
• Steve Daines (Montana) $123,711
• Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi) $109,547
• Roger Wicker (Mississippi) $106,680
• Rand Paul (Kentucky) $104,456
• Mike Rounds (South Dakota) $95,049
• John Boozman (Arkansas) $82,352
• John Cornyn (Texas) $78,945
• Ben Sasse (Nebraska) $68,623
• Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma) $66,758
• Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) $55,961
• Mike Crapo (Idaho) $55,039
• Jerry Moran (Kansas) $34,718
• John Barrasso (Wyoming) $26,989
• John Hoeven (North Dakota) $22,050
• Susan Collins (Maine) $19,638
• James Lankford (Oklahoma) $18,955
• Jim Risch (Idaho) $18,850
• Tim Scott (South Carolina) $18,513
• Kevin Cramer (North Dakota) $13,255

Be well and share.

Lex Fridman Talks with Dr. Shannon Curry: Johnny Depp & Amber Heard Trial, Marriage, Dating & Love ...

I've been listening to Lex Fridman podcasts for months now, ever since my buddy Rocky suggested the episode about climate change that is a "sort of" debate between Bjorn Lomberg and Andrew Revkin. That podcast, Fridman's #339, was staggering to me, running 4 hours, 10 minutes. It was really my first foray into "long form" interviews, and I liked it. Since then, I've listened to his shows with Noam Chomsky, Ray Kurzweil, Michael Saylor, and Elon Musk. He comes to controversial topics with a heavy emphasis on empathy, love, kindness, and so appeals to me. The genius of the long form allows MUCH more depth in conversation, and it's a habit I'm glad to have in my Scheduliberation. 

That said, I want to recommend this episode to Anyone, Everyone, and you. Insights on Shannon Curry's views of everything in the title and more are absolutely worth the listen. AND it's a relatively brief one at just around two hours. 

I listen on Spotify, but you can listen and also watch on YouTube. You're welcome. Here:

Happy Spring, and carry on, safe and well always...

Chilly Saturday Morning at Chez Merrique

Well well well. Early Saturday morning and I'll be taking out o' here in a couple hours to do deliveries for Tinwings, the glorious gourmet grab-and-go market conceived and made golden by my lovely wife. I'm the back-up delivery guy, and her former delivery person is herself taking off for a 3 month chef gig in Greenland (!) tomorrow. It'll be fine, and the sky is blue and though it's chilly outside again I do love to drive all over my hometown and leave amazing, delicious food fare on doorsteps of some of the hundreds of clients who partake of her scrumptiousness regularly.

Tinwings in The Nations Nashville

We went to a live performance in the tiny Basement venue Thursday, to see and hear a solo performance by Tommy Prine, and we were treated to one song featuring guest star Amanda Shires. What a treat, the whole thing. Tommy's first LP will release in late June and we were lucky to have heard many of its songs. I'll tell you this: Tommy has inherited his father's gift for storytelling with metaphore, irony, and humor, but he has already proven that he has his own distinct voice, and it's beautiful and I am now a hardcore fan. I taught him every week for years in my University School of Nashville computer lab and I am so proud of hisgrownupself. As we were leaving after he said, "Mr. Merrick, thank you for coming," and I responded, "Ha, you can call me Scott." Made me smile. And I did say hi to Amanda just before leaving, introducing her to my honey. Amanda sometimes comes by to work in Charles's open studio class and she is, besides being a powerhouse superstar musician and singer, a hugely talented painter. She is also one of the nicest human beings it has been my pleasure to meet.

I'm currently working on a couple paintings, and I made good progress on my 16x20 painting of my best pal Watson last week. Charles Brindley's painting class at Scarritt Bennett Center has been on break for a few weeks and starts up next week, so Wednesday I took the hour or so at his invitation I drove up to his home in Adairville, Kentucky and spent a few hours painting under his supervision/tutelage. I got home with this improved version of mah boy (note that some of what you see is visual "notes" for me to revise, but I'm increasingly happier with it):

"Watson", in progress

And Charles gave me some great ideas for directions I can pursue on this abstract, which I am thinking will be dubbed "metronome":

"metronome", in progress

Lastly, for now, I've been doing some recording, and this one below kinda fun, I think. I'm not happy with my melody line yet, or the recording quality (Audacity with a USB mic on my Dell All-in-One computer) but I'm confident it will get there. Here's the lyrics I'm working with. Can you envision a melody for it? I may just keep what I've got and enhance it with other instruments but I'm open to hear a rough recording. Post it here in a comment...

Goin' Somewhere

by Scott Merrick

We're walking in the morning
Breathing in the freshest air
We're walking in the morning
Looking 'round to see what's there
And in the sky
a jet plane
flying high
Somebody goin' somewhere.
It's all of life we're livin'
We laugh we cry we don't give up
Whatever we are given
Reachin' out to scoop it up
And in the sky
a jet plane
flying high
Somebody goin' somewhere.
Somewhere a baby cries
Somewhere a lover sighs
Somewhere laughter
Somewhere tears
Somewhere a song begins
Somewhere a train comes in
Somewhere hope
Somewhere good cheer.
BRIDGE
Somewhere the darkest night
Somewhere the sun is bright
Somewhere you're home
Somewhere it's time
Somewhere friends arrive
Somewhere no compromise
Somewhere alone
Somewhere just fine.
 We're sitting on the back porch
Talking out the day's events
We're sitting on the back porch
Wonderin' where the weekend went
And in the sky
a jet plane
flying high
Somebody goin' somewhere.

That's it for this morning. Gonna feed Watson, toss on some warm layers, and drive around Nashville.

Happy Birthday to my magical godson, Seamus. I miss y'all but we'll be gettin' out your way someday soon

March, Coming Up on an Anniversary

I don't mean we are marching towards it, but maybe in a metaphorical sense. It's just 36 years of being legally married. She is my best friend and my life's love. More, please.

I'm doing my things, painting, fishing (not much on accounta the weather), playing some music, taking care of the hacienda, walking my doggy. Lee Ann's working on work, continuing to make Tinwings better in all ways, and maybe keeping a big announcement to herself for a while. No, she's not preggie. 

I completed another painting in what I foresee will be a little series of "vivid rorschach" paintings. I cleverly call it "vivid rorschach 2".

vivid rorschach 2, acrylics on stretched canvas, 16x20 inches, by Scott Merrick 2023

These are fun, especially when planned to mirror color relationships of one another. And I am really enjoying playing with the palate knives. Feel free to click on over to the original to think about what the hell this guy is doing with them. 

I'm going to head down to downtown Nashville this morning to see if I can find some painting-worthy images for my collection of iphotography. Then I'll do lunch at 3rd and Lindsley, timed to enjoy WMOT Roots Radio's "Finally Friday" trifecta of great emerging (and experienced) musical talents. If you are anywhere nearby, or you plan to visit Nashville, this is a must do. The chili and beer is good alll by itself. If you are not in our fair city (Tennessee's liberal bastion now under state administrative attack in an unprecedented way), tune into 89.5 FM from noon to two pm every Friday to listen. A gem always.

See ya.

 Hello.

The mid-February Nashville weather is just plain weird. Here on Valentines Day 2023 it'll reach a high of 65 degrees today. And...

HERE it is on Friday, the 24th, and it reached 80 degrees yesterday. I went to my art class in a short sleeved Orvis shirt and cargo shorts. It's now 41 with a predicted high of only 52. It's Spring, it's Summer, it's Winter again. The plants are going "hell yeah" and budding and even blossoming. Little do they know. 

On the bright side here's the entry into my online Gratefulness Journal today: "Nashville weather, for its perfect mix of moderate and surprisingly otherwise." 

I started that journal during the pandemic and, a lot like my blog, it suffers periods of neglect but I always come back to it. It's private to me, but maybe some inquisitive spawn of mine will discover it and share it one day after I've floated away. I am convinced it is good to me to reflect on my blessings, though I remain unconvinced that society has it right on who/what is doing the blessing.

I finished a painting yesterday that I estimate represents maybe 50 or 60 hours of devotion to light, color, texture, and reflection. It's called "reflection on the ridge" and owes to its existence my friendship with Rocky Alvey and if I counted the hours of light-watching in camping chairs at his home and photographic opportunities there (which most often required putting down my cigar and/or my glass of bourbon on the rocks), okay, maybe 100 hours. Maybe 200. Hmmmmm...

"reflection on the ridge", acrylics on stretched canvas, 2023 by scott merrick

I want to post an abstract in progress and I want you to look at it very closely and will welcome any advice in comments. I for one am leaning toward calling it complete. I'm calling it "vivid rorschach" for now...

"vivid rorschach", acrylic on stretch canvas, by scott merrick 2023

There. I've addressed the blog neglect issue for this day, and I hope you have a good one, whenever you may be reading/viewing this. Peace out.