"Flickered"... And A Bottle Of Chardonnay!

Flickr or Flickered?

Well, I'm supposed to be sending some samples to a prospective client, and got so pissed at Flickr for changing it's format, I decided to calm down with a glass of chardonnay. I tried two more times to upload artwork to the original site and twice it sent my work, tags, description and artwork, to a new formatted Flickr site. 

I cursed them out severely, and had another glass of chardonnay. While imbibing, I decided to write them a nasty letter only to have them reject the stupid code when I tried to send it. Now, I'm furious and have another refill. Undaunted by their initial rejection, I was smart enough, even though by now, I've finished over half a bottle of wine, to have copied my email rant. I started all over again to tell them, maybe, with less vitriol, of my concerns. 

Blame my loss of passion on the wine, I guess.

I started over, again, and pasted the copy back into the description box and filled out, dutifully, I might add, all the required information. It tells me that it needs a few minutes to download my request. I returned twice to the computer to see if my comments were sent. Naturally, in the time waiting for all of this to be completed, I fixed my mom dinner, and while doing so, had another glass of chardonnay. 

I can feel a John Belushi, Weekend Update rant, coming on!

A friend sent me a picture of the real St. Patrick and I defiled it with my comments. I'm so ashamed. Sorry, 'bout that to all my friends from the Irish Channel!

On my return to the computer, twenty minutes, and a fifth glass of the lovely chardonnay I purchased on sale at Winn Dixie, later, I was informed that Yahoo suffered some sort of server error problem. Yeh, RIGHT!!!!!

Now, I really don't give a fuck, about the job, the samples, Yahoo, my mom, or anything. Let the gnomes or trolls or gremlins clean the kitchen. They can also shut down all my "effin" computers for me, too.

I did decide to leave what's left of the wine inside the bottle... for later!

Copyright 2014/ Ben Bensen III

"Come Check It Out, And Maybe, Pass Off 'Da Hatchet... For A While!

"My Latest Effort,"Barnardsville Barn"...

I'm entitling it, "Barnardsville Barn" because that's what it is, and that's where it's at!

This is my latest painting which I created from a photo I took while visiting a friend a couple of months after Hurricane Katrina. I took a series of shots from this area as it was that "golden" time of the evening in the fall in North Carolina. I just loved the light and colors that were created by the long autumn shadows.

A few of my artists friends were questioning the logic of the placement of the barn, which is smack down center of the piece and the offset fence in the foreground. In the process of painting the picture, the fence was white and not aligned horizontally. Because of that, the fence overpowered and aggravated the eyes of some viewers. The centered barn was almost unnoticed save an intense blue tin roof which reflected the sky.

The original unfinished painting!

Anyway, putting the fence more in shadow helped me tell the story and create the visual tension I was searching for. Whadd'ya think?

Copyright 2014/Ben Bensen III

"Go On And Let Ya Backbone Slip"... Happy Mardi Gras, Y'all!

This is my mom. She's eighty-nine years old and although, at this age, age matters, today is Mardi Gras and everyone throws care and aching joints, out the window! These videos and pics were taken by a friend of mine, Julia LeMaire, a nurse who comes to the Senior Center in Mandevile, LA to take blood pressure and heart rates every Wednesday. Her mom sits with my mom for hours, playing games that don't require much balance, coordination or stamina...

Bingo, dice, and cards...

I wasn't even at this Mardi Gras celebration and, had I been, mom still would have boogalooed her old bad self to the dance floor. Most of the time, mom teeter totters her way around eschewing the use of a cane, a walker or a rotator. But, it seems, whenever there's music, their hearts get to thumping, the blood gets to pumping and they're off.

My mom's not the only one!

But, she rarely remembers the details of how my father would take her out dancing just about every weekend. When someone asks her about her "dancing partner" she's says that he hurt his hip and doesn't dance anymore. ( My dad died in 2000 from a blood clot in his calve! ) Mom hasn't dance with anyone except, occasionally, me or my brothers.

It's funny how some folks just have to express themselves through dance expelling all of life's demons as they move to the beat of the drums and their hearts...

Rock on, mom... and Happy Mardi Gras to all ( even the non-dancers, ha! )

Copyright 2014/ Ben Bensen III