Here’s my new Now page, an overview of what I’m up to Now. I’ll try to keep this updated every few weeks or at least once a month. You can read about the Now page at this blog post.
August 12, 2024
Books I’m reading or have recently read:
currently reading–Lionheart (Plantagenets Book 4) by Sharon Kay Penman
finished reading–Sweet Land Stories by E. L. Doctorow
finished reading–Wondrous Times on the Frontier by Dee Brown
finished reading–Poetry Notebook by Clive James
Listening to: I’ve recently been enjoying, on YouTube, various pieces performed by Vladimir Horowitz. I saw an old “60 Minutes” interview with the maestro. What a remarkable man and pianist! Did you know that his wife, Wanda, was the daughter of Arturo Toscanini, the great Italian conductor?
Digital Art: Regretfully, I’ve not completed anything recently, although I’m working on several pieces. I hope to get some of them finished soon.
November 9th, 2023
Books I’m reading or have recently read:
currently reading–Rock Springs by Richard Ford — a collection of short stories based mostly in Montana
finished reading–The Ghost and Charlie Muir by Felice Stevens–a ghostly gay romance, so-so
finished reading–Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert–good book for creative people
finished reading–The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller–imaginative novel about Achilles and his lover, pretty good
finished reading–The World According to Garp by John Irving–the author’s name says it all, good
Digital Art Projects NOT finished–“Unsuccessful Digital Art”
Digital Art Project finished–“Dominican Republic Cathedral
Digital Art Project finished–“Dragon Sorceress”
Finger Exercise–“Autumn on the River”
Listening to: As well as the usual music I like, Afropop and Classical, I’m also a die-hard Beatles fan, so I’ve really enjoyed listening to the “last” Beatles song, “Now and Then.” You can find it on Youtube.
March 15th, 2022
Books I’m reading or have recently read:
finished reading–Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff–I thought if was so-so-, but perhaps worth a read
finished reading–A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking–a person I greatly admire, good book
finished reading–Rhapsody by Mitchell James Kaplan–historical fiction of Gershwin, the 20s and 30s
finished reading–City of Thieves by David Benioff–set in Leningrad WW II-good read
currently reading–Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan
currently reading–William Faulkner: Selected Short Stories
currently reading–A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin
Digital Art Project finished–“Homeward Bound”
Another Finished Project–“Requiem for a Lost Civilization”
And One More–“Rivals”
June 21st, 2021
Books I’m reading or have recently read:
finished reading–Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen–very good book about a circus in 1931
finished reading–Forever and Ever by Devon McCormack–romance between two older gay men
finished reading–Raphael, Painter in Rome by Stephanie Storey–rivalry between Raphael and Michelangelo
finished reading–Paradise, Nevada by Dario Diofebi–set in Las Vegas, a bit too wordy for my taste
starting soon–Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
Digital Art Projects finished–“Taekwando Nightmare Dream”
Another Finished Project–“Ghost Patrol at the Ancient Gateway”
And One More–“Glacier National Park watercolor”
April 20th, 2021
Books I’m reading or have recently read:
reading–The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains by Anthony Lewis–the title is self explanatory.
reading–Eclectically Vegas, Baby!–short stories based on or in Las Vegas
finished–The Muse by Jessie Burton–a novel of two young women living in different eras–1930s Spain and 1960s London.
finished–Secret Lives of Great Artists by Elizabeth Lunday–tidbits about the mostly unknown habits, good and bad, that you probably weren’t taught in school about some famous artists.
Digital Art Projects finished–“Abandoned”
January 24th, 2021
Books I’m reading or have recently read:
reading–Why We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats about women who left the US to move to Mexico to live, mostly retired women. Mexico is at the top of my list of places to ultimately retire to.
finished–A Lot Like Christmas by Connie Willis. Short stories of speculative fiction with a Christmas theme.
Digital Art projects finished–“Castletown Ghost Town”
Though it’s not finished, you can view “Moonlit Desert City” at this page: “Merry Christmas”
November 17th, 2020
Books I’m reading or have recently read:
reading–The Best of Jules de Grandin-Occult Detective Stories by Seabury Quinn
reading–The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
finished–And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
finished–Since Yesterday: The 1930s in America by Frederick Lewis Allen
finished–Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat
Digital Art projects finished–“Dominican Hopefuls”
Listening to: as always, Afropop Worldwide
September 15th, 2020
Books I’m reading or have recently read:
reading–Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat
re-reading–The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien audiobook
finished–The Frugal Gambler Casino Guide by Jean Scott (looking forward to my next visit to Las Vegas, whenever that might be)
Digital Art projects finished–“On the Farm”
Currently not listening to anything in particular and nothing new going on.
August 28, 2020
Books I’m reading or have recently read:
reading–Cover Your Book by R. Haskell–An author’s guide to working with a designer to maximize sales
reading–The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig–Another tale set in Two Medicine Country in western Montana
finished–Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
finished–The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig David
Digital Art projects finished–“I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream”
Something new–I recently joined a Facebook group whose members work on creating book covers, mainly for ebooks. That’s something I hope to add to my repertoire and portfolio of work. Unfortunately, I don’t have a portfolio, but hopefully I’ll make a nice one soon. In the meantime, you can see all of my digital work on the menu at the top, the one titled Photo Art.
July 28, 2020
Books I’m reading or have recently read:
The Problem With Muses by David duChemin–Written versions of his podcasts on creativity
Start Ugly by David duChemin–Musings on creativity
Don’t Let Me Go by J.H. Trumble–A gay coming of age story
Digital Art Projects finished–“Lost at Sea” has been renamed to “The Storm King” and you can check it out on the main blog.
Digital Art Projects in the works–I’m currently working on a re-worked version of an earlier self portrait I created entitled “Seeking Salvation.” This version is going to be called “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream,” based on the classic Harlan Ellison sci-fi horror short story of the same name.
What I’m looking forward to: We have a 3 1/2 week break coming up beginning August 14th and I’m really anticipating being able to spend more time with Digital Art.
July 2, 2020
Books I’m reading or have recently read:
The Girl With the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Titian, His Life by Sheila Hale
A good Afro-pop tune:
Mabele by Oscar Neves or the remix by DJ Uproot Andy, which I prefer, but both are good. You can find them on Youtube.
What I’m looking forward to:
Our short mid-term break at the school from July 4th to July 7th. (More time to work on digital art.)
Digital Art compositions I’m working on: Just one, “Lost at Sea.” I’ve put up a preview on the main blog. It’s not nearly finished, but you can check it out there.
May 21, 2020.
Books I’m reading or have recently read:
The Price of Paradise by Susana Lopez Rubio
The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner
The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa
Music I’m listening too or have enjoyed lately:
I love Afropop, so I usually download and listen to Afropop Worldwide‘s weekly audio program (it’s free to download–just set up a free Soundcloud account)
Specific titles lately: Grand Canyon Suite Ferde Grofe
Gymnopedies by Erik Satie (love the paintings of Paris that accompany this on Youtube)
Piano Concerto in A Minor by Robert Schumann as performed by the incredibly soulful Martha Argerich in a Youtube video.
various titles by George Gershwin
Of course, anything by the Beatles gets my blood rushing, as does Latino Pop, like Salsa, Merengue, Reggaethon, etc.
Digital Art projects I have recently finished or am working on (you can usually find out more about these on the Home page):
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Air Show
TV series or movies: binge watching “The Sopranos”. Almost finished with season 3.
Anything else new going on?:
Yes, I’ve taken up meditation recently.
What I’m looking forward to:
School reopening on June 2 after the covid-19 lockdown in Vientiane has been relaxed.