The Saturday Morning Post: Screw up to learn to be creative

I had a flashback recently to an art class I took 35 years ago at Rollins College. It was a silver casting and construction class. One of the projects was to construct a hollow silver cylinder box. You start with a flat sheet of silver, roll it around a form, cut it size, solder the seam, solder on a top and bottom that are slightly larger than the cylinder, trim those to size, file the endes, and polish the finish on a buffing wheel. I started out with a large round, the larger size was easier to work with, or at least it seemed to be. I was working fast and feeling really good about it, and disaster struck. The piece caught on the buffing wheel, was pulled out of my grip and smashed into the floor. The professor who had been watching from a distance, and shaking his head from time to time, as I worked fast and cut a few corners watched it happen, and stepped into his office, the room could hear him laughing. I had screw up, I was working on too large of a piece, I was working to fast, he knew it, I knew it, the piece was a mess. 

I cleaned up, went home and thought about it, and I started over. I made a smaller piece. I followed the instructions. I put a lot of hours into it. In fact I will say that the most important thing I learned in that class, is to put the hours into do the job right. And many jobs will take much longer than you expect or hope. 

If I hadn't screwed up, I might never have learned that. 

There have been books written about making a mess and breaking things, the real message is to learn from the mess you make or the things you break, learn how to do them better. Learn to create, by screwing things up. 

Foodie Friday: Harvest Season

Here in the Northern Hemisphere it is harvest season. The bounty of the autumn is ready to be explored and enjoyed. Find your local farmers market. If you don't know where it is at, Google it (more than once I have found farmers markets for bloggers and left the answer in the comments), ask around, find who has what that is fresh, preferably local, though the best of the season is shipped into places where nothing is local. Here I pay a premium for farmers who come to us, or I can drive an hour or two into the country and buy directly at the farms. 

Buy what you normally wouldn't, buy what you love. 

As the weather turns cooler, it is a great season for soups and stews. A nice mix of chopped veggies, a little wine and stock, and let it simmer. 

I made chicken stock a couple of weeks ago. One whole chicken, an onion, a couple of carrots, a couple of stalks of celery, and several cloves of crushed garlic, water, a slow simmer and time. I had 6 cups of wonderful stock to cook with, and poached chicken for a couple of meals. Stock making is simple, toss it all in the big pot, add water and simmer. All it takes is time. 

I know there a beet haters out there. Peel and chop just one, and add it to a soup or stew as a background flavor.  You will be surprised. If you buy golden beets, you don't get the deep red color. 

The Thursday Ramble: The Good Old Days

If I am lucky, I will live to a nice old age. At 20, that meant 50, at 30 it meant 60, at 60 it might have been 75, at my age it is 85. That end date, is harder to move as I get older. As one blogger has put it, I have more yesterdays and than tomorrows. I am a realist, I am unlikely to live much past my mid 80's, if I live that long. I think of this often, I calculate how many more years do I have to do whatever I want to do. And the number keeps getting smaller. 

And I know, that at 80 or 85 I will look back on the "Good Old Days" and today will be one of those. 

Yes I did some fun things in my 30's, brave things in my 40's and 50's. But honestly, my 60's have been pretty amazing. We have gone and done, and seen.  I have a world of experiences and memories to look back on as the Good Old Days. 

Don't put off having your "Good Old Days." Make that call, read that book, see that show, hear that concert, paint that picture, take that trip. Someday, the ability to do those things will end, and you will look back on today, this week, this month, this year, as the "Good Old Days." Fill those days with memories. Be the old person who starts every story with, "well there was this time when I . . . ". Have memories, not regrets. We regret more the things we didn't do, than the things we did. 

My World of Wonders: October 14, 2026

 Where have I been this week? Painted Post, New York, back to Alexandria, VA, Inova Mt Vernon Hospital, the farmers market, the grocery store, the library, the treadmill, the pool, the grocery store, J's doctors. 

What am I reading? "How to Art", with a stack of books urging me to read soon. 

What have I been watching on YouTube? Cooking with Benjamin, he is in Arizona, with a southwest flair, and a focus on lower cost. He is fun to listen to, and very unfussy in the kitchen. 

What have I been thinking about this week? Refer back to Monday for how the week went, it was a challenging week. One of those that makes you think about life, health, the inevitability of loss. Enjoy every healthy day while you can. 

Who deserves a slap this week? I wake up every morning and check the news, and he is not dead yet. There are not enough slaps in the world. 

Who deserves an "atta boy"? President Z for taking out some data centers. 

What artsy stuff have I been working on? The next Gallery show is Still Life and Real Life, submissions are slowly trickling in. We are working on the schedule for 2027, we want to do a couple of shows that feature one or two artists. I have been pulling images for a show of photos. This prompted me to stroll through about 100,000 photos, trying to select 20, I narrowed it down to about 50.  I have found someone to split a show with me.  

Travel Tuesday: Flashback to Milan

 

Monday Mood: Thankful

 

Well that didn't go as planned, but all will be okay. We started out on the trip to New York, and things did not go as planned. Sweet Bear became confused and had difficulty putting words together, then he was better, then he had a headache. We eventually turned around and came back home. A consultation with his Doc urged us to go to the hospital for tests.  The verdict, a TIA, not a full blown stroke (thankfully) but a small "event." A "warning shot." 24 hours later, after every test they could figure out how to bill for, and a couple of new medications, we walked out of the hospital.  

Home three days before expected, and thankful for being home, alive and well.  

That was a more exciting week than we had planned. 

The Sunday Five: Were You a Good Kid?

1: Where you a troublemaker when you were a kid?

2: Was your parent's trust in you, well placed? 

3: What was the craziest thing you got away with when you were young? 

4: Is there anyone you owe an apology to for something you did as a teenager? 

5: Did you ever get caught? 

My answers:

1: Where you a troublemaker when you were a kid? Not really, my biggest act of defiance was refusing to work one summer day. 

2: Was your parent's trust in you, well placed? Yes, I was a good and boring kid. 

3: What was the craziest thing you got away with when you were young? As a photo opportunity for the Yearbook, I asked the Principal for permission to lead a donkey down the hallway of the school, he said NO WAY. The Superintendent of Schools was just down the hall, I asked him and he said yes on one condition, it had to enter the school through the back door of the Music Room during class. We put it in writing, and he covered my ass when we led an ass through the school. ( An early  sign that I destined to become a lawyer.)   

4: Is there anyone you owe an apology to for something you did as a teenager? My mother, my sister and I turned a street sign one night, and the next day got my mother to turn off of Holiday Drive, onto Holiday Drive. Sorry Mom, one of my few practical jokes. 

5: Did you ever get caught? No, I had a boring childhood. 

Please share your answers in the comments.