The Thursday Ramble: Phones

I was ten years old before we had a phone in the house. My grandparents lived around the corner, and they had a phone, They had had phone service since the 1930's, but my parents decided a phone was a luxury, and didn't have one. That winter, my father went out of state to a a beekeepers convention in Little Rock Arkansas. Around the time he was to fly home, we had a massive snow storm. My mother trudged through knee deep snow to my the old farmhouse to use the phone. The house was cold because my grandparents were sensibly in Florida that January. Eventually everything worked out, he flew into Detroit, took a taxi to an Uncle's house, and we picked him up a day or so later, barely making our way through the snow. My mother decreed that a phone was no longer a luxury. 

At first it was a party line. Two short rings was a call for us. One long ring was the Bader family, two long rings was the older couple across the street at the corner. When you picked up the phone, you had to check for a dial tone. Often you would pick up and one of the neighbors would be talking on the line, you had to wait for them to finish the call before you could make your call. Sometimes you just listened to hear the neighborhood gossip. A few years later everyone was converted to a private line. 

And they were all rotary dial phones. 

When I was in high school my parents bought a house in Florida, near the space center, a home I would live in for a couple of years after high school, and that they would retire to and live out the rest of their lives, they both died in that house. They had phones installed, and for the first time, they were touchpad dialing, not rotary. I had a phone in my bedroom for the first time. 

I bought my first cell or mobile phone in 1996. I had moved to Kentucky, and was commuting 82 miles in each direction everyday to and from law school. The phone was huge by today's standards, and I was paying $30 a month, for 30 minutes a month of calls in a limited geographic area. If I went over the number of minutes additional minutes were about 50-cents each, calls outside the calling area were about the same cost. 

I bought my first semi-smart phone when we were getting ready for a trip to England. I wanted a phone that would work across systems. The best option was a Blackberry. The salesman lied to me, he said in a week they wouldn't be able to pry it out of my hand, it only took about two days for me to feel that way. A couple of years after I moved to DC, I bought my first glass faced smartphone. 15 years later, I have had four of five of them.  I use it daily, but seldom, very seldom for phone calls. They are great email devices, but really lousy phones unless you plug in a headset. 

Last year, my phone broke just after we boarded the cruise ship for a month long adventure. I posted my daily selfie while having lunch on the ship, and the next time I pulled out my phone it was dead. I went a month without a phone, and guess what, I survived. My maternal grandmother, lived without a phone for the last 30 years of her life. I never talked with her over the phone, I was 4 or 5 years old when they sold the farm - and they never had a phone after that. 

I wonder how many people under the age of 50 could figure out how to dial a call on the phone above?  

    

My World of Wonders: February 18, 2026

Where have I been this week? Into DC to have lunch with a friend, to Belle Haven Exon for my annual car safety inspection (passed.) To the art supply store. The pool. The Library, Harris Teeter and Trader Joe's. Aldi. 

 

Who have I talked with this week? Erica, Marcel, Sweet Bear, Amy, Anna, Michelle, Eric, Amy (a different Amy), Giuseppe, Larry, Warren, the water aerobics ladies, and Mary.  

What have I been up to in the kitchen? Shredded pork quesadillas (drawing a comment "didn't you get enough Mexican food in San Antonio.) Steaks and gratin potatoes, fried potatoes and eggs, avocado toast with salsa. Chicken corn chowder. Beef stew. 

What have I been reading? I finished "The French Art of Living Well" it was okay, a little academic at points. Backstage, by Donna Leon. Well written, some chapters are literary criticism that means little unless you have or intend to read the book, other chapters are brilliant prose. 

What is on the easel? A 16 by 20 canvas with a deep red base coat, that is earning its stripes as it emerges from my mind.  

What other arty stuff am I doing? I am curating a show that goes up in late March, titled New Works and First Works.  New works are anything created in the past year, First Works can be your oldest work, the first work you ever showed, your first work in a new media, your first time showing with Arts in Montebello.  When we were brainstorming themes we talked about doing a show of all first time creators, and someone pointed out that excluded a lot of people, and we are trying to be inclusive, so we combined New and First works into one show theme.  Submissions are starting to come in.  I have two pieces for the show, one new and one I first showed in 1977. 

What is the quote of the week? "She is taking a one week cruise in the caribbean, she doesn't care where the ship is going, as long as it is warm." I need to remember to do this each winter. 

Who deserves a slap this week? The Spam Commenters, I have been fighting off a major spam attack over the past week.  Spam is being posted to old posts, and neglected secondary blogs, a sure sign that a business is paying a "marketer" to spread the word about their services, probably a pittance per placement. I slap them by reporting them as spam and deleting them. About 20 slaps in the last week, and as many as needed in the weeks to come. Blogger needs to shut them down, lock them out. Redirect them to Adsense where they can buy legitimate adds. 

Travel Tuesday: High School Art at the Briscoe Museum of Western Art

The Briscoe Museum of Western Art in San Antonio Texas has a special exhibit of western themed art by high school students in Texas. Below are some of my favorites from probably 50 pieces on display.

Monday Mood: Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude

It has been a cold winter in the DC area, the last ten days before we went to San Antonio were especially cold. Oh my, how a few days in warm weather improved how we are feeling. Both of us were rejuvenated by getting away, and spending a few days in a much warmer sunnier climate. 

The people in San Antonio were especially nice. Kind, welcoming, they seemed genuinely to welcome us and want to be helpful.  Sweet Bear asked the hotel staff several questions and they went out of their way to answer the questions. This helped us enjoy the time. 

The food was great, and not all Tex-Mex.  I did get my fill of enchiladas, but also nice seafood, and a nice pasta with wild boar. 

I was among my fellow wizards for a few days. We have a common experience, we speak a common language. That helps. 

The winter Meeting is in Chicago next year.  I need to balance that with a week someplace warmer next winter.  A change in latitude does change the attitude at this time of the year.  

The Sunday Five: Booze

1: Do you drink alcohol? 

2: Did you participate in "Dry January?" 

3: A martini, Gin or Vodka, Shaken or Stirred? 

4: Is there a place you would consider your local pub or bar? 

5: What is your favorite drink to order? 

My Answers: 

1: Do you drink alcohol? Yes, in moderation. 

2: Did you participate in "Dry January?" No. No reason to. 

3: A martini, Gin or Vodka, Shaken or Stirred? Gin, extra dry, shaken. 

4: Is there a place you would consider your local pub or bar? For most of my life the answer was no, there was never anyplace close by, or within walking distance. Here at the condo, we have a bar in the community center, a two minute walk across the back drive. 

5: What is your favorite drink to order? I am most likely to ask for water, if I order a cocktail away from home, a gin martini, or a Manhattan. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post: Love and Creativity

 

Happy Valentines Day, 

May and Yours be surrounded with Love today. 

What to post about creativity on Valentines Day? 

How does creativity relate to love?

Love requires being creative. Thinking about what the other person likes, and how to provide it. Finding the things that bring both persons joy. When love is challenged, and it happens, we need to dig deep into our creative process to find the common ground, to create an atmosphere that allows healing and love. To fill the senses of both parties with pleasure, hope, acceptance, forgiveness. 

    I better be careful or this will start to sound like a Monday post.

Some art is created to illustrate love. Portraits, art of passion, art of beauty, tenderness, and sacrifice are symbols of love we often create. For writers and filmmakers, romance is a best selling creative fiction category. I sold a house to a couple that wrote pornographic fiction for a living, they were passionately in love with one another.

Many of us love creating art, love cooking, love writing, love photography, love filmmaking. This is not romantic love, or is it? We have all know someone who seemed to be married to their work.  And as much fun as creating can be, it is also work. It maybe our life's work, or it may be the work that fills our "free time." 

Find time today, to express your love in creative ways, your love of another person, your love of creating, your love of life. 

The First Step is always to Begin Anyway, thank you Dianne for the post of the week. 

 

Freestyle Friday: What I get, what don't I get

This very large installation that has been in the inner core of the upper level of the Hirshorn for over a year. It was made for the space, there are few other places on the face of the earth that it would fit. When it comes down, it will probably spend years sitting the vault someplace. 

It is complex, textiles, mixed media, glue, paint, dyes, weaving. It has incredible texture, and as much as I like modern art, I just don't get it. I don't understand the message, and the artists contends that there is a message. The meaning is lost on me. I have seen this half a dozen times, and it really does not speak to me. 

So what do I get from it? An understanding of texture.  A strong use of blending of colors. The use of recycled materials. 

I don't get the message, but I do get the way this was created, the work that went into it, the way the materials are worked to create a flowing texture.