In My Sketchbook

Bellows' Butte

How beautiful

Bellows' Butte
Photographed by Charles L. Weed in 1864

Some Men Are Interesting Men

The New York Public Library now has a large collection of digital images available in their website. There are several different categories to look through.

Here are a few interesting portraits I found of some "notable" gentlemen of the time. These were all taken between 1880 and 1900.

Shown from top to bottom:
Damala
Photographed by Benjamin Tucker
Theophile Galtier
Photographed by Benjamin Tucker
Meissonnier
Photographed by Benjamin Tucker
Elisee Recluse
Photographed by Benjamin Tucker

Gardening At Night

White Bleeding Heart


Violet

Comic Book Nostalgia

I have been feeling really nostalgic lately. I long for places I've been, times I've shared, things I've owned, read, heard, touched...

Last night I spent a very long time here on my computer determined to find the name of a certain comic I once looked through and read so very long ago.

You see, it was one of those things, where my boyfriend at the time collected these comics and although it was something that somehow annoyed me, I always ended up looking through them and enjoying it.

One series that I quickly grew to love was, Joe Matt's, PEEPSHOW. Even though the main character was a guy who spends much of his time overthinking and masturbating, it was very funny and entertaining and I felt I could relate with his ongoing relationship issues and daily routines.

Anyway, there ended up being many that were fun for me to discover, look through and read. I remember the fascinatingly disturbing, EIGHTBALL, which was drawn and written by Dan Clowes. And I also loved all the classic, Robert Crumb stuff and Harvey Pekar's, AMERICAN SPLENDOR.

Worth checking out!

Sing song

The Real Grizzly Adams

There was once a time in my life when I was very into watching reruns of the show, Grizzly Adams. I loved the daily adventures of this friendly and wise, bearded man who was living off the land and sharing his flapjacks with a huge and loving Grizzly bear named Ben. And I even still really like the shows theme song, "Maybe".
So it was pretty interesting to me when I recently discovered that there had actually been a real life, "Grizzly Adams" who roamed the Californian wilderness back in the 1800's. His full name was, John C. "Grizzly" Adams. He was born in Massachusetts in 1812. In 1858 Mr. Adams headed west, toward California on a search for gold but instead ended up becoming a highly skilled, professional hunter of Grizzly bears.
Adams made his money by selling bear meat to restaurants and selling his trained bears to circuses and zoos. Supposedly, one of his captured bear cubs followed along with him on many of his hunting expeditions and this is where the Ben Character originated.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that the real Adams was nearly as loving with his bears as the fictional Adams, but in my opinion, it is still worthwhile information to know.

All I can hear are the Seagulls

Water rippling, sunlight glittering, salty air and gasoline.

This frame is pretty nice

When I saw this photo I was instantly impressed by the beautiful frame. But I figured I should find out who the dapper man held within the frame was as well...So...

This is what I found out...

The man pictured is Urias A. McGill. And the daguerreotype was made by Augustus Washington somewhere around 1845.

Beautiful old films

While browsing through videos on YouTube recently, I discovered some very old films that are securely cared for at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. These are some of the very first films ever recorded. There are several that feature circus performers and even some traditional Native American dancing. I think they are really beautiful and fascinating to watch and I find the woman's voice in the beginning and end of these films to be somehow comforting.

A dream comes in the night

During the night that came before last night, as I slept, I had a dream that I saw a pond move itself to an entirely new area for it to be. The water, in one strong stream, quickly drained itself within a groove in the earth, until it all gathered up again to reform its shape in an area away from where it once was.

Still within the dream, I wondered what it could be that was happening before me. I stood there and watched it, but was still unsure if it was real, and if it was, what would the purpose of it be.

A moment later, I noticed some of the life that lived within the waters, following the line in the grass, slowly making their way toward the ponds new location.



-The painting above is, "The Land Baby", by John Collier