A Whole Lot of Utah Landscape 5

I took a ridiculous amount of landscape pictures in Utah.

It is too much for one post so I am breaking it up.

Click any image to enlarge.  :)

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No tarot today!

French Easel NIGHTMARE

I had a horrible nightmare about my French easel!

It's no secret that I don't like French easels for plein air. I have one, an old Julian I got almost 20 years ago. I also have a half-box French easel someone gave me a few years ago. But I'm a pochade box-tripod kind of girl all the way.

My old Julian

Wednesday night I had a dream I was out painting, and for some reason I had my French easel instead of a pochade box. (I wondered why in the dream, too) So, I was painting and the ^%#^%(@#^(% easel kept changing height on me by itself! While I was in the middle of painting!

It looks so un-assuming

It would suddenly go about 10 feet higher, and the legs were constantly uneven no matter what I did.

Julian can be difficult

When I adjusted the legs, it would get too low. It tipped over. I would adjust one leg and another one (that I had just tightened) would change height.

Then, a big splintery chunk of the bottom where the painting sits just fell off!

My painting fell on the ground paint-side down.

My brushes fell and scattered.

I was so freaking mad at that stupid easel.

I gave up. I just couldn't paint anymore with that horrible evil thing.

Evil Easel

When I woke up, I was still mad at the damn thing.

GRRR

French easels are such a pain to set up and break down.  And they blow over very easily in the wind, especially being so top-heavy. And they are very heavy.

I'm hating on my Julian right now because it gave me a bad nightmare, but it probably deserves much more love.  For many, many years it was my only easel, and I used it as a tabletop easel which sat on my drawing table. Lots of paintings were made on it.

None of them were plein air.

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Two of Swords (upright)

Having to make a difficult decision and trying to avoid it. Could be avoidance, or lack of all the information you need in order to decide. Might also be a stalemate.

Superficial Compassion

There is a video circulating around on Facebook, with the usual Facebook-style-melodramatic-hype.

It is about homeless people going around asking for food and sharing it. The video is extremely contrived but is supposed to have a "powerful message". (synopsis below) I have a few thoughts.

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Video Synopsis: 

1. Youngish nice-looking white man walks into food court whining to people to give him food. No one does. So they are heartless people who obviously lack compassion. The man does not look homeless or in need***, and "Is there any way I can have some food" is a strange way to ask. Seriously, it's weird. And the guy is annoying. I would say no too.

(Also, almost every single person asking for food on the trains says "please". Just saying.)

*** Just because someone doesn't look like (or sound like) they are in need doesn't necessarily mean they aren't- yes I know that. All I'm saying is that it is a factor in the response people get.

2. The video shows some guys giving food to a random homeless person, who is camped out in a pretty nice grassy field by a fence. There's nice pretty music too. They approached him and woke him up from a nice nap! WHAT? Also, they assumed he was homeless and in need, and not dangerous. He didn't ask them for anything.  I'm just saying, as far as personal safety goes, this is not smart.

They "bought some food to give to someone" and were wondering if the guy was hungry. HUH? WHAT? There was no one specific in mind when they bought the food?

Oh, but they are such nice and caring and compassionate people. Now they can feel good about themselves forever and all the uncaring people in the food court are heartless shits. This is very "easy" and superficial compassion.  It is too easy, obvious, too black-and-white.

How about showing some non-judgement and compassion to the next stranger who treats you rudely? Or towards someone you philosophically or ideologically disagree with?

The ways to be compassionate aren't always obvious, or "easy". But the opportunities are everywhere. You don't even have to "do" anything; it starts in your thoughts towards others.

People don't have to be in obviously dire straights to need compassion. We are all getting through life as best as we can, with whatever knowledge we have.

3. The Annoying Food Court Guy shows up and does his line: "Is there any way I could have some food?" and food is shared. Oh, and remember from the title, Nobody else would do this. Judgy.

4. Another person joins them and they have a nice little picnic in the grass by the fence. Awwww isn't that nice?

One meal does not change the situation of being homeless.  What happens in a few hours when they are hungry again?
Moral: Sometimes those who have less give more. That actually can be true very often but I have many, many issues with this video. It is a poor example. 

Get some tea, let's go.

********* 1. If someone comes up to me in a restaurant saying "Can I have some food" I am most likely going to say no.  That's right, I will most likely say no.  And that does not make me a heartless uncaring person. It means I can't help, for whatever reason- or maybe I just don't want to get involved, and that is OK too. Especially as a woman. Safety. Because I don't know that person isn't going to sit down with me, or stick around, or follow me, etc.
2. Here in NYC, the sad truth is that there is a good-sized homeless population. People sometimes do ask for food. Usually they want money. In my experience this happens mostly on the trains, or people just sit on the street with signs. It has never, ever happened to me in the scenario this video opens with. Some panhandlers are genuine and I strongly suspect (and sometimes know for a fact**) some of them are not.

** When the same person is panhandling for money to get a bus home to New Jersey because their wallet was stolen and they are stranded- for 6 months straight- it's probably a scam. When you have your schedule and ride the same train at the same time, you see a lot of the same people over and over, panhandlers and musicians included. Many of them run on schedule. (I like some of the musicians.)

3. I see just as many homeless outreach people on the trains loaded with food for anyone who wants it as I see homeless people.
4. I very, VERY strongly disagree with using guilt to manipulate others into giving.  And this is a primary tactic. People have some real tear-jerker sob stories. But my choice to not give does not mean I don't care. Actually, I do. Very much. But reality is that I have to take care of my own life and my child. I really don't have a lot of extra to hand out. My capacity to help everyone else in need is limited- my time, energy, and money is limited.  And that should never be judged. I am not obligated to give, they are not entitled to receive from me. And that does NOT make me a bad person, lacking in compassion. It means that I just don't have the capacity to assist.  ********
Here is a site with more information and statistics on homelessness (here in NYC), and ways to help. Mostly, according to this site, people in NYC are homeless because of a lack of affordable housing (80%), which is a HUGE problem (and one of the many reasons I detest hipsters so much). A lot of apartments have become de-regulated over the last 20 years, and, well, basically "the rent is just too damn high". Really, what needs to happen is re-regulation and incentives to landlords to keep the rents low. If you are not in a regulated apartment, the landlord can do whatever they want.  And they do.

About two-thirds of people sleeping on the streets (not in a shelter) are drug addicts or have severe mental health issues. 

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The Star (upright)
One of my favorites!

The Star is transformation after a hard journey.  It is also a wait-and-see card and a wish for a brighter future.  Motivation to keep going. Have faith, believe in yourself.

A Whole Lot of Utah Landscape 4

I took a ridiculous amount of landscape pictures in Utah.

It is too much for one post so I am breaking it up.

Click any image to enlarge.  :)

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Queen of Cups (upright)

Cups = water = emotions. Thinking with heart instead of your head, someone who is fair, nurturing, compassionate. A mature female. Intuition, dreams, imagination.

Sharpie Requirements

Carey sent me a baffling text yesterday.

She was at Walgreens, and she bought a pack of Sharpie permanent markers.
They carded her.

Carey got carded to make sure she was old enough to buy Sharpie markers.

I had to see if that would happen here, too. Because that is so incredibly absurd.

The vet is right by a Walgreens, and I had to get Pebbles after work, so I stopped in and got a pack of Sharpies.

The first pack

Furball thinks they are suspicious

I did not get carded.

(By the way, I DO still occasionally get carded for alcohol.)

Pebbles and I took the bus home.  We got off the bus next to another Walgreens.

I HAD to see if not being carded was a fluke or not, so I went in and got some chocolate and a pack of Sharpies.

The second pack
Furball is sniffing Sharpies

Again, I did not get carded.  Nor does the cash register beep to tell the cashier to ask for ID.

Conclusion:

1) We have more pressing problems in NYC than the sale of Sharpie markers to minors

OR

2) The rules don't apply to me

They do, however, apply to Carey.

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PEBBLES UPDATE:

Prozac

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The Hermit (upright)

Oh, The Hermit. This card, more than any other, sums up my whole life.  A few years ago I looked up some life path thing based on birth date (I have the book I got it from, must look it up again sometime to explain it better) but I got The Hermit.  Which did not surprise me one little bit.

Sometimes I love The Hermit and sometimes I really struggle with it. Sometimes both at the same time. This is such an important card for me, I really should do a whole blog post on it sometime.

The Hermit is a solitary and introspective card.  It stands for an inner journey, spiritual knowledge, wisdom.  The Hermit is always alone but has a guiding light at all times. Seeking the truth within yourself. Contemplation, soul searching. turning away from the outer world to focus on the inner world. Alone in the wilderness in a vision-quest kind of way. Spiritual attainment. Detached compassion and acceptance of others.

Here is a very detailed explanation.

Very Big Kitties

These cats live right here in NYC. The snow leopards have a huge enclosure in Central Park, and both of them are snuggled together in a tiny corner.

The panther and the tiger are Bronx cats.

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Page of Swords (reversed)

Acting too rashly or hastily.  Take things one at a time. Be conscious of how you are coming across to others when constantly asking "Why." Can also be a fear of speaking.