Watercolor: Lipovka 1947 Ladislav Vycpalek

Lipovka, USSR 1947

     I was looking for a frame to repurpose at a thrift store and I found this little gem by the famed composer Ladislav Vycpalek, who must have dabbled in watercolors.  I bought the painting and had it in a drawer for quite some time before I researched the artist and discovered that he was a well regarded composer living and working in the Soviet Bloc.  I decided to sell the painting on ebay because my wife is forcing me to downsize from my vast collection of just about everything.  It sold pretty quickly, and on the cheap - but still more than I paid for it.  I think that the person who bought it will appreciate its uniqueness and effort.

A Collection From A Graveyard

                                              Deer and Turkeys, Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, PA

 

My wife and I started volunteering for find a grave a year or so ago, and while photographing headstones, it's easy to get engaged with whatever else is going on around us.  The impressive monuments, the landscape, the wildlife, all creating an ambiance that defies the typical creepy solemnity of a cemetery.

   

The Winter Crypt in Winter 

 

                                                      

                                                              Moorhead Monument

                                                 Temple of Memories Mausoleum

I usually refer to the Mausoleum as "Temporal Memories", and I've shot more pictures inside of there than anywhere else.  It's astounding, trapped in time from when it was constructed in the 1960s, including the decor. 

 
 

 

3 Barbies, A Cubist Dream

                                               3 Barbies, A Cubist Dream, 2023

 

     I never had a Barbie doll as a child, though curiously now I have three.  My sister had a Barbie and a a few of the big accessories that went with her, but not the Barbie Dream House, despite asking for it year after year.  As an adult she, when she was buying the second dream house for her granddaughters to play with at her house when she babysat them, she asked our mother why she never got the much coveted dream house, mom said that she had enough Barbie stuff.  

     I wasn't interested in dolls as a child and typically dismembered them and drew on their faces with ball point pen.  And the one time my sister did prevail upon me to play Barbie with her, I put Barbie in our brother's GI Joe Jeep and sent her merrily on her way down a steep hill, and straight into a tree trunk.  Barbie survived, but ever after had a dented boob.

     "She's ruined!" my sister wailed.  Now of course, since the Barbie movie, we now know that she was just played with too hard, and because of it, is impervious to being gaslit by the patriarchy.  All hail the Barbies!  They shall herald the wide-eyed future, and we will be standing by.

 

 
 

Ohio: No on Issue 1

 Ohioans did vote down the GOP attempt to limit their ability to amend their state constitution, particularly in regards to women's access to proper healthcare and abortion.  As climate change becomes more pronounced in how it effects our everyday lives, we need government that works for us, not one that divides us and demonizes our differences and micromanages our biology.  Humanity is on the cusp of the greatest challenge to our survival. 

Helen's Shoes and Handbag

  

When my mother downsized and moved into a condo a few years ago, there was so much STUFF her house that we barely knew what to do with it all.  These shoes and handbag belonged to my grandmother, and mom was just going to toss them, and I saved them from the dumpster.  I didn't want them for myself, but the items were in very good condition, and if ebay has taught me anything, it's that if the price is right, you can sell anything.  I set a low price for the shoes and bag combo, $9.99 + shipping, and sure enough they sold.  I didn't make much money, but my intent was mainly to keep usable things out of the landfill, and I did!

Saline Nasal Spray With Baby Wash and Baking Soda Recipe

 There's growing evidence that baby wash added to saline nasal sprays can help prevent sinusitis, coronaviruses, and even help treat covid-19.  I first stumbled across a study conducted by researchers at the Baylor University School of Medicine on the use of baby wash in neti pots to treat chronic sinus infections during the covid-19 lockdown in the spring of 2020.  I adapted the Baylor neti pot concoction for use in a 1.5oz saline nasal spray bottle.  I added the baking soda after discovering that it helps to break up encrusted mucus.

Things you will need:

1- 1.5oz bottle of saline nasal spray

needle nose pliers

baby wash (I prefer Aldi brand as it seems to have least fragrance in it)

baking soda

antiseptic wipes

eye dropper

small cup to hold baby wash

 Remove the protective tamper-proof cellophane from the saline spray bottle.  Wipe the needle nose pliers down with the disinfectant cloth, remove the cap from the saline spray bottle, and using the pliers, pull the nozzle and stem free from the body of the bottle.  Set aside.  Squirt some baby wash in the small cup.  Fill the eye dropper with the baby wash.  Dispense 6 drops into the 1.5oz saline spray bottle.  Don't worry if you add a bit more that 6 drops.  Then add a pinch, about an 1/8th of a teaspoon or less, of baking soda to the mixture.  Replace the nozzle and cap, shake vigorously, and you are done!  It lasts for two weeks or more.  Spritz your nasal passages 1-2 a day, or as needed.

Many Returns

                                            Scotland Out The Window, 2018

I have been gone, as surely I have been gone before, and surely gone again.  We have been sheltering in place, only going to the grocery store for necessities, and even then masked and gloved with clorox wipes in a zip-loc baggie in my pocket.  My mother was with us for two months.  She talks incessantly when she's stressed or nervous.  As soon as was allowed, I sent her home.  Her county was/is very low risk for exposure to covid-19.  Rural with a high rate of diabetes and other underlying issues, those people self isolated and masked up right away.  But now, we are free again.  Freed from quarantine, able to go to the liquor store and buy more than one bottle at a time.  Interestingly, toilet paper is still being rationed, one package per customer.  I don't need it.  Before the pandemic hit, I was at Costco and bought enough tp to last a year.  Why not?  I was at Costco and that's what that place is for.  Disaster prepping for the price conscious dwindling middle class.