A While Ago…

Via Sickoricko, I saw this

And it immediately reminded me of a painting I'd done back in…1986 (?)…of something that came to me in a meditation:

Not exactly the same thing, but similar enough that it reminded me of the vehicle in my painting.

I was standing on the deck of an ancient Egyptian sailing vessel—in the middle of the Mediterranean, mind you—when this flying craft appeared on the horizon and flew directly toward the boat, only a hundred or so feet above my head. It was so close I could see the pilot waving to me.

I have absolutely no idea what ever happened to this painting…or at this point most of my pre-portraiture work.

Monday

It's three days in the office this week, and I have to take the newbie out to our remote offices to do a physical inventory because apparently this has become a priority with the micromanager from hell.

A Collection of Classics

I don't fly much any more—especially since COVID but also since 9/11 and the ensuing security theater apparatus that was put in place—but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the beauty of classic aircraft and the livery of my youth.

I Love The German Language

After three years of high school German, I was fluent enough by the time I started college that I probably could've gone to Germany and had little difficulty navigating social interactions, but the old adage, "Use it or lose it," is very apropos when discussing learning (and retaining) any foreign language. To my credit, I've tried over the years to get back into it, but with mixed results. When I run across a phrase (like the one above) that I struggle with ("knallen" had been long forgotten), all I can say is thank the gods for Google Translate. (It's not perfect, I know, but it does help someone like me who has just enough knowledge to end up saying something really stupid if I relied solely on memory.)

When I worked at the hospital many years ago I had quite a few enjoyable (if somewhat broken) discussions with a nurse who was a native speaker. She encouraged me at every turn to improve my grammar and vocabulary, even going so far as to supply me with German print magazines. Sadly, she quit before I ever got back to a comfortable conversant level, and thereafter it all fell by the wayside.