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Weak XXXII

7 August 2023

No. 2,427 (cartoon)

I’m dying to please you.

Then get on with it.

You’re right; this is no time to procrastinate.

8 August 2023

Persistent

I just read a great profile on Chrissie Hynde. It’s not one of those comeback stories; she never went away. As she put it, “It’s the life of the artist. You never retire. You become relentless.”

I don’t know about that. Every now and again I likes to pour me a generous tumbler of whisky and then relent for an evening of reflection and absorption. And so, I can’t call myself relentless, but I wouldn’t argue with “tenacious,” “persistent,” or just “too damn stupid to quit.”

The life of the artist, yep, that’s the life for me!

9 August 2023

Great Science!

A new report from The Center for Unneeded and Redundantly Unnecessary Research concluded that people who are habitually late are approximately nineteen percent happier than the people who have to wait for them. According to investigators, additional experimentation and analyses are required to determine the effects of obesity, astrological alignment, and alcohol on perception and behavior.

A study that requires a grant for further inquiries is anybody’s definition of great science!

10 August 2023

A Headache in the Pelvis

I’m having a great visit with Boulaye and Naomi at their Lyndhurst Pleasure Palace in Toronto. One of the myriad joys of being a guest in another home is ethical snooping. I never open any closets, figurative or literal, but anything on public display is fair game.

I discovered A Headache in the Pelvis on a guestroom bookshelf. The brilliant title was so rich in possible explanations and imagery that even seeing the cover would be a disappointment, so I didn’t look beyond the spine. I may regret my intentional ignorance should I ever experience such an enigmatic scourge, but until then the unfathomable ailment will remain just that.

11 August 2023

Visualizing Mouna

My friend Mouna is an actor who needed some new headshots, so I was happy to volunteer. Allow me to ’splain (as if you have a choice).

As Salvador Dali postulated, “The first man to compare the cheeks of a young woman to a rose was obviously a poet; the first to repeat it was possibly an idiot.” Mouna’s beautiful—as an artist I have a keen grasp of the obvious—but I can’t imagine a straightforward photograph of anyone’s face as art, let alone Art. Actors need to promote themselves, and this was just business. (I don’t monetize my friendships, so I did the quick shoot pro bono, especially since she couldn’t afford an amateur bono.)

Mouna has experience as a model and assumed a different pose and expression every time I made an exposure, so all I had to do was press the button. It was even easier than photographing a rutabaga!

Everything was a visual breeze until the last step in processing the images when I had to decide on the tonal range, i.e., how light or dark should I make her complexion. That led to an interesting, pleasantly intricate discussion with her that allowed us to complete the project. (And as for what she decided, see her agent.)

12 August 2023

DANGER DUE TO _______

I saw a house covered in scaffolding with a warning sign, “DANGER DUE TO _______.” For reasons of which I am unaware, the workers never filled in the blank. I think that was a wise move. After all, there’s not enough room on the small sign to spell out “220 Volt Electrocutions” or “Rabid Rottweiler.”

Despite the Procrustean bed approach to visual alerts, I think the signs are a great idea, and everyone with a domicile should have a stack of them. Put one on the refrigerator (obesity), the bed (sloth), the computer (wasted life), the exit door (reality), and so on. As is tradition, I’ll ignore my own excellent advice, both because I have no fixed address and because living just a tad dangerously is about the only excitement I get these days.

Coming next weak: more of the same.

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©2023 David Glenn Rinehart