Newsletter

Art I’ve Found

VivianeG

If you ever wondered if you should just start something you are interested in, VivianeG is a wonderful example that you should. Her art journey started in just 2021 with paying for a Photoshop course. Quickly her visions of minimalism and red balloons became an instant hit in the art world.

Over the short amount of years since then, Viviane didn’t stop with Photoshop, honing skills on Blender and other art creation tools bringing animation and other styles to her repertoire.

Whether minimal or expansive, seeing Viviane’s work come across my feed is always a joy.

My Art

Green Means Go

We have railroad tracks near our apartment. As a person who grew up loving trains, maybe mostly because my dad would put up a train set every Christmas, there is something that gets me excited, even when a train is nowhere to be found.

On a morning walk, with the sun coming up, a stretch of tracks was empty, but from the signal lights you knew a train was going to be heading towards the sunrise very soon.

Music I’ve Found

Holy Locust

The article at Boing Boing started, “Listen to folk punk from hobo heaven.”

I’m in!

The band they were referring to is Holy Locust, a mix of punk, jazz, and folk.

There is not a lot about them out there, a little on the Flail Records website, and on Bandcamp, but if you like jazz or folk or punk, give them a listen!

My Dorky Song

Thinking About Love

I sing a lot of dorky songs for my wife and then post them on my YouTube channel.

Every now and then I let her know that I really love her and call it “Love Song Thursday” for the post.

• YouTube

Out in Internet Land

Glenda is Nuts

Apparently a squirrel has been tormenting a woman for years.

What to do?

Start a TikTok, call the squirrel Glenda, and let social media enjoy.

Me, I love squirrels, even though they are basically rats with fuzzy tails. I remember feeding our “pet” squirrel from the palm of my hand when I was a young lad. I wish our squirrel was more like Glenda, though.

Art I’ve Found

Avaaaaart

Ava is an artist from Istanbul, Turkey. I fell in love with her creative faces to start, and then, as I paid more attention, how she melded them into scenes of life.

One image doesn’t do her work justice, so check out her Instagram or avaaaaart.eth.co profile.

My Art

“Nature Reflects”

This is combination of My Art and Art I’ve Found.  I took the picture and love the colors and shadows, but the sculpture was part of the Human + Nature exhibit at The Morton Arboretum near Chicago. The artist is Daniel Popper who creates beautiful sculptures. The focus for this exhibit was utilizing tree-like construction to meld nature with human-like qualities.

Music I’ve Found

Yuma Wang

I would have never had any idea who Yuja Wang was were it not for someone I follow on X/Twitter, linking to their video, and simply posting, “Yuja Wang is undefeated.”

She is a pianist extraordinaire, and I was mesmerized by her talent on Glass: Études: No. 6 from The Vienna Recital. If you like piano, heck, even if you just want to see some awesome piano playing, I encourage you to check her out.

My Dorky Song

At Least They Drown Out the Traffic

My obsession with cicadas continues. There is an expressway by my office, and the traffic is kind of noisy.

Who do you think wins in the noisy department these days, the traffic or the cicadas?

• YouTube

Didn’t Know What Was Coming Next

Kevin Costner on WGN Morning News

As they are wont to do, the WGN Morning News always has an interesting way to greet guests.

A recent visit from actor Kevin Costner was no different.

It’s always great seeing how the stars react to the antics of a professional newscast!

Art I’ve Found

Bradley Moon

Bradley is a photographer I’ve grown to love, especially as his work varies from subject to subject whenever he posts. One day it might be a stunning architecture image shot at a different angle, and the next day he’s posting a stunning flock of birds against a sunset or sunrise.

I don’t remember the first time I saw his art, but this image of “Nature’s Airshows” was one of the first one I commented on, as the 12 year old in me took over, mentioning that I would not want to be on that boat.

My Art

“Come Out of Your Shell”

Yea, I’m a little obsessed with cicadas right now. They are weird, seem to have a purpose every 17 (or 13 years), and leave a mess, like the carcasses that hang on the trees, fall to the ground, and stink up the place.

Still, I’m going to miss their song when I go out to my car in the morning in a few weeks when they are gone.

Music I’ve Found

SOHN

Listening to a podcast, the host mentioned when he needed background music to keep him focused, he listened to SOHN. I said to myself, “Self, I sometimes need background music to stay focused.”

I searched out SOHN (real name Christopher Michael Taylor), and sure enough, he’s got a rhythmic quality to his music that is kind of dreamy and not too overpowering. Perfect for extended periods of needing focus at my keyboard.

My Dorky Song

I Seem to Like Blueberries

For what seems like forever, I didn’t like blueberries. No particular reason, just didn’t care from them, and they stained everything.

For whatever reason, a few years ago, I added them to cereal at the urging of my smart wife, and she would put them in scones.

Now I am a fan of blueberries.

Who knew?

Coming Soon!

What Ben Didn’t Know

For a while now I’ve been working on some short stories revolving around a man named Ben. My anticipated launch date is July 1st for the first volume tentatively titled, “Just Another Lunchtime Walk.”

I’m very excited to let you into the world of Ben, and will let you know how find him in the coming weeks!

One Last Thing…

The Ladder Luchador

A few years ago this commercial made me chuckle. It’s one of the most memorable commercials for something as mundane as a ladder that I have ever seen.

I came across it while cleaning out some old bookmarks. Now I want a house so I can have a ladder.

Art I’ve Found

Jason O’Rourke

The first image I saw from Jason O’Rourke was of a monk seal on Kauai, Hawaii. It instantly took me back to a vacation and falling in love with the monk seal. He is a landscape and wildlife photographer, and has a passion for marine conservation, especially the monk seals.

If you want to see wonderful marine photography, Jason is a great place to start!

My Art

The Lion of Cantigny

Memorial Day was just celebrated in the United States. The day is a remembrance of those who gave their lives in the Armed Forces. The image is a sculpture called The Lion of Cantigny which commemorates the Battle of Cantigny in World War I.

Music I’ve Found

Miles Davis

In the world of me, I found it surprising that I had never listened to Miles Davis. While searching for music at work, Apple had come out with its top 100 albums, and there sat “Kind of Blue.”

Miles Davis became the music of the day.

While I should have been listening to Miles in an easy chair, with a scotch or Manhattan beside me, and maybe a pipe, sadly, I was listening at work. Even so, I am now a fan.

My Dorky Song

Cicada Noisiness is Here

It’s been seventeen years since the cicadas sang their beautiful song, well, actually just made a lot of noise. They are back to remind us, “Why the heck are there cicadas?”

I still am not sure why they are here, but they are noisy!

I’ve Written

Faceless After Dark

From my review…
Faceless After Dark” does a great job taking you into the psychosis of a movie star stuck as a one-hit-wonder of a horror movie.

More Cicada Goodness

The 17 Year Cicadas …

Yes, it’s cicada time as I’m mentioned, and as dorky as my song is, the Forest Preserve District of Dupage County in Illinois takes the fun to the next level.

Their videos explain the life cycle of the cicada, and the second video makes you appreciate that you aren’t a cicada.

Art I’ve Found

Many people complain about Twitter/X being negative, but Burnasso is a burst of positivity every day. He posts a wonderful, inspiring message accompanied by wonderful art.

If you are looking for goodness to start your day, check out Burnasso, and also some great photography via his LinkTree and OnCyber Gallery.

My Art

“Don’t Look too Close”
I was lucky enough to visit San Sebastián, Spain. The food is wonderful, and they have awesome beaches. Being from the United States, I’m not always ready for the adventurousness of some European locations.

I took this picture, and it wasn’t until I looked a little closer, at the person near the red umbrella, that the 12 year-old in me laughed.

Music I’ve Found

George Winston

A friend of mine knew I liked piano driven music and got me the CD, “Winter Into Spring” from George Winston, for Christmas years ago. I completely enjoyed the melodic, piano look at the seasons.

The other day my music library played some George Winston. It took me back, but also made me revisit his music to my complete enjoyment.

My Dorky Song

“Pumped Up for the Day”
Sometimes, when I sing my songs in my car, I really wonder what screw is loose in my head.

While this song might get you going for your day, you may also wonder what screw is loose in my head.

Early Adopter

I saw a headline that the BASIC programming language turned 60 years old recently. My mind immediately went back to when I was around 12 years old, in the basement, playing on a Radio Shack, TRS-80 Model 1.

I played around with programing back then, mostly bouncing a giant square pixel around the screen.

I wondered why I always want to be an early adopter of technology. While BASIC was already out for years by then, that TRS-80 was definitely an early-adopter computer. I guess it’s why I love my Vision Pro.

Art I’ve Found

Morvixity is a digital artist in the NFT space. As I grew the list of artists I follow on Twitter, I mean X, she was introduced to me, and I liked what she was doing, especially the art she called “Daily Doodles.”

She would post a new “doodle” every day. Some were whimsical, some had meaning to her, and she would post them on Open Sea to sell them as NFT’s.

Image By Andy

While I was practicing taking pictures of the sun, there was a birdhouse used by the tree swallows nearby.

When I was done looking up, I focused on the birdhouse and caught this lovely stretching its wings.

(From my daily, morning posts on my Instagram and Twitter(X) page)

Music I’ve Found

I first saw Noah Kahan on Saturday Night Live. Most of the times my wife and I skip through the musical guests, or give them 10 seconds.

I was immediately drawn into Noah’s musical storytelling, folk/Americana sound, and he is now on heavy rotation on my listening schedule.

Songs By Andy

I went to back up my car. The screen that shows the camera views around my car shows a “splat” on the front camera. Yup, it was like a bullseye for a bug. Originally I named the song, “What Did I Hit?”, but in the end figured “Sometimes You’re the Front Camera, Sometimes You’re the Bug,” a slight ode to the Dire Straits song, “The Bug.”