Summertime and the livin ain't gettin easier. Gasoline prices keep sky rocketing (but at least SUV and Hummers sales are plummeting- I guess there is a silver lining here). Food prices keep going up (here too, there must be a silver lining, because we have been a glutinous country for decades). All this "sunshine" leads me to get a little more personal. My wife, Cheryl is into her second career and second year as a high school english teacher. She will find out within the next three days if she has a job to come back to next year. As things stand, the state of California will run out of money by August, and the budget for the state school system has been severely slashed. If she is out of a job, she will join thousands of laid off teachers, and we will have to pay for our own health insurance (any self employed artists out there? If you take a $5,000-$10,000 dollar deductible, you might be able to "afford" the quarterly payments). As an adjunct college prof., I don't get coverage. I need to pony up the scratch to get on the college district's group health plan.
So, is this a diatribe on our broken down health industry, the state of the economy and recession? Maybe I'm having a pity party here. Well...this IS a blog. Blogs can function as diaries (with the exception that it's open for people to read).
Got that off my chest. Don't forget to vote this November.
PS: This acrylic hand study (8"X10" on masonite) was painted for my acrylic/oil class. I make it a habit to always demo class assignments.
10 comments:
Hope your wife gets to keep her job so you can keep your hummers in gasoline.
Nice rant.
Thanks for your positive thought, Frank, and thanks for reading my rant!
Good luck for your wife, It's very interesting to read your "open" diary and to watch your great paintings, very instructive, both!
Gasoline: drive less, if you can...
Great hand !
Thank you Helene. I'm not that far from my studio, so I bicycle.
Well, David, with that kind of health coverage, I suggest you not lick your brushes to get a fine point.
Nice hand - I've been trying to get a decent drawing of my thumb for weeks. You would think after a few thousand attempts it would be easy.
Crap! (shit!) I DO lick my brushes to get a fine point and on a regular bases! I also pick up food that I've dropped on the ground and EAT IT!
You obviously did not start soon enough in your art career (oxymoron?). I started with my thumb in my early teens and only just now finished with my little finger (I'm now 61 yrs. long in the tooth. Maybe brush lickin ain't that bad?)
Thank you for droppin by. Your blog (both of you) is simply wonderful! Good luck progressing with your digits.
sounds very much like the UK david
our petrol prices are higher than yours,health care can be free,but you come out of hospital worse than you got in in,having cought some infections of those stincking wards plus the nearest hospital is an hours drive away...more petrol
hehe,that feels better...
Well Rob!... if I cannot look up to the UK for inspiration and a good example, who do I go too? Maybe we both should just stick to our art and try to forget all those other nasty things! You've been cranking out some sweet race paintings I see.
Doesn't it just aggravate the hell out of you?.
It's your blog and you can cry if you want to!
We pay close to $700 a month for my private health insurance. The fee jumps quite a bit every year. No end in sight. We're also on a fixed income now. My husband a retired banker spends quite a bit of time watching CNBC and investing for profit. It's a full time job for him.
Anyone wanna buy any paintings? :P
Let's talk about Scuffy instead, Mary. The other subject is just too damn depressing.
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