“Joshua’s Sketch,” oil pastel on canvas board, 11 x 14 in. (2024). Joshua, a friend, took a shine to my portrait of Eli Wallach in the role of a menacing outlaw. He proposed a swap, and I took him up: his whiskey for my Eli. Joshua has a penchant for hyper-realistic rendering of unconventional subjects. I admire this vein of painting for the attention to nuanced values and disciplined media handling it exacts. Joshua liked the sheen I captured on Eli’s weapon. The picture is from my period of trying to understand Hollywood and guns. It’s titled “Go Ahead, Make My Tea.”
In a delicious Onion skit a befuddled member of a clueless television news panel ends up saying, “Yeah, I don’t agree with what I said!” It’s a wicked sendup of vacuous cable news, but also sparks a thought: What if we differed with ourselves on a regular basis? Wouldn’t we be more redoubtable as thinkers?
Provisionally, for example, I agree with me on the following:
I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day. I like to read and memorize poetry.
EthicalDative 
This is a great concept – how to keep everyone on their toes. I love it!
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We can argue with ourselves more and with others less. Win-win! 🙂
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Yes!😊
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I never know what I think until I’ve argued vociferously one way for at least an hour.
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This puts you in the league of redoubtable thinkers! 🙂
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Those who know their minds…can always be changed.
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One of my favorite broadcasters, James O’Brien, says, “What good’s a mind that never changes?”
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Exactly!
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