Monthly Archives: September 2007

Off to school

I made a frame for the painting I think I posted yesterday, but the frame was about 1/8″ too small and I didn't want to force things, so this morning when I discovered that I gave it (with a masonite backing) to Nefarious to draw in. The drawing she did was really nice, so I painted it for her in acrylics (right over top of her sketch). Here's the final result of our combined efforts:

It's her on the way to school (she's four; this is her second year at Montessori), wearing a pink dress and her backpack (from which the ball behind her fell out of). She got lost, but is getting directions from a friendly bird and unicorn (which, amusingly, has two horns because “it's a very special unicorn”)… The sun, an apple tree, and a mountain are in the background.

Anyway, off to cook supper!

I got my ski mask on.

So I'm driving to the store to pick up some lumber to do framing and there's a really annoying old man in a caddy in front of me, driving at about 2/3 of the speed limit. My truck overheats so I can't drive it for long so slow driving really bugs me right now. He crept through a yellow light, and I followed him, with the light turning red essentially the instant I entered the intersection — and, surprise surprise, I look in my rearview mirror as I'm crossing and there's a cop car a hundred and fifty feet behind me…

I finish crossing the intersection and I guess he decides to ticket me and I see him start to accelerate — and the instant he enters the intersection a car crashes into his hood section at full speed and totals both cars (I'm sure the cop was OK, but the other guy may have been hurt). I considered stopping for a moment (having been charged with “failure to remain” as a kid), but because he had not turned on his siren or lights I figured I was within my rights to drive away.

When I come back, he's there with a couple more cars and a tow-truck (that's when I took that picture). I round the corner and I see him gesturing at my truck, which is pretty recognizable because it's an obvious lifted off-road conversion… I doubt I can get in trouble… right?

Anyway…

I did a little more work on my take on Sir John Everett Millais's The Blind Girl. I'd put it aside for a few months but I think I'll try blasting it out over the next week or two.

Freshly Killed

Went for a walk in High Park today… We were walking down the forest path and a hawk landed in front of us, paused for a moment, and then jumped up into a nearby tree and watched us pass. A few feet further and we saw his fresh kill. The pond was full of herons as well and a few birders were out with massive lenses. All I had was my phone so I didn't take any good pictures.