The neighborhood's lawns reflect the great divide between the Dead Leaf Browns and the Dichondra Greens. It's time for our annual Leaf Blowing Festival. We live at the edge of a forest of Tulip Poplar trees and each fall they dump millions of leaves on our neighborhood. Coming from Southern California raking and blowing leaves has never been my forte. In fact when we first moved here I deemed this event a "festival" hoping to coax my friends into coming over to help me. But to no avail. There was no fooling them. The leaves didn't start to fall this year until...
Artistic Tendencies, News Outta My Control / 27.10.2004
An Artist’s Endorsement
I am an artist: an information provider and interpreter. I am part of a group of people who are masters of the search, often drawing on intuition and practice to reveal the ambiguous and the inexplicable. As an artist I have learned to examine issues critically. I dismiss the obvious while focusing on the subtleties between the shades of gray. In the midst of this Presidential campaign's rhetoric I have had to look closely in my search for truth. With one week to go I am listening more intently to both candidates. During his presidency George Bush has shown an unwillingness...
Artistic Tendencies, News Outta My Control / 22.10.2004
Turf Wars
I think September 11th changed everything. Apathy is gone from our hearts. Bethlehem, PA Homeowner Print your own lawn sign from Bill Fisher's Yard Sign Project Apparently, I'm not alone when it comes to being on the front lines of the Political Sign Wars. CBS ran a piece (Quicktime, 4.5 MB) on its nightly news yesterday about a neighborhood divided by Kerry and Bush lawn signs. But unlike my own contentious Maginot Line, the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania suburban street of ardent Democrats and Republicans seemed so civilized. While there was a bit of poster tit-for-tat, no political epitaphs were being lobbed into any...
Last night I dreamed my next-door neighbor knocked on my door. After a few days he had cooled down and wanted to talk. I listened to him as he explained his opinions and when he was done I said this: M, look around you. Since the vandalizing of our signs and since you yelled at me your house is almost completely surrounded by neighbors with Kerry posters in their front yards. No matter who is elected in two weeks, you will have to live with us (and we you) for much longer than a presidential term. Is this how you want...
My neighbor placed his car in front of our signs (inset: one of his bumper stickers). With this sign, he tried to do exactly what he asked me not to do: place objectionable signage close to our property. We had moved our sign away as he asked. The caustic nature of this year's Presidential campaign hit closer to home today. Last week, you might remember my Kerry signs were vandalized the night we placed them in front of our house. As soon as I could I went to my local Democratic Party headquarters for two more. I placed one in front of our...
News Outta My Control / 10.10.2004
Living in a Black and Blue Country
Someone Doesn't Believe in Freedom of Speech The Iraqi War turned me into a partisan American. Before that point, I subscribed to the logic learned as a Political Science major in college: the Presidency was an office of compromise. When George Bush was "elected" I thought "how much damage could he really do?" Even though Congress was Republican, a group of intelligent and forward-thinking people could trump anything the President and his cronies could propose. He was a reflection of those working behind him. Surely wisdom would prevail. There was safety in numbers: checks and balances. I was wrong. And so I began...
News Outta My Control / 02.10.2004
Anatomy of a Decision
Kerry presents his case during first Presidential Debate while Bushlooks on. At 7:30 yesterday morning I was riding the subway to work when were delayed by a dead train at the stop ahead of us. I was tired. I had stayed up late to watch the Presidential Debate and the ensuing analysis and spin. Yesterday I woke up early and immediately went for the morning paper, again interested in the pundits' reaction. But, as luck would have it, the paper never arrived. Instead I sat down with my oatmeal and watched my taped PBS version of the debate. As we sat on the...
News Outta My Control / 02.10.2004
Split Screen Decisions
Bush reacts to Kerry during first Presidential Debate The first presidential debate was a contrast in the candidates' positions as well as their style. But how you interpreted their performance depended on which network you tuned to. I recorded the debate on PBS for my wife who had a prior engagement. But I watched the proceedings on NBC. I was familiar with the "32-page debate contract" agreed to by both campaigns. There were to be no reaction shots of the candidates to each other's statements and retorts. But early on, Fox, which provided the video feeds to all networks, stated they would not...
After 33 years, baseball is returning to Washington. And now that it's a done deal, let's get to the good part: naming our home team. Choosing a team mascot is an art. It takes some creative thinking to come up with something appropriate to the region --something that represents who we are and where we live. There are four categories usually associated with nicknames: Nature, Colors, Strength, and Indigenous People. Let's see what we can come up with. In the Nature category how does the Washington Mosquitoes sound? After all, we live in a swamp and these buggers are our natural neighbors....