Keeping it simple

We again woke to the smell of smoke from the forest fires in the air. Sixty miles to our east is an inferno or three, and most likely it will remain so until the rains return.  We'll supposedly get some relief Wednesday. The sky is an LA blue/brown but it does make for interesting sunsets.


September is turning out to be the hottest month this year. Good for the tomatoes that sit green in the garden. We've had one of size for dinner, and none others save the cherries. Breezes come down from the higher elevations as the sun sets and nights still provide a comfortable temperature for sleeping.


*****


Another essay is in the can, just so you know. Sure do wish my editor did the root word verbing, just to save me a bit of embarrassment when peers and betters point out that need. Yet, I understand my responsibility as well despite the crossed eyes sixth rewrite. Oh, and not to mention he accepted the essay as "great' and then suggests the artist is merely mediocre elsewhere. He's seen better, so he says, and no doubt. But a scale for quality, being so subjective, is no place to seek a semblance of the meaning of others.

I come from the school of thought where transience is to be embraced. Easier said than done, or, for that matter, understood. Slippery little bedevil. Of course, or rather, in anticipation of a certain criticism, commitment is not necessarily relative, yet remains conditional; not an entirely disagreeable strategy (even though a sense of surety may appear somewhat easier), yet it often necessitates silence in the face of non sequitur and gross assumption. Who has the strength? For this reason I do not mourn the death of journalism, for it was always merely an idea. The same goes for integrity. However, it is wise to beware the proselytizers, for which one needs wisdom, not opinion, caution rather than conceit, and inquiry over received data.


*****


The notebook cover does not list how many pages it contains. I am guessing one hundred and will leave it go at that for I want to minimize any wear and tear from turning pages more than necessary to my purposes. Likewise, I may be a quarter of the way through the book.

I have several prospective titles for this group: It's Not Supposed to; Missing Parts; What Remains (for Derrida); The Place Where It Falls Apart; and, Stop Me If You've Heard This Before.


Now, here's the thing: I gave the last of what I consider to be my successful figurative drawings to my daughter last week.