Friday, November 30, 2007

Search

One looks for the answer
But what is the question
If one found an answer today
Would it be the answer tomorrow
Or does each day
Each hour
Each moment
Have its own question
And its own answer

If one is asking
To know the meaning of life
One can only find out
By living it
One moment at a time
By being aware
And by letting each moment
Be sufficient unto itself

Troy Parker Farr
(from "The White Tree")

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Writing, Art, and Music

I always write, no matter what, but have had a hard time getting around to music and art. Writing is easier because it can be done almost anytime or anywhere. It doesn't make any noise; it doesn't offend anybody; it only requires something to write with, something to write on, and something you want to say. Nobody knows what you're writing about. It could be anything from a grocery list to a lurid novel.

But music does make noise, which gives one pause if there are others nearby to hear, especially if they happen to be musicians. The sounds you make while learning something can range from beautiful to auditory hell.

Other arts, such as painting, have the disadvantage of requiring all sorts of tools, supplies, and preparations which take lots of room and time. There are many unspontaneous things that have to be done before the spontaneity of creation begins.

For some time now, I have stuck to the ease and privacy of expressing myself in writing, but the urge to paint again is nipping at my heels. There are paintings I want to do that I can see in my mind's eye. They just won't let me alone. So I've been getting my studio ready to paint in.

One of the things that helped me get started was a wonderful blog I ran across: The Sixty Minute Artist. It is by Jerry Lebo, an excellent artist who has a full-time job doing something other than art, which helps in feeding his family, but makes it hard for him to find time to get into his studio to paint. So he challenged himself to spend at least 60 minutes a day painting, and started his blog as a means of letting others in on what he was doing, in the hope they might find it helpful. Judging by my own reaction, and by the comments I see on his blogs, they are very helpful indeed.

Each of his informative blogs covers a different subject, such as stretching a canvas, making low-cost frames, color strategy, etc. He illustrates with his own delightful paintings, or with photos for "how-to" blogs. Check him out at http://sixtyminuteartist.blogspot.com/.

I wait with anticipation for them to show up in my e-mail, and am disappointed when I don't see anything there. Thank you, Jerry Lebo, for a great blog and a big push forward for all of us who have thought we were too busy to paint.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Insanity of War

INSANITY

Wars are begun by those too old to fight
Who find reasons among themselves for war
Reasons not unlike those
For waging previous wars
The same but on a large scale
With more at risk

To repeat actions that have failed
Expecting better results
Defines insanity

Wars are begun by those too old to fight
But they don't pay the real price of their war
They extract that price
From those too young to die
The full price
All they have
Their lives

And when that price is paid
What is there to show for it
But blood in the dust of some foreign land

This is insanity


Troy Parker Farr

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Impeachment is a Remedy, Not a Punishment

Impeachment is a tool given to us by the founders of our country with which to stop imperial ambitions of presidents who believe that the executive branch deserves more power than the legislative or judicial branches of our government. Even though impeachment may fall on an individual president or vice-president in a form that seems like a punishment, the real purpose is to stop their actions, preserve our democracy, and maintain the balance of power between the three branches of government.

It should not be seen as vengeful, but as a necessary remedy when presidents overstep the bounds of their presidencies. Otherwise, the actions of imperially minded presidents and/or vice-presidents, will serve as precedent to future occupiers of the White House, who may like wielding this unchecked power.

Impeachment is the only tool we have to prevent the office of the presidency, or any other office, from growing more powerful than it was meant to be. It is what keeps the people from being helpless in the face of tyranny or despotism. This growth of power comes about so slowly that people at first do not notice, but finally, when more and more rights and liberties are lost, they begin to look for a way to redress their grievances.

Impeachment is for stopping serious abuses of power. Impeachment is a tool, and it is the one given to us by the constitution. It is our responsibility as citizens to demand that our representatives in congress take action on our behalf when impeachment has become an appropriate remedy to use.