Month: May 2019

So, We did “Bike The Drive” this last weekend. They close down LSD beginning at 5am to traffic from 57th Street South to Hollywood North. We began at 5:30am on Jackson between Columbus Drive and LSD. We took the North route first, and the wind was in our face. It made riding on a mountain bike tough, especially with all the overpasses. The rest stop was a welcome pause at Bryn Mawr with the volunteers handing out apples, bananas Clif Bars, and donut holes, as well as water. The logistics were well planned out and the volunteers were well managed. I was good except for the last mile, my ass was killing me. I had even bought a new seat for the event. I guess i need to re-vamp/evaluate my ride geometry. I did get a medal after I showed my ride mileage (30mi) via “Ride w/GPS” app. Thanks Fifth-Third Bank! Now, I need to get out and ride more. I just wish the weather would cooperate.

-Rat

So my partner in work crimes got his Executive MBA program approved by our company. That’ll mean a couple of things… first, my autumn just got very busy. Second, I get more hands on experience with JDE, which I am excited about. Third, We will be transitioning more JDE CNC stuff to the help desk which should in theory, make them more well rounded and make me a bit less busy. The upshot of this is, he is taking me out to lunch tomorrow – sweet. There is a place in Oak Lawn and Elmhurst called “Fry the Coop” where they deep fry’s chicken breast sandwiches with Carolina Reaper peppers. Which if you haven’t experienced it, is the hottest pepper going. This place serves up the sandwiches with coleslaw on them. Yum! They have 6 spice levels – country, mild, medium, hot, call 911, insanity. I do medium or hot depending on my mood.

On Tuesday, I spoke with my art teacher from McCord (Beth Leahy) and she said the Chicago art school “Pallet and Chisel” holds Life Drawing marathons twice a year – Memorial day, Labor day. I guess you pay a upfront fee and can choose 3 levels of models for the weekend. Sounds like great fun. Maybe some day I’ll get to go.

-Rat

That could be an issue. It’s one thing that I love. However, I can be kept busy by other stuff. Like my “Master The Method” class last night… It was about Ted Harrison, a pseudo-psychedelic, Canadian, modern artist who was born in the late 20s, 1926 to be exact. However, he didn’t really have his first art show until 1969. He painted very flat with singular colors. Last night I did a similar painting in his style. Very cool. Ill post it Frday. You can google him. Some day ill figure out how to link a page, that’s a promise.

-Rat

I have been taking an art class at a local art school and it’s focus has been a weekly study of techniques of a famous artist. This weeks was Helen Frankenthaler who did abstract expressionism art between the early 50’s and when she died in 2011. She was influenced by Jackson Pollock and Hans Hofmann. I really enjoyed this type of “modern art”. It was very satisfying and created some beautiful pictures in spite of my lack of “modern art” skills. Now, I say that kind of tongue in cheek because I can paint and draw quite well in many types of media but I am not known for a loose and flowing style. Gary, who is a wonderful art teacher from College Of DuPage has an awesome loose style and has been somewhat of a influence on me. My brain knows what I want to do, i just have to get my will going.

And more to the point, embrace the fact of going outside my comfort zone. My son came home today from the Army and we are getting together for breakfast on Saturday. I can’t wait to see him.

-Rat

So, there are a couple of things going on here… first, i installed SSL. Second, I redid my logo a bit bigger and corrected the spelling. Oh! And I reinstated my business in the State of Illinois. The bastards at Legal Zoom dot com dropped the ball and got my business cancelled. I had to pay a sum of money and get it reinstated – it was nerve wracking. Third and most importantly I am finally taking a art class around my area – at the McCord Cultural Center in Palos Illinois. I am taking a class where we learn about a famous artist, and reproduce one of their works with a similar color pallet. It’s been great fun. I have never painted with acrylic paints before except for washes and I’m finding out that I may like them. We shall see.

-Rat