Illustration Friday: Swim

Not having learned to swim, Gerard never really enjoyed time spent in the water.

Illustration Friday: Eyeglasses

Don't know why, but the first image that came to mind with this week's topic was one of John Lennon wearing shades. (Well, Elton John's wild performance glasses also popped into my head, but I chose to go a little more understated.) So I started searching for some source material on Lennon and sunglasses, the chosen one being the well-known Bob Gruen shot... with its associated story of his asking Lennon to wear the $5 NYC shirt just purchased from a street vendor.

Peace to all, and go find yourself some cheap sunglasses. 

Illustration Friday: Paisley

Sherman came to work on Monday proudly displaying his Father's Day gift.

Happy Everyday and paisley peace to all.

Illustration Friday: Strong

Putting up three re-posts in honor of my old friend Blackie, who had to be put down a couple of weeks back due to a cancerous tumor. Some of you may remember these posts from previous years, when I used our adopted SPCA mutt as a model for some of the IF topics.

I'm using the 'Superhero' illo as a submission for 'Strong', but I'm also including two others I did of Blackie... one for 'Chair' and another for 'Portrait.'

He was a good friend that we had the pleasure of hosting in our house for fifteen years. He was completely deaf the last few years, and that tumor crippled him the last couple of months, but he never lost his wag or his good spirit, even on his last day. The veterinarian agreed that the cancer had finally spread to his lungs (his breathing had become labored), and an operation for a dog his age was out of the question. He was truly strong to the end.

Peace to all.

Illustration Friday: Celebrate

Our little corner of the world has suffered from a couple of years of drought, so I celebrate the rain that has visited us these past few weeks. The wind and the wet really hurt the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (the corporate descendant of Bing Crosby's Clambake), but the weather has always been iffy for that tournament anyway... always a gamble.

We're about up to normal, year-to-date, but that still doesn't get us out of the dry woods. 

So to all you fair-weather fans, let us have our day in the showers. Peace to all, and don't forget your galoshes.

Illustration Friday: Resolve

There's a worthy organization that can be found at www.resolveuganda.org. Go to that site. I'll let it speak more ably than I can.

Peace to all, and especially to the troubled lands in Africa.

Illustration Friday- Clandestine

Stereotypical cloak and dagger, Spy vs. Spy stuff comes to mind when I think of the word 'clandestine.' Dark alleys, microfilm, and the like.

This past year has been somewhat of a drag for my household, which is why I haven't been posting to Illustration Friday... too many time-consuming unpleasantries. But we still count our blessings, which are many, no matter what comes our way.

Here's to a better New Year. Peace to all, and keep your eyes open for shady characters. 

Illustration Friday: Memories

Upon graduating from college, I gave myself a present of a then state of the art sound system. A Pioneer turntable, a Concept tuner, Cerwin-Vega speakers, and a Pioneer cassette deck (replacing my old eight-track tape player)... all perched on a cinder block entertainment center. Sitting above the bakery in my rented room ($40 a month... whatta deal), music was a much bigger part of my life in those days.

Peace to all, and stay clear of the melancholy blues.

Illustration Friday: Rude Teen

Yeah, this is my submission for Rude... what's that? Oh, crud. Guess I didn't read the subject carefully enough... Oh, well, it is what it is.

Peace to everyone, and keep your routines rude-free.

Illustration Friday: Foggy

You are just a dreamer,
and I am just a dream.
You could have been
anyone to me.
Before that moment
you touched my lips
That perfect feeling
when time just slips
Away between us
on our foggy trip.

You are like a hurricane
There's calm in your eye.
And I'm gettin' blown away
To somewhere safer
where the feeling stays.
I want to love you but
I'm getting blown away.

From 'Like A Hurricane,' words and music by Neil Young

The illustration is based on a photo by a San Francisco Chronicle photographer, name unknown to me.

Peace to all, and keep your wheels on the road side of the fog line.

Illustration Friday: Sour

It only took a few minutes of socializing for Hank's mood to go south, and he soon retreated to the driveway with his whiskey sour and a cigarette.

Peace to all, and don't drink alone.

Illustration Friday: Wide

Shameless product placement: Mickey's Wide Mouth, aka Mickey's Wide Mouse.

We on California's central coast are going through a heat wave. Cervezas of any brand hit the spot on days like these.

Peace to everyone. Stay hydrated and choose a designated driver.

Illustration Friday: Electricity

It is not widely known that prior to the kite escapade Ben Franklin experimented with cats and static electricity.

Peace to all, and pick up your feet when walking across shag carpets.

Illustration Friday: Excess

Peace, everyone, and watch those waistlines over the holidays.

Illustration Friday: The Zoo

“I think the monkeys at the zoo should have to wear sunglasses so they can't hypnotize you.”

-Jack Handy

Had to resort to searching for a quote on the subject. Found this one that was just weird enough to illustrate.

Peace to all, and take care of your Foster-Grants.

Illustration Friday: Superstition

One Superstitious Fellow

Cuko was a familiar sight on the streets of a certain agricultural town in the heart of a certain Central California valley. He seemed to always be heading to somewhere or from somewhere and always with a bag of groceries, though no one could recall ever seeing him go in or out of either of the two grocery stores in town.

Aside from the ever-present straw cowboy hat on his head, he was never seen without a dime lodged in each ear.

When asked why he carried the dimes about in such a manner, he would respond with a sly grin, "When people say I have no sense in my head... Well, I just point to these." And he would continue on his way.

One night at the beer and wine joint, when free drinks had come from the other end of the long bar in rapid succession, and he was particularly borracho, he confided to Charlie and Louie with the utmost seriousness that the dimes were firmly in place to protect him from the space men who visited from time to time.

The two young men thought they had finally been let in on the answer to one of the town's greatest mysteries, until Shorty told them a week later that Cuko typically varied the villains in his story between the space aliens and CIA agents and foreign spies. Evidently, the dimes were protecting valuable information for which any, or all, of these entities would stop at nothing to retrieve.

Illustration Friday: Scale

The accident at the lab, which scaled Harris to a perfect 1:12 version of his previous self, reduced his food bill considerably.

Peace to everyone.

Illustration Friday: Hat

• Sitting Bull (1831-1890)
• Hat (lifespan unknown)

Based on a photo from the Western History Department, Denver Public Library.

Also included in this post is the 'J, K, & L' portion of the critter alphabet. At this rate, I should have all twenty-six letters done by mid-2009.

Peace to you all, and may you wear your hats in good health.

Illustration Friday: Trick or Treat... and More

So, I'm trying to play catch-up. Yeah, so there's a jester for 'Trick or Treat', those drama masks for 'extremes', the growing power of the White House for 'grow' (a modified version of the post for 'phobia' a few months back), an open heart for 'open', and a photo illustration for 'the blues'.

Oh, and, yeah, I've still got those stinking alphabet critters under development. Where did I leave off? 'J, K, L'? Someday.

Peace and take care, all.

Illustration Friday: Juggle

Yeah, yeah, I know. This is another repeat. Sorry, but it's Thursday night, and I haven't even been around to visit other folks' sites. And, no, there's no update on the critter alphabet. Mebbe I'll do six letters next week. No, better not make empty promises.

That word 'empty'... sorta like our empty nest here. We took our daughter to college last weekend, so now we have two away at school. And we realize how big and empty this place is.

Anyway, enough of me waxing melancholy. This is a pic I did for the 'chair' topic from awhile ago. That's my old deaf dog Blackie, carrying my great-grandfather's chair across the room. Hope he doesn't drop it; it's sorta fragile.

Peace you all, and forgive me if I don't get around to visit this week. It's crazy here and at work.