Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. He joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion to paint the scenes. He was not the first artist to record the sites, but he was the foremost painter of them for the remainder of the 19th century.
Bierstadt was born in Prussia, but his family moved to the United States when he was one year old. He returned to study painting for several years in Düsseldorf. He became part of the second generation of the Hudson River School in New York, an informal group of like-minded painters who started painting along the Hudson River. Their style was based on carefully detailed paintings with romantic, almost glowing lighting, sometimes called luminism. Bierstadt was an important interpreter of the western landscape, and he is also grouped with the Rocky Mountain School.
Did I mention that I fell and thought I had broken my arm. Picking up Noah at school, had to ask people for help getting up because I could not put pressure on my wrist. Well, it has been over a week and it is feeling better ... but still aching, not broken. Noah: "well, that was embarrassing", me: "yes, it was".
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My eyes are getting better. Still putting eye drops in and getting adjusted to having these lens in my eye. Distance and colors are amazing. Seeing up close ... sucks. I am still figuring it out.
Someone found this at an antique store!
"Someone placed their collection of Cracker Jack, cereal box, and gumball machine prizes under glass and now it's mine."
Gosh, I remember these toys so vividly. I wish I had kept them from my past! David really loved them. And just a little internet search for them is so much fun.
Cracker Jack is an American brand of snack food that consists of molasses-flavored, caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of trivial value inside. The Cracker Jack name and slogan, "The More You Eat, The More You Want," were registered in 1896. Food author Andrew F. Smith has called it the first junk food.
Prizes were included in every box of Cracker Jack beginning in 1912. One of the first prizes was in 1914 when the company produced the first of two Cracker Jack baseball card issues, which featured players from both major leagues as well as players from the short-lived Federal League. Early "toy surprises" included rings, plastic figurines, booklets, stickers, temporary tattoos, and decoder rings. Books have been written cataloging the prizes, and a substantial collector's market exists.
I think I will do just an ugly political post so I can keep the ugly and the pretty stuff separate.
I can't lie, I am nervous, very worried! I can't wait until this election is over so we can see if we are a democracy or if trump and elon and the rest of the oligarchs will run the country into the ground. trump will hand over Ukraine to putin, arrest his enemies, shut down news organizations that have sad something mean about him. It will be interesting and either way, I am out of politics. 8 years fighting this shit is enough.
But it is that time again where the caravan is coming from the southern regions unknown to take over our country. Remember last time they cried "the caravan is coming" and what a nothing-burger that was?
Many post that mention Hitler have been taken down by Meta today? You ask why? Good question? So if Hitler has become such a bad word we are not allowed to mention it on social media … maybe we shouldn’t have a president wanting to normalize his past behavior or wanting generals like he had?
This was a good story about the liars and the ridiculousness of the right. When they asked Michele Morrow with Stand Firm, running for NC State Superintendent, for her autograph, then she realizes she is autographing these stupid tweets, she runs for the hills. I mean, come on you stupid cow, you tweeted that hate, then stand by it.
How stupid is our country ... okay, don't answer that.
Oh, I could go on and on and on ... but I will stop here.
Oh gosh, I totally forgot to mention Mitch, who has come out with a book ... "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered a scathing assessment of the modern Republican Party in an upcoming biography, saying the “MAGA movement is completely wrong” and that Ronald Reagan “wouldn’t recognize” the party today." Thanks Mitch, you POS, too late!
I am getting more able to use my hand and I am very happy about that. I don't think it was a break or fracture, I think it is a really bad sprain. I can't grab or lift with that hand but it is not constantly aching.
BTW, if I have not mentioned this before ... this stuff is a miracle. I bought it at the local pot shop and it makes all the difference in my sore back, arms, neck, and I have been using a toothpick to dig the remaining little bit out and put it on my arm. Dragon Balm - Extra Strength - Pain Relieving Roll-Up. It was a little expensive (not as expensive as on the website I linked to) but well worth it! There are so many different roll-ons and sprays out there ...
I saw these on Facebook ... looks amazing ... The Manpupuner rock formations (Man-Pupu-Nyor; Mansi: Мань-Пупыг-Нёр [manʲ.pupiɣ noːr], literally ’Small Idol Mountain’; Komi: Болвано-Из [bolvano iz], literally ’Idol Stone’) are a set of 7 stone pillars located west of the Ural Mountains in the Troitsko-Pechorsky District of the Komi Republic. They are located on the territory of the Pechoro-Ilychski Reserve on the mountain Man-Pupu-nyor, between the Ilych and Pechora rivers. They are also known as the Seven Strong Men Rock Formations and the Poles of the Komi Republic. Deemed one of the Seven Wonders of Russia, the Manpupuner rock formations are a popular attraction in Russia, though relatively unspoiled by tourism.
The height of the rocks varies between 30 and 42 metres. About 200
million years ago at the location of the stone pillars, there were high
mountains. Rain, snow, wind, frost and heat gradually eroded the
mountains. Solid sericite-quartziteschists,
from which the remains are composed, were eroded less and survive
today. Soft rocks were destroyed by weathering and carried by water and
wind into depressions.
Still keeping up with the ongoing hurricane clean-up and disaster. Those poor people who have lost everything! I keep wondering where do they take all of that furniture and mess? What landfill is large enough to accept all of that?
I found this post from 2009 ...
What am I? My brother's keeper? My mother's confidant? My husband's truth monitor? My son's moral compass? An unfinished painting? An unread book? Working robot? Invisible blogger? A hesitant writer? Fabric not sewn? Book full of untested ideas? An absent friend?
Who am I? Really?
I
have been thinking about this a lot lately. I don't know if I am losing
my mind or losing myself. My time becoming so much more valuable. I
feel like my dreams are lost. My future, cracked. Can it all be mended?
Glued back together? I am searching for my solutions within my grasp.
Well, I finally did it. I fell. Not badly but tried to stop myself with my hand. My wrist is now out of order and I had to beg someone, actually two someones to help me up. Embarrassing. Noah was embarrassed. I have not gone to the doctor yet because I am not convinced it is broken. It is in my arm just above my wrist, I can feel exactly where the problem is. Matt bought me a great splint and I have had it on for two days. I really don't want a cast, all hard and itchy. I am arm still hurts, I can't do much with my hand like holding something heavy. So I will see how it feels tomorrow and probably go to the doctor. I have still managed to do dishes and I can type ... did think I probably could.
Bri bought me a couple of bottles of good red wine, should help me through for the next couple of days. The kids have been acting up and I think she is trying to soften me up from being mad at them LOL
Besides that, not much. The deck is coming along nicely. Matt is losing interest and we have to be diligent about bitching at him to get going on the weekends. I really want it finished before the rain comes. Bri is dreaming of how to "stage" it with new furniture. The dogs are sick of walking on the exposed foundation.
Did you hear about how the trump cult were left at Coachella without a way back to their cars, 2 hours away? Well, I have laughed all day at the responses. Of course, they are blaming the mayor? The sheriff? It is a conspiracy? They didn't think about this is trump's rally, think he is responsible for this dilemma!
My one of two blue Texas friends sent me this great story. I have been so blue (pardon the pun) about the thought of that dumb ass criminal winning that I can hardly think straight. Then there is a great story like this, in a state that I had basically written off being all red. "A ‘Locally hated/Dyslexic Hairstylist’ battles the Christian right in a Texas town"
She is my current hero. If you are down and out, read her story.
I have been watching the hurricanes cleanup ... it just breaks my heart. These people have lost everything! All of their belongings piled up in the front yard!
Leafworks - Everything I do has at its heart my love for the natural world and I
hope to draw attention to the complex design of plant forms. I would
like to encourage you to look again at your local flora, your gardens
and your landscapes. My hope is that this will allow you to experience
the details of your environment and to become aware of its vulnerability
in these days of climate change and species loss.
"The landscape of Lower Wensleydale is one of narrow lanes that swoop and curve following the swell of the land. Bordered by drystone walls and fences, they cross rivers on old stone bridges or undulate between flail-cut hedges and ivy-covered trees. Close by are the moors, where curlews cry and sandy tracks lead among the heather. This is the landscape that has inspired the work of Simon Palmer, one of Britain’s leading watercolour artists."
