Welcome, Mr. President and First Lady Obama

I didn't have time to watch all the festivities today between all the calls and e-mails I was getting from the media all day... but I watched a few moments of the Obamas dancing. What a sight! Michelle looked gorgeous and Obama, quite dashing. It was fun to watch and exciting to think of all the possibilities of a new era. I wish them the best and God speed, happiness, health and strength to solve all the many problems we face in our country.

Obvioiusly the First Lady of Soul hasn't lost that golden voice. It was wonderful to hear Aretha sing, "My Country 'Tis of Thee..."

Let's all have faith in the future and get behind our new president so we can build a stronger America. Good luck, Obamas! God bless!

A Fond and Loving Farewell

I read this transcript of a Rush Limbaugh caller today. I think it's only fitting for me to re-post this today as President Bush leaves office. My sentiments exactly.

I want to bid my commander-in-chief a fond and loving farewell, and I'm probably going to get emotional because, "I want to thank you, Mr. President, George Walker Bush, for keeping us all safe. I can truly say this: You have read those intelligence reports. You know and you have always known the attempts that this enemy has made on our own soil throughout your entire presidency. You truly have protected us. You love our families. You love our sons, our daughters, our nieces, and especially our nephews, as if they were your own, and it's a testament of how you were raised: so humble and so proud. Wealthy or not, you're one of the most humble men, you and your father, that I think this country has ever known."

The Passing of Andrew Wyeth

The passing of one of the 20th century's greatest American artists, Andrew Wyeth, reminds me of my own roots in art - having studied some of his great techniques in art class as a youth. Below is an excellent article and a link to his biography.

Andrew Wyeth's Problematic Legacy: Andrew Wyeth, who died today at 91 at his home in Chadds Ford, PA, was the great problem of American modern art. He was a problem first because he so completely refused to be modern in any terms that the art world cared about or could stomach. Long after it was no longer fashionable or even permissible to practice a flinty, granular realism, Wyeth went on making pictures with the kind of brushwork that specified the world in almost molecular detail. That his technical capabilities were so apparent only made it more annoying to some critics that he wouldn't turn his back on them. Virtuosity of that kind was something that we almost wanted to get off the table, an embarrassing reminder of pleasures that painting had to shed if it was to move forward into the brave new world of Modernism and everything that came after. [more...]

Biography: Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life by Richard Meryman