50 Million Strong

I still look for him everyday.

You know this is better than anything.

Here is the fox you are going to buy for me!!! THANK YOU!!!

There will only be ONE of these--not 5 million.

Come on!! Take them home with you!!!

And what could be sweeter than this painting?

74 degrees on this equinox day. equality. balance. On the Writer's Almanac today the poet Sarah Platt was quoted: "It is the summer's great last heat. It is the fall's first chill: they meet." And so in the spirit of that meeting of great moments, climates, temperatures, minds, occasions, and seasons here is my post for this impossibly high flying cloud day. Apple plans to sell 50 MILLION PHONES this December. 8 MILLION alone this weekend. At the same time this bit of news landed in my in box-I also found  a cyber plea to end child labor of phones and laptops in China where, reportedly, children--little bitty children are assembling phones and laptops for several hours everyday for low or no pay. Ironically, a couple of years ago during my ONE THIN DIME DAYS, I spent a few hours trying to get some food stamps and some aid from Catholic Charities and at both of those places EVERYONE was on a smartphone. EVERYONE. When I sat with the men at Labor Ready, YES I WAS THAT DESPERATE TO WORK, they did not have phones. Not one of them. They had coughs, ruined clothing, battered bodies, and poor manners-but NO PHONES. Not too long after this same ONE THIN DIME period of my life, I got a phone for $125 and it came with a $75 cash rebate. My plan costs $30 a month for 1500 minutes and unlimited texting. As an old school phone user it KILLED ME to spend money to talk on the phone. Really? Pay dozens of dollars a month in place of my $8.00 a month landline? I remember some of the happiest times in my life fooling around with that old rotary dial and winding myself in the phone cord while I chattered away. Loved it. Not begrudging anyone for spending all of that money and all of that time acquiring the newest technology. Not a one of my high school students would be caught anywhere at anytime without the brand, BRAND NEWEST phone. So yeah. I know they are killer fun. I know everyone needs one for their businesses. But here is what I am thinking . . . at the risk of sounding morose (and oh my gawd you KNOW how I love sounding morose) until those smart phones have an app to reach my dead dog-I am not impressed. 50 MILLION NEW PHONES?  What happens to all of the old ones? All right--so there is my rant. To balance it out here is my happiness story for this day: MUDDY WATERS ART PARTY TONIGHT!!! for THE GREATEST ARTIST ON THE PLANET!!! Her art only gets better, and let me say something here--artists LOVE appreciation.  The actors last night could not get enough of the applause and standing ovation. Their smiles were fantastic as they stood there bowing together at the end of their LIVE performance. And if you BUY A PAINTING from THE GREATEST ARTIST IN THE WORLD--at Muddy Waters TONIGHT at the art party--you will have that painting FOREVER! You will not have to power it up, sign an agreement, download anything, miss talking LIVE to your friends because you are texting, trip on the sidewalk because you are texting, fight with yourself to phone or not because you are driving--NONE OF THESE THINGS WILL HAPPEN TO YOU!! You will go to the party-have a fantastic time, buy an original work of art, take it home, and LOVE IT FOR ALWAYS!!! A dear and good friend brought me two exquisite books and one of them is a wandering, tender reflection on life, past and present, and there is a deliberate black hole of modern day distractions. The illustrations are strong and sensitive and the words are an honest thinking out of our daily journeys, lifetime accomplishments, and a voicing of our greatest mysteries. Many questions will be answered with your purchase of one of these original paintings . . . and oh yes, don't forget to buy the fox for me! The goats are already gone!! Love always!