creating

When it comes to creating something, does production or vision count more?

If I conceptualize a really great sculpture, and can draw it, but I hire someone else to sculpt it, is that sculpture MY art? Should I share the credit? Or do I put only my name on it?

What if I'm a  successful painter, and I loose the use of my arm and can't paint anymore. I can still be creative though. Can I describe a painting to another person and hire them to paint it? Should that painting bare my name, or the person who painted it? Do we share the credit?

How should that work?

I was wondering about that because of something I read recently, about Dale Chihuly. 

You can see his work, here;

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=chihuly&chips=q:chihuly,online_chips:chihuly+glass&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjYhe213ILZAhXo5IMKHf5OBAMQ4lYILigG&biw=1138&bih=710&dpr=1.13

He hasn't been able to do any kind of glass work for decades. He has a team of artists do it for him. But it's his name that goes on everything. I'm sure he pays his team well, but still. They aren't really getting any credit for their hard work. That doesn't seem fair to me. 

Random Friday

The Internet says, Skittles don't have a flavor? If you blindfold someone, make them hold their nose, and feed them Skittles, they wouldn't be able to tell you what flavor you gave them...because they are all the same! Only the color and the fragrance makes your brain think otherwise. Crazy. Skittles says that's not true. Try it for yourself and let me know.

I want to win the lottery and buy 500 Funko Pops! I think I could stop at 500. See? I've set a limit!
Mwahahahaha!

These are the winners of the 2017 NatGeo Photographer of the year contest. Pretty cool!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/photos/winners-of-the-2017-national-geographic-nature-photographer-of-the-year-contest/ss-BBGEHNv?li=BBnbcA1

This article is from a couple weeks ago. Granted, I don't watch the news but I don't think this was big news. It's about Walmart raising their minimum wage to $11 an hour. For as much as the media hates Walmart, wouldn't you think they'd make a big deal about this? Oh wait, I guess I just figured it out....

https://www.wthr.com/article/walmart-raises-starting-wages-handing-out-bonuses-0

And this is a really fun article about what fast food looks like around the world. SO fun!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/foodculture/heres-what-fast-food-looks-like-around-the-world/ss-AAtoTfT?li=BBnb7Kz#image=1

Last, here's a really great example of how the "news" plays with words. This is from a list of the best managed states in the nation. California is ranked the 14th best managed state. That seems like bullshit right off the bat. But the ensuing word game is so well done, I had to share it...

14. California

> 2016 Unemployment: 5.4% (9th highest)
> Pension funded ratio: 74.0% (25th lowest)
> Credit rating and outlook: Aa3/Stable
> Poverty: 14.3% (20th highest)

The most populous state in the country, California might intuitively seem like the most difficult state to manage. Despite its size, California ranks better than most. Like most of the best run states, California has a solid tax base to draw from. The typical household in the state earns $67,739, about $10,000 more than the median income nationwide. Each year, the state brings in about $3,850 per resident in tax revenue, more than all but eight other states and about $1,000 more than is typical nationwide.

California allocates a relatively large share of its budget to helping its neediest residents. Some 40.4% of state spending goes towards public welfare programs, the largest public welfare allocation in any state.

Score!!!!

I love this! I don't win at all of these, but I've got the important ones covered!!


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...

enough money within her control to move out 
and rent a place of  her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
something perfect to wear if the employer, or date 
of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
a youth she's content to leave behind....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .....
a set of screwdrivers, a 
cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...

A  WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a good piece of furniture 
not previously owned by anyone else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, 
and a recipe for a meal,
that will make her guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... 
a feeling of control over her destiny..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to quit a job, break up 
with a lover,
and confront a friend without;
ruining the friendship...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
when to try harder... and 
WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, 
or the nature of her parents.. 

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that her childhood may not 
have been perfect..but it's over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to live alone . even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.. 
whom she can trust, whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table...
or a charming inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she can and can't  accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year...

age, aging, aged, what?

OMG! I'm only one year away from SIXTY! Only, I don't really feel like, OMG! Hmmm. I wonder why? Maybe it's denial. It could be that I don't care. I don't know. When I think about it, I guess it doesn't seem real, that I could be 60 in a year. Something funny did happen this year though. I felt nostalgic for my misspent youth! No, I don't want to relive it but it sure has been making me smile, all those escapades! The 70's were a lot of fun. A LOT of fun! I guess that's pretty common, thinking about your childhood and youth as you get OLD? I wonder if men do that? I'll have to ask mine :-)  Also, I don't really miss anything about being young. Well, not a lot of things. I miss having more hair than I do now and I miss my warp speed metabolism! And, I don't like my fingernails OR my toenails! Ohhhhh, look at that...I guess I do care about aging! Humph. 

Hooray for us!

Today, Amazon announced it's "short list" of the 20 cities it's considering, to build it's 2nd headquarters. Indianapolis is included in that list. I feel so proud of our city! Here is the complete list;

* Atlanta
* Austin
* Boston
* Chicago
* Columbus, OH
* Dallas
* Denver
* Indianapolis
* Los Angeles
* Miami
* Montgomery County, MD
* Nashville
* Newark
* New York City
* Northern Virginia
* Philadelphia
* Pittsburgh
* Raleigh, NC
* Toronto
* Washington DC

I bet they pick Toronto, just a hunch. Anyway, every city has to submit their proposals by October and they will make their choice, next year. I think Dallas and Nashville have a shot. Florida's economy is sucky but I think they could pull it off. I just don't think NYC, Boston, Chicago or LA can make themselves look good enough. Yep, they're all the biggest cities, but I don't think that counts for a project this big. I don't know if Indy is prepared for that kind of building boom, but it still says a lot for our city, that we made the list :-) 

more and more laws

Last week, the new Legislative session started.

Yesterday, I was looking at the list of bills drafted for this year's session. There will be more, but so far there are 645 of them. They work 4 days a week, until the end of March. You know what that says? A lot of these bills are just junk. Because a Senator or Representative can draft a bill to appease a constituent and say, I did my best...blah blah blah. So ridiculous.
The biggest bill on the docket this year is selling alcohol on Sundays. We're the ONLY state in the nation that does not sell liquor on Sunday - excluding restaurants. It's so archaic. Come on! Oh, and car dealers are all closed on Sundays. Does that even make any sense?

Anyway, some of the new bills, waiting to be heard this session, include;
- School cannot start before the last Monday in August.
- Changing voluntary manslaughter from a class 2 felony to a class 1 felony
                   isn't voluntary manslaughter, murder? hmmm
- allowing students to possess and use sunscreen. 
                   seriously? we need a law for that??
- allowing a person with an addiction related conviction to have their record expunged. 
                   so, if you're a drug addict and rob someone but go through a treatment program later, you                     can have your criminal record erased.
- being in jail will no longer be considered voluntary unemployment, in regard to not being able to pay child support.
                   Because if you're in jail, it's not your fault?? I don't get it.
- removes the requirement to be fingerprinted to apply for a firearm license.
                  Umm, yeah. This one is not even going to get past a first reading!! Please.

There are few good ones in there, but mostly they're all bullshit, time wasting, crap. No wonder people don't like politicians.

Well, there you go

Another year has gone by. I feel pretty comfortable with January. I was wondering why the other day and then I realized it's because it feels like it just WAS January. sigh.

So, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Make it a good one people. Make it count. Remember these two things; Just because you CAN, doesn't mean you should, and Kindness Matters.

Now, on to other random things! 

Remember when I told you about those little Funko Pop things? Well, I'm teetering on the edge of the collector cliff. I hate that! You know what stops me? My age. See?! Experience does count!! They sure are cute. They sure make me smile! I got these two for Christmas;


Pretty funny, huh? Everyday they make me smile. Oh, and this one!

They're hard to resist. There's even one for Bob Ross. And Jimi Hendrix! Who knew!? Maybe that's how celebrities gauge their success now. You know you've made it when you become a Funko Pop!

https://funko.com/products/all/brands/pop-vinyl

If you're a chocolate lover, this is going to be quite upsetting to you...it's estimated that chocolate will disappear by 2050 - due to climate change. Don't panic though. Even though that's the new headline, They didn't really mean it. They just wanted you to read the article and see all the ads. Sneaky bastards. There are a lot upsetting headlines in the news. Most of them aren't worth the click. 

I spend most of my 'clicks' on animal videos. Those are the best! I liked the one last week of the dolphins watching the squirrels! I also like the ones of animals helping other animals. Animals are SO much smarter than we can even guess! I love that. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4939512/Sweet-moment-dolphins-mesmerized-two-squirrels.html

And babies laughing. I like those videos too :-) Less news people. It's all temporary anyway!

Cheers!