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Living Freedom Posts

And sometimes you do art just to test your new pencil sharpener

Very small colored pencil drawing on Stonehenge paper. Playing with defining the central subject almost entirely in terms of negative space. This required sharp-sharp-sharp pencil points, but colored pencils and pencil sharpeners tend not to get along. The last sharpener broke their soft little points and in revenge they destroyed its motor. So far so good on the new one, though. The text I input later on computer. I think I’ll go back and add some random paw prints around the lightest area. A puppy is also in the works. These could be illustrations. If I had something I wanted…

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Hortense the Censor

In her books and classes on rediscovering creativity, Julia Cameron (of The Artists Way fame) asks students to envision their “inner censor.” Our inner censor is the nasty voice in our heads that tells us, “You’re no good,” “You might start that but you’ll never finish it,” “Everybody will laugh at you,” “You’re lazy,” “You should just stick to the way things are now,” “You don’t have any talent,” “You’ll embarrass yourself,” “You should give up now because you’re going to fail, anyway.” And on and on. Last week I started following another of Cameron’s 12-week programs, but without much…

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Monday links

  • I am really, truly not sure why the National Security Aagency imagines that having tools to breach the international monetary system makes anybody (except the NSA and its Chosen Ones) “secure”). I’m really not sure how they imagined that maintaining such sloppy “security” that details of their exploits got into the hands of hackers makes anybody “secure.”
  • Will the last middle-class person in Seattle please turn out the lights?
  • Waco Wacko Backlash. Or what happens when you point out that the U.S. government didn’t hesitate to attack its own citizens with deadly gas. 3 Comments
  • Happy Easter

    It’s not a holiday I celebrate, myself. But for those who do, here’s the statement and response, “Crist is risen!”; “Indeed he is risen.” … in Quenyan (aka Tolkein’s Elvish) … (English text: Ortanne Laivino; Anwa ortanne Laivino; I’m not sure because I don’t speak Elvish, but I believe the Quenyan script version above may be only the “Christ is risen!” part of the exchange. No doubt a Tolkein purist will inform me if I’m wrong.) … and Klingon … yinqa’ HrIyStoS; yinqa’bej Although don’t you have just a bit of a hard time imagining Klingons saying any such thing?…

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    Friday Freedom Question: Online security

    I get the general impression that most people, even here, do very little to protect their online security. When the subject comes up in links posts, there’s never much comment on it. I’m surprised at the number of readers who write me using Gmail or Yahoo addresses, knowing that all correspondence is scanned for advertising and data mining purposes. Other than people who are already inclined to be nerdy, few people seem to use VPNs, proxy services, or TOR for browsing. A core group of my correspondents encrypt their emails, but most … nope. At most, people may use an…

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    Oh no

    I just saw this report that Will Grigg is dead. Heart attack. Age 54. Looking for further confirmation now. But the word comes from one of the outfits he wrote for. Grigg was a great champion of liberty and in particular a crusader against police and bureaucratic wrongdoing against individuals. His life and his family’s always seemed to be one of struggle, dire illness, and financial peril. What a sad ending for him and what a tragedy for his family.

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    You want to see talent?

    You guys have made some very kind comments about my artwork. I’m grateful. I thrive with your support. And I wish you all as much good and as much support for your own creative spirits as you’ve given me and mine. But when it comes to talk of art talent, I take all praise with a large shaker of salt. Let me show you why. These are a few of the works of Bernie Fuchs — to my mind, the greatest illustrator of the twentieth century (a time that produced great illustration on a large scale). This was a man…

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