Observations from the Window 2.8.1

Studying Art History you learn all about revisionist history. There is a branch of the discipline that is just that, a revisionist view of art. In the mid-80s, when I was but a wee thing, there was a huge clash between the revisionists and the traditional historians with the revisionists being called radicals and troublemakers. Before you ask, no I'm not technically a revisionist. In the end many thing changed in the study of Art History and I may write about it sometime because it has always intrigued me but not now. However I did bring revisionism up for a reason.

Ronald Reagan's one hundredth birthday was a few days ago. Reagan was too early for any real time experience and too late for any of my studies so my only actual experience of him was seeing his funeral when I was ten. Like a lot of people my age I didn't know much about him and just always looked on Reagan as my grandfather's Republican. This is where the revisionist part comes in. My opinion of him came from what I heard in the years since the funeral and was also colored by living eight years under the Bush administration. Not that I would have voted for Reagan but he just seemed to more liberal than today's conservatives and seemed to have been good for the country.

Earlier today I was reading some blogs when I stumbled on something in David Mixner's blog (l) that I traced back to the Daily Kos (l). I'll let you form your own opinion.

"The following press conference is the first public mention of AIDS in the Reagan White House. At that time 200 Americans had died of a new infectious disease. Reagan himself did not mention AIDS for three more years. [Note: other sources say five, citing 1987.--Clarknt67]

The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, Press Briefing by Larry Speakes
October 15, 1982, The Briefing Room
12:45pm EDT

Q: Larry, does the President have any reaction to the announcement -- the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, that AIDS is now an epidemic and have over 600 cases?
Mr. Speakes: What's AIDS?
Q: Over a third of them have died. It's known as "gay plague." (Laughter.) No, it is. I mean it's a pretty serious thing that one in every three people that get this have died. And I wondered if the President is aware of it?
Mr. Speakes: I don't have it. Do you? (Laughter.)
Q: No, I don't.
Mr. Speakes: You didn't answer my question.
Q: Well, I just wondered, does the President ...
Mr. Speakes: How do you know? (Laughter.)
Q: In other words, the White House looks on this as a great joke?"

My thoughts on the subject of Mr. Reagan and his administration have changed drastically.

Read the full Daily Kos post "Screw Reagan" here.

Observations from the Window 2.8

Over the past weekend I went through one royal funk I think brought on by the fact that I have never in my life been so tired of a winter before. I was telling a friend how drained I was feeling and didn't know why but I think that is the answer. I never got like this in the mountains but than this winter seems so damn special, or maybe a better word is grueling. Plus in the mountains I had hockey and skiing and here I just have slush, never ending grey slush to go along with my collection of now grey boots.

I was also in a bit of a photographic funk, to the point that I reshot a job because I didn’t like the way it turned out the first time. I always said part of the reason I like photography is the instant gratification aspect of it. I can take so many shots in so little time and even if I only like one it's almost instantaneous and costs next to nothing. On the other hand the cost of a painting has been known to come in at days without sleep, a case of Corona, a bottle of tequila, and a carton of cigarettes. All that is not exactly instantaneous or cheap in today's economy.

Ash has a theory of her own on this one. It being that I am spending too much time on the shots I am doing, stressing over them, and making them not so instantaneous. Or as she so succinctly puts it I'm using too much of my 'limited' brain power on them. My secret theory on her theory is that she wants me to start painting so she can sell my paintings. That and she has a not so secret desire to open a gallery of her own and needs a captive artist with a larger body of work.

After a couple of relatively warm, if not exactly spring like, days I seem to have snapped out of the funk for now. Hopefully I stay out of it but one never knows with me.

For the record that little virus my comps had a couple days ago totally sucked. I did manage to get rid of it but it seems to have affected Firefox in some way, slowing it down to the point I want to scream. I started using Google Chrome more and now I’m thinking the ‘Google” virus was unleashed by Google to get people to use Chrome. I have been tweaking the Firefox code and it seems to be working better but it may be too late, I like Chrome and its black skin.

And so it goes ….

30 Seconds To Mars - Closer To The Edge