Albert's World of Artsy Fun

2012-01-16T17:42:00.000-08:00

Is the Lap-Band right for you?

Doing a quick entry here just to say hi to my former AOL-J-landers! And hey Mrs. L.: do you have an online presence anywhere?

I did the accompanying quickie drawing whilst waiting for a bus... For some reason, in the first month or two of moving here the Goddess of Public Transportation was being particularly cruel to me. She was like: "Really? L.A. without a car? REALLY?" She seems to have been appeased since then-- I think that when I downloaded the "Next Bus" app on my iPhone she hung her head in shame and just gave up on me. But since then the buses have generally arrived more promptly or sometimes I actually walk, which I'm sure is still pretty weird for L.A.

I was thinking of doing a whole series of L.A. lap-band billboard drawings because there's one I just passed on Sunset Blvd. that I liked. Well that would be a series of two. I'd need to find more! Hmmm. Anyway, I shall take my sketchbook the next time I'm headed that way, for sure!

2012-01-15T12:33:00.000-08:00

Late afternoon L.A. signage

A photo I took recently which somehow captures L.A. for me... Canter's Delicatessen on Fairfax Blvd. Mid-sixties-ish graphic style.

2012-01-14T17:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's Museum Visit

I'm experimenting with breaking my silence on this blog... scary! I've decided to see what it would be like to rev it up again. I've been reading several Art Blogs lately and getting some inspiration and information from them. I'm not even sure if there's a reader out there for this anymore, but I've grown a bit frustrated with the space limitations of Facebook.

The archives of this blog have some crazy s*** in the entries, so no need to explore, ok? ;-)

Yesterday I wandered around the third floor of LACMA's European collection with the aim of drawing something. I came back to this porcelain verson of a Pieta grouping that was apparently cast from a wax model of a work by Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi; the original was cast in bronze. Got that? I had been moved by this work on a prior visit. All the figures are exsquisite and worth drawing, but I was particularly enamoured of a lamenting angel on the far left... so here's my drawing. I spent maybe 1/2 hour on it... my arms were getting tired and shaky! I have been having this urge to draw from classical forms and figures, in an effort to improve my skills in anatomy and proportion.

I also got a members only sneak-peek of this amazing room-sized kinetic sculpture by Chris Burden, Metropolis II, with 1,100 miniature cars whizzing around this cityscape at speeds of scale 240 mph, plus some slower-moving trains and trolleys.

But this re-intro entry is all about the lamentation of that lovely angel... Thanks for the inspiration, Massimiliano, and what a great first name!

Ciao! Grove/Albert

2010-06-03T10:27:00.000-07:00

Almost forgot to leave a forwarding address!

GayBIPOLARArtistCLOWN

2010-05-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

Newsflash ;-)

I'm planning to start writing about living with Bipolar Disorder in a new blog! Stay tuned for details...

2010-01-25T06:03:00.000-08:00

Above: one of my SuperModel pals...

Last October there was this:

http://albertsworldofartsyfun.blogspot.com/2009/10/newz-insomnia-up-at-4am-and-so-was-one.html

There are still a few beaurocratic hoops to go through, but it looks like it may actually happen. Yay, and freaked simultaneously!!! Will keep all y'all posted.

2010-01-07T09:13:00.000-08:00

I realized I needed a break from the thoughts in my head, especially on the commute home from work, so I am dipping back into Balzac.

Taken out of the library: Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes, translation: A Harlot High and Low.

Appropriate, n'est-ce pas?

2010-01-06T09:26:00.001-08:00

I'm enjoying these little bloggy sound-bites. Thanks for reading, Phinney, LOL.

What's happening today? I need to accomplish all my 2010 goals (less pressure than resolutions). Oh wait, I have 360 more days for that.

I think I want a painting studio, God/ Goddess/ Universe/ Tao/ Spirit. I want to be able to participate in San Francisco's Open Studios next October. Just putting it out there.

2010-01-05T08:51:00.000-08:00

AlbGlinka's TV Pick of the Month: "The Bachelor; On The Wings of Love"

Living the dream!

2010-01-04T08:52:00.000-08:00

A co-worker, whose opinion I respect, said yesterday that I was ideally suited for my workplace. When I responded by asking, "Then why am I so miserable here?" he answered "Because you're neurotic. You should stop thinking and just become an automoton."

It's been a long Holiday Season...

2009-12-29T07:52:00.000-08:00

Sewing an explosive device into your underwear: not the most brilliant idea in the world.

2009-12-28T09:13:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, my friends! I survived the Holidaze... hope y'all did too!

Let's plan something BIG, COLORFUL and SEQUIN-Y for 2010!

2009-12-25T14:43:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Winter Solstice, Happy Kwanzaa, Merry Universal Health Care, everyone!

... and remember: that ugly, ill-fitting Holiday Sweater you're thinking of returning to the department store may mean the loss of some Innocent Shop Girl's sales commission, so, instead, take a moment or two to think about how you might make it work in your wardrobe!!!!!

:-) Luv, AlbGlinka

2009-12-10T19:13:00.000-08:00

Thinking Aloud...

I've been having this urge to just break out of my box somehow, get some of that Glinka energy back. I feel stale and like I'm in a big rut. I'm facing a super-busy work schedule full of stress for the next 2-3 weeks... not full of Holiday Cheer. Instead, full of Holiday Retail Hell, though at least I'll be making some $$$.

Adam Lambert is my American Idol...

"Precious" is the must-see movie of the year.

I'm drawing in my paper journal and it has been oddly satisfying.

If I could make these words even bigger, I would. My blogging skillz are so limited!

When did Christmas become about buying sweaters? I've got to find a new job at some point in the near future.

Meditation has been helping.

Hope all y'all are well. (whoever's still checking in, that is!)

2009-11-05T09:28:00.000-08:00

John Baldessari: A Print Retrospective from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation

I'm planning to see this exhibit today at the Legion of Honor Museum before it goes away.

I've been feeling like there's a Gigantic Colored Dot covering my face lately, so it should be a meaningful show to see!

pictured above: Stonehenge (with Two Persons)

In other news... Cognitive/Behavioral Therapy. Effective? Discuss.

2009-10-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

"Glee"-k

I am one. Big time.

2009-10-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

New Upload on RedBubble

Just added this 2008 painting, Sassy Lady, to my RedBubble page, which is available for purchase as a greeting card or print, though the cards may chop off half of my signature. :-(

I'm still working out some technical bugs with photographing my work.

Note to Self: don't sign future paintings so close to the edge of the canvas.

2009-10-06T05:32:00.000-07:00

Newz

Insomnia, up at 4am and so was one of my kitties, racing thru my bachelor pad and eventually crashing into my ironing board which then crashed into my oven door. Sorry for the racket. downstairs and upstairs neighbors!

Main reason for the insomnia: a potential position shift (a promotion of sorts) in my job: different designer/ floor/ schedule/ money/ responsibilities.

I feel flattered that I've been asked-- it's a more high-profile fashiony spot. It just means... having to "swallow the Retail Kool-Ade" more than I've been willing to do thus far. I definitely can't go into more details than that.

My fate's now intertwined with someone who's leaving the position at some point in the near future...

Wondering if it's God/Goddess/Universe/Tao/Spirit's will for me?

2009-09-14T09:22:00.001-07:00

Kissing Clownz

I did this little painting last semester when I was seriously experimenting with different mediums and techniques; it's a combo of acrylic, oil and glitter-- very small: 4" x 6".

I just submitted it to an annual group show called "Tiny" at this one gallery in town. Hopefully it'll get in! I have to figure out if I should varnish it or something, because the glitter falls off a bit too easily if one isn't careful. (It's already fallen off in a few places that I have to touch up!)

It's even sparklier in "real life."

2009-09-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

Tranquil Tuesday

I miss blogging. I'm not digging Facebook too much. I can gaze at my navel much more easily here.

I just pecked out a new resume for myself: it's a creative "What Color Is Your Parachute" kind of resume, as opposed to a traditionally formatted resume. The reason I'm experimenting with this is because I HATE my traditional resume. I hate some of the jobs on it and it exposes how my career trajectory is all over the friggin' place, with seemingly little rhyme or reason.

Plus, there's no room to brag about my glamorous life as an Opera Super (Extra) on the traditional one, and no glitter. My life is SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING than the crappy traditional one. (at least to MOI).

I just have a feeling that there is more $$$Abundance$$$ awaiting me if I focus on my creative accomplishments, however fleeting or half-realized thus far.

Maybe that's naive. I don't know. It just feels like I have no choice, like I'm at a dead-end otherwise.

oh, P.S.: loving my new sched. without the painting class that didn't work out. Now: to paint on my own!!!!!!

2009-08-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

Smush Paint On Canvas

My painting class starts up again today... I'm going back to my first instructor who I think "got" me more than the others I've had since. I'm heading out to the main Phelan campus as opposed to the more Adult-Ed-oriented Fort Mason campus, so there might be mostly young things in the class.

I'm also trying to work up the nerve to approach this cafe manager to show my work at this cafe in the Castro. The work that hangs there is okay-- not spectacular sometimes, I think my work would look good there but it's a big space and very intimidating to think of filling all the walls and being so public. A good friend is pushing me to make this move.

2009-08-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks, everyone!

I really appreciated the sweet comments for the last post. I ended up taking a couple of days of paid bereavement time off from work, even though I wasn't able to get back east for Ellie's funeral. At first I tried to muscle through at work even though I was feeling crappy and it just wasn't a good idea. I was coming close to strangling a customer or two. So finally, a compassionate manager (not my own) suggested I go for the benefit I was entitled to.

I've followed the herd onto Facebook btw; I'm not sure about this-- I prefer the longer format of a blog. Anyway, if you're on that site, you can find me under the name Grove Wiley....

2009-07-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

Ellie...

My stepmother passed away early this morning. She had broken her leg very seriously in a fall in her apartment around Easter, and she was never able to recover; it was just one complication after another. So it wasn't totally unexpected, but it was still out of the blue when her daughter called me to let me know as I was rushing off to work today. I arrived at work in a daze and promptly turned around and left, with my manager's blessing.

She loved her independence and was very unhappy in the hospitals and rehab centers she was bounced around in for the past few months, plus she endured a lot of pain.

She was a very smart woman, loved to read. She was a Special Ed teacher and supervisor in the New York public school system. She had a quirky sense of humor, and had survived a lot in her life-- who of her generation hasn't? She loved animals, even though she wasn't in a position to own fur-babies herself. (She was always asking how my "children" were.) She was very open-minded and accepting of my sexuality and wanted me to be happy.

She was exceptionally caring to my father during the last part of his life, and I've come to be extremely grateful that she came into his life when she did. They truly loved each other.

I spent half of today trying to figure out if I could make it back east for her funeral on Sunday, but it was an impossible feat-- both financially and logistically. I finally decided I would just honor her memory in my own way here at home.

The above photo was taken during my last visit to New York in 2007. Ellie and I were waiting to go see the film "Into The Wild" which was an awesome film, though her comment at the end of it was that the young romantic/naive protagonist was "selfish" to have left his family like he did. Spoken like a true Mom! :-)

Here's me on the same day with my little Pre-Retail belly. Well, we ate huge meals all week long!

Thanks for reading, whoever's reading.........

2009-07-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

Change Is Good

I got this book out of the library last week and I've been meditating each morning on these cool modern mandalas that are in it. I'm finding it easier to focus on something visual than what I've done before, which is staring at a candle or at nothing in particular, or eyes closed. I was riding the bus home after work last night and it was chaotic and crowded as usual (is all the drama REALLY necessary, people?!?), but I was able to summon up that morning's mandala and I felt some serenity!

I'm also on a MAJOR de-cluttering/cleaning kick in my apartment right now. My clutter is *contained* somewhat, but it still feels oppressive to me. If I were to post a pic or two, you might be shocked. It's artsy clutter, but it's clutter all the same. I think that this is a problem that many other Americans are dealing with in our consumer/disposable economy. Hence, all the books and Oprah shows about it.

2009-07-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

The Boy-King

No, this entry is not about Michael, although I think he may have stolen some of his makeup tips from this other dude. (RIP, Michael, and I hope you find some much-needed sanity on the Other Side. )

It's about Tutenkhamun, the Boy-King of Ancient Egypt. I went with The Ex to see this huge exhibit that just opened here at the De Young museum. A lot of these treasures were first seen in the U.S. in a big travelling exhibit in the Seventies. This time, some of the more fragile pieces remained behind in Egypt, but the current exhibit is still amazing. The beauty of these objects that are 3000 years old is astounding.

The exhibit is mounted sort of like a Disneyland ride, using the latest technology and theatrical lighting to jazz things up and make the history of the era more accessible to children of all ages. More in-depth curatorial information may have been lost by this approach (I learned more about some of the details of King Tut's Tomb in a childrens' book in the kitschy gift emporium!) but on the other hand, I think people expect more bells and whistles when they go to a museum these days.

This exhibit is going to be here through next March and is a goldmine, literally, for the museum and surrounding neighborhoods.

2009-07-08T08:35:00.000-07:00

The Most Dramatic Rose Ceremony Ever

Just thought I'd use some "Bachelorette" lexicon to dip my toesies back into the Blog Pool...

Would the odious "Wes" ever rock this look?

I am not a "We" anymore; I'm back to being an "I", at least temporarily! :-/

I'm having this really strong desire to have my life be more about COLOR and PATTERN. I'm not sure exactly how this will play out! It's another of my artsy, circus-y, fashion-y, drag-y ideas.

I'm (Re-) posting my Tie-Dye Avec Cowboy Buckle photo here-- it somehow seems appropriate.

Hope all y'all are well!

2009-05-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

In The Heights (and sometimes Depths)

I am obsessing over this musical-- I wish I could fly to NYC and see it! First fell in love with it last year when it won the Tony for Best Musical. I really relate to the New York immigrant dreams and hardships somehow, and I love the Hip Hop/Salsa mix of the music and lyrics.

Sorry I've been scarce, all y'all! BTW, is Blogspot still relevant with Twitter, MySpace and Facebook getting so much attention? I don't know...

I am still a "We" though it's been bumpy. :-/

Painting class ended. It was definitely a challenge to get through it; I may need a break from painting or definitely a different professor or maybe I'm finally ready to try making art on my own.

Hope you all are well, luv Grove/Alb.

2009-04-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

Fun at the Museum

No, this isn't Ralph Lauren's latest look for Spring!

We went to the Yerba Buena Contemporary Art Museum yesterday ("We?" Am I now a "We"????) to see an exhibit of "soundsuits" by this artist Nick Cave. Extraodinary work-- I'd seen a few of them before in an exhibit of wearable art, along with some videos of them in action-- they have added creative value when the person inside of them is moving, dancing. Google Images: Nick Cave Soundsuits if you want to see more. They're this amazing mix of Tribal/ Assemblage/ Mardi Gras/ Cirque du Soleil/ Glinka/ Liberace.

Hope all y'all had a Happy Easter/ Passover!

2009-03-31T11:57:00.000-07:00

Thank You Everyone! Your sweet comments to my last photo/post meant a lot to me!

:-) Grove/AlbGlinka

2009-03-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

The Grand Unveiling!

I'm throwing caution to the wind here... this photo was taken (by moi!) of my new beau John and myself at the de Young Museum yesterday inside the observation tower, which has beautiful views of Golden Gate Park and the city. We look couple-y, don't we???!

We were there to see an exhibit called "Warhol Live" which explored Andy Warhol's influences on music, dance and celebrity/pop culture. One room attempted to recreate a Happening, with a disco ball, projections, throw pillows and a Pier One mattress on the floor: nice try. Another room tried to recreate the ambience of The Factory which was also somewhat lame, but they did show some fascinating film footage of Edie Sedgwick wandering around a fancy dining room, presumably Andy's, smoking a ciggie and barely staying upright. A lost soul with excellent mascara skills.

Fun exhibit, fun day.

Everyone play nice, I'm normally not this personal on here!

2009-03-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

AlbGlinka Interview, Part 1:

Questions posed by Sydney of “A New Yorker In Houston” fame...

The lovely Sydney sent me a bunch of interview questions several months ago, which I then deleted accidently. :-0! She was then gracious enough to try and remember them all again and give me a second shot at answering them. I'm gonna do one question per post and hopefully get to them all. No holds barred! Here goes!

1. I got to know you first through the giant set of glitter lips. What has happened to the famous and fabulous ALBGLINKA lips, and what is the story behind them?

The AlbGlinka lips are currently in a dormant phase, resting peacefully in a large vial of pink glitter that is sitting on my drafting table. Some of the Glitterlip glitter was appropriated for my recently completed “Homophobia” Issues Painting (see previous post). Madame Glinka, of course, signed off on this!

I'm not sure when Madame Glinka will make her next appearance, but it might be at this coming June's Gay Pride Parade. The E-Entertainment story behind the lips: It all started with an insane pink wig that I found in a costume shop one Halloween many years ago.

I already owned this half-mask that I found hanging on a tree at *an undisclosed location*. I also had this big latex nose that I'd gotten from doing a bit of Supernumerary (Mime) work with San Francisco Ballet for their "Nutcracker" that year, and I was inspired to glue the nose to the mask. Then, to do my lips up, I used Maybeline pink lipstick and this pink craft glitter I had. I wanted that fuller Angelina Jolie/ Lisa Rinna (Right, Syd?!?)/ Octo-Mom/ Killer Klowns From Outer Space look, so I did what all collagen-deprived gals do when the budget is stretched thin, and went outside my natural lip-line with thick black (mascara) lip-liner.

Madame Glinka was born!!!!!

2009-03-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

Completed "Issues" Painting
(woohoo, I got it done!)

Worked really hard to get all the glitter glued onto all the letters yesterday and today... It was quite laborious. The critique was this afternoon and for once it was an unqualified success. Fellow classmates GOT the message of hypocrisy and homophobia, and the instructor really thought it was a good painting, that it worked on several levels.

Click on the image for the best view.

2009-03-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

W.I.P.
(Work In Progress)
:-)

I have made peace with my new painting instructor! I had a good talk with him and got some information on his critiquing goals, the varying skill levels of other students in the class and other stuff. It felt great to talk to him directly rather than harbor a resentment that would eventually end with me ditching the class.

So here's a very preliminary look at my latest masterpiece. This painting had to be about a social/political issue, and it had to incorporate text or borrowed image in some way. My completed painting, if I ever accomplish it, is going to have all this text in pink glitter running across the canvas, with some scrawled homophobic slurs cutting into the text. The idea being: the hypocrisy of closeted gay Fundamentalist religious leaders contributes to hatred of the GLBT community. Hopefully that's what will come across, although I guess it's open to other interpretations as well...

I have only a few words done in the glitter right now, the rest are just traced out and the critique is Thursday! Oy Oy Oy!!!

2009-02-22T08:36:00.000-08:00

Thanks, and More Art...

First off, thanks to all of you for the sweet comments for the last post! Never has a 5 word post avec exclamation point elicited such a major response. You are all so kind, and NOSY! :-)

I'm not sure if I'm ready (or him either) for the public unveiling yet, but I'll keep ya posted. It's still very much a work-in-progress. One little detail: he's also a (very talented) painter. It's nice that we have that in common.

Onto my latest painting/critique disaster... So for our next assignment we had to do a mixed media painting that was about the genre of decoration, which is something happening a lot in contemporary art these days. I just went on my merry way with an idea that incorporated a decorative element but was not solely about that. So I got kind of dissed in the critique again, while some butt-ugly paintings that were indeed solely decorative got praised! Do I sound bitter?

This painting is not finished, because the collage elements in the painting took hella-long to put together.

It's called "Frozen Entree Face"

Some of the other students in the class liked it, but the instructor did not seem to be that into it. He critiques paintings based on whether or not the piece fulfills the assignment, rather than on the merits of the painting itself, and he also seems to have his favorites in the class, who I am referring to as his Acolytes.

The irony is: this instructor is incredibly knowledgable. I think I can learn a lot from him. I'm just not getting the little ego strokes that I so desire, which sucks.

2009-02-18T18:48:00.000-08:00

Newz

I have a new beau. !

2009-02-03T22:54:00.001-08:00

Grrrr....

I'm smarting a bit over this painting critique this afternoon that didn't exactly go MY WAY. The culture/mix of personalities in this class with this new instructor is one that I'm having trouble adapting to. BUT: I'm not going to vent all over the internets about it.

Anyway, here are two paintings, and a photo of me as a very young art student (taken by myself in the mirror; I've always been a navel-gazer, of course! ) that served as the inspiration for them.

I like them. So There!

At top, a three-session painting; below, a single session painting. The assignment was to do a single panel expressionist painting, meaning a painting that evokes a strong emotional response in the viewer. Truthfully, I just painted what I wanted to, and did not care too much if it answered the assignment or not. So I got burned somewhat in the critique for that.

Arrgh, I said I wasn't going to vent!!!!!!!!

2009-01-29T09:52:00.000-08:00

Art and TV

I have a new painting instructor this semester who is challenging, very knowledgable... we have to do assignments even in the Advanced section. Our current assignment, which is just wrapping up, is to do a single-panel Expressionist painting. By Expressionist, he means: a piece that evokes some strong emotional response in the viewer. I will show all y'all the results in my next post.......

I have come to the conclusion (finally!) that I need to cut back on my TV viewing, especially RE:Ality TV. Oy Oy Oy! It was just getting to be too much. So I am just doing The Bachelor, American Idol, the end of Top Chef, and most likely SNL. Oh, and Survivor when it starts up again. Plus some brief TV news watching-- the national stuff mostly. (I heart Katie Couric ever since she took down Sarah Palin.)

So: no more Wife Swap, The Nanny, True Beauty, assorted sitcoms, Oprah, Dr. Phil. No Celebrity Apprentice! Sorry, The Donald!

How embarrassing are these lists? Sheesh!

Last night I listened to an opera music CD that a friend burned for me eons ago that was gathering dust in my Bachelor Pad. It was quite pleasant! Tenor Arias by Juan Diego Flórez.

2009-01-22T10:31:00.000-08:00

A Renewed Sense of Patriotism

Wasn't Tuesday awesome? The new First Family is just too perfect; it worries me a little. I'm sure some flaw of Obama's will arise at some point. But for now, I'm savoring the first moments of his presidency. It was thrilling to say Buh-BYE! to Bush & Co after these past crappy eight years. And it was inspiring to see all the diversity at Tuesday's events. What a wonderful day for African-Americans and for all Americans. Plus, Aretha was great, Beyonce was great and Michele's "Lemongrass" outfit was great.

The only sour note at the Inauguration was that homophobe and Closet-Case Rick Warren. UGH!

I hope for a little balance in the coming days from the media-- because no one is perfect and there will also be situations beyond Obama's control... there are no magic fixes. That's my one pet peeve about all the coverage, reactions from celebrities, etc.

Last night I attended SF Ballet's opening season Gala. The last piece of the evening was an excerpt from George Balanchine's "Stars and Stripes," which is a witty and whimsical patriotic number with cavorting military men and ladies in bunting and pink and blue tutus, to the famous and well-known music of John Philip Sousa. Perfect for this week. Would that all military dudes could move with the same level of panache!

The accompanying picture is of Balanchine's own company, New York City Ballet, performing the piece.

2009-01-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

The "Crazy Edit"

I sometimes wonder how I would be "edited" if I were on RE:Ality TV... more specifically: would I get the "Crazy Edit?" You know what I'm talking about: the crazy cast-member is rambling on and on about something insane, or is doing is something very foolish for an extended period of time, and the editors splice in some background music with a funky melody and a TUBA solo. And then directly afterwards there is a reaction "Talking Head" shot from a second non-crazy RE:Ality TV contestant going: "What the F?"

The latest example of this RE:ality show staple was on the first episode of "The Bachelor" which as you all must imagine, is one of my very favorite entertainment programs on the Boob Tube. There was this young lady who was all bug-eyed and was sitting on one of the sofas going on and on about how she creates these Vision Boards based on the book "The Law of Attraction" and how she cuts out all these words and pictures for her boards and then all her visions come true and how one of her visions is to marry the nice Single Daddy Bachelor, etc. etc. Some of the other girls listening to her were subtly rolling their eyes. You know that if a "Bachelor" contestant thinks you're crazy, then you REALLY must be crazy. And then when Jason The Single Daddy Bachelor heard the whole rap, he was like, "Um, okay..." And he promptly gave her the boot. They showed more of his reaction last night, which was "I don't get it."

I guess he doesn't have much of a chance to watch "Oprah."

The "Law of Attraction" (Snake Oil) authors/seminar leaders, as well as the manufacturers of Glue-Sticks must have been pissed to get all the negative publicity.

I hope to get back to posting about my life and art soonish. :-)

2008-12-30T08:58:00.000-08:00

"Mama's Boys" Update:

I may be the only person in America watching this show. Even TelevisionWithoutPity only reviewed the pilot episode. You know a show is bad when even TwoP snubs it!

Anyway, on last night's episode, the firefighter dude kept the silicone-enhanced blonde bimbo on the show despite his mother's strong wishes to give her the boot. It didn't bother him that the blonde bimbo had gone into debt by $162,000 in order to get two boob procedures, botox, lip collagen, hair extensions and trips to Neiman Marcus-- all of which she said were for "maintenance," at age 25. Methinks that the Firefighter Dude is making all his relationship decisions from his lower region and not from his brain. I fully support him!

The bigoted, anti-semitic, racist, insane Mom's son, Jo Jo made a different choice however: he ended up rejecting the girl who had posed for Playboy and wherever else all over the Internets. He wants a wholesome RE:Ality TV girl who is only showing off her boobies on a TV show.

The Jewish Mom's son continues to be chased by the African-American beauties on the show, which I find interesting... but Jewish Mom is trying to push this NICE JEWISH GIRL on him. Unfortunately he doesn't seem interested-- perhaps because NICE JEWISH GIRL doesn't have large silicone-enhanced boobs? Even her skill at making matzoh-ball soup didn't appear to sway him. Go figure!

Oh, and there was a big wooden crate with files in it about all the girls' secrets. Each mom got to look at one girl's file. That's how all the stuff about debt and hair extensions and posing for Playboy came out. Since the casting directors seem to have done a majority of their casting from Playboy, Penthouse and InternetFloozies.com, many of the files were quite thick.

Next week: Mrs. B. goes ballistic when Jo Jo gets jiggy with a black girl in the hot tub... and Miss Penthouse 2008 continues to try and keep her secret from Firefighter Dude's mom...

2008-12-28T13:40:00.000-08:00

Nude-ling Around on Another Sick Day...

I read my work schedule wrong today and didn't realize it until too late (as in: I would have been two hours late for my shift if I had shown up!). So I did the easiest thing and called in sick again. Woohoo. I still felt sick anyway after a grueling Post-Xmas Bargain Shoppers and Return-ers Day yesterday. I think I've just been OUT OF IT due to this killer of a cold.

RE: the post title-- I do have clothes on! It refers to the quick study charcoal nudes shown here, from one of my recent painting class sessions. The poses were each maybe 15 seconds long. This particluar model was very bony, kind of muscle-y for a Lady, and some of these remind me of primitive African sculptures, especially the second one that's lower on the page.

I just came back from a beautiful walk around "Serenity Lake," which was my healing gift to myself for calling in sick! :-)

2008-12-25T12:37:00.000-08:00

Merry Cough Sniffle Christmas, Happy Hack Hack Hannukah, All Y'all!

After busting my butt to provide Overall Outstanding Customer Service for several weeks at my Retail 'Ho job (not succeeding 100% of the time, I'm afraid to admit) I came down with the Mother of All Colds on my last shift on Monday, and have been inside ever since, missing out on all the Holiday festivities I had planned for my three days off. It's been a bummer. I know that there are many people who aren't able to have the holidays they want. People who are having hard economic times, people in the military, in the hospital, etc. I am still pretty blessed right here in my cozy 'Frisco Bachelor Pad...

I have wonderful family and friends who have missed my presence at Holiday get-togethers as much as I have missed theirs, and we're just having to postpone hanging out together until I feel better. So I can't really complain too much.

In the meantime, I hope all my "bloggy friends" (to use the expression of one of them!) are enjoying their festivities!

2008-12-21T10:38:00.000-08:00

Art and RE:Ality (TV and Other Stuff)

Here's my latest masterpiece (sorry no scratch and sniff, Remo!). The instructor had the same model sit with the same pose for four class sessions, which was a great opportunity to do a more finished piece.

This painting was completed in three sessions, so about eight hours total. I prepared a canvas with a pinkish ground, and then painted the figure with whatever colors struck my fancy. Fauvism is the genre that is most like this. I wasn't a slave to correct proportions, although my one self-criticism is that it's not far enough removed, like let's say a Modigliani, yet not completely anatomically correct either. This is partly because I just don't paint from RE:Ality very often these days, and figure painting is one of the hardest technical challenges there is in art.

I really enjoyed painting from the model this semester!

My friends who I've shown my lastest work to are all encouraging me to aim for having a show in 2009. I definitely have enough work, it's just a matter of where and how. I have a lot of trouble with self-promotion in my offline life. BELIEVE IT OR NOT! Fear of rejection. Ugh! But I definitely feel like it's time. Even if it's in a little cafe somewhere.

Onto RE:Ality TV: "Momma's Boys," NBC, Monday night. Be there! It's sick and awesome. I'm not sure if it's politically correct to stick a racist, bigoted, anti-semetic, ignorant, hypocritcal Momma into a house with a bunch of demographically diverse and randomly silicone-enhanced bachelorettes, but it definitely makes for great TV.

2008-12-18T15:40:00.000-08:00

RE:Ality and Non-RE:Ality TV: Jumping the Shark and Jumping the Grande Jeté

It's that depressing time of year when several Re:Ality TV shows wrap up their seasons and RE:Ality TV Addicts have to wait until early January for new seasons to begin. (Bachelor and American Idol, f'rnstance!)

I have been a rabid fan of Survivor since Day One, but I have to say, I was pretty disgusted with this Gabon season. So many unlikeable contestants, headed up by the Horrid and desparately in need of Long-Term Therapy Corinne and the Alcoholic Curmudgeon and Dog-Fancier Randy. I had trouble deciding who to root for. The H.S. Teacher dude who won deserved it, but he was a bit crusty for my tastes. "Sugar" was cute, but that's about it. I liked the Video Gamer... what was his name again? I guess the fact that I can't remember sums up everything about the season for me. Ken. Just looked it up on TelevisionWithoutPity.

Corrine reminded me of myself a few years back, when I thought that being sarcastic and mean was "interesting" and that nice people were boring. Hopefully she'll grow up one day and realize how ugly her attitudes are and how much they hurt others and herself.

Moving on to Stylista, my other guilty pleasure these past few months... Johannna won. She seems like the editorial type. I spent a few days freelancing at magazines back in the day in NY and those offices are full of gals like that. I think that DeShaun's downfall was that he couldn't spell or copy-edit for shit, and that is an important job-skill at the entry level. This show may be a one-season wonder, I'm not sure, but I enjoyed it. I so want to be "ON TREND" these days myself! The bitchery on this show was hard to take at times too, but at least it was comical, and everyone in the Fashion Biz is kind of like that anyway.

Last but not least, I wonder if any of my loyal blog-readers caught the PBS Dance In America Broadcast last night of my beloved San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker? It was exciting to see so many of my fave dancers on TV, and I thought it was very well-filmed. I see The Nutcracker just about every year. What I enjoy the most, aside from the gorgeous music and dancing, is seeing the all little girls in the audience in their velvet frocks, white saggy tights and black patent leather maryjanes.... the dressed-up mommies and daddies are fun too.

Happy Holidays all y'all! Only four more days of Retail Hell for me until my break next week, wooohoo!

2008-12-10T08:45:00.000-08:00

Propaganda Art

I made this painting at the beginning of the semester that I'm just finishing up. I don't think it's really that successful, but it was a nice try. I did it in response to the "No on 8" campaign here in California which failed not long thereafter, thanks to our friends the Mormons and Catholics, not to mention those wacky Fundamentalist Christians.

At the time, I thought maybe I could do some art about gay marriage, and about the type of religious fanatic yahoo that comes out and protests all the happy gay and lesbian couples getting married (represented by the sign-holding ogre on the hill).

I do like the way I represented the male (clown) couple. That's how I envision my Future Hubby and Myself. :-)

I don't envison bickering over housekeeping and who cleans the litterbox.

2008-12-06T20:48:00.000-08:00

Insanity vs. Serenity

Yesterday I started work at 7:30 am and today at 6:30 am. No one was shopping at 7 am when the store opened! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I know that many people in the rest of the world have to go to work early, but I am not the rest of the world! I need my beauty sleep!

I've been spending extra time in Golden Gate Park or out at Ocean Beach during my time off lately. Being in nature replenishes my spirit, which I really need right now. I am so lucky to live in a city that has so much natural beauty in it! This photo was taken at a lake in the park that's about a 10-minute walk from my place. I call it Serenity Lake. It's a great spot for bird-watching, and the ducks and squirrels that aound live there are quite well-fed and happy too.

2008-12-02T07:26:00.000-08:00

Ride 'Em Cowboy

I bought this PoloRL belt the other day-- I had a coupon for an extra 20% off for having survived a year at my job and wanted to buy something completely frivolous with it. Never in a million years would I have thought I'd own a belt like this, but I find it funny. When you're around this merch all day long, you can't help but start growing attached to it.

I immediately thought to mix the belt up with my beloved tie-dye: an Artsy/ Gay/ Hippie/ Cowboy/ Bear look I'm creating for myself.

My footsies are a wreck from being on them all day long, but I sure do want a pair of cowboy boots next...

2008-12-01T09:14:00.000-08:00

The Calm Before The Storm

This was taken of MOI on Thanksgiving Day, I can't believe I was looking that happy! I like how I look in this photo; I feel like in person I look old & tired lately but maybe it's not accurate...?

Note Polo Ralph Lauren tie, purchased way on sale.

2008-11-29T19:35:00.000-08:00

Blechh Friday & Saturday

Hope all y'all had a nice Turkey Day on Thursday! I enjoyed the afternoon at a friend's pot luck gathering, but all the while, in between bites of deliciousness, I was facing the impending doom of a 4:30 am start-time at my place of employment on Black Friday. And it was even more hellish than expected, although the store did extremely well business-wise. Everyone who had not shopped all during October and early November came out in a mad rush on Friday, looking for slashed prices-- and finding them. It was ugly! It was insanely crowded! I wanted to go home!

I am grateful at least that I was not TRAMPLED TO DEATH like that poor Wal-Mart employee in NY. (I know that area; it's a pretty dicey neighborhood these days... my Mom used to take me to Green Acres Mall when I was a little boy).

Anyway, my heart goes out to that poor man's friends and family. What a way to go.

Were any of my (7?) faithful readers out at a department store at 5:00 am on Friday? C'mon, 'fess up! If so, we need to talk!

2008-11-20T14:41:00.000-08:00

Work-In-Progress: Mary-Kate and Ashley

There was this photo in the newspaper. I had to make a painting from it. What I love most is that each girl seems to be facing paparazzi coming from opposite directions. So much like my own life!

2008-11-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

AlbGlinka Paints from The Model

We have 4 more weeks in my painting class and there will be models to paint until the end of the semester. I decided to go for it today... I took a break from a painting of Mary-Kate and Ashley that I had been working on! (will post a pic of that work-in-progess, cuz I'm digging it)

Painting from the model is something I know I'm good at, and I get nice attention and compliments when I do it. When I do figure drawing or painting, I get transported into this very different headspace. It feels like I'm channeling some Beaux Arts student from another century. The nude is always the nude, no matter what time period, although the above-the-butt lotus flower tat on this lady definitely places her in contemporary times...

2008-11-18T17:31:00.000-08:00

7 Weird or Random Facts about me

I've been *tagged* by my good blog friend Sydney whom I met whilst haunting a Big Brother Live Feeds blog. Sydney proves that you can have a life while also watching way too much (RE:ality) TV! Yay, Sydney!

Only problem is: I hate divulging much personal stuff about myself online these days. So I guess I'll keep it short and sweet.

1) I don't have a driver's license. Ex-NYer here who never got one and is now kind of phobic about learning and getting behind the wheel.

2) If I weren't folic-ly challenged, I'd have long gray hippie hair. I'd really like to effect a gay hippie look-- I don't know, a purple velvet cape, gauzy pants and sandals... just haven't taken the plunge yet. I do have two tie-dye T-shirts that I enjoy wearing! :-)

3) I have clutter issues. Not as bad as what you see on Oprah or Dr. Phil, but I always relate to those shows when clutter is the topic.

4) Wonton Soup from a New York Chinese restaurant is the best soup there is, especially with the New York crispy noodles they serve with it.

5) I like men with facial hair. In fact, all '70s facial hair is a huge turn-on to me. (Stay tuned for Sean Pean in "Milk", about the slain S.F. supervisor Harvey Milk, and then-Mayor George Moscone; directed by Gus Van Sant, it's supposed to be a great film-- an intensely tragic story, but I'm looking forward to the facial hair)

6) I am closely related to a now-famous NPR radio personality but I knew him when he was a chubby middle child.

7) I hate being tagged.

Only for you Sydney!

2008-11-17T09:15:00.000-08:00

The Sound of Crickets Chirping...

It's kinda creepy being in the retail world right now.

T.G.I.M. (My three days off are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday)

This customer yesterday had the hugest fake eyelashes I've ever seen; I want to paint them next!

2008-11-13T18:52:00.000-08:00

"Sassy Lady"; Detail

I recently completed this painting. It's based off of a few fashion photos I had laying around and also on countless hours spent killing off important brain cells by watching every single cycle of "America's Next Top Model."

You wanna be On Top?

You wanna be On Top?

Doodadoodadooda

Dooooooooooooo!

I'll show the whole painting when I can photograph it in better light; it's kinda dark in my bachelor pad right now.

Go Tyra! Go Tyra! Go Tyra!

2008-11-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

Someone stole my Hippie Stage Name!

There's a welterweight boxer out there named Grover Wiley; nickname: Grove. He's stealing my thunder in cyberspace. I've been noticing it for awhile on Google.

The resemblance is startling, n'est-pas?

2008-11-11T17:56:00.000-08:00

Progress, and More To Come

It's been an awesome week. But there is still much to do ("No on 8" lost but it's not going to go away, and I WILL find me a husband!)

There's apparently going to be a national day of protest about Prop. 8 and legalizing Gay Marriage this Saturday, check your local listings!!!

I love this poster-- I will credit the artist when I have a bit more time.

Update; 11/12:
Graphic Artist: Shepard Fairey, groovy website: ObeyGiant.com

2008-10-31T19:31:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween from PimpDaddy AlbGlinka!

I dressed up for my Retail 'Ho job today! It was a challenge to do Male Drag that wouldn't scare too many customers away... I ended up as a vision in 100% Polyester. Various interpretations of how I looked included: Key West Vacationer, the writer Hunter S. Thompson, 70's Porn Producer, Dad from the Brady Bunch on the episodes where they visited Hawaii.

These are pics I took of myself when I got home.

2008-10-29T08:02:00.000-07:00

Ladies: Nice and Not-So-Nice

I'm shipping out "Nice Lady" today to a *special person* who lives down in L.A. I hope she likes it. To all my other Nice Lady Friends: now's the time to purchase some GlinkArt at rock-bottom prices before I become Hella-Rich-and-Famous. C'mon, you know you have lots of cash laying around and nothing to spend it on.

Not-So-Nice Lady Department: Sarah Palin makes me ill. I so hope she disappears on November 5th, though I know that this will not happen. Her Right-Wing ignorance and intolerance push my buttons big-time. She's such a fucking phoney. This woman must not ever become President!

There, I've gotten that off my chest.

2008-10-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

At the Museum Cafe

I'm on a roll painting the ladies... this one was inspired by a sketch I did of a *big-boned gal* that I did while waiting to get into a overly-hyped exhibit at the de Young Museum... the exhibit was kind of sucky, but I had a delicious bowl of soup and got the inspiration for this painting out of my cultural expedition that afternoon.

All GlinkArt is 4Sale! ;-)

2008-10-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

Such Treasures!

I just saved my old AOL journal onto Blogger. It's private, since I used to have no boundaries. Ahh, memories! Anyway, here's one of many gems: a wonderful little prose piece by some favorite homo artists of mine, Gilbert and George:

"We would honestly like to say to you, Art, how happy we are to be your sculptors. We think about you all the time and feel very sentimental about you. We do realize that you are what we really crave for and many times we meet you in our dreams. We have glimpsed you through the abstract world and have tasted of your reality. One day we thought we saw you in a crowded street, you were dressed in a light brown suit, white shirt and a curious blue tie, you looked very smart but there was about your dress a curious worness and dryness. You were walking alone, light of step and in a very controlled sense. We were fascinated by the lightness of your face, your almost colourless eyes and your dusty-blonde hair. We approached you nervously and then just as we neared you, you went out of sight for a second and then we could not find you again. We felt sad and unlucky and at the same time happy and hopeful to see more of your reality." --Gilbert & George, 1970

2008-10-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

Albert the Artist/Retail 'Ho Opposes Any Federal Consititutional Ban on Gay Marriage

Figured I'd make my own news here on my blog since the national news (Palin-ick!) is so lame currently!

Here's another Masterpiece I finished right before I did the "Nice Lady" painting in the previous post. It's titled "Clown Off to a Party".

2008-10-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

It's the Most Wonderful Day of the Year!

The storm is approaching: Holidays in the Land of Retail. (I've been a Retail 'Ho for almost exactly a year!)

Will anyone be shopping? Probably. Hopefully. Obama will already have been elected and the mood in the country will be newly optimistic.

These big balls were in our storage area near the breakroom. Had to snap them! Festive, n'est-pas?

2008-10-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/opinion/03fri1.html?em

I couldn't have said it any better myself!

2008-10-02T17:36:00.000-07:00

"Nice Lady"

As I wait excitedly for the start of the VP Debate-- the most exciting Re:Ality TV event in recent memory-- here is my latest Masterpiece...

I've made a mini-breakthrough in the application of very lush complex colors. (This .jpg is a bit sucky.)

It's more Picasso-ish than I usually allow myself, but if I'm going to evoke a famous artist, why not Picasso.

2008-09-24T18:16:00.000-07:00

The economy's going to Hell but at least I have a cool new shirt.

Oy Oy Oy things are looking really bad right now. I just had to watch and listen to BushFace on my TV more than I ever wanted to. My little mutual fund nest egg is suffering.

But I bought this shirt on Haight Street yesterday for $18.50, so I'm just going to be superficial and focus on that. I'm curious what the reaction to it will be when I wear it to work this weekend. It's by a company called Modern Amusement based down in Southern California. It's about as far from the Polo Ralph Lauren aesthetic as you can get.

2008-09-17T17:35:00.000-07:00

Impressions of Women Impressionists

No, it is not a picture of Madame Glinka at the Opera, it is a painting by Eva Gonzales...

I just came back from the Legion of Honor Museum where I went to see this show of four Women Impressionists: Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Eva Gonzalès, and Marie Bracquemond. I think the museum may have mounted this show in part because one of the major contributors to the museum owns a few of the displayed paintings in her private collection-- I couldn't help but notice that on the exhibit labels. The de Young and the Legion of Honor are kind of curatorially incestuous this way, but probably all museums are. Yes, I just checked the exhibit website and I found this: "The major patron for the exhibition is Diane B. Wilsey. " Way to flaunt the fabulosity of your private collection, Diane!

It was an okay exhibit, but there were too many paintings of women avec babies or nannies avec young children dans le jardin for my tastes. I was happier at the Frieda Kahlo exhibit that I saw last week at SFMoMA, which was edgy and angsty and psychologically interesting, if a bit overwrought.

The Women painters of the time (circa 1870-ish Paris) were on a very short leash socially: they weren't allowed to go out unaccompanied and so they often made domestic life their subject matter. There is an underlying theme of these artists having a way harder time being taken seriously and establishing their reputations than their male counterparts-- but I was surprised that I wasn't more moved by the paintings themselves. Maybe it's just me.

I wandered from that exhibit over into the permanent collection to visit my favorite Watteau in the museum and I also did a pretty cute sketch in my journal of a female bust that I may share in the next entry. (hmmm, there's a female bust in this entry too!)

2008-09-02T07:44:00.000-07:00

Still The Sartorialist...

Surrounded by clothes all day long as I attempt to eke out a living at a major department store, I am continuing to find huge inspiration in the archives of The Sartorialist blog.

Some of the clothes in the brand I sell are what I might describe as "preppy-clown"-- bright colored plaids, stripes, etc. They amuse me, but I am afraid to buy them! (I do try them on, lol) So I am particularly awestruck by the clown-like dandies I am discovering in The Sartorialist blog.

Pictured: a person named Patrick McDonald; not sure what he does but it's something related to fashion, I would imagine. I suppose I could Google him, by why bother to do something that John McCain didn't seem to feel was important enough to do with the lovely Ms. Palin????

2008-08-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

The Sartorialist

I was noodling around the 'Net looking for content in french and came across this Blogspot blog about Men's Fashion... The Sartorialist. It's a blog filled with photos and commentary on men's, and sometimes women's, fashion on the streets and runways of Paris, Milan and New Yawk. (Why no 'Frisco?!) The blogger is a very handsome photojournalist and sometimes model-- Scott Schuman. It's a great, inspiring blog that makes me want to fly to Milano immediately., and sip a cappuccino at an outdoor cafe while wearing a bespoke suit...

I'm surrounded now by men's fashion 30 hours a week. However, I am in the low-end of the pool of high-end men's fashion. We sell some blazers and suits that are in the $900-$1400 price range (!--pour Moi), but most of our customers wait until they go on sale. And we also have many shoppers scouring the clearance racks for $9.99 bargains (and still asking for more of a discount, oy oy oy!).

At the very least, I now know about proper sleeve length, the difference between a structured and unstructured jacket, and other (useful???) information. This, added to my extensive knowledge of the latest happenings inside the Big Brother House, make me the well-rounded person that you have all come to know and love!

Photo appropriated from "The Sartorialist" blog.

2008-08-05T09:11:00.000-07:00

Je parle un peu le francais.

My latest game at work is to try and speak a bit of french to our French customers. At least 75% of the customers I deal with every day are from Europe. It's a part of my job I never expected to have to deal with. Because the dollar is so weak right now, the Europeans are buying like crazy, and they love the Polo brand.

I studied french in h.s. and one semester in college and was pretty into it. Then I visited Paris one year and freaked out at being in a foreign city and getting lost and not being able to be understood easily. (I'm not the best traveller.)

The French customers at the store definitely appreciate hearing a few words in their native tongue, even if they end up speaking english anyway. Their english is usually pretty good. For some reason, the Italians are the ones who often barely speak english-- someone was telling me that their school system is not that great.

I'm currently procrastinating getting started on this little freelance graphics job I have-- just trimming and mounting some stuff. It's going to take all day and I'm not in the mood, but I love the client so I said yes. Arrgh, just get to it, Grove/Alb!

2008-08-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

Sunday RE:Ality TV Korner

I don't have to be at work until 12:15pm on Sundays, so I can chill a bit when I wake up.

I am in a state of bliss when Project Runway is in full swing. I luff that show!!!! This past week, Madame Glinka considered whether or not she should purchase Gay Mormon Keith's "T.P. Caught in a Windstorm" dress.

The whole "Holla At Cha Boy" scenelet between Blayne and Tim Gunn reconfirmed my belief that RE:Ality TV has better dialogue than any scripted program on the tube.

2008-07-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

Sick Clown

I've been home yesterday and today with a cold and funky fever that's low rather than high. Not the proper state in which to sell merch. It's been very nice having the weekend off even if I feel crummy. There are a million sales associates on the floor on Saturdays and Sundays so no one misses me-- less competition for them.

This is another painting I did last semester, doesn't really have a title. Maybe it should be "Sick Clown" like the title of this post! It's another 3' x 4' canvas, quite imposing.

I'm not sure if anyone would want this hanging over their couch!

2008-07-24T15:26:00.000-07:00

Latest *Masterpiece*

I completed a couple of large-scale paintings in my most recent painting class which I haven't yet posted in cyberspace... this one is called "Praying Clown" and is 3' x 4'. I was attempting to do something less angsty than my precious images and with a more complex figure. I wanted a spiritual theme.

This morning I submitted some paintings online for a group show that's being held in September-- A hopefully fortuitous conicidence: I have a sweet young neighbor who is connected to the curator who is organizing it. I'm going out tonight to check out this other show connected to the curator and this art venue, Hotel des Artes. The show opening tonight is work from a Chicago-based artist, Ray Noland, dedicated to Barack Obama's campaign. Link here.

2008-07-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

Dying Brain Cell Alert

Yes indeed, I am still very much into the Re:Ality TV scene... Big Brother 10: what can I say? The license plate veto challenge last night: so sad! Was it edited to make the contestants seem dumb or are they truly dumb? Is that a dumb question?

Where is Janelle when we need her???

pictured: Michelle, channelling her inner Glinka!

2008-07-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

Fun with Solarization

Abundance rules my life: I was given a new hand-me-down computer and fancy-schmancy flat-screen moniter from my pal C.W. last week and it is set up on a computer desk I got from another pal eons ago. It almost makes me want to blog regularly again...

My Retail 'Ho job continues to dominate my life, and my off hours continue to be filled unproductively with Re:Ality TV. Painting is on the back-burner until class starts up again in August, and opera supering is off the radar completely due to my work schedule, booohooo.

Hope you all are well!!!!!! luv, Grove/Alb.

2008-05-13T07:22:00.000-07:00

Plaid is the new Black

You heard it here first, from your Polo Ralph Lauren sales specialist. Pictured: Grove/Alb. at his 5oth birthday celebration, Chevy's, Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco.

2008-05-06T17:11:00.000-07:00

Happy 50th, Grove/Alb.!

Today is my fiftieth birthday!!!!

I am having a day filled with art. First was my painting class in the morning and a little celebration with carrot cake cupcakes made by my painting pal Kelcie (pictured with me in her painting class lab coat). Then off to the de Young Museum to see an exhibit of a pair of British artists I've admired for decades, Gilbert & George. And coming up this evening: a trip out to City College to show off my painting, and then dinner, with two other friends of mine.

Yay me, for surviving fifty years on this planet!

2008-04-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

Here we are again...

Geez, why is it so hard to blog these days???!

I entered the painting from the previous post, "How May I Provide You with Outstanding Customer Service Today?" in a juried student exhibition out at the City College Phelan campus and it got in.

Here I am at the opening reception which was held a week ago!

2008-02-21T15:04:00.000-08:00

Hello Out There...

Newz: I rejoined *Civilization* and began working again. It was hard. I busted my ass during the Holiday Season and was then hired permanently at the end of January. I am now in a different department, and am now selling Polo by Ralph Lauren merch. It is extra hard!

I'm still taking my painting class. Here I am with my latest work, the biggest canvas I've ever worked on-- the painting is of The Sad Abstract Expressionist Clown in his Customer Service mode, with Arms Akimbo.

Oh, and note: I've lost hecka-weight from running around on the sales floor so much and also from not being home as much in the evenings chowing down on junk food while watching TV.

2007-11-20T07:02:00.000-08:00

Hey, All Y'all

More hot blogging action taking place at GlinkArt4Sale this morning...

2007-11-19T07:43:00.000-08:00

Attention All Lurkers:

Today's blogging action is taking place at GlinkArt4Sale, just one lazy-daisy click away...

2007-11-18T16:08:00.000-08:00

SpeedoTest

I am a Confirmed Non-Geek, at least when it comes to technical stuff (I'm pretty geeky in other areas.)

My digital camera has menu settings that I've been too lazy up 'til now to figure out. I am now trying to figure them out, in order to get a smaller photo file size without sacrificing too much picture quality.

My kitty Speedo was the unwitting victim of drive-by digital camera shooting, solely for this purpose. You can tell by his expression how thrilled he was.

On a related note, my Canon Powershot SD1000 now has it's own commercial starring a famous female tennis star and a very cute Pomeranian (I think? ) with an Italian accent.

2007-11-16T15:51:00.000-08:00

A Look Back

Sorry I've been scarce; my new Retail 'Ho--Ho--Ho job quickly took over my life for awhile there, plus I immediately got sick from the onslaught of germs, no fresh air and the stress of being a newbie. It's going okay, I've made a good first impression, but I am definitely apprehensive about the coming days and weeks!!! Have to work tomorrow 3:15-11:30pm, that's a start of what it's gonna be like.

Anyway, today I am celebrating the two-year anniversary of moving into my new bachelor pad. It's really been a great haven for me-- an excellent move. Quiet neighbors, a beige carpet that's a bitch to keep new-looking but that I've managed to keep my kitties from destroying, just an overall healing vibe for me in here.

This photo was taken the morning I moved from my old place. The only thing I miss is the view of the ocean I had-- but all the other B.S. I had to put up with made it so not worth it. Besides, now I just go down to the ocean and experience it all around me. :-)

2007-11-04T05:08:00.000-08:00

NYC/ Queens/ L.I. Tour #7- La Comédie humaine

Imagine my delight in seeing this grand sculpture by Rodin of the writer Honoré de Balzac prominently displayed in the new MoMA's glass-enclosed lobby. After finishing my George Eliot craze, I am currently embarked on a major Balzac-reading phase. Could take the rest of my life, as he's written some 94 novels, not including short stories! Anyway, it was cool seeing this sculpture-- I wish I'd gotten someone to snap a pic with me standing next to it because it's huge.

On the reading front, so far I've gotten through Les Illusions Perdues (Lost Illusions [that title could be the story of my life!]), Le Père Goriot (Father Goriot) and I am now reading La Rabouilleuse (The Black Sheep). I need a copy editor for all this crazy punctuation-- I may be doing it wrong.

Balzac is a MUCH more cynical and jaded writer than Eliot, which took some getting used to at first. His pointed and witty social and psychological observations have completely won me over now. He writes a lot about lives of creativity, excess and theatricality in the city of Paris, and amusing social posturing in the provinces. Plus, there is a lot of very fascinating historical stuff thrown in.

Speaking of La Comédie humaine , there is La Nouvelle Monde de Retail that I am being initiated into! Oy, Oy, OY!!!

2007-11-02T06:12:00.000-07:00

NYC/ Queens/ L.I. Tour #6- Meeting Aunt Nub

At long last, my portrait of the sweet and quirky Aunt Nub (click on her blog here). An interesting and fun Confluence experience: I've had very few in my blogging life. On the Saturday of my week in NY, we met up at Grand Central Station, took a speedy subway ride downtown and roamed around my old neighb, the East Village. We had pizza in a funky little pizzeria on St. Mark's Place.

Aunt Nub gave me a goody bag full of treats and toys for my kitties Speedo and Sunshine, which they are still thoroughly enjoying! Kitty Kaviar, mmmmm, delicious! She and her hubbie Skip are running a pet supply store in her hometown, so that's the reason for the abundant feline surpises! :-)

BTW, Aunt Nub is HEAVILY TATTOOED. I was shocked! Only kidding, she has five tattoos (so far). I had to practically restrain her from getting a sixth one in a sleazy joint on St. Mark's Place. I had no idea she was that kind of girl. Don't let her conservative looks deceive you. She was apparently an out-of-control Punk-Rocker back in the Eighties.

I'm sorry I missed my other East Coast AOL pals on this visit, but don't worry guys, there's always next time, and I totally understand that these things don't always work out-- it was very last minute, I realize.

Still to come: more Art, more Queens...

2007-11-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

We interrupt this NYC/ Queens/ L.I. Tour...

to bring you some late-breaking news. I just got hired as a P.T. Retail Sales 'Ho, I mean, Associate, at Macy*s, Union Square. I'll be working in the Men's Furnishings department, which means dress shirts, ties, cufflinks and the like.

I am getting ready to provide, as they said during the interview process, OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE. I am getting ready to be super-perky!

OY OY OY!!!!

I am excited but anxious. I haven't slaved for a regular paycheck in many years, but I definitely need the money. Canvases and paints are not cheap, not to mention San Francisco rent.

They put me in that department because a) I got myself all gussied up for the interview and b) because they thought I could bring an artist's eye to helping customers match shirts and ties.

2007-10-29T05:55:00.000-07:00

NYC/ Queens/ L.I. Tour #5-- Scribbling Can Be Art!

Today's blogging action can be found at GlinkArt4Sale, which is just one handy-dandy click away!

:-)

2007-10-28T06:33:00.000-07:00

NYC/ Queens/ L.I. Tour #4- Some Trees Grow in Manhattan

My artsy hommage to NYC architecture, its intersection with public art and "nature." Photo taken while eating lunch at this place near Rockefeller Center, on my way to MoMA.

(Glad you're enjoying the tour, Robbie!)

Going in chronological order. Coming up: Painting & Sculpture, Confluence, Cooper Union, Queens...

2007-10-27T06:22:00.000-07:00

NYC/ Queens/ L.I. Tour #3: New York Songlines

On the first day of my trip I was able to head into Manhattan, as my stepmother had prior plans. This is the first photo I took-- after stepping out onto the teeming sidewalks in the middle of morning rush hour, around 8:45am. (I was trying to get to the Metropolitan Museum right when it opened at 9:30am). Being on NY streets after about six years away was stressful. 'Frisco is a much smaller town with fewer people. I could barely get across the masses to get out of an exit at Penn Station.

I thought this was a very cool sculpture (click on it to see details). For a split second I thought it was a live dude, bronzed up to look like a sculpture; there are street performers who do that. (Whoa! Maybe that's how I can make some extra $$$!!!) I was so dazed when I took the photo that I didn't write down the title or artist's name-- however, thanks to the miracle of the Internets, I've been able to look it up off of this great website I found called New York Songlines, which describes itself as having virtual walking tours of Manhattan streets-- check it out!

Here's some info on the sculpture, it's in front of the following hotel on 34th Street:

Affinia Dumont
150: Hotel built 1986 as the Dumont Plaza; includes the Spafumerie and Le Petit Spa. The statue of the artist out front is The Right Light, by J. Seward Johnson Jr.; he's painting a copy of the mural across the plaza, which was put up by Lillian Kennedy in 1988.

2007-10-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

NYC/ Queens/ Long Island Tour #2

Mom's gravesite, near Riverhead, Long Island.

Not sure why she doesn't get her last name on the marker, although it's a Military cemetery (my Dad served in the Navy) so maybe that's why. It's a pretty damned depressing marker, in my humble opinion. I guess that's the Military for you.

My parents are buried miles and miles away from each other-- kind of symbolic of their marriage. My stepmother entered the picture after Mom died and had no interest in having my father buried all the way out in Riverhead, so they chose a Jewish cemetery closer to Queens.

My stepmother was kind enough to drive me to visit both cemeteries on the only rainy day of my visit (the weather was very appropriate for this: gloomy).

I think I want my ashes scattered at sea.

2007-10-24T07:16:00.000-07:00

NYC/ Queens/ Long Island Tour #1

I'm baacckkk! Home Sweet Home. Emotional/Sensory overload! Yesterday morning I was roaming the sidewalks of my childhood neighborhood in Flushing, NY, and this morning I am back in my adult home in 'Frisco, thanks to the modern miracle of airplane travel. (Spaceship travel coming: when?)

This trip was mostly about Dad, Stepmom and Mom, so I start off with a photo of Dad's grave...

Still workin' out issues of file size with Blogger. Original shot is in good focus; I'm not sure how this reduced version will look. I need to explore some photo-sharing options.

2007-10-22T07:36:00.000-07:00

"I Love A Piano"

Yesterday was spent in Queens and Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. I wonder why it's called Sheepshead Bay? It probably looks like a Sheep's Head. Note to Self: look at it on a map. I've never been to that part of Brooklyn before.

My stepmother and a lady friend of hers were going to see a Sunday Matinee performance of a show comprised of Irving Berlin songs over at Brooklyn College and so I came along.

The show was like very good dinner theater. Not the kind of performing I'm used to: heavily miked, occasional hamminess and a few rough patches of singing. Wait a minute, I watch American Idol, what am I talking about-- of couse I'm used to that kind of performing! There was one performer I thought was excellent, he reminded me of a young Fred Astaire: Mark Baratelli. I immediately got an itsy-bitsy crush on him. I'm kind of desperate here out in No-Gay Mans'-Land! The average age of the audience at Brooklyn College was 65-70 or so. I thought: this is my future (if I'm lucky). Except I'll be going to see some musical based on the songs of Donna Summer or somebody.

My stepmother's friend Anita was a character, but then so are we all. She was very sweet. I met her kitties Lucia and Marcello and she showed me some amazing snapshots of her from when she was young-- there was one where she looked like she was right out of "Valley of the Dolls." We spent around an hour in the first part of the day in a beauty salon while she was finishing getting her hair done. Oy Oy Oy!

Today is more fun in Queens and Nassau County. We are going to see the film "Into The Wild," which I am looking forward to. Ellie and I are getting along very well, which I am extremely grateful for.

2007-10-21T05:40:00.000-07:00

Cash and Vaudeville

Seems like a good name for this visit! Cash: because it's costing me a small fortune. Vaudeville: because family stuff is always like vaudeville.

Thanks for the recent comments, guys-- and Phinney, so sorry you couldn't meet up yesterday, but hopefully another time.

So the activities of yesterday: Midday, I met Aunt Nub at Grand Central Station, at the world-famous clock in the middle of the Concourse. Aunt Nub is an old pal from AOL Journals and we've stayed in touch through snail-mail, deco-books and care packages of Glinka confetti and stickers that she has so generously sent me over the years.

I dragged her all through the East Village, showed her the apartment I used to live in on East 12th Street, visited my alma mater Cooper Union and haunted the halls and studios on the painting floor, feeling hugely envious of the beautiful, light-drenched workspaces of the painting students. Aunt Nub was a patient companion for all this. We also had some pizza on St. Mark's Place and made an appearance at Trash and Vaudeville, this store that's been around forever, where you can now buy any item of clothing or accessories with a skull on it, which I think is incredibly corny, but whatever. We were the two oldest and squarest people in the store. Aunt Nub bought matching pairs of striped fingerless gloves for her and her hubby. How sweet! The salespeople at the counter were a trip-- a forty-something Keith Richards clone who was pickled from too much sex/ drugs/ rock & roll, emaciated, tattooed and scary, and a little punky girl who I thought was rather cute.

Then I rushed off to meet my old friend Val and her daughter Ivy, adopted from Cambodia around 5 years ago: I'd never met her. We had a fun but rushed visit in Central Park. Ivy and I rode the world-famous carousel! Ivy ate these lime-green pop-rock ices with artificial coloring which made health-concious Mom Val upset. Val's husband John met up with us briefly, and watched as Ivy ran around a big playground, trying to get lost but not succeeding.

I hadn't squeezed enough socializing in, so the last event of the day was having dinner with my Uncle and Aunt and my Aunt's brother and his partner... it was an amazing catch-up, very civilized with a lot of new information about my father and grandfather shared by my Uncle that I am just now beginning to process.

I was friggin' fried by the end of the day! I did too much. I wish I knew how to pace myself better, but I have limited time and a lot I want to do, people to visit...

2007-10-19T06:44:00.000-07:00

Cultcha Shock

Wow, intense trip. Photos to come, I haven't figured out how to download them from a remote location yet. I was able to visit both the Metropolitan Museum of Art (there to see a Rembrandt show) and MoMA yesterday-- the new MoMA building was wonderful-- so large and modern and full of great spaces to showcase the artwork. I could have spent all day there. Seeing some of the famous paintings brought me to tears. A Picasso: Les Demoiselles D'Avignon-- something like that-- so shocking and sexy and wrong and right all at the same time. (Kind of like this trip.)

Eating out in restaurants in Queens is a challenge; the portions are gigantic.

People yell at each other here a lot. It's weird. There's a guy yelling at his wife right now in the parking lot, as I type. No wonder my childhood was so f***ed!

More later...

2007-10-18T04:31:00.000-07:00

A Queen in Queens

Eeeks, I'm here. About to rush off into city to hit two museums and assorted other goals. Currently typing this out in the Floral Park Motor Lodge "Business Center."

Virgin America flight was pretty cool. Touchtone screen with good music. Crappy TV. Could've paid $8 for a movie but I am trying to scrimp where I can. Smaller plane, fewer lines. I liked it.

You haven't tasted fine cuisine until you've dined at a Queens Diner...

2007-10-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

Neuroses

I'm trying to plan the perfect vacation/trip, which is impossible, especially when visiting family is involved! It's like trying to plan the perfect Thanksgiving or Christmas. A surefire recipe for stress.

I used to create these artsy grids on my old AOL journal; there were some simple graphic capabilities I'd figured out back then that I've never taken the time to duplicate over here. Just thought I'd resurrect one today.

I need some calming Glinka-Buddha energy!

2007-10-14T06:44:00.000-07:00

Autumn in New York

Flying out Wednesday to spend some time with family in Queens and also to hit museums in Manhattan!!! Any cyber pals seeking Confluence, call or email. :-)

love, Grove/AlbGlinka

Artwork: My Day, 20' x 24", oil on canvas, 2007.

2007-10-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

Today's Blogging Action

It is taking place just a click away over at GlinkArt4Sale.

2007-10-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

Miracle of Miracles! (A test)

This is the very first image downloaded off of my new digital camera, a Canon PowerShot SD1000.

What the world needs now: another photo of a someone's pet kitty on their blog!

This is my *big-boned* kitty, Sunshine...

2007-10-08T05:44:00.000-07:00

St. Francis Update

The press conference where my artwork appeared was held last Thursday. Unfortunately, our charismatic and pro-big business mayor Gavin Newsom, who has never spent a day in his life wondering how he was going to pay for his next meal, decided to hold a competing press conference at a location away from City Hall and drew all the major media away with him! He was making headlines all last week regarding his plans to make police sweeps of a tourist neighborhood downtown and hand out more citations against the homeless, while throwing out some misleading statistics about how he's helping to get these people off the streets.

Dirty politics, to be sure.

I have liked Newsom because of his outspoken support of Gay Marriage, but I had turned a blind eye to other policies of his that clearly do not favor the underpriviledged and disenfranchised. I am torn now about how I feel about him. He's up for re-election (hence, another crackdown on a convenient scapegoat: homeless people). I want to vote for someone else.

Two other liberal city supervisors did come to our press conference and spoke with passion about the work of Sister Bernie (seen in photo standing next to St. Francis) and her colleagues.

Anyway, the display looked great and my art looked great-- a flaw or two bugged me, but overall it was a very successful project. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to do it and to meet these folks.

There were several inspiring speakers at the event and in the end Religious Witness With Homeless People got enough media coverage to make it all worthwhile. They got their message out: that criminalizing homelessness and spending tax dollars on citations and arrests is an ineffective and non-compassionate response to this problem.

2007-10-03T04:29:00.000-07:00

Double-Dipping

It looks like I'm going to be revving up my Art Blog again-- GlinkArt4Sale. The complicated reason: I had some cheapo business cards printed up yesterday that I can take to the St. Francis press conference, and in an effort to keep some uniformity with my chosen name, Grove Wiley- the name I'm also using to sign my artwork, I had to go with the "GlinkArt' blogsite rather than the "Albert's World" blogsite.

So confusing!

This main blog will continue on, but I'll promote my artwork on the GlinkArt site as well-- that is, until I get one website that incorporates all my names (somehow!).

I used a B&W reduction of "The Sad Abstract Expressionist Clown Reaches Out to Grasp a Flower" on the business cards. It translated surprisingly well. The young woman behind the counter at Kinko's said that she would hang it on her wall. :-) Unfortunately, I don't think that anyone living on a Kinko's salary can really afford an original oil painting of mine, even at the bargain rate I'm currently selling them for, but still it was nice to hear.