The Creative Mind

I am an artist. Most of my friends know this. Most of my friends also happen to be artists of one sort or another. An intriguing arrangement...

Anyways, I know that sometimes I must struggle with the gift/curse of being said artist. My work doesn't come out the way I wished, for example. Or I don't finish it on time. Or I am overly proud of it and a critic brings me back down to earth again. Or, I put so much time and effort into the art that my family suffers from my absence. The last part is the portion I am posting about here today.

I must give a shout out to my friend Donna for finding this incredible article about the artist and the need for grappling with both his art and the humanity around him. It is an insightful look into the creative mind and the joys and sorrows contained therein.

Pay special attention to the passage about our creations being our "children," to a degree. A great analogy for the creative act of God, whether that was the author's intent or not. Wonderfully penetrating insight.

Homeschooler Humor

I found this absolutely hilarious and so annoyingly true. Enjoy!

Ready, aim...

So a couple nights ago, my wife heard gunfire from the street and heard and saw the tail end of a car drive off into the middle of the night. And yesterday, our front yard and driveway were swarming with police and detectives who informed us that our neighbor's house across the street had been on the unlucky end of a large caliber bullet, which came within feet of killing one of the occupants of said house.

Incredible. And I was foolish enough to think that I had found a relatively safe neighborhood for my family to live in. I guess it goes to prove that no where is really safe.

My wife, being the good woman that she is, took the kids down to the neighbor's house to visit and maybe help to soothe some rattled nerves. And there were rattled nerves enough to soothe. Apparently the bullet had penetrated three separate walls and, as I said, came within about two feet of killing the poor woman's husband. Thank God that had not been the case.

I hope the police catch the perpetrator, even though the hope of that is slim now. You never really realize just how confidence-inspiring a good cop can be until they are helping you catch someone else or protecting you. They really are a great bunch, and my hat is off to the work that they do. It can really be a thankless job. I am here to thank them.