Posted in art, my life on August 31, 2018| 2 Comments »
How about some Roy Lichtenstein to get the weekend going? This painting was given to the MoMA by noted architect, Phillip Johnson. It’s a fun image and makes me smile when I look at it. It reminds of times I spent at Rehoboth Beach and P-town.
Roy Lichtenstein, Girl with Ball, oil on canvas, 60.25 x 36.25, 1961.
Posted in dating, my life on August 30, 2018| 10 Comments »
I met a guy who told me he was single even though he was wearing a wedding band. When I asked about the ring, he told he wasn’t out at work and used the ring for cover (I think you know where this is going). He told me he was a detective for a local law enforcement agency. I immediately wondered if he was going to run my plates and do a background check. I have nothing to hide. I always disclose my felony convictions for money laundering and insider trading.
We meet a second time. During our conversation he starts a sentence with “we”. Who could we be? I ask who we is. He admits to having a partner. I remind him he told me he was single. It seems he defines single differently than I do. His partner is 20 years younger. They’ve been together for 18 years. The partner has fallen in love with another man and spends most of his time at the other man’s house. The detective sees himself as single. There’s a long-term relationship and household that needs to be dissolved. It’s the new single.
One would think there has been a sufficient number of red flags and lies to make me run the other way. I haven’t so far. I like the detective. He’s a few years older than me, in great shape and has some hot ink which is only seen when he is shirtless. Conversations are easy and he compliments me. He’s easy to be around. On the other hand, there’s a partner, a relationship and the lies he told me. I can’t help wonder what is really true. I don’t need a man’s partner showing up at my house wondering why his husband has been at my house.
I know I should stay away from the detective but I continue to text with him. He’s the first man in a long time that I have wanted to see more than once. I question if he really is ending his relationship given the false statements he has made. Can I believe anything he has told me? Am I compromising my values by getting entangled with a man in a relationship? Have I become desperate? Am I just the rebound guy? Is the detective Mr. Right Now, and not Mr. Right? I think I know the answer to the last question. I’m not sure how to answer the other questions.
Posted in art, friends, my life on August 26, 2018| 2 Comments »
I hit the galleries on Friday night with Mack. It was fun to get out and see people after a trying work week. I didn’t see anything that really wowed me. The highlight of the night was the wake at Zip 37. The place was packed and the art was flying off the walls. It was good to see such a great turn out. Even though the circumstances were sad, the crowd was in a festive mood. There was talk of a new co-op gallery being formed. As one closes, one opens. I ran into Peg, an artist friend I hadn’t seen for a while. Thankfully, she was sober. She’s had a battle with the bottle for a long time. Peg and I both wanted to buy the same painting. I let Peg have it. I liked the painting but I was really buying it because I know the artist struggles. I really don’t need another painting and it will have a good home with Peg.
Posted in art, my life on August 24, 2018| 3 Comments »
Deborah Williams, a local mosaic artist, invited me to her art show last night held at a photographer’s studio in the upscale Washington Park neighborhood. Deborah always has an interesting take on things. She had many humorous text passages accompanying her pieces. Here’s my favorite:
Posted in art, my life on August 23, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Zip 37 Gallery is closing its doors after 24 years in business on Navajo Street. The member run gallery is the victim of an unaffordable rent increase. Zip’s former gallery neighbors, Pirate Contemporary Art, EDGE and Next all moved over a year ago to Lakewood, a Denver suburb. Zip 37 is holding a closing wake and art sale on Friday, August 24th. The sale will continue over the weekend. This is another great loss for Denver’s art community.
Posted in art, my life on August 20, 2018| 2 Comments »
“Is it just me, or does it seem like this summer’s exhibition schedule is dominated by women artists? Not only are women playing increasingly major roles in group shows, but a number of solos this season are dedicated to women artists.”
Michael Paglia, Westword art critic.
One of those solos is the Teresa Booth Brown show at Michael Warren Contemporary, which fills the main gallery. I had a second look at this show on Friday night. Most of Brown’s works consist of oil and collage on panel. I loved every piece in this show. Pagila wrote a great description “At first glance, Brown’s paintings are constructivist, made up of emphatic blocks of color set in elegant arrangements. But as you look closely, her image vocabulary gets much messier, with recognizable things emerging faintly from beneath the oil-painted surfaces, building her formalist paintings on top of anti-formalist collages.”
Teresa Booth Brown, Lurid, 30 x 48, oil and collage on panel, $6,000.
Teresa Booth Brown, Audacious, 48 x 60, oil and collage on panel, $10,000.
Let’s hope this domination continues into to the more robust fall art scene when many of the heavy hitters in the local art scene debut their new work.
Posted in my life on August 19, 2018| 8 Comments »
I met the unicycle rider (UR) at his house on Saturday afternoon. He was as handsome as I remembered. He drove over to the facility were dinner was to be served. All of the volunteers were very friendly and made me feel at home. I was recruited to serve the chicken that was prepared for the evening meal. All of the clients were extremely polite. I heard please and thank you from almost all of the homeless. Some looked like they had lead really tough lives while others were well-groomed and well-dressed making it hard to believe they were homeless. I guess I had some misconceptions about the homeless.
After dinner, a preacher gave a sermon that went on too long. The facility is affiliated with a church so some sort of preaching was inevitable. After the sermon, a man, who was recently released from prison, decided to dedicate his life to god. He was baptized in stock tank in the back room.
UR and I went back to his house after the baptism. It’s a small house in an aging neighborhood. His house was a mess. Dirty dishes in the sink and on the stove. Clutter was everywhere. The floors looked like they hadn’t been moped or swept for months. His bed was unmade. I don’t understand why anyone would invite a person to their home if it was a complete mess. I guess everyone has a different standard when it comes to housekeeping and accepting guests.
UR and I talked and played cribbage on the backyard patio. I got a chance to get to know him better. UR has been with his partner for six years. They have a committed relationship. It wasn’t a date. He wasn’t looking for financial support for the meal program. He was just looking for friend.
Posted in my life on August 17, 2018| 2 Comments »
The unicycle rider called to invite me to dinner on Saturday night. I accepted the invitation. We’ll be dinning with the homeless at a church where he volunteers. Dinner will be served at 5 because the homeless eat early. I’m guessing this is not a date, but a possible attempt to recruit financial support for the charity. Whatever the case, it should be an interesting experience. It could be the start of a new friendship.
Posted in friends, my life on August 16, 2018| 7 Comments »
I was Morgan’s plus one a party this weekend. Morgan’s partner had an eye lift which prevented him from attending. The party was mostly gay men over fifty. Most were partnered. Most looked like old men who don’t take care of themselves. Most were not aware that ear and nose hair should be trimmed along with eyebrows. It was a cash cow for an esthetician.
The crowd was friendly which made conversations easy. One guy brought a unicycle to the party which he rode around the expansive back yard. Seriously, who brings a unicycle to a party? At first, I thought it was a desperate attempt for attention. He was good at riding the unicycle so I gave him a pass.
Later in the evening I found myself in conversation with the unicycle rider. He was an interesting guy who talked at length about his volunteer work with the homeless and teaching English as a second language. He also has a day job as an IT consultant. I got the impression he was flirting with me but I wasn’t sure since I don’t experience flirting on a regular basis. As I was getting ready to leave, he asked for my phone number. After exchanging numbers he suggested we get together for a walk in a park near my house, or for dinner sometime. I agreed to his suggestions. He then told me he has a lot of free time after work as his boyfriend works second shift. WTF? How did we talk at length and a boyfriend never come up? I guess he wasn’t flirting after all and was just looking for someone to occupy his time.
Posted in neighborhood on August 15, 2018| 7 Comments »
VF Corporation, the parent company of The North Face, JanSport and Smartwool, announced this week the company is moving its headquarters to Denver along with 800 jobs. The jobs have an average salary of $185,721. Read that last sentence again. Who knew jobs in the outdoor brand industry paid so well?
Those moving to Denver will need a high salary. A study published by Lending Tree ranked Denver 10th on the list of cities with the highest percentage of homes that exceed a million dollars in the U.S. According to the study, owning a $1million home in most cities gives one bragging rights. This is no longer true for the cities on the list. Most of the $1 million homes in these cities look nothing more than ordinary. This is true for Denver too.
An example is shown below. This charming 1950’s ranch home has two bedrooms and 2.5 baths in its 2,200 sq.ft. The house sold for $1.2m in 2017. After sitting empty for six months it was sold a second time for $1.5m. The house has since been torn down to make way for the new owner’s dream house.
The Corporate Slave 