Time to paint the propane tank and the barn. Big doin’s at Wise Acres.

We chose Sherwin Williams pastel Relish and Vigorous Violet. (Kate Middleton must have Kansas spies; she showed up at Wimbledon in the same colors.) Like Thoreau said, If you have to have a propane tank, jazz it up a little. Hey, we could’ve gone full Barbie but restrained ourselves. The barn is…barn red. Got a glass block wall regrouted, and replaced some boards on the deck that we didn’t want to fall through. Upkeep Downhome.

 Power to the people. Please.

A really big storm Friday left 186,000 Kansas Citians with no power. As of July17 thousands were still without power. It tried to come out here but stopped short of John Brown’s home town about ten miles down the road and we just got a nice soaking rain out of it.

But we have a hole card, just in case; a 26kw standby generator that powers everything in 15 seconds from an underground line to the prettied-up pastel propane tank. It will run for eight days on that 1000 gallon tank.

 Let’s talk about more paint.

Here’s a paint story that might interest gallery-goers; I love this guy’s writing. It’s about an art opening in East L.A. titled “Let’s Talk About Paint” by Sage Vaughn. I’ll be looking for more writing by Mr. Vaughn in the future. And the art by Joshua Petker is pretty nice too. Don’t know whose supine form that is, above, but talking about paint can be enervating.

I’ll see your Long Hot Summer and raise you two Moonlight in Vermonts.

Combat July mugginess with cool. These scenes from LHS show cool Paul Newman heating up the screen with (your choice) Orson Welles or Joanne Woodward. Then cool off with Jo Stafford or The Aaron Diehl Quartet or both.

 Jo Stafford trained as an opera singer in her preteen years but when the Depression hit, she said. “There weren’t many jobs open for opera singers.” So she chose pop and jazz. And Paul Newman’s “self-aware” tell-a-lot book is a NYT bestseller.

I keep looking for the next Joan Didion without success. But Janet Malcolm and Joan have been mentioned in the same sentence. In fact Geoff Dyer’s book (on left in right hand photo) does just that. On page 22 he’s talking about brainy, ambitious Vassar girls, one of whom seems to appear in a photo on page 20 and “whose lives were chronicled by Mary McCarthy in The Group. As such she is a role model for the later masters—mistresses, rather—of discreet reportage such as Joan Didion and Janet Malcolm.”

I’m only on page 32 of this book, so can’t recommend Otherwise Known As The Human Condition yet but it’s showing much promise.

The other book, Forty-one False Starts by Janet Malcolm is one I can and will recommend, having just finished it. The magic of Didion’s prose is not in it, but some pretty damn good writing and reportage is. It’s my second Malcolm book, and there will be others. Probably all of them.

Sculpture. The last word (for this blog).

There’s a barn-load of it out here. If you would, mention it to those who might be interested. Since it’s a barn and not a gallery pieces will be priced appropriately. There are still some works in the storage facility of the gallery but I will be trying to get those to Wise Acres sooner than later. And a new show is in the works; all I can say for now is Overland Park, in the spring of 2024. Possibly solo, possibly paired with a painter. In a very accessible facility. My fingers are crossed, making it tough to weld and to read, for that matter. Stay tuned. And visit www.wisesculpture.com

And send positive thoughts to those without power. We’ve been there (for 12 days in dead of winter) and it’s depressing and dangerous. Knock on a senior’s door. Maybe there’s a way to help. Chain saw, ice chest, a meal. Thank you.