The Psychobox

My friend, Dawn, gave me The Psychobox a year or so ago. I thought it was a game at first, but it turns out that it is a box of cards that reflect different aspects of experimental psychology.

Inkblot Test

The card reads, "Inkblots have long been regarded as suggestive prompts to projective fantasies." Developed by the Swiss psychiatrist, Hermann Rorschach, the test is supposed to gauge responses to "ten symmetrical inkblots, created by a vertical fold, and presented on printed cards." I've always thought of this test as a kind of divination, like having your palm or your runes read, but psychologists still use it. The problem I have with this test is that its value is dependent on the skill of the person who is subjectively determining the results. I just don't have enough blind trust to be able to accept this test as being completely valid. Those who practice the art of Rorschach testing would disagree with my assessment.

The Perceptual Rigidity Test

The card describes this test as follows:

To perform this test you should make a mask by cutting an aperture the size of the individual images into the center of a sheet of paper. This can be maneuvered to cover all the pictures but one at any time, starting at the tip left or bottom right. The person performing the task should describe what is sen as each subsequent picture is revealed and all the others (including those seen so far) are masked. The ideas behind the original test were developed by an American-sponsored international group of social psychologists in the mid-1940's, at the end of a world war fought against Nazism and fascism. They were interested in defining those traits in personality that led to political authoritarianism: extreme 'rigidity' correlated, they thought, with the need for security and a faith in hierarchies.

I think what I like best about The Psychobox is learning the history behind the different tests. The cards are an interesting, educational diversion.

The Essence of Triangularity

The Essence of Triangularity by John Martin

The picture above was done by a young man of about 18. I described to him how much I disliked Math, but thought my Algebra instructor was amazing, because she was so enthusiastic. The instructor's passion for her job made me want to understand what she was talking about. She once uttered the phrase, "the essence of triangularity," and I couldn't get the idea out of my head. John took that phrase and drew it out for me as we sat in the middle of the most tedious History lecture ever spoken aloud. I thought he may end up going into architecture or engineering, but instead, I see him from time to time on the news, doing his job as the spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

I thought of that idea drawn out more than 20 years ago, as I've ruminated over another idea that has been running through my head for a while now. The idea I am stuck on has to do with the convergence of art with mental illness and with psychology. The way the three interconnect and flow one from the other. The chicken/egg question is, does mental illness help an artist create - or is art the torture that becomes the catalyst for mental illness. Psychology, not being a hard science, is almost an art form when applied skillfully. Also, many psychological tests use artistic expression and the subjective judgement of the clinician to unlock the secrets of the subconscious mind; just as art is often used as therapy to help express the inexpressible. I don't have any theories about this idea. It's still just a thought swimming around in my skull, taunting me with the interconnectedness of everything, but leaving me hanging on the cusp of nothing.

Bayou City Art Festival

Literatree by Jay Long

Marilyn and I went to the Bayou City Art Festival today. We managed to get there in time to see all the booths and get out before the rain started. The day was overcast, but that's the best weather for a festival. I miss the old Westheimer Art Festival. The atmosphere is more slick and professional than the old days. There are pros and cons to this. It seems like the artists are charging a lot more for their work - which is good for them, but it prices most of us out of any purchases we might have made. Another good thing is that there are wash stands outside of the port-o-potties. The general vibe is less Bohemian than it used to be, also - no more Urban Animals skating through the festival and no more pets.

Dreaming Child by Jay Long

We bought these two prints today. The artist is Jay Long from Austin. I first noticed his work a few years ago when the Bayou City Arts Festival featured one of his paintings on the postcard the sent out to announce the event. There were other artists that caught our fancy, including Kavan Geary's wonderfully illuminated photographs and Barbara Woods hand painted silk and ceramic lamps.

Dixie Friend Gay

Houston Bayou 1998-2002 Byzantine glass mosaic 8’ x 73’

I heard an interview with Dixie Friend Gay on NPR last week and decided to check out her work. Little did I know, I had been admiring some of her work for the last few years at Intercontinental Airport. The mosaic shown above is something we marvel at every time we are at IAH. It is even more gorgeous and lush in person.

Shadows of Truth 2001 fiberglass and gauze 17 life size figures

Ms. Gay also does amazing sculpture and fascinating paintings and drawings. After viewing her work, it's easy to see why she is the Art League Houston's choice for Texas Artist of the Year. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her work in person.

Twisting Form 1978 ink on paper 19" x 13"

The NPR interview can be found here: http://www.kuhf.org/programaudio/thefrontrow/2007/10/071009Gay_128k.m3u

Really?!?!?!?

How is taking a half a million dollars from a woefully underfunded college not wrong? How can twelve rational people not agree that her actions were egregious and unlawful, not to mention, harmful to the finances of TSU and the morale of the student body? Why is she not serving time? When did stealing for the sake of keeping up appearances become appropriate behavior for a university president? I guess in this parallel universe of right and wrong, I should not be surprised that Rush Limbaugh was actually nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. At least in Norway, they had the good sense to make the right choice.

Irrational Fears

Dread Head by MEG

I have a few of irrational fears. My first fear is of snakes, and it is probably more of a phobia than a fear. Truth be told, I'm not convinced that it is really irrational. My snake fear stems from a particularly awful nightmare (buried up to my neck in snakes) when I was about 10. I think this fear was formed while I was reading How to Eat Fried Worms.

My second fear is of snot. This is not a phobia, but it's close. Mucous in any form turns my stomach. I hate the look of it and the sound of it. Blech! I know this fear stems from "the mashed potato incident" (I won't go into it) in first grade and the "Troy W********/metal shop Incident" in 7th grade - GAG! Irrational, but well founded in horrid experiences.

My last fear is of dreadlocks. I don't know why, but they have always creeped me out. I've heard from so many people that they aren't dirty - but damn, they seem dirty. I've worked with people who had dreads before, and they were all nice enough people. The only negative personal experience I've had has been when one of my clients left part of one behind when he left my office. I thought I had a dead mouse on my office floor - yuck! So, all of this is leading up to a picture that Marilyn took while on the bus this evening. Apparently, this is a dread - of sorts. I guess it's more of a dread head, than a dread lock. It looks like a matted rabid dog is shooting out of this guy's head. I don't even know what else to say.

Linklater-fest

I was lucky enough to have a day on my own over the weekend, so I decided that I would do something that I haven't done in ages and watch some videos. Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly were recommended to me, so I went with a Linklater animated double feature. They are both animated, but not exactly. Linklater uses a technique called Rotoscope to lay animation over actual film footage for both Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, and the effect is striking. One of the things I enjoy about Richard Linklater's films is watching the background to find places I recognize in Austin, and even in animation, Austin in unmistakable.

In Waking Life a young man tries to wake from one dream after another. Each dream he travels through involves people discussing (or ranting) about different philosophical questions and perspectives. This film brought to mind a book that Steve recommended a few years ago, God's Debris A Thought Experiment, by Scott Adams. Waking Life throws so many complex ideas and thoughts at you in such a short time through the lucid dream sequences, that I am sure I have to see it at least one or two more times to really feel like I've taken all I can away from the experience. I think I will have to re-read God's Debris, also.

I did wonder as I was watching the film, why Linklater would make a movie that seems to me to be about what it is to be human and alive, and remove the human element through animation. I guess it adds another layer to the creative onion, making it both fascinating and beautiful to watch, but I don't know if it helped or hurt the film in the end.

These are two of my favorite quotes from the movie:

“Whatever you do, don’t be bored. This is absolutely the most exciting time we could have possibly hoped to be alive. And things are just starting.”

and,

“When we communicate with one another and we feel that we have connected and we think we’re understood, I think we have a feeling of almost spiritual communion…I think it’s what we live for."

and this is one (of many) passages that I found myself nodding affirmatively to:

Philosophy Professor: The reason why I refuse to take existentialism as just another French fashion or historical curiosity is that I think it has something very important to offer us... I'm afraid were losing the real virtues of living life passionately in the sense of taking responsibility for who you are the ability to make something of yourself and feel good about life. Existentialism is often discussed as if it were a philosophy of despair, but I think the truth is just the opposite. Sartre, once interviewed, said he never felt once minute of despair in his life. One thing that comes out from reading these guys is not a sense of anguish about life so much as a real kind of exuberance, of feeling on top of it, its like your life is yours to create. Ive read the post modernists with some interest, even admiration, but when I read them I always have this awful nagging feeling that something absolutely essential is getting left out. The more you talk about a person as a social construction or as a confluence of forces or as being fragmented of marginalised, what you do is you open up a whole new world of excuses. And when Sartre talks about responsibility, he's not talking about something abstract. He's not talking about the kind of self or souls that theologians would talk about. Hes talking about you and me talking, making decisions, doing things, and taking the consequences. It might be true that there are six million people in this world, and counting, but nevertheless -what you do makes a difference. It makes a difference, first of all, in material terms, to other people, and it sets an example. In short, I think the message here is that we should never write ourselves off or see each other as a victim of various forces. It's always our decision who we are.

What a great movie.

A Scanner Darkly tells the tale of drug addiction, paranoia, brain damage and treachery (both personal and systemic). I think this film was definitely aided by the Rotoscope animation, which was especially well done for the "scramble suit," a computerized cloaking device that uses an infinite number of facial and body types to disguise the wearer . The story seems like it could be happening now, even though it was written in 1973. Pick your poison, crack, X, or in this case "Substance D," then throw in a liberal amount of Big Brother watching, and the recipe cooks up the same tragedies, regardless of the age.

After watching the movie, I watched one of the extras on the DVD, an interview with the author, Phillip K. Dick. I was surprised that the interview for his book was done in 1977. He described the McCarthy-esque (and now Bush-esque) feeling of persecution and loss of civil liberty that led him to write A Scanner Darkly, and he could have been talking about things that are happening now with drugs, our government, and our world. I think I will hunt down a copy of Divine Invasions, a Phillip K. Dick biography sometime soon.

I watched both of these films with an open mind, not knowing what to expect beyond the fact that they are animated features. I'm glad I didn't know more, it's given me more to think about, and my brain is still buzzing.

I'm Sorry

Frustration by Finijo

There are so many times

that I don't know what to do

with a blank page.

I want to have ideas

and creativity flowing

from my fingertips 24/7,

but I don't.

It is a painful shame

when I have nothing to offer

a blank piece of paper.

I feel I need to apologize to the page

for being neglectful and impotent.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Sorry.

Ada's First Birthday Bash!

Ada is so beautiful (like her Momma, Gina)! I can't believe she has hair now and she's so big. I get to be Grandma Kate for now and tell her, "You're the apple of my eye." How did that phrase come about, anyway?

This post is about Ada's first birthday, but I had to add this picture. OMG! Carrah is growing up so fast and she's gorgeous!

Ada's cake and cookies - a vision in pink.

I love this shot. She 's looking at her cake like the bear is tresspassing.

Now she gets it. I love this little girl SOOOOOOO much!

Pick Your Candidate

My Aunt Marilyn sent me a link to Find Your Candidate, a site that lets you answer questions about political issues and then uses the information to generate your candidate. Aunt Marilyn said I might be surprised at who would pop up as my favorite candidate - I wasn't. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but it is interesting. Excuse any formatting issues, it was a booger to put the pics and the results in any type of order.

Below are the candidates ranked by how much you agree with their stances.

Hillary ClintonScore: 47
Agree: Immigration, Taxes, Health Care, Abortion, Social Security, Line-Item Veto, Energy, Gay Marriage, Death Penalty
Disagree: Iraq

Barack ObamaScore: 47Video
Agree:Immigration,Taxes, Health Care, Abortion, Social Security, Line-Item Veto, Energy, Gay Marriage, Death Penalty
Disagree: Iraq

Chris DoddScore: 46Video
Agree:Immigration,Taxes, Health Care, Abortion, Social Security, Line-Item Veto, Energy, Gay Marriage
Disagree: Iraq, Death Penalty

Dennis KucinichScore: 39
Agree: Taxes, Health Care, Abortion, Social Security, Line-Item Veto, Energy, Gay Marriage
Disagree: Iraq, Immigration, Death, Penalty

Mike GravelScore: 36
Agree: Immigration, Taxes, Health Care, Abortion, Social Security, Gay Marriage
Disagree: Iraq, Line-Item Veto, Energy, Death Penalty




Joe BidenScore: 35
Agree: Immigration, Taxes, Health Care, Abortion, Energy, Gay Marriage, Death Penalty,
Disagree: Iraq, Social Security, Line-Item Veto




John EdwardsScore: 35Video
Agree: Taxes, Health, Care, Abortion, Social Security, Energy, Gay Marriage, Death Penalty
Disagree: Iraq, Immigration, Line-Item Veto




Bill RichardsonScore: 30Video
Agree:Taxes, Health Care, Abortion, Social Security, Marriage, Death, Penalty
Disagree:Iraq, Immigration, Line-Item, Veto, Energy




Rudy GiulianiScore: 25
Agree: Abortion, Line-Item Veto, Energy, Gay Marriage, Death Penalty
Disagree: Iraq, Immigration, Taxes, Health Care, Social Security




Ron PaulScore: 19
Agree: Social Security, Line-Item Veto, Gay Marriage
Disagree: Iraq, Immigration, Taxes, Health Care, Abortion, Energy, Death Penalty




John McCainScore: 15
Agree: Immigration, Gay Marriage, Death Penalty
Disagree: Iraq, Taxes, Health Care, Abortion, Social Security, Line-Item Veto, Energy




Mitt RomneyScore: 13
Agree: Abortion, Energy, Death Penalty,
Disagree: Iraq, Immigration, Taxes, Health Care, Social Security, Line-Item Veto, Gay Marriage




Jim GilmoreScore: 13
Agree: Abortion, Energy, Death Penalty
Disagree: Iraq, Immigration, Taxes, Health Care. Social Security, Line-Item Veto, Gay Marriage

Duncan HunterScore: 6
Agree: EnergyDeath Penalty
DisagreeIraqImmigrationTaxesHealth CareAbortionSocial SecurityLine-Item VetoMarriage





Sam BrownbackScore: 5
Agree: Energy
Disagree: Iraq, Immigration, Taxes, Health Care, Abortion, Social Security. Line-Item Veto, Gay Marriage, Death Penalty




Tom TancredoScore: 5
Agree: Iraq
Disagree: Immigration, Taxes, Health Care, Abortion, Social Security, Line-Item Veto, Energy, Gay Marriage, Death Penalty




Mike HuckabeeScore: 1Video
Agree: Death Penalty
Disagree: Iraq, Immigration, Taxes, Health Care, Abortion, Social Security, Line-Item Veto, Energy, GayMarriage




Fred ThompsonScore: 1
Agree: Death Penalty
Disagree: Iraq, Immigration, Taxes, Health Care, Abortion, Social Security, Line-Item Veto, Energy, Gay Marriage

Boy

Photo by Andrew Collins

Sometimes you can hear a song and it pulls you back in time to another place. You are there, seeing it all. Smelling the scents and feeling the air and even feeling the age you were when you were there. Tonight I heard Boy by Book of Love and I was back at Uncle Charlie's in Austin, dancing with all of my friends and laughing. The strong scent of expensive men's cologne mingled with cigarettes and alcohol still hangs heavy in the machined fog. The bass is pumping, the bodies on the dance floor are writhing and bumping in time with the beat. Everyone dancing with everyone, boys and boys, girls and girls, and boys and girls and transsexuals and transvestites and the lights are flashing. Everyone is young and beautiful, and it is all so very intoxicating.

More Art

As disturbing as this image is, it is also quite beautiful. The artist is Gottfried Helnwein and this painting is a watercolor called Beautiful Victim I. His work is almost photographic in its look, which is just amazing to me. In addition to his rather grotesque offerings, Helnwein also takes panoramic landscape photographs. Strange duality, or maybe not.

John Trent Kuykendall

I had a friend once, named John Kuykendall. We had a falling out in the way that only headstrong youth can have. John if you are out there - contact me. Karim, Anj, and I are all hoping you are well and happy.

Happy Anniversary!

View From The Inside at Casa Mantequilla by Finijo

Several times this weekend I have found myself sitting at the computer, looking out into the back yard and marveling that we have been in the house for a little over a year now. It is an amazing feeling to have someplace to live that is your own. I don't think there are words that could convey how good it feels, it has to be experienced.

I've been up early the last two days and watched the sun come up, enjoying the view from the inside. With the way my mind has been racing lately, it's been nice to get up early, enjoy coffee and jazz and be very still first thing in the morning.

Yesterday, I watched the rain pour down and quench my thirsty garden. All that was wilted and tired is now turgid and beaming. For the last year, I have had the extreme pleasure seeing doves, blue jays, cardinals, and finches soar through my back yard. Sometimes joyously bathing in the birdbath, and sometimes doing acrobatics and playing games that only other birds know the rules to. I've been amazed at the myriad butterflies that do their aerial dances as they flit through the garden. We've gotten used to the carpenter bees, who've bored holes in our pergola and our new friends the spinybacked orb weavers. There is only one spinyback left now, and we've named him Eugene. I haven't seen the rats in a while, but I'm sure they are lurking about. It's been Spring since we saw the opossums, but the squirrels are ever present. They scurry along the fence, climb into potted plants and run through the trees and across the power lines in ways that seem to defy physical laws. Our favorite squirrel is named Fat Ass - King of the Squirrels. He's the biggest, fattest squirrel I've ever seen. When he climbs the trees, the span of his posterior is close to six inches across - what a marvel. Just a few minutes ago, we dubbed another squirrel - Joan of Oak. She is very brave and took several shots at getting into the new solar bird feeder we hung over the patio. Joan took a dive at the bird feeder , which rapidly spun her around until she flew off into the yard.

Today, I think I will wash the windows for a clearer view.

ART!

I have recently been exposed to some new artists. The artists are all surrealists, and each one is quite unique. These photos are of work done by Floria Sigismondi. Her work is gorgeous and repulsive all at once. I will probably post some others in the coming days. I don't want to hang their work in my living room, but I am positively mesmerized by the imagery.