Dear President Trump, Recent events have me going back to Barbara Kruger’s installation at the Hirshorn Museum. I told you about it when I visited there in 2017 and since I’m sure you don’t remember, I’ll remind you that it involves the entire central open space of the museum’s bottom floor as well as the … Continue reading Professed beliefs are perhaps not real beliefs
Art
“What a time to be alive”
Dear President Trump, As we head into your impeachment trial, however long or short it is, however integral or craven the major players are, however transparent or opaque its proceedings are, you would do well to remember that we are watching. We are watching you, your advisors, and every last Senator. We are watching what … Continue reading “What a time to be alive”
“Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful!”
Dear President Trump, Yesterday after the (vacation) morning dog walk we swung by the Green Lake Library so Laura could pick up a book she’d put on hold months ago (the one I found for her is going to come through the UW library system at some unknown point in the future). As per our … Continue reading “Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful!”
If I’m worthy of love, then so is DJT…. sigh
Dear President Trump, How are you doing over there? Not so great, huh? I imagine you aren’t loving having the people you fired, but couldn’t truly tame or contain, telling their tales on you? And I bet you aren’t loving having the people you installed to do your bidding singing their ‘CYA’ ditties either. Then … Continue reading If I’m worthy of love, then so is DJT…. sigh
Gushy-eyed First Ladies and Zombies
Dear President Trump, It was a long time ago now, but I remember writing to you about photographs and the framing of them, about how shifting the camera slightly to one side or the other will often reveal an entirely different image or convey an entirely different feel than whatever was ultimately selected as the … Continue reading Gushy-eyed First Ladies and Zombies
Mental health projects
Dear President Trump, A few days ago a very large, very heavy box was delivered to our door containing the makings of an 8-drawer wooden bureau that will hold my messiest art materials – the hundreds of dried leaves, flowers, crumpled paper, and random bits of cardboard that I use for printing. All this messy … Continue reading Mental health projects
“It’s about being a maker”
Dear President Trump, Last week when I was in Minneapolis for the annual alcoholism conference I attend there was some downtime Tuesday mid-day so I went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art to see a special exhibit called “Hearts of our People: Native Women Artists.” The show is going to Nashville next, but it will … Continue reading “It’s about being a maker”
May we keep speaking up even when no one seems to be listening
Dear President Trump, I’ve mentioned a few times that I’m blogging my letters to you in addition to posting them to your contact page. I don’t think I’ve told you, though, that the WordPress hosting site I use makes it super easy to track the action that individual posts do and don’t get. Maybe it’s … Continue reading May we keep speaking up even when no one seems to be listening
Memorial Day, surrender, and “The Flag We Should Know”
Dear President Trump, Yesterday I saw the following below-the-fold-headline in the WP: “The contested Confederate roots of Memorial Day” and although I didn’t make time to read the article then, the title lodged in my brain and wiggled loose the memory of another Confederate story of a very different sort. That story appeared this past … Continue reading Memorial Day, surrender, and “The Flag We Should Know”
Housing for goodness’ sake
Dear President Trump, Recently I was on the periphery of a conversation that kept dipping in and out of tense territory. It never quite landed squarely in the squirmy zone, but it still had me wishing it would end much sooner than it did. The first person involved made a compassionate, yet practical, argument for … Continue reading Housing for goodness’ sake