Monday I was all ready to start going back to the yoga class twice a week in El Campo but I accompanied my friend undergoing cancer treatment to her appointment in Galveston for a liver scan, a two hour drive there and a two hour drive back, and didn’t get home until 3 for a late lunch after which I had about an hour before I would have to leave again. So I didn’t go but I am planning to go tonight.
Monday evening it looked like TS Francine was going to skirt the coast before making landfall somewhere around the border between Texas and Louisiana giving us two days of rain but yesterday it had moved farther away from the coast while it strengthened into a hurricane. This morning it’s already past us and landfall has moved farther east heading for New Orleans. For which I’m grateful since I’m still dealing with the damage from Beryl. As for rain, we got about a five minute shower around 5 PM Tuesday.
So, of course, the debate was last night. We didn’t watch it. I just cannot tolerate Trump’s voice, his butthole puckered mouth, his accordion hands, and his constant stream of lies, conspiracy theories, and hateful rhetoric but now I kind of wish I had seen Harris’ masterful handling of Trump. I did monitor social media and my grandgirl Autumn watched it and we texted back and forth so the following is gleaned from what others have said and an article from NPR. Trump was Trump and he got played like a fiddle by Harris. Harris had clear answers to the questions while Trump, as usual, did not answer a single question, the closest he got was saying he had ‘concepts’ of a plan for healthcare which he did not elaborate on, but instead went off on his riffs though Autumn said he was a little more cognitive than he is at his rallies. While he tried to goad Harris, she never took his bait but she cleverly pushed every one of his buttons during her clear answers and then stood by while he reacted. The moderators gave Trump more speaking time and more chances to speak in rebuttal than they did Harris, which on the face of it was unfair and unbalanced, but it also seemed to be giving the man all the rope he wanted showing the world how unhinged and completely unqualified he truly is. And he really didn’t like that the moderators fact checked him. Harris’ prosecutorial style put Trump on the defensive and he wouldn’t even look at her during the debate. A poster on social media wrote that he practically ran off the stage when it was over. One commentator later criticized Harris for not controlling her facial expressions, her looks of humor and disbelief at Trump’s responses but did not criticize Trump for his facial expressions of disgust and distaste when Harris was speaking. Because we women are supposed to be pliant and demure I guess. In a call to Fox this morning Trump said he wasn’t sure if he wanted to do another debate (I guess not) even though he previously tried to goad Harris into one on Fox and of course he thinks ABC needs to be punished.
Even so, the media is still saying that this election is neck and neck and that Trump could still win according to the ‘polls’. I don’t give much credence to the polls especially this election cycle because people under a certain age don’t have land lines, over which most polls are conducted, and they don’t answer calls from unknown numbers on their cell phones. I know I don’t. We can’t get complacent though, we can’t assume a victory. We still need to campaign and get out the vote and most importantly, vote. Be sure to check your voter registration regularly because red states are removing millions of people from the rolls and in Texas and Florida, the governors are actively using the police to conduct raids and voter intimidation.
I finished my drawing of the tallow tree leaves but haven’t started on the watercolor yet. I may do another drawing of something else first before I put my colored pencils away. The page in my sketchbook is 8.5” x 5.5”.
Some pictures from the yard…yellow bells aka esperanza, porterweed, morning glory bush (one of my favorites)
and it’s cotton harvest time, the field at the end of my street.
The part that just tickled me was when he said the Haitians were eating ducks and cats in Ohio, and David Muir cut him off and said that wasn't true. He's not used to people calling him on his blatant lies. We made it through the entire thing, but there was a fair amount of yelling "mute his mike" at the TV screen. Lord help us if he wins this election, it is beyond me how anyone can be undecided at this point.
ReplyDeletethe worst part is that republicans know how unfit he is and don't care. if he gets elected it won't be Trump wielding power but Vance in Trump's name. and that is a complete nightmare.
DeleteYour painting of the leaves just sends me into raptures! I am inspired, thank you- glorious painting, Ms. Ellen.
ReplyDeleteWe watched Ms. Harris rip Donny Diaper a new one last night, she is a force and he just crapped his pants!
thank you. I was surprised at how good it came out. I had no idea how to reproduce those mottled colors, especially the red one.
DeleteThe cotton field looks amazing. What is the plant like, feel, smell? Also, amazing detail in the colours of your painting.
ReplyDeleteWe woke up this morning to the news that "illegal aliens are eating pets in Ohio" and I had to think of Alf or ET and now I am afraid for the future of our planet.
But I also watched a lengthy BBC documentary about right-wing christian fundamentalists in Florida and they seem to believe any old shit incl. that the man is a gift from god and Mrs Harris is from the devil.
the flowers are really pretty, a creamy white, and it's a member of the mallow family so they resemble althea (rose of sharon) flowers. the bolls are four lobed with hard black seeds imbedded in the dense cotton. also prickly at the base.
DeleteRight wing Latino christian fundamentalists in fact, who think there are too many immigrants.
ReplyDeletesad fact that every wave of immigrants in this country faces backlash from the previous wave of immigrants and always has. I guess to take the heat off themselves instead of standing together and supporting them.
DeleteWhen the D. started talking about post-birth abortion I couldn't help myself- I screamed at the TV.
ReplyDeleteWe watched it. I just felt like I had to. Now- I sure would love to see one with JD and Tim Walz. I'd pay to see that.
I think your painting is extremey realistic, having had tallow trees before. They can have so many colors. Great job!
I sure am glad that Francine didn't mess with you. And nice cotton field. We see so much cotton growing when we travel from Florida to North Carolina.
as if any doctor or medical professional would execute a new born baby. why aren't we hearing from the doctors and nurses who deliver babies? they should be in an uproar.
Deletethanks. I wasn't really excited when zi started that drawing, it was mostly meant as an exercise. had not idea how to reproduce those mottled colors.
Your painting is realiastic and beautiful, but you always do a good job of everything art! I did watch the debate and it was noted that Trump failed to answer any question by my husband. He was yelling at the TV and I was laughing, He asked what I found to be funny and I simply told him to shut up and listen to a master at work. She was simply marvelous as she baited him and crawled under his skin. When she invited everyone to attend a Trump rally, then went on to say that all he could talk about was nonsense and windmills and said that people left early due to boredom I thought he might explode! Then when told that the pet eating by Haitians was not a fact, he replied "but I saw it on TV". Best night of TV in a long time!!
ReplyDeleteso now of course all the MAGidiots are claiming that the whole thing was slanted in her favor with the blue set and the use of the phrase 'we the people' which the used at the DNC (also in the preamble to the constitution), that she cheated, got the questions beforehand, was getting fed info from her wifi microphone earrings, and, gasp, she PREPARED! how is that legal!
DeleteI love your sketch of the leaves, they look so real!
ReplyDeleteI watched an hour of the debate but couldn't stand to keep listening to the former president ranting so I turned it off. I wanted to calm down a bit before my bedtime. I thought Kamala did a great job but I sure would not have had her patience. What an idiot he is.
thank you. I really didn't think I would be able to reproduce the mottled look in the red leaf so I was pleasantly surprised at how well it came out.
DeleteWe were in the same place/same time on Monday; maybe we passed each other in Garage 2. I was back there today and texted my ex-son-in-law to tell him the right hand elevator was going nuts - he’s in charge of “auxiliary services,” I.e., parking, food services, the med school bookstore and a host of other non-medical things-, a very useful person to know - he texted me back within one minute to say he’d alerted the repair team. Margaret
ReplyDeletemaybe so, wouldn't that have been a coincidence.
DeleteFirst, the sketch is lovely. Good. Vibrant. Realistic.
ReplyDeleteWell, she mopped the floor with him. However, this election is not won. It's probably still dead even, and will be won by whoever converts the thin pool of undecideds. After last night, though, I think we can add an overwhelming army of furious women and those 80,000 Poles in Pennsylvania.
thanks. she definitely has the popular vote I think, it's the electoral college we have to worry about. and all the vote suppressors the republicans have put in place in the election workers.
Delete"They are eating cats and dogs in Ohio, and some, I assume, were good pets. Others not so nice perhaps" Kamala shredded those soft watery buttocks. No that's not right. She was surgical, methodical, prosecutorial (duh) in pressing every button and switch Trump had. Now we have to make sure she is Madame President
ReplyDeleteI think she has the popular vote. it's the electoral college we have to worry about. but yes, she knew every one of his buttons and MAGAts are up in arms that she did.
DeleteKamala was magnificent. Her body language was best of all. It’s hard to believe that the race is still close but I really hope that it won’t be long before we are referring to President-elect Harris.
ReplyDeleteI know someone who isn't voting because there isn't a "moderate" choice. I told her that Harris pretty danged moderate to me - practically Ronald Reaganish. It makes me sad because NC is (apparently) close to flipping blue, but I think there are a lot of people like her out there who feel unrepresented. But her husband plans to write in Snoop Dogg, and honestly I love that for him.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I also don't understand this perception that Harris is so radical. It's like people think she's Angela Davis.
Deleteunfortunately she'll find out just how moderate Harris is if Trump wins because he is in no condition to be president and the republicans know that. Vance will be the power in that administration. goddess forbid he ever gets power.
DeleteAmen! Margaret
DeleteYour drawing turned out great! I'm so glad the storm blew past you. I was worried you were going to get hit again. I think you're absolutely right about the media criticism of Harris and her facial expressions, laugh, and all the other stuff they constantly give her grief about. No man would be judged on those standards. (Though now that I think about it, a laugh did capsize Howard Dean's campaign back in the day...)
ReplyDeletethanks. it was only meant as an exercise to just be doing something. I didn't think it would turn out half as well. I think people are tired of Trump's hate and doom and gloom so Harris' joy and absolute facial language about how crazy Trump is is well received.
DeleteShe pretty much shredded him, not that that is a hard thing to do. He was his usual incoherent lying self. The thing that worries me is the damn Electoral College. No way this should be close, but here we are......................
ReplyDeleteyes, that's the problem. I think she definitely has the popular vote but we all know that's no guarantee of winning.
DeleteI just noticed some yellow bells in extravagant bloom this week. I looked for porterweed at the Dudney nature center last weekend; it used to be in their pollinator garden. That took a hit in one storm or other, and I didn't see any this year, but I'll look again. Your tallow leaves are just gorgeous; you captured them perfectly!
ReplyDeletemy porterweed freezes down to the ground every winter even though I cover and protect it. so far I've managed to keep the roots from dying unlike the first winter I had the plant when I didn't cover it and it died dead.
Deletethank you they were a bit of a challenge. didn't think I would be able to reproduce the mottled color especially in the red leaf.