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see anything special? this photograph was taken inside a hi-fi shop in the town where i live. the shop assistant is pretending to look busy. lots of customers came in after i left, he told me later.

One of those crazy Obama "Hope" posters on the wall to the right?

Casey Butler wrote:One of those crazy Obama "Hope" posters on the wall to the right?

ah, i hadn't noticed that! no, i was actually referring to the blue poster in the middle, the owl with the earplugs.
https://youtu.be/VCf-oiIbVnw

anyway, i walked a little further along the road, and look what i saw in the window of a hairdressing saloon - great painting of che guevara!

Geoffrey wrote:see anything special? this photograph was taken inside a hi-fi shop in the town where i live. the shop assistant is pretending to look busy. lots of customers came in after i left, he told me later.

hi-fi klubb butikken.jpg

This shop must sell high end equipment as the merchant is obviously trying to attract customers with a refined musical pallet.

Great location for you painting Geoffrey - Congratulations!

Cate wrote:This shop must sell high end equipment as the merchant is obviously trying to attract customers with a refined musical pallet. Great location for you painting Geoffrey - Congratulations!

thank you, cate. visitors with refined tastes are the backbone of any cultured establishment, which is why the managers always welcome me with open arms. a few metres along that road there can be found what is called 'theatre factory', a rather run-down premises where local rock bands take the stage, and a large quantity of alcohol is consumed long into the early hours. i took this picture because i wanted to share with you the lovely lilac colour of the plastic curtains leading from the cloakroom into the toilets. great, don't you think?

OMG Geoffrey - you're everywhere, you're everywhere (except in Columbus, Ohio ). That's great!

MaryB wrote:OMG Geoffrey - you're everywhere, you're everywhere (except in Columbus, Ohio ). That's great!

how lovely to receive your attention, mary. thank you! most people ignore me here; there is a 'clique culture' of which i am not a member, people tend to respond only to their friends' messages - and that's sad, of course, because such behaviour can only be described as primitive. as for me, i am more natural, i respond hither and dither, similar to yourself, i believe. an inspiring post receives a response, regardless of whether or not it is authored by a so-called 'friend'. therefore, one knows that if i participate in a thread it is due to the quality being observed, not simply because i am a member of some predictable cliquey circle. their childish answer to such criticism would be: "oh, we don't respond to you because you don't respond to us!" well, that's not the way it should work. are we supposed to be sophisticated intellectuals or underdeveloped primates? i know almost everybody hates me here, i have never been accepted by the 'in-crowd'. anyway, as leonard so succinctly puts it: nevermind.
apropos leonard, i took a walk around town late last night and through the window of one of the galleries noticed a familiar face. thank you once again, mary, for your interest, for making the day seem worthwhile - for brightening the sky

Dear Geoffrey,

Well said - that is exactly how I feel about the forum and responding to posts.

As to 'everyone hates you', I definitely do not see this. If anything, you are well loved by many - based on my reading responses not only to your artwork, but also to your thought-provoking posts (I never knew about cows' orientation while grazing - that's one to remember for the Jeopardy Show).

Your above photos, were these from your gallery shows (or are these some rooms in your home ). Could you please tell me about these shows....

Sorry this is short, but I just finished a marathon cookie baking session of 18 varieties for a total of 140 dozen. And now for the final cleanup........

Affectionate regards,
Mary

MaryB wrote:
>Dear Geoffrey, Well said - that is exactly how I feel about the forum and responding to posts.

it's a terrifying situation, mary. being alone, accused, ostracised, no one able to understand one's torment. little wonder the pearls of perspiration on jesus' brow as he waited in gethsemane were red, little wonder he sweat blood. dying is horrible, but at least you only have to do it once. the man in black pyjamas will take you by the hand only one time.

>As to 'everyone hates you', I definitely do not see this.

i wrote "almost everyone", mary, because there are one or two who do not. an intuitive (such as myself) has inbuilt antennae continually tuned into the surrounding environment. they interpret a non-verbal language. energy signals are picked up from those around him and delivered to his spiritual chakra, making him aware of negative or positive impulses being aimed in his direction. it is not necessary for a person to say they like or dislike me, because i already know.

>If anything, you are well loved by many - based on my reading responses not only to your artwork, but also to your thought-provoking posts (I never knew about cows' orientation while grazing - that's one to remember for the Jeopardy Show).

well, 'love' is a word with multiple definitions. people believe i am interesting, i feel that very much - but they just smile like sharks and wrap such thoughts in a blanket of silence. ego often hinders a person from uttering something that could be construed by the listener as praise. it is as if they have been allotted only a certain quota of admiration to distribute, and therefore keep it for themselves.

>Your above photos, were these from your gallery shows (or are these some rooms in your home ). Could you please tell me about these shows....

the two photographs above were taken through the windows of a local gallery. i live in a dark little hovel, far different from the grandeur you see pictured here. the two gallery exhibitions have been quite successful so far. i attended both of the openings, mingled with crowds numbering about fifty people at each, gave a brief speech about myself and my work. not all of the paintings have been sold, but that is because the proprietors sell at higher prices than is necessary.

>Sorry this is short, but I just finished a marathon cookie baking session of 18 varieties for a total of 140 dozen.

i envy this creativity and talent. were i such an artist i would do nothing but bake cookies all day long. i wager they will taste sublime

>Affectionate regards, Mary

likewise to you, but tenfold

ps:
another gallery in my area had a couple of portraits that may be of interest. the upper image is a small newspaper cutting, the lower one taken from 'facebook'

Thank you very much for your response and the photos.

I am not surprised that a number of your paintings sold - as they should have.

It may be a 'dark little hovel', but it is home....

I sincerely hope your holidays are all you wish them to be.

Dear Geoffrey, thank you for your clear request that we make explicit whether we like you or not. It is always refreshing for a person openly to express their needs. No one is laughing at you or thinking that you are desperate.

I am currently following a 5-2 diet. Today is one of the fasting days.

Similarly, and yet completely different, when not exactly the same, but with variations if not replicating, full of contradictions of mirroring the matched apartness, so I feel about you. On Sundays and Wednesdays you are simply a bastard but on the other 5 days ( you can easily Google their names but I am saving precious time by choosing not to list them here) I don't like you much.

I give you a "but for" scenario. But for your fear of dentists we would have met years ago and I surely would be your loving Guide and Mentor. I would have given you many tips (10 Krone for opening my car door for example). You would slowly have emerged from your "deep blues", found a porpoise to Life, or maybe a turtle, and even tentatively have taken your first steps towards joining regular society. I would have taught you how to use a capital letter to address Mary in posts. I would have shown you that Cohen " is a concept by which we measure our pain". I'll say it again (but not now as it would take too long for me to write).

As a dear friend of mine once didn't say, "It's never too Cate to change".

Come on geoffrey, we are on your side, if not figuratively then at least physically and in our heads. And in our heads we love your pleadings and your befuddlement. In our heads, on Sundays and Wednesdays we love you. Despite your paintings we are making space for you in our hearts. You are like an emotional roof extension. I welcome you like Peter welcomed the Sinner.

You may well be the "dark little hovel" of this Forum, as you have described yourself, but you are our dark little hovel who really doesn't need to grovel.

With much,

Sue

Sideways wrote:Dear Geoffrey, thank you for your clear request that we make explicit whether we like you or not. It is always refreshing for a person openly to express their needs. No one is laughing at you or thinking that you are desperate.

I am currently following a 5-2 diet. Today is one of the fasting days.

Similarly, and yet completely different, when not exactly the same, but with variations if not replicating, full of contradictions of mirroring the matched apartness, so I feel about you. On Sundays and Wednesdays you are simply a bastard but on the other 5 days ( you can easily Google their names but I am saving precious time by choosing not to list them here) I don't like you much.

I give you a "but for" scenario. But for your fear of dentists we would have met years ago and I surely would be your loving Guide and Mentor. I would have given you many tips (10 Krone for opening my car door for example). You would slowly have emerged from your "deep blues", found a porpoise to Life, or maybe a turtle, and even tentatively have taken your first steps towards joining regular society. I would have taught you how to use a capital letter to address Mary in posts. I would have shown you that Cohen " is a concept by which we measure our pain". I'll say it again (but not now as it would take too long for me to write).

As a dear friend of mine once didn't say, "It's never too Cate to change".

Come on geoffrey, we are on your side, if not figuratively then at least physically and in our heads. And in our heads we love your pleadings and your befuddlement. In our heads, on Sundays and Wednesdays we love you. Despite your paintings we are making space for you in our hearts. You are like an emotional roof extension. I welcome you like Peter welcomed the Sinner.

You may well be the "dark little hovel" of this Forum, as you have described yourself, but you are our dark little hovel who really doesn't need to grovel.

With much,

Sue

Happy New Year Geoffrey, you are a splendid fellow, one of my oldest mates from the newsgroup then forum, a witty and innovative writer and an excellent painter. Also, a lot of the time, you can take a tease with grace and style.

How wonderful to see your paintings emerge in so many places, g They were at least some of the purchasers at your showings.

You will continue to do well... and even better... my New Year's prediction for you, dear friend.

n intuitive (such as myself) has inbuilt antennae continually tuned into the surrounding environment. they interpret a non-verbal language. energy signals are picked up from those around him and delivered to his spiritual chakra, making him aware of negative or positive impulses being aimed in his direction. it is not necessary for a person to say they like or dislike me, because i already know.

Ditto. Much experience has honed this ability even more. Oh, well

Happy New Year, and much success in all areas of your life, Geoffrey.


All the best,
Lizzie

Ahhh, the Happy New Year Geoffrey thread

Happy New Year Geoffrey, I've always in enjoyed your writing and humour but I've also enjoyed vicariously watching you grow and flourish as an artist over these last couple of years.

thanks everybody. good to be home again, but even better to be away. i talked to a psychologist, i'm not her patient we're just acquainted, i met her in the shop and she said i'm not to feel guilty she said i have to stop having a bad conscience, that it's not my fault i can't keep up. she said i have to learn to say no to people and if the phone or doorbell rings i don't have to feel bad if i don't answer it. i let a guy in here a couple of days ago and he must have sent 20 text messages to me, long fucking messages about helicopters and aligators and he has rang loads of times because he wants to come back. i was at his house and he sat me in a massage chair and switched on a 15 minute programme that squeezed my legs and hammered my spine and i said nice things about his artwork but i am not a good samaritan. people think i am their passport to a social circle but i don't have the time or the energy for it. why can't they build up their own network instead of latching onto me? i am going to stop being so friendly, having an open house here, i want to be alone like greta garbo, all the time i am letting people down it seems but the psycholgist in the shop said i looked tired. even now as i write this they are ringing me, but i answer them not. i don't care if they see my car outside or if they see the lights on in my living room they are not coming in. it was so lovely to be away. from now on i am invisible, i don't want any friends, i want to be anonymous, a silent member of society like all the other sheeple. contrary to what anybody might think, attention is something i shun - hate it.