NUMBER 16 Honorable or what

I am an honorable man I think for the most part, but I have, thus far, been dishonorable also many times throughout my 64 years. I wonder which friend or family member or other of my loved ones will claim the same.

None of us, I think, want to remember our dishonorable deeds, but even the most dishonorable persons sometime exhibit, surprisingly, high degrees of honorable acts from time to time. So, which of your deeds do you think will define you in the end, and, how will you be remembered?

Seldom are we long remembered if we are just Good ole Boys, but we are, often long remembered for our evil or dishonorable deeds.

When I use the term EVIL I do not imply a spiritual force whom our creator has given free reign throughout the world to tempt and to lead people into damnation and hell. I use the term simply because I like the word as a descriptive word to imply invalid thinking in much the same way as I use the word DISHONORABLE or any other word to imply invalid thinking.

I think that all persons are at times dishonorable. Some are more dishonorable than others, but we all fall into that character from time to time. Unfortunately many poor souls fined themselves in this character so often that their reputation continually precedes them. Even if they work hard to become honorable, they seem never to be able to shake off or rid themselves of that old reputation.

Now the bible says that "as a man thinketh so is he". That can be either broadly or narrowly interpreted, so whose interpretation do you rely on?

If you steal a penny are you just as dishonorable as one who steals a fortune? Don't we all envy others sometimes at least just a little, and don't we all lust just a little? I think that people that are in denial of these human conditions are also liars, at least just a little. The bible teaches us not to judge one another, but don't we all find ourselves judging others, at least in our hearts? And when we judge but claim that we don't judge, are we not also liars and hypocrites?

Which of these dishonorable ways of life puts us beneath our fellows? Is a glass of milk tainted if only a pinch of dung is mixed up in it, or must it take the whole piece of dung to taint the milk before you say no to drinking it?

I admit that I am a tainted man but to some people I am still palatable, and I am truly thankful that I'm not full of shit, at least for now.

Finton

NUMBER 15 Beauty is Awesome

I suppose you could say that I am a sucker for beauty because when beauty comes my way I am momentarily stricken with awe.

I love looking at the beautiful moon, especially when it is full and appearing much larger as it begins ascending in the eastern skies and the sunset becoming a pleasant memory.

I do not understand this innate attraction I have for this beautiful moon. Is it any more a heavenly body than this beautiful planet earth where on we have the pleasure of living out our lives?

I know that beauty truly is in the eyes of the beholder. We all, I think, see the moon in varying degrees of affection, and this I'm sure is how it is with everything we see on a daily bases. We also see and experience much in life of ugliness and pain and suffering, and all sorts of unpleasant stimuli. So when beauty does come our way it is such a grand surprise that we can't help ourselves, we become for a time her captive with gratitude.

I love beautiful sunsets. Painters have for many years tried to capture in essence their beauty to no avail. I doubt that any artist will ever be successful in capturing natural beauty regardless of their talents. Only nature possesses this kind of talent.

Beauty is fertile to a stunted soul. She awakens the slumbering and causes the heart to dance and the mind to dream again. What good is life if the soul sleeps and the heart never dances and the mind never dreams. That would be what I call the walking dead.

I am truly a romantic but I can't say if this romantic side of me is an innate characteristic in me or if it was born out of some psychological deprivation. Regardless of the origin of my romantic nature I love being this way.

There is much beauty in this world that I have a great attraction to that gives me much pleasure but those kinds of beauty do not cause me to lust for them in my heart. I know of only one source of beauty that has the power to put lust in my heart and mind and that is the beauty of some women in their finest state. Beautiful women are truly a gift to the world and anyone in denial of this, something is severely wrong with them, and, if there is truly a God they slap this God in the face.

I believe that beauty is an elixir. Beauty enlivens both men and women and is good for their souls, their hearts and their minds, and if anyone is in denial of this I have much pity for them.


Finton

Number 13 Do unto Others

My mother always taught us kids to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Most people know that that came right out of the Christian bible but I think that this philosophy is probably taught in most religions throughout the world. I use to think this was just a Christian philosophy but over the years I have given it much thought, and I have come to believe that it is truly a universal philosophy that resides in the hearts and minds of the human race.

I believe that this innate impulse is the thing that brought people to the point of being a social entity. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that most often if we are kind to others they will usually be kind to us.

I know that there are a number of arguments against my hypotheses but at least it is arguable and I would welcome much dialogue on the subject.

There are at least two factors to consider in opposition to my hypotheses, fear and invalid thinking. We do shy away from others whom we do not know especially if they appear aggressive and stronger or unruly, and when this fear sets in our reactions are guided by invalid thinking. These misguided reactions can easily escalate into violence.

I believe that we humans are predominantly passive and followers by nature rather than being aggressive and leaders. Some of these leaders are kind and caring and strive to bring people together for the good of all and establish a peaceful and safe society whereas everyone might reach their full potential. Then, there are those leaders that are aggressive by nature and they have greed in their hearts and a disposition to rule with an iron fist and a sword and fear.

If we humans could learn to resist fear and start doing unto others as we would have them do unto us we would have a much happier life.

Unfortunately the fear of pain and suffering are such powerful forces in the world, and I suppose, they will always exist as long as we are human. After all, they are a part of the human condition.

Finton

Number 12 The Death Penalty

I wanted to say a little more about my stance on the death penalty.

Many people have lived under different influences for the bulk of their years , me included, and we all would like to think that our upbringing was of the greatest. We would like to think that our fathers and mothers would never intentionally lead us wrong but as we grow up and move out on our own we must start making decisions for ourselves. We begin experiencing the consequences of our decisions. We then discover that the things our parents taught us don't quite work favorably in the new worlds that we find ourselves entering. We come to many crossroads while on our journeys and discover that there are many more stop signs and yield signs that we were not taught how to negotiate, or perhaps we just had our ears closed.

I do not think that most parents intentionally teach their children wrong, but I think that ,unintentionally, most parents do, including me.

I do not remember ever having conversations at home with the family concerning ethics. We never talked about our purpose in life or what our responsibilities as a citizen was. We learned most of our ethics from going to church and school and just plain ole observation. Oh! lets not forget the TV.

How many people grew up this way? Most families probably were about the same.

I am not implying that my family life was hard. My father was more the bread winner and the disciplinarian. I don't remember him ever playing with me or my brother or sister. My mother on the other hand, was the greatest. We all knew she loved us. She had a humorous side, a compassionate side, and she always greeted people with a smile and respect, the basic common sense lesson 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. I think that if everyone could live their daily lives in this way the world would be so very much better off.

I suppose all of my life experiences has something to do with my views on the death penalty. I am against the death penalty but I do not judge others that are in favor of it.

I know that under certain circumstances I would kill another person that caused me great fear for my life or the life of some other innocent person, especially a friend or family member. I'm not sure that this is justifiable. I feel as though I would feel good about saving innocent lives but I also think I would for the rest of my life toil with my act of killing. I don't think I could ever find peace of mind again.

I hope I'm not killing you kind people for reading my blogs. My wife would love editing all of my writings.

Finton

Number 11 The Death Penalty

I have been, as long as I can remember, in opposition to the death penalty. For quite sometime my opposition was based on my religious convictions but in recent years the bases of my opposition has moved away from religion to simply invalid thinking.

Barbarism is still a very popular way of life throughout the world and that includes the United States. We are not so much more civilized in this country than in many cultures abroad, we merely have a more sophisticated legal system by which we subject the accused in order to arrive at guilt or innocents. If guilty you are likely to pay heavily.

The death penalty in my opinion is as much a barbaric act as the act for which the criminal was convicted and sentenced to be executed.

The prosecution usually has many more resources to carry on his investigation than does the defendant. To start with, this immediately puts the defendant at a serious disadvantage, and, we are, more and more, hearing about people in prison being exonerated after spending many years behind bars for crimes for which they played no part in. Some of these wrongly convicted people are sitting on death row awaiting execution and most likely will be executed.

How many more innocent people are in prison today because the prosecution could make a case against a poor defendant that could not afford or acquire competent representation? How many will spend the rest of their lives behind bars though they are completely innocent? How many innocent men or women are on death row that most likely will be executed, and how many throughout the years have died by the rope, the ax, the needle, the electric chair, the firing squad or the gas chamber? Don't forget that I am speaking hear about the wrongly convicted, not the truly guilty.

Can you imagine being on death row, counting your days to live before your last hours or moments? Can you imagine the angst that your loved ones are going through daily, especially if they know you are innocent but can't prove it? Can you imagine their helplessness?

The death penalty is an institution that nobody, I think, would be proud to wear the badge of executioner. When a state ordains the death penalty they must employ an executioner or executioners to carry out these barbaric means of punishment, so how does the state give notice that the state is in need of executioners? Do they interview potential persons interested in being an executioner for the state? Does the state think it important to examine the psychological status of such applicants? What psychological profile is ideal to qualify an individual to be an executioner?

I'm sure that there must be personalities out there that would love to be an executioner, but aside from these few personalities I can't imagine anyone else being interested in such a position. Perhaps I am wrong. There may be a great number of people ready and willing to execute someone as long as the courts and the state ordains it, and they may be exhilarated in knowing that they executed this person.

Most people throughout the world are capable of killing another person under severe circumstances such as self defense or to protect some innocent individual or to avenge the harm or death of a loved one. Unfortunately we sometimes live with a would-be murderer, or next door to such a person. We work with and even like and admire some of these individuals completely unaware of this secret side of their personality.

I, at one time had a welder work for me and I liked him . Not too long after he quit working for me a young girl was bludgeoned to death and left in a field to be torn to pieces by scavengers. He became the focus of the investigation and eventually was convicted of murdering the girl. The court did not hand down the death penalty. I think he is still serving time in prison but I'm not sure how many years he was sentenced to serve.

I firmly believe that premeditated murderers should remain in prison for the rest of their life because they have shown society that they possess little or no respect for life. They have demonstrated that they lack the capacity to think validly the consequences of their actions and are therefore too big of a risk to society. I also believe that anyone incarcerated should be required to work or not eat. If I choose not to work it will not be long before I will be without food and therefore become very hungry. Then I will start looking for a job or perhaps a handout, but as we find out handouts usually don't last very long.

I am going to end this BLOG pertaining to 'The Death Penalty' today but I plan to return to it on
my next BLOG number 12.

Finton

NUMBER 10 Which was first, God or Truth?

Questions have been around, I suppose, since the existence of a brain, but I also question this, because I'm not sure that every creature that possesses what scientists call a brain actually think. Perhaps some brains merely regulate bodily functions and allow the creature to react out of instinct but they may not actually think at all.

I must say, that after reading the accounts of Socrates and his method of seeking truth I have come to the conclusion that he was the wisest man that has ever lived. Truth is the most illusive thing that exists. We have been in dialogue, for at least as long as history can verify, seeking the truth about a multitude of unknowns.

One question that teeters in my mind is, 'Was truth before God, or did truth come about only after God thought or spoke truths into existence? I have so many questions in my mind but I have nobody who seriously wants to engage in dialogue with me on these questions. Most people will listen for a moment, and even make a quick comment in response, then move on to more trivial matters. I immediately see the writing on the wall that this is not their cup of tea, so I move on also.

How can a truth not have always existed, and how can a creative power also not have always existed? On the other hand, I believe that there was a time when ' life' did not exist. The difficult thing for me to believe is that at the precise moment when the first spark of life came about, everything necessary to support this life was in place, and all of the reproductive physiology's were already developed in this new organism, and that all of this came about by mere chance. I believe in intelligent design, and there is not anyone that can convince me that life just accidentally happened and there was accidentally an environment that was completely perfect for the survival of this living organism.

You can't just put a few or a thousand elements together and create life. If the scientists could do this they couldn't wait to have this discovery published and give recognition to this brilliant scientist that created it, but on the other hand the scientific community might calculate that the religious community would be loudly accusing the scientists of 'playing god'. This is a given!

When I ask 'Which was first, God or Truth' I might as well ask 'Which came first, The Chicken or the Egg'. Nobody has a clue and I seriously doubt that anyone will ever know.

The only benefit that I can see in discussing such questions is hearing both, the plausible and the ridiculous opinions for the mere fun of it. Just be sensitive to some individuals in discussing religious questions. You probably well know that many people's tempers can flare.

When life leaves an organism all of the physical elements of that organism are still there and all of the doctors in the world can't restore life to that organism. We hear all kinds of stories about some people dieing and then being brought back to life. This is 'BULL SHIT'. All that took place is that the doctors just could not see or detect any signs of life, but I assure you life had not left these people. There are also stories that doctors have pronounced people dead and these people miraculously recovered fully, but likewise they were not dead either. Their signs of life also were merely undetectable.

I do believe in miracles. Life is a miracle in my opinion, the natural laws by which elements under certain conditions react consistently, and then these same elements under different conditions reacting consistently are also miracles.

Thus far I have more or less confessed my belief in a creative power that, by intelligent design, created life. This creative power must have, in my opinion, coexisted with truth always and will forever. Now I do not think that either one is dependent on the other. I do not even think that the entity I call god listens to me or responds to my desires. I don't even think my god rewards me for my good deeds, nor does he punish me for my bad deeds. He is merely the author of creativity. Creativity to me is about formation and transformation. Once something is born or formed out of these creative energies and forces it will always exist even though it will over time transform. I think this about life also. I believe that life exists, not of a physical nature but a metaphysical nature and it will always exist. It is in my opinion, that metaphysical energy is the creative energy, a thinking energy.

I do not believe that energy merely exists and someday it just becomes a rock or a flower or a fish. I do believe in evolution. I believe that energy is intelligent and it must transform according to it's potential to merge with other energies around it. This transformation goes on and on and on for ever and ever.

I do not think of our bodies even dieing, we merely transform, and I also believe that the life that gives this body personality and a sense of being will live forever.

I do not like to even think of ever existing without my lovely wife Karyn. I love her flesh, I love to look into her eyes, I love to kiss her all over and hold her tight and close to me. I enjoy being with her and going places with her. I love loving her. She is the apple of my eye. I speak to this awesome creative entity that I call god and plead with it that if it has the power, please grant me just one eternal hour with my lovely wife. So, am I being hypocritical when I ask this creative entity for a special favor when I also believe he does not reward nor punish me? I admit that I am probably being hypocritical but my greatest defense is that maybe I am at least partially wrong and partially right. Perhaps if he knows how much I love this gift, this fabulous woman, he might just grant me this honorable request.

Now, which came first, God or Truth? I doubt that it makes any difference, it is what it is and which ever way is right we will just have to live with it.

I would love to be able to visit Socrates from time to time and engage in dialogue with him and ask him questions that he probably would answer me with another question. I would really love to visit with a multitude of men and women of great minds. I might come away with a more screwed up head than I already have.

Finton

NUMBER 9 Covet or Desire

One of the Ten Commandments in the bible says 'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife', and I think this is a good rule of law to try to follow.

For most of my adult life I have thought that I have been guilty of this more times than I could count, and I think that I am not alone. Actually if I had just taken the time, long ago, to pick up my dictionary and read the definition of 'covet' I would have concluded that I have never coveted a neighbors wife, nor anybodies wife.

Now I must admit that I have had desire in my heart for many a wives, but to covet them, I have not. I cannot remember ever coveting anything that was not mine, and I think that it would behoove everyone to read the complete definition of 'covet' and to ponder over it for a moment. To desire or lust for another is not the same thing as coveting them. You must desire beyond reason, with envy, in order to covet.

Envy is the real culprit in the mix. It is this envy that leads one to act beyond reason.

I don't remember ever hearing a preacher elaborate on the difference between mere desire and coveting. I think that most preachers think that there is not a dimes worth of difference between covet, desire and lust. They seem to think that all three are sins and somewhat one and the same thing.

I think that desire and lust are natural responses to beauty but I think coveting is as a result of invalid thinking. The only natural thing about coveting is that it is a human condition to which we sometimes act out after a period of invalid thinking. Coveting is invalid thinking.

We cannot stop lusting and desiring. and I wouldn't want to, but we should adjust our thinking if we find ourselves coveting that which does not belong to us.

I say, don't covet!!!

Finton

Number 8 My wife KARYN the Fabulous

I am so very proud of my fantastic wife Karyn. I cannot imagine ever finding a woman that could measure up to her character, her personality and her entire persona.

I am so very much in love with her and wish that I could provide her every wish and her every need. I wish I could protect her from every kind of harm that might come her way. It saddens me to know that I cannot do all these things.

Karyn is my muse, she is my ideal woman and she is my ideal as a partner in life. It is she that completes me.

Now, I speak of another side of Karyn. She is not a pushover. She is a Tempest when necessary, she will not be told how to think or speak. She is her own woman and many men and women could learn much from her.

When you live with someone intimately for a time and talk about everything from A to Z you discover the true colors of one another, and I have identified all of her colors. You will find them in the Rainbow. Karyn is the most colorful woman I have ever known and to me she is how beauty is defined.

I love my beautiful wife more than I can ever find the words to express.

Finton

Number 7 Real art or a HOAX

The Art community continually shocks me with what they consider to be art.

Damien Hurst's 12 million dollar stuffed shark is an unusual sight to see and his cows head in a glass case with flies and maggots crawling all over and around this head is also something to, or not to see, but it is to me a great stretch to call it art.

I do not challenge Hurst's talent. Hurst is undoubtedly a talented artist but I question whether he even believes that much of his work is truly art, or is he just lining up with Marcel Duchamp and his urinal and other 'Ready Made' sculptures. Many people are easily led to believe that whatever an artist displays as art is actually art. I also believe many artist enjoy pulling a hoax on gallery owners and art lovers just to see if they can pull it off. I suppose if an artist can pull it off he can at least feel like a successful con artist and be proud of himself. I do not believe that I could ever be proud of myself for attempting to fraud someone with my art.

Perhaps Hurst, Duchamp and many other artists throughout the world truly believe that they are producing works of genius, and perhaps there are many gallery owners and art critics that share in their opinions. Mysteriously then, art is born, maybe, or is it merely perception?

I'm somewhat curious as to whether there are those out there that think similarly about me and my art and perhaps they are partially correct. Much of my work may not appear to them as art, and they may even perceive some of it as a hoax but much of it is undeniably art.

I do not think of myself as being anywhere close to being a genius but on the other hand I do believe that I am a very good artist, and I do believe that everything I personally hold out to be my art is art. This may sound hubris but I am truly confident in my work, and I am committed to being true to art and to the art community.

I believe that if I hold myself out to be a surgeon I owe it to the community to actually be a surgeon and be the best surgeon I am capable of being. Whatever profession one professes themselves to be they owe it to society to be true to that profession. Artists always know when they are trying to pass off a hoax as a work of art and some have been successful because there is really no definitive way to prove to the community a work is or is not art. The individual that sees it as worthy of buying will be happy for a while and I'm sure they
will call it art.

Finton

Knowing or Believing Number 6

Yesterday I met a couple at POPEYES Chicken while eating lunch. We started discussing art initially then gradually waded into religion.

The gentleman was a Church of Christ Minister. His wife seemed to me to be fragile as a result of a hard life as she explained without getting into too much detail. They introduced themselves as James and Charlotte.

James iterated and reiterated that the"Church of Christ is the only church mentioned in the bible and therefore 'The' church of Christ, and, Charlotte kept stressing that the crucifixion and the blood of Christ was the only way to salvation. They both kept affirming that the bible is the word of God. They kept say 'God said' or 'Jesus said' or 'Paul said'. The totality of the basis of their faith was dependent on the bible. No amount of logic could lead them to even consider the possibility that the bible is not the word of God but the many words of men and women.

I hear this from all who profess being a Christian. When I was 13 years old I accepted Jesus as my personal savior and was baptized by immersion. At that time I also accepted that the bible was the inerrant word of God. I no longer believe this. I was only 13 years old and I was, as most kids, very impressionable and believed practically everything that adults told me. They led me to believe that in order to stay out of the eternal burning hell fire, and to get to heaven I had to jump through their hoops and submit to their unyielding belief in the bible.

I do believe that the Christian bibles do make it pretty clear as to their plans of salvation, however, I have come to a point in my life that I do not believe that evil even exists. The hell that anyone will ever experience is brought on by human invalid thinking or the random mishaps of the natural laws. I do not believe in any spiritual adversary nor do I believe that the power that created us is trying to punish us or teach us a lesson.

I have create a lot of seemingly crazy art but I have never created something with which I had an intent to harm anyone. I have, in much of my art, wanted to enlighten those that I believe needed an awakening, but never to harm them. There are however many people that create a multitude of things designed specifically to harm others. This I believe is born, not of evil but of invalid thinking.

I do not know if mankind will ever come to a point that they realize the social problems we encounter throughout the world are as a result of invalid thinking, and not an evil spirit. Evil is merely a figment of our imagination. I suppose we could call any wrong doing an evil act but I refuse to accept Isaiah 45:7 in the Christian bible which states that God " formed the light...and create Evil: I the Lord do all these things." Everyone of us are capable of much wrong doing but strictly because of our invalid thinking. It's such a lame excuse for anyone to try to put the blame of their wrong doings on some evil spirit. The coward always blames someone else.

Our brains are the seats of our pain and pleasure, and for most part if we give proper consideration of these two phenomena we can explain why we react to most stimuli. I realize that each of us can mount many arguments to refute this observation of mine, or support it, and this is good because we will learn from the dialogue.

The one big thing that I think is important in society is for us to just stop blaming Satan or the Evil one for our wrong doings. We just need to grow up and acknowledge our personal weaknesses and jealousies and vengeance and make a sincere effort to improve our thought processes.

Throw Satan and Evil into the trash because they do not exist.

Finton

SEX (To Love IT or Refrain From It) Number 5

I am a highly sexual person and I suppose this is why I love sex. Now I may regret making such a confession but why should one fear making this sort of confession?

Do people in general believe that ones sexual preferences are too personal to share with society? Sexuality is at the forefront of social problems so to me I would think that sexuality should be at the forefront of dialogue, and I truly believe that dialogue is so very important to enlightenment. A free exchange of ideas is one of the most effective processes to bring about a greater understanding of the problems that we face daily.

It amazes me that most people don't consider the 'Hunger Factor' that I believe is at the root of our human conditional problems. We all, for the most part, share to some degree in the responsibility as a member of society to become engaged in such dialogues in order that we rise to a greater level of understanding of the total problem. We humans are far too quick to judge others. We tend to label the actions of others as immoral when we feel uncomfortable with them, thus creating another source of contention and division.

Moral generally means 'Right Behavior' and immoral generally means 'Wrong Behavior' and further more morality is generally associated with Godliness or Ungodliness. I believe in a higher power, and I choose to refer to this power as God. I also believe that this entity is an ongoing creative force that creates both tangible and intangible phenomenon. One of these phenomena is wisdom, and it is this wisdom that gives us authority over nature. I do not believe in 'Right or Wrong', I believe in valid or invalid thinking which will for most part determine our successes or failures.

I am not boasting, but I have never been drunk, I've never done drugs nor smoked. These are a few of my wise choices, or valid thinking decisions. Now, I do not have the time nor the space here to list all of my invalid thinking decisions that have caused me and many others much pain and suffering. I do not judge that I am better or worse that you or anyone. We all must suffer the consequences of our actions, and as sad as it is sometimes many others must suffer as a result of our actions.

I started out in this blog sharing with you that I am highly sexual and I love sex. Perhaps sharing this information with all that choose to read my blog may prove to be one of my decisions based on invalid thinking, but why should it be regarded as such? This fact about me is most likely going to be viewed by many as a flaw or a weakness of mine, or even a perversion.

If I had a great love for lobster, which I do, would this be viewed as a weakness or a perversion, or if I had a passion for fast, shinny cars would this be viewed as inappropriate? Is a person that has a passion to accumulate great wealth considered immoral or is he generally looked up to and admired for his business savvy?

Sex is one of our most wonderful and beautiful human experiences and has thus far been the sole act of men and women that perpetuates human existence, so, I think it unthinkable to not celebrate sexuality, and it is also unthinkable to imply in any way that to love sex immensely is a sign of weakness or a flaw.

Finton

Number 4

Have you ever really sat down, or stood up, or laid down and given serious consideration as to just how many people do you personally know that you feel comfortable with in sharing your most intimate thoughts?

We have somewhat been taught from childhood to be cautious with what you say to people. You could find that you were greatly misunderstood, or you may be harshly criticized or judged. We all find ourselves in situations that put us on the spot to remark upon certain issues pertaining to politics, religion or ethics, or sexuality, racism, the death penalty or just spanking your children. There are a multitude of controversial issues that have the potential of making us feel uncomfortable to offer our true feelings on the subject matter.

I have many friends, I believe. I truly believe that they are my friends but do I feel completely comfortable in sharing with them my most intimate thoughts? Do I even feel comfortable enough to tell each one of them that I don't feel comfortable enough in doing so? If I don't feel comfortable enough, is it because I don't trust them, or is it because I have already judged myself and I am already too ashamed of my most intimate thoughts?

I truly try my best at being open minded and not being judgmental, but sometimes, I must admit I sense flashes of judgmental impulses in my thoughts. I do immediately recognize that this is not right, I should not be judgmental.

We all have either read the biblical passage 'judge not lest ye be judged', or we have read or heard some words similar, or, we have experienced judgmental attacks against us and these experiences have caused us to become more cautious in sharing many of our thoughts.

If people did not judge one another, if we could at least accept one another in spite of our differences and embrace the beauty of diversity would this be a better world? Could we ever see world peace?

Could we ever show our true colors and still find strong loves and companions?

Do you feel comfortable in sharing your most intimate thoughts with ANYONE?!!


Finton

Number 3

I have been ask many times throughout the years what inspires me to produce the various forms of art that I am impassioned to create. Well, there are a myriad of inspirations, all of which originate from being human. We all go through life experiencing a multitude of events or, at the very least, observing these events that expose us to pain and pleasure in various degrees and various forms. Not one of us will escape some degree of struggle from the moment of our conception til the moment of our death. I and many people call this 'The Human Condition'.

There are predominantly two areas of our human condition that occupy my thought processes and they alone generate enough inspiration for any artist. They are religion and ethics, and from these two areas spring forth all sorts of pain and suffering, love and hate, pleasure, fear, and freedom and bondage, envy and jealousy. The list can go on and on, so you can imagine the vastness of this landscape of inspiration from which I have at my fingertips to pick.

The mystery in this whole concept of inspiration is that I never know from one moment to the next precisely which of these various possibilities will captivate me, and I truly mean 'captivate me'. The mystery is 'Do I pick the content of the work of art' or 'Does the content of the work pick me'? This sounds philosophical but can I be certain of the truth of the matter? It's somewhat like that age old question, 'Which came first, the chicken or the egg'.

I am not a rocket scientist nor am I an intellectual but I am most definitely a sensitive, feelings kind of guy. My emotions can run wild and sometimes I find difficulty in completely grasping the whole range of, my sometimes, mixed emotions and feelings.

I do however think that I am much like most people but with the one exception, I have a compulsion to transpose my feelings and emotions into a work of art. This I think is one of the things that separates the artist from non-artists. The other is that artist have a passion to master the medium that best suites the particular work of art they have chosen to produce.

There are many people that conceptualize content that if brought to fruition in a well executed form and the appropriate medium it would stand the test of qualifying as a fine art. The artist however is the one who conceptualizes the piece, chooses the medium, designs the content and works out all problems in order to bring this work to fruition.

The content of a work of art is more than merely the items to make up the piece. If people are in the piece, what are they doing, what does their body language suggest, what expressions are on their faces, should they be clothed or naked? There are a multitude of decisions to make and be made without the fear of retribution from your friends, your family or the general public. Art is freedom of expression. It makes no difference how talented an artist is, if he or she does not work with the sense of freedom their work will be dead, it will not stand the test of Fine Arts.

I despise 'Arts and Craft' shows simply because they invariably falsely educate the public by dumping or mixing arts and crafts together. This does grave damage to the fine arts artists. Some people will say that I am a snob for feeling this way, but if you are a hair stylist you would not appreciate being called a barber. A chef would not want to be referred to as a cook. I don't think of this as being snobbish, but it is distinguishing the difference that truly exists.

I can cook a steak but it wont compare to the steak of the chef, and I can cut hair but the hair stylist would maybe tactfully laugh at my work and my client chase me with my scissors!! I believe that it is very important that Arts and Crafts be shown in different venues, and I also believe artists should refuse to exhibit their art alongside of crafts, not out of snobbery but in support of their fellow artists.

Til my next blog have a great day.

Finton

Number 2

Today I've been placing the right hand of Momo and the left shoe on the older Bill in the 'Monument to Bill Clinton'. I'm sculpting all of the heads, hands and feet of the three statues in fired clay that will complete the Monument. I still must sculpt both feet and shoes of Momo at approximately 15 to 16 yrs. old and young Bill at approximately the age of 12 to 14 yrs. old. I still must sculpt Momo's left hand and both of young Bills hands. I still have much work to do.

I have been talking about sculpting the heads, hands and feet/or shoes of the three figures in this monument to Bill Clinton, so now I'm going to talk a little about the structural frame/armature of the sculpture, the base, and the outer surface that will provide the detail and all that will be visible to the viewer.

The armatures are made up of a series of #3, #4, #5 and #6 steel re-bar which will be similar to our skeletal systems purpose. These armatures are mounted/welded to an 8" wide-flange steel beam base. This base is approximately 4'6" x 4'6" square, and the base alone will weigh approximately 1,800 lbs.

The armatures are then wrapped and fitted or covered with metal-lathing (a wire mesh fabric normally used in stucco work) which I can bend, twist and shape and form in order to obtain the appearance of folds and creases in the slacks and shirts and attire. This mesh then will be covered with a 'compression non-shrink grout' which is a smooth textured, but very hard, when cured, concrete type substance. I will mix small portions at a time and apply it with my hands as though I would smear clay onto the mesh. I will build up this grout to approximately 1 inch thick. At this stage all of the figures will be hollow.

After I shape the outer surface of the figures and the base I will then mix the same grout to a poring consistency and fill all of the figures. This will adhere to the internal walls of the figures and all of the steel re-bar. The complete statue will then need to set and cure for 4 to 6 months before I can seal the concrete and apply the faux bronze painted surface.

Upon completion, I expect the monument to weigh between 6 and 7 thousand lbs. and stand approximately 11 feet tall.

When I finish this monument I have several sculptures in mind just bustin ti get out, and I can't wait.


Finton

Number 1

Most of my friends and relatives are of the Christian persuasion, some are fanatics while others are less judgmental and then some don't seem to judge at all. Life and people are definitely diverse and colorful, and this diversity and colorfulness is the stuff that makes life interesting and worth being a part of.

The heaven and hell concepts are the issues that religions harp on week after week after week.

They say: Accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior and you will
go to heaven, but if you do not accept Jesus Christ as your
personal savior then you go to hell.

They say that we have a choice but this is not much of a choice. If I do not believe in a religious system this does not mean that I choose to go to hell. How does one choose to believe in something that sounds illogical? You may profess that you believe and go through the motions like your suppose to so that you convince your colleagues, your newly found brothers and sisters in Christ.

I do believe that if one believes that believing in Jesus Christ as your savior, your salvation from hell and ye shall not parish but have everlasting life, then, I think it appropriate to share your belief with others, but keep in mind that your belief is no more than a belief in Santa Clause. Your belief is still only a belief and you have no right to make others feel shallow or stupid or evil that don't share in your beliefs.

I personally find it difficult to believe that a God that could create an entire universe and a multitude of life forms and all of the natural laws that work for our good as long as we use them wisely could not think of a less barbarous way to save the people of the world without arbitrarily choosing a virgin girl to carry His and her child to birth, allowing her to nourish and love and raise this child, and this God knowing all the while that this child's sole purpose is to be brutally beaten and crucified to his death. This all because Adam and Eve ate a forbidden fruit that neither Jesus nor the rest of the entire world had anything to do with.

If this awesome creator said to Adam and Eve that "in the day that ye eat of this fruit ye shall surely die" could this same God not have been powerful enough to have proclaimed that "in the day that ye eat of the fruit of the peach tree ye shall have everlasting life". If this God is all powerful then why must He choose barbarism as the only way to show His love of the world?

There was a time that I believed in that biblical account of the way to salvation from hell but I have come to the point of not believing in a literal burning hell fire. I have a belief in a loving creator that did not create a hell or a Satan nor even evil. This thing people refer to as evil I merely call it 'Invalid Thinking'. The individuals that many people label as evil, I think that they are existing in varying degrees of invalid thinking, and some I think become mentally ill.

I do not believe that man will ever recognize religion for it's limited benefits. There will always be fanatics because there will always be 'Invalid Thinkers'.

Finton

I had a short conversation yesterday with a Conway police officer concerning public relations and the image that I believe a great number of police officers project to the public. This projection does not elevate the public's respect for the police but a fear of the police. Is this their goal?

Now I want to be clear, I have a great respect for the duties and responsibilities of police officers and I appreciate the danger that they potentially encounter on a daily bases. I do believe that they should exercise appropriate caution when approaching all strangers and situations that deserve their alertness and full attention, but I strongly believe also that there is no excuse for a police officer to be coy or impersonal with the public with which he is so honorably entrusted and indebted. It is unconscionable for a public servant to project himself better than or above or below the public, be they rich or poor, clean or dirty, young or old or ugly or beautiful. There should always be respect from both the public and the public servant. Respect should be mutual.

I am a conversationalist and I find myself engaged in conversations that very often concern the feelings of animosity and displeasure of their experience with the police. I know some of these stories are exaggerated and/or the real culprit to the unpleasant encounter was instigated by the private citizen himself, not the police officer. I also am aware that some police are as shallow minded as some private citizens and this is a catalyst for disaster.

Where does all of this disrespect originate? I believe it starts with disrespectful parents. Sad isn't it? We can imagine the problems a child taught to be disrespectful will encounter throughout his or her life. It is very difficult to break bad habits so all too often these disrespectful children grow up to be disrespectful parents raising and teaching their children some of the old disrespectful ways, a viscous cycle, and invariably some of these disrespectful children grow up and become our police officers.

We, as parents, need to try to do our part by being respectful to our fellow men and women and try to teach our children to do likewise. The teachers, starting in the kindergarten and the first grade of schools start teaching the principles of common respect and good citizenship. This should continue throughout their entire school years. The simple habit of being respectful with your fellow men, women and children would solve the vast majority of our daily social problems.

The police departments also have a responsible to have a continuing training program to educate and reinforce the importance of the responsibility of the police treating the public with respect.

The police know that they themselves, and their friends and relatives at times violate minor, but important traffic laws. These minor infractions of the laws does not mean that the violator of the law is a bad person nor does it mean the violator should be let off the hook.

My experience with the majority of the police officers with whom I have made efforts to engage in dialogue seem to possess a degree of standoffish demeanor as if I don't deserve their undivided attention, or "How dare I question their authority?' It seems that they assume a posture that 'They are the Law' and 'They are the Enforcer of the Law' and I belong to the class of those that are to obey their laws.

This feeling is somewhat reinforced when a police officer is shown to have violated a citizens rights and the only punishment the officer receives at most is being fired. This firing rather than getting jail time implies to me and many others that this is for the purpose of restoring the image of the department rather than restoring the dignity of the violated victim. If I falsely imprison or detain someone I go to jail but if the police falsely imprison or detains a citizen, at most the guilty officer is fired. He does not go to jail. This is a disparity in the law enforcement process and it erodes the public confidence and trust in our justice system and it further intensifies the public's disrespect of the police.

The questions are, 'Is this an important issue', 'Do the police care', 'Whose to blame', and 'Who does this responsibility fall upon to make better this relationship between the police and the public'? I say all of us.

I have been thinking about the young man that recently jumped from a bridge committing suicide because two other individuals had captured him on video having sexual relations with another gentleman. The two impostors thought it funny to embarrass these two lovers and so they posted the images on the web
They did succeed in embarrassing at least the one young man so overwhelmingly that he could not bring himself to face society and his friends and family.
I truly pain for this young man, and I pain for the many individuals in our society and in our families and in our circles of friends that live in fear of such humiliation.
The two individuals responsible for putting the images on the web will for the rest of their lives relive this whole event over and over and over. They will never be able to forget it, sweep it under the rug or justify their actions no matter how hard they try. Their actions were unconscionable and there is no justification to be found throughout the universe.
Now I want to address the REAL CULPRIT in this tragedy. The real culprit is RELIGION, RELIGION, RELIGION, RELIGION!!!! I can't shout it loud enough nor enough times.
RELIGION, RELIGION, RELIGION is the MONSTER, MONSTER, MONSTER that preaches the ONE-WAY STREET kind of love, and the rest of the loves are an abomination unto God. This is only one of religions GREAT LIES that has destroyed family ties and friendships, and has brought about much division throughout the world.
I do not claim that all religious teachings are wrong but I do claim that all religions teach an abundance of dogma and they use fear and guilt to keep you in bondage.
RELIGION, RELIGION, RELIGION is the real culprit behind the death of that young man who's life was so tragically lost.
I hope, probably in vane, that preachers across the country and around the world will stop their lies. They should be preaching that all love is good and stop preaching fear, guilt and damnation.

Finton

I am a firm believer that true art is much different than what most people in common refer to as art. There are multitudes of artsy personalities that produce a lot of artsy works that appeal to the masses but I truly believe that there is in fact a demarcation line that separates true art from artsy works.

Now I am not implying that artsy people should not continue producing artsy work but art galleries should educate themselves so that they can identify the difference. Real fine arts should never be shown in the same venue as artsy works. This not merely confuses the public but it does grave damage to the art industry and shows a disrespect to fine arts artists, ultimately devaluing the real and true fine arts.

I am aware that all art is subjective but this subjectivity of art deserves serious consideration by those that hold themselves out as art dealers or professionals in the business of art. Anyone can can go into the business of selling art though they know nothing about art except that they like it. We must also acknowledge that there are many 'con artists' out there that will try to sell you anything while leading you to believe your buying a masterpiece.

Art truly is a fabulous thing to bring into your private world but you should do everything you can to educate yourself as to identifying fine art and the artsy crafty stuff so you don't appear foolish. Perhaps in some situations ignorance is bliss but I would rather strive to become as educated as possible when I buy art. If you like the artsy crafty stuff that is fine but don't try to pass it off as fine art or you will appear ignorant. Always tell it like it is, as you should realize you reputation will proceed you.

I must wind up my thoughts for the moment but I assure you I'll be back soon because I have many thoughts to talk about.


Finton

I have been reading The Painted Word by the author Tom Wolfe. He professes that there is truly only approximately 10,000 personalities in about eight cities throughout the world that makes the difference of which art and artists greatly succeed in this art world. I think that I am understanding Wolfe correctly, and if I am it does almost seem fruitless to continue expressing your creative impulses. However it just makes me tend to dig my heals in deeper and focus on making sure that my work always does honor to the space that it occupies. To me this should be the goal of every artist that wants his work to survive and challenge the minds of many for as long as it can.

Every serious artist that I have ever had the opportunity to speak candidly with shares to a great degree the same feelings and challenges as I experience on a continuum. It seems that the vast majority of artist experience rejection and ridicule quite often when they delve into controversial matters.

Why do we artists find it necessary to wade in to troubled waters? Is it because we like controversy? Do we enjoy being taunted and criticized and rejected? Perhaps some of us are a little sadomasochistic but I think that most artist merely have a deep sensitivity to these issues followed by a strong compulsion to express our feelings in an artistic manner. It just seems to follow that many viewers feel an equal or even stronger compulsion to lash out at us. Everyone has feelings, one way or another on most issues that deal with the human condition or our ecology. It seems to me that there is nothing in this universe that does not have some effect on the human condition and the world. I think all is interconnected in ways we may never understand, and I firmly believe that it is this vast lack of understanding that drives and motivates our creativity and our ongoing controversies. We can't have much of a controversy on matters we understand and agree on, can we?

The point I'm trying to get to with all I've written thus far is that artists must do art. We have a compulsion to do art. If we can't do art we seem to become more difficult to deal with and we lose much of our lust for life. This would become devastating to the artist and in my opinion a tremendous loss to the world.

When I look at the big picture and I think about only 10,000 personalities that truly decides the fate of our 'GREAT' success it does not seem to me that the true artists will be discouraged. We can't help ourselves, we must keep on keepin on.

I would offer a bit of advice to these honored few but it is not necessary because they really don't need my advice, they have all they need that was fed to them from birth or was coded into their DNA.


Finton

This is a time of political upheaval. Elections are right around the corner and there is a tremendous amount of lashing and gnashing of teeth taking place and an abundance of bullshit tactics in the air.

Why can't politicians just be adult and tell the truth about what they stand for and what they are against without their integrity being attacked and being made to look Un-American? To be American is the status of being a citizen of South America, Central America or North America. Now, within the continental US we just refer to ourselves as Americans, so does it also hold true that those in Central and South America are also Americans?

I personally don't care if our president believes in Jesus, Ala, Santa Claus or Peter Cottontail as long as he takes a stand for maximizing our freedom.

In any society equality among the people should be the goal of not only the government but the goal of every individual citizen.

Obama is not the man who brought this country to the brink of financial disaster but many people are on their band wagons blaming Obama for the state of this Union. Have they forgotten that we have had other presidents in our resent past.

I like Bill Clinton but I do not believe he was without his faults in this financial crisis. Bush also had a part in this national financial crisis but lets not stop there. The greedy capitalistic
auto industry, the banking industry, the credit card industry and yes, even you and I always wanting more than we can afford. We all want the finer things of life 'NOW'. We don't like to tighten our belts. We don't want to pay taxes to pay for roads and highways. We want everything handed to us on a silver platter but we don't want to pay for it.

Lets not forget the Senators and Representatives within our state legislatures as well as our US congressmen and congress women. I will not forget our governors either. I really don't have enough fingers and toes to count the many categories of people that have put us in this financial crisis.

I just think it is shallow and even childish to blame Obama. I think that if you would be honest you would just admit that not even you could run this country any better.

I'm not tooting my horn for Obama yet because frankly I do not know if his agenda is the right one, but I truly believe he is trying to move this country in the right direction. I believe he is a good man regardless if he believes in Santa Claus or Peter Cottontail.

To check out and view my diagram for solving the BP Gulf leak

Gene Hatfield and I have been published in a new publication "Arkansas Curiosities" written by Janie and Wyatt Jones of Conway, Arkansas.

Gene is a very fine friend and mentor of mine. He taught art at the University of Central Arkansas for, I believe, 37 years and was recognized "Distinguished Professor Emeritus".

Janie and Wyatt are friends of Gene and I and are very fine writers. Wyatt is also a musician. This latest book Arkansas Curiosities is very interesting and entertaining and is very well written and I congratulate Janie and Wyatt for their fine work and professionalism. I am impressed.

I also want to thank the Jones team for including me and Gene. I am truly honored that they thought of me as a "Curiosity" of the state of Arkansas. I think that's a good thing, Ha! I just read a quote of Damien Hurst, a world renowned artist who said " Any publicity is good even if it's not good for your career", so Janie and Wyatt I am grateful to you both.

I would like to clarify something about my blog pertaining to the British Petroleum spill in the gulf of Mexico. I sounded like I was pointing a finger at only BP but I am pointing my finger at the entire oil industry if they all do not keep, from the beginning of drilling til the capping off the oil well, a shut-off valve at the ocean floor. They all are full of bullshit if they say it can't be done, and if they do not develop a functional safety valve as such and install it at the very beginning then they are criminally negligent, and if the US government does not enforce the implementation of such a device then the government is criminally negligent even if the people can't enforce it.

Today is the 7th anniversary of my lovely wife Karyn and mime. I am very deeply in love with her and I am so very lucky that she has been able to put up with my idiosyncrasies. I am somewhat out in left field so I know I can be a handful for anyone.

Karyn is a wonderful person, a fabulous wife, a fantastic friend not only to me but to all of our friends, and if there is such a thing she is 'too good of a mother'. Her sons should praise God every day for the mother that was there for them from day one. Also she is the ultimate daughter that a mother could ask for.

I could shout a thousand times that I love her but that could not come close to expressing the feelings of love that for her I harbor within.

I truly hope that our creator will grant Karyn and I just one eternal hour together. She deserves much much more.

This disastrous oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico by British Petroleum boggles my mind because it just sounds totally negligent that an industry as old and financially successful as the entire oil drilling industry is, WHY WHY WHY have the not seen the need to design and install a Fail-Safe valve placed at the ocean floor at the beginning of the drilling process and that valve remain there until the well is caped off and abandoned.

I keep hearing this '5ooo Foot' excuse, that the depth is too great and the pressure is too great to make a valve work. That is pure 'Bull Shit'. We can put a space station into outer space, send probes to the moon and mars And put up the Hubble Telescope into the universe but we can't design a safety valve to sit 5000 feet below sea level while we drill 10,000 feet or more into the ocean floor. That is absurd.

I am a welder and sculptor and if they gave me a team of engineers and machinists I could develop a functional safety valve that would work (safely and efficiently) and stay at the floor of the ocean until they sucked the last drop of oil out of that well.

It is my belief that they don't want to spend that extra money to develop and install on each and every well in the ocean a valve as such. This one incident aught to, even to idiots, turn on a few lights in their heads. This is not rocket science, it is simply hydraulics and mechanics.

They have made billions and perhaps trillions throughout the years and they have gotten by on a lot of luck until now but its time for them wake up.

How do you define or perceive exactly what constitutes an artist? Do you believe , that if someone knows how to draw, paint or manipulate other materials such as clay, stone or steel or any kind of material in order to reproduce something that already exists in the real world, that that talent makes that person an artist?

I am not sure that talent is the criteria necessary to qualify one as calling themselves an artist. The term 'ARTIST' has been thrown around, in my opinion, just as recklessly as the word 'LOVE'. I don't think that I love popcorn, ice creme or green beans, but I might really love lobster. I think there is much more to the concept of 'LOVE' than the loose way we use it, and likewise I believe that we use the term 'ARTIST' much too loosely.

The 'PASSION FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION' is the crucial element (sine qua non) requisite to qualify yourself as an artist, of course this being my opinion.

We can look at drawings of children, and readily you can see that their drawing talent has yet to be developed. You can, however, if you pay closer attention to the content discover that some of these children possess a greater "FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION' than the majority of the other children. These children, if nurtured in the arts but not harnessed will in my opinion be more likely to develop into potentially great artists.

I do not mean to imply that talent is unimportant to become a successful artist , but to the contrary one needs to develop his skills as much as possible. The more skilled you are in the use of your chosen medium the more freedom you can experience and the more capable and powerful your passions will surface.

I have read a little book call"ART & FEAR" by David Bayles & Ted Orland and I think that it would behoove anyone interested in the arts to pick up a copy and read. I think it would give you a greater insight as to what an artist encounters when his passions compel him or her to produce works that might cause a public or family outcry of dissent and even at times violent outbursts of rage.

It truly is sad that sometimes when an artist finally reaches that point in life that he makes that decision to freely express his true feelings about life and the human condition he finds himself alone because most of his friends and family and society don't want to see or hear about 'His Freely Expressed Feelings'. If a truth does not sound pleasing to some people they don't want anything to do with it.

My new beginning

This is the beginning of my trying to reach out to the world and share the bulk of my thoughts on 'My' blog. I am 63 years of age and I want people to get to know me through my own words. I don't, as any of us, know our last day on this beautiful planet, and I prefer you not getting to know me through the words of possible biographers.

I know that probably sounds a bit hubris to even think that someone would be interested in writing about me someday but, I do believe it will happen and then the biographer can say 'That guy was so hubris', and then write whatever else he or she wishes to say.

Writers are very creative so I don't think that whatever I write about will create too much of a problem for them.

This is only an introduction to say I'm here blogging and I plan to return with much more say in the days to come. I hope you'll get something thoughtful from my blogs.