Ramblings of an artist 5-18-20

 5-7-20 It takes money to make money - that was my post on facebook 5-6-20. I am not sure where I heard this or if I read it some place, but it has stayed with me and I understand it. Whatever you want to do you have to have some money to get it started. If you are looking for a job, you have to have money for gas or bus fare. If you want to buy a house you need to have the down payment in most cases, but you have to be ready to make the first payment and you have to have a job to secure that it will be feasible. What I was referring to was me getting the internet so that I can decide what my next plan of action will be. So I can take care of business and join in on any invitations I get via the net from colleagues and friends.

5-9-20 I've started communicating with a friend that I hadn't spoken to in a while. It's been the case with many people. Everyone is looking for some sort of connection. I don't usually have a problem being by myself, but when you don't really have a choice in the matter that can make a person a bit antsy. I've been copying music to my laptop and trying to decide which music CDs I want to get rid of. There's a lot music and movies that I won't watch. And since it'll be a while before I invite anyone over... the chances of them wanting to see a certain film or movie are probably slim. Still, sometimes I am in the mood to watch one of those movies that I hadn't seen in over 30 years.

5-10-20 Today is Mother's day. It's one of those days that I just prefer to be by myself. When I started going back to church I would have an issue with this day because the priest would ask all the mother's to stand up so they could be acknowledged. My mother passed away in 2005, a few days before her birthday. Which makes me remember lots of things for several weeks. When I used to travel a lot I used to always make it a point to make it home for my mother's birthday or Mother's Day. The year she passed away, I was on the Big Island of Hawaii. Prior to leaving New Orleans for my trip, my mother was rushed to the hospital and wasnt supposed to live through the night, but that wasn't the case. I had made all the possible arrangements by Louisiana law that I could make. I knew my mother wouldn't have wanted me to cancel my trip. I was confident in my decision and I had instructed the family not to call me if she were to pass while I was away. Of course there is always someone that doesn't listen. The doctors and nurses all had instructions and told me they would take care of everything. Most of what happened when I got back home is a blur. I do remember planning the day in which the services would actually take place. It was the end of May when we finally had the services and buried my mother. It was somewhat of a difficult time as I didn't know what I was going to do. I had been retired at this point for 5 years.
There was still a lot of stuff that needed to be taken care of and I had to get myself focused. I didn't want to be around other people who were able to celebrate their mother's. Now I just have memories of certain things.

5-13-20 I finally contacted Spectrum to order the least expensive offer to access the internet. It'll be a while before the modem arrives, but I shouldn't have to limit my time online. I am not planning to spend a large amount of time online like in the past, but I will be able to conduct business. Get my taxes done, do some research. Get back to writing on all of my blogs and not just this one.
During the Quarantine it's allowed me more time to remember certain things. Memories are all some of us have to get us through. Hopefully there are more good memories than bad. I was thinking about how I got my first computer and internet access.
The year was 1993 and I was had gone to Seattle for the first time to visit and friend and attend the Seattle Internation Film Festival (SIFF).
I had the opportunity to attend one of the parties and met this woman. Before leaving she had given me her business card so that we could stay in touch, but she said she would only do business with me if I had an email address. Shortly after returning to New Orleans I went to Radio Shack and bought my first computer. For a brief moment Prodigy was my email and the quickly discovered AOL and it all changed from there. I never actually did business with the woman that started it all, but we did stay in touch for a while. The internet opened a whole new world. I met new people and I was able to keep in touch with some of the people I had met. I didn't know many people with computers at the time,but that soon changed with AOL's chat rooms and soon the list was growing. I met lots of artists and we were able to share ideas and art.
This weeks films and movies, all have to do with fashion. Ready to Wear ("Pret-A-Porter") the Robert Altman film about fashion week in Paris.The large ensemble casts includes Julia Roberts, Tim Robbins, Sophia Loren, Francois Cluzet, Ute Lemper, Linda Hunt, Tracy Ullman, Sally Kellerman, Stephen Rea, Forest Whitaker, Richard E. Grant, Danny Aiello, Teri Garr, Lyle Lovett, Jean Rochefort, Rupert Evertt, Lauren Bacall, Kim Bassinger, Michel Blanc and Marcello Mastroianni. Featuring Cher, Gianfranco Ferre, Jean Paul Gaultier and many others.
Saint Laurent is about the iconic fashion designer. It jumps around, but for those interested in fashion it's worth a look. Creative liscense is usually taken in biographies to make it more interesting.
Phantom Thread stars Daniel Day Lewis as a designer set in his ways, that secretly hides notes in his designs. He meets a woman that is the perfect mannequin and they start a relationship that becomes some what toxic.

Unzipped is a documentary about Isaac Mizrahi preparing for his collection and how he wanted to try something new. I preferred the documentary over Ready to Wear when I first saw it. Ready to Wear seemed to want to make fun of the fashion industry which when I look back on how things were some things can be funny. I like looking at films and movies many years later to see if I still feel the same way about them as I did the very first time. Unzipped features many celebrities, including Eartha Kitt, Sandra Bernhard and Super models Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Veronica Webb and Christy Turlington.
The September Issue is a documentary about Vogue's staff preparing the biggest issue of the year.
Mahogany starring Diana Ross as a wanna be fashion designer turned model until she finally fulfills her dream. The movie stars Anthony Perkins as a domineering photographer and Billy Dee Williams as a wanna be political activist.

Things didn't workout with me getting the internet through Spectrum. I am not ready to have someone come into my home so the self install needed the cable box to be activated. Just wasn't meant to be. We'll see what happens next.

5-17-20 I went to the grocery this morning. I wasn't as anxious as I had been the last two times. I'm going to try and wait another 14 days before I go to the store again. There were some people not wearing masks. I'm not sure if they just don't care or if they like taking risks or they want someone to tell them something so they can get into a confrontation. I got what I needed and came home. I had thought about going over to ZACH and just park for a change of scenery, but I decided to watch a few episodes of Mannix. I had been watching epic classic movies from my collection on Sunday. A few weeks ago it was Lawrence of Arabia, Easter Sunday it was The Ten Commandments, last Sunday it was Gone With The Wind and today it was Cleopatra. Next Sundady I'm thinking The Bridge on the River Kwai. This coming week will begin Foreign Films including Leolo, Like Water For Chocolate, Cinema Paradiso, House of Angels, To Live, Fanaa and Y Tu Mama' Tambi'en.

Thanks for stopping by; Keep an open mind. Do return to see where the journey leads.

www.dlonzo-OpenYourMind.blogspot.com
www.artbyDlonzo.blogspot.com
www.filmlover4pg@blogspot.com

www.psychedmaster.org

5-20-20

  April 29,2020, Today is when this entry starts. Yesterday I didn't see any increase in my bank account when I got my notice so I wasn't sure what I had done wrong with unemployment. This isn't the first time I've had an issue. Initially I was knocked off the site and then when I went back in a few days later the information had gone through so I was already set up. The day they told me I needed to request a check as instructed on the letter I had received, I couldn't do it on the phone and then I went online, but it looks as if everything I did on the phone did go through. So I just had to use my own advice and be patient. A few hours later when I went online to pay a bill I noticed that there was an increase in my account so I was relieved.

I was thinking about some of the younger people that I know and what they could do to benefit during this time if possible. There are some that the $1200.00 may not have to be used to pay rent or bills. What they could do is take some of that money and invest it. They could get a 3 month or a 6 month CD. That way they know at the end of that time they will have access to the money of they were to need it. I would suggest looking at a credit union as they have better rates. If you want to try the stock market you can, but you really want to do research and remember it's a different type of investment. It's not insured and you could lose everything. Your CD is insured so as long as you leave the money in for the amount of time necessary you have no penalties to worry about. There is also a certain amount of time that you can cash in the CD or you can just have the interest moved to another account or take it out and use it. If you don't need the money let it roll into another 3 month or 6 month time which is usually done automatically.

I was talking to a cousin about my house in NOLA. It is scheduled to go up for auction next month. I've been toying with the idea of all the things I really wanted to do and what I would like to do now. There are just so many variables to consider at this time. I need to make some calls and to see what my options are at this time.

May 1, 2020 - I wanted to call regarding the house in NOLA first thing, but I let things get away from me. I called around 10:00 AM and I decided I would just let them call me back. The recordings haven't been updated. The wait time was supposed to be under two minutes, but after an hour no one called. I did some other things around the house to pass the time. At 4:45 PM I decided to call back. This time I was going to hold on. I've always believed the best days to conduct business are Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Monday as early as possible since most people are coming back to work and they've probably had a good weekend. Of course it is up to me not to upset them or ruin their day if I am the first call of the day.
Wednesday is hump day and most people are thinking about the weekend. Early morning or after lunch are good times to call. Since this is Friday I figured my chances would be good. I just had a few simple questions and I knew the person on the other end would be getting ready to go home.
It turns out because of the virus, the auction date has been pushed back until June. She gave me the total of what is due and an email address as she suggested it would be better since they were short staffed.
I'm still not sure if I can raise the funds, but it would be in my best interest to try.

May 3, 2020 - I woke around 7:30 AM and got myself together since I wanted to go to the store again. I had a big list, but I was only going to get what I could find. I didn't want to spend too much time in the store. The parking lot looked as if there were more cars than last Sunday. I put on my mask and had my bags and went into the store. I was a bit anxious, but I wasn't sure why. The baskets were being sanitized, but they were still together. Last Sunday they were all separated so you didn't have to touch more than one basket. I didn't have to touch more than one, but I don't know who was there before me. I wanted to get some cloth gloves, but I haven't done that yet. I figure I would just use hand sanitizer when I got back into my vehicle. I was able to get everything I needed and I treated myself to a few things. I knew prices would be going up, but I was surprised to see that Camelia red beans were almost $5.00 a pound. There are some things I can go generic on, but there is something about Cameilia beans... perhaps its a New Orleans thing or the fact that it reminds me of home. When I first arrived in Austin, the search was on to find Blue Runner red beans in the can. Eventually I was able to find them, but now they are scarce and I have to cook fresh beans because there are no substitutes.
There weren't a lot of people in the store, but I was still trying to move as fast as possible. There were people still going the wrong way in an aisle. No one is wiping down the handles of the freezers. I also didn't see anyone wiping down the check out area. Maybe I missed it, I'm not sure.
I now have to contact the unemployment office today is supposed to be the day to call in. I called, but it turns out my day is Wednesday. I hope I didn't miss a week. I was sure when I went online it said May 3, or perhaps it was the week of May 3.

May 5, 2020- I went to the library to use the wi fi, but it was getting really hot and it wasn't even noon. Luckily it doesn't take long to check email. I made a quick post on Facebook and came home. When I got home it was getting cloudy and then it started to cool off. If I had known that I could have waited a few minutes. Still, it makes me reallize it is in my best interest to get the internet for the house. I'll figure some way to pay for it.

I posted on Facebook, (The Best investment a person can make is in themself) I either heard this or read this somewhere when I was younger and it has always stuck with me. Another phrase that has stayed with me is (It takes money to make money). So those are the decisions I will be making in the next couple of weeks.

This morning its nice and cool. I made my call to unemployment. It's every other week that I am to call in. So now I feel relieved that I didn't mess that up. I want to work on some art projects and just keep myself busy.


I had done a podcast a few years ago. I am not sure it if is still available or not. Check out podbean, itunes and stitcher it's call Films Versus Movies. Check it out and follow me(Dlonzo on Twitter) or Tony (TDoug on Twitter) You can also listen to the podcast on Youtube. I am thinking of just going at it solo once I get things set up.

here are the links for the podcasts - https://tdoug.podbean.com/

           https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/tony-douglas-presents-take-five

 https://itunes.apple.com/om/podcast/tdoug-podcast-network/id804851372?mt=2


Copy and past the links if you are interested in my other blogs and interests.

www.dlonzo-OpenYourMind.blogspot.com
www.ArtbyDlonzo.blogspot.com
www.filmlover4pg@blogspot.com
http://psychedmaster.org

Thanks for stopping by; keep an open mind. Do return to see where the journey leads.