Monthly Archives: January 2024

Art

Pictures in my Pocket

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Some years ago, the US Mint decided to change the quarter coin from a traditional looking eagle to representations of each state. I think it started with the 13 originals and they added new ones in the order that they became a state. I think this was to encourage coin collecting, or maybe they just got bored making the same thing.

So a friend’s grandkids got a starter set for doing just this. And as I just throw my coins into a sack, I had a number of quarters that I was saving to put in parking meters. So I pulled these quarters out and actually looked at them for the first time in years. And I saw that I have these miniature works of art floating around in my pockets. After making 50 state designs, the Mint just couldn’t stop. So here are a few that I especially liked.

You know that I like Great Blue Herons, but I also like loons, pheasants, and whatever the other one is.

An egret is nice, but the bats are the best (and I am keeping them safe from a parking meter). These bird designs all have a nice graphic quality to them, one can tell what they are supposed to be.

I selected the Utah coin because it is such a weird design. I believe it is intended to represent the joining of the railroads from the east to the west at Promontory Point. But this image features a head-on collision with a giant railroad spike floating mysteriously above. Well done designer.

The other coin is design celebrating art in a place I have never heard of, that apparently exists to be painted.

Besides states and places they have also designed series with people, famous men (who cares?) and famous women. This is my favorite, the beautiful silent film star Anna Mae Wong (and she is not going in a parking meter either). The other woman represents the contributions from the influx of farm girls into the Satanic mills of textile work.

And the obverse side of the coins has also had an upgrade, with a new rendering of the founder, looking rather dapper. I can hardly wait to see what sort of art is coming in the future (assuming that we continue to use actual money, instead of going virtual). There will continue to be a place in my pocket for the parking meters until then.

Doings

Holidays

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Well the big holiday season is just about wrapped up, but I thought that I would share how I celebrate these occasions. Some people celebrate with elaborate feasts and special foods (okay, I do some of this). But I also do a little photo shoot with my favorite kaiju.

So I was busy getting ready to go on a trip, and I needed to do a quick set-up. Halloween, like many holidays has an origin in religion. It’s a spooky time of year when the separation of the living and spirit worlds is supposed to thin. And we confuse the spirits by giving out candy to costumed children, because. Here’s an eerie look at my favorite with a necklace of lighted bats.

Christmas has become a time for wearing outlandish sweaters (why? I don’t know). It is now a custom, and I myself wear a sweater with his picture to celebrate. This picture is my idea of the holiday spirit.

A mere week later it’s time for the new year celebration (technically, the solstice has already occurred, but why let that stop an excuse for a party).

More holidays are in store this month. There is Martin Luther King Day and President’s Day a week later. These holidays don’t really have any special foods or symbols associated with them, just that the mail isn’t delivered and things are on sale.

Then comes Valentine’s Day, which celebrates love and romance. Red roses are associated with love, as is chocolate and diamonds. And what exactly is his big romance? Well it appears to be destroying Tokyo (other places are strictly optional, but known to occur). And who hasn’t considered destroying a city when one’s nap is interrupted. In lieu of destruction, my love is taking photographs of kaiju and I consider this a great way to mark the passage of these holidays.