As they say, the days are slow but years go fast. ...
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In 1995, artist William Utermohlen (1933-2007) learned that he had Alzheimer’s disease. For the last five years of his life, he tried to understand the disease by painting himself — a series of self-portraits which revealed the progression of his dementia.
The paintings, which were shown in 2006 at the New York Academy of Medicine in Manhattan by the Alzheimer’s Association, are heartbreaking to say the least.
The paintings starkly reveal the artist’s descent into dementia, as his world began to tilt, perspectives flattened and details melted away. His wife and his doctors said he seemed aware at times that technical flaws had crept into his work, but he could not figure out how to correct them.
As you can see from the first portrait in the series, Utermohlen was a fairly naturalistic artist before the onset of Alzheimer’s. The abstract, surrealist paintings that follow are characteristic of the Abstract Expressionism movement of art — a genre he refused to embrace at his prime but ironically became the source of his fame.
I have never liked going to "tourist-y" attractions when traveling. I know this is the cool thing to do these days — to seek out the less popular, hidden gems when vacationing — but I have always been like this, even from a young age. And the reason for this aversion? Disappointment. The Mona Lisa. The Eiffel Tower. The Sistine Chapel. Starry Night. The Parthenon. The Pantheon. The Colosseum. The Statue of Liberty. Notre Dame Cathedral. The Blue Domed Church in Santorini. The Leaning Tower of Pisa. The Last Supper. Saint Peter's Basilica. Capitol Hill. The Louvre. The Palace of Versailles. Niagara Falls. The Grand Canyon. The Trevi Fountain. The Statue of David. And so on and so forth. Never have I been impressed and/or surprised by visiting these famous...
Continue readingWhen I asked if you guys were sick of my talking about Korean beauty products, reader J Lee replied, "NO NO NO. YESYESYES to more posts like these!!!" And others seem to be enjoying these posts as well. :-P But as much as I would love to keep buying and reviewing new items, I would much rather spread the love first. And you know what that means, don't you? ;-) That's right — another giveaway! I thought about having the winner(s) choose a Korean beauty product I have talked about in my Korean beauty haul series. But I knew that not everyone has the same skin/cosmetic concerns as me. I then considered giving the winner(s) a gift card to an online...
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Are you guys sick of me blabbering on and on about Korean beauty products yet? Well, too bad, because I have more to say! It's officially been over a month since I first started using these items, and I still remain wildly impressed. In the past, my skin would slowly become accustomed to the new products and/or regimens so that by this point, the benefits would diminish and sometimes even disappear altogether. (Does this happen to anyone else? Finding a new beauty product that works wonders in the beginning, only to find it losing its effectiveness as your skin adapts?) But with these Korean beauty products, my skin has remained clear, soft, bright, and supple. My pores have decreased in size, the sebaceous filaments on my nose have...
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