Pouring My Art Out

The real England… part 4… (or); Well, it ain’t exactly Downton Abbey, but…

Posted on July 22, 2015 by pouringmyartout

After our trip to the cemetery to visit a bunch of our no-longer-amongst-the-living relatives, our cousin took us to what they call in England a ‘stately home’. This term generally refers to huge estates and mansions, but it also includes historic places such as this wonderful dwelling… which, technically was a huge estate and mansion back in its day, so never mind…

I know, it is hard to wrap your head around what you are seeing. This is partly because the photos don’t do it justice, partly because of the unusual architectural style, and partly because you are not used to seeing buildings from this part of history.

We are used to modern buildings, and we are used to really old buildings, usually found surrounded by ruins and often in ruins themselves. For some reason, building from ancient times, those in Italy and Greece for example, do not seem that outlandish to us. I think this is because so many of our modern buildings… almost all the government buildings to use an example… are done in the classic Greek style. Big columns on huge, white edifices do not shock us. This building is from that strange time between the ancient and modern eras…

I think it is done in the Tudor style, but you would have to Google Samlesbury Hall. I just went there. I didn’t memorize every plaque and sign… (ironically, I had to Google ‘plaque’ to make sure that was the right word for those little signs that tell you about historic places and not just that stuff that grows on your teeth… ha)…

It really was awesome. I am not going to show every picture of the rose garden, the extensive grounds covered with lush greenery, the little goat farm or us eating ice cream on a bench in the courtyard…

If I showed you every picture of our trip, you would all leave. But look at that piano in an alcove surrounded by old stained glass windows…

I guess what I try to do is give you a taste, a feel, for the places I have been lucky enough to go.

That is really the best I can do, to make you want to go to some of these places.

While the rest of us walked around, my mom managed to find a chair that befits her status… HA!

Posted in My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged architecture, art, downton abbey, england, history, humor, photography, travel | 13 Comments

The real England… part 3… (or); I see dead people…

Posted on July 21, 2015 by pouringmyartout

Well, we have reached the 6th day of our fabulous trip to Europe. I took Mollie on one of my patented early morning adventure walks. We set out from cousin Dot’s house at the crack of dawn, and soon found the old village church. We are still in the town of Leyland in Lancashire, Northwest of London. I will post another map later.

We saw other interesting things on our adventure walk, my daughter and I, but most of the pictures either have her in them, which I am not supposed to share, or just aren’t all that exciting.

But there is something awesome about an old English church in an old English town, especially on an overcast morning. There were some really old headstones in that cemetery. You can’t help but think of all those families, going to this church for generations, living long and short lives and then ending up right back at the church where they had been christened and baptized and probably married as well… talk about the circle of life.

Also, that church and its attendant burial ground leads us neatly to this church, which we visited later on the way to another adventure. Dot took us to this church to see this headstone…

This is a little confusing, but that is a big piece of our family history, way back before some of us moved to America and somehow ended up with the ‘E’ on the end of our last name. George and Cicely are my dad’s grandparents. So Tom was my great-uncle… I guess… except for the fact that I was adopted… but other than that, this where I come from.

So that church played a huge role in my family’s history.

There is my mom and aunt Dot… who, I may have forgotten to mention is also our cousin Lynne’s mom, and Josh’s grandmother, if you remember them from our time in London… posing with this remarkable headstone.

Is it weird to pose around a headstone?

That one is a bunch of other cousins, and later on, Mollie, with the help of my mom and Dot, recreated our entire family tree… which I probably won’t bore you with… but who knows.

Posted in My travels, Pictures of me, Stories of my life | Tagged england, family, headstones, history, humor, photography, travel | 14 Comments

The real England… part 2… (or); trains, old trucks, and where the Pope sat…

Posted on July 20, 2015 by pouringmyartout

There is my mom at the Preston train station. Preston isn’t actually the closest town to where our cousin Dot lives, but it is closest to the rental car place…

It was awesome to get out of London and into the country.

Traveling by train is always exciting.

I guess I am sharing the pictures of the station because it made me feel like I was in a Harry Potter movie.

As soon as we dropped our bags off at Dot’s house, she took us to this place… Leyland used to be the home of a huge factory that made vehicles. Dot’s friend works at the museum in town. He took us on a free tour, even though it was closed, and we had the whole place to ourselves.

It was really fun, even if you aren’t excited about vehicles.

We got to climb all over and inside of these things. That is an actual Pope-mobile. Mollie and my wife sat where a Pope once sat. Now that is living history.

The older the vehicles were, the more I liked them. That bus is a work of art.

Remember when milk came to your house? I mean, I don’t… I’m not that old… but still…

That fire engine was damaged by fragments of German bombs during the blitz.

And look at the detailing.

They just don’t make stuff like that anymore.

Now we are all the way back in World War One.

We are like Time Lords!

Okay, that might be the most British sign ever…

Oh… whoops… did you notice that I just accidentally posted a photo of Mollie… which I am not supposed to do… but it does give you a scale to compare the size of that thing… so… shhhhhhh…

And that is what buses looked like when they were still pulled by horses.

If you are interested, you can always Google Leyland Motors… or Leyland… just sayin’…

Posted in My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged art, cars, current-events, england, history, humor, leyland motors, photography, travel, trucks, vehicles | 2 Comments

The real England… part 1…

Posted on July 20, 2015 by pouringmyartout

After our exciting three-or-so days in London, we left the big city for the rural countryside. I am not saying that London is not the real England too, but going there and only seeing London is like going to San Francisco or New York and saying you saw America. And, oh yeah… tea and scones!!!

That is my mom gazing wistfully out of the train window as we journeyed through the farmlands of England.

And there is my mom… on the right… talking to our cousin, Dot… on the left. Dot let us stay in her house in the little town of Leyland. The first picture… the one with the tea and the scone… is a picture out her front window. We stayed with Dot for three magical days.

And we did some awesome things. This picture of Dot, once again on the left, and my mom, will make more sense after the next post.

That is Dot’s garden. I think you get to know a place when you smell the flowers and the grass and the trees, when you feel the soil and walk the neighborhoods that most tourists never see. Don’t just meet people who work in the tourist industry. Get out and meet people from all walks of life.

It is by using all your senses that a new place comes alive. I never feel like I know a country at all until I meet some people from small towns and villages, and walk in the woods, and pet some animals and make some babies smile… but maybe that’s just me.

This is the real England. It isn’t the seat of government. It isn’t where history is made, but it is where history happens. It is where life happens.

Look at Mollie, reading the British paper in a British house in a British town in the country, learning about the world… sniff…

I stood in the garden feeling the mist land on my cheeks, I smelled the flowers, touched the soil, listened to the birds and the sounds of playing children. And I felt that I got to know England in a true and meaningful way.

There is my mom, enjoying a quiet moment in Dot’s living room. I am strangely moved to be sharing these pictures with you, I must admit.

Posted in My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged current-events, england, family, humor, photography, travel, United Kingdom | 45 Comments

Let’s talk about Kim Kardashian’s butt… (or); Hey, you know what would really be sexy? A girl with a hugely overdeveloped brain!

Posted on July 17, 2015 by pouringmyartout

But this post isn’t about brains. It is about butts. Once again, I am not setting myself up as a judge of what is ‘right’ or ‘good’ or ‘normal’… That being said, I would like to have a serious discussion about this topic… or as serious as you decide to make it… I’m looking at you, Trent!

You all know I specialize in asking the tough questions, and believe me, I have a few bouncing around in my head right now.

In the first place, is this really attractive or sexy? I mean, I’m pretty sure the guy who wrote that song ‘I like big butts’ thinks it is, but what about the rest of you? I don’t ask you to go out on a limb and express an opinion that might be unpopular unless I am also willing to do the same thing. So here is my opinion, popular or not.

I do not find this sexy or attractive. She seems to be out of proportion. It is like they took part of someone else’s body and grafted it onto her body. Hey, I am all about letting people be who they want to be and look how they want to look, but is she playing to some kind of unrealistic fantasy? And this brings us to the next tough question…

Is this natural? I don’t mean to imply it is ‘unnatural’, I just want to know if that is her real butt or if she had surgery or injections or whatever. Is there some kind of workout regime that will lead you to look like this, or does it require the right genetics? And once again, I am not judging. I am just curious.

Let me know what you think. If you don’t feel comfortable leaving a comment, believe me, I understand.

Posted in funny famous people pictures, My art, thinking about stuff | Tagged art, big butts, butts, current-events, digital art, fashion, humor, kim kardashian, social-media, style | 50 Comments

Goodbye, London… the final final chapter… no… seriously… this is the last one…

Posted on July 17, 2015 by pouringmyartout

The thing is… and we might as well get the ‘thing’ out of the way right up front… but as I was going through all the pictures of our trip and organizing them, I named a bunch of them; me 1, me 2, me 3 and so on… and those were all the selfie pictures I take just for the blog, or pictures Mollie or my wife took with me in them… and I forgot to keep checking them as I was sorting the London pictures into bite-sized story post chunks.

So I have a bunch of extra pictures of me… in London… that I can’t let go to waste…

So I won’t…

Because they are pictures of me…

And we all know how much I love me…

And I know how much some of you also love me…

Especially Trent, my head minion…

I mean, really, I might need to get a restraining order…

But let’s not worry about that right now…

I am going to stop doing posts about the Europe trip for a day or two… because exciting stuff is happening, and I will post about that… plus, I have been thinking about Kim Kardashian’s butt… no… not is a bad way… I have an idea about a post… simmer down…

Okay, I could explain that picture… and the next one… but I am not going to…

I am going to let those two photos… and the Kim Kardashian butt statement… act as a test to see if anyone is really paying attention… really reading all these words… so we can all sit back and watch to see how many WTF questions I get…

I hope you enjoyed London. Next, we will be venturing into the English countryside… meeting more English relatives… living in a real English house in a real English town… seeing cool old machines… meeting animals… getting to know the Beatles… and seeing another movie scene being filmed…

And then on to France and Germany…

Where we will see more cool stuff…

I hope you come with me.

Posted in My travels, Pictures of me, Stories of my life | Tagged big ben, current-events, england, great britain, humor, london, london eye, photography, travel, United Kingdom | 18 Comments

Goodbye, London… the final chapter… almost…

Posted on July 16, 2015 by pouringmyartout

Let’s review our magical stay in London…

We saw them filming a scene from an upcoming James Bond movie. That has to be at least as cool as seeing the Royal Family and Les Mis.

And we did see the Royal Family… riding in fancy carriages… right down the Mall… right there…

Oh, and we discovered those things… yum…

And we ate a lot of scones… like that one that Mollie got in the Tower of London.

There will be more about scones as our adventure through England continues, but if you go to England and don’t eat a scone, you haven’t really been to England.

We ate a lot of good fish and chips in a lot of good pubs. Once again, if you do not eat fish and chips, you didn’t do it right.

I even ate an actual ‘English breakfast’… except for the tomato slices… but you don’t have to do this if you aren’t up to it… maybe try Googeling it first…

We saw a giant horse head statue in one of the parks.

It was totally awesome, but unfortunately, I think it was part of a memorial to all the animals that have died during Britain’s wars… so… uh…

We also saw lots of real horses… and (spoiler alert)… there is an adventure coming soon involving horses… but we also saw guys in the middle of a modern metropolis who looked like they just came back from filming a movie about fighting Napoleon at Waterloo. How cool is that?

We saw lots of lions, a symbol of Great Britain.

And we saw baby geese!

We saw crazy new buildings.

And the crazy new buildings were often very close to crazy old buildings.

Posted in My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged animals, art, current-events, england, great britain, horses, humor, london, photography, travel | 16 Comments

Goodbye, London… part 2…

Posted on July 16, 2015 by pouringmyartout

I found a set of pictures I missed sharing with you…

These were all mixed in with my random London photos. After we saw the Queen, the baby Prince, and most of the Royal Family, we walked to Trafalgar Square… my favorite square ever named after a battle in the Napoleonic wars… seriously…

Of course it features a statue of the winner of that battle… Lord Nelson… on a pillar so tall that you really can’t see Lord Nelson unless you move away from him quite a bit.

It is both impressive and more than a little amusing.

The square is also famous for being the home of the National Gallery, and the large statues of the four lions that surround Nelson’s statue.

This bagpiper also inhabits Trafalgar Square, but they haven’t made a statue of him yet.

I apologize for doing a few extra posts today. I am going to get through these London pictures and then give you a break for a day or two… at least from pictures of the trip… I will do some other weird stuff instead.

We all know I do these posts about my adventures for myself as much as I do them for you.

It makes me feel like my journeys will live on forever.

And I get to relive them as I try to come up with little stories to make them come alive for you.

I consider that a win/win.

So try to bear with me.

Posted in My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged art, england, humor, london, lord nelson, photography, trafalgar square, travel | 4 Comments

Goodbye, London… part 1…

Posted on July 16, 2015 by pouringmyartout

It is time to say goodbye to the beautiful city of London.

I hope you enjoyed our time here.

If you have been there, I hope it helped you remember a few memories, and if you haven’t, I hope it made you want to go.

You may not know this, but the actual City of London is only a small part of the area that most people think of as London.

These dragon statues surround the city limits of London itself, and let you know when you are entering the heart of this vast metropolis.

There is so much to do and see in London.

There is so much history and culture.

It is a teeming, vibrant hive of activity.

You never know what… or who… you might see.

But that is the thing about traveling vacations, you are always moving on to someplace else.

And saying goodbye to places you have come to love.

Posted in My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged big ben, current-events, england, humor, london, photography, thames, travel | 2 Comments

Bond… James Bond…

Posted on July 15, 2015 by pouringmyartout

Yeah, we saw them filming a scene from an upcoming James Bond movie when we were in London…

It was the night of our last full day in London, and we had just gone on the London Eye. My mom was tired, so I took her back to the hotel. Mollie and my wife decided to spend a little while longer in the center of London.

I had just gotten my mom settled in when they called to tell me to get down to the bridge by the Parliament building as fast as I could. I hoped in the ubiquitous London black cab, and met up with them in time to see all this excitement going on.

They were shooting a scene from a James Bond movie. They kept closing down the bridge, and then these helicopters would swoop down the river Thames and pop up right by Big Ben, pass over the bride, and then zoom away.

There were cops and security people and film crew crawling all over the place.

The chase helicopter was filming the other helicopter during all of this. Then they would open the bridge and let people and cars across for a while, then close it down and start all over again.

My wife got one of the security people to admit that it was indeed part of a Bond movie.

No, we didn’t see any of the actors… this was just an establishing shot of some sort…

They had spotlights set up on the roofs of buildings.

Yes, it would have been nice to see some actual actors, but when the movie comes out, and we see the helicopter zipping in front of Big Ben…

We will be able to watch that scene and know we were there for this exciting bit of history.

I have always had this sort of luck in my life. I tend to end up where exciting things are happening.

And I try to share as much of that with you as I can… in fact, we had another, similar experience with a movie being filmed, just a few days after this, when we went to Liverpool…