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Weak XXIII

5 June 2025

No. 94 (cartoon)

Logic isn’t my forte.

It’s not even your pianissimo.

6 June 2025

Undocumented Ashtray in the Jet Lavatory

I was in the lavatory of a jet headed back to San Francisco when I was reminded that the best camera in the world is the one you have with you. The tiny toilet in the sky was covered in warnings of all the woes that would betide me should I smoke, vape, or barbecue in the tiny space, with additional admonitions against tampering with any of the sensors that might detect the scent of a salmon steak on a grill.

Now here’s the funny part: the recently refurbished bathroom also had an ashtray. I was going to photograph it, but didn’t even have my crappy phony camera in my pocket. I didn’t bother to come back later with a camera; an empty ashtray is almost too boring an image even for me.

7 June 2025

Drowned Mouse

When I was a boy my father warned me on many occasions that I could drown in a cup of water. I’m not sure if that was to alert me not to be complacent about safety anytime I was in the water, or one of those obscure facts one can trot out for entertainment value, such as “cows have four stomachs.” (Cows only have one stomach, but imaginary facts are much more interesting than scientificky ones.)

I was reminded of how dangerous water can be when I discovered something disgusting in the fetid water at the base of my half-liter glass after I returned to my studio after being away for a couple weeks. I was confused until I took a closer look and saw that somehow a mouse had climbed into the glass but couldn’t climb out and had drowned in a tiny volume of water.

Just like my father said. Thanks for the insight, dad!

I photographed the poor wee bugger. Death and decay are endlessly fascinating, so I’m not calling the snapshot art since that would be too easy, predictable, and unimaginable. I can do better than that, but perhaps not today.

8 June 2025

School of Optometry

I may like School of Optometry more than any other piece I’ve made in recent months; everything seems to work. I should let the piece speak for itself, but instead I’ll point out that the metal characters identifying the building have been removed, but “Ralph S. Minor Hall” is still legible in ersatz Braille where they were mounted.

Perhaps I should see if blind people have optometrists.

9 June 2025

Orien McNeill

A week or two ago I wrote about Marc Ribot, an excellent musician whose name I didn’t recognize. And now I just “discovered” a great artist when I saw this headline in The New York Times: Orien McNeill, artist/pirate prankster who made merry mischief on the water, dies at 45.

I’m not going to rehash the obit, but his work reminds me of Monte Cazazza’s, but more fun. I wish McNeill wouldn’t have checked out at such a young age, the alleged art world needs fewer clowns and more pranksters who bite the hands that feed them.

10 June 2025

Academic Intersection

A couple days ago I almost gave myself a rotator cuff injury describing how much I liked my new School of Optometry piece. I’m not sure how I feel about Academic Intersection. It might be another pretty good photograph, or perhaps just a forgettable exercise in composition and geometry.

I’m not going to overthink it; this ain’t My Greatest Hits Internet Site. I don’t worry about showing work that’s not my best in An Artist’s Notebook of Sorts; it’s supposed to be a notebook where the stinkers appear on the same screen with the good stuff, or at least my better stuff.

Coming next weak: more of the same.

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©2025 David Glenn Rinehart