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Young Man With Bicycle (2006)

5408m
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

This is the first appearance of the dangerous looking young man who reminds me of a certain not-so-friendly guide (but then he's a not-so-un-friendly guide, too) who's usually pictured with blood coming out of his mouth - that's after destroying all of your delusions or obstacles or whatever... it just seems a bit disconcerting at the time. And here he comes.

The bicycle is a mystery to me, tho it's provenance might be The Third Policeman, which begins with the question, "Is it something about a bicycle?"

We never find out.

Piano with Elephant

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Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

There's a physics theory that time doesn't exist (best laid out in The End Of Time by Julian Barbour) which I find very persuasive. It is, in a few words, this: there's a multidimensional space where all possible universes exist. Only a few of those possible universes support life and our (so-called) intelligence. We find ourselves in one now. Consciousness is the mystery here. How it "finds itself" in any particular place. No one knows.

But even if you accept the theory, and the idea that any moment's history is encoded within it (since each moment is separate from all others, and what seems like continuity is mere adjacency,) how does music work? Any particular note means nothing without the context of all the notes that came before it. We anticipate the notes to come, and when they aren't "right" it doesn't sound like music...

Where are we?

Waiting Gently, Thinking of Two Roads

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Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

One leads to rest and sleep, the other to the front door and "the street all alone."

I think I'm in for rest for a few days.

I dreamed of that dog last night. Where is he this morning?

Don't Eat The Camellias

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Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

I may be a traveling man after all.
Sagittarius moon and all that.

On the Road Again Again

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Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

One day you realize that it's never "just one more time."

There's always another. Another road, another entering and another leaving.

I want to stay in this cozy room with the flowers and floor lamp; there's a sense of a nice home behind, where a grandmother or great aunt lives and waits. It's timeless, with a mantel lined with black and white fotos of men in uniforms and women in aprons.

A screened-in back porch, shucking corn and listening to the clothes dry on the line. An old man has puttered contentedly in a warm garage where the smell of old wood and motor oil combine. Jars of screws and nails, saved from other projects, in a row on a workbench. A spider web.

I want to stay, but it's not possible.

On the road again, again.

Askance

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Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

A dog alone. An old car comes rumbling down the desert road.

Should he chase it?

Or let this one go?

Heading off into the sunset, either way.

The Fortune Teller Is Thinking About Something Else.

fortunetellerblog
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

She looks over the client, at you. Don't make me get the dog, she says. Which road will you take? This fool with his issues. It's all here. Why is the sun like that on the floor? It's frozen there. Wishing we could hear the dog howling at the moon. Everything is a beginning. Why does she get to wear an orange hat? It's her birthday.

Palette #8

palette8
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

My Goodness. A Russian or Turkish dancer spins about with Chagallian laughter. A Roualt harrumphs, but everyone else is loving the grey-and-green combination of clouds and trees. It's a marvelous combination that Nature is very proud of. When the light from the clouds makes the leaves seem to glow. Mitsubishi or is it IBM is trying as ever to force itself into the fairy tale but with undying lack of success. For which we're all grateful.
Beauty and Beast, that sort of thing. I can smell the nasturtiums and roses in the heat. A lovely sunset far away, but so beckoning to a romantic (but phony) like me. But then not phony, too. A blue mona lisa smile keeps us honest, but adds, "It's your birthday."

Army Of Flowers

Army Of Flowers
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

An Army of Flowers is what we need now. Luckily, we've got one!
Quick, tell the bees. They'll want to meet and start strategerizing.

Palette #7

Palette #7
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

Here's an ancient warrior who, while scary enough, is really confused about who and when he is. He has knocked down, accidentally cause he's clumsy and angry all the time, a girl in a skirt and now he's thinking What to Do?
He has a yellow dog that thinks of swimming pools. Other people just throw up their hands and drop peaches in practiced despair. TONE: damage done, atonement, the low intelligence of crowds.

Waiter's Nightmare

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Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

In a dream I'm a waiter - I've done that a lot - but I'm the only one to show up for work, and the dining hall is endless, thousands of tables. And I can only do one thing: start working. In the dream, there's no alternative at all, the possibility never even comes to mind. Only a sense of I'm going to be doing this forever.

Palette #6

pallette6
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

Man on fire. Running because of something important, not because he's on fire. That's incidental here. There's a hole in the sky, and this hasn't happened before except in a dream. He will have to buy a new hat. Tone: worry, hurry, but it's all going to be OK.

Monoprint #1

mono#1
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

Perhaps you recognize the house from other paintings. Took a monoprint class a while back. This is one of the pieces I did.

The image makes me think that we're not ready for a birthday party this weekend. There are no Chinese lanterns, rope lights, bins of beverages, and so forth, party stuff. None at all, and we have to make it happen. Soon!

Palette #5

Palette #5
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

An old hunter - like Dersu Uzala perhaps - recounts the adventures he's had on a long hunt. Fires on the horizon, the biggest meadow anyone had ever seen, and a strange gathering of people with yellow hair - yes! - who talked about building something called a parking lot. There was a big lake on a cold morning and three pillars that he was told to stay away from.

Palette #4

Palette #4
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

jungle, open spot where you can see the sea... charcoal remnants of a fire used to roast over-confident explorers.

A Man And A Piano

A Man And A Piano
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

latest painting for a jazz art show here and in SF later. this is a big one, 4' x5'.

Who Is Waiting For Whom?

oldmananddog
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

This old man doesn't seem to mind that there's a huge black dog waiting for him outside. Maybe the portrait hanging above the couch has given him strength.

What Lies Beneath

palette3
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

These palettes could be seen as something like a Wilson Cloud Chamber photo, as the remnant of a process, of something moving through.

Palette #2 I Am Very Messy

palette2
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

I've been told that I should lay out the paints on the palette the same way every time - I guess so that I get familiar with the layout and don't need to think about where or look for the different colors... but I have never been able to do that. Every painting is different, and every palette is, too. I have a bunch of them and together they start to look like some kind of divination practice going on without me noticing it at all.

have a good time in the bardo

have a good time in the bardo
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

Working on a book-version of the series "The Dead Are Always With Us." This is one of the pieces...

Making An Entrance

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Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

leaving it black, before the moment when the reality-completion is complete, he (or she) makes an entrance into a small room, attached perhaps to a larger house... a comfortable, quiet room. for the moment. in the distance, a full moon reflects.

The Turtle House

The Turtle House
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

Where I learned that a house can be a spaceship.

Landing Lightly

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Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

At least that is the hope. We don't want to be falling uncontrollably. It could be a family reunion just out of sight in the painting, where we're "dropping in."

Or maybe the house is for sale, and we're stopping by to see how the remodeling went.

There are no sureties - except that someone or something will push you out of the plane, whether your parachute is ready or not.

Feather In His Cap

Feather In His Cap
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

And he's humming a jazzy version of "What a wonderful world" to himself...

An Outpost

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Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

No one has been to for a really long time.

I wonder what it was built for, and for whom.

it's night all night

it's night all night
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

you can wait for almost an eternity before you get a drink in this joint. but I still go there. if it's not the service it must be the ambience.

El Greco's Hands

El Greco's Hands
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

well, he painted them. such repose.

El Greco at the Legion - detail of sky

El Greco at the Legion
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

El Greco is one of my favorite painters... View of Toledo used to capture my attention for hours when I was little..

So we're in the museum in San Francisco - legion of honor? lots of Rodins in there, too, some link to the French people - taking pictures of everything while the organ plays show tunes and Sinatra in another room.

Fantastic series of prints by Max Klinger - a whole series on Death, so it was right up my alley... more pix soon..

Peter Doolittle

pete_shirt
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

where are you Peter? we must get together in SF soon.

and we'll be making that shirt again soon.

let me tell you something...

let me tell you something...
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

just sharing.

the back yard

DSC_2113
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

the back yard on the way to being a magical garden... there's even a big rock that looks like a turtle's head...

japanese lanterns pretty soon

Death As A Salesman Online - Chapters 1-4

Death As A Salesman Onliine

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Humor Creative Writing dying douglass truth

We'd love your comments!

night train to Madrid

night train to Madrid, originally uploaded by douglasstruth.

I love the early morning hour... when I finally got to sleep in the incredibly small bed - sharing a tiny room with 6 others, it was Heaven. Great dreams too, wish I could share them with you.

The Marseille Carousel

The Marseille Carousel, originally uploaded by douglasstruth.

Gimme a ticket for a airplane... ain't got time.. no wait, I DO have time for a fast train... and I'm not going to see my baby, what? O yeah... confused a bit. Going to Spain to see the sites in the sun. And write. Yeah, that's it!

Had a dream last night: piloting a very large jet plane, on the runway, speeding up for the takeoff, but the runway isn't cleared, still trucks (and a high school track team as well, I think) on the runway. We're gaining speed but are we going to make it over them? I ask the unseen copilot: "Abort?"

He says "No."

Avignon Carousel

Avignon Carousel
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

Just down the square from the Pope's Palace in the old city of Avignon, which is completely surrounded by a two story stone wall with places to shoot arrows from... lots of people, students, cars...

sat and drank good coffee and watched the people go by.

that's what you're supposed to do. it's fun, too.

the carousel was gorgeous. wonder if the pope used it.

300 yr old sycamore

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Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

just below the apartment where I'm staying... in the morning they make a lot of noise unloading wood for the pizza place.

things are not open all the time like in usa - I think it's because people have their own lives here... something like that. it's different!

Marseille

CIMG3671
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

hey, ya know, this "south of france" thing is really true. it's nice...

not getting much work done yet, my lag kicks in late.

I'd like to come back here...

Two Orange Towels

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Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

This is a study for a Tarot Deck Series. Orange Towels will be one of the suits. The others shall remain nameless for the time being.

On the road to the SF airport soon, then 10hrs to Paris.

Exciting! Pix and videos soon.

05/31/08 Doug Truth--DeathAsSalesman

05/31/08 Doug Truth--DeathAsSalesman
Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

Dorothy getting ready for the show. ie Nausea.

You Have to Get Past Him

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Originally uploaded by douglasstruth

Getting ready for a trip to France. I'm oddly anxious about it. But it should be easy, nonstop San Francisco to Paris, then a 5 minute walk to the TGV, and then straight to Marseille where my friends await.

And then some travel down to Spain. I'll be posting pix, videos, and thoughts along the way.

My main thing is to finish the book version of Death As A Salesman.

Talk to you soon!

Purple Notebook

Purple Notebook, originally uploaded by douglasstruth.

here's the painting of the office. the purple notebook is at the center of everything, like the akashic records almost.

The Purple Notebook...

is dedicated to my friend and assistant Nancy, which is file under the topic of "You never knew what you were missing till you had it."

I'm reminded for some reason of the great movie Dersu Uzala, where the Russian Kapitan and the hunter Dersu almost freeze to death out on the tundra. Dersu's quick wits save them, and in the morning Kapitan is dancing around and thanking Dersu...

Dersu says, "There's no need to thank me - we are working together."

That's what it's all about...

Douglass Truth's Very Bad Introduction to Death As A Salesman

Click to Play

Dorothy Truth's "people" ask Douglass to do an introduction to the play. It does not go well. Watch in horror.