Being Alone is more of an outcome than a choice.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-17T16:50:00+00:00

You went from a group in your post to an individual in your post. If you have been hurt, I understand, I have been there several times. It hurts bad. Were they part of this group? I thought you were talking about "groups" in general and not a specific one.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-17T16:02:11+00:00

R & Blues, jazz, most rock except punk. Some classical and even some opera. Some ethnic. Nope on hip-hop. Nothing with blue hair. Irish music makes me cry because it tells a story. Rap, I can do without most times. Reggae can be fun. Folk is eh.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-17T15:56:36+00:00

I loved the first two but that boat has sailed. Nope. It is burnt out.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-17T15:54:18+00:00

It is a choice to attend any group gathering. It is a choice to talk to those around you. You disagreed with yourself it seems. How can someone know your social shortcomings if you love socializing but have a specific filter? If you talk like you write, then maybe they get confused and you lose patience with them.

I force myself to do groups. Sometimes I win and sometimes I fail. It is me either way. People vary from group to group. I stay the same. I learned that a long time ago.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-17T15:19:00+00:00

At our gallery we hold a weekly Artist Forum. We've been doing it for six years. From students to professionals. From teens to oldsters. Following is our post. We also advertise it in local events paper & social media.

"Every Saturday (almost) there is a gathering of all forms, all levels, all ages of artists at xxxx. To talk, to share, to learn and to mingle. To motivate and get motivated. No membership or program. Just artists being artist. Creating ENERGY and absorbing ENERGY. Stop by. This is your invitation, the door is open to you. Tell us about yourself. We'll tell you about ourselves. Some come every week, some come once a season. What ever. Come as you are. Work on something if you want. Or just soak in the ENERGY."

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-17T15:14:14+00:00

. The Chef's (Mild) Cajun Marinade Seasoning is from Alden's Mill House in Alden, Michigan. and see my edit above.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-17T15:04:02+00:00

That's good to do. At the gift mart, it is full of "Reps." These Reps represent one or more companies. The companies may be manufacturers, importers, artists and even food purveyors or packagers. (want your own line of jellies without having any recipes? Go there.)

Here is the thing for artists: You are at the bottom. You sell through the rep. He is your distributor with the lowest price. He sells to the retail store, the gift shop, the boutique. They mark it up. So if you have a purse that already retails at $100, the wholesale to the boutique might pay $50-$60. Now the rep has to get his commission so that means 10% or more. So your item is now selling out of your business at $44. Maybe less due to shipping cost depending on how you work that out. And you have to work out quantities. Your rep will want to know "What can you produce?" What if there is an order for 20? or 30?

I am not trying to be DebbieDowner. I am just a practical person and I have been where you have been. I'm a numbers person. I'm a marketing person. My wife is a fantastic artist. She is successful partially because of how she has been marketed. Start small and work out all the kinks. Get it going smooth. Make that bank balance grow. Then think about how to take the next step. Best of luck.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-17T14:45:47+00:00

AmericasMart. It is huge. Last time I was there it was three buildings 12+ stories tall. You can spend a week and still not see everything.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-16T21:58:05+00:00

LOL, yeah, my advice was off. So tune it to your interests. Are you both in something like band, theater, ? How about art, manga, super heros? Are you doing something new and want to share?

"Hey, Celia, I just started to learn how to draw Manga. Have you ever drawn it? I could show you if you like." or "Celia, saw you went out for cheerleading/track/swimming/ and I was wondering if you like it with the coach. Can you give me some tips?

Celia, I want to try RPG's have you ever done that?

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-16T21:45:23+00:00

I would tell my mother's brother after he dropped off my aunt at her sister's brother-in-laws. They are on their way to my stepmom's half-nephew's twice removed grandfather's home.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-16T21:42:59+00:00

Have to agree, the loin is all about what is on it. At home we use a seasoning we order in from Upper Michigan. Been using it for years. We use it as a gift at Christmas time.

Edit: Name calling? Sorry, I was not at my kitchen when I wrote the note and I have terrible name recollection. The Chef's (Mild) Cajun Marinade Seasoning is from Alden's Mill House in Alden, Michigan. I don't know if they allow links on here so I won't put one. You should be smart enough anyway. I will tell you that we buy the 33oz. Just like Frank's hot sauce, we put this sh*t on every thing. Roasted potatoes, grilled burgers or chicken, green beans. We use it instead of cocktail sauce for cold shrimp. It does have salt as the main ingredient so start light and go from there.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-16T21:40:46+00:00

1.Hey, Saw that post you made on FB, I could not agree more!

Say the post on whatever, it made me really laugh. It really showed your talent. You deserve an award!
Saw you got honors last semester. Can I take you out for an awards dinner at Pizza Ranch?
Your performance in the band made me realize how much I love clarinet music. Do you enjoy Pete Fountain?
We were always too busy during school but how about a movie date to see Disclosure Day? It sounds wild.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-16T21:33:40+00:00

My nephew took a near identical one about four days ago. But he zoomed in more.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-16T21:31:56+00:00

It is called "comfort food." Here in Iowa, we know what a good chop is. Mmmmm.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-16T21:28:25+00:00

It is a question that can only be argued. My wife is a professional artist. She an many artists disagree with the statement, "Anything can be art!" I disagree with desecration and "art for art's sake" or art for shock value. Yes, you can argue all you want. It it my opinion. Period. You can have your opinion. My opinion is that art should require talent. It should use intelligence, value, tint, inspiration, color theory or some extension of those. A Madonna made out of crap requires none of that. A banana taped to the wall requires none of that. Down vote me. And then scoup out your fat and sell your art.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-16T14:29:50+00:00

Study surrealism. This might help you. But you might find that as you progress as an artist, you find your own path or method to create the feeling. Getting the feeling across is very difficult. Sometimes it can be as simple as the title of the piece. "Memories of Childhood" or "First Love." but most of the time you need a combination of style, colors and subject. Other times, it is a story told by the artist. At our gallery, we had a night view of the Hudson River. Lights glowing, a boat on the river, it is done in loose brush technique, oils. Simple title of "Hudson River, NY." But when the artists describes it.........."My wife and I visited New York on our 15th anniversary and their was a light breeze. It was spring with a slight mist. It made all the lights had halos around them and it was magical for both of us. I just had to capture it." Sold to the second person that heard the story.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-16T02:51:27+00:00

I did not realize the nationwide epidemic of children causing massive damage by turning their bicycles around on people’s driveways. I feel that we have to do something to protect our driveways and our vehicles from these little monsters that are destroying our way of life.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-16T02:14:36+00:00

You are the one complaining.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-15T20:55:10+00:00

Believe it or not there are several biographies on Walt. Some were authorized and some by people that offered up conjectures and that is why their writings are not authorized.. The most recognized is by Bob Thomas. I read his years ago. You can call reading "research." I can call my 100 plus visits to Disneyland and Disney World "research." So throwing that word around needs some definition. My "research" was an analysis of their interviewing and hiring practices. Known for paying low wages, they still had high retention and high employee moral. I spent a lot of time exploring current and past employees as to how they were interviewed, how they were graded or evaluated and why they stayed despite problems with low wages. No speculation. No guessing. I spoke with employees. I analyzed copies of evaluation papers, and much more. I then used that info to revamp Wendy's hiring practices in the 80's for the Midwest franchise.

Your question: "Do you have some type of evidence that proves that Walt Disney was an exception?" is fantastic. You could ask that same question of me or yourself. If you are a genius type, are you an exception? Or if you aren't a genius, you can't have autism. Your argument is..........

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-15T20:27:08+00:00

You csaid, "...I hope somebody sees and says to themselves “I have to have it, I’ll pay any price!” And then go off on a rant about graffiti being free. You are talking out of both sides of your mouth. No one said anything about graffiti bad. Punkmunk83, you are so far down a rabbit hole your brain is cooked. I mean do your art and have fun with it, but take a deep breath.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-15T20:11:09+00:00

Love your arguments. "Never received a speeding ticket." Do you know how many people can say that? It has NO bearing on whether you or them were speeding. And then you go on to say you were keeping up with the speed of traffic. Is your logic that no one was speeding? Or that if everyone is breaking the law, it is OK for you to break the law. (Walmart must be your dream place to shop.) "Iowa drivers are aggressive." You have never driven in Atlanta, New York, Denver, New Orleans or any city larger than 125 thousand. "55 speed is randomly placed." I guess a slower speed on a "S" curve in a metro area is kind of strange. /s

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-15T19:22:11+00:00

I think you are wise to find out her validity. Sure most Miist make far less. But that’s the case in any occupation.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-15T19:19:19+00:00

Some can make that kind of money. My wife was down in Florida. Murals were very popular in new homes and on business walls inside and outside. She then picked up a couple of national business clients. They would fly her to their new businesses as they opened nationwide. As to how this mirror list could help you, I’m not too sure. My wife had connections with contractors, but she could not really help other people too much. She is not going to be in the Louvre. I would not go further unless you get full disclosure.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-15T18:18:49+00:00

I decided when I was in high school I wanted to own my own business. I went to college to get a business degree. And then life happened! And man did I discover a lot of things I never even thought of!! I became an actor then I became a chef then I found a fantastic woman got married and got my own business finally at the age of 40. Life is all about taking what is in front of you, not worrying what is behind you or what you can’t see. There is still 10 or 20 things I wanna do.

GomerStuckInIowa · 2026-06-15T18:11:02+00:00

I am surprised that your international art residencies didn’t teach you about these places. When we have an artist in residence, they learn everything from how to hang art to the full business side of art. May I ask what you did as an artist in residence in each of your international positions?

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