We were in “Ireland,” yes, the Emerald Isle, for nine short but glorious days divided almost equally between Belfast and Dublin. Glorious… Divided… These words didn’t just pop into my head, but that’s a different story. Among the many common denominators, Guinness!
An airplane doodle…
Squint and you’ll see they’re enguinnessed.
Mason Alexander Ault
OK, so I got to spend some lagniappe time with Mason Alexander Ault, who performed the following at the 5/22/2025 Bob Dylan tribute show:
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
To Ramona
It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Just Like A Woman
“Lagniappe” is a concept and a term I became familiar with while living in New Orleans. In Cajun culture, “lagniappe” (pronounced “lan-yap”) means a little something extra” or a bonus. It’s often a small gift or extra item given by a merchant to a customer, usually as a thank you or to show appreciation. it’s kinda’ like the notion of a “baker’s dozen.” Lagniappe time, then, is being able to spend a little extra time with live performers sketching freehand on my iPad Pro mainly in the Sketch Club app. I’ve illustrobloged elsewhere on the subject of lagniappe.
Also performing were the following:
Bob Stewart
I Pity The Poor Immigrant
Girl From The North Country
Mr. Tambourine Man
When I Paint My Masterpiece
Albert Rouzie
Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power)
Man In The Long Black Coat
Highway 61 Revisited (Mason-harp)
Blind Willie McTell (Todd-harp)
Caitlin Kraus – See Lagniappe Part 1
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (Albert-guitar)
Masters Of War
Queen Jane Approximately
Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright
Steve Zarate
Subterranean Homesick Blues (Todd-harp)
Love Minus Zero/No Limit
I Want You
Mama You Been On My Mind
If Not For You
Todd Burge
Jokerman
You’re A Big Girl Now
Gotta Serve Somebody (Steve/Caitlin/Mason/Albert-b/g vox)
All I Really Want To Do
Bruce Dalzell
When The Ship Comes In
Tomorrow Is A Long Time
Dark Eyes
You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
(Closing songs)
You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
The Times They Are A Changin’
My Back Pages
~
🎼 🎶 🎸 🥰
(Photo by Bob Stewart, showing Todd playing harp as Albert sings a lesser-known Dylan song called “Blind Willie McTell.”)
“Before you answer…” was selected as part of Calm or Chaos, an online gallery exhibit sponsored by the Cape Cod Art Center and the National Association of Digital Artists
Click here to view the exhibit or take the tour.
Click here to view the exhibition catalog.
Before you answer…
The Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, aka Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse is located a short distance from Lighthouse Ice Cream.
Click on image to enlarge
Technical: I made this freehand iPad painting using a photo that Annyth took as a reference using the Sketch Club app for drawing and painting and iColorama for final tweaking.
All joking aside, I’m pleased to share the following from the National Association of Digital Artists (naDA):
According to O’Betty’s website, the eatery is located in the Cameron building, the smallest building in Uptown Athens. Originally built as a barber shop, the venue has been the home of other restaurants, such as Seven Sauces, The Strawberry Patch, The Korean Restaurant, DV8, The Redbud Cafe, and finally and lastly, O’Betty’s. I fondly remember Redbud Cafe; but, whenever I bite into one of O’Betty’s delicious hot dogs, I’m overcome with amnesia, euphoria, and dejavú.
O’Betty’s in Uptown Athens, OH
Technical: I used my own reference photo to make this quirky iPad painting in Sketch Club with an Apple Pencil. The composition took me about 3 hours over the span of several days and consists of 6,486 brush strokes on 3 layers. I then tweaked the image in iColorama.
As you well know, we here at portfoliolongo.com have a holiday tradition that goes back all the way to 2013, yes, our Annual Christmas Letter! (Please continue reading below.)
At our annual retreat in early December the Board of Directors and Senior Management – both of us – meet and, after a self-facilitated process that incorporated large sheets of adhesive, butcher-block paper and color-coded stickies, decided ultimately that the 2024 letter would be A, mainly because of our new facility in Canaan Township, Athens County, Ohio. Please click here to view posts previous years’ letters.
Several years ago I saw an awesome photo on Flickr taken by David Wilson, I believe in 1969, of one of the old buses that I would see almost every day of my childhood growing up in Canonsburg, PA. Click here to see that photo. I’d been so taken by that photo that I decided to use it as a reference for a freehand, digital painting on my iPad Pro in the Sketch Club app. The image brings back fond memories, and I can almost hear and smell that bus going through this intersection in Houston, PA, a neighboring town.
Click HERE to see a Patsch Auto Bus Co. token.
(click on image to enlarge)
“Impermanent record,” occurred to me as a vague notion. When I mentioned it to Annyth, she suggested that I do a cartoon, and the notion remained a velleity until now.
The title of this post can be attributed to the late Dr. Owen Dukelow, Professor of Philosophy at Washington and Jefferson College. As an undergrad in the mid to late 1970s I took a couple of his classes. I also worked in the college library all four years, and Professor Dukelow would show up now and then and place a stack of his newsletters/bulletins on the front desk for people to take away and read for free. The informal series was entitled, Pardon Me, My Mind Was Wandering. I remember finding his short essays amusing, but I wasn’t mature enough to recognize the themes of equanimity and impermanence. I do now, at least to some extent.
