Our Annual Christmas Letter: A

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.

PATSCH AUTO BUS CO. INC.

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)

Pardon me, my mind was wandering

“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.

Steve Zarate, lyricist, vocalist, and instrumentalist (Athens, OH)

Back on September 7, 2024 I took a photo of Steve Zarate performing live at the Athens Farmers Market. Over the last few days I’ve been rendering a freehand, digital image of that reference photo on my iPad Pro using an Apple Pencil and the Sketch Club app with a tweak or two in iColorama. Steve’s music complements the fresh and funky feel of the Market.

11 years here (wherever here is)!

…a collection of images – mostly digital – and other impressions…

Emaline at the Cannabis Museum

Emaline

That’s Emaline Duquette, and what a pleasure it was to hear her soulful voice at a Tiny Museum Concert at the Cannabis Museum the other night.

Sketch Club Stats

Graham Nash in Athens, OH

“We’re going to take a 20 minute break so I can take a pee. You try doing this at 82.”
An Intimate Evening of Songs and Stories with Graham Nash at the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on the campus of Ohio University.

What an absolutely wonderful and energetic performance! See tour dates right here. Band members include: Todd Caldwell: Plays keyboards and sings; Shane Fontayne: Plays guitar and sings; Zak Djanikian: Plays guitar, sax, mandolin, and drums; and Adam Minkoff: Plays bass, guitar, and sometimes drums.

Image details: iPad painting in Sketch Club using an Apple Pencil and with a sharpening tweak in iColorama.

Survey Says:

I’ll have what they’re drinking.

survey says

National Peach Tree Dish Day

Let’s leave it at that.

Sketch Club App (iPad Art) Stats: