Eighty Four, PA

Posted on June 20, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

There was an old monk whom I’d see on a daily basis back, oh, thirty some odd years ago. (This was posted in 2015, so grab a calculator.) We’d have a similar encounter each and every day. For me it was repetitive; for him each exchange was brand new. He was familiar with Western Pennsylvania, my home region, and he somehow knew about Eighty Four, PA, which was not far at all from my hometown, Canonsburg, PA. Not surprisingly, the headquarters of 84 Lumbar is located right there in Eighty Four, PA.

At any rate, every time I’d see this old buck, the conversation went one of two ways. Half the time it went as illustrated below. When it didn’t go that way, he’d ask me if I was from Canonsburg. I’d say yes. Then he’d say: “I was just talking to a guy from Canonsburg.”

Internet Summary and iPad Update

Posted on June 20, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

My iPad’s getting a facelift; well, a whole face transplant. I dropped it a few days ago, and it’s spending the night with Mark at Speedy Computers, in his iCracked capacity. He’s putting on a new screen. I had to use my old iPad for this post, which has an older version of Paper 53 on it, fortunately. Ok, that’s the iPad update.

Here’s this week’s internet summary, and I hope you’ve been keeping up (click here if you’re behind):

Rather Big News

Posted on June 14, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

I learned today that one of the iPad drawings that I submitted to the mDAC Summit’s Mobile Digital Art & Photography Exhibition was accepted and will be exhibited at the Palo Alto Art Center during the month of August, 2015. In the category of digital painting there were over 700 submissions, and mine was among the top 100. To celebrate this great news everyone at portfoliolongo.com will have the day off tomorrow. In a few weeks, when the news is ready to be shared, I’ll post the announcement link and the image in question. The opening and reception will take place on August 7, 2015.

Taxi in front of Hemingway’s Finca Vigía in Cuba

Posted on June 13, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

Like I said, they’re everywhere; well, in Cuba at least. I snapped a shot of this enormous Cadillac taxi, in front of Finca Vigía, a museum now, where Ernest Heminingway lived from 1939 to 1960. The Finca is located in San Francisco de Paula, a small town about 10 miles from Havana.
Here’s a rendering of that taxi done in Procreate with a Sty-HD stylus using the photo referenced above…side by side, freehand.

Rest in Peace, Cuthbert

Posted on June 9, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

On June 2, 2015 a friend and former confrère of mine, Fr. Cuthbert A. Jack, O.S.B., was laid to rest. You can read his obituary here. After his funeral the monks of St. Vincent Archabbey most certainly entoned the Benedictine Ultima, a rendition of which, accompanied by none other than Yo-Yo Ma, can be seen and heard by clicking on this YouTube link. See the Benedictine Ultima lyrics and sheet music below.

(Revised 6/12/15) Thirty five years ago Cuthbert and I – along with something like 13 others – were in the same, unusually large novice class. From that novice class only two remain, one at the abbey and the other at a parish not too far from the abbey. My condolences to them. Astonishingly, Cuthbert was the fifth to die from that group of novices. The others are off doing one thing or another. Read Cuthbert’s obituary; multiply it by 100. Why? He was a character for Christ’s sake!

See the three YouTube videos – inserted below – of Cuthbert making bread.

Procreate, Sty-HD stylus, freehand with photo reference (See obituary or watch progress video.)

They’re Everywhere…

Posted on June 8, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

…and there’s even a Facebook page: Carros Clásicos de Cuba! So, on our two flights back home, I put stylus to screen in Procreate for a side by side freehand guided by a photo that Annyth took with her iPhone.

Hotel Palacio O’Farrill: Lobby, Bar, and Restaurant

Posted on June 7, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

In the Hotel Palacio O’Farrill’s dramatic lobby/courtyard Wendy, Kevin, Annyth, and I – along with the eight other visitors on our educational tour – enjoyed breakfasts before and preprandials after each day’s program, complete with guide, Jesus and driver, Ramon. Why O’Farrill?

Beer, wine, mojitos, Cuba Libres, and, of course, música cubana!

Rum and CUC

Posted on June 6, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

We just got back from a week, a wonderful week in Cuba. I’m way behind. Where do I begin? How about the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), pronounced /kook/. So, let me get this out of my system: Rum and CUC. See also Santiago de Cuba rum.

House of the Rising Sun Bed and Breakfast

Posted on May 28, 2015 by portfoliolongo.com

In two days we’ll be flying to Cuba, but that’s another story.

Today was our last full day going down Memory Lane in Algiers Point, New Orleans, where we had lived from 2005 to 2010. As Annyth says, we were “in with Katrina and out with the Super Bowl.” It goes without saying that those were some life-changing years! From the very beginning – and to this day – we’ve had a special attachment to House of the Rising Sun Bed and Breakfast and its proprietors, Kevin and Wendy. In fact, they’ll be our travelmates on the upcoming tour.

We first met Wendy and Kevin in February of 2005, when we stayed at their B & B while we were closing on a house just around the corner from them (See The Misbelieve Tree.) As new residents of Algiers Point, we became friends with them, and through them, many others. Here we are “strolling” as the Monopoly Board in the French Quarter on Mardi Gras in 2009. The friendship and the story…to be continued.

Side by side, photo referenced, freehand iPad drawing in the Procreate app using Sty-HD stylus.