Randy Elrod's Blog, page 53

What’s Not To Love: The Mystique of Absinthe

When I think of absinthe, I think of Hemingway and his posthumous novel Garden of Eden, I think of the glittering Parisian theatres, the Moulin Rouge, the artists, the cafés and all the icons of the...



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My Favorite Mistakes—Part Two—Lessons I’ve Learned From Failing Slowly

Thanks for your overwhelming response to the first five favorite mistakes. Here are five more to add. There are many more. I once read the mantra for a company called IDEO. It was simply, “Fail...



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My Favorite Mistakes (Lessons I’ve Learned From Failing Slowly)

I once read the mantra for a company called IDEO. It was simply, “Fail Quickly.” I wish I had read that several decades ago. I have the tendency to fail slowly. With a thousand pardons to...



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“Muse”—My Latest Watercolor

22″ x 30″ Original Watercolor and Graphite on Handmade Paper Not For Sale Ready to Hang Canvas and Standard Prints Available “Thus, with soul to speak, but helpless in my throes, biting my idle...



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Here Bidda Bidda—Top Ten Reasons You Should Bid For My Original Italian Work Of Art

As I prepare to offer an original work of art tomorrow at auction, I thought it would be fun to give you my top ten reasons for purchasing original art. My first-ever auction begins NOW and will run...



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Why Tolstoy’s War and Peace Should Be Your Summer Reading

One can wonder how anyone who has the slightest interest in books, or the barest curiosity about what the greatest of all novels may be like, could consider not reading War and Peace. At the same...



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A Few Thoughtful (and Candid) Observations On My 55th Birthday

My mom (who is 73 years young) gleefully informed me yesterday that I now qualify for senior citizen discounts. I don’t even know what to think about that. If I truly still live the way Shaun...



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Island Girl

12″x 16″ Original Watercolor and graphite on handmade paper

Archival Giclee and Standard Prints available

“I go to Florida sometimes for vacation. I actually really like Florida. It’s a weird place, it’s surreal. It’s so close, but you feel like you’re in another world or on an island.”—Jemima Kirke

He Has My Blood

There lives a boy

so young, so tender

across the void

He has my blood.

He lives with joy

absence, engendered

tho’ heart deployed

He has my love.

There lives a boy

his daughter’s father

hope ne’er destroyed

He has my blood.

He lives a hoy

life flows like water

old self alloyed

He has my love.

Why I’m Better Informed And More Healthy Than You After 8 Years Of No MainStream Media

When news of the Boston Marathon tragedy broke, I saw it first on Twitter. For some inane reason I felt the need to turn on our television and tune to CNN. However, my father-in-law was visting, and knowing he is a FOX News guy, I reluctantly searched the DirecTV guide and tuned to the “fair and balanced” channel.

After an almost eight year news fast (I stopped consuming mainstream media news in 2005 after my disgust at the grandstanding and misreporting of Hurricane Katrina), I expected the...