Happy August Happy Full Moon
On Porch Geese, Our new Home, and Memorializing the Dead
On Memorializing
My grandpa passed away last week and I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about how we memorialize the dead. I think someone’s passing is an opportunity to recognize all the good they brought into life, the people they’ve touched. It’s an opportunity to consider who we want to be as people moving forward, what qualities of this person we want to carry and exhibit in ourselves.
At the services, in eulogy, and even the obituary much mention was made of how my grandpa always stressed doing the right thing. The motto was even in white letters on a felt board next to a display of pictures from throughout his life. He was a man of unwavering integrity. For me doing the right thing is another iteration of the golden rule. Kindness, respect, compassion. Helping others.
Stronger than the sadness at losing my grandfather (he was 86 and lived a full and great life) was my urge to embody this motto of doing the right thing in my life and sharing it with others. The world would be a better place if we all did the right thing.
How do you memorialize someone who has passed? How do you incorporate what you’ve learned from someone into your life? Tell me in the comments
Recent Art
List of Interests, Musings, and Oddities
Artist I am loving lately. I’ve been fanboying over Greta’s work since I encountered one of their paintings at a group show last November.
Another artist I am loving lately. Their use of lime green is so haunting.
Yet another artist I am loving lately. I love the childlike nature of these paintings but I also love JJ Ellis’s views on art making, which you can read on his instagram.
The history of the Porch Goose, a Midwestern staple Lauren and I are bringing to upstate New York.
These Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) patches. Art mimics life or life mimics art?
Coolest thing I’ve seen a musician do in a while. I’m blown away by how talented this dude is.
New Digs
Lauren and I officially live upstate and it feels so good. We’re firmly in the honeymoon stage with Kingston, NY, but I have to say it feels like home in a way nowhere else in New York has.
Whether you live close by or far away, we’d love for you to visit. We’d love to show you our city, our favorite sandwich shop, or favorite bar or hiking trail (still deciding on this one because there’s so many!) and explore something new with you, because there’s so much we’ve yet to touch here.
It’s been quite a while since Lauren and I have had something to feel especially excited about. It feels good. It feels like a new chapter, a fresh start, a new us.
Kodi is loving her new home and all the local fungi
“He was a man of unwavering integrity.” God I love that and it reminds me so much of my own grandfathers. Got me thinking real deep about the two of them and what they taught me that I’m carrying with me all the time: humor and honesty. They both had really distinct ways of showing how much they loved us that I think I keep learning from all the time.
We met you at the Pine Bush UFO fair (we bought the Jesus getting beamed up painting.) We live in Kingston too, welcome to the area!
So sorry to hear about your grandfather's passing, and I like what you said about coming back to the lessons he taught you. I was very close to my grandfather (nonno in Italian) who passed away several years back, and I miss him very much. It sounds like they were similar in recognizing the importance of doing the right thing. My nonno often spoke of being a good person and helping others, especially anyone having a hard time and needing extra support. Whenever I see something that reminds me of him, I spend a moment just thinking about him, and what I imagine he'd have to say if he was still here.