The Foxfire Book Edited By Eliot Wigginton
Foxfire 2 Edited By Eliot Wigginton
American Stories By Calvin Trillin
Composed By Rosanne Cash
The Walking Dead Vols. 13, 14, 15, 16 By Kirkman, Adlard, Rathburn
Here’s Negan! By Kirkman, Adlard, Rathburn
The Book of Leviathan By Peter Blegvad
The Contract With God Trilogy By Will Eisner
Through the Woods, Stories By Emily Carroll
The Plot By Will Eisner
Watchmen By Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
As you can tell the beginning of last year was devoted to graphic novels. I finally finished the Walking Dead series (very enjoyable, and different from the never ending TV series) I reread some Will Eisner and a few others, then on to some finance and history books.
Living Well on a Shoestring By the Editors of Yankee Magazine
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth By Ric Edelman
The Americanization of Edward Bok By Edward W. Bok
Iowa, Land Across the River By Don Doyle Brown
Remembering Santa Fe By Willard F. Clark
Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons By Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Vonnegut was one of my favorites growing up, and I have decided to reread some of his stuff during 2025.
Other than newspapers, magazines and online articles that was it for 2024.
May 2025 be a good reading year for both you and me.
Once a month I highlight a piece of art I have created and posted on my Fine Art America site. This one is titled Envy Menace from the Spray Art Collection.
This poem has traveled along with me since I was around 12 or 13 years old and has popped up here and there over the following years. I came across it again recently and felt like sharing.
By Robert Frost
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Source: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/148652/nothing-gold-can-stay-5c095cc5ab679
This photo of a 1940’s Iowa farm family could serve as a perfect example of the phrase “dirt poor.” While the father and the two girls manage to muster up smiles for the camera, the mother remains solemn and the boy…well, his attitude seems a little carefree compared to the rest of the group. That was an attitude he would draw from as needed over the course of his life. The reason I know that is because that boy became my dad.
Once a month I highlight a piece of art I have created and posted on my Fine Art America site. This one is titled Penetration from the Photos Collection.
I don’t have much of a report for the Acreage Update because I was not home for a part of last month, and nothing much happened anyway according to my wife. She spotted another opossum on our acreage, which is good if it sticks around because they eat mice. Another willow tree fell here, adding to the several already down, so there will be no shortage of both firewood and work come spring. A majority of the state is experiencing a “moderate drought” and most of us know better than to wish for precipitation during December through February, but it always comes anyway. We are keeping our eyes on the forecast and staying prepared.
“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lighting and the lightning bug.”
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Nigel Russell (Director of Photographs at Heritage Auctions) on the significance of Jim Marshall’s 1963 photograph of Bob Dylan:
“Jim Marshall’s photograph of Bob Dylan kicking a tire down a New York City sidewalk in 1963 is an iconic image that captures the youthful energy and rebellious spirit of the burgeoning folk musician. Taken at a time when Dylan was emerging as a powerful voice in the American folk revival, the photograph portrays him in a moment of playful spontaneity, kicking a discarded tire with a sense of carefree abandon. The black-and-white composition adds to the timelessness of the image, emphasizing the gritty urban backdrop of New York, a city that was integral to Dylan’s early career. Marshall’s ability to capture such an unguarded and candid moment speaks to his skill as a photographer and his deep connection with his subjects. The image encapsulates the essence of Dylan’s persona at the time—unpolished, unconventional, and full of potential—making it a significant piece in the visual history of one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.”
P.S. A new Dylan movie comes out December 25.
Off The Back Porch 