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Category Archives: Whimsical Sketches

Innocent Until Proven Guilty

11-Jan-08
Innocent Until Proven Guilty
“I do not steal shiny objects!”

I’m still conjuring up crow images.

In the process of researching crows I remembered something I had long forgotten. They are pretty smart and they like shiny objects. In fact they find ways to steal them so they can hoard them away.

Reminds me of Emelda Marcos and her shoe compulsion — I’m sure they were shiny.

Anyway, I got to thinkin’ about how a crow might react to the media circus that would result if he were indicted on felony burglary charges. I mean indicting a crow would certainly be a first and the media jumps all over first time court cases.

What Would The Usual Suspects Do?

Nancy Grace would have an Ivy League legal expert on her show offering up his opinions on whether the case was even constitutional. Then she’d have an experienced female behavioral expert chime in on whether this was an in-born behavior or a choice the crow made. And of course the male legal expert and the female behavioral expert would get into a heated debate on the moral aspects of incarcerating a crow for in-born behavior — something he couldn’t help.

Now, since the crow is black, the NAACP would demand equal time on the airwaves and stage a peaceful protest outside Nancy’s studio.

If the case were in fact prosecuted and won by the feds, a precedent would be set and in short order every crow would be caught stealing, filling up our prisons with yet another apparently singled out group — ripe pickings for the American Civil Liberties Union and The Sierra Club — a Save The Crows coalition would be initiated by them.

People in large SUV’s would be driving around with little magnetic black ribbons on the back with “support our crows” written across them.

Then you’ve got your big money crows. The white collar burglars. They would assemble a team of flashy, high profile attorneys, most likely Parrots and Cockatoos. Each case would be a security nightmare because of all the socially deprived stray cats trying to get in and execute their own form of vigil ante justice on the rich bastards.

And The Big Question…What Would Oprah Do?

I can envision Oprah interviewing a defendant whose case was found to be a miscarriage of justice after spending ten years in prison. Eventually freed after the real perpetrator was uncovered, it turned out the poor crow was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Oprah would naturally shed a few tears upon hearing his story told to America on her show — think tight close-up of Oprah here. Then, in an act of total generosity, in front of millions of American viewers, she would give the crow all her jewelry, free and clear, to hoard away any way he likes. The audience would rise and cheer and America would witness another first, a crow balling his eyes out in gratitude.

Bless her heart!
Bless his heart too!

Mmm, Mmm, Mmm…this is what I do in my idle minutes.

Seen Any Worms?

06-Jan-08
Seen Any Worms?

Do you think there are “conversations” that go on in nature?

If there are, we certainly aren’t privy to them.

So that means there aren’t any right? I mean if there were, we’d surely know about them by now. I mean we WOULD know because we know everything…right?

Seems to me these questions fall into the category of:
Is there a Bigfoot?
Is there a Loch Ness Monster?

If one day we actually DO find a Bigfoot, Nessie…etc.
Then I would most likely be inclined to think these conversations, out in the woods, when nobody is around, between crows and toadstools, cows and ducks…heck pretty much everything…probably do go on.

And we will all simply be walking around saying “I’ll be dad burned!” when we find out about it.

Spring Break Tips

05-Apr-07
Tips For Spring Break

The Florida sun is hot spring breakers. Here are a few helpful tips and reminders.

  1. Hat bill to front when outside, half-circles on forehead look stupid
  2. Sunscreen is for your skin, not for squirting off balconies
  3. Pass out in shade, not sun
  4. Belly flopping into pool makes sunburn sting really bad
  5. “oooh ooooh, ahhh ahh” takes on new meaning while making out with sunburn
  6. It is hard to be cool when you are red
  7. peeling is soooo not cool

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Sketch Therapy

26-Mar-07
Lining the Toe

Alright, perhaps I need therapy. I know, this one is well…odd.

Let’s be kind. Odd is a good kind word and appropriate in this case. When my mother was somewhat uncomfortable with being around a particular person, she would refer to them as “odd”. Even if they were psychotic, odd was the word.

See what I mean? Odd is a kind way of saying someone or is demented, insane, has “a loose screw”, is a politician, a lawyer, or is otherwise off the deep end. And it can apply to things as well…such as this sketch.

This sketch springs forth as a response to Karen who suggested I sketch an inverse of the last post which was “Toeing the Line”.

The inverse then would be “Lining the Toe”.

Get it? Clothesline? Putting the toe from the last post on the clothesline? Lining the Toe? Sure you get it!

Good!

Now I’m not so odd, am I?

Sketch Therapy

25-Mar-07
Toeing The Line

Sometimes you just start.
No particular thought in mind.
Just satisfying an urge to sketch…for therapy…to take the mind in a different direction.
And you end up with stuff like this.

You know those “Masters”? Renoir, Davinci, Michel Angelo, Durer…the really old Masters, not the most recent of them?

I just bet they sat troubled at 3:00am sometimes and did poop like this. Probably ended up in their attic and later in the trash…maybe even a direct hoop shot straight into the trash. Too bad. It’d be worth a fortune today and it would shed some light on the real person behind those wonderful paintings.

Not that I’m comparing me to them of course. I just wonder about them sometimes…whether they were like the rest of us.

Redneck Jet Service

24-Mar-07
Fly Jet Red

Just pondering some entrepreneurial ideas…

Think this could work?

Any investors out there?

In hindsight, might need to raise the prices…

I’m thinkin’ I might need to weld on another gas tank for them two overseas trips…

Postcard Art

21-Mar-07
Hold The Vermouth Please

I’ve been thinkin’…

I like doing postcard art. I think that’s all I’m going to do for a while.

I like the idea of sending each one away with the hope that it might cause a chuckle or smile for someone.

I like that somebody might put it on their cubicle wall at work for decoration.

I like that it might end up on the frigerater in someone’s home. (That’s Georgia talk for refrigerator.)

I like wondering if somebody’s great, great, grandchild will take their great, great grandmother’s postcard that she kept on her frigerator to the Antiques Road Show in the year 2110 and find out it’s worth $30,000 because it’s only one of a hundred or so created by a rather odd amateur artist named Don West who was known to draw them purely for fun and then mail them around the world to spread the fun around.

I know…that’s vain. But so is getting a haircut, wearing jewelry, or driving a “luxury car”. We all have our vanities. So cut me some slack friends and neighbors…humor me.

Soooo, if you would like one of my postcards, send me your name and mailing address using my contact form. I’ll keep a list and send out each postcard after I post it on the blog. No worries about privacy, I’m not gonna sell or give away your address to anybody. The only thing I ask, is that you come back here to the blog and leave a comment on your postcard.