This is admittedly long-winded, but take the time to read it if you're really curious about who I am. You won't be faulted if you're really not interested, but you will also not be excused if you decide to jump to prejudgments about me. For obvious reasons, I have to use the pronoun "I" rather a lot to tell you about myself. Much of this was written when Flickr was more a social site, and interesting and compatible friendships were more encouraged. That is not so much the case, now. Thank you!

 

I did not anticipate having to say this, but I am NOT interested in seeing provocative or nude photos of yourself—intended to titillate! If you are making me a contact with the idea of showing me such photos, then be advised that I will immediately BLOCK you from viewing or visiting my site. I am a 78-year-old man, a life-long artist who has seen a sufficient number of naked human beings, well beyond getting weak-kneed at such things, and I am not responsive to your sexual come-ons. I really ought to reciprocate—or get even!—by sending you images as I am, now. That would cool your ardor! Mercifully and humanely, I do not "capture" such images, so we're all saved. I'm interested in beautiful, sculptural form, not genitalia.

 

I am a 78-year-old lifelong native and resident of Kansas (throw out all your preconceptions and labels; they won't apply to me). I will own up to having intellect and a broad range of interests, but I have little use for intellectuals who are more concerned about staking turf, establishing their "credentials," and nurturing their own self-esteem. I prefer the company of people---however inexpert or underexposed---who have boundless enthusiasm and curiosity to those who are busy defending their calcified viewpoints. My interests listed here are no more than a selection from all that fascinates me, and I am often responsive to the different passions of others as well. My propensity to find interconnections, intersections, and tangents leads me down all sorts of compelling paths. I don't usually have an immediate use for my discoveries. So much the better! I am deeply committed to and involved in art [drawing, painting, sculpture, history], music [piano performance, repertoire, and history], genealogy and history. Among other things! This may help one to understand why I have chosen the images among my "Favorites" collection.

 

In my own drawing and painting, I gravitate toward portrait and figure [which explains my many selections among my "Favorites"], architecture, seascapes and cityscapes, and landscape, generally in a naturalistic [as opposed to phototrealistic] style. In sculpture, my primary focus is human figure. Because I often do reconstructions of historical times and places, I like to gather images of human bodies of the past. Too often, in many contemporary reconstructions, humans are represented with steroid-pumped physiques that are inappropriate for more distant times and aesthetics. When one sees an representation of a nineteenth century man with powerhouse pecs, or a woman with a Playboy figure, there is a problem with accuracy. For the time being, due to an eye condition, I have had to pause in my artistic activities. One more operation, in October 2019, will determine my future artistic endeavors. Right now, the image in my left eye in no way corresponds to the image in my right eye, which is a significant impediment to creativity in the visual arts.

 

In music, I concentrate on the repertoire for what is loosely termed "romantic" piano [broadly, 1830—1930]. Before anyone takes offense, I freely admit that my musical preferences are unusually narrow in range, and that this in no way serves as a judgment on the musical tastes of others. Country-Western, Jazz, etc. is not "my thing," but this does not mean that I think that my music is better: it is simply what brings me peace and happiness.

 

I value courtesy, consideration, kindness, and behavior that is appropriate to any given situation. A generous and genial earthiness is a welcome release within intimate circles, but I don't believe in disrupting the general public with misguided assertions of personal freedom.

 

"I don't care what they do, so long as they don't do it in the street and frighten the horses...." [Mrs. Patrick Campbell]

 

I hate pretension, proselytizing, intolerance, condescension, and black-and-white outlooks or attitudes. The spiritual beliefs of others are---and should be---unique and intensely private: I won't judge whatever personally held convictions help you to get through life as long as they are not exercised at the expense of others. I don't care what faith you follow, but if anyone else suffers because of it, keep your distance from me.

 

It is perfectly right and reasonable for you to have unassailable opinions and convictions, but don't come to me with that mindset and consume my time by pretending to ask for my opinion or input, when all you want is yet another opportunity to restate your own inflexible beliefs. I love being a friend; I hate being an audience. Talk to me, not at me. Ask me to exchange, not endorse.

 

I neither focus on, nor filter out, the negative elements in today's world. Because I am exposed to unremitting accounts of global unhappinesses regularly enough through other venues, I prefer that the movies I watch be pretty much positive, escapist, and not particularly pregnant with deeper meaning. If potential critics feel a real rush of superiority by expressing contempt for my preferences, well...how nice for them. My choices reflect good associations from the past rather than aesthetic angst. I turn to print and PBS for weightier matters, as the world grows increasingly more grotesque.

 

My direct genealogical lines lead into most of the royal houses of the British Isles, Europe, Russia, and Byzantium before 1500. None of this benefits me personally nor does it in any way make me a special person, but it does explain my keen interest in history. When one learns that his many times great-grandpappy Hugh has had his head, limbs, and balls hacked off and randomly distributed for display throughout England, it is not unreasonable to wonder why. I have a Downton Abbey sensibility and a truck-stop palette.

 

I love dogs. With all due apology, cats—and children—do not charm me. I unabashedly consider vanilla a flavor, and actually prefer it to chocolate.

 

For the time being, I do not have a digital camera and so I can't post any photos any time soon. I do, however, appreciate the art---and outlooks---of others, who see in so many ways differently, as well as the same, as I do. It is a wonderful thing to be able to see through the eyes and lenses---and hearts and minds---of virtually everyone in the world. We can all more easily understand how we are essentially alike, no matter where or how we live. It causes one to wonder why there is so much strife and hatred. I am also fascinated by the conjunction of individual perceptions and viewpoints, occurring at different times, which leads to so many "chance" or "found stereograms."

 

To those terribly important souls who snort and maintain that they will not acknowledge people who do not or cannot post photos, I would counter that I suspect that they are primarily concerned with seeking praise for their own work and/or are merely looking to trade pornography and explore fetishes. A substantial percentage of the images in the Flickr site were taken for reasons of simple documentation rather than art, and a wonderful portion of these achieve both aims. There are natural artists; and there are self-styled, self-conscious artists. I am happy to praise the former. No doubt the would-be connoisseurs and "artistes" would love to purge Flickr of what they deem mere snapshots. If they wish to be so precious about their work, perhaps a private, self-contained web site would be more appropriate. Flickr gives every opportunity and appearance of being open to everybody. I am assured that when I can afford to purchase a digital camera and thereafter post photos of this particularly mundane and un-scenic Kansas town, the practitioners of photographic art will fall all over themselves to praise the content and composition of my work. Riiiiiight. That some contributors are exclusively and obsessively confined to pictorial presentations of their own body parts tends to underscore my point: absolutely any photos are better than none? All things considered, how sad it is that some people would scuttle the expansive and rich potential of new friendships because of narrow, self-imposed restrictions, as well as cheat themselves of a more inclusive appreciation of their photographs. Thus saith Dr. Phil: "Is this working for you?"

 

From the wealth of images so generously contributed by Flickr members, my Favorites are chosen primarily as a record of what I have seen [I lived in Italy for three months without a camera, and I can't get enough of the Oregon Coast]; as documentation for research in art, architecture, sculpture, history, and lighthouses; and, not least, for pure aesthetics. I am deeply grateful to each and every member for enabling me to expand my experiences, horizons, and resources.

 

IMPORTANT: among the images offered by my contacts will be a few that may be considered offensive by many individuals. What should be noted is that these images are intermingled among others—usually reproductions of art work—that are not offensive and are valuable to have available. Before leaping to any conclusions about the seeming prurient nature of certain images, check to see if there are also other more "sanitized" and acceptable, useful images on my contact's site. I don't collect pornography, and I don't expend a great deal of energy attempting to define it for myself or for others. Being a 78-year-old artist, I have seen rather a lot of flesh and don't find it particularly "stimulating" at this stage of the game. If you need to pass judgment on such things, by all means do so, but don't presume that you are accurately interpreting my tastes and interests. As you will see from my "Favorites" gallery, I don't collect what many would call "racy" images.

 

I also am intrigued by the way the repository of Flickr images allow for a 360° view of almost any building, statue, place, etc., which helps anyone to get a thorough understanding of a particular subject. I hope to generate my own artistic recreation of the places and things that I have seen [without a camera], which is why I have amassed so many images of specific fountains, sculptures, buildings, locales, etc. The research possibllities are limitless.

 

By some un-programmed quirk of temperament, I seem to gravitate to creative underdogs, or so-called "lesser lights," although I am not aware of their assigned, diminished status at the time. I also vehemently defend their right to exist and be appreciated. This is why, for example, I believe that Bandinelli's "Hercules" has every right to stand proudly across the steps from Michelangelo's "David," and why Ketelby's music has its place in the concert repertoire, and why James Tissot merits serious consideration as an artist. To submit the riches of creativity to the caprices of fashion and flatulence of self-proclaimed critics seems rather pointless and, frankly, stupid. Having allowed myself to be subjected to the acquired rigors of "connoisseurship" over many years, I am aware of what one is supposed to think about many things. I have been exposed to the codified hierarchies of acceptability and worth, and I remain unconvinced. What is gained by intellectual snobbery is nothing to what is lost by it.

 

Being clear-headed enough to grasp that a teen-aged geezer, land-locked in the middle of Kansas, is something less than a draw, I can't seriously speculate about my being "open" or whatever. To borrow from Gilbert and Sullivan, "there's a fascination frantic in a ruin that's romantic, do you think that I'm sufficiently decayed" comfortably applies to me. For the present, the possibility of travel is virtually nil. But...if you're strangely in need of a disembodied "presence" among your acquaintances or friends, I'm your man!