Dogma

We’ve been talking about getting a dog for a while, and one shelter I called told me we weren’t suitable because we could only be with the dog 23 hours a day. That would be in Earth days, so yes, you read that right: 23 hours out of 24 wasn’t good enough for them.

Monday the Washington Post ran a sad article, “Shelters Keep Tight Leash on Adoptions – D.C. Animal Group Says It’s Time to Be More People-Friendly”. The article is pretty balanced, it does acknowledge that there are very good reasons to screen applicants, but also highlights places in the process where things can be improved.

"Collector Capers, Part II Artomatic Prankster Returns, And So Does an 'Impostor."

The Washington Post’s Reliable Source (Amy Argetsinger) reports today on the anti-climatic events surrounding the so-called Real Collector and the copycat, who apparently left the trunk that turned up last week. The trunk contained random junk and a box representing what the copycat thought of as “good” art.

It’s complicated, you should go read the article so I don’t have to recap the whole thing here. I’m still on my first cup of coffee.

The Artomatic folks, whose five-week run ends Sunday, were decidedly unpsyched. For most of their nine years, they’ve been hit by critics who think the show’s open-door policy to all artists encourages too much . . . well, schlock. Later, our mysterious correspondent e-mailed us to say that the message of the trunk was meant to support, not attack, Artomatic artists. Still, groaned co-chairman Rebecca Gordon, “It’s not a sophisticated argument.”

I think it’s a good piece, and I think I can speak for my Steering Committee Co-Chair Tracy Lee when I say we’d like to move on now, forget the whole thing, and enjoy the final weekend of the show without all the distractions. But first, more coffee…