That was the week that was

This new year has hit the ground running, starting with a new kind of weirdness.  I don't know what to call that event at the Capitol last week; it seemed too placid for a riot, and insurrection implies an organization and leadership that the big group of mopes lacked.  Trump may have been an instigator but he has yet to show any leadership.

Considering the size of the crowd there was very little damage done, I even saw a group of people in one room staying within the velvet ropes as they moved through the building.  There were some seriously bad actors who showed up in military drag ready to cause physical harm but they didn't get very far.  Most of the crowd seemed to be hanging around outside, for whatever reason, maybe just to see what's going on.  But their collective stupidity is astounding and I'm glad so many were smiling for the cameras.  The Feds are going to have a lot of fun going through cell phone records and social media archives, plenty of evidence for law enforcement agencies to share.  And it's not over yet, even more activities are planned for the inauguration so we'd better hang on tight.  If this crap continues we will be further on our way to a draconian police state.  Got to stop the terrorism, right?  And it must be a coincidence that there were no black or brown faces at the Capitol; otherwise there would have been a bloodbath.  Crazy middle-aged white folks have become a force to be reckoned with.

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I enjoyed the new rabbit hole I fell into about tempura, er, tempera paints; many childhood memories were reawakened.  There was a powdered paint that had to be mixed with water, quite messy and the consistency was never right. Then there was the bottled stuff, in little jars in a pack of six, I think.  It may have been called poster paint but I'm not sure.  But you guys have it wrong with egg tempera; it's the yolk that is used, not the egg white.  Plenty of fine tutorials on YouTube on it's use and it seems like a very calm and peaceful painting technique.  I may give it a try but you can't use paper, rigid panels are required.  Making my own rabbit skin gesso may be a step too far, though.   A new fun fact is that egg tempera is more archival than oil paint, lasting many hundreds of years.

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I'm not going to make any predictions about Trump's last days in office but I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up in his bathrobe,  spouting his usual gibberish in the Rose Garden.