Month: October 2022
Bet On Us!!
After a recent day at work, Dear Readers, I was talking to a former co worker whom is working as a chef in New York City and he remarked about a fellow Spectrumite who they were training as a prep chef.
The thing that amazed him was how obsessed the prep chef was at the job, how laser focused he was. It was something that I can relate to, as I’m focused on details at my job and I always try to aim for a standard in my poetry.
That’s the thing to bring up when it comes to employment and disabled individuals, it just feels like us are discounted, talked down to and underestimated.
That’s something that we need to change on both sides. We need patience, we need time to prove ourselves and we need an opportunity, simply put. I’m lucky that I’ve been given those opportunities, I know that there are others that aren’t so lucky.
So, to those who want to work, I want to tell you not to give up, no matter how tough it gets, that you’re not alone in those tough times. Know that you’re an amazing person, no matter what.
So, always bet on yourself and for those whom wish to give us a chance, please bet on us, you might be surprised by what we can do. Bet on us and we’ll show you our best, how we can be better people and how we can all…
Shine On!!
A tribute to Carol Zaloom by Nina Shengold
Dear Readers, I wish I could say that I could take credit for the following article, but I can’t. The following article comes from the wonderful Nina Shengold, as a tribute to the late Carol Zaloom. To be fair, I did ask her for her permission to share this with you all since her tribute is a lot better, more articulate that I could be, try as I might.
So, please enjoy this latest tribute to a fabulous friend and, as always….
Shine On!!!
Some people move through this world with a shimmer of magic. Like a flame-haired Johnny Appleseed, artist Carol Zaloom sowed beauty wherever she went.
Carol had a wicked sense of humor and a lusty, irresistible laugh. She drew people to her like a magnet. She loved freely and deeply, finding joy amid barred owls and crows, cats and cave paintings, a basket of freshly picked mushrooms, a gorgeous kimono or a child’s drawing. Her fiercest, mama-bear love went to her children and grandchildren, her old friends and lovers, and the man she always called My Poet, Mikhail Horowitz.
When she died on October 16, 2022 after a long illness, loved ones hailed her in mythological terms: Mother Gaia, wild woman, sorceress, ultimate Earth Mother, mentor, sage, goddess, dynamic soul, bright and joyful flame: magic incarnate.
Carol Jane Smith was born in Decatur, Georgia on August 6, 1947. The first time she was placed on a pony, she gave it a kick and it took off at a gallop. An unbridled redhead and self-proclaimed tomboy, she adored horses, art and popguns, especially “Annie Oakley’s Golden Smoke Rifle,” which she begged her parents to buy. They declined, but decades later her son Django gave her one as a Christmas gift. It hangs over the door of her Saugerties studio.
After graduating from St. Pius X Catholic High School, Carol attended Marymount College in Washington, DC, where she met Chris Zaloom, a Georgetown student and aspiring musician.
“She was the prettiest girl in DC,” Chris recalls. “All my friends said, ‘She’s the one.’” They got married at 19.
Carol found a job at DC’s first head shop, while Chris rehearsed with The Brave Maggots. They spent their wedding gifts on a three-month “Europe on $5 a Day” honeymoon, roaming from the museums of London and Paris to the bazaars of Istanbul. Carol drank everything in.
They moved to New York’s Little Italy in 1967, enjoying the low-rent Bohemian life. Carol and fellow artist Sandi Zinaman, another pre-Raphaelite beauty, modeled for fantasy-and-comics artists Jeff Jones, Michael Kaluta and Dan Green, posing as brides of Dracula or in boar-tooth necklaces and vintage furs.
When Chris’s new band Fear Itself brought them to Woodstock, he and Carol lived in a schoolbus before finding a derelict house tucked into the woods north of Saugerties. Built by an Irish quarryman in 1852, the rambling stone house had no electricity or indoor plumbing, but plenty of black snakes and broken glass.
“I knew it was mine the first time I saw it,” Carol proclaimed with her native exuberance. She spent the next 50 years making it magical.
Carol holding young Django.
When sons Django and Kahlil were born, she bathed them by the glow of oil lamps in water she’d pumped from the well. Little by little, the house acquired modern conveniences and a distinct personality.
The builders had plastered a curving stone wall at the base of the stairs. Carol graced it with an original cave painting of a horse. She silkscreened door panels, hung antique lace dresses in windows, strewn antlers, sleighbells and photographs over the mantel.
The couple split up but remained on good terms. When the boys were teens, Carol joined friends to see poet Mikhail Horowitz perform with jazz musician Joe Giardullo. Already a fan of Mik’s movie reviews for the Daily Freeman, Carol invited him to her annual Easter party. He arrived an hour early — he claims by mistake — and helped her set up.
Carol worked as a photographer and darkroom technician at Woodstock Times, and when Mik was hired as the newspaper’s Cultural Czar they began hanging out together. “We’d take two-hour dinner breaks on deadline nights,” he reports with a grin.
When Mik got pneumonia, Carol took him home and nursed him back to health. Then he borrowed a friend’s car and totaled it. Again, Carol took him in.
“One day she looked at me and said, ‘Why don’t you just move in?’” They shared the house with a rotating bevy of cats since 1989, turning it into an idiosyncratically beautiful shrine to the creative life.
Nobody seems to remember exactly when Carol first picked up a linoleum gouge. “She was always drawing,” says Chris. “But once she found linocuts, that was her thing.”
Cutting linoleum plates is an intuitive process. The artist must carve in reverse — right to left, dark to light. Every cut creates textures that stipple white space. Each application of ink with a brayer yields subtly different results.
Pulling prints in a tiny studio packed with an astonishing density of art supplies, vintage graphics, and cherished objects, Carol hung them to dry in the windows with old wooden clothespins. She often enhanced duotone originals with hand-applied watercolor, so each print was truly unique.
Largely self-taught, she refined her printmaking skills at the Woodstock School of Art, where she lectured on French cave paintings in 1998, created a limited-edition fundraiser Annual Print in 2011, and started teaching in 2014.
Former WSA president Kate McGloughlin writes of Carol’s work, “She made carving a linocut and imbuing its character with spirit was like breathing for her. Each line told a story, every mark had a spark of the divine.”
The women in Carol Zaloom linocuts are never still. They stride, snowshoe, gallop and row; they leap over fences to outrun a bull — or ride one. A devotee of Paleolithic art, Japanese prints and Celtic fairytales, Carol wove many mythologies, mixing and matching at will: Daphne morphs into a laurel tree, a samurai centaur flips open his fan, an armored knight battles a dragon whose lair is a laptop computer, Edgar Allan Poe sports a raven cravat.
But she also brought mythic dimensions to local wildlife: a porcupine pierces the stars with his quills, a pileated woodpecker blesses the woods with a flash of red crest, snowy trees host a parliament of owls.
These images — graphically striking, aswirl with enchanting details — graced countless local posters, theatrical flyers and book jackets for authors such as Sigrid Heath, Janice King, Michael Perkins, Tad Richards, Gail Straub, and Janine Pommy Vega. Carol’s illustrations appeared in Yankee magazine, Sky & Telescope, Chronogram, Woodstock Times and its sister papers (now Hudson Valley One).
Her designs were rendered in granite and steel for New York City’s Carl Schurz Park, alongside Gracie Mansion. Her mythopoetic painted baseballs are in the private collections of Official Historian of Major League Baseball John Thorn and Harry Belafonte.
Everyone who worked with Carol cherished her wealth of creative ideas and generous cross-pollination, along with her fondness for gossip and world-warming laugh. Poet and essayist Will Nixon collaborated with her on ten books. “When I got to sit down with Carol at her big wooden table and see the prints she laid out before me, to marvel at what she’d created, that’s when publishing a book started to feel like fun,” Nixon said. “I always left feeling light on my feet.”
That magisterial table also served as the gathering place for the hundreds of prints Carol sold on the annual Saugerties Artists Studio Tour, which she joined in 2003. In recent years, Mik participated as well, selling leaf-print collages and gleefully altered baseball cards.
“She and Mikhail loved to welcome people to their home studios, putting out a welcoming spread of food and drink. It became a joke that visitors could have lunch at Carol’s,” says tour coordinator Barbara Bravo.
Artist Galen Green, who assisted Carol on multiple tours, recalls the reaction of first-time guests to the quarryman’s house. “They’d come through the door with their heads bent at the low threshold, and then look up and all around and say they felt like they’d walked into another world. Into Narnia or Tolkien’s Shire. Though an Irishman once came in and said, ‘Oh, I’ve been in this house before!’
“There were people who came every year. It was like a pilgrimage. When parents settled in for snacks and what promised to be long conversations, Carol would often lean over conspiratorially to the children and say, ‘So there’s a dollhouse on the third floor ….’ ”
No ordinary doll house. Carol built the two-story fairy house of wood laced with lichen and twinkle lights, oak leaves and butterfly wings. Like her home, it was a cabinet of wonders, a handmade place of enchantment. She brought a touch of alchemy to everything she made, including dinner.
Carol and Mik were legendary hosts. Good conversation, wine, and an endless parade of delectable dishes flowed freely around their long table. I took an informal survey of friends who enjoyed the fruits of Carol’s kitchen, served under a chandelier entwined with crystals and hawk feathers. Here are a few favorite dishes: sweet potato biscuits, apricot chicken, chanterelles, “sinful” scalloped potatoes, pasta puttanesca, shrimp gumbo with pickled okra and cornbread, almond and pear cake.
Actor and writer David Smilow did not miss a beat: “Whatever she made in the biggest pot.”
David recalls the pleasure Carol took in sharing her bounty with others. “She cooked very simply, but with so much heart. Her art was like that, too, rough and at the same time very intricate. She really enjoyed her own work, and the ability to please other people with it. She savored so much.”
Skip Arthur, a dear friend for 55 years, agrees. “Carol’s love, like her way with food and art, just flowed from her,” he said. “There was style, but no real recipe. It just emerged from her intimate understanding of the nature and balance of the things she touched and loved.”
On the night Carol died, the barred owls in my swamp were unusually vocal, fluting from treetops. Just before dawn, I woke from a dream of her floating past my window in a sky full of stars, serene and beautiful, long red hair flowing — a vision straight out of a Marc Chagall painting or a Carol Zaloom linocut. It felt so real that I rolled over to see if she was still there.
I’d like to think that she is, blessing the sky and our lives with her nonpareil shimmer of everyday magic.
We Are Family, We Are Stronger Together (featuring TheARC NY)
Some context is needed for the following video, Dear Readers. I was asked to contribute to the video and I was more than happy to do so, as I am to share this video. That being said, this video isn’t about me, it’s about showing the talents we all have, disability or not.
There’s something to be said about the message for us all.
Please help The ARC NY, both DSPs and those who depends on them all be stronger, together so we can all…,
Shine On!!!
The SuperBlog vs. NXT Halloween Havoc 2022
Carol Zaloom, A True Artist…
Dear Readers, this was a post that I didn’t want to write, but I feel like I need to, if only for the fact that it might resonate with you.
I have the sad duty to report that my dear friend, linocut illustrator, Carol Zaloom, passed away earlier this past weekend. Simply put, she was an artists’ artist and a friend to so many in the local artists community, myself very much included. She was an amazing cook, incredibly funny and lived in an quaint Irish quarryhouse that went back a long time with her partner, “The Poetic GodFather of the Hudson Valley” Mikhail Horowitz.
During the annual Saugerties Artists Studio Tour and her Open Houses, the aforementioned Quarryhouse became a place where I felt the most welcome, where I felt like I was at home. The Quarryhouse reminds me of the bathhouse from Miyasaki’s masterpiece, Spirited Away in its very ambiance and it was simply amazing. It became my go-to place during those times. In fact, Carol was the one whom inspired me to watch the masterpieces of Hayao Miyazaki, something that I’ll always be grateful for.
During a performance of Mik and his partner is comedy, Gilles Malkine at the famous Woodstock School of Art, I sat next to Carol and was introduced to a friend as an adopted son by Carol. She later said that I was an artist, an open mind, appreciative of the arts.
An artist and an adopted son. Those titles are ones that I’ll always cherish. Always. It’s something that I’ll always be proud of.
I know that how I’m feeling isn’t different to other Spectrumites who find those whom welcome them with open arms, as I have. My thoughts and prayers are with Mik and those who loved my friend, Carol.
Thank you, Carol, for being the wonderful person, fabulous artist and adoptive Mom to me and those whom you inspire. Thank you for helping us all….
Shine On!!!
A Boost to You From Me!! #WorldMentalHealthDay
On this World Mental Health Day, Dear Readers, I’ve been trying to think of ways to inspire you all, including fellow Spectrumites.
I’m sad to say that I couldn’t think of much to say that I haven’t said already, so this will be a short post.
I just want to thank my family and friends for all they’ve done for me, as I want to thank my friends for inspiring me to be my best, with my quirks, strengths and flaws. I want to thank my co-workers for being the people that they are, supporting me when I need it and kicking me in the butt when I need it (this goes for my friends and family as well, to be fair.)
Thank you all for your love, support and friendship!! It means a lot to me!!!
For those who need the boost on this World Mental Health Day, consider this that boost for you all, myself included:
That You are loved!
That You are unique!
That You are amazing, as you are!
That You are enough!
That You can inspire others that are struggling by your example!
So, believe the positive self talk, use that motivation to spark your world so you can help others…..
Shine On!!!
Two Weeks in Albany!! Come on Down!!!
October 7 – October 28, 2022
Lark Hall, 351 Hudson Ave., Albany
Hudson Valley Writers Guild & Upstate Artists Guild present Poetic License – Albany celebrating the collaboration of visual art & the written word.
“Ekphrastic art” is defined as the response of an artist in one medium to a work of art by an artist in another medium. Its more common manifestation is in poetry written about visual art, e.g., paintings, photographs, drawings, sculptures, etc.
Poetic License is a project that turns that around, giving local visual artists (Onna Adams, Lucia Mabel Smith, Rebecca Schoonmaker, Don Shore, Lisa Schweigert, Deborah Adams,Tina Johnston, Kali Engelhardt, Melissa Mansfield,Tom Corrado, Roja Ebrahimi, Natasha Pernicka, Adam Furgang, Nina Stanley, Robyn Diaz, and Katelyn Choiniere) an opportunity to respond to the work of local poets (Shawna Norton, Bessie Rose, Tom Corrado, Shirah Pollock, Barbara Ungar, Laura Whalen, Megeen Mulholland, Cheryl A. Rice, Mike Jurkovic, Laura Lee Lucas, Phyllis Capello, Randall Sutter, Jennifee, Brian Liston, (me!) Jill Crammond, and Charles Rossiter).
Opening Reception
Join us for the opening reception on Friday, October 7, at 5:00 p.m. at Lark Hall to view these works of art coupled with the poems that inspired them.
Light refreshments will be available. Donations are appreciated with proceeds going to the gallery.
Featured Reading & Open Mic
Tuesday, October 18 @ 6:30 PM
The Poetic License – Albany show continues with a featured reading & open mic event at Lark Hall.
Join us as we feature some of the poets whose work inspired the visual art hanging on the walls.
Poets and writers will also have an opportunity to share their work at the open mic.
$5 suggested donation.
Gallery Hours
Poetic License – Albany will be on display through the month of October at Lark Hall.
For hours and information, go to larkhallalbany.com
Upstate Artists Guild
The Upstate Artists Guild is a not-for-profit volunteer organization, open to all, which promotes the appreciation, practice, and enjoyment of art.
Hudson Valley Writers Guild
The Hudson Valley Writers Guild supports writers of all genres by sponsoring readings, open mics, workshops, special events, and contests. The HVWG provides a number of valuable resources for a vibrant literary community.
The SuperBlog vs. WWE Extreme Rules 2022
Ten Years! (My God has it been that long?)
Ten years ago, I made a decision that would change my life for the better.
Ten years ago, I decided to take a brave step and I haven’t looked back.
Ten years ago, in spite of the unknowns, I chose to make my life better.
The thing is, Dear Readers, looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing, only that I had started sooner.
Instead of my telling it, I’ll share with you all how my news got out to social media, I posted the following song from my favorite artist, Billy Joel, when I got the news earlier that week. It was a long process, but honestly, it was the best thing to happen to me looking back. So, the song was the following:
I then came out with a clever way to give a clue to my news and let people figure it out, which didn’t take long.
Today was when I made the decision to move out of my Mom’s house and strike out on my own, figuratively speaking. Looking back, I see how much I’ve changed, how much I’ve grown, how I’ve evolved in my poetry and in other ways in my life.
So, I want to thank all of my friends and family for their support and live during the last decade and during my life. Thank you all so much for helping me, supporting me and helping me…
Shine On!!!
The Autistic SuperBlog 