The Onion, A Painting, and a Few Good Laughs

Today's painting reminds me of one of my favorite publications, The Onion, a satirical online publication. If you've never read The Onion, you are missing some great writing and more than a few laughs. The metaphor which comes to mind with the title of the magazine also brings to mind the idea that I need to laugh at misfortunes and not take myself too seriously. This past week, the power cord on my laptop began shorting out. If I jiggled it, I would get power, but it kept shifting back and forth between battery and the AC current. Finally last night, the cord gave up completely. Running on battery alone, panic set in. With apprehension and nervousness, I backed up my hard drive, hoping to avoid the loss of all my photos and documents. I spent the evening trying to locate a replacement power cord. Even though I had backed up my hard drive, a lump was forming in my stomach. Would I lose my data? Will I have to buy a new computer? How much is it going to cost? Can I afford it? No cord available at the local stores--the machine was too old. Nothing online--all searches at the company's web site indicated there was no replacement part available. Nothing available by phone--business hours ended at 5:00 p.m. All smelled pretty bad, like onion on the breath of an old dog. Darn technology!!! But, after a good night's sleep, a laugh at myself, and a telephone call, a replacement power cord is on the way. The moral of the story is that I have to remember not to take life too seriously, read The Onion on a regular basis, and paint my days away. Today's painting is 5x7 inches on a gessoed panel and it felt pretty darn good to be painting onions!