Fall Color

Fall color is past peak now but still beautiful. This view is of Head's Pond in Hooksett. We walked the Kiwanis trail (along the abandoned railroad tracks - recycled for hikers and bikers to walk) on Sunday.

The maple leaves are from our yard. We have lots of raking to do this weekend. Good exercise.

Class Drawings

These are drawings done in my art class with Jeanne Lachance. The top one was done from a photo of a bust by Alan Colby "Jammont".  The bottom one was done in class from a bust of what looked like a copy of a Roman or Greek statue.

I had never been interested in doing portraits before this class, but I am finding it very challenging and helpful in my study of art.  I'm really looking at photos and faces in a new way.

Joe's Book

Joe's book got some good press in today's Union Leader, article by John Clayton:

Serendipity

Speaking of books, there's a little thing in the publishing business called serendipity, and it comes into play when you write a novel and your fictional premise suddenly becomes a shocking truth, a truth that results in global outrage, banner headlines and round-the-clock cable news coverage.

That's what's happening to Joe Smiga.

Simply stated, the premise of his first novel is this -- Iran has nukes.

That's the central storyline in "Behind the Lies," a prescient piece of work worthy of Tom Clancy, what with Hamas and Hezbollah and renegade Ayatollahs in control of Kilo-class submarines and, in a tribute to his adopted hometown, Joe has scripted a cliff-hanger of a naval battle with a destroyer called the USS Manchester cast as a key player in the drama.

Talk about lucky timing.

"Actually, I had it planned," Joe said, and, while I thought he was joking, he wasn't.

"I'm Jewish," he explained, "I've been reading the Jerusalem Post for years and for as long as I've been reading it, Israeli intelligence has been saying that Iran would have a nuclear capability by the end of 2009, so when I started writing in 2005, that was going to be my premise." And what was his reaction when President Obama held that press conference announcing that Iran has acquired "sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable atomic bomb"?

"It's a terrifying reality, but as an author, I was thrilled," he said. "His remarks reinforced the title -- the truth 'Behind the Lies' -- and the fact that my book has a black President who's in his first term in the book strikes a chord with readers as well." If you'd like to be one of them -- readers, that is -- you can seek out "Behind the Lies" on the Amazon or Barnes and Noble websites, or if you're looking for an autographed copy, you can go to www.joesmiga.com.

John Clayton is the author of several books on Manchester and New Hampshire, including his newest title, "Remembering Manchester." His e-mail is jclayton@unionleader.com.

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Good+sales+in+this+weatherman%27s+forecast&articleId=b81784e2-9d3e-48a5-a5d9-7e2514f4e9a6

Artist Ziva Kainer

I usually don't put any advertisements on my blog, but since I am hosting the artist tonight for shabbat dinner, I thought I would put this up.  The reception Sunday is free and open to the public at the Jewish Federation building in Manchester (698 Beech Street).  We have a sister city program with a region of Israel called Hof HaCarmel (coastal, between Tel Aviv and Haifa).  There is an artist colony there, Ein Hod, and Ziva is part of that colony.  Joe and I did get to meet some of the artists three years ago when we were there. We hope to go back again in a few years.

Great Bay

Had a good walk at Great Bay Discovery Center yesterday (seacoast). We had never been there before. Interesting area (estuary), but walks were too short for us.  Dina and I took another longer walk later in the day around Dorrs Pond when we returned to Manchester. She goes back to Salt Lake City tomorrow. We've had a great visit and I'm sorry to see her leave.

Burning Bush

Fall is here. Love the colors and the crisp fall air.  I was disappointed at the presentation of my artist of the month award at the gallery -- it was behind stuff and hardly visible.  However, the picture of all the September artists is up for a little while at this link:  http://www.manchester-artists.org/html/artistOfTheMonth.html.  Picture taken by webmaster Tom Wright.  This is a good one.  I will be submitting another painting at the next meeting and hope to win a placement at a different location.