Agh! It’s finally Friday, and I can’t do any painting! Life is so unfair sometimes. We have a couple with whom we are good friends coming over for wine, pizza, dessert, and good conversation this evening. All fine and dandy. The bad part is that I need to swiffer and vacuum the apartment plus clean the bathroom before they arrive at 7:00. If we didn’t actually LIKE this couple, I’d be more upset, but they are interesting and good company, so I guess it’s not too bad.
And then we’re going to Chicago early tomorrow for a day and dinner in the big city, so it’s unlikely that I’ll feel up to painting when we get home tomorrow night. I think the Grand Duchess must be involved in some sort of silent grand plot, along with other wargaming wives and girlfriends around the world, to keep me from finishing the Zichenauer infantry! Hmmm. . .
Sunday is November 11th, Veterans’ Day (originally Armistice Day), the day on which general fighting ceased on the Western Front in 1918, and which is usually thought of as the beginning of the end to WWI, at least as history is taught here in the USA.
I always think of my maternal grandfather on this day. He was a paratrooper during WWII (13th Airborne Division), a tall, handsome, fair-haired North Carolina boy, who was drafted almost immediately after the US entered WWII. Luckily, he saw no combat and survived to come home and start a family with my grandmother. His two brothers and three brothers-in-law also made it home relatively unscathed. Pretty amazing when you think about it. We didn’t always see eye to eye on everything, but as an adult, I often ask myself how he would have handled various situations that come up in everyday life. He was quite a guy.
Finally, the 30 Spencer Smith cavalry figures, in the classic charge pose, are waiting for their basecoat of artists’ acrylic gesso as you know already. I just have to finish the Zichenauers first. Let’s see, we have about a month and a half of 2007 left, and I’d also like to paint a two-gun battery of artillery with 13 crew, General Phillipe de Latté and his two staff -- you’ve seen them lurking unpainted in many photos for the last several months -- and two medieval bell tents from Magister Militum, which arrived last March.
The question naturally begs, can I actually do it? Well, you never know unless you try, right? Or, as an old Pennsylvania lottery commercial used to say in the early 80s, “You’ve gotta play to win!” So, I think I’ll make a painting challenge to myself, and see if I can get all of this “stuff” finished by December 31st. If I am unable to meet the challenge, you Grand Duchy of Stollen regulars receive full crowing and cajoling rights up to and including actual mockery and derision. Hopefully, that won’t be necessary though. ;-) Happy Weekend everyone!
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-- Jeff