Thoughts On Mortality

  Those of you that follow my shenanigans on here know I recently resurrected The One True Sponge to do a commission piece. (For those that don't know, I use it to paint like this):

   I gotta admit, it felt good to use it again after all these years. Within two minutes I was using it to draw and shade, like I had never put it aside. I do remember thinking  "It seems smaller than it used to be". My other voice replied "Maybe you've grown since then". Not likely. It's obviously shrunk over the years, with all of the painting, the rinsing, the squeezing. It's all taken a toll. Not like in our younger days when we'd paint for hours at a time, not even waiting for the sponge to full dry before starting again. Using it in new, different ways. Just like I always do. Pushing the envelope. Using it to paint in red, yellow, and blue; all in one painting. A painting that never knew a brush:

(This is where I was going to show you the painting in question. I named it "Riley". It was blended with red, yellow, and blue with The One True Sponge. I really liked the result, although I never painted another one like it. I called it Riley because the face reminded me of former Laker coach Pat Riley. For some reason I have no proof that I painted it. It's not in any of the three copies of my portfolio that I keep in case one, or two, crap out. It's not in my online portfolio at DeviantART. I'm almost afraid to dig through my paintings to find it. It might not be there any more. I know I painted it. I know I photographed it. I know I posted it. Unless I'm suddenly in an alternate time line where I never did that experiment the only thing I can think of is a government conspiracy. Why do my paintings vanish from my computer? From the internet? This isn't the first one to go missing. Usually it's either from my computer or the internet. Not from both.)

Now I'm irritated. What the absolute hell?

   Anyway, my sponge is slowly dying, as am I. I suppose Vegas will give you a line as to which of us goes first. I don't guess it much matters. Live every day as if it were your last. Paint every painting as if your sponge was giving out. Or some crap like that. Draw your own conclusions. Paint 'em for that matter. If you can crack this whole 'missing pictures' case please let me know. I'd like to think I'm not slowly slipping away. My mind is a terrible thing to waste.