Flawed Wednesday | The Direction of Intention

The Simplest of Actions [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on April 8, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

Every morning we have a ritual opening of the blinds. Each evening we have a ritual closing of the blinds. Most people would not call these routine actions “rituals” but I want to see them as such. I want to acknowledge the moment that we open our house to the light; it is the act of letting the world in. I want to appreciate the moment we decide to close out the world. The action is carried in the blinds. It’s a rhythm of life similar to the tides.

Our opening-of-the-blinds often corresponds to sunrise. Dogga is our chief priest of the coming day. He alerts us to the impending first rays of the light. We open the blinds, sip coffee, listen to the birdsong and watch the sunrise. I learned long ago that if I understand my actions as ritualistic, I would pay conscious attention. I would be less likely to reduce my moments to the ordinary. In my ritual of opening the blinds, letting in the light, I am aware that this day is unique, I have no idea what’s coming. I have never lived a day quite like this before. Open the blinds to surprise.

The same is true at the end of the day. The ritual of closing the blinds serves as a retreat to sanctuary. The darkness descends. “Are you ready?” she asks. I nod. I am ready to withdraw and retire. We close the blinds with gratitude.

Surprise and gratitude. Beginning and ending. I adore the cycles that punctuate our day. I’ve come to understand my appreciation of ritual as something that grounds me. I think this is true of all rituals; they ground us. They need not be religious yet they can’t help but elevate the ordinary to the sacred. The sacred is often nothing more-or-less than paying attention. Open the blinds. Welcome the unknown. Close the blinds. Appreciation for all that transpired.

Opening the blinds. Closing the blinds. Learning again and again that the littlest things, attention paid to even the simplest of actions, matter.

read Kerri’s blog about BLINDS

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Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Pattern, Surprises | Tagged: appreciation, artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Embrace, Gratitude, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, paying attention, practice, ritual, Sacred, sanctuary, story, studio melange, surprise, the melange, unknown | 1 Comment »

Weave [David’s blog on Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on April 1, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

What are the odds that this wild daffodil will survive?

Context is everything. As is always true, to understand the big picture it is necessary to consider the circumstances. For instance, this seemingly healthy daffodil is bursting through the root ball of a recently fallen tree. It is suspended in air. Improbable. It is detached from solid ground. It was uprooted with the tree. Consider the full picture. What are the odds that it will survive?

Our word “context” comes from the Latin “contextus” which means “to weave together”. Weave together the facts.

This weekend we attended our local NO KINGS protest. Many of my fellow protestors asked (rhetorically) who is profiting from this orange-incompetent and his war-of-choice? Or, asked another way, “Why are we helping Russia undermine us again?”

The context is found in the word “again”.

With Robert Mueller’s passing we’ve had the opportunity to revisit the key findings in his investigation into Russia’s interference in our 2016 election. In addition to multiple indictments and convictions, overwhelming evidence of Russia’s interference, there is this: “A statement signed by over 1,000 former federal prosecutors concluded that if any other American engaged in the same efforts to impede federal proceedings the way Trump did, they would likely be indicted for multiple charges of obstruction of justice.”

The authroitarian-wannabe has lifted oil sanctions from Russia. Russia is now profiting mightily from the world’s oil crisis caused by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz. With their flow of money restored, Russia is both amping up its assault on Ukraine AND providing Iran with intelligence to better strike USA targets.

Weave. As the people took to the streets to protest NO KINGS, the administration welcomed a Russian delegation of lawmakers to Washington D.C. to begin normalizing relations.

Normalizing relations! What?

Who is profiting from our nation’s economic and moral suicide? While we prevent Venezuelan and Mexican oil tankers from reaching Cuba, we somehow find it acceptable to allow Russian tankers through the blockade.

Weave.

The survival of our democracy is the reason that the people are taking to the streets. Given the context, the threat to our survival is abundantly clear and it currently sits at the resolute desk. It leads a party that has proven itself incapable of or uninterested in governing a democracy.

What are the odds that this wild daffodil will survive? The answer is up to us.

read Kerri’s blogpost about WILD DAFFODIL

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Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Identity, Perspective | Tagged: artistry, authoritarian, context, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, election interference, justice, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, No Kings, Robert Mueller, story, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

What It’s Made Of [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on March 25, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

I had to ask. What is a Peep made of? The main ingredient is sugar (no surprise). Corn syrup is the second ingredient and I read it provides sweetness and texture. Evidently there’s a lack of sweetness with so much sugar so corn syrup takes up the slack. Rounding out the top three ingredients is gelatin which gives the peep its bunny and baby chick shape. There’s wax for coating and potassium sorbate for freshness preservation. The Peep-particuilar color is due to food dye.

I am not a fan of Peeps but Beaky loved them. I am a fan of peanut M&M’s and therefore I refuse to read the ingredients. I don’t want to know.

Yesterday I wrote a harsh post about the willful blindness of the republican congress. And lest I leave the plank in my own eye while removing the speck from the peeper of congress, I thought I’d better confess my willful ignorance of the innards of an M&M. Where snacks are concerned I am quite capable of looking the other way. I don’t think I could or would consciously look the other way as the-arsonist-in-chief sets fire to the Constitution and burns down the nation. It’s one thing to eat a Peep in blissful ignorance. It’s another thing to knowingly consume the lies of a monster and enjoy it.

It is Easter season, the celebration of new life. The return of spring. The egg is an ancient symbol of new life so we dye them and hide them and delight in the hunt by children to find them. It is a ritual of renewal. A basket full of colorful hope. It is the season that Peeps and pastel candies rise in prominence in the grocery store. In my Easter egg hunt I am looking high and low for the resurrection of integrity, the adoration of humanity in all its wild and beautiful colors, the rebirth (or perhaps the first birth) of a fearless diverse nation unafraid of its history and dedicated to vibrant inclusivity. It is, after all – and in truth – what our nation is made of.

read Kerri’s blogpost about PEEPS.

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Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Identity | Tagged: artistry, Congress, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Diversity, easter, hope, inclusion, ingredients, integrity, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, Peeps, rebirth, renewal, republican congress, resurrection, story, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

Time Travel [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on March 18, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

During the recent power-outage we learned the obvious: most of the activities of our life require a plug and reliable power. We learned that our access to information and connection-to-others is also plug-dependent. We learned that the car is a great-and-necessary place to warm up while also recharging devices.

We also learned how the absence of plug-driven-life greatly impacts the pace of our day. Time is a slow-moving river when the power goes out. What do you do when a screen is not available to demand your full attention? Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate my technology as much as the next person. I would not be capable of writing if I had to type my fast-thoughts on a slow typewriter. I remember with horror the days of white-out and endless retyped revisions. Also, technology makes my vocabulary seem much more expansive than it really is. Do you remember flipping through a heavy Thesaurus to find a synonym? Do you remember how long it took to research a topic when the beginning point was a card catalogue or microfiche?

The power outage tossed us back in time.

We paced so I picked up my pencils and drew pictures in my sketchbook, much as I had done as a child. We lit candles when the sun set and spoke in candlelight tones. More than once we went outside and talked with our neighbors. They were out so we went out. We made sure the elderly neighbor across the street was safe. She made sure that we were safe. We returned to a time when conversation was face-to-face. The most important news was local and immediate. We entered a era when sunset was the cue to crawl into bed, when sunset meant a drop in already cold temperatures and the only warmth in the house was beneath a pile of quilts. Time seemed more expansive and not in short supply.

We relearned the feeling of wiling away the day. We reveled in the expansion of our attention span.

In the end, we enlivened our gratitude. When the power popped on moments before the blizzard, we cheered. The furnace kicked in. The lights extended day into night. We made dinner on the stove and it was hot! Simple things that go mostly unnoticed became opportunities for thanksgiving. For a few days until trust in the plug was restored we knew that we would take nothing for granted.

And with the restoration of the power time sped up. Our screens were alight, the information inundation and rapid media stream returned. We re-inhabited the era when the question at the end of each day is inevitably. “Where did this day go?”

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE CANDLE

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Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Gratitude, Navel Gazing | Tagged: artistry, connection, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Gratitude, information, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, power, power outage, story, studio melange, technology, the melange, time | Leave a comment »

At The Confluence [David’s blog on Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on March 11, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

“Truth lies at the confluence of independent streams of evidence.” ~ Karl Deutsch

Our conversation last night was lively. We sat around the dining room table with friends until late into the night. We discussed the current tribalism of our nation and our seeming inability to arrive at a shared truth. You’d think that simple truth would be easy to come by given the plentiful streams of evidence. Sadly, apparently, our streams of evidence run into an ocean of misinformation and denial.

My grandmother used to say, “If it was a snake it would have bit you.” Of our current national predicament she might ask, “How many times do you need to be snake-bit before you open your eyes?” A nation-body can only take so much venom (lies) before it succumbs.

The word of the week is “confluence”. A confluence of evidence. A preponderance of evidence. Amidst a coordinated cover-up does anyone really believe that the current administration is as they claim, “the most transparent in history?” The Epstein Class, the president among them, is working overtime to dam the streams of evidence. Is there really any doubt that they fear the truth?

“Power is the ability to afford not to learn.” ~ Karl Deutsch

If ever there was a quote that encapsulates the current occupant of the White House and his sad sycophantic party, this is it.

They’ve learned nothing. We are in another why-are-we-there-war that costs a billion dollars a day. Those in power would rather not learn from the past. The real question is can we afford their ability not to learn? Foxy propaganda is a profitable, a tool of the powerful, so they feel no real need deal in truth or acknowledge history. Dedicated ignorance wears a red hat.

Some of the gathering evidence at the confluence: 79 trillion dollars have been “redistributed” from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1%. “The richest 1% now own approximately 49.9% of the entire stock market.” When we-the-people stress over “affordability” we can know with absolute certainty that it is not a “Democratic hoax.” The rising cost of living is all the evidence that we need. We will hear again and again – as we’ve heard for a few generations – that our economic woes are caused by “a flood of immigrants” or “people exploiting welfare” but if we actually look at the evidence, including the impact of the recent big-beautiful-redistribution-of-wealth-at-the-expense-of-the-poor bill, gutting medicaid and SNAP, the slop-story from the republican/authoritarian camp simply does not hold water. The evidence contradicts their assertion.

Streams of evidence are a gathering force and have a way of breaking through dams-of-lies. Not to mix too many metaphors but truth is also a snake that bites. As grandma might say, “It’s only a matter of time.”

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE CONFLUENCE

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Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Perspective | Leave a comment »

Join The Chorus [David’s blog on Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on March 4, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

Horatio reported that he and T are becoming hermits. Kerri and I feel that we, too, are tending toward the reclusive. It would not surprise me to learn that there is a national impulse toward hunkering down. We had a Saturday plan for adventure and awoke to find the liar-in-chief, the pedophile-president, had started a war with Iran. We scrapped our plan. It was lightly snowing so we decided to relish the temporary quiet that the snow brings. Kerri headed outside to capture the snow crystals collecting on the tall grasses. Find the beauty in the moment regardless of the bleak circumstance.

I am aware that the danger of authoritarian takeovers, like the one we are experiencing, complete with a masked gestapo that does not feel bound by the law, a president who is immune to the law, and a congress that ignores the law, is that it will make agoraphobics of us all. It is human nature to opt for safety, which successfully inhibits freedom of movement. That’s what the bully and his cohort count on. Pitting safety against freedom is in the authoritarian playbook. That’s why we must step out, take to the streets, join hands and exercise our fundamental right to protest while we still have it. It’s all that now stands between us (our democracy) and the authoritarian take-over. A free people create safety for each other; people running for safety have already lost their freedom.*

Do you find it ironic, as I do, that one of the many reasons given for this war-of-choice is to help free the Iranian people from authoritarian rule – all the while the administration (if you can call it that) are assaulting our democracy, ignoring the constitution, pulling out all the stops to suppress our free and fair elections in order to establish authoritarian rule here at home?

I find the real beauty of the moment to be the people of our nation, concerned for their freedom, taking to the streets. Instead of running inside to hide – as this administration thought we would – instead of seeking safety in the face of the thuggery, we’re facing the bullies, standing-up for our basic freedoms. Renee Nicole Good. Alex Pretti. We’re invoking the spirit of John Lewis and all those who knew that freedom is a prerequisite of safety. The intention of freedom-and-justice-for-all is a prerequisite of democracy. Once lost, there is no safety, there is no justice.

We are living in a very bleak circumstance, indeed. And yet there is so much beauty – the guardians of freedom – the people – pour into the streets. It inspires even the most dedicated hermit to dust off his coat and join the protest-chorus.

Horatio also reported that each week, he and T, along with their granddaughter, take to the streets and lend their voices to the cause of democracy. They dance and laugh and sing with the other protesters. They stand in the winter cold waving signs at passing cars. These are not the actions of hermits-in-the-making. The truth betrays itself. These are the actions of people who are less concerned with their safety and comfort than they are determined that their grandchildren will live their lives in a country that is free.

*read Timothy Snyder’s remarkable book, On Freedom

read Kerri’s blogpost about SNOW ON GRASS

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Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Identity, Perspective | Tagged: artistry, authoritarian, comfort, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, freedom, Iran, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, On Freedom, safety, story, studio melange, the melange, Timothy Snyder, war | 1 Comment »

Conscience Totems [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on February 25, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

In a roiling stream of consciousness, the limbs at sunset evoked a memory of watching a master of ink and brush, a fluid stroke, a guided hand that for some reason pitched me into Robert Motherwell. I scrolled through selections of his work and was taken by how many of his pieces are direct descendants of Henri Matisse. I was taken by how many times he returned to a theme Elegy To The Spanish Republic. The atrocities of war.

We heard the phrase “conscious avoidance” but thought we heard “conscience avoidance”. The confusion was fantastic! If I someday paint a series of pieces about the un-United States during these authoritarian years I will name the series Conscience Avoidance. Pam Bondi refusing to look at the Epstein survivors. The republican congress emasculating itself, refusing to deal with the obvious truth. The conservative members of the Supreme Court refusing to look at the Constitution. The Constitution stares, mouth agape, at the justices who try not to look at it. My massive canvases will be pocked with oppressive black strokes. Soul holes. Void.

There will, of course, be a parallel series. Conscience Totems. An homage to the people who take to the streets. Keepers of the promise and the light. Bright swaths of vibrant color evoking guide stars and torches and courage. The fluid strokes mimicking a master of ink and brush, a hand guided by something grander than self-serving-money-lust or personal-political-gain. The living branches of a tree reaching one to the other, interlaced and interconnected, reflective of their roots, drinking deeply from the earth so it might touch the sky. A celebration of those unafraid to look power in the eye and ask, “What happened to you?”

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE TREE SILHOUETTE

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Filed under: Art, Awakening, Flawed Wednesday, Heroes, Identity, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: artistry, conscience, conscious, conscious avoidance, Constitution, courage, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Epstein files, Henri Matisse, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, republican congress, Robert Motherwell, story, studio melange, The Constitution of The United States, the melange | 1 Comment »

The Crust [David’s blog on Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on February 18, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

“(Theodore) Roosevelt’s profound personal tragedy turned out to have national significance. The diseases that killed his wife and mother were diseases of filth and crowding—the hallmarks of the growing Gilded Age American cities…Now, though, it was clear that he, and other rich New Yorkers, had a personal stake in cleaning up the cities and making sure employers paid workers a living wage.” ~ Heather Cox Richardson, February 14, 2026

We are only a few years past COVID and you’d think the lesson would not be so easily forgotten. A deadly virus, like a hurricane, does not care how much money you have. It is indiscriminate.

If you are paying attention to the news you’ll have noticed that the authoritarian wannabe and his EPA just revoked the “finding” that greenhouse gases pose a risk to public health. A thorough scrubbing of science, just like their zealous white-wash of history, now collapses all federal climate regulations.

Apparently an excess of money has the capacity to delude the wealthy into believing that they are impervious to the impacts of climate change. In other words, the morbidly wealthy have removed themselves from inconveniences like interdependence. Their responsibility stops at their bank account and they somehow think that their bank account will protect them from the droughts, storms, rising oceans, collapsing food chains, poverty and diseases that a changing climate releases. Apparently, they think that they breathe air from another source, different than the rest of us.

As card carrying members of the Epstein class, the members of this kakistocracy, this government of the least competent, are so used to being above the law that they assume their free-rape-pass extends to the laws of nature. That they have come to believe their own lies is, I suppose, understandable. That is how delusion works. Their inability of recognizing that their pathology impacts all of us is more than pathetic; it is dangerous.

In their game of pretend they believe that they are impervious to truth. They act as if they are impervious to any greater responsibility to others. Sadly for the rest of us, their belief in their invulnerability is built upon layers and layers of lies, a wobbly petroleum-foundation supporting gobs of flabby-minded-short-sighted greed.

“For the crust presented by the life of lies is made of strange stuff. As long as it seals off hermetically the entire society, it appears to be made of stone. But the moment someone breaks through in one place, when one person cries out – “The emperor is naked” – when a single person breaks the rules of the game, thus exposing it as a game – everything suddenly appears in another light and the whole crust seems to be made of tissue on the point of tearing and disintegrating uncontrollably.” ~ Vaclav Havel, The Power of the Powerless

Not only is this emperor-wannabe naked, he – and his clown cadre – have no soul.

read Kerri’s blogpost about SOLAR FIELDS

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Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Rants | Tagged: artistry, authoritarian, climate change, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, environment, environmental protection, EPA, Heather Cox Richardson, interdependence, kakistocracy, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, laws of nature, lies, nature, story, studio melange, the melange, Vaclav Havel | 1 Comment »

Join The Work [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on February 11, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

We’ve had more snow in the past two months than in the past three years. I am getting reacquainted with my snow shovel who, I imagine, is delighted to finally have some actual purpose in life. My shovel is not old enough for retirement and would rather work than play golf.

I just personified my snow shovel.

I also just betrayed a bit of insight into myself. I would rather work than retire so I’ve projected that onto my shovel. That is how projection works.

It’s an easy leap for my brain to make and I know the same is true for all of you out there. Personifying a snow shovel is only slightly different than investing in a conspiracy theory or embracing a big lie despite an overabundance of facts. Personifying my snow shovel is less destructive than storming the Capitol.

Personifying my snow shovel is all for fun and is far less ruinous than gulping an obvious misdirection narrative that claims poor-Black-women-are-taking-your-tax-dollars, all the while the wealth of the nation is actually, factually, picked out of the pockets of the middle and lower classes and stuffed into fewer and fewer morbidly wealthy pockets. Robbing Medicaid to fund a massive tax break for the already-wealthy is how an oligarchy is created.

I know I am personifying my snow shovel, I know I am projecting and playing make-believe. Can the same be said for maga-nation or all the AWOL republicans out there? And, of course, their projection onto we-the-woke is that we are trying to destroy democracy. They betray a bit of themselves. That’s the way projection works.

It’s also worth noting that my newly personified snow shovel is equally adept at clearing paths through heaps of bullsh*t as it is mounds of snow. I know the same is true for most of you out there. Every time you clear a path through the lies or shovel out the inanity, you give me hope. It’s how a democracy is restored. You inspire me to grab my shovel and join the work.

read Kerri’s blogpost about SNOW

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Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Gratitude, Metaphor | Tagged: artistry, conspiracy theory, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, facts, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, lies, MAGA, make believe, oligarchy, personification, projection, republicans, story, studio melange, the melange, woke | 1 Comment »

Our Great Strength [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on February 4, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

“Food, in the end, in our own tradition, is something holy. It’s not about nutrients and calories. It’s about sharing. It’s about honesty. It’s about identity.” ~ Louise Fresco

On any given day, as a citizen of the United States of America, I can go eat at any number of restaurants. Among my choices are Chinese, Mexican, Irish, Ethiopian, Vietnamese Thai, Greek, Italian, Indian…It’s a wildly long and diverse list of options. It is also a living vibrant expression of the truth of our nation. We are diverse. We work hard. We have roots that reach into and across many, many cultural traditions. At our best we support and celebrate each other in the most basic of ritual: we gather around tables and share a meal. Despite the utter madness that the Stephen Millers of the world spew, the essential truth of our nation is hiding in plain sight. Take a walk down any city street. Open your eyes. Savor the diversity that defines us. e pluribus unum.

And, if that is lost on you, tune into the music and the musical traditions that the artists of this nation produce and represent.

Our great strength is our diversity. The Achilles Heel of our democratic experiment is the manipulation of our diversity. There is a long standing tradition of pitting us against each other and the color line makes for ease of manufactured division. It’s colonial crowd control. The most effective tool for keeping power over the diverse community is to fabricate an enemy within. While the masses are consumed with fighting with each other, the Epstein Class gets away with robbery, rape and murder. It has been this way since our inception as a nation.

Our Achilles Heel will kill us if we do not at long last learn that the division is concocted – and transcend it. We are made rich in our diversity. We need not white wash our history; we need to roll up our sleeves and learn from it. Black history* is white history and vice versa. If only we could sit at a table together and share a meal as family. Someday perhaps.

I’ve written about the day I met students at the International Center and led them across campus to develop a play in the theatre. I entered the building while they stopped abruptly as if they’d run into a wall of glass. Privilege is blind to itself and that was one of the many experiences that opened my eyes. They told me that they weren’t allowed to enter. Our play was about folk tales across culture and our first lesson together was about invisible barriers. Weeks later, after together we crossed the barrier, after they easily stepped across the threshold and began to make the theatre space their own, we shared sweet treats. I brought chocolate chip cookies. They brought sweet rice and cakes. We told stories about our sweet treats, love-filled memories of grandparents, holiday celebrations, family traditions. We laughed. We learned that our traditions, all though different on the surface, are about the same things.

We love. We honor family. We dream of opportunity and making better lives for ourselves and our children. We seek new experiences and believe in the power of kindness. We come together to share meals in a sacred place we create – and call home: The United States of America.

*It is February, the month that we traditionally celebrate Black History. Even though the current leadership of the nation is taking down plaques and removing exhibits from our museums, the truth remains. The history is explicit. The struggle continues. Celebrate Black History Month.

read Kerri’s blogpost about COOKIES