Blue Blue Blue [David’s blog on Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on May 13, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

“The GOP is no longer made up of conservatives. It’s now wholly made up of (white) nationalists.” ~ Adam Kinzinger

“A one party system is authoritarianism.” ~ Heather Cox Richardson

If you are like me you spend a good part of the day looking to the sky for an explanation or some sense to be made of the madness plaguing our country. And, if you are like me, there is none to be found. Take this for example: the House Speaker in Alabama just called for a repeal of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Apparently equal protection under the law for all citizens is anathema to the Alabama GOP. They would rather go back in time and deprive “certain citizens” of life, liberty, property and due process. Those “certain citizens” are of course, black.

What is the matter with these people? Look to the sky for answers! Nowhere on earth is there sense to be found for the Alabama GOP’s desire to return to life before the Civil War (read: a return to slavery and a world in which only white male landowners have the right to vote).

Here’s another example of the priorities of the modern GOP: “As of March 2026, the Ohio House passed House Bill 249, the “Indecent Exposure Modernization Act,” which aims to restrict “adult cabaret performances” in public spaces, defined in part by clothing choices.” It essentially polices what people wear. If it passes the state senate, a woman could be arrested for wearing a sports bra or going braless. Kerri could be arrested for wearing her flannel shirt because it might be deemed too masculine for a woman.

I’m not kidding. Their national priorities include a ballroom, mass deportation of any person of color, and an assault on voting rights. The end of women’s rights. And a tax cut for billionaires. And the elimination of healthcare and the social safety net. And the protection of wealthy pedophiles from prosecution.

The sky is not big enough to explain such malfeasance.

Perhaps it is way past time to look to the sky for answers and we need to begin looking at each other. This modern GOP is less interested in protecting our rights than they are in stripping rights from us. They want to control the news, academia (what we learn or do not learn), what we wear, who can and cannot vote, who has rights under the law and who does not. They want politicians to choose their voters because they fear what will happen if, as is meant to happen in a democracy, voters choose their politicians.

Our choice in November now has little to do with democrats or republicans. It is not about policy choices. It is whether or not we will return to life in a democracy, if we will have representatives – that is, people elected to government that serve the will of the people rather than being exploited by the whims of a dictator and his enablers. The past year and a half has given us a glimpse into life in an authoritarian state.

There is no help or advice coming from the blue blue sky. We are our last, best chance. The only path forward, the only escape from authoritarian red, no matter where you live or how gerrymandered your district, is to vote blue blue blue.

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE SKY

likesharecommentsupportthankyou

Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Identity, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

What The Hell Are We Doing? [David’s blog on Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on April 29, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

Sometimes it pays to look up. Cutting the tall grasses, cleaning and preparing the flower beds, I was hyper-focused on the task at hand. A distant rumble caught my attention so I looked up from what I was doing. Dark dragons were flying around in the sky. They breathed lightning, a flash followed by thunder. I dropped the metal clippers and headed inside. I thought it best to finish my task another day.

Once seen, the dragons in the sky were obvious. The lightning they breathed was unmistakable and dangerous. The action I took – dropping the lightning rod clippers and exiting the scene – seemed prudent. Easy and clear choices.

This morning I heard a distant rumble and I peeked at the news. The danger to our nation is obvious. A single delusional man, a retribution dragon encased in sycophants. A convicted felon, found civilly liable for rape. Does anyone really believe that he does not figure prominently in the Epstein Files? The Supremes granted him absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for all official acts and one wonders why grift falls under the umbrella of official acts. Is insurrection an official act? Is obstruction of justice an official act? Is threatening an entire civilization with annihilation an official act? Is falling asleep on the job or slurring speech or incoherence covered under the umbrella? They’re not crimes but would certainly be grounds for removal from any other job.

One wonders when the republicans will stop pretending that the sky is blue when they can see – as we do – that it is filled with a dangerous swirling delusional dragon? Will they drop their clippers in time or will they continue to hold tight to their metal rod and wave it at the lightning-filled-sky? You’d think they’d have the good sense to head for the door. You’d think that they might consider that the lightning they tease could be – will be – the death of us all. One wonders what must be lost, what lightning must strike, what line must be crossed, before they ask themselves, “What the hell are we doing?”

read Kerri’s blogpost about STORM CLOUDS

www.kerrianddavid.com

likesharecommentsupportthankyou

Filed under: Metaphor, Perspective, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Jiggle The Eyes [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on March 3, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

I inverted the canvas. Turning a canvas upside down jiggles the eyes and loosens the grip of a mind that is fixed on seeing what it wants to see. It helps to pop the assumptions and see what is there and not what I think is there.

If the United States was a canvas it is a fair assertion to make that we’ve been inverted. Our eyes are jiggled. Our assumptions are popped. We can clearly see what has been here all along and it’s not what we thought. Power protects the pedophiles and threatens the lives of those abused. The Justice Department refuses to seek justice and, instead, covers-up the crime. Thugs in masks brutalize citizens, invade homes and kidnap people from the streets, all the while claiming that they are making our cities safer.

We are upside-down so we can see it.

We clearly see the lies of those who insist that all is as it should be. They stand and applaud the liar. They attach themselves to the lie and so create a very low bar to jump, wrecking democracy and giving rise to authoritarianism. The enthusiastic embrace of an obvious lie. Huzzah! The felon convicted of over thirty counts of fraud concocts a “war on fraud” to distract from his ongoing titanic swindle. His party pumped their fists and cheered. And then he started an actual war, Operation Epstein File Diversion.

Have you ever for a moment mistaken the sun for the moon? The disorientation is temporary but inspires an immediate question: What time of day is it? Later it might seem a silly question but it is, in the moment, necessary for reorienting in space and time.

As a nation we are upside-down. We were momentarily disoriented. Now, it’s only a matter of time before go to the polls and remind the liar and his sycophantic tribe that we see what is there, that we reorient to the Constitution, the rule of law, and give boot to the clown-car-cult of the would-be king.

read Kerri’s blogpost about SUN/MOON

likesharecommentsupportthankyou

Filed under: Seeing, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a 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

likesharecommentsupportthankyou

Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Gratitude, Metaphor | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Together We Chase [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on February 9, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

“Freedom is not just an absence of evil but a presence of good.” ~ Timothy Snyder, On Freedom

There is a game I play with Dogga that I absolutely adore. When he wants to go out he stares at me. I stare back at him. His stare intensifies and I intensify my stare to match. Our faces move closer together. When the intensity of the stare is like a bowstring pulled to the breaking point, I say, ‘Okay!” and like an arrow released he flies toward the back door. I let him out in a festival of enthusiasm. I could play this game all day. It is bliss.

“We chose freedom when we did not run.” ~ Timothy Snyder, On Freedom

My first thought when choosing this bliss-prompt was, “Chasing bliss is a sign of privilege.” That would have been my lofty theme but then I felt Dogga’s stare. I set the computer aside and met his stare. The game was afoot!

“In dehumanizing others, we make ourselves unfree.” ~ Timothy Snyder, On Freedom

Opening the back door and watching my joy-dog launch from the deck, fully invested in his Rin-Tin-Tin persona, I recognized the superficiality of my original thought on bliss, my snotty lofty theme. Bliss has nothing to do with access or possession or any soaring ambition. It is something we create with others.

“We enable freedom not by rejecting government, but by affirming freedom as the guide to good government.” ~ Timothy Snyder, On Freedom

My Dogga is free, not because I open the door and remove a barrier, but because he knows he is loved, he knows I am good for a round of the game. Going in and out could be a chore, something mundane, but together we’ve evolved a game of bliss, an affirmation of freedom evoked within each other. We’ve created it and each day continue to create it.

To chase bliss is to offer bliss, to open and be opened. I literally open the door and Dogga quite literally opens my heart-door.

“In a world of relativism and cowardice, freedom is the absolute among absolutes, the value of values.”~ Timothy Snyder, On Freedom

Painting is a bliss I chase, not because of the act of smearing paint but because it opens me to something much bigger than myself. Bliss happens when I get out of the way, get present, and revel in the dance. It liberates me because I engage, I step toward it. I never take it for granted or delude myself into thinking I can control it. In fact, trying to control it is a guarantee that it will dissipate.

“The absence of freedom threatens life, just as threats to life undermine freedom.”~ Timothy Snyder, On Freedom

It is a relationship with life, meeting the intensity of a stare, together peeking through the blinds to marvel at the full moon, placing an extra quilt on the bed on a frigid night is to chase bliss.

Delivering groceries to neighbors afraid to leave their homes, blowing a whistle to alert the community of masked invaders, gathering at the memorial of someone executed by a rogue state, singing songs of freedom together to remind the rogue state that freedom is not something they can take away, that we will meet their stare with an intensity that says, “Game on,” and remind them that, in our votes, in our pursuit of freedom-for-all, we hold the power to open or close the door. They do not. This, too, is to chase bliss. It opens us to something bigger.

Together we chase our bliss because we reject the wretched monster the republicans are pursuing.

read Kerri’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday

likesharesupportcommentthankyou

Filed under: Identity, Merely A Thought Monday | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

It Is The Time [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on October 3, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

Yesterday I painted the rail on the front porch. I sanded the small windows upstairs; they need repainting. One of the window sills in our bedroom has water damage. It is next on my list to fix before the snow returns.

I realized what I was doing; what we are doing. Since we cannot control or impact in any way the rapid destruction of our democracy – at the hands of those sworn to preserve it, no less – then I will do my best to attend to what I can control. I will be a good steward of our home. I will fix what I can.

She said, “We have to do something to pull our heads out of this madness. At least for a little while.” Yes. We bumped into them on our walk around the neighborhood, a couple who we admire. We shared our concerns and dismay. We have to do something to remind us of goodness, that people of good intention are all around, even when it feels hopeless. Our brief sidewalk chat gave us hope. We are not alone in our worry. We are not alone in our belief in goodness.

We harvested the last of the peppers. This summer our garden was prolific. The basil exploded. The tomato plant is still producing. The garden, the yard, the pond, the appearance of the frog…the exercise of intentionally coming into the moment, the place were common sense can be found when it is otherwise absent.

I had a revelation, the release of a judgment. David Neiwert told a story of the German people, living in villages just outside of the concentration camps, each morning sweeping the ash from their sidewalks and window sills. After the liberation the villagers claimed that they had no idea what was happening in the camps. How could they not know? Sweeping their steps, picking their peppers, painting the rail on their front porch…doing anything possible to pull their heads out of the madness.

This is not the time to look the other way. This is not the time to normalize the obscenity that is erasing our nation. People are already disappearing into camps. Due process and habeas corpus are gone. The Supremes ruled that racial profiling is lawful: it’s no different than sewing yellow stars on clothes. Now, we hear from the dictator wannabe that “the enemy is within”: the enemy is anyone who disagrees with the fascist fire raging across the nation. Anyone who protests or questions. My revelation? I do not want to someday sweep ash from my walk while telling myself that I have no idea what’s happening.

We know. So do the republicans.

This is not the time to normalize the obscenity. This is not the time to look the other way. It is the time for all people of goodness to join hands in the commons, to stand together, to call out the lies, to push our elected leaders to push back against this corruption, this out-of-control authoritarian regime.

It is the time, our time, to be good stewards of our nation-home.

BRIDGE on the album AS IT IS © 2004 Kerri Sherwood

Kerri’s albums are available on iTunes and streaming on Pandora

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE LAST PEPPERS

likesharesupportthankyou

Filed under: KS Friday, Metaphor, Perspective | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Right Season [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on October 2, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

The color of petals at the end of the season. An earthier shade of yellow made more vibrant relative to the purple-black. A kind of beauty that’s possible only in the right season.

I’ve been noodling on a composition-idea for years. Drawings of the theme pock my sketchbooks. I’ve started and erased canvases dozens of times. I don’t know why I’ve been so fixated on it for so long, though now it seems like it was prophetic. The time was not right until now. Polynices and Eteocles. The sons of Oedipus. As the story goes, after Oedipus abdicates his throne, his sons go to war for control of the kingdom. In their lust for power, they kill each other. Both lose. All lose.

How did we get here? Democrats and Republicans. Brothers, forgetting that they are servants of the people, go to war for power over the republic. Both lose. All lose.

It’s the right time to paint this painting. A kind of beauty, if you can call it that, possible only in the right season.

www.davidrobinsoncreative.com

read Kerri’s blogpost about AUTUMN YELLOW

likesharesupportthankyou

Filed under: Art, DR Thursday, Metaphor | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Ho-Ho-Ho [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on September 22, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

Evidently the elves had a bit too much nog and crashed the Wishing Palace into a tree. They must have been flying without a license since they seem to have crashed-and-run, leaving the Palace wedged into a tree with one runner missing. Will Santa be pissed? I’m not sure. Is jolly ole St. Nick capable of being cross? I imagine the sudden loss of The Wishing Palace during an drunken-elfen-joy-ride might raise his ire. In any event, I’d love to hear the whopper the elves tell Santa to explain the crash. Ho-Ho-Ho!

On second thought, instead of fleeing the scene, I’m not sure why the elves didn’t rush into the Palace and make a wish for an immediate full-Palace-repair. I mean, what good is a Wishing Palace if the wishes made in the Palace – especially wishes made by the elves that drive it – aren’t certain to come true? At the very least they could wish to keep the wreckage a secret from Santa – at least until they sober up and figure out how to repair the damage and return the Palace to its parking spot at the North Pole.

Apollo’s son, Phaeton, took the sun-chariot out for a spin and, like the elves, it was too much for him to handle. He couldn’t control the horses. Zeus had to strike Phaeton with a lightning bolt before the lad drove the chariot into the ground, scorching the earth in the process. If Apollo could enter the Wishing Palace he’d certainly wish to go back in time so he might prevent his son from taking his fatal joy ride.

The annals of time are filled with stories of incompetence at the helm.

The current administration, like Phaeton or the elves, have the reigns of the nation and have taken it out for a wild ride. Despite their bravado, despite the tale that they spin, it is increasingly clear that they are either too full of nog to hold democracy’s course or they do not have the fortitude to drive a constitutional republic.

In either case, we will very soon find ourselves lodged in a tree or can expect a lightning bolt that will end the joy ride. We can only hope that it’s merely a runner that we lose and that the crash sobers us. We can only hope that we have the wherewithal to repair what is broken. Since wishes seem empty at this point, we can at least hope for a republican party that remembers that governance begins with communicating with the other side. The art of compromise – the epicenter of democracy – begins with coming to the table willing to discuss solutions.

In any event, it’s not much fun listening to the whoppers that the republicans are telling, the fomenting of violence and division, their dedication to flying blind by hiding the economic indicators and jobs numbers. One thing is certain: to explain the crash they’ll no-doubt blame Obama or Biden or democrats. Taking responsibility for their actions is not in their wheelhouse. They’ll crash the Palace and run amok blaming everything under the sun but themselves. In response to their grand sham, I suggest we be like Santa and meet their reckless incompetence with a sober vote and a hearty Ho-Ho-Ho!

read Kerri’s blog about THE WISHING PALACE

likesharesupportcommentHOHOHO!

Filed under: Merely A Thought Monday, Metaphor | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

No Words [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

Posted on May 24, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

It’s ironic to me that the “progressives” – Bernie Sanders and AOC – are waging an all out effort to preserve our democracy (one might use the word “conserve”) while the “conservatives” are waging a campaign of destruction meant to change the very essence of our governance; they’re calling it “progress”.

The Republican party of “small government” and “fiscal responsibility” are once again blowing the deficit into outer space while weaponizing the government to strong arm anyone who opposes their agenda or suggests that the Constitution ought to be honored.

Tucked into the grotesque big beautiful bill is language that “disarms the courts.” With the Republican Congress already cowed, the courts are the only remaining line separating us – a democracy – from an authoritarian state. The Republican members of the house actually voted to forward a bill that effectively ends our system of government. Is their a word more appropriate than “betrayal”? Perfidy? Treachery?

Their bill, the horror that they call big and beautiful, blatantly and without shame takes from the poor and gives to the rich – a reverse Robin Hood maneuver.

There just aren’t enough words to describe how base, how vile, how utterly chicken-hearted…they convene their sham-committees in the dark of night because they know how repugnant their big beautiful bill actually is. They know. They do not care. Neglect? Disregard? What words can we use to describe this level of depravity?

Vampires work at night because the light of day is lethal to them. Republicans, like vampires – as is apparent in their big bill – desire to drink the life-blood of the most vulnerable. We can only hope that there is enough light let into their chamber to kill this horror-bill before it sucks the life-blood from the most vulnerable people of this nation – and for no greater purpose than giving a massive tax cut to the already ultra-wealthy…and calling it progress.

No words.

[There is, however a ubiquitous question: What do we do?]

read Kerri’s blogpost about NO WORDS

smack-dab © 2025 kerrianddavid.com

supportlikesharecommentsubscribepushbackspeakup…thankyou.

Filed under: smack-dab | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Begin With The Words [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

Posted on April 19, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

republic (noun): a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.

“The term [Republic] originates from Latin, meaning “matters of the public.” Republics emerged as a response to absolute monarchies, aiming to create systems more responsive to the will of the people.” EBSCO

No child or adult in this nation has ever stood before a flag and sworn allegiance to a monarch or dictator. The same is true of our elected representatives. And yet, this Republican administration, the Republican Congress in their obeisance, consolidate power into the executive, into the hands of a single man.

The conservative justices on the Supreme Court, men and a woman who also stand before flags and pledge their allegiance, granted this president immunity from the law, effectively making him a monarch, effectively undermining the republic.

The Republican Congress and conservative Supremes no longer swear allegiance to the Republic or to the Constitution, but to a dictator, a divided nation under authoritarianism.

No longer a Republic, liberty and justice for all is the first casualty.

Many law firms and universities suspend their commitment to truth and abandon their allegiance to the law (the Constitution) and the pursuit of knowledge. They genuflect and swear oaths to the dictator.

Who knew that this nation that prides itself on rugged individualism, the veneration of liberty and the exercise of free will would roll over so easily, pledging their allegiance to something so sullied as a rapist wrapped in something so ugly as Christian Nationalism; a bully, pathological liar with nary a scruple to his name? Given all of our cowboy swagger I imagined we were made of sturdier stuff.

You’d think our pledge of allegiance to the flag of The United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands…would have inspired more fortitude in our elected leaders, more respect from our highest court, more dedication from practitioners of the law and seekers of knowledge.

If we are going to ask our children, our citizens, to place their hands over their hearts and speak the words in unison, then the Pledge of Allegiance certainly deserves more deference from our populace and the representatives that we elect.

Perhaps, in speaking it by rote, we’ve either forgotten or perhaps do not fully understand what it means? Let’s begin with the words “Allegiance” as it relates to the word “Republic”…

allegiance (noun): loyalty. commitment. faithfulness. fidelity.

To what do we pledge our allegiance (return to the top)?

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE PLEDGE

likesharecommentsubscribesupport…thankyou.

Filed under: smack-dab | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Next Page »
  • buy us a coffee :-) Thank you!

  • visit the studio melange at kerrianddavid.com

  • The Seer available on Amazon.com

  • Lucy & The Waterfox is also available on Amazon.com