Let's get abstract...evil grin Society There are certain stars in the night sky that I notice more than others. That I do see the entirety of this sky and discount most of the black as void and meaningless is equate with my views of sociology and examples thereof, no matter how necessary that void is. The Masses & Nature When the forest makes too many rabbits; the coyote, the owl, the cougar and the fox are well within the warm grins of full bellies. That there is extra to pad when there might not be. The natural world is not polite, and we as humankind, have taken ourselves away from nature in many respects. But we have not the maturity to create humanity in the best interest of ourselves (for the growth of society, we usually end up burning philosophers who could make it better @ the stake or make em drink some poison), so we mirror from whence we came. Some of us are sheep, some of us are black sheep, others scared rabbits that get mercillessly slain by the wise owl...none of us are wrong and all of us are correct for acting out our own lil drama... Communication Two men sit at a table, in a willing discussion on god. "We must, you and I, agree that we will walk away when we are finished, still within our belief and that the other will as well, walk away with his god...This is a discussion of understanding, not conversion. That I can understand your view of god and nothing more, that I become a broader minded individual..." Tools of the Trade Before this point in time, those of artistry had to expend both time, effort and wealth to attain the tools to even attempt art. From the recent point forward, we also expend time, effort and wealth on the digital tools to ply our trade/hobby/therapy/community/etc...But before this, the artist had to be slightly sure of him/herself, to spoil this fine sheet of vellum on fell calligraphy would be a travesty, a travesty most sad. But now, we only lose moments, rendering, rerendering. The risks of screwing up are so much less now, and we are assured of getting praise and that our psyche might not be able to handle any non-praise that we shatter like so much cheap glass only stirs the ingredients in the pot of crappy attempts loosely called art. And like any group of more than one ape, what do we do, we clan and clique, "HO, that any would dare say anything contrary to mine word or art, and they be stricken from world and sent by the angel Woe to a place that we do not name for I have 'friends' and Lo! they have posted more crap I must comment on, for they are weak minded and timid hearted and...I just posted a new piece and need some in return...." white noise