Ross... and Art... and other things...

We went to the Royal York Hotel library-bar for our happy hour... Ross loved the Royal York... It reminded him of his younger years with his brother and mother visiting the city... and staying at the Hotel... That was the place to be... and there they went... he told how he used to run up and down the stairs just for the fun of it... He was a kid then, and he is a kid now... 
As usual he took the lead and ordered... "For him, double absolute with one cube of ice... and the orange juice in a separate cup on the side..." The guy threw a dart at him... but Ross continued, "... and a Manhattan... double the bourbon..."  Doubled the bourbon indicated that he was in a good mood and it will be a long... long evening and fun... 
The server brought the drinks... The vodka... a separate glass of ice... and the orange juice in another glass for me... and a double bourbon Manhattan for him..." But Ross's eyes popped out... It was the first time that anyone had served us the ice in a separate glass... Saying... you decide how to mix...
Ross was happy... and couldn't contain his bubbles... he called after the server... of course politely... like grown up Ross... and congratulated the guy... "You are the first one who brought the ice separately... You have done the math..."  He repeated the story several times during the evening... and every time he made it sound better... with a new touch of Rossian Exaggeration...
I told him that all this confusion can be avoided by just throwing a bottle of vodka in the freezer... and he said... "You're not Russia..."
Of course the day after people at the school knew about it... imagine "a separate glass of ice...!" What a treat...

***

Ross was a rebel... 

Intellectually he did not fit in the societal mold and he remained the rebel till the end... He insisted that the status quo needs change if it wanted to survive... Change was necessary perpetually... incessantly... There should be no boundaries, he insisted... Life is an art and living is the process of completing that art... every day just a bit more... just a touch better..." 

He refused to abide by the rules... He admired the artists... "They have complete freedom to do what they want to do... to create what they want to create... there are no rules and no boundaries... The artist has absolute freedom..." He wanted to be a writer... and he wrote a lot... But was very secretive... I have never read his writings... "The writer creates heaven and hell freely... imagination has no limits... They create the divine and the Satan... the Jekyll and the Hyde... Great stuff..." 

He read a lot... that was his pass time at home... Good music and a good book... with a glass of whatever the mood dictated...

***

We attended the art galleries of the city...

The car decorated by graffiti... To make the care more appealing... and lifting it up from its temporal to the eternal...

The artist has absolute freedom... and Ross loved the idea of the car a a medium for transmitting art...

He always approached the artists and wanted to know what they were thinking when they painted...

"What do you mean...?", he asked...

"Whatever you are imagining... when you watch it...", the artist answered... 

I am admiring a Van Gogh... Ross is already somewhere else... 
This is one of the painting of Van Gogh at St. Remy... He stayed at the hospital for a year or so...  
I love Van Goghs... I had the Starry Night hanging in my classroom... It is beautiful... and whenever I got depressed it uplifted me...

***

...And a Diogenes Moment...

Politics is twisted... And just a game for the rich and powerful... Like Storms, It's Beautifully Dangerous...

"I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters," Trump said at a campaign rally.
I do not want to comment about this quote from the front runner of the presidential race in the U.S.
But I have a suggestion... May be it will be more useful if this Trump guy takes the shovel and clears the snow on the 5th Avenue... Instead of bragging ... like a narcissistic misfit, moonstruck by his billions... 

The storm is devastating... But the aftereffect is beautiful...

Having fun... in the snow... after the storm...

Instead of bragging and shooting his mouth... Maybe the Trump guy can take a shovel and help clear the snow... Once in a while everyone must find the larger good...