It's stlukesguild birthday!

[bazarov]

:bday_2: Happy birthday stlukesguild! :bday_2:

Strange nick, I had to copy/paste it :D

[TheFifthElement]

Happy birthday stlukes!

[Niamh]

Happy birthday stlukes!
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff90/faze2nastynas/art-artists.jpg

[Poetess]

Happy Birthday to Stlukesguild.


^^ wonderful picture up there Niamh.

[Logos]

I hope it's your best one yet stlukes :)

:bday_2:

[Petrarch's Love]

Happy Birthday St. Luke's! Perhaps a new personal library would make a good gift:

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e386/LeonardoD/TRINITY-COLLEGE-LIBRARY-DUB.jpg

Though even Trinity might not satisfy your voracious bibliophilic tendencies. Perhaps an image inspired by Borges is in order:

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e386/LeonardoD/BorgesLibrary3.jpg

[johann cruyff]

I wish you a very happy birthday stlukesguild!

[Pensive]

Happy Birthday, St. Luke! :)

[Virgil]

Happy birthday StLukes. :bday_2: Something for your birthday:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/God2-Sistine_Chapel.png


http://galthistory.org/history/churches/galt_St.Luke's_church_sign.jpg

http://www.shopourchildren.com/ProductImages/Art/Painting/Paint_Brush_Stand_305x350.jpg

:D Hope you have a great one.

[islandclimber]

Happy Birthday StLukes!

[JBI]

Happy Birthday;

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=29&pictureid=2087

[bluevictim]

Happy birthday, stlukesguild!

[Janine]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY stlukesguild! Hope it is a great day and you thoroughly enjoy every minute!

Artists can always use more of these (I know I never have enough.) ;).

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p70/sealace/BrushesWindsorNewton.jpg

This box will make you look like a read artist, if nothing else...:lol:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p70/sealace/Paintsinbox.jpg

Something OLD (classic)...and....
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p70/sealace/ThePrivateLifeOfAMasterpieceDVD.jpg

something NEW (for inspiration)
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p70/sealace/ArtDVD.jpg

[Kafka's Crow]

Happy Birthday SLG (!)

Open your presents now:


http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VJCZC5D4L._SS400_.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2257/2033666684_3e550e0b8c.jpg

http://www.ssabsa.sa.edu.au/arts/2003art/2d/images/mcquillen-skye_jpg.jpg

[Scheherazade]

Happy Birthday! :)

[stlukesguild]

Thanks All!

Petrarch... Those libraries might even be too much for me. I'd never be able to drag myself into leaving home:lol:.

Virgil and Janine... I can certainly always use the brushes.

Janine... you are certainly right that such a box would make you look like a real artist... or rather the image the public probably has of the "real artist". I doubt they'd stay that neat for long. My own work bench and tools look more like this:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/64-Workbenchsm-1.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/WIP9s.jpg

Thanks again!:wave:

[mortalterror]

Happy Birthday.

[stlukesguild]

Mortal... Thanks.

[andave_ya]

Happiest of birthdays to you, stlukesguild.

[tractatus]

Wish you happy birthday.

[Janine]

Thanks All!

Virgil and Janine... I can certainly always use the brushes.

Janine... you are certainly right that such a box would make you look like a real artist... or rather the image the public probably has of the "real artist". I doubt they'd stay that neat for long. My own work bench and tools look more like this:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/64-Workbenchsm-1.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/WIP9s.jpg

hahaha - looks familiar.....I know the way it is.....messy is creative!:thumbs_up

[AuntShecky]

The subject of Auntie's Quiz this week (to be posted either tomorrow afternoon or Friday) will be in honor of:
StLukesGuild.

[kiz_paws]

Happy Birthday from me too! :bday_2:

[SleepyWitch]

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek, I'm late.

http://www.digischool.nl/ckv2/bevo/munch/munch.scream2.jpg

seeing as I paint worse than him...

http://www.garybossier.com/yahoo_site_admin1/assets/images/cheeta81painting.169132241_std.jpg

It would probably be better to stick with a pic off the internet, but I'll give it a try anyway

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/SleepyWitch/happybday.jpg

why doesn't "paint" have orange? here's one to compensate for the lack in my "painting"

http://www.monicaespositoart.com/show-image/555437/Monica-Esposito/Orange.jpg

and just in case you don't like oranges..

http://www.dailypainters.com/images/origs/1003/happy_birthday__happy_new_year_daily_painting.jpg

[Scheherazade]

An interview with StLukesguild:

1 - How did you come about this site and what makes you keep coming back?
If I recall I was merely browsing about for a good literature forum. I'd participated in several other groups, but excluding one in the UK and a completely unmoderated one on MSN most seemed dominated by casual readers who gushed over Dan Brown, Harry Potter, and other fluff, and became offended if one thought to post something the least contradictory. I ended up banned at one site simply because I suggested that Poe was not all that great of a poet... which I guess offended the moderator. I keep returning to LitNet because of the core of truly passionate lovers of literature who can and do engage in conversation that frequently goes beyond the usual "What's your favorite book?" I also appreciate the fact that moderation is clear and fair and never heavy-handed.

2 - Have you visited other countries than your own and what did you like about it or not like?
As of now I have only been abroad as far as Canada... in spite of the fact that I have traveled quite a bit within the US. This is something I hope to rectify soon.

3 - What are your favorite hobbies ?
I don't really have any hobbies, per se. Books are an all-encompassing obsession. Art is what I do as an artist. Music is but another passion. Outside of these, time spent with family, and my day job I don't have any spare time in which to develop (or need) any hobbies.

4 - Do you have any pets?
A dog... Guenevere. Our baby. She's slept in the bed with us since she was a puppy.

5 - What makes you happy?
Finding a great new book... on sale. Listening to music. Reaching that point where a new painting suddenly falls together. Dining out with my wife and friends. Traveling and hitting all the museums. A night at the Opera... or the Cleveland Orchestra.

6. How can you get away with being online at work?
I don't have a computer in my room this year... so I can't.

7. What is mankind's biggest achievement, and its greatest downfall?
My first thought is to say that writing... the written word... books are mankind's greatest achievement... yet I think I might say that Art as a whole... all of the arts... are the source of humanities most profound achievements. Perhaps our greatest downfall comes from an inability to communicate... or perhaps an inability to appreciate all that is different and unique about individual cultures, eras, and persons. I am somewhat put off by the idea that as a reader what is most relevant would be books that speak of my own culture/gender/religion/etc... To me, books and art allow me to enter into a dialog with great minds from distant cultures, distant philiosphies, and distant times. I don't read or look at art in order to reinforce my own beliefs and prejudices.

8. If you had a long day of hard work ahead of you what music would you be playing on your mp3, while working?
That always depends upon my mood. My musical tastes are quite eclectic. I have a habit of jumping from Bach to Wagner to Johnny Cash to Miles Davis to the Rolling Stones.

9. If you could take one book, music album and one video with you to a desert island, what would they be?
What book would offer me the most? If I might chose an anthology, it would certainly be Shakespeare's collected works. If not... I'd be torn between the Bible (King James Version) and Dante's Divine Comedy. It would be nearly impossible to limit myself to a single work of music... but if I had to, I would be hard pressed to come up with a better choice than Beethoven's 9th Symphony. What movie could I watch again and again... Hmmm... there are several that I have already watched again and again: Citizen Kane, Rear Window, Psycho, Vertigo, Gone with the Wind, The Godfather, Dr. Strangelove, 2001:A Space Odyssey, The Nightmare before Christmas... but I think I might go with Amadeus. I love the movie... and it would be a bit of a cheat, giving me some more music to listen to.

10. Which actor should play you in a movie based on your life?
My Wife would say Kelsey Grammer whom she insists I look like.

11. What makes you smile? (Activities, people, events, hobbies, projects, etc.)
Music, a good movie, a good beer with friends.

12. What were your favorite things to do the past? What about now?
Well... when I lived in New York heaven was a slice of Pizza from Bennie Tudino's in Hoboken and a bottle of beer while sitting on the Hudson. The beer is of a better quality now... although I still love Pizza.

13. What activities make you lose track of time?
Painting... and surfing the web.

14. What makes you feel great about yourself?
When one of my paintings comes together better than I had ever imagined.

15. Who inspires you most? (Anyone you know or not. Family, friends, authors, artists, leaders, etc.) Which qualities inspire you, in each person?
There are any number of artists, poets, novelists, composers, musicians, etc... who inspire me. Primarily what inspires me is their ability to convey something about how they perceive the world in a unique and original manner not to be confused with mere novelty.

16. What are you naturally good at? (Skills, abilities, gifts etc.)
As an artist I have a solid sense of composition... of how to structure and compose a work. I am quite good at research. I have a somewhat decent inherent writing ability... probably due to my excessive reading. Perhaps my most valuable "skill" or "talent"... and the one most disconcerting to others... is my ability to remember almost anything I have read or heard if I wish to.

17. What do people typically ask you for help in?
I'm often asked for help using my art history experience in seeking out a certain artist. Or they will ask for recommendations on books or music.

18. If you had to teach something, what would you teach?
Art... which I do teach. College level... when I finish this Masters degree.

19. What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?
I regret not having traveled to Europe... and elsewhere while young and not having gone on immediately to graduate school in art and art history.

20. What song is in your head at the moment?
Primo Tempore Alleviata- A Hungarian medieval chant... which is playing on my computer right now. The last song stuck in my head? They were playing the Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer movie at the store where I was shopping the other day and I couldn't get that damn "We are Santa's Elves..." out of my head! Argh!!!:flare:

21. The last book you bought/borrowed from the library?
The last book I bought was The Adventures of Amir Hamza, an Indo-Persian medieval epic collection of narratives not unlike the Arabian Nights given its definitive form in the 19th century by Ghalib Lakhnauvi and Abdullah Bilgrami.

22. Which book are you reading at the moment?
The Shahnameh by Abolqasem Ferdowsi... the epic poem of classical Persia.

23. The last book you finished reading?
Eugenio Montale's Cuttlefish Bones... again.

24. Favorite food?/ Comfort food?
There is a steak marsala at a favorite restaurant that is to die for/ice cream

25. Favorite outfit?
sweatshirts... and the "obligatory" artist's black.

26. What are you wearing at the moment?
A Cleveland State University sweatshirt, Docker's, and boots.

27. Favorite poem?
The Divine Comedy... something smaller? Spenser's Epithalimion.

28. First novel you remember reading on your own?
It was one of the Wizard of Oz books

29. Favorite TV shows?
I rarely ever watch TV. Less than 1 hour a week. Perhaps CSI. I used to love the X-Files and Twin Peaks.

30. Which LitNet members would you like to meet in person if you could?
JBI, Quasimodo, Virgil, Petrarch's Love, Jozany... and in spite of our repeated sparring on the boards, I think Mortal Terror might be fun to sit down over some good German, Belgian, or British beer and argue books, art, and movies.

31. Favorite post on the Forum?
???

32. Favorite thread?
I think the Poetry Club discussions as well as those on the music group and art group have been the most interesting.

33. Last food did you have?
Chicken Marsala

34. Last words you said out loud?
Are you sleeping?

35. Last person you hugged/kissed?
My wife.

36. What do you do (for a living) to be able to keep your LitNet addiction going?
I teach art to students from pre-school to grade 8 in the public schools in a very rough neighborhood in a very big urban city.

37. Are you happy with your chosen profession?
At times.

38. What would you like to be if you could change your profession?
Full time artist/world traveler.

39. Least favorite book/song/movie?
Least favorite? How about most irritating? I was forced to read the Red Badge of Courage 3 times in high-school... always with the intent of pushing some political agenda. Never again! Song? For some reason I absolutely cannot abide Diana Ross!:sick: Movie? Surely it must be Urban Cowboy... which I have been forced to watch more than once.:(

40. The most generous thing you have done?
I took my wife's daughter from her first marriage... truly Satan's child... into our home... along with her 4 children and her unemployed and criminally-inclined husband. It was to have been for a week... and turned into 5 months of hell worthy of Dante at his most cruel.

41. What is your most outstanding feature?
In spite of my obvious and incredible genius and generosity... I am just so unbelievably humble.:D

42. If you could change one thing about the way you look, what would that be?
Well... I could certainly stand to lose a few pounds... or more... but I'd also love to have the hair back that I had at 18.

43. Which book do you wish you had written?
Spenser's Amoretti and Epithalimion... what more brilliantly romantic gift could have ever been offered to the woman one loves?

44. What is your favorite book cover?
What bibliophile wouldn't love to own a magnificent medieval book with a cover like this?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3109/3114459033_468e5002f9_o.jpg

or this?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3034/3114459105_0b7e02933c_o.jpg

or this?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/3114459149_49bfe7f75d_o.jpg

Then again... this one always grabbed my attention for some reason:blush:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3010/3115288866_7554e72358_o.jpg

45. Most and least favorite characters from books?
Hamlet (among many by Shakespeare) or maybe Byron's narrator of Don Juan. Plato's Socrates, on the other hand... I just wanted to bi#ch-slap him after a while.

46. What would your biography be titled?
The Breeders... a private joke.

47. What should you be doing at the moment instead of answering these questions?
Going to bed... I have a school meeting early tomorrow morning.

48. Wonderful Superman or depressing Batman?
Oh certainly Batman. Superman... the invincible is a wus. Batman is much more human.

49. The most embarrassing moment in your life?
It involves details far too embarassing to go into... let's leave it at that.

50. Which literary character (s) have you been told to resemble the most?
I had a girlfriend in college who suggested that I reminded her of Friar Tuck... a medieval monk or scribe with a bit too healthy of an appetite for beer, women, and good food.

51. List some of the things that annoy you immensely.
The alarm clock in the morning. Slow or indecisive drivers. Stupidity of any sort.

52. Anything that you want to forget but you never can?
See no. 49

53. One final word of wisdom for LitNet users?
Shakespeare and Dante!!

54. What would you like to ask to the person to be interviewed after you?
How long did it take you to answer all these questions? Whew!!:lol:

[subterranean]

Happy birthday.

[downing]

Happy Birthday!

[Pendragon]

Another birthday! Was it heaven sent,
Or did you dread the hour of its coming
Today is the day you first drew a breath
And the rest of your existence is now resuming
I will not ask you about your age
Or how many candles were aflame on your cake
My birthday wishes I'll express here on this page
It really doesn't matter how many years this makes
May your day be filled with laughter and song
Gathered with family or that significant other
Gladly join in the glorious throng
Hugs from me (think of me as a brother)
Happy the day when you first began
And many happy returns, with love, Pen

[Virgil]

Another great interview. I love these interviews. And this was great StLukes. Thank you for mentioning me. I would love to meet you one day and we don't live that far apart that we couldn't arrange it. :) Hey I got a kick out of this:

8. If you had a long day of hard work ahead of you what music would you be playing on your mp3, while working?
That always depends upon my mood. My musical tastes are quite eclectic. I have a habit of jumping from Bach to Wagner to Johnny Cash to Miles Davis to the Rolling Stones.
Other than Wagner (you must replace him with Verdi ;)) we have very similar tastes. :) Rolling Stones!! "I'm Jumping Jack Flash, It's a gas, gas, gas!!" :D

[mono]

Happy (belated) Birthday, stlukesguild!
I hope you will join us for many more birthdays by blessing us with your presence! :D

[Joreads]

Wow I missed it also - Sorry about that Happy Birthday