CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-19 09:23:15 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 8 +1s)

By Balthasar Klossowski dit Balthus

2013-05-18 23:47:11 (10 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

We're all guineas pigs on GooglePlus' bus.  :(

2013-05-18 21:17:49 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Circle Shares?

Does anyone know how to now view a circle to see if you want to add people in it?  I'm afraid to click on the "Add People" button, because I don't necessarily want to add a whole circle of people.

How do I know whether it works like it looks like it might work or not?  I s'pose I could click on the "Add Circle" button, and see what happens, and if it adds everyone in the circle, then I can delete the whole circle.

Methinks this change makes things unclear.  I know I'll learn, but hoo-boy!  Mystery meat navigation...didn't expect that from Google.

2013-05-18 03:12:19 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

This album was supposed to go with my previous post.  Somewhere in here are the 5 pics I was trying to show.  I have little idea how this is going to come out.

What a mess Google has made of the photo albums!  Can no longer grab a bunch of newly added pics and move them to the top (one of the best things G+ photo albums had going for it).  Have to go to Picasa (if you still can) to pick a new album cover, can't upload and share in one swoop, and I don't even know what else.

#ifitaintbroke  

2013-05-18 02:53:17 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

A Trip to the Tortilla Store

We have a Hispanic grocery store about a block from our house, so we walked up there this evening to get tortillas and beer -- hard shell tortillas (or tostadas) for giant nachos, a lunch staple here.  The first 5 pics in this album are from that trip.

I couldn't resist this darling scene on the hat aisle.  :)

There were no less than 4 locations for tortillas and tostada shells, yet we couldn't find any to our liking!  We only wanted like 10 thin ones, but we couldn't find any packages with less than 22 (or more) thick ones (and many broken), so we ended up with fresh baked soft tortillas that we'll fry ourselves.

This store is so cool; they have an entire aisle of big religious candles, and at least this one endcap of religious statues (in the album).  I should never go in there without my camera in hand!<... more »

2013-05-17 20:45:36 (8 comments, 2 reshares, 26 +1s)

It's Good to be Back in My Right Brain

Too much left brain lately, and I think I've done my last new website project for anyone else (pretty please, let it be so!).

My neighborhood website project is mostly done (well, are they ever really done?), so finally I can get back in the studio, finish #'s 1, 4, 6 & 8 and start some new ones.

This one is from about 3-4 weeks ago...whenever that was that I was more of a full-time painter.  It seems so long ago now.  I still have much to learn about using acrylics.  I'll probably end up back in  oils, but this is opening up some new possibilities, too, and it's kind of fun, actually.  :)

"Composition #7, 2013"
Acrylic on Panel
12" x 9"
© 2013 Marilyn Fenn

#nonobjectivepainting   #nonobjective   #art   #painting   #color   #form   ... more »

2013-05-17 02:38:17 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 9 +1s)

Five Tips for Painters

...who are interested in seeing their work withstand the test of time, at least in a physical sense.  Interview with Mark Gottsegen – founder of AMIEN, author of The Painter’s Handbook, teacher, artist, and all around art materials guru.

I learned a few valuable things here!

http://goo.gl/ZVzdU

#artmaterials  

2013-05-17 01:46:10 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

OK, laptop users with that skinny little G+ column in the middle; if you're using Chrome, you can fix your layout with userstyles/wider posts.  Yay!!!

#layoutredesign   #googleplusupdate   #extensiongooglechrome  

2013-05-16 21:11:44 (31 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Artist Communities on Google Plus

Is anyone enamored by any of the artist communities here?  I belong to a gazillion of them, moderate one, and am a co-moderator of another, but have gotten into never visiting any of them, except those I moderate, and never posting in those.

For me, so far, the best part has been getting introduced to artists I might never have discovered otherwise, but there's not a lot of discussion happening.  I guess we're not a chatty lot.

Artists, what say you?

2013-05-16 18:39:30 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 15 +1s)

I think it's friggin awesome that my cover photo is bigger than my screen!   #snark  

Seriously, I am trying to find things to like about the new G+ layout.  This isn't one of them.  

I love the tags, though!

On my Nexus7, the changes are an improvement; on a high-res monitor laptop, they really aren't.  As always, YMMV.

I may even learn to like the notifications button.  Nice to know how many posts I missed since the last time I looked (yikes!)

And turning off the extension Gxtend that I used to make the page look better after the last major layout design change debacle at least puts my column back in the middle of the page.

I'm playing with just how much to upsize the column -- 150% almost gets the column to a decent sized width, but the text is too big, and the post button goes off-screen.  100% is a ridiculous,barely... more »

2013-05-16 17:43:56 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Gave a Presentation Last Night

Found out late yesterday afternoon that I needed to present at the quarterly meeting the new neighborhood website that we just finished creating .

I don't know when I stopped being nervous giving presentations, but I wasn't nervous.  I'm a 51% introvert, so standing up in front of an audience is totally not my thing!  But I don't think about myself standing up there feeling foolish -- I just focus on presenting the content I know so well.

I'm pleased to say, the presentation was very well received, and we got several ovations for the new website design.  We were focused on solving known problems with the old site, and on adding ways to get neighbors actively engaged...and creating a beautiful, readable design that hopefully works for everyone.

#howtodoitright   #websitedesign   #presentations   #pres... more »

2013-05-16 16:26:55 (5 comments, 4 reshares, 17 +1s)

One of My Favorite in the New Series

...so far.  Oh, wait, they're all my favorites.  ;)

But I do really like this one quite a bit.  It started out horizontal with lots of red and blue and purple, but then I kept painting out what I'd painted in.  

Learning to work with acrylic -- what a medium!  I used up a tube of white in a week on 8 small paintings (this being the whitest).  That stuff doesn't go far.

"Composition #5, 2013"
Acrylic on Panel
12" x 9"
© 2013 Marilyn Fenn

#nonojectivepainting  

2013-05-16 06:33:34 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Clearly, not everybody agrees with my negative assessment of G+'s new layout (see bottom post in my super-wide screencap below, which is how it appears on my laptop after finally discovering I could close the hangout column).

Sure is a lot of gray space.  

When Facebook started messing up their layout with too many confusing columns, I kind of quit spending much time there.

And seriously, I need to spend more time in the studio, so maybe G+ is doing me a favor.  

Shoot, I was putting off posting stuff until they fixed the streaming issue, and now they've gone and broken the layout.  :\

If I continue to not be around much, it won't be because I'm working my fingers to the bone, like I was the last 3 weeks, but because I'll be waiting for sanity to return to G+, or some enterprising individual to create an extension to fix allth... more »

2013-05-15 22:42:05 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

More Good News

You can sign out of Hangouts altogether.  One more way to simplify the interface.  ;\

2013-05-15 21:14:08 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Good News

You can change GooglePlus' new format from 3+ columns to 1+ column under "More" at the bottom.

Lovely design (not), but at least I can find a place where I read my stream, even if almost half the real estate is wasted on nothing.

2013-05-15 21:00:36 (27 comments, 2 reshares, 9 +1s)

OH, no, what happened to G+?  Some of the fonts are kind of hard to read...

What's with the 3 equal columns?  Where to focus?  

I think I'll go do something else...  :(

2013-05-15 16:45:38 (12 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

Creative People Say No

"A Hungarian psychology professor once wrote to famous creators asking them to be interviewed for a book he was writing...[He] contacted 275 creative people. A third of them said “no.” Their reason was lack of time. A third said nothing. We can assume their reason for not even saying “no” was also lack of time and possibly lack of a secretary.

Time is the raw material of creation. Wipe away the magic and myth of creating and all that remains is work..."

If you don't hear back from me, blame it my lack of a secretary (and time, of course).  ;)

http://goo.gl/Ci1Hu

2013-05-13 22:13:42 (10 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

Second Date

Seventeen years ago yesterday, my now hubby and I met for our second date (our 1st date was at the old Whole Foods cafe in downtown Austin on the day after his birthday).  

For our 2nd date, we ate dim sum at Tien Hong, then went to see "James and the Giant Peach," and then went for a gelato at Dolce Vita.  

By the end of the 2nd summer, we were living together.  Five years later, we bought a house together, and the year after that we got married.  (why not, at that point?)

We've now watched about 1300 movies together, and probably drank 10,000 beers between us in that 17 year time span.  Don't know how many pizzas we've shared.  Our life together is still wonderful and still so interesting; in fact, it's even better.  :)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116683/

+Terry Dyke :D

2013-05-13 19:39:43 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

Reorganized My Shop Site

Still unwinding from web design mode, I guess, and winding up for studio mode.  But this felt like it needed doing.  Changes in attitudes, reflected in what I'm still (more or less) happy enough to show.

Everything is still there, but I'm no longer highlighting any older work.  Everything from 2010 and back is next on the chopping block.  :)

http://marilynfenn.com/shop/

2013-05-12 20:23:03 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

I have recently opened a small gallery here in Brussels,  151, Chauséee de Wavre.  Only been open a few days but the project is exciting and hopefully will be successful.  The first show is called: 'The Irrepressible Nature of Space'.  

2013-05-11 05:01:46 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 17 +1s)

By way of +Boing Boing. 

2013-05-10 20:24:49 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Wow!

2013-05-10 20:06:38 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 21 +1s)

More Recent Work

Yikes!  The intense focus on building a website for the neighborhood these past 3 weeks has totally interrupted my painting process, and even my posting process!  I can't seem to work in both sides of my brain too much on the same day.  So web work negates painting.  Must stop doing web work.  :D

This was the 3rd painting from my recent series; I showed you the 2nd one last week (at least, I think it was last week), and the first one is being painted over for the 20th time or so.  I have several more done, which I'll be sharing with you all soon.

Honestly, I'm not sure I'm done messing with this one.  I intended to try to do each one in just one work session, but sometimes you later see parts that bother you and must be changed.  I've worked on this one at least twice; more may be necessary for me to feel it's what itwants t... more »

2013-05-10 18:06:41 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

This is kind of goofy and cute....

2013-05-10 02:12:07 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Something to Think About Regarding the "Art World"

I found a conversation online that, in some ways, echoes some of the conversations some of us have been having here on G+ for quite awhile, though at a level perhaps a bit beyond the dreams some of us have.  Still, the blog post, and some of the comments below it make for some interesting reading.

"The status quo in the art business simply cannot persist much longer"

The above is a quote from Ed Winkleman in a recent-ish post on his blog.  He then goes on to quote Benjamin Genocchio: 

""I have this gnawing feeling that the time is ripe to make something new and exciting happen in the art world. I’m not exactly sure what that is, but I’m convinced that fairs, galleries, auction houses, even museums are changing the way they do business and that the art world we know nowwill b... more »

2013-05-10 01:14:51 (2 comments, 2 reshares, 9 +1s)

Kelly O'Connor's "Last Resort: Color Me" at Women & Their Work during the West Austin Studio Tour

I tried to make to out to the West Austin Studio Tour this year, and unfortunately, this is as far as I got.  One gallery, one show, and I had gone to this gallery for the specific purpose of buying a Catalog for WEST.  So I figured, while we're here, let's see the show.  

Here it is: photos with sparkles and stuff, styrofoam towers, lawn furniture and, my favorite, a hand-built geodesic dome complete with bejeweled wasp nests.  I was most intrigued by the fact that the panels in the dome were irregularly shaped pentagons and hexagons.  That must have been a bear to figure all the wonky angles and construct!

Anyway, I lament the fact that I missed all the painters, esp. the non-objective ones, but there weren't too many of themanyw... more »

2013-05-08 21:28:21 (8 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

What I've Been Up To!

About 3 weeks ago, I volunteered or got drafted (not sure exactly how this came to be!) to design and build a new website for our neighborhood.  I would say neighborhood association, but that sounds like HOAs, and that's not how we operate.  Everyone who lives here is automatically a member, there are no fees, and lots of neighbors volunteer lots of their time to make our little 'hood a great place to live.  :)

So, we (a team of 4: me, the designer/builder, an editor/content creator, a behind the scenes guy, and a consultant & spreadsheet guy) have pretty much completed the new website, and it has lots of functionality and interactivity designed in, and I'm loving the design.  

It's almost exclusively what I've been doing since April 23rd, losing sleep and all.  My husband says I give 500%.  I bet I could getaway ... more »

2013-05-08 19:46:59 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

Hubby's Birthday

Monday was my dear sweet husband Terry's birthday.  I took him out to dinner to Fabi + Rosi, a place we've been wanting to go to for 6 mos.  We didn't know until then that they had moved into to our former favorite Austin fancy schmancy place, Zoot, after Zoot moved to the burbs.  Fabi + Rosi serve lovely French-German cuisine with an emphasis (seemingly) on sauces.  Very good food (maybe not quite up to the level that Zoot had been, but still good), and I loved their black and white and sparkle decor.

We had cake and champagne at home, and gifts.  And I even bought my sweetie flowers.  More beauty and lovely aromas for another week or two.  :)

2013-05-06 07:43:45 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Just really enjoying the music of Van the man's "St. Dominic's Preview."  Still not giving much thought to the lyrics, but such a rich arrangement of instruments and notes!

#aiyc

2013-05-03 21:51:17 (12 comments, 3 reshares, 29 +1s)

Change in Direction

Some of you may remember that about a month ago, I mentioned I was starting a new series that represents a slight (or maybe not so slight) change in direction.

I had found with the work I was trying to do that I was attempting to make new strides in several directions at once, and it turned out they weren't necessarily compatible directions!  

For one, I wanted to emphasize the brushwork more, and find a way to make the brushstroke form the shape -- that they would become one, like the blood and bones of Chinese calligraphic strokes.  

I also wanted to stretch my color decision-making process, in part by reducing the number of tubes of color I was using to perhaps between 6 tubes to no more than 8 or 10 (or 12) tubes.  Well, you get the idea.  This was partly a result of my color studies last month.

And the third majorthi... more »

2013-05-01 07:52:15 (13 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Heard a countrified version of The Rolling Stones song "Dead Flowers" and had to wonder, if you do a satire of a satire, does it cancel out?

2013-05-01 00:48:16 (15 comments, 0 reshares, 20 +1s)

Bonus Paper Find

I discovered today that I have 84 sheets of paper -- each ~3' x 6' -- and none of them will now be needed for the purpose for which they were obtained.  :D

It feels like vellum, but I don't know what it is exactly.  I have no idea how well this paper will take various media, but I'm about to go find out.  I'm so excited, I'm already almost exhausted just from the thrill of it!

2013-04-30 06:38:58 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

something to aspire to

When you FEEL colors, you will understand the WHY of their forms.

-- Oscar Bluemner

2013-04-30 02:55:41 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 17 +1s)

Van Gogh's color palette was brighter than we assume

These blue walls were violet, and in more of a harmonious complementary color scheme than what we see here.  But fugitive reds faded away, leaving violet walls blue and pink flowers white!  Gah!

And according to this article, he was more methodical, and less deranged than has been thought. That makes me happy.  :)

Read about it in the NYT: http://goo.gl/o7d5j

2013-04-27 18:28:26 (32 comments, 1 reshares, 10 +1s)

What Paint Does

I'm really enjoying the essays of Robin Greenwood.  This one has awaken something in my brain that I think has been asleep since art school!  Not sure if I agree with it all, but it's exciting (to me) to contemplate these thoughts, as well as the rest of the essay and subsequent comments.

"What’s missing from this, what makes it a defective raison-d’être of painting, is the recognition that paint can carry more potency and meaning through its use as a designator and articulator of form and space than it can by any literal demonstration of its real-world properties. To suggest that the literal ‘materiality’ of paint – or indeed the process of applying it as a performance – is truer to painting than the fullest, richest fulfilment of its potential as an illusionistic medium is to belittle and falsify it. Such a philosophy of painting(for such it i... more »

2013-04-27 02:29:54 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

"Art is, amongst many things, perhaps a way of expanding the wiring of our brains." 

- Robin Greenwood

2013-04-26 20:45:12 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Interesting article.

2013-04-25 23:12:51 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

All Dressed Up, Someplace to Go, But the Someplace Isn't There Anymore!

I needed to renew my drivers license, which I've been putting off, but finally decided to do it today!  I showered and washed my hair and even blow-dried it upside down (to poof it out some, which doesn't seem to work anymore), put on ALL the makeup, earrings, cool striped shirt -- all to prepare for the inevitable gawdawful photo.  

My hubby drove me over to the DPS Drivers License office, which has been there since at least 1965 (I'm told), but it was closed!  Until further notice.  Due to a break-in that occurred 3 weeks ago!  Big sign saying go to Pflugerville (the next town!) to renew.  Don't think so.  I'm not driving to another town to renew my license.  Come to find out, I can renew my DL online!

So, anyway, we went and got Bar-B-Que instead.  AtHoover&#... more »

2013-04-25 19:39:32 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

Another Older Abstract: "Soaring"

This one is from 2009, when I decided to try acrylics again!  I did about 10 36"x36" acrylic paintings in a couple of weeks, working furiously (which you have to do if you're using acrylic, right?).  I was even using interactive paints, which can have the painting time extended with certain mediums, and can be reactivated with water within a certain time period.  

After doing those ten, I went back to oils.  Now I'm giving heavy body, non-interactive acrylics another go, and finding them kind of cool, but still I have to work fast.

This is one of my favorites from that period.  (Ignore the posting date below; something is clearly screwed up with that! )

Posting from my Blogger blog to see how the Plus1 interaction with G+ works.  This is only a test...but please interact with this post,anywa... more »

2013-04-24 01:11:44 (30 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

<Rant> My Website Hosting Company Ruined My Birthday

Or most of it, anyway.  I don't normally like to whine in public, but I feel like I need to get this on the record, so stop reading here, if you're not into 1st-world problem style whining. ;)  

I do have a question at the end.

Background: I spent all of last week doing all kinds of physical tasks so that I could spend my birthday doing my favorite thing: painting.  Three afternoons of yard work -- mowed and edged the front and back yards, trimmed all the bushes, pulled tons of weeds.  Nothing had been done in 6-7 months, since my husband broke his leg, so there was a lot to do.  We filled 6 bags with yard waste, and hauled two huge loads of grass clippings to the compost pile.  I did most of it, as my husband's leg is still healing from last fall's break.

Then, we cleaned thehouse... more »

2013-04-22 22:13:18 (6 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

Possibly the Best Story You'll Ever Hear

It's about a Detroit folksinger named Rodriguez who created 2 albums in the early 70's that went nowhere...in the States.  Meanwhile, his music becomes huge in South Africa -- iconic music for the anti-apartheid movement, but Rodriguez doesn't know it!  Fans from S.A. search for clues about what happened to their idol, and the story that unfolds is amazing!

A film in the making for 4 years, after running out of funding before finishing the movie, Swedish filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul shot some parts of the documentary on an iPhone App that cost only $1.99.

It's a beautiful documentary of a story that's nearly impossible to believe, an achingly touching story of a talented musical artist who fails to receive recognition in his time.

If you rent the disc, be sure to watch the making of thesto... more »

2013-04-22 21:30:19 (15 comments, 0 reshares, 24 +1s)

Thanks to Everyone for All the Great Birthday Wishes

I haven't paid much attention to the birthday feature on G+, thinking of it as a FB thing, so I truly want to thank those of you who took the time to wish me a happy birthday for all your kind wishes.  You really made me feel terrific.

Actually, it was a challenging birthday, and I may post about why in a later post, but it will be a rant, so I don't know,  Maybe I shouldn't post that part.

My dear sweet husband made my evening truly wonderful with flowers, and dinner, and gifts, and a sweet card, and cake, and champagne, and then we watched one of the best true stories I have ever seen, "Searching for Sugarman."  I'll post more about that in a minute, too.

Once again, thanks everyone!  You really cheered me up!

2013-04-20 18:21:37 (16 comments, 1 reshares, 52 +1s)

Welcome to All My New Followers!

Over a thousand in about a week!  I am truly humbled, and hope that you find my almost daily (or more) posts to your liking.  

As you may know, I am a painter, currently working in abstraction, but with a good background in representation.  I paint in oil, watercolor, acrylic, ink or mixed media, depending on what ideas I'm interested in exploring.  I post mostly my own art, sometimes the art of others, some studio pics and other snapshots from my life.  I have a website of my paintings, a blog, and an online shop of my work, which you can find on my profile.

Let's engage.  If you leave a comment on my posts (as long as it's not inappropriate, weird or mean), I will add you back.  :)

I am presently seeking out new territory in my paintings, and it's too soon to show what I'm trying to learn now. So, f... more »

2013-04-18 23:00:42 (10 comments, 4 reshares, 48 +1s)

Another Older Abstract

I am still too early in my new and improved painting process to start showing my most recent work.  It feels very different to me from what you might expect, and I am loving the process and the outcomes, but I need to crank out another 10 or 20 studies before I feel like I know what what I'm doing, and that what I'm doing is what I actually want to be doing.  But so far, so good!

In the meantime, I thought I'd show you the partner to the earlier abstract landscape I posted a few days ago.  That one was called "Steamy Spring" and this one is "Burning Ice."  Two of a kind, and that's all I did like this.  They still look great together.  :)

"Burning Ice"
Oil on canvas
10″ x 10″
© 2006 Marilyn Fenn

#abstractart  

2013-04-17 19:40:26 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

First Post on My Recent Color Studies

As promised.  This will be at least a 2-parter; too much info for one blog post!

2013-04-16 22:56:34 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 24 +1s)

 Good night Me luvilees!  Off to dream some pretty fractal patterns!

2013-04-15 01:02:29 (16 comments, 0 reshares, 13 +1s)

Just Made a Small Panel Holder

You know hard it is to paint on small flat panels on your easel, how the easel parts get in the way of painting the top and bottom of your panel?

I found these instructions online: http://georgedechiara.com/blog/23638/building-a-small-panel-holder and figured why even bother with the diagonal pieces, if you're going to clamp everything anyway?  Well, we shall see how well it works momentarily.  It seems like the panel is in there pretty tight.   :)

This only took probably between 30 minutes to an hour, including finding the Masonite and clamps, setting up the table saw, measuring, marking, cutting, and assembling.  And another 10 minutes to take pics and post about it.  ;)

Pics below are, of course, before and after, without and with the new panel holder.

2013-04-14 16:51:12 (6 comments, 1 reshares, 22 +1s)

"TREATMENT OF SPRING AVITAMINOSIS". 2011

Image in hight resilution
http://works2010-en.ivankrutoyarov.com/2011/11/treatment-of-spring-avitaminosis-2011.html

2013-04-13 17:21:28 (12 comments, 1 reshares, 34 +1s)

Early Abstract Landscape

While I'm working on some new studies that I'm not yet ready to show you, I thought I'd share one of my first abstract landscapes, from 2006, the year I decided to move away from representation.  Not that I have been completely able to stay away from representation -- in 2006-07, I did about 20 paintings of tornadoes and 5 of nuclear bombs, and in 2011, I did 17 still lifes of toys, and in 2012, some drawings of vines, and well...the need to represent just seems to pop up every now and again.

But that said, this was one of 2 paintings in this series, which miraculously almost, but still quite haven't sold.  They're hanging in one of our bathrooms, so I still get to enjoy them daily.  Oddly enough, 7 years later, I'm still trying to figure out how I want to paint abstractly.  :)

"Steamy Spring"
Oil oncan... more »

2013-04-12 23:54:51 (18 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

My inbox is evil!  666 unread.  If I haven't gotten back to you, now you know why.