I received a letter to the website today, an honest to god letter. You know, the paper and pen variety. It seems that my comments section is not working, and one of my most loyal readers has complained about that. James, I am on it! I need to post this first, then I will figure out why spam can get through, but not real people. That would, however, explain the lack of comments recently.

Anyhow, James wanted to offer his newly developed 'cut-the-crap' question. Simply ask, "what do you do for fun?" I figure that is a pretty good one. I will test that one out and see where that will lead things.

My good friend Eric painted me yesterday. I lived with him for five years, and I am always happy to support him in his endeavors. He also happens to be one of the few classically trained painters that I know, and at this point he is disturbingly good with his painting, especially with portraiture. At the end of the session I got to watch him fix up the last parts of my face, putting paint here and there to make it all spot on, and I remembered that painting is really a bit magical. It really is magic, a slight of the hand and all of the sudden there is something where there was nothing before.

I know that it is not really magic, but hours and hours of learned technique manifested in a series of strokes made over an hour and a half. Bu still, as I am years and years behind on my 'famous painter' career path, it is still magical in the sense that I cannot do what Eric does, nor can I be bothered to spend the effort to catch up. Hmm, ten years of painting classes, Colin?

I wonder, James, what Eric would say if asked "what do you do for fun?" He perhaps may be one of the few people that I know for whom "what do you do" and "what do you do for fun" are pretty much the same thing. That is sure is one surefire way to cut the small talk and get to the good stuff.