Gypsies, Trumps and Thieves: finally getting around to 2016

 

This is my sweet 11 year old niece Sophia.  Last week I came across this website Dreamscope.com where you can upload photos and after a 5 minute wait, see them transformed into various works of art.  You have a choice of artists and styles to choose from, can select your basic oil painting or a particular artist like Picasso.  Depending on the photo, the results can be amazing. 

This ‘Picasso’ of Sophia still  pretty much resembles her photo, but for some reason it puts me in mind of a little gypsy. 

(And if you saw all the baubles & beads this kid has, she’s ready to hop on one of those caravans!)

As long as I’m at it, here’s a ‘medium oil’ of my sister Shawn, I think this one’s my favorite:

And lastly, here’s a photo that my dad took of Mom from the early ‘60s, and Dreamscope’s trippy update.  I figure I’m probably last to the table with this stuff and it’s a standard app on everyone’s smartphone or tablet now.  But I still dig it!

Getting back on topic, where was I… oh yes, the trumps & thieves.  I’m not sitting around obsessing about it, but last night on Facebook a very liberal friend & Democrat wrote “GOP, you gotta stick with Trump and show us who’s boss!”  and I quaked a little inside.  I’m sure most Dems see him as a sure way of getting Hillary or Bernie Sanders in the White House, but I couldn’t help but be reminded of ‘Big Brother’ and those weekly eviction votes.  Everytime a well-liked person was put next to the smarmy bully-douchebag as a pawn (to ensure said douche was voted out of the house), somehow things always got twisted around and it was the good guy who was sent packing instead. 

I just think there’s a lesson to be learned here from cheesy reality-tv…   

And finally, in regards to that thieves business… my retirement portfolio is missing around 61K from it’s December balance & I hope they catch the crooks who took it!  Okay all kidding aside, I don’t think anyone saw this coming.  My first post of 2016 was originally set to be a real yawner about ‘preferred withdrawal strategies’ (as I was planning my first retirement withdrawal this month) but with things the way they are now, it just ain’t happening.  Not in January, most likely not in 2016.  Ulp.

So for the time being, I guess I’ll be getting by on my good looks.   Alright, just wanted to put something new on here, I’ll try to keep things a little more upbeat in the year ahead!