Sorry to be such a poop lately, but not being near a computer when I work as well as too busy to get online makes blogging difficult.

Needless to say, I have not watched television, and other than glancing at newspaper headlines I have not had time to keep up with current events. Yes, I do know that Barack Obama will soon be sworn in as president. A friend told me that a huge deal is being made of it on TV, and he can't believe I'm not watching. (History being made, etc.)

Excuse me, but since when is history made by the TV? I did watch Bush being sworn in, and if I remember correctly, the ceremony took an hour or so.

According to my friend, though, this particular ceremony is taking days (yes, it somehow is, with a prolonged inaugural railroad ride), and I am supposed to be glued to the TV watching it.

Am I missing out on history? I don't doubt that there's a train ride and stuff, but am I supposed to get all emotional and weepy? What gives? Why the need for such apparently drawn-out, overwrought drama? What could be more dull than watching a train on TV?

(Answer: covering it via liveblogging!)

On an artistic note, I thought I should put in a plug for a marvelous product I've discovered called "KRUD KUTTER." I've had an old lithograph (purportedly by Dalí) hanging on the wall of this house for nearly twenty years which was so covered with krud that it was getting tough to see the image. An artist friend decided to clean it using KRUD KUTTER and I couldn't believe the result.

Such a versatile product deserves a plug.

I know a lot more about Dalí now than I did when I acquired the print, and the first thing I noticed was that while the style unmistakably resembled Dalí's, there were significant differences. Dalí would not have painted a smooth rock with stripes, so I thought it might be an Yves Tanguy (Dalí and Tanguy were peers and did influence each other.) Thanks to the miracle of KRUD KUTTER, surprise! A close inspection of the lower right hand corner revealed the signature.

Proof that if you kut through enough krud, you can find the history.

Tanguy said, "I found that if I planned a picture beforehand, it never surprised me, and surprises are my pleasure in painting."

It was a pleasure to discover it.