John Alden Photography

  June 2, 2023 - Bugs To me, as a young boy freshly relocated from the depths of a Los Angeles suburb of Fullerton to a seven acre ranch in N. Fresno, anything that crawled in the dirt was a bug, Small things, things with black shells, or wings, or pincers, or they were red, blue, green or translucent, with six legs or eight or a hundred. Wings or wingless, they were all bugs and I’d study them, poking and provoking them and sometimes I’d felt the need to step on them. But as a boy i liked to catch bugs. Trap them in a jar, and wait for them to die. Then I’d pushed a pin though their backs into a piece of styrofoam kept under a homemade dried bug rack. It was something I had seen in books, elevate the bugs above a substrate and attach a label of best guess species and type to the date. It was my way of making sense of the environment. I thought about studying bugs deeper, but there was a distinct noise made when the pin snapped trough the exoskeleton and plugged through to be s...

 Unconditional love -   Dogs I’ve always had dogs in my life. I really can’t remember a time, maybe when I was away at school in Monterey, when I did not have a dog. All my dogs were remarkable, loyal, and loved unconditionally. All special and talented in their own way. Boogie, the first dog I remember, was a basset hound. His eyelids drooped, so did his jowels and especially droopy, were his ears. They seem to nearly touch the floor when he walked. If he had his nose down, sniffing, his ears dragged behind him like two wet mops.  When he ate, his ears mixed with his food and often the wet canned food he ate, would cake on his ear tips, dry and get crusty. Mom would clean it off until the next time. I don’t recall whatever happened to Boogie. He was there with me as a toddler and a kindergartener through first grade at Woodcrest Elementary in Fullerton. He was always hanging round, loafing, eating, sleeping wanting pets.  One day that I heard we were ...

  I’ll never be hired as a forger but I at least i might be considered. Thought I’d share a painting I that I am calling done, for now anyhow. This is my interpretation of a painting by, Danish painter, Jan Van Eyck. The original was painted in 1435 using a process known as, “indirect painting” that I also used to recreate this one, just like he did.  Indirect painting  has been in use for many centurys. It is a long process of layering paint.  Many consider this to be Van Eyck’s self portrait. None of the work is signed.  Back then, it was considered blasphemous to sign your work.  Historians find it hard to determine authorship, but there are many clues left behind. that suggest it is him. It’s gotta be. Als Ich Kan

  magazine, every month.   The articles are telling, and i do learn a lot. I reccomend it. I attend classes of Silver Sneakers class 3-4 days a week. I wouldn't miss it. I draw daily. I paint I play music I garden. I hang with friends.  It might seem simple but within that simplicity is happiness.  Today is my birthday. 052555 I asked My wife, Debi, this morning; "did you ever think you'd be sleeping with a 69 year old man?"  Time moves on.  Things change. I'm so happy to be here. Honestly I'm glad im not dead,  I came close to that a few years ago. Not fun. I'm looking forward to it all. Thank you all for your new year/birthday wishes.    I have ideas.   Hope to see you in this new year.