"In The Garden of The Beasts" by Erik Larson

Last week I finished a book titled "In The Garden of The Beasts" by Erik Larson (2011) . The period covered in the book is 1933 to 1938. This time frame corresponds to the time Ambassador Dodd served as our ambassador to Germany. I was familiar with the period, as I had read a few histories of that period over the years, but nothing like the details that were presented in this book. After reading this book from cover to cover, I come away with the thought that had our State Department not been so anti-semitic and not been a bunch of wealthy pricks that did not listened to ambassador Dodd, Hitler might have been challenged much much sooner and just perhaps WWII might have been prevented. But, the State Department did not listen to ambassador Dodd, nor did they listen to other officers in the embassy that were trying to warn of the coming war as early as 1933. I sure hope our State Department is better staffed today with fewer pricks, and an educated staff that has the intelligence to report what they see. I recommend this book to anyone that is interested in this period of history.

Rejected!

My 3 pieces of artwork have been rejected. No this isn't the end of the world, but it is a setback of sorts. I will continue to do my political satire, and I will continue to enter pieces in juried art shows and I will take my rejection slips and go back to the drawing board and try and make better works of art. One of these days perhaps one of my pieces will make it.