Guns, Bombs, Warships are All Symbols of Human Failure.

                                          http://joan-reese.pixels.com/collections/fireworks

When I was growing up, it was 'Communists'. Now it's 'Terrorists'. So you always have to have somebody to fight and be afraid of, so the war machine can build more bombs, guns, and bullets and everything.       Cindy Sheehan

Art is the Daughter of Freedom

                                  http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/juicy-red-roses-joan-reese.html

Art, freedom and creativity will change society

faster than politics.              Victor Pinchuk

Rock and Roll is Here to Stay

                   https://fineartamerica.com/featured/rock-and-roll-on-st-marks-nyc-joan-reese.html

If you tried to give rock and roll another name, 

you might call it 'Chuck Berry'.     John Lennon 

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

                     http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/green-fence-joan-reese.html?newartwork=true

I never expected anyone to take care of me, but in my wildest dreams and juvenile yearnings, I wanted the house with the picket fence from June Allyson movies. I knew that was yearning like one yearns to fly.           Maya Angelou

Why Politicians Profess they are Religious!

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A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has god on his side.          -Aristotle 

Home is Where One Starts From

http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/manhattan-town-house-joan-reese.html?newartwork=true

Love begins by taking care of the closest ones - 

the ones at home.     - Mother Teresa

Love is Power

                             http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/power-of-love-joan-reese.html

“No religion is absolutely perfect. Yet not only do we fight for religion, but also are we often willing to sacrifice our lives for it. And what we hopelessly fail to do is to live it. A true religion is that which has no caste, no creed, no colour. It is but an all-uniting and all-pervading embrace.” 
― Sri Chimney                 https://www.srichinmoy.org

Do you remember "The Little Rascals" dog, Petey?

Remember Petey the dog from The Little Rascals? The little boy on the right was my father.
        http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/philly-kids-with-petey-the-dog-joan-reese.html

Fishtown kids weren't hungry                                

We played, then dined on soup.             

We sailed the Soupy Island Boat for free.                    

Dad worked the fishery; earning a small salary            

Dads drank in the brewery  Moms convened on marble stoops.

Fishtown kids weren't hungry.                              

Summer days, sailing the Delaware, carefree

Can't call a Fishtown kid a dupe           

We sailed the Soupy Island Boat for free.   

We landed at Red Bank, New Jersey; climbed trees,              

Rode the carousel, swam; fifty kids in our group.                 

Fishtown kids weren't hungry.                               

We thought the soup savory  One might disagree   

America was feeding us on her trusty sloop.                      

We sailed the Soupy Island Boat for free.         

In 1945, rent overdue: Not to worry!    

We had each other  we shared our bread and soup.                 

Fishtown kids weren't hungry                    

We sailed the Soupy Island Boat for free.

            by Joan Reese        

Flying A Service Stations Part of Earlier Years.

                       http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/flying-a-service-sign-joan-reese.html

Death of a Gas Station

They now lie vacant and still.

In the past, drivers came for a fill.

With clean restrooms and soda machines,

these stops were once places with lively scenes.

“Let me check your oil and clean your windshield.”

That is what attendants said at Esso and Richfield.

There was also Sinclair, Atlantic, and Flying-A.

These names are all part of an earlier day.

They were there to help motorists on their way.

Whether they drove a Hudson, Studebaker, or Thunderbird,

service was always the key word.

The pumps are rusty and the windows are boarded.

The old signs are now damaged and distorted.

Walls of the buildings are overgrown with ivy.

Business was brisk at the height of their activity.

However, all that was there is only a memory.

by Robert Pettit 

Men Offer Her a Dead President

http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/blond-stripper-joan-reese.html?newartwork=true

SCISSOR DANCE

Jukebox rocks, two dozen hardworking dusty men,

Bent elbows lean, Gold liquid flows

Glass rises, lit cigarettes talk.

She poses on a white piano bar,

scantily clad; slow moving, bending,

grinding, shaking, gyrating.

She blows kisses

to admiring eyes

with lustful wishes. 

Cleo's little girl dream

of being rescued

fades with each midnight hour.

She spins around, steelscissors held high.

Scissors reflect mirrored walls;

penetrates smoky beer air.

The scissor flashes down

cutting a hole above her heart.

Cleo offers the red satin circle,

Keepsake for the trucker who watches.

He believes, "She dances for me."

He offers up a dead President.

She cuts a hole here

cuts a hole there.

Soon she can start her own government.

It's hard to know where

first hole began or

last hole ends.

By Joan Reese

America is Freedom of Mind and Spirit in Man.

http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/new-york-windows-joan-reese.html?newartwork=true

Within the soul of America is freedom of mind and spirit in man. Here alone are the open windows through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit. Here alone is human dignity not a dream but an accomplishment. Perhaps it is not perfect, but it is more full in realization here than any other place in the world.          Herbert Hoover

Americans let us Embrace Abraham Lincoln’s Path of Wisdom.

              http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/lincolns-path-joan-reese.html?newartwork=true

We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. 

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. 

Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this. 

Read more: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/abraham_lincoln.html

“Cheers to a New Year and Another Chance for us to Get it Right.”

“The New Year is a painting not yet painted; a path not yet stepped on; a wing not yet taken off! Things haven’t happened as yet! Before the clock strikes twelve, remember that you are blessed with the ability to reshape your life!” 

― Mehmet Murat ildan

Wishing Peace, Prosperity and Good Health to Everyone!

http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/-patriotic-santa-joan-reese.html

.

Cleanliness rules just don't apply!

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I is as dirty as dirty can beCause I is just a pig you seeI wallow around in my lovely styYour cleanliness rules just don’t applyI love the mud, that gooey stuffAnd as to the odor, I can’t get enoughThe stuff they feed me, you call it slopWell, I think it’s great, really tip- topI have no worries, no not a oneBut the dog just said ,”Go on, have fun-For if I’m not mistaken,                   You soon will be bacon..” by Barbara Gorelic

Museum Prints by "New York City Artist" "Joan Reese"

                                                                 http://joan-reese.pixels.com

Beautiful prints by "New York City Artist" "Joan Reese" available on canvas, framed prints, housewares,tote bags, shower curtains, towels, i phone covers, mugs and more...http://joan-reese.pixels.com

Sunrise is Nature's Painting for the Eyes.

                        http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/good-morning-ac-joan-reese.html

Sunrise offered a very beautiful spectacle; the water was quite unruffled, but the motion communicated by the tides was so great that, although there was not a breath of air stirring, the sea heaved slowly with a grand and majestic motion.              George Grey

Remember When Phone Calls Cost A Dime?

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The telephone is a wonderful invention, 

Calling all kinds of things to your attention. 

Living in the country and having a party line 

Meant others could listen to you at the same time. 

When the phone rang, we had to carefully listen 

To which ring was ours or a call we’d be missing. 

Our ring was 3 short, but there were 3 others 

Who may listen in if it were not for their mothers. 

We’d all give a jolt at the very first sound 

When off to the telephone we surely were bound. 

Standing there waiting for those 3 short rings 

For a call just for us as the telephone sings. 

by Jean E. Gorney

                    http://www.poetry.com/poems/592511-THE-OLD-TELEPHONE-Poem-151

How To Observe Thanksgiving

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Count your blessings instead of your crosses;

Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count your joys instead of your woes;

Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your smiles instead of your tears;

Count your courage instead of your fears.

Count your full years instead of your lean;

Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth;

Thank your God instead of yourself.

Trump Presidency - Episode One

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When America closes its doors, so does everybody else.

We are the primary engine of growth in the world

and we are the only beacon of free trade left, and open markets.

 Jon Huntsman, Jr. (R)

Autumn Leaves Speak Bliss to Me

                      http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/green-autumn-door-joan-reese.html

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away; 

Lengthen night and shorten day; 

Every leaf speaks bliss to me 

Fluttering from the autumn tree. 

I shall smile when wreaths of snow 

Blossom where the rose should grow; 

I shall sing when night’s decay 

Ushers in a drearier day.

BY EMILY BRONTË

The Vampire Bares his Yellow Fangs

         http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/blue-vampire-joan-reese.html?newartwork=true

“Be silent in that solitude,

Which is not loneliness—for then

The spirits of the dead, who stood

In life before thee, are again

In death around thee, and their will

Shall overshadow thee; be still.”

—From “Spirits of the Dead” by Edgar Allan Poe

King of Sneakers

                       http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/king-of-sneakers-joan-reese.html

On my own I generally have very messy hair, 

wear jeans and sneakers.      Jewel

NYC Some live in Mansions; Some in holes

                 http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/34th-street-new-york-city-joan-reese.html

Say this city has ten million souls,

Some are living in mansions, some are living in holes:

Yet there's no place for us, my dear,

yet there's no place for us.

by WH Auden

Advice from a pumpkin:

                            http://joan-reese.pixels.com/featured/october-pumpkins-joan-reese.html

Advice from a pumpkin:

give thanks

life's bounty

have thick skin

get plenty of sunshine

be well rounded 

keep growing

be outstanding in your field

think big!