RED ROBIN

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!"
- A Famous Song

RED ROBIN It is one of our favorite hambuger place in our city. We eat hamburger there when we are sick and tired of McDonald, Burger King and Jack in the Box. Red Robin's hamburgers are more pricey, taste better and beautifully presented with all the trimmings. On the lighter side, my youngest son is named Robin. He was already born before Red Robin came around our neighborhood. He loves RED too. His first car was a RED Honda sports car. His passion for RED car always caught the attention of the police. He always gets a ticket or a warning for speeding although he was not driving beyond the limit. Policemen have hot eyes for RED car drivers. Today, Robin's car is no longer RED but BLACK.
BIRTHDAY COMES BUT ONCE A YEAR It's true! So here I am blogging about the birthday of Robin. His birthday is coming up on the 9th, but I will be out of town for a week. I am posting this blog earlier. There are many things I forget in life but not the birthdays of my children. Their birthdays are marked RED on our calendar.

HOW AN ARTIST CELEBRATED THEIR FAMILY BIRTHDAYS? Robin is a professional graphic artist but when it comes to celebrating his birthday, he leaves all the planning to me. I remember when my four children were little, I was their party coordinator. I loved doing it. I got many creative and fun ideas. I was never stressed with all the plannings and preparations. I made their parties like a movie production- with coordinating costumes, decorations, games, favors and food. I baked their birthday cakes and decorated them too. Because Robin was born in February he always had a RED theme birthday party. Those born in March had a GREEN theme birthday party. The one born in July had the RED, WHITE and BLUE theme birthday party. Now that they are all grown up, their birthday celebrations are anything goes. Meaning any color or theme would do. I passed that stage in life where I like things matchy-matchy.

ROBIN'S WISH The oil painting above "Reflections Of My Homeland" had appeared many times on my blog. It's a favorite family heirloom and painting that I will pass on to Robin someday. Why Robin? One day, he told me, "Mom, when you pass away, can I inherit that painting?" Since none of my children asked for it, I said "YES!" I love all my children and don't show favoritism. In the future....the rest of my paintings and personal art collections will be divided equally among them. GENERATION GAP This photo was taken one Christmas Day ago. The favorite painting hangs in our dining room. Robin was standing second from the right. He and I like the same things and we get along pretty well, despite of our huge generation gap. Our favorite topic is of course, art. We are both passionate about art. When I was in art school, I didn't have any idea that someday, a sophisticated computer will come around and be used as artists or designers tool. Robin is very good and creative digital-graphic artist. What he could designed on the computer is mind-boggling to me. I admired his many wonderful and modern ideas. I am so proud of his TV ads for Budweiser, Toyota, Reebok, etc., which were shown at the Super Bowl, during the past 2 years. On the brighter side, he is also one of my admirers. He is amazed at my paintings, which are done by hand and brushes. He couldn't understand why it took lots of time and effort to do oil painting on canvas. He's not as patient as me. On the other hand, I am also amazed at the way he could manipulate and design speedily and creatively via computer. We are both amazed at each other's talent and appreciate the differences on how we created out art works.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBIN!!!

A COLORFUL RED PALLETE

" A friend is a close companion on rainy days, someone to share with through every phase. Forgiving and helping to bring out the best, believing the good and forgetting the rest."-Anonymous

RED MONTH When I think of FEBRUARY the color RED comes to mind. Valentine's Day is around the corner. There are RED hearts and cupids everywhere, reminding us to go shopping again for gifts for our loved ones. I haven't recovered from Christmas shopping yet. I am seeing many RED dresses for sale in the mall with matching RED shoes and purses. I saw a RED Prada shoes. I wasn't tempted to even try them because I know the devil wears Prada. Last Friday, it was National Wear RED Day. Women were asked to wear RED.

RED IN MANY SPLENDORED NAMES It is s a primary color. Sometimes there's no such thing as RED. That's only a small sampling, though, of what you'd have to deal with if you walked into an art supply store and asked for "some red paint, please." "Do you want vermillion, cadium, Indian oxide, alizarin crimson, Acra, Venetian, or Mars? So many choices, huh? When I read novels, I noticed many authors would write sexy RED names like scarlett, crimson and rose? When I go to jewelry stores RED means garnet or ruby. When one is in debt, they say, " In the RED." When one is treated with very grand or impressive welcome, we say "roll out the RED carpet." When I walked into the hospital, I see RED every where, meaning I smell "blood." RED is the color of blood. So many names and terminologies. Could you imagine a world without RED?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!! In our family we have two birthdays in February. My hubby and youngest son are celebrating their birthdays this month. Tomorrow (February 4th) is a special day, and as usual this blog space is dedicated to my special friend, close companion during rainy and sunny days, and faithful husband for 36 years, who happily turned ???????? years old. Shhhh....sorry, I couldn't disclose how young he is. Last year we celebrated his birthday on board the gigantic Crown Princess during our cruise to the Southern Caribbean last February 2007. Our cabin door was festively decorated with RED balloons. Dinner that night was RED wine and RED Fillet Mignon. He likes rare but I like my steak medium (not too RED). Dessert was jumbo fresh strawberries dipped in brown and white chocolates. My husband is a chocoholic. What a RED birthday to remember!

INTERESTING FACT ABOUT HIS NAME: My husband's full name is Rhodamin but we call him Rhod for short. His father being an artist picked this name. It originated from a RED chemistry color called Rhodamine. This color or dye is obtained by heating an alkyl aminophenol w/ phthalic and hydride. Interesting huh? RED is PASSIONATE color and my hubby lives up to his name. He's passionate about many things- long marriage, big family, grand kids, career, latest technology gadget, huge flat screen TV, church work, Fil-Am volunteer, traveling and cruising. He is supportive about my passion for art but he is not passionate about art and museums. Although all his life, he's surrounded by artists-artistic wife, a father who is a scenic artist and two sons who are graphic artists. RED is a HOT color. He is true to my car's plate # HOT ROD. RED is also a BOLD color. If you ever watch a bull fight, the matador challenges the bull with a RED flag. When my hubby challenges me, his lips and face turned RED too. He's fair and get REDDISH easily. No kidding!
A PAINTING FOR A WONDERFUL HUSBAND My husband is an electronic engineer. He works for a defense company that makes sonar system. One day he asked me to do a painting for him. He wanted me to paint something for his office. So I painted this oil painting ( 18" x 23") entitled "Airborne Sonar AN/ AQS-18 (V)." This painting is now on display in his office. I blogged about this painting last February 2007 and I am posting it again for those who have not seen it and new to my blog.
CLOSE-UP VIEW OF THE PAINTING
I had only done one painting for my hubby. I think I should paint more for him after supporting and loving me all these years. One day, I met a male and unmarried artist in his early thirties. He told me...."You're very lucky to have a husband who could support you, so you could paint full-time. I wished I could find a wife who could support me too and paint full-time like you." Gee, he sounded like Van Gogh. Van Gogh was able to paint full-time because his brother Theo was there to support him most of his life. He didn't take a day job and paint at night. At mid-life, I think it's a good life to paint without financial worries. Thanks to a wonderful husband.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET-ART!