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Comments

[Flukey]

First?

[crash]

Let me get a WHOOt WHOOt!

[candylady]

Dave, their wuz a rumer yu and Judi was kidnaped bye the mispeling artust. Glad two sea its not troo.

[SchadeBoy]

Fourth!

[Crabby Appleton]

And by "true artisan" she means pothead.
And by "sacrificial goat" she means total jackass.

[Flukey]

Perhaps the woman could be forced to read some of the books in the library?

[Eric]

To me, there is nothing funnier than a person who knows she has made a colossal mistake but is too stubborn to correct it, especially when she disguises it as art.
A true artist wouldn't notice, my eye. I'm sure many artists are capable of rudimentary spelling.

[Lee]

Vile Hate Mail? Heck, all we did was point her to Dictionary.com.

Good for her, sticking to her guns and refusing to correct an obvious boneheaded mistake. Let her idiocy be forever entombed in the world of mediocre art.

[SchadeBoy]

I"m having trouble getting to the site. I get a Gateway Timeout error. Anyone feel like posting the text of the article here?

I wonder if that's a copyright violation?

[candylady]

"The mistakes wouldn't even register with a true artisan, Alquilar said"
Since when is true artisan synonymous with ignorant???

[Lenore]

Cristobal's poetry surely turned the tide.

I plan to drive out to Livermore (about 20 miles) and deride the "mural" (flooral?) in person.

[sacrificial goat]

Baaaaa Even I know how to spell Einstein Baaaa

[Flash]

BigD posted a link to the library, so we could offer suggestions of what they can do in lieu of fixing the mural, but it does not seem to have any email addresses attached. Anyone know how to email them?

[No Einstein]

Florida should revoke her artistic license.

[Flash]

Dave,
We're so relieved to have you back. We thought you wuz dead!!

[Corn]

Anagram for the day:
true artisan = ruinate arts.

[Flash]

I think that Miz Tequilar has a future as a general contractor. It's tough to get them to come back and fix things too! (and now they can claim it's not broken, it's just "artistic")

[Lenore]

Alas, djtonyb, there is plenty weaselness to go around. They're cutting library hours and laying off librarians, too.

Does the fact that administrators don't read surprise us any more than that little blonde moppet can't?

You notice, too, from Maria's website that she has public installations all over northern California? The seat of our esteemed state government (and *seat* of our esteemed Governator), Sacramento, is full of her stuff.

Here's a class project: Who finally blew the whistle on her typography, anyway, and when?

[crash]

DJ, That little kid is the one that noticed.

Librarians are not as skilled readers as you think. My aunt lives in Palm Beach, is a librarian, and accidentally voted for Buchanan in 2000.

[Lenore]

Pardon! I did not mean to imply that Ahnold has tatoos of Maria's art on his butt. I would never imply that, oh no, that would be wrong!

[Dave (not Barry.. calm down)]

I would have liked to see the artcle written like this-

"SANN FRANSISCO (AP) -- The artest who misspeled the names off famos peeple in wurld history on a large seramuc mosick outside Liverrmores new libary can spel won word with eese: N-O-O. That's Mareea Alchollar's noo posittion on fising the tipos."

HAHAHA! That would have been funny.

[Flash]

Lenore,
I think it's the little girl in picture #2 of dj's post.
Little Girl: "Look mommy, this word is wrong."
Mommy: "Don't be silly dear, this is a library."

[Dave (not Barry.. calm down)]

>>and now they can claim it's not broken, it's just "artistic"

[waxwing]

'The Artisan' must have some sort of talent if she managed to get them to pay $40,000 for what looks like pool-bottom tiling and then vote to pay her an additional $6,000 plus expenses to fix her errors. If she had any respect for herself as a person (instead of thinking 'Artisans' are incapable of real life skills) she should have scurried to repair it at her own expense. Too late now! She's become a babyMoat!

[Brainy Jello]

...and if it ain't artistic, don't fix it.

[Lenore]

Dear Ms. Alquilar (did I spell that right?),

Thank you for saving me and my fellow taxpayers the $6000 Livermore offered you to come fix your work.

I'm also pleased that your installation at the library will remain unchanged. I wouldn't want any viewers *not* to know what an intransigent moron the artist is.

Yours for fiscal responsibility,
Lenore

[Rachel]

Forty thousand dollars have been thrown down the drain
Someone named Maria is the one who has laid claim
Leaving behind errors caused the city so much pain
And now they find themselves at the wrong end of the blame

People weren't happy and they sent her lots of letters
Hoping that she'd see the light and make her work all better
Unfortunately all they did was further to upset her
I really do not like her and I haven't even met her

Maria you're a piece of work, a true shining of example
Of what can happen when your crapweaselness is so ample

[pogo]

Seems to me like a case of White-Out and a magic marker would fix the problem for less then $6K.

[etc.]

Livermore Library:
info@ci.livermore.ca.us

[Lenore]

Darling Bangi, you're right, of course. Only "...state law bars the city from removing or changing public art without the creator's consent."

I submit that we've been making too much fun of Florida and not mocking California enough!

[Christobol]

It's fun to imagine (in detail) how this would have played out if Ms. Alquilar lived in the time of one of her misspelled historical giants, Michelangelo.

I think she would have been publicly disemboweled, Braveheart style, for telling those powerful enough to commission public artworks of that time that the "art" picked the mistakes and they'd have to pay her to fix them.

[hmmm]

Sacrificial Goat. I can't get the words out of my head. Surely they anagram to SOMEthing??

Wasn't the concept of the sacrificial goat that the people laid their sins upon its (not it's) head and sent it out into the desert, carrying their (not there) sins away? So, um... I guess I don't get it. How are we laying our sins on Ms. Alquilar's head? Or blaming her for our problems?

I think she just has her animals confused. She said that she is a goat when what she really meant was crapweasel.

[rhealist]

$40 grand! I have three letters I'd love to have Maria get to know really well: I.R.S.

[SchadeBoy]

You're referring to a scapegoat, not sacrificial goat. And a goat was not usually the animal of choice for sacrifices. The sacrificial lamb was a similitude to Jesus Christ, who sacrificed Himself for manking. He was often referred to as the Lamb of God - thus the sacrificial animal was usually a lamb or a sheep.

[violet]

I've got a good wad of chewing gum here that I'd be glad to donate to the library, (not charge $6000) if they could find a good "artistic" use for it. Like, over Eistien, maybe. (Dang, it's hard to spell that name wrong!)

[SchadeBoy]

That's supposed to be "mankind" not "manking." My bad.

[Flash]

Bangi,
No need to tamper with the "artwork". All they need is a plaque with her name and a sign pointing to the door that says "Enter here, if you don't want to end up illiterate like her."

(did I spell illiterate right, or is it supposed to be illegitimate?)

[candylady]

So, she's likening herself to Jesus. Hmmm..
what would Jesus do?

He would walk into the library and ask "How do you spell Einstein?"

[Lenore]

Bangi, I think the law was written with the presumption that public servants (like the City of Livermore and the librarians) would pay attention to what the devil they were doing in the first place - always a dangerous assumption.

Maybe it's time for some civil disobedience in the form of socially responsible vandalism. You wanna swim over and stay at my place? (Goody! Girls sleep-over!)

[hmmm]

SchadeBoy,
Yes, thank you, I was confused. I did confuse sacrificial goat with scapegoat. (Hangs head with embarrassment. Hey, but at least I'm owning up to my mistakes!) I do have a study here which talks about sacrifical goats and scapegoats (Lev. 16).

[Rachel]

Just to clarify - sheep are holy and goats are evil right?

All sheep go to heaven, all goats go to hell.

Goats are considered to be the spawn of Satan.

I think Maria's feelings about herself are right on. She is a goat.

[Susannah]

Lenore - Count me in for your civilly disobedient slumber party! I'll be right over.

*Assembles bucket of paintbrushes, spray paint, chewing gum (thanks for the idea, Violet!), and a tattered copy of Thoreau, plus some feather pillows and margarita mix for good measure.*

[Flash]

Is the little Comments(#) counter an automatic thing, or does Dave or Judi have to sit and count posts and update it? It seems to be way behind on this thread.

[violet]

Since I've got the gum, can I please come to the slumber party, too? I've got my bottle of Jose Cuervo (sp?)and I do dearly love margaritas.

[Lenore]

OK, gurlz!! I think "Eistein" may call for some nail polish, too.

What the State cannot accomplish, free citizens must! *hic* An' if we share the Cuervo, the cops may just decide to look away - or help out ;-)

djtonyb, are you providing the soundtrack for this??

[hmmm]

So that's where Dave and Judi were all day? They were busy counting blog entries?

[Susannah]

Ladies, leave the cops to me. (*grins mischievously*) By the time I’m through with ‘em they’ll not only be looking the other way, they’ll be making snack runs for us.

Did we ever figure out which branch we’re civilly and disobediently vandalizing? Sure would hate to end up at the wrong one and deface the misspellings of an artist who’s NOT as asshat.

[Bismuth]

am I the only one starting to feel sorry for Maria? So, OK, I think the way she acted about the mistake was @$$holian, but she has now recieved thousands (I'm sure) of emails from people who don't speak so eloquently as do DB Bloglits (coughFark.comCough), and apparently they have brought her race into the picture as well.

Also, I'd suggest not emailing the library either, unless you are offering them money or service to fix the error. I'm sure they are getting enough publicity (and email) as it is.

*steps off soapbox*

[hmmm]

Just a thought, but considering the way Ms. Alquilar spells, perhaps she is not receiving hatemail, but rather hotmail?

[PETER]

Bismuth- Don't think the Blogits will be out of line. I posted, to the effect, that any racially based hate mail is unacceptable, and I believe nobody disagreed. At least I don't think there were any posts. She probably has received a lot of awful emails and that is wrong but she really did open a big can o'worms! This has been such a hot topic because she is so wrong people have no problem speaking out. I always try to see both sides but on this one, she is definately a crapweasel.

[MeganBNL]

"Even though I was on my hands and knees laying the installation out, I didn't see it," she said.

Laying the installation....gee, I've never heard it called that before.

[sj]

Alquilar to Livermore: " I already cashed the $40,000 check. Skrew you."

[sj]

Alquilar to Livermore: " I already cashed the $40,000 check. Skrew you."

besides, didn't anybody notice it's ugly?

[Lairbo]

I think, what with Ahnult as Governator and all, California has earned more than its share of embarrassment for a while. Not that it couldn't stand a little more.

And I say this as a disloyal son of the Golden State who now resides in the same area code as local "hero" Donald "Is-That-A-Crap-Weasel-On-Your-Head-Or-Are-You-Just-Happy-To-See-Me?" Trump.

[Polly]

"The people that are into humanities, and are into Blake's concept of enlightenment, they are not looking at the words," she told The AP.

I found this little explanation of "Blake's concept of enlightenment"...

The visionary is the man who has passed through sight into vision, never the man who has avoided seeing, who has not trained himself to see clearly, or who generalizes among his stock of visual memories... To visualize, therefore, is to realize. The artist is par excellence the man who struggles to develop his preception into creation, his sight into vision; and art is the technique of realizing through an ordering of sense experiences by the mind, a higher reality than linear unselected experience or second hand evocation of it can give...

So. I guess what Ms. Aquilar really means with all of her arrogant fluffy-speak is that she was too caught up in her "vision" at the time to realize she fecked up? And since she's a "true arteest" such mistakes are inconsequential.

Okay. I get it now.

*Considers that there are all kinds in this world. Tries to remember that most of the crazies make me laugh. Still would love to slap this lady upside her visionary head.*

[PETER]

I may have figured out her deep dark secret. Do you think she may have hamster testes?!!

[waxwing]

Peter,
I'm thinking along the lines of "hamster talent" or "hamster morals" or "hamster humor". Just not "hamster bank account".

[PETER]

Hmmm, Wax I think you're on to something here. Definately something's out of proportion!

[justwondering]

So, if a hamster's balls are so terribly large, then how big are fruit bat monkey cheetohs?

[PETER]

I was wondering the same thing! But I think "they" are still working on that one but, hey C-bol, whad ya know?

[etc.]

With or without the balls, she's probably borderline dyslexic.

[etc.]

69?

[hmmm]

If she happens to be dyslexic, all the more reason for her to check her work, right?

[PETER]

I'll say sorry first, sorry.

But, if she's dicklexus shouldn't she check her balls first?

[SchadeBoy]

As much as I think we're now on a different blog entry now, I'm going to throw my last comment in here. I'm actually with Bismuth on this. As arrogant and wrong as this woman is, we're all human and she's allowed to be that. I doubt anyone in this blog hasn't made a mistake or two in their lives. Hers just happens to be very visible and she's taken the wrong stance on it. To quote a common phrase - "He who is without sin, cast the first stone."

Okay, so this woman is arrogant and made a mistake. Unfortunately, she's having a very stereoptypical artist response in this situation. Hers is such that she has opened herself up to receiving tremendous criticism. It must be terrible to be in her shoes, right now. I do feel for her.

[alanboss]

I just had a thought! She makes mistakes. Refuses to take personal responsiblilty for them. Points blame at others. Walks away indignant and uncooperative. "Maria Alquilar for President!"

[bbescuela]

"Maria Alquilar" anagrams to "arrogant dumbass." And if there are any typos in that anagram, I'll fix them for $350 an hour plus travel and expenses.

[insomniac]

oops ! just to add something to the other thread, 'abstemious' also contains all the vowels in order (not to be facetious )

[bbescuela]

And if "Art" chose the words, why doesn't he fix it?

[Psycho_Joe]

We did it, lets keep mailing people that suck.
Maybe we can change the world.

LONG LIVE DAVE!

[Gregg]

The problem with that "He who is without sin, cast the first stone" quote (which grammatically should be something like "Let him who is without sin..."), is that it is taken out of context and misinterpreted.

Not to get into a big religious discussion, but: Jesus was speaking to a group of adulterers that were about to stone a woman to death for the very same thing of which they themselves were guilty -- adultery. So, Jesus' statement in that context takes on a different color than just being a blanket "Don't criticize or mete punishment out to anybody, because who among us is perfect?" sort of statement, doesn't it? I don't think that blanket statement was what Jesus was getting at.

I doubt that any of us here that has been critical of this woman is guilty of the same sin: messing up (which is no sin of itself) but then refusing to take personal responsibility, acting like an indignant, unrepentant, arrogant fool, pointing the blame at anyone but yourself, and so on. We're not going around doing that, she is. She invited (and continues to invite) the criticism by her own actions and response to what probably started out as simply someone pointing out that she has mistakes in her work. And I think her attitude and actions deserve to be criticized.

Jesus then issued the statement to the woman: "Go, and sin no more." Not, "You're off the hook, because we're all human and we all screw up, and besides, if you think you're so perfect, try casting the first stone, you know?" No, he told her (compassionately, but he still told her) to sin no more.

[Pedrovski]

I work in Livermore. I've seen the mural. It's pathetic.

Apparently Ms. Alquilar learned it was easier to pass the buck than admit a mistake--she's ready for politics!

The mosaic is rather hideous anyway.

[Trystan Shout]

Here is a copy of an e-mail I just sent to Ms. Alquilar:

Dear Ms. Alquilar –

Here are a few words that you may not need a dictionary to look up:

“Sorry” and “apologize.” That would be as in “I’m SORRY I made a mistake. I APOLOGIZE for any inconvenience.”

That would be YOU apologizing to the Livermore Public Library – NOT the other way around.

You might want to use them. You see, even though some people claim that there is no such a thing as bad publicity, trust me – I’m in advertising and marketing – there is. With your lousy attitude and blame-everyone-else-first attitude, your career as an artist is over.

No one “denigrated” your work. The general public was just outraged that you cannot spell or use a dictionary. Demanding thousands of dollars to fix YOUR mistake didn’t help matters either. (Maybe a plane ticket and a hotel stay, but that would be more than generous.)

It would be very easy to take your silly, silly replies to the press and rip them to shreds. (ie “The mistakes wouldn't even register with a true artisan.”) It would, alas, be like shooting fish in a barrel. Why bother?

People forgive people who are big enough to admit when they are wrong. People do NOT care for those who don’t. Just think where Martha Stewart is spending HER weekend as you read this. She too refused to admit blame. Think Leona Hemsley. See a pattern here?

Apparently you have read news stories about your problem. Have you read any web logs (“blogs”) as well? Have you noticed that EVERY ONE – except maybe your friends and family (and they are just being polite) – believes that you and your attitude stinks?!

I probably just wasted my time. I’m sure that you think that I am one of the bad guys.

But I’m not. You need go no further than the nearest mirror for that.

[qetzal]

Geez, everyone! Lay off, already! She made it very clear in her statement - it's not her fault.

The art chose the names.

[Graz]

Then Art's an asshat.

[Lillybee]

If indeed the artwork is as bad as others have claimed....

Perhaps we can solve the mural typo problems AND show how concerned we are about nature. Let's invite a bunch of pigeons to the mural and cover it (the mural) with birdseed or bread crumbs so they will stay for a while. Eventually, the typos will be obscured by NOWO -- Nature's Own White-Out.

Problem solved, and the mural will have an artistic patina to boot.

[Dana Sutton]

It's great to see somebody come out so forthrightly in favor of incompetence. As a lame-ass excuse, "The art chose the words" is a hall-of-famer, if Bush and Kerry teamed up they couldn't equal it. Every drunken dentist and nine-fingered carpenter in the world ought to stand up and cheer.

[Polly]

Schadeboy wrote: Okay, so this woman is arrogant and made a mistake. Unfortunately, she's having a very stereoptypical artist response in this situation. Hers is such that she has opened herself up to receiving tremendous criticism. It must be terrible to be in her shoes, right now. I do feel for her.

I don't feel for her at all. It bugs me when people take themselves too seriously. Arrogance bugs me. Inability to take responsibility for ones mistakes bugs me.

I would have probably LIKED her if her response when she was told she made a mistake had been, "No sh*t. Heh. Well that'll go down as one of the dumbassiest things I've ever done. Sorry about that. Why don't I come out there and fix it for you?"

[golfwidow]

"I'll tell you what's wrong with it. Eleven names are misspelled, that's what's wrong with it."

"They're not misspelled, they're art. Beautiful mosaic, innit, squire? Lovely tiles."

[queensbee]

she is arrogant, and defensive - things that happen when something you create is attacked... but her 'art' surely sets a bad example. maybe the library can pretend that a 5 year old did it.

[cebasham]

In the interest of fiscal sobriety AND proper spelling, how about the Livermore librarians investing in a nice, artistic can of Sharpie pens?

Not to use them. That would be wrong.

But if they just left the can of pens outside, next to the mural, isn't it possible that some Mom with a Literature degree, on her way to story hour with her toddlers, might stop and do a little editing on her own?

[Guin]

Nope, queensbee, that wouldn't work, because a five-year-old knows enough to ASK how something is spelled!!
Make her go back to school like Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore. Who knows, she might learn something the second time around.

[PETER]

Shadeboy and Bismuth you are truly nice, good people. You made me think more seriously about this, and no kidding, it just dawned on me, not being facetious here, but she may be,(maybe - has to be), suffering with severe psychological disorders. If so, then yes, compassion is in order. If not - crapweasel.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Lilybee: I like it. I can see the ad for it now:

Pigeon Shit -- Nature's Own White-Out

[slowlayne]

She laid her tiles on the floor
But her spelling is so poor
Misspelled names?
The art’s to blame!
Quoth the artist Livermore

[artist]

It's annoying that unreasonable behavior has become a stereotype of an artist. Sorry, but people are a**holes before careers get into it. I'm rather tired of the stereotype myself.

IMO, there's some blame to be had for those who viewed it before installation, but not enough to warrant her dramatics. I can only guess she's gotten a bit to comfortable with her status, and has lost the idea that she's providing a service, not a blessing from on high.

[aye]

...okay, i just wanted to thank everyone whose dedicated and sincere efforts to tell this imbec...lady exactly how much of an idiot she is have contributed to her now refusing to fix the bleepin' mural.

i HATED livermore. i just moved out of the place and i want to live for the rest of my life knowing that their library (which repeatedly lost books i'd turned in, then tried to bill me for them) is a laughingstock.

[Gregg]

Not every artist is a self-righteous, snobbish, arrogant fool. But there a lot of self-righteous, snobbish, arrogant fools in the art world these days (and that includes arts like popular music).

The Renaissance Period this ain't.

[Gregg]

Oops, that should say "there ARE a lot of..."

[enygma]

If her art was any good, then maybe she can be let off the hook (big maybe, there's no excuse of stupidity). However, is it just me or does that mosaic look like something a third-grade class put together in art class?

[bbescuela]

enygma, it's just you. It actually looks like something from my son's preschool. But only by the younger kids.

[Laguito Mojito]

100!

[Bill Ostroot]

One hundred and FIRST!

[Scott McDonald]

One hundred and ah screw it.

I'm glad she decided not to fix the speling erors.
For multiple reasons, including all the assholes that saw the story here and sent the woman hate mail. May your karma catch up to you.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Gregg: But would The Renaissance Period bagnfarb? I think not.

[troy]

funny video about college kids addicted tousing google

at collegeiseasy.net

[Gregg]

Probably not, Jeff, but one of my favorite classic rock songs is "Renaissance Fair" by the Byrds.

[Gregg]

Scott: We didn't send her hate mail. The mail was critical of her attitude and actions, but it wasn't hate mail. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

The way I see it, to take a phrase from John Lennon, instant karma's getting her right now and knocking her right on the head.

[Maria Alquilar]

I holehartedly agree with Scot Mcdonld. All of yoo unculturd basturds kan go too hel!

And stop emaling me!

[Scott McDonald]

TooShay(sp?) Gregg, but I think its a HUGE stretch of your imagination to ass-ume(sp?) your fellow Alquilar her-ass-ers(sp?) weren't sending hate mail.

I didn't have to stretch my imagination much to interpret content I've seen concerning her dead husband, racial slurs, and derogative(sp?) personal cussinsults(sp?) as hate mail.

There is a HUGE difference between criticizing someone's attitude/actions and flat out attacking them.