loving art, science and creative kids
11/29/2025 2:48:09 PM
Surprise someone you love with an original painting. Prices have been reduced for the paintings below, 10% to 30 % through December 10th and can be purchased on my website at https//:www.eichingerfineart.com. Free shipping in the continental U.S.
If you prefer something else from my website and find the price too high, emake me a reasonable offer by contacting me at [email protected].
Books also make great gifits to stimilate the mind and family discussions. To purchase books by Marilynne Eichinger go to AMAZON.
11/21/2025 8:49:30 PM
How do you know when a painting is finished? Parenting is a painting I posted before, but it felt incomplete, and I decided it needed editing. Hope you like the finished product.
Edit, Edit, Edit – It Takes Time
I began writing Antheia in the Thorns in 2016, shortly after Donald Trump became president. It was my first attempt at a novel. The story centered on a little-known industrial product called petroleum coke, or petcoke, and its role in global warming and pollution. While the storyline had potential, my writing at the time was mediocre.
I put the novel aside when Joe Biden was elected. He acknowledged the urgency of climate change and was enacting policies to reduce the U.S. carbon footprint. During his presidency, I hired a writing coach who critiqued my work as I wrote, helping me refine my craft. That guidance led to my award-winning book, The Water Factor, which has been deeply rewarding to see readers respond to.
When Trump returned to power, I realized Antheia in the Thorns could be more than a story—it could be a vital work of geopolitical environmental fiction. The president was increasing, rather than decreasing, the use of petroleum-based products. Suddenly, the novel felt worth rewriting.
Petroleum coke resembles coal but burns hotter. It’s cheaper, more polluting, and contributes more to global warming than coal. The U.S. is the world’s largest producer, with 59 refineries supplying local industries: cement plants, aluminum production, graphite electrode manufacturing, steel and titanium dioxide kilns, and power plants. Most of it is exported to China and India, with secondary markets in Europe, Central and South America, and other Asian countries.
I realized I had an important story to tell. After more than a dozen rewrites, plus feedback from beta readers and my writer’s group, Antheia in the Thorns has evolved into a geopolitical environmental thriller that both engrosses and challenges readers. It’s a story about courage, conscience, and confronting corporate greed. Antheia, the goddess of gardens and love, faces a thorny world where entrepreneurs will do anything to make millions. My Kirkus reviewer praised the book for keeping the reader interested until the very last page.
Antheia in the Thorns will be available for presale at a reduced price as an ebook in early January. I hope you’ll consider purchasing it and sharing your review—it will help ensure a successful launch. I’m counting on my best supporters and will keep you posted as we get closer to that date.
This Thanksgiving, I wish you warmth and joy surrounded by friends and family. If you find yourself alone this year, I wish you peace and leave you with this timeless poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson:
What is Success?
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by
a healthy child, a garden patch,
or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed
easier because you have lived;
This is to have succeeded
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You can find information and purchase Parenting on my website at. https://www.eichingerfineart.com/workszoom/6292511/parenting#/
Paintings and books make great gifts. Last week, I Zoomed into a book club discussion of The Water Factor held in Pennsylvania. It is a great way to enrich your club's reading, and I do it without cost. Purchase my books in time for a holiday delivery, and can do that for you. Better yet, have them read the book now, gather round the Christmas tree for a lively discussion, and I'll join you online. Great free entertainment. Contact me at [email protected] with questions.
11/14/2025 8:50:37 PM
SUNRISE ON AN ANGRY SEA
When No One Seems to Listen...AI?
According to a recent article in The New York Times, falling in love with A.I. is no longer science fiction. One cited study found that one in five American adults has had an intimate encounter with a chatbot, while the Reddit forum r/MyBoyfriendIsA.I. now hosts more than 85,000 users discussing their human–A.I. relationships. Researchers at MIT report that these connections can sometimes feel therapeutic, offering “always available” companionship and significantly reducing loneliness.
Financial pressures are another driver. NPR recently profiled Kristen Johansson, whose therapy ended abruptly when her clinician stopped accepting insurance and her $30 copay ballooned to $275 per session. In response, she now pays $20 per month for a ChatGPT subscription, using it as an alternative to in-person therapy. She says she never feels rushed, can revisit conversations at any time, and can even seek comfort in the middle of the night. Others, particularly those who lost loved ones, describe using chatbots to help them through grief, remind them to eat, or encourage them to re-engage with daily life.
Can AI Be a Therapist? Many experts remain skeptical, especially as the United States faces a growing shortage of licensed mental-health professionals. A.I. tools are decidedly unlicensed, yet some psychiatrists argue they can still provide benefits in narrow contexts. Dr. Jodi Halpern, a psychiatrist and bioethics scholar at UC Berkeley, notes that chatbots can be helpful for confronting fears, untangling distorted thinking, or practicing evidence-based techniques like cognitive behavioral therapy, provided they are carefully designed and appropriately used.
But she also warns of the dangers. When chatbots begin acting as emotional confidants, saying things like “I care about you” or “I love you,” they may create a false sense of intimacy that keeps users returning to the bot, rather than fostering genuine social connections. There have already been tragic outcomes, particularly when vulnerable teens express suicidal intent to a bot without a human moderator to intervene. Others seek dating advice from AI only to find themselves growing attached to the machine instead of forming relationships with real people.
AI as a Thinking Partner, Not a Substitute for People Used wisely, AI can be a powerful tool for reflection. I often use it to analyze business or committee decisions, especially when I worry my own biases are clouding my judgment. It raises questions I hadn’t considered and offers alternative angles to explore.
For example, in my work on an environmental committee, I have been concerned about the public’s declining focus on climate change as social justice and economic pressures dominate attention. An AI assistant suggested reframing the issue through storytelling that directly links ecological stability with everyday well-being. It is why The Water Factor and my next soon-to-be-released novel, Antheia in the Thorns, are thrillers rather than non-fiction accounts of how greedy corporations affect our planet. They demonstrate the importance of activism and the need to never compromise on moral principles.
A healthy planet is not abstract: clean air, drinkable rivers, thriving oceans, sustainable forests, and resilient agriculture translate into lower healthcare costs, better nutrition, reduced dependence on air-conditioning, and more stable communities. Reframed this way, environmental action becomes not merely a moral imperative but a practical investment in quality of life.
The Bottom Line Chatbots are not humans, and they shouldn’t try to be. They can open your eyes to different ways of thinking, help you rehearse difficult conversations, or uncover blind spots. But only real people can celebrate your triumphs, sit with you in grief, or help you weigh advice in the context of your actual life.
Though AI can illuminate options, only you and your real human relationships are what turn those options into meaningful action.
References:
Kraft, C. (2025). They Fell in Love With A.I. Chatbots — and Found Something Real. The new York TImes. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/11/05/magazine/ai-chatbot-marriage-love-romance-sex.html?
Johnston, W. (2025) With therapy hard to get, people lean on AI for mental health. What are the risks?NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/09/30/nx-s1-5557278/ai-artificial-intelligence-mental-health-therapy-chatgpt-openai
ART IS ALWAYS FOR SALE: You can find more information about Sunrise on an Angry Sea and purchase online at https://www.eichingerfineart.com/workszoom/6317559/sun-rise-on-an-angry-sea#/
Do share your thoughts about AI and tell us if and giqhoq you uase it.
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With so many social issues, people often overlook what’s happening to the environment. Sending the message through a story, is a compelling way to get attention and show people how social issues are related to the ecosystem. Most of all, it is fun to see how people mature and overcome obstacles that get in the way of doing good.
The Water Factor can be purchased on AMAZON, Barnes and Noble, and as an audiobook on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. Ask your bookstore to order a copy from Ingram. Please leave a review.
11/7/2025 10:11:30 PM
A DOG'S LIFE
According to Pet Spending Statistics, Americans are expected to spend a total of $157 billion on their pets by the end of 2025. The average dog costs its owner $143 per month in 2024, while a cat costs $90.50 per month. Children are much more expensive. According to data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), middle-income families with incomes between $76,106 and $138,070 in 2023 dollars) spent an average of $15,877 to $17,869 per child. How do you imagine a family making minimum wage manages? Who will care for the unwanted infants resulting from rape and incest?
What Kind of Life?
Abortion remains a deeply divisive subject. You would think the United States might learn from studying countries like Romania, which imposed a total ban between 1965 and 1989. The Communist regime’s goal was to raise the fertility rate. Instead, more than 10,000 women died from complications related to illegal abortions. Women who underwent abortions were imprisoned, and those suffering from botched procedures were denied medical care.
I described this tragedy in Over the Peanut Fence.
A landmark study on infant neglect was initiated in the 1980s when Dr. Nathan Fox and colleagues from Harvard Medical School walked into a Romanian orphanage. The recent abortion ban had caused the number of orphaned babies to soar. More than 170,000 children were placed in 700 overcrowded, underfunded institutions across the country, each with too few caretakers. Though the facilities were clean, the infants were emotionally neglected.
Left alone in their cribs day and night, the babies were changed and fed but rarely touched or held. The nurseries were eerily quiet. Since crying brought no response, the infants eventually stopped crying at all. No attention—no cries—only silence.
Dr. Fox followed these children for more than fourteen years. During the early years, many displayed autistic-like behaviors such as head-banging and rocking. As they grew, their head circumferences remained abnormally small. They had difficulty paying attention, understanding their surroundings, and regulating emotions. Over time, 50 percent developed mental illness. They exhibited poor impulse control, social withdrawal, low self-esteem, and pathological behaviors such as tics, tantrums, stealing, and self-punishment. Poor intellectual functioning led to low academic achievement.
Those fortunate enough to be placed in loving foster homes before the age of two often recovered. But children moved later, rarely did; many were permanently scarred.
Dr. Fox’s long-term research taught us much about infant brain development—the critical importance of touch, responsiveness, and warmth—and the devastating, unintended effects of imposing political control over women’s reproductive choices. Love and human connection are essential for a child’s well-being.
In the U.S., when an unwanted child is born, what are the chances they will receive nurturing care throughout their life? Now that several states have enacted abortion bans, I looked into what is happening today.
New data show declines in clinician-provided abortions and cross-border care in states with bans. Anti-abortion activists are attacking “shield laws” that protect providers and patients, while misinformation campaigns seek to undermine abortion pills.
As of this writing, twelve states have total bans, twenty-nine have gestational limits, and nine have no restrictions. Despite these bans, according to the Society for Family Planning, the number of abortions has actually increased in the two years following the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade. This is due to expanded Telehealth capacity, mail medication, increased interstate travel, and lower costs for abortions through virtual clinics.
A Johns Hopkins study shows the bans’ primary effects fall on racial minorities, younger individuals, and those with lower income or education—especially in the South. These are also the states with the weakest social services, perpetuating disparities and placing additional burdens on already strained resources. Researchers documented a 6 percent increase in infant mortality in states with bans, representing 478 additional infant deaths. The largest increases in deaths were among non-Hispanic Black infants in Texas—9 percent overall— and in Kentucky at 11 percent. Maternal mortality has also risen.
Experiencing poverty in childhood has significant lifelong consequences for health and development. Low birth weight, a leading cause of infant mortality, puts babies at higher risk of long-term health and developmental problems. Yet the states with bans are not investing sufficient resources to support their at-risk children.
If we continue down this path of criminalizing abortion, we risk repeating Romania’s tragic history. Those who believe such policies are morally righteous should examine the suffering they create: women forced to give birth after rape; mothers compelled to carry fetuses they cannot afford to raise; families destroyed by the mandate to carry a dead or nonviable fetus; and women forced to risk their own lives for the sake of an uncompromising law.
These are not victories for morality—they are human tragedies born of political blindness.
I look forward to your comments below. What kind of life should a child look forward to living?
References:
Website (2025) Abortion in the United States. Guttmacher. Retrieved from https://www.guttmacher.org/united-states/abortion?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid
Jones,R, & Prrritt, J. MD (2029) The Misinformation Campaign Trying to bring down abortion pills. Guttmacher, Originally published in The Nation. Retrieved from https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2025/06/misinformation-campaign-trying-bring-down-abortion-pills
Nelson, C. & Fox, N. & Zeanah, C. (2014) Romania’s Abandoned Children, Deprivation, Brain Development, and the Struggle for Recovery, Harvard University Press.
(2010) Decree 770: Abortion Outlawed in Communist Romania, CARAOBRIEN,retrive from https://caraobrien.tumblr.com/post/352715826/decree-770-abortion-outlawed-in-communist-romania
Lantz, P. (2025) The Impact of Restrictive State Aboration Laws: State of the Research Evidence in 2025. Milbank Memorial Fund. Retrieved from https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/opinions/the-impact-of-restrictive-state-abortion-laws-state-of-the-research-evidence-in-2025/
Website (2025) .Unequal Impacts of Abortion Bans. . Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Retrieved from https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/the-unequal-impacts-of-abortion-bans
Jacobsen, L. (2024) States with abortion bans continue to rank among worst for child well-being. PRB. Retrieved from https://www.prb.org/articles/states-with-abortion-bans-continue-to-rank-among-worst-for-child-well-being/
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Art is always for sale through my website. For information about A D0g's Life ! go to https://www.eichingerfineart.com/workszoom/6312341/what-a-life#/ Contact me with your art questions at [email protected]/
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Over the Peanut Fence provides insight into what it is like to run from a poor, dysfunctional family and spend your youth trying to survive on the streets. It is will make you think twice about abortion rights and who will care for unwanted children. Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Powell's Books. To find more information about my writing, go to https://www.secretsofamuseumjunkie.com
