times of trial

So what shall I blab about. My own tribulations or yet an other political sinister disappointment scribbled on the horizon of this blackboard? Chalk is cheap.
While I ponder, stare at the picture. It is my "downtown". The house on the left is the "mount" (Mount Washington Hotel, talked about that one before) - the one on the right is the local wine store who also serves an abundant palette of eatable gourmet delicacies.
I am sitting on the porch of the Hillsdale House (the other eatery and pub). My truck is parked at the junction, the black Jaguar from someone I don't know, just in front of my nose.
Whenever I am here I will order a black Guinness; sit, smoke, drink. The simple life.
After one drink I usually go home. Not today, I crossed the border to Massachusetts and had a fine Indian meal. Sometimes you have to pamper yourself. (right Seraphine?)
I will be leaving to the island in Maine again in a few days. It all depends in how quickly I am able to clean up the mess here in Hillsdale, NY. (spring cleaning)
In Vinalhaven I will be scraping, then painting a house. Somehow some money has to roll in. I can't wait for our government to hand out bittersweet chocolate bars in evening hours that can be consumed in a matter of minutes. Oral delight without might. So there you are, now I ended up ranting about myself after all, due to a void of other stories at hand.
See you around with other news next time - greetings Lukas. (Zee)

I am searching for something more cheerful

but you might have to wait until tomorrow, or the day thereafter

the government stimulation survival kit

Not all is gloom and doom - but finding the light ain't that easy either.
Bush and company decided to return a bit of money we had earlier payed them and put it back into our pockets. This is supposed to "stimulate" the economy and also take the edge off the down-spiraling housing market which contributed to the present world wide financial mayhem.
So far so good. We get a droplet of our money back, and then we are supposed to spend it again, to rejuvenate the machinery of consumerism. A capitalists dream come true by means of socialiststic measures. Ironic, to be presented by a Republican administration.
The first electronically transfered deposits are out now; paper checks will follow in May, all in the range of $600 dollars. But before you know it, that dow (stash) will be spend and gone. But on what? People on the street admitted, they will use it to pay off some credit-card debt, use it for gas, and try to counteract high food prices.
$ 600 (sixhundred dollars) - what a joke. No, it is not a joke - it is an insult! Six hundred will get you nowhere these days. It is a sugary lollipop to US citizens who didn't crave for this but will take it anyway because it is "for free" and sweet - free in the sense that it originated by the people, for the people.
The day I get my paper check, I will light a match and burn it. I will have nothing to do with it. And as I watch the flames leap, ponder about where the value of $600 dollars went astray.
I might be old, but I am still stuborn.

in other news:
-the devaluation within the US housing market has reached double digit percentage rates, houses get evacuated and stay empty - banks who lend the money in the first place simply drown
-the dollar is worth a whopping 0.68 Euro (used to be worth about three German Marks or 3 Swiss Franks when I arrived here)
-the crude is up $120 (was $20 when I got here - and I am not thaaaaat old)
-US main investments are overseas, about 4 billion dollars a month in Iraq
-US investments in their homeland is $600 per person ... not per month, just once for this year
-many US airlines get grounded because they neglect regular maintenance; business therefore comes to a screeching halt.
-Switzerland ranks first, the US 39th in a survey of 148 countries who are concerned about environmental issues
-I got new rims and tires for my truck
-we will have frost tonight

(Copper relief, 1986 - about 5 by 3 feet)

magnolia

two phrases, then I leave you alone. One from a movie script where Nicole Kidman played an interpreter (I just happen to love it), the other one is mine.

"Vengeance is a lazy form of grief..." (Kidman)

"My tattoos are invisible to the naked eye, only those who perceive my heart will see them." (me)

the world of bits, bytes and peas

I always forget that I still have a sketchy presence on "facebook" until that very moment when somebody knocks at my "wall". Then I am startled for a few seconds, click on the link and surrender.
It is both fabulous and also scary what human relations come up with these days; pixels on the screen and bits and bytes for the most. The perfect illusion for the diet of anorexic souls.
Here are two excerpts of my own examples. One in response to a surprise visit on that "facebook" today, the other a chunk of a plain old e-mail I responded to:

"...anyhow, you look pleasantly beautiful on the pics you posted on facebook, but my demented mind is not able to place you into the memory slot needed to illuminate your actual being in context.
In other words, who the heck are you?
Take all the apologies you possibly can and push them forward in a wheelbarrow, take them from me since I can not recognize you instantly. That will have to do for now.
So, who are you then for real?
You must help.
Please!!!!
No, I don't particular care for facebook - though it does amaze me who and what comes popping up at times...no punch intended.
I hate the surveys, they make a lame conversation; I hate the commercials and overcrowded options (blogger doesn't have any of this, so I guess you have to create posts without the help of "events", "fun walls", "super walls" and the like...)
OK, I bitched enough. Please fill in the blanks at your leisure."

.............................................................................


"... just take this then - I still have your tattoo engraved in my heart, unless you cut it out, it will stay there forever...and once in a while I wake up, don't worry - it's only once in a while. Then I see you quite clear, crisp as the inners of a freshly cracked walnut. Delightful. Of course when the day goes on, or the following days go by - all fades again into a blur.
But what I really wish to say I guess, is that I still care for you tremendously. So all your joy and sorrows, your ecstasy and pain, your hopes and dreams, your thoughts and passions ... all of those things still mean something to me, even though I am removed, half away around the globe."
.............................................................................

A tremendous amount of emotions - pleasure, pain, joy suffering and bullshit on the internet is posted each second of each day. But where can it be found, where does it go to, is it actually for "real"? Is such substance saved when my computer crashes or does it simply evaporate into thin air? What happens at a power outage, or even worse - how are we going to communicate when all oil and power runs out for good?

There once lived a decent initiate who said:
"If humans would have not invented the telephone and hence become completely dependent to this gadget, they would have instead grown inner faculties, replacing this primitive mechanical tool and communicate without hardware throughout space and time."
Somehow this "rings a bell" even though we have disassociated our mental (telepathic) capabilities, put them into dormant slumber.
The "web" has arisen to be the source of liberation ... on one hand. On the other, it suffocates and strangles true human emotions and virtues - and it has evolved to be the only crutch we didn't even asked for. Our dependency to this "machine" (computer and net) is close to birthing bad alive copies of virtual mechanical intelligence found in hard and software, with the difference of having to maintain eroding physical bodies - inferior, that is us, with "ERROR" written all over the forehead.
One of these victims is me.
Happy weekend though, and plant something for real, something like peas!
We'll eventually show who is stronger - me or the machine!

let us try this poll thing again, simplyfied!

Ok, I demolished this "new" poll as well. There is no sense in it - and worse of all, it stopped to work. There is no fun in that.
So therefore you have now the only sole option to shriek, scream, shout, whisper, mumble, or phrase your comments about "background music" from Rodrigo Y Gabriella's version of Stairway to Heaven and if this running app is an appropriate thing for this blog.

On other news. I listened to a commentary on PBS by Herb London (I think that is his name). He went out of his way to demonize Iran as the next culprit to slay, the next target for the US empire to crush. He said: Let's get them now before it is too late, before they get nukes. Now or never. What a retarded bitch. Let's blow everything up. Perhaps when the dust settles we can evaluate valuable rocks on the ground. So was his thinking.
This comment comes after Israel already had pulverized a secret nuclear plant six or seven months ago, flew planes over Syria and then bombed the shit out of the place. How come nobody knew then? Who gave this intel to Israel?
So Herb London is a late bloomer and worse, a creature with instant potato bud mush expanding by means of hot water in a skull that used to house a needed brain.
I feel sorry for misguided people like him. I also feel sorry for Public Radio who in the name of "equal speak" puts morons like him onto the air. A waste of my energy, a waste of your time.
What does this have to do with North Korea and their ambitions? I gladly say: I don't know! Perhaps the Syrian nuclear reactor was a similar design to what North Korea had produced. (wasn't their reactor an assembly put together by Russian technology)?

Whatever the case, without mercenaries (paid killers) the US will look bland on the circus of world events. So here is a hail to Blackwater and Halliburton and CO, the cronies who craved payback-time and got it delivered by Bush and Cheney.
As oil prices rise and the dollar drops even further, it is fascinating to see the dragon drown in black blood. Saddam was right on: Give me oil revenues in Euro's! His death sentence thereafter was historical. Had we just been patient and "waited out" his regime as we did with Tito in former Yugoslavia, the world world would run and spin with more content.
So I soaked some pee pods (seeds) today, will plant them later. You bet they will not be used to produce ethanol.

what does it mean?

Hillary Clinton got Pennsylvania - so what?
The fight goes on.
But does it matter, does it really do?
It is hard to tell, there will be losses,
on both sides, no matter what you do.
A tainted woman or a colored man - so is the Democrats ticket.
The Republicans go for an white-haired, aging veteran, a Vietnam Veteran. Awesome "color" choices for the slowly dying beast, ehh ...?
I like the tainted woman for her stamina.
I like the black guy for his continued enthusiasm for the US.
I like the white veteran who just can't give up.
I like them all, but would I vote for any of them?

You know, it doesn't really matter - because the "vote" has already been cast, the dice thrown from the cup held by shady "gray" men, tossed unto the table of destiny long before your own voices come to count. That is "US democracy" for you, the only so called export article we have left. Not necessarily a brilliant survival kit in times of economic decay I would say.

But don't be sad - cheer up and live your life joyfully.
That is all you really can achieve, this time around. (hint: reincarnation)
Kindle that spirit for your neighbor, your sisters and brothers - and you will have done much more than vaguely paste all your hopes onto the face of a useless paper ballot that may, or may not be counted at all.

Zee ya

crocuses in my garden today. Yes, old socks can even accumulate in kitchens - beware!

off tomorrow for three days to teach how to plunge peoples hands into clay - see you when I'm back.

Porch

It is not hard to sit on the porch and bitch, curse and mumble "fuck China" - liberate the red robed monks of Tibet, screw ethanol when half of the world is still starving, and food for the west ... or the rest, gets exuberantly expensive due to miscalculations by bureaucrats.
It is not hard to follow such lead, like the scent a dog would pick up.
What is hard is to keep composed, to see any light at the end of the tunnel.
The real torch is not a physical thing, run around the globe to end in Beijing.
That flame can be swiftly put out by any fire extinguisher. Re-ignition means nothing.
The flame we need today is of different nature. It burns persistent and forever, protected in the inner sanctuaries of our own being. Are we bold enough to let it show?
Humanity these days has one basic flaw: We have given up to hold the real torch and
paddle instead in a canoe that turns in circles. The vista is flattering, but reality draws different images, the ones we do not wish to see.
It is time to find new shores and let "the inner torch" burn bright.
So is my thinking, "on the porch" - during sunset, tonight.

168 spoons in 90 minutes - successful, but foolish

Kindergarten kids plainly drew a spoon footprint on a thin piece of wood and we cut it out for them. Then they were to sand...
First through third grade got a block of wood where they had to sketch a top view and a side view of their spoon design. With a band saw both contours were to be cut out. The block then was kept intact, taped together with a piece of tape to keep the seven piece puzzle together until the kids opened them up and found "their" spoon hidden in the middle. From 4th grade to high school, the children carved with gouges.
Unfortunately there was only two 45 minute sessions alloted per class. It is foolish to attempt to wing such a project in such little time. The prep and post-prep work was enormous, and that after having taught six classes every day.
But the children loved it, insofar this gig was successful. A small public school where the majority of children created their own individual spoon - somewhat unheard of!





So yes, I left the island on this morning ferry in peace, knowing that I put a droplet into the bucket of intellectual and abstract learning. May that drop dilute this illusionary materialistic vision that the human brain is the only isolated precious organ we have to succeed in this life.
Accomplishment is, in my view, not measured by what you think you can do, but by looking at what you actually have been able to create.
A surgeon transplants a heart. Only after the new heart starts beating, he or she can claim victory. All this has been achieved by the skill of human hands, not the human brain alone. If we don't bring the two together again, zombies will eventually inhabit the earth, incapable to take hold of the next task "on hand".

going back to the island ... for a week

You can hardly see it, but there is a beaver in this pond. Why would he choose this location, how did he get there? Even the cat shows semi interest.
Anyhow, I know that I have not been very communicative these days ...
I just want to warn you, it's even getting worse.
My nose dives towards North tomorrow, embracing the island I love.
Internet means little in such circumstances.

time to move into April

I am contemplating.
Thoughts are still buried inside - moving and undetected.
It is time to drive into spring.
Welcome April!
Somehow I feel
that the warmer weather
will release and free what was previously caged inside.







So, "Ascending" is still in progress, but it goes so slow. Maybe this process is co-dependent. The faster I carve, the faster spring will ascend...

OK people, the merry-go-round in my brain has only few ponies. And I have invested to describe all details of them before. Today I will refrain, no energy to elaborate. I suppose I can leave this post by saying: What color is your favorite pony painted with?
Mine is yellow with red stripes painted in diamexic order.
Your's must be white and blue ... striped?
But that is only a guess.

Nova-San's pony

It has come to your and my attention...

1993-2009

The Bush and Clinton's ruled (will stay in rule) in the USA for sixteen years. Is there a good reason to continue that trend? If Hillary gets to be elected it will sum up to be twenty years, perhaps 24 years of two families dominating the course of history and in particular the history of the USA, for a quarter century.
Maybe it is time to change the course. I am not thinking of the Vietnam-vet as an alternative this time around ... he had his chances before, and blew it.
See, I do not wish to start my first post after the election with the sentence:
"We now live in a Monarchy..."! That would be distasteful.
It is all about persona, not leadership qualifications, the latter a myth.
Therefore Hillary has no place in my deck of cards, she makes me shiver.

who is mightier, the sword, the needle or the pen?

I would suspect the "needle" 'cause she mends all ripped tissues delicately with sometimes even allegedly broken stitches. But who am I to tell. I grew up only learning about swords and pens.
I was going to post a survey here today. But I couldn't find the code, and so now I lost interest in the original mission. There you are, you are on your own. You have the questions but you have to answer them yourself, those questions that haven't yet been answered, or the ones that continually come up, or the ones I preciously had prepared to be answered by you all.
So much for that poll.

I had it with spam:

... now eat this:
...yeah right!
I don't need either. But as of lately I get so many spam-messages by e-mail, it is total injudiciousness - in other words, annoying bullshit. So the only rescue I can see out of this dilemma is to make my e-mail go "dead" for a while, or either diligently upgrade my spam filter, a task I do not enjoy.
I mean really, how many cars, homes, hot chicks and other gadgets can you buy in your neighborhood in a day. This is stupid - a ridicules mess!
We are living in a recession, if not even a depression. Got to keep the essentials straight and not open up new mortgages - either of the heart, soul or body (home). The sharks are getting desperate, I can see it now. Every little blood drop you are willing to bleed, they suck it up, they search it out. Merchants in despair are lousy predators though. Bad breath from a mile away.
So I just trot along, like a Grey Haired Monkey, stubborn and incorruptible - a bit slow at times. That's my method.
And there you go, this is a personalized spam-message just for you - to brighten up your day.
What else do we have to offer?

Lee is a master of many things. You should check out his BLOG, funny and depth coverage at the same time.
In other news. Tomorrow is Friday, actually the Friday before easter. Came early this year. In Europe you wouldn't work on this day if you could avoid it. Time to think about inward changes. But here we just hop on, waiting for the easter-bunny to poke its ears above the shrubs on Sunday.
Perhaps I will think about inner change while I work tomorrow.

Steer's, money and the golden calf

I don't know what comes first.
Went down with my truck to pick up a pack of cigarettes this evening and spotted an injured calf around the corner from my place. It was just lying there in the mud, helpless to move itself to the barn. I stopped and talked to the animal, trying to shoo it away, out of the nasty cold rain. It didn't move. Well it did. It got up and walked three steps, then collapsed again.

Today I was also pondering about the US economy. Banks and credit institutions have given loans to borrowers who have no money, except the assets they speculate on. The point is, those assets are not theirs. They are pebbles, framed on the prognosis of endless growth, your typical capitalistic frame of operandi.
Guess what, the US economy is in as bad of a shape as the calf I encountered on my after dinner mission. What I find amusing (or not), is the fact that the government is trying to bail out companies who have slandered their assets without second thoughts, all in the name to "recover the economy". Now, what is that supposed to mean? I truly believed until now, that we live in a Darwinists capitalist society, where the stronger of all will survive. I guess that is not so. There must be a hidden agenda I do not comprehend.
So the fifth largest trading company on the New York stock exchange the other day got bought up for a song by J.P. Morgan & Chase and on top of it the government pays half of the bill? Wait a minute, something is not quite right here. The culprits who speculated to own the golden calf ... and lost, now get MY (the taxpayers) money to continue their atrocities? I thought this was a straight forward game. The one who looses bites the dust. But no, the US Bush gang has to swagger and become socialists at convenience and pump in money they don't even have in the the first place in the name of supporting global cooperations, their buddy's per say. In the mean time the common man has no clue and lends his or hers millions of hours of labor and income to a cause that has no benefit to him at all.

What is a trillion? I don't know, I have never seen one. The only thing I know, is that the US government has accumulated a debt during the Bush era that has arisen to astronomical figures. It doesn't help to have a war either, who drains 16 billion a month and then ended up to be almost a 500 billion on this five year anniversary of insanity. (is that half a trillion?)

All I am trying to say is, the US is broke and the rest of the world is reacting accordingly. What escapes my good will of empathy is, that hardly any citizen in the US is concerned about this. This is like sleepwalking while being secretly drained of all life resources.

So much for the "golden calf rant".

After I picked up those nasty things that create blue smoke, I still worried about the young steer and stopped again on my way home. No change in the situation.
Finally I found out the farmers number and I made my call.

I wish I could do the same and call to the US government and warn them about the "golden calf", before it is too late -

...but I lost that number in the pile of mess abound.

pictures later, OK?

My Fortune Cookie told me today:
Try spearmint-flavored wallpaper in the bedroom.

... maybe I'll make a test run in my basement first before such a bold move.

a bit of local history

I got images from downtown Hillsdale yesterday, but I have a blockage to write or post much about them. You can though (as always) click on images to see them a bit bigger, if that tickles your fancy. Is bigger better?
So there, I'll give you a few lines anyway.
The Mount Washington Hotel (or "house") had been build in the early 1880's, an historical pearl within the context of American perspectives. After the turn of the century it was known as a very fine house for woman who are not afraid to show their true skin, may it be black or white, or any other color for that matter.
Times changed, and the once famous brothel turned into an ordinary establishment.

Across my driveway there used to be Mr. Miller, a very intelligent man, who made his fortune with advertisements for an established agency based in New York City. He had a lovely wife who tended the garden roses well, but she died of cancer - bless her soul.
Thereafter he got together with the woman who owned the "Mount" (Mount Washington Hotel) - a big fat lady called Marge. She was sweet and spiteful acrimoniously. But alas, she died soon after they met due to a heart attack (to much weight I guess), and then left poor Mr. Miller slip back into a lonesome chamber in his NYC loft.
Anyhow, the daughter took over. Are you following me? The daughter of the mother, who once was the lover of my neighbor who presently lives in New York and might as well be dead , who knows - this daughter now runs the "Mount Washington Hotel."
There you go, it took me all this time to tell you this, that I ate a hamburger there last night and that this thing actually tasted yummy, and the pickles on the side were fresh.

for your amusement only

In a smoky cafe over 20 years ago (actually it was smoke free even back then, besides the outdoors) I played some improvisational music with a troubadour from the deep down woods of Bavaria.
Two samples are uploaded on Gcast on the sidebar here, recorded life with a wobbly cassette player. If you click on "Posts" you will see the whole present list of originals. (only 4 so far).
"dr Fluss" (the river) is my favorite. The violin playing and improv actually worked out to my liking then, despite the monotonous melody line. "a liebesblues" was the antidote of what was going on in the mid 80's, the full servings of streamlined pop. I play the melody first on guitar, then switch to violin.
Look out for Gcast and press POSTS in the coming days or weeks. I might be tempted to load up some more stuff that is even older, from California back in the days ... or I might fabricate something totally new, like from 2008 with Lee or Pete on hand - or just me and my Chinese computer (no punch intended).
P.S. just uploaded a scratchy rehearsal from 1981 of a cover tune: One more cup of coffee by B.Dylan (beware, lead voice of me is OK, but my violin playing is sketchy. Nevertheless, I am proud to announce that this cover of that particular tune rivals the original)

photo of the "Altstadt Cafe" back-porch in Freiburg, Germany where Pesold and Zee played

Spitzer, Beijing Olympics - and dirty air

Dirty air all abound.
The governor of New York resigned today because the air was filthy. Prostitutes are a mans second to last answer. With all due respect, let us call them companions.
I have a lot of respect for the hard working woman who do these "escort services" for three and up to $5000 (thousand) an hour. Spitzer (the governor) might not even ever have used the opportunity of added sexual pleasures, nobody will ever know.
But spending thousand over thousands of dollars to walk beside a hot chick down the avenue is beyond my comprehension. It is actually unreal. I would personally never do such a thing. It would turn me off, not on.
So now he is done for, he resigned, that's that.
The dirty air conversation continues. The summer Olympic games are supposed to be in China this year, an other polluted breeze of air. Athletes may take their pollution-control masks along. The air is so bad, an average American infidel might drop to the ground within 10 minutes.
But that's not the point.
China has (in my book) one of the worst human rights records in history.
China is not in their right minds, they know nothing about Olympia on the Pelepones in Greece, the traditions where this "olympiad" came from, the honors required to give to the god Zeus. Nothing at all. Blank, blank, blank ....
I went to Olympia three times in my life, the place is astounding, the sculptures in equilibrium. I am glad the fires there last summer did not destroy everything. I wish to visit one more time,

So, back to the "dirty air". You, the consumer buys 86% Chinese products, from pocket knifes to under-garments, batteries to computers, shirts to wall paint. I challenge you to act otherwise, to buy locally if you can. But you will not do so, because you just have no choice. So you will stay a conformer, a good consumer - until the walls are crumbling a'down. (the € euro is now worth $1.50)
Thereafter, hail to fresh air!

my annual daylight savings rant

Over the years, supporters of Daylight Savings Time have advanced new reasons to support it, even though they were not the original reasons behind enacting DST.

One they say is safety. Some people believe that if we have more daylight at the end of the day, we will have fewer accidents.

In fact, this "benefit" comes only at the cost of less daylight in the morning. When year-round daylight time was tried in 1973, one reason it was repealed was because of an increased number of school bus accidents in the morning. Further, a study of traffic accidents throughout Canada in 1991 and 1992 by Stanley Coren of the University of British Columbia before, during, and immediately after the so-called "spring forward" when DST begins in April. Alarmingly, he found an eight percent jump in traffic accidents on the Monday after clocks are moved ahead. He attributes the jump to the lost hour of sleep. In a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine, Coren explained, "These data show that small changes in the amount of sleep that people get can have major consequences in everyday activities." He undertook the study as a follow up to research showing that even an hour's change can disrupt sleep patterns and "persist for up to five days after each time shift." Other observers attribute the huge spike in accidents on the first Monday of DST to the sudden change in the amount of light during driving times. Regardless of the reason, there is no denying that changing our clocks has a significant cost in human lives.

While some people claim that they would miss the late evening light, a presumably similar number of people love the morning light. And projects, postponed during the sun filled summer, will be tackled with new vigor when the sun sets an hour earlier each day.

Congress appears to have felt we were not having enough of a difficult time so in 2007 they passed a law starting Daylight Savings time 3 weeks earlier and ending it one week later. This will cost US companies billions to reset automated equipment, put us further out of sync with Asia and Africa time-wise, inconvenience most of the country, all in the name of unproven studies that claim we save energy.

One farmer on the radio said today, his herd of about 300 milking cows are startled. They muuhhed and looked at him in a disgruntled way: "What the heck are you doing so early in the barn?" He then decided to take it easy ... just an half hour earlier for one week. Thereafter switching to the change ...

In my view we should start a campaign to stop this madness. It is bad enough that the government taxes us out of existence, but taking away our "time" with flawed reasonings of "saving something" is too much to bear.

My friends, conspiracy theories left me lukewarm in the past. But now they are gaining momentum. I believe that "daylight savings time" is just a cover up for a psychological experiment, ordained by the government, to see how successful a few people can influence the masses without the "common man" to object. "Daylight Savings" is an illusion, a fabrication of the second world war when electricity was scarce during production times. With our factories presently illuminated 24 hours a day, we don't need this "savings" bullshit anymore.

to the mysterious one

Not long ago, a couple or weeks or so...
someone precious came back to life.
It had been years since the last contact.
So she said: ascending, birds, prayer, song - something moving upward.
She said this after I had used a chain saw to first cut the rough edges. The final image now rested in her palm.
She is a good lady, standing her own grounds and she helped me out without upsetting my own turf. So there you go, miracles are still possible.
As for the sculpture, it was due the other day. But somewhat later - I still will make it.
Cause this one is for the muse - and therefore I will take the proper time to do this without haste and all these enforcements of daily life that usually try to choke you into congested submission.

the dawn of days to come

March has that subtle promise. You are neither here nor there. Winter is not gone, but spring is in the air.
For Lee and I it was a voyage in a haunted house. Good spirits had left the premises, instead black poisoned mold had crept in. I could taste it on my tongue, bitter and acidic.
The owner is trying to redeem the place by us installing warped and moldy doors salvaged from a dumpster behind the Home Depot parking lot.
As you can see on the picture, I am trying to glue back a delaminated bi-fold door that truthfully belongs to the trash pile it came from.
"Winter" is not over in the USA, it merely started despite the change of season.
The chill of high oil prices, the falling US currency, unemployment rising... looks like a real recession to me. Can you convince me otherwise?

ok, I get it

when I put out a post about people I despise, I do not get a lot of sympathy, nor any comments. That's interesting.
So let me tell you this, I have all reasons today to abandon my negative stance and begin the next week with smiles and good will. How about that?
You can look forward to a "creative" post again in the next few days.
Be well, Zee.

fat cigars

"Hitler was deciding who was fit to live and who wasn't, was taking away people's freedoms, and was using the instrument of business and government to limit freedom. He was a classic leftist dictator."

"Why do you think I coined the term 'feminazi' to describe the most fervent pro-abortion women in this country? Well, what did the Nazis do? Killed people because they were inconvenient."

"Conservatism is about America and about each individual citizen. It's not about a political party triumphing or a political party pulling political strings in order to get the vote of this or that group -- that's what liberal Democrats do."

"Two of the candidates in this race are saying, 'It's my turn,' and the other one is saying, 'God's anointed me." (all original Rush quotes)

Sometimes I just melt down, watch a movie and go baaahhh and pass out. Sanity survival for the next 24 hours.

In the mean time Rush Limp and Annie Cut (where did I loose that missing "n" in that name???) can both kiss my ass.

Talking about movies, I finally broke down to mere crumbs on a leftover platter and abandoned my local video store and instead went with Netfllix. Me bad, since I foremost like to encourage and support local businesses. But they are so out of tune here that I couldn't tune in anymore.
With Netflix late fees are now a thing of the past, and the two movies I watch each month cost me less than five bucks.

Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh. What a mess. They are both addicts. She follows her sex and power drive whenever she opens her mouth, he follows his pills and addiction thing while shouting obscenities.

Dangerous liaisons.

beautiful night for a moondance...

The total lunar eclipse was quite a spectacle (partial coverage picture taken last night) , that's one thing. Other thing is, it explains why I was so out of it the last two days.
Blame it on the moon - good one.

It's a fantabulous night for a moon-dance
with the stars up above in the skies...

and whenever I touch you, you will tremble inside,
and then you know how much you
love me now,
you can't hide.

Just pick up one more moon-dance, you - and my love....

free lyrics rendering of the Irish Van Morrison dude

I lost it completely, _Z and Lindsay!

...it has absolutely nothing to do with Duchamp, instead with Ronchamp - Le Corbusier's chapel in Ronchamp to be more exact.
Had a long day yesterday. Silly excuse, but oh so true!
Sorry for the confusion. Me bad.

on my way home

On my way home, I visited the moon;
she always is there, in due time.
but is there anyone who would build a dome
of sublime construction?

giving shelter,
to those who are in need,
to those who yearn for feed?
Trickle that supply to them.
Do we have enough, is there end to pain?

And as the party starts again, just join the ball.
Less becomes more, and little is none.
It is time to know
that life is such.

_______________________

birds tend to land on buildings also

Last time I was in New Zealand (I've only been there once:) I did run into this cafe traveling towards north.
Good sandwiches, delicious. Beats all the vegemite sandwiches from the big Aussi neighbor. Not that I even ever came close to one, by all means... perhaps I'm just biased.
But looking at this adobe style construction, it reminds me of how buildings could be designed totally differently from the standard norm. (_Z take note)
More images tomorrow when I take some pictures of the cubical boring addition we just build. But there are some little surprises we sneaked in, you'll see!
Have a great Monday and a great start of the new week, with humor and affection.

an other "smoking" post

We live our lives like swimming olive-oil spots on the surface of boiling pasta water, waiting for the starch to break down. No matter if you smoke or not, there are steaming and hot times ahead.
Al dente please!




Just heard on the radio this lovely Sunday morning, that the British government is seriously considering to enact a new law for smokers. Of course all the Pubs and all other public spaces are already smoke free. But now comes this:
Every smoker will be obliged to get a SMOKERS LICENSE!
How do you get one? Well, you will have to go to a doctor first and get a statement that your health will not be seriously affected by smoking for the next year or so. Now that is total rubbish, if not even an oxymoron!
But it gets better yet. After you have been to the doctor and got his or her statement, saying that you will not get lung-cancer or any other smoking related disease for the next 12 months, (hahaha - they don't even know where cancer comes from yet) you need to go and purchase a license for about $20. Every time you buy cigarettes you will be required to show your license of health! No license, no cigarettes!!!

On the other hand, the US, and rapidly catching up in other countries, OBESITY is now the #1 cause of self-inflicted death (heart failure on the top of the list), surpassing the doom and gloom of the 27% of society who still wish to smoke.
So, 58% are overweight (26% thereof obese, that means wider than high) 10% are anorexic, add the 27% smokers to it and you will get the image that 95% of the population are on a murderous track of self-destruction. That leaves us with only 5% of "healthy" citizens. This is how statistics work, and this is the grounds whereupon our lawmakers make their decisions!

I made my own conclusions from these (very conservative) figures, namely that a salesperson should be required by law to have a tape measure and a scale at hand whenever a person wants to "supersize" anything, from a hamburger to a car, to a house.
That would be a healthy "measure"!

all she does is eat, sleep and piss - I wish I had that kind of life

All right, I have a cat (one of the two, this one is retired now). In human comparison she now hits her mid 80's. What a gal.
Nevertheless, even though gracious, she annoys the heck out of me when I dance over to the studio in the wee hours of the morning before going to work with a hot cup of coffee in hand and then she goes MIAUUUHHH. My nerves can't handle this audible signal that early in the day:
"give me more food, give me more sleep - screw your priorities, provider. To me you are instantly obliged and I just want to eat and sleep, don't you get it?"

I just smile and give her more food. That's all there is to that. I wish I had incarnated as a cat as well!
So there I was, considering a post that dealt with all the recent school shootings of last week. But it was truthfully too depressing to consider for now. Therefore this time the cat comes first.
Have a grand weekend you all!

Valentine? - be happy

Treat yourself and/or your lover of choice to something nice today.
Eat out, take a walk together, watch a funny movie ... anything together really.
________

If you can't do any of the above, you can also play this Valentine game!

________

P.S. All the contact info for the Haiku winners is in now. Thank you winners! Now I must ponder and then send you the prize. It will take a bit of time, but eventually ...

As always, be well, stay brave and enjoy life filled with light and laughter.
Yours, Zee.

give me more drugs (...or the needle and the damage done)

"Stimulus Package" - sounds like a pink, kinky deal at first - but all it shows for, is a planed blessing from the government.
This is how it works:
First the government took your money; then they spend it all and borrowed astronomical sums on top of it.
Now (the government) gives you a bit back ($600 in change or so in May). You, the consumer, will spend it on this and that in order to "stimulate" the economy while the big fat fishes grow even bigger and the government will tax that spending again from the little skinny fishes. They are fucking geniuses these politicians.
Spend a little, receive more. What a scam. It sounds like an overdose blowjob on 42nd Street. Unreal dude!
Wait, there is something else wrong with that picture. What do you actually "stimulate" with such an act? Who might be the fearful looser of such a stimulation? Could it be you or I?
Sure, something will happen if you hand out cash to about 150 million people. It is for the masses like winning a scratch ticket in the lottery. So what. The ones who really profit are the big companies, when all the sheep (ups, little skinny fishes) go to the stores to consume yet an other gadget that is totally unnecessary for their existence and which they couldn't really afford in the first place.
It seems just a bit absurd to me, that the US government, who is deep in dept, shares cash on (newly printed paper... what's that worth?) to it's citizens which doesn't even exist in the first place, awaiting a turn in tide by such actions.
The USDollar is way down compared to the Euro, and the Canadian Dollar runs higher as well.
Since we already have a war (or two or three) we can't possibly invent an other one to stimulate the economy. Bummer. I guess therefore we get this injection.
Will it work? Perhaps in the short run - but like with all drugs, the trip will fade away and leave an even more somber citizen behind, craving for an other "shot."
The root of the problem is not that we don't spend enough, we already spend more than we really need. The issue is put totally upside down. To have REAL growth we should start to conserve and save ... only that works in the long run. Everything else is like crack-cocaine, a short high followed by a long down.
I have a lingering suspicion that politicians like to have common folks to stay addicts - forever!

this is tricky buissenes - you all win a price! But only three will be recipients, bummer ...

The Haiku contest was splendid, here are the winners, so I needed to choose three for the price to be received. What a miserable ordeal, depressing to let others down. But here we have to go, after putting in all the Haiku's into a basket and pulling out three of them, here are the winners:

Jim, Cym, Laila
are the winners. Please contact me through e-mail and give me your info so I can send you the price.

picture out of studio window this afternoon

All others, be content that your contributions were sublime!


forget not my aim
to walk where wolves fear to tread
with peace in my heart.

Cym
-------------------------------------

forget not my aim
dare you ponder on the gain
of not caring less

Nazli
--------------------------------------

pain is in my soul
and as i turn the pages
i still see your smile

Laila
--------------------------------------

forget not my aim
i tried to throw through you once
stay out of my way

Seraphine
--------------------------------------

death is not a shame
only a flicker of flame
in life's endless game

Jim
--------------------------------------

forget not my aim
the heart is distant and rare
the dart is subtle

Gary
-------------------------------------

Tomorrow is hope
Sunrise brings us our warm rays
An endless life cycle

Lindsay
-------------------------------------


i will only say
once the jello's cleaned up
we will end the fight

Susan
-------------------------------------

a flower greets us
naked, wanton, and smiling
with sensual grace

Jim
-------------------------------------

A flower greets us
Such haughty apparition
As though Hope pervades

Lee
-------------------------------------

a flower greets us
there, on the sweet other side
each petal singing.

Miss Annie
_______________________________________

And a big thanks to Lee and Annie, the newcomers to this blog. If I were to be on a panel of judges, I probably would vote for your contribution.

XLll - how about simply stating #42 instead

Super-bowl? What a gag. Is that a leftover from the Roman Empire, with Roman numerals attached to it and all? Why are there no woman in this sport? Is this the only sport left where woman can't compete?
Whatever, that game bores me to death. A bunch of excused college kids come together, equipped with dick and head and shoulder harness, run and collide into each other, collapse on a pile of human sweat, get up and start all over again.
Maybe I am screwed, because I never follow the teams. If I would, I might spur up more excitement for this "super-bowl" event.
But who cares which team wins. Most of the players don't even reside in the state they are supposedly representing. Some of them are probably illegal aliens, cashing in on 70 million annual contracts. Better than picking apples I suppose.
Superbowl for the common person is like the lottery, a poor mans excitement and taxation to the "higher authority" - a waste of resources really, dullification! And if football is a sport, it is just labeled that way to be on the safe side. (OSHA requirements)
Next time someone annoys me, I just run him or her over, and scream "touch down".
Isn't that what we teach our children to believe in, knocking people over - watching football?

Stay brave?

I don't know what that means, "stay brave"! But an overwhelming crowd voted for that virtue to escape or endure the coming recession.
Fabulous in it's nebulous ways!
'Drive less' and 'plant your own garden' ended up as a distant third in this poll.
Second up was a surprise: 'Eat more fruit', 'help others in need' - and therefore 'make love more often'. Or without any conclusions, you can toss up the results in your own very order.
Hardly anyone decided to become a monk or a nun, or felt fear or relief. Survivalists were sparse.
In any case, the "stay brave wave" still startles me. I need some clarification!
Perhaps I will do a poll again sometime, why not one on who wins the the 'American Idol'?
But alas, I can not claim to watch TV at all. So there must be something else to poll - no?

( picture stolen)

Alright then, I closed my poll now because I'm sick and tired to see it every time I log in.