For some reason when I got up around 8:30 am, I felt liking doing stuff. So I shaved and put some water on my hair, so I didn't look like I had just gotten back from Bizzaro World, dressed, and went and washed my car.
Being up and out on a beautiful day got me going, going, gone. What next? I decided after a week's sabbatical, it was time to get my sorry ass to the gym. I went home, with the cleanest car in town, to get my gym stuff.
For some reason I can't go anywhere without lots of stuff. For the gym I changed into my swim suit, socks and sneakers, leather gym gloves with the fingers cut out, a little cassette player, my reading glasses, The Once and Future King by T. H. White, and of course keys.
I was out the door by 9:30 am, listening to Bang Tango. I have an exercise tape that I have listened to for the past few months. The first three songs are by Bang Tango. This is when I use the bike and read. For some reason - reading, and Bang Tango blasting away, and doing the bike are a perfect fit.
The last 30 seconds of Dancing on Coals is my cue to put whatever I am reading down, take my glasses off, put them in their little leather case, and get ready to debike.
With the last note of the BT offering, I got off the bike, and headed to the gym set. With the first note of The Gunners(Guns & Roses) five song set, I assumed the position, arms extended upward, pressing x number of pounds. It gave me a little rush.
Today's workout was a keeper, a little sweat and a good measure of heart felt moans and groans. The good stuff, where just a little extra effort gets you where you need to go.
I don't think I did the whole 5 song G&R set, but trust me I did good. When I had done everything I had wanted to do, I went out to the pool. I took my headset off, took off my socks, then my sneaks, put my book and glass case down, and then although a little slick and sweaty, plunged into the liquid blue.
Elliot is a lucky little shit. He just got the call this morning. Richard Steiner, from Fox, called E this morning to tell him his script made the cut. Fox signed off on a pilot, six shows starting in the fall. It’s going to be a 30 min. sitcom, tentatively called, Sockahachi Si. An easy six figures per pop for that lucky little shit Elliot.
The thing that blows my mind is what the sitcom is about. Maybe I need to start taking dumb pills or something. Elliot’s script, the sitcom, Sockahachi Si, is about this guy who is doing this web log thing, Blogger, and he keeps promising to tell everybody how many pairs of socks he has in his sock drawer, but never gets around to it.
He was a big guy and he was beat. For the last - 1+4+1=1+5=6 - days, he had been making all kinds of things - shapes, and colors, and places for things to unfold in.
And on the 7th day, the big guy stood before the swirling firmament, "Dammit! All I wanted was some Fresh Fish."
Hawks are generally solitary. There are just a few times during the year
when they are with a mate and or young.
During the first part of spring breeding season I frequently see pairs of
Red-tailed Hawks. Shortly after, the female is sitting on eggs so you
won't see her unless you know where a nest is.
In late spring or early summer you may see pairs as they hunt for soon to
be fledglings or fledglings. By midsummer they separate till the following
spring. The young are frequently driven off to find a place of their own.
The other time I see hawks together is during fall
migration/dispersion. Hawks congregate in certain places where terrain and
other conditions make them funnel through an area. Places like Cape, May
New Jersy, Hawk Mountain Pennsylvania, Vera Cruz, Mexico and the Marin
Headlands, California are places where many hawks, falcons and other
raptors can be seen.
Regards,
Greg
Hi Greg,
I am very fond of hawks. My mother has one that has hung out at her house for about 10 years (not sure if it is the same one), and there is also one that inhabits an area around the office bldg i work at. My question - How come i never see hawks flying in pairs? I get the impression that the 2 hawks i know are solidary birds with no mates.
I know I was suppose to do my laundry tonight and give everyone an accounting of the number of delicates that I have, but what can I say - sometimes I am a slacker. And it's not like I am not going to have anything to wear tomorrow.
So you still have time to guess. Socks? Boxers and Briefs?
I am a little sad. I am putting her down. I have a 1981 Cadillac Seville Elegant that has finally bit the dust. But before we part, I thought a snap of my girl would be in order.
She was a tank and drank gas like a sieve, but she could go from 60 to 80 faster than any car out there. And she did get her respect, people instinctively got out of her way. I always liked to think that it was the respect due a gracious lady.
I will probably being doing some laundry this evening. So after I do the wash, I am going to do something that I have been meaning to do for a long time. I am going to do an inventory of my sock and underwear drawers. Not a lot of detail, just a physical count of the number of socks and underwear I have. Care to guess now? Pairs of socks? Number of boxers and briefs?
And I am a little sad. I am putting her down. I have a 1981 Cadillac Seville Elegant that has finally bit the dust. But before we part, I thought a snap of my girl would be in order. Coming soon - The Bite Me Bitch. I will miss her.
And then I started it and didn't finish it. I was writing a little piece on digital photography. So far I have blogged out - Digital Photography - part 1. Guess it is time for a part 2.
So come back soon and I will have a full count of my delicates, and a last snap of my baby, and some tips on what to look for when buying a digital camera.
It was about 12:30 am, and I was trying to get to bed early. Early for me is before 2 am. As I peered between the cracks in my venetian blinds, I was a little taken by how the moon was all shiny and bright. I hadn't been spending much time with the stars and such, and Pow, there she was doing her waltz across the gossamer sky. In another day of two, La Luna would be La Luna Bella. In another day or two the moon would be phat.
For the last five full moons, I have made a poetic offering. For the last five full moon, I have published a full moon poem. If you search in the archives during weeks in which the moon was full you will find my ditties.
Jan - full moon 1/28 - poem -Again She Comes- archive 1/27 - 2/2.
Feb - full moon 2/27 - poem -The Burr Moon - archive 2/24 - 3/2.
March - full moon 3/28 - poem -Pulling Me A Little Closer- archive 3/24 - 3/30.
April - full moon 4/27 - poem - Hail Holy Light - archive 4/21 - 4/27. ( this archive is presently missing).
May - full moon 5/26 - poem -The Fat Moon - archive 5/19 - 5/25. (also see The Rising of the Moon published 5/19).
So with the moon approaching full, it was almost time for, "Thank you sir. May I have" another. Time for another, conceived in silence but meant to be spoken. Time for another, conceived in darkness but talking about the light. Time for another prayer.
Actually, for the last five months, I have been cheating. Each month I have used a full moon poem that I had already written. It seems my time for La Luna Bella has passed. One of my little prayers is that once again she will hold my in her sway, but until that time I do the best I can with what I have.
I still have a few unblogged offerings, and with the moon become phat, it was time to get busy with it. I would have to find my errant lamb and dust it off a bit. It was almost, tick, tock, time.
Via the moon beams peeking in through my blinds, I still had a day or two before the show, but I have a quirky little brain and it was already turning to where to find my cache and which. But before I got carried away, I thought to check on exactly when my mistress would yield to the ways of her nature. When exactly would the moon be full?
I use a wolf calendar, neatly tacked to the wall, near the shadeless lamp on my night stand, to cipher the dates of the full moon. As I glanced up from the bed, I noticed that the wolf calendar was showing March 2002.
Cheating again. I had recently turned the calendar back to March to get a snap I used for last Monday's blog - Everything Revised. Being the slacker that I sometimes am, I hadn't set the calendar back to June.
So with my mistress peaking in through the venetian blinds, I jumped up out of bed. I pulled out the bottom orange tack holding the wolf calendar to the wall and flipped the pages up - April - May - June Moon.
Zut alors! The full moon, via the wolf calendar that is usually neatly tacked to the wall, near the shadeless lamp on my night stand, had already passed. The full moon for June 2002 was on Monday - June 24th. The moon which teased me from my bed was not waxing, it was waning.
First no poems and now I missed her touch.
I could proceed as planned. I could go through my papers and such until I came across another of my full moon poems. But no. I will wait. I will wait in shame.
But should she once again ride high, across the twinkle of the sky, I will know that I have been forgiven, and together we will celebrate our ways.
I have tried but i just don't seem to be able to stop myself. It seems to be endogenous (the dog in us). Never again is what I said the time before. Hey what can I say. I am dumb and stupid. And what makes it so bad is that I am not sure what the difference is?
(a trinity, a trinity, we want a trinity).
Some days I am just dumb. Other days I am just stupid. But yesterday I was dumb and stupid. And it is not a good sign when you are dumb and stupid with a lag. I just found out today that i was dumb and stupid yesterday.
Do this. And i will share a secret with you. Something i have never shared
with anyone else. Why do I share it with you? Maybe it is because God
loves you? Maybe it is because I want you to have a little magick in your
life?
Fragile like a brick
she fell to ground
and with a thud
stayed
while the spin and pull
indented its way around her.
And there she fretted
messed and mooted
while the garden went astray
with snakes that could do more than talk
serpentine in song and dance
with rainbow dancing snakes akimbo.
Hallelujah! hallalula!
the numbers grow
another fallen angel
on the scales
that do decide
a sway, a tilt, a rushing
forth
of atom moons
and rainbow sparkles
dipped in feckless fancy
Quantum this
you little freak
as you bet it all
on seven.
He looked up at the wolf calendar, neatly tacked to the wall, near the shadeless lamp on his night stand - March 2002 - a mother with her cub. it was Sunday - the 3/10/17/24/31 - the 2nd Sunday - the tenth - March 10, 2002.
He looked to the right and squinted a bit to decipher the time on the white sony dream machine on the dresser up against the wall opposite the bed - 11:32. night stand - bed, let's go with 11:32 pm.
Brandon was doing it again. Brandon was writing about nothing and having a good time of it. Brandon was having such a good time writing about nothing because in the back of his quirky little brain lurked a secret.
Sure he was writing about nothing but then things can change. Things can undergo a transformation, like the one-to-one correspondence mapping of sigma into not sigma. And Brandon knew that the one-to-one correspondence mapping of nothing into not nothing was everything.
So on March 10, 2002, a bit before midnight, watched over by the wolves, Brandon wrote about everything. As he wrote though, he wondered that if he was really writing about everything, how come he was leaving so much out.
One of the best lines every, right up there with, "You can't handle the truth.", is from Silence of the Lambs. Even Jody couldn't ruin it for me. It's a fav.
Fragile like a brick
she fell to ground
and with a thud
stayed
while the spin and pull
indented its way around her.
And there she fretted
messed and mooted
while the garden went astray
with snakes that could do more than talk
serpentine in song and dance
with rainbow dancing snakes akimbo.
Hallelujah! hallalula!
the numbers grow
another fallen angel
on the scales
that do decide
a sway, a tilt, a rushing
forth
of atom moons
and rainbow sparkles
dipped in feckless fancy
Quantum this
you little freak
as you bet it all
on seven.
We go there not directly but (proceed) in a helter skelter way. Too much, too soon, so often causes one to go astray. And it is our intention for you not to lose your way. Nay, it is our intention for you to come and then to stay. Stay awhile or longer, and may this serve you well. Stay awhile or longer, but promise not to tell. That once while you were traveling, in a land most far but near, you heard the twinkling of the light, a sound so very dear. More of this we know, and more of this we will tell. but first we ask that you stay awhile and with us for some time dwell.
They found a space, a space that was empty. With pious care they filled the space, one by one, with things of power.
Today was their day. It was their time to satiate their curiosity. They had worked hard. They had toiled in the abyss. They had arduously and diligently copied by hand, on parchment pure, the ways and history of the order. These records and commentaries would be their's for every and always, and then to pass these footprints in the sand down to another. It was the way. It was the only way. It was a way known by few.
Like sharks keen with red, the chosen gathered around Master Phat in a circle, and began to ask their meddling questions.
"Enlightened one, why are you called Phat?"
Always the same. The question was always there, just waiting for the moment to emerge.
But the ancient one was patient and kind, "To be Phat is to be full, full with light. I have gorged myself on the bliss and therefore i am Phat."
"But enlightened one, if you are Phat why do some call you Rephat?"
Again with a twinkle, the ancient one patiently answered, "One can become Phat but only for an instant, but then one can become Phat again."
"Master Phat, called by others Rephat, what will you show us today?"
"Today we will embark upon a journey. It will be a journey into that most precious and sacred of things. It will be a journey into the truth. All those that have come before you have wandered in this waste land. All those that have come before you have found salvation in its embrace."
Yes, this is the moment the students had been waiting for. Master Phat was going to reveal his secrets. Soon they would commence upon the path of light, a path that was Phat.
"You will take a space, a space empty. Within this space you will bring things of power. In this way you will know sanctuary. This is the tao of those that are Phat.."
And they found a space, a space that was empty and with pious care they filled the space, one by one, with things of power.
Posted
8:08 AM
by robert d
Rivaling the Majesty of the Sun
I went to the park yesterday and it was all happening, life in its many forms.
Fed the ducks and Canadian geese some sour dough. There were honk/quack, some new goslings and a mama mallard with a half dozen new little swimmers.
A group of young kids was gathered near a big tree on the other side of the river. All the guys played Tarzan, as they swung out over the running river and learned a little bit about gravity.
No cranes fishing, but more fly fishermen than I have ever seen in the river, just wanting some fresh fish.
And then damn, there it was. I wanted it bad but I didn't get it. Overhead, in the blue and white, rivaling the majesty of the sun, was a magnificent hawk swirling about, riding on the currents.
I wanted a snap of this moment bad but I was too slow. By the time I had my camera in hand and turned on, cap off, with lens pointing at the sky - my prize was gone.
Tempis fugit is a handy little latin phrase that has a plethora of uses. Tempis = time. Fugit = to fly.
Happy First Day of Summer 2002.
Just heard on the radio that Summer 2002, officially began, about 31.4159 minutes ago. I would have to put on my Thunk It Hat to reconjure the exact definition of summer. The best I can do is to expostulate that today will be the longest day of the year, out of the darkness and into the light. I think somewhere, maybe the equator, the hours of darkness and the hours of light, will be equivalent.
What at first seems to be magic with no apparent transmission mechanism, is nothing but the mechanics of reality at work. It is the mechanics of choice.
There is a welter of data flowing around each individual. In order to function as a finite unit choices have to be made. One's attention is directed to certain topics. Certain information is culled. Certain information is allowed inside the sanctuary. Certain information is denied access. The latter far outweighs the former. Things are allowed in. Much more is not.
When one embarks upon an adventure or an enterprise, one determines in advance what types of information to pay attention to. Suddenly, as if my magic, appropriate data begins to appear. As wondrous as this may seem, this information has always been there. It is just that now one is paying more attention.
There are 50 billion galaxies in the universe. On average, each galaxy contains 100 billion stars. Each star is like our Sun with planets circulating round.
50,000,000,000 galaxies x 100,000,000,000 stars/galaxy = 5,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the universe.
I live a rather cloistered life. I don't get out past the millions much. Every now and then, on my best days, I flirt with the, "you got it all babe!", billions. After the billion dollar babies, I have to take a deep brain enriching breath, to get to the trillions.
After I hit the trills I have to stop. What comes after trillions?"
I am guessing here, but it's an educated guess. I would guess that after the trillions comes the quadtrillions. Zillions are in there somewhere but I think it is quads and then zills. Actually, I think the correctness of the above depends on which, America or English, system of counting you are using.
So let's look it up.
Quadtrillion -
Well, I was almost right. The correct terminology in the U.S. is quadrillion.
Quadrillion - "a cardinal number, represented in the U.S. and France by a one followed by 15 zeros, and in Great Britain and Germany by a one followed by 24 zeros."
So there are 5 quadrillion stars, each with, pick a number, 8 planets per star.
5,0000,0000,0000,0000,0000 stars x 8 planets/star = 40 quadrillion planets.
" 1. Francesca da, 13th century Italian noblewoman, a character in Dante's 14th century epic poem The Divine Comedy: killed by her husband in the act of adultery. 2. a seaport in NE Italy, on the Adriatic."
Should I tell? Why not?
I just had to share the above with you. Rimini has everything - a Fran da and the 13th century and Dante and The Divine Comedy and killed and adultery and Italy and the Adriatic.
But where did all this wonderful stuff come from? Maybe I had recently been checking the spelling of a word in the dictionary? Perhaps a word starting with R? Maybe a word used in the last entry?
Now some people read the dictionary just for fun. I am not that good. The truth is that I am a poor speller. I was checking on a word for the little ditty - Why Is A Pumpkin More Orange Than An Orange?. I was checking on rime vs. rhyme.
Posted
6:18 PM
by robert d
Buying A Digital Camera - Part I
I guarantee, when the time comes for you to really consider buying a digital camera, you will get a little anxious, maybe even apprehensive. There is so much information out there about buying a digital camera. You would really feel stupid if you blew this one.
You don't think they overwhelm you with information to get you confused and then in your moment of weakness sell you an overpriced lemon?
It's rather ironic that the most important feature to consider when buying a digital camera is kind of hush hush. It doesn't get a lot of air play. It is almost a conspiracy. Maybe they feel if you don't know this you shouldn't even have a digital camera.
Posted
12:52 PM
by robert d
Meditations with Master Phat - vol 3 lesson ix
There are forces within us that do not communicate in words. Instead, these forces communicate with symbols and gestures. Their ways are found in meditation and ritual. With meditation comes the energy. With ritual comes focus and persistence.
It's a Rosemary's Baby Conspiracy. Everyone is a distraction. Everyone is trying to steal your baby. Everything is a distraction, especially modern conveniences. When you turn to other things your focus is lost.
Concentration is a great power. You are constantly being abused by ways and means designed to impede your concentration and focus. The most insidious being the cathode ray tube - monitors and television. While in the waste land, focus is lost, time stands still, and nothing gets done.
Wondo - do now. The magic is indeed in the doing. You might not do it exactly right, but something is always better than nothing.
With patience and commitment, communion with les autres is possible. But the communication established is not direct. With persistence, linkages between symbols and meanings are established. Then these ex ante correspondences are used to exchange information - communicate - between you and your shadow.
Actually the area of communication is unresolved. the common dilemma being the identity of the entities communicating. Is one communicating with oneself or are there others?
Posted
8:33 PM
by robert d
Buying A Digital Camera - Part I
I guarantee, when the time comes for you to really consider buying a digital camera, you will get a little apprehensive, maybe even anxious. There is so much information out there about buying a digital camera. You would really feel stupid if you blew this one.
On my car stereo, for the last week or so, I have been listening to Remy Zero - The Golden Hum. My favorite songs are selections 2,4,&11. On a scale of 1 - 10, I'd give The Hum a low 7. The music is almost there, and every now and then actually makes it into the zone, but lyrically there is nothing of merit here.
I picked up Remy because I had caught them at Music Midtown a few months ago. Like lots of groups they are better live. Of course it was also a perfect day. Chicks riding on guys backs, beach balls bouncing around, sparkling sun after 2 days of rain, and about 15,000 people, each and every one, grateful to be alive.
I'm perusing a book on web graphics and decided to conduct a little experiment here. The original pix above was 729K in size. I used the Save for Web feature and reduced the quality to a very low 1. This reduced the pix size from 729K to 25.4K - wow. Although, there is a slight derogation in quality, I think the trade off in quality vs. file size is worth it.
The moral of the story is go low. Unless you are shooting for the National Geographic, you can probably get away with a rather low JPEG quality setting and still get a decent pix that will download in a snap.
I collect triplets. A triplet is a word spelled three different ways, with each of the 3 spellings being pronounced the same. I call these freaks - trips.
I believe my first trip was vain/vein/vane. The next trip was probably something simple like - by/bye/buy or for/four/fore. After that trips kept popping up. It wasn't an everyday kind of thing, but every now and then I would get that little thrill of going, "Oh wow!! I've found another trip."
The knights of her table had arrived
seeking tomorrow in today
but all they heard was the dint of flaccid drums
beating into yesterday.
These Sirs, their heads they turned away
from the 1,2, nothing
and if this be all
then gone
on steeds with hoof
and bit
and clatter
on the cobbles
of the morn.
i flopka. he flopkas. she flopkas. it flopkas. you flopka. we flopka. they flopka.
the above was considered blasphemous. much like the apple in the garden, there was only one admonishment - thou shall not flopka.
about a week ago, 3/2/02, i came across a site - magic bus. this site is dedicated to a particular bus route in some obscure city. it isn't an oh,ah, wiz bang kind of site but nonetheless i liked it. magic bus was about the author's bus ride to work every morning. i relished its simplicity.
i thought each morning i would check the financial markets, the weather, check my email, and then kick back and take a little bus ride. i linked to the site - www.flopka.net/bus.html - but since 2/28/02, the bus doesn't seem to stop there anymore.
to flopka is the only sin. to flopka is to not post and published.
The above was written on March 11, 2002. Every now and then I would go back to check and be sad, no Flopka, no Magic Bus. I even got a comment from a fellow purist, wondering where Flopka was.
I haven't been posting lately and thought I would reconjure up the term - to flopka. In the process of my preparations, I checked one more time for my Magic Bus.
Hurray, but a little sad. Flopka is back. I haven't had time to catch up with where she has been, but she is still taking that morning bus ride. I am a little sad thought. Obviously, she took a little sabbatical and during the interim made some major modifications to her site and glitzed it up quite a bit.
I suppose that change is good, but i remain a sentimentalist and pine for my familiars.
In swirls and worlds of verdant green
casting spell and sway
gossamer & giddy, she
with a scented hush
that spreads to the beating of her will
and wings me to the stars that shine
even in the light of day
eclipsing what I thought I knew
and bringing me
come hither.
oh come to me and inspire
to realms much much higher
where the light is brighter still
and to will is to fly
first above the brown and green
and then into the white and blue
and finally into gray and black
with sparkles in between
and here to pause
and here to ponder
Eve was not Adams first companion, before Eve there was Lilith. Not that much is known about Lilith, but she did bear Adam many offspring. Lilith bore Adam 144 daughters.
The manifestations of the unions of Adam and Lilith were actually more a spawning than a birthing. During each of twelve full moons, Lilith and Adam would rest from their toils and lay together. In the morning, after these matings, would arrive 12 fully grown daughters, all dewy and fresh and ready for fun and adventure. They all doted on Adam, and for awhile he was content, but he soon tired of all their giddy and glee and wished for others more like himself.
God took pity on his new creature and fashioned something different, for Adam he made Eve. God told Adam that Eve would provide for him others like himself.
Adam was very anxious and during the next full moon he lay with Eve. Adam could hardly sleep, and the next morning he arose early to explore for a new spawning, but nothing could be found.
I'm getting ready for The Big Party. I know everyone likes to act crazy and let their hair down and party, but it can get to be a drag after awhile, especially if you are required to party. I have to be a party animal 5 days a week. It's my job.
Actually, - "some people like to go out dancing. other people like us we have to work." - I am getting ready for work. You know - The Big Party.
About 3 years ago, when companies couldn't find enough ways to blow money, we were always having things at work with balloons and food and whatever. One of the guys I worked with, occasionally would bring his little boy in for the festivities. Every time the kid was there we were having a party.
He was a big guy and he was beat. For the last - 1+4+1=1+5=6 - days, he had been making all kinds of things - shapes, and colors, and places for things to unfold in.
And on the 7th day, the big guy stood before the swirling firmament, "Dammit! All I wanted was some fresh fish."
Blogger is fucking with my title - fresh fish. The title has some special characters in it and now with all the new improvements and stuff, these special characters are coming out as ?????. Thank you blogger. I also can't get a 5/26 - 6/1 archive folder. Wonder what will mess up next? Just goes to show that new is rarely better.
We have all got one and we all use it with abandon my friend - ames d'abandon - a mind. But very little detailed reflection is given to how our mind works. Some insight into the mechanics of your brain can be gleaned by working with the digits of π. Actually any sequence of things can be used but π is just neat.
Let's take the first 20 digits of π.
π = 3.1415926535897932384
The task is straight forward, memorize those first 20 digits. The trick though is to observe how your mind goes about doing this.
It is much more instructive if you write down the steps you take in memorizing the first 20 digits of π. Actually, if you don't document how you went about memorizing the first 20 digits of π, the exercise is feckless because we are all so memento.
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