My New Computer Is Trying to Kill Me

Windows 7.... Need I say more? Proprietary and shopping crap everywhere you look...

You Say Goodbye, and I Say Hello

Thank doG THAT'S over!

The heat is relenting and they finished the street today! Yippie!

Man, It's Hot!

On Tuesday, (8-24-10) the mercury topped out at 95F in my rooms. EEEEEEEEYuk!

Pwetty Fwowa and Other Stuff

What Strange Dream Is This?

These are the guardians of my CPU. No wonder I never get viruses...

Hungry? Now that you mention it...

Who's Funny-Looking?

Oh, yeah. Me.

Ma Belle Raven

The Latest

Primeval

My new t-shirt?

So I entered this as a t-shirt design in a contest at Threadless. Think positive thoughts, and if I win, BUY ONE!

Ignorance and Arrogance

Ignorance and arrogance both claim to own the truth.

But each of them sees with only one eye.

Even a peacock sees better, and his eyes are an illusion.

Truth shows her face at the instant the single eye blinks.

The led horse winds toward home, helping quietly to bear your burden.

The driven horse flees blindly from danger, leaving you to labor on

alone,

with the weight of your anger.

Ignorance puts fences between men,

but arrogance makes men defend them.

In this way wars and loneliness are made.

Weeds grow thickly before a gate that is never opened,

and wisdom and humility are lost.

Berkeley Wildlife

So I finally got to go see the Berkeley Tire Elephant today. It's at the corner of Cedar & Scenic. So cool! The creator's name is Roxanne Urry. I think it was done around 2005. Check it out...

More distortion

I just read a book about Chagall. I think it warped my brain.

They said it couldn't be done...

The handy-man of my building said I'd never get the stove clean. But he was wrong. I can't decide if he told me that to goad me into trying or because he really believed it. In any case, that stove is CLEAN!

Ok, new place...

We've moved upstairs to a smaller apartment in the building. I don't want to be the manager anymore. It's making me crazy(er). So, a couple of snaps from the new place - day two.

Mustang Fever

The Heat

Pardon Me, Your Brain Door's Open

The Carnival's In Town

A new show has opened at Refined by Fire, our local gallery here in Point Richmond. It's a pretty good show, and a great photo-op. Check it out! 103 W.Richmond Ave. Point Richmond, CA.

Where Is My Hat?

My hat, my hat,
where is it at?
I asked the dog.
I asked the cat.
The one thing that I know is that,
I don't know where my hat is at.

On nights that are chilly I wear a nightcap. In the morning it is sometimes lost in the bedclothes. This morning I awoke with my Border Collie on my right and my cat on my left. My hat was hiding, and as I looked for it I discovered I was mumbling this. Early onset senility anyone?

Think, think, think

One of my neighbors who owns a restaurant bred her pit bull recently and is "selling" the pups for $700.00. There were 10 in the litter - she still has nine - they are now 5 mos. old and she's starting to panic. One she gave as a present. Man!, just what Richmond California needs! 10 more pit bulls. The shelters are full to bursting with pits and pit mixes. I like pits, They are mostly swell dogs. But we are swimming in them here!

Does she have a right to breed her bitch? Certainly. Is it morally defensible? Well.... not so clear. I told her she might just as well have taken a 9mm into a shelter and blown away 10 dogs. Are the eventual buyers (if they materialize) of her puppies evil because they plunk down $700.00 instead of adopting a shelter dog? Certainly they have the right to do so. But having the right doesn't make it right.

But you could take these arguments anywhere. Maybe I should be sending my "disposable income" to someone who is working on a renewable energy source and needs funding instead of feeding 3 animals that I "don't need." But those animals needed someone, and they have more than repaid me for the money I spent on them.

I think it would be great if people did a 10 year moratorium on eating fish so that wild stocks could have some time to recover and salmon and shrimp farms could be redesigned to be much less polluting. But these things will probably not happen voluntarily, and I don't want to be the one to take away a fisherman's livelihood - even though just doing what he has to to feed his family will probably do just that.

I think buying a purebred dog just as a pet is a selfish act. I'd love to have a Scottish Deerhound. But I don't live on venison, and the Deerhounds I know wouldn't have a clue about how to bring a deer to bay, or bring it down even if I did. So instead I fell in love with a Border Collie of uncertain pedigree. Lucky me! I've discover the joy of living with one of the cleverest dogs on earth. And she is no longer marinating in her own feces in a concrete pen, or contributing to canine overpopulation. Does this make me a better person than someone who goes out and buys a German Shepherd Dog because they think it makes them look cool?

Honestly, I do.

I think people need to realize that all the decisions we make have consequences. They need to think hard about what these consequences mean, and then act in a responsible way. But we all know that asking people to think at all is an iffy proposition. Trying to get them to work out that just because they can do something doesn't mean they should is going to be a tall order.

The Extreme Cuteness of the Itty Bitty Pittie

Eclipse

In keeping with the "distortion" motif... The dark shape of my Border Collie's head eclipses her reflection, (and thankfully, most of mine) in a Volkswagen Beetle's hubcap.

ok then...

Dragged out my old HP point-and-shoot for the ride to the doctor yesterday. Haven't used it for about a year. This shot sort of grabbed me and I was inspired by the glass block photos of Susan Shore to distort it in Photoshop. Kind of a fun result.

Fascination

My Dog is not Stupid

My dog is not stupid
or crazy
or retarded.

My dog is anxious.

She barks at people that
she doesn’t see
everyday.

People who smell different
each time she encounters them
are confusing.

But then,
if she knows you, she will
be sweet.

It doesn’t help to yell,
or hiss,
or call her rude names.

And it hurts my feelings.
Because I am anxious too.
I have been for thirty years.

I’ve learned not to bark.
Mostly.
But I’ve had thirty years to learn.
My dog is not yet two.

I’m sorry my dog barks at you.
But she’s my best friend.
So be nice.
Please.

What you say to her
tells me what you
don’t
say to me.

Think about it.

Dog on the Street

Catnip

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

An Artist & Photographer

Six clocks are ticking audibly.

The pendulum clock has struck

two

and one

and three

and one

and four

and one

and five.

I can hear the the falsetto honk of my cat

snoring.

* * *

I remember when he drove me up to the door.

The windshield was impressionistic with dog snot.

Eyes, hair, lips, hands.

The scent of him.

yes, yes, yes,

No.

Don’t even ask.

Not ever.

Don’t slam the car door and

lump back to my place.

I’m old enough to be his mother, almost…

Go read a book…

Go inside.

Throw the swag on the heap.

The tidy, organized heap.

Just boughten, already forgotten.

Ali Baba could live here…

Walk the dog,

feed the fish,

tend the plants,

pet the cat.

Paddle my feet in the digital stream.

“Nice contrast, and the light is so warm.”

“You’re so lucky to see with your eyes.”

“That’s so funny!”

The cats with cute captions.

The demands for responsible action.

“You can make a difference!”

* * *

The clocks are ticking.

Little Nazi insects – step, step.

Step,step.

Press slightly damp whorls and loops

Against the hollow in my throat and wrist.

My pulse is keeping step with one of

the insects.

I can feel it through my no-two-alike fingerprints.

Heartbeat.

Strong.

Steady.

The illusion of health.

The pendulum clock strikes one

and six

and one.

It’ll be light soon.

Don’t think about the dead rats.

Buried three feet from where my head lies now.

Murdered.

Buried.

Portraits fashioned of their little, broken bodies.

Prayers said for them.

Might as well get up.

Go check the traps.

If I’m lucky they will be empty.

If I’m lucky,

I will have failed.

Angry Woman

Water Bearer

Susan's Cat

Dream City

I Love PhotoShop

Musical Toy

Red Mustang

Cattitude

Changes