Kittens in a Bowl Delight Us

Bad things happen when you're not paying attention.

Two to Six Thousand!!

That's a party.

It's You I Still Hear

These Farewells A Mirror

1964

I Wouldn't Want to Exist Even if You Paid Me

How much do you have?

This is So Very Flattering

I don't think I've ever been tagged. It really is an honor for which I am deeply grateful, even moved to tears.

Six Random Things About Me:

1. I like those cornnut things. I could eat them by the bushel.
2. If I had naked pictures of bass players, I would post them online. That seems obvious.
3. X7.5 did glorious battle today but lost her cheese. The seagull had more experience in landing on heads to steal cheese than she had in shooting seagulls at close range.
4. If you make those hightops in my size, please drop me a line.
5. I did not shoot Tony Soprano.
6. I think Noodle from the Gorillaz is super-cute. I have her autograph.

June 24

We're so sorry.

Moving Along...

This is an Outrage

How could they?

Places Your Mind Shouldn't Even Go

Although I dreamed it on June 19, 2008, I ran into your sister a couple of times in lush springtime settings. She kept telling me that it was the anniversary of her brother's death. I tried to remember if there were other brothers besides the two of you, who are both still living (I hope.) I thought about calling you to see if something really did happen to your brother, but I couldn't figure out the numbers on my phone because I was dreaming, and then I realized that it is your sister who's gone, and I looked all over for her so that I could break the news. I lingered on the parallels between our families and worried for a while that I might be her and therefore not alive either. I finally found her in a place I've been recently, Allerton Mansion's Oak Room, although it was now attached to a busy street. She looked very young and happy and asked me if we should have a drink. I don't know if I ever told her she's gone because in my confusion I had to wake up.

It's Pretty

TS Eliot - Burnt Norton

I

Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.
What might have been is an abstraction
Remaining a perpetual possibility
Only in a world of speculation.
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden. My words echo
Thus, in your mind.
But to what purpose
Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves
I do not know.
Other echoes
Inhabit the garden. Shall we follow?
Quick, said the bird, find them, find them,
Round the corner. Through the first gate,
Into our first world, shall we follow
The deception of the thrush? Into our first world.
There they were, dignified, invisible,
Moving without pressure, over the dead leaves,
In the autumn heat, through the vibrant air,
And the bird called, in response to
The unheard music hidden in the shrubbery,
And the unseen eyebeam crossed, for the roses
Had the look of flowers that are looked at.
There they were as our guests, accepted and accepting.
So we moved, and they, in a formal pattern,
Along the empty alley, into the box circle,
To look down into the drained pool.
Dry the pool, dry concrete, brown edged,
And the pool was filled with water out of sunlight,
And the lotos rose, quietly, quietly,
The surface glittered out of heart of light,
And they were behind us, reflected in the pool.
Then a cloud passed, and the pool was empty.
Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children,
Hidden excitedly, containing laughter.
Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind
Cannot bear very much reality.
Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.

A list

Glory, Donnie, Deb, Dante, Dave, Linda.
May they all rest sweetly wherever they are.

Thanks, Norway

And thanks to former US president Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change too.

I Could Watch That Over and Over and Over

For Lisa

From "The RuneCards," Rune 1, Mannaz, The Self:

Sun and moon
and your own heart
speak always of that which abides.
In solitude and stillness
know that the journey
begins and ends
with the Self.

(Thank you for all the days from 6/4/66 to 9/18/07.)

For Alex

"A bigger leap came in an experiment about numbers, in which the parrot was shown groups of two, three and six objects. The objects within each set were colored identically, and Alex was asked, 'What color three?'

“'Five,' he replied perversely (he was having a bad attitude day), repeating the answer until the experimenter finally asked, 'O.K., Alex, tell me, 'What color five?’ '

“'None,' the parrot said."

(Alex made sure Irene would be in on September 6, 2007.)

Edna St. Vincent Millay Says

"The world stands out on either side
No wider than the heart is wide;
Above the world is stretched the sky,
No higher than the soul is high.
The heart can push the sea and land
Further apart on either hand;
The soul can split the sky in two,
And let the face of God shine through.
But East and West will pinch the heart
That cannot keep them pushed apart,
and he whose soul is flat - the sky
Will cave in on him by and by."
(Renaissance)

Do You Think Unicorns are Pretty?

Frankly I don't know what all the fuss is about. They attract pesky children, require constant brushing and bathing and lots of dental work, and seem quite stupid on the whole.

What do Many Popes, Kings, Clocks, Dates, and Tables of Contents Have in Common?

Also, one method that works for many but not all of the numbers is to determine the smallest # of U.S. coins that would give a certain number of cents change. Like 15 cents is a dime and a nickel, so 2 coins. 8 cents is a nickel and 3 pennies, so 4 coins. 20 cents is 2 dimes. 6 cents is a nickel and a penny, so 2 coins. 50 cents is one coin. So you get the following, just like in the horse-hoof code:

6 -> 2
8 -> 4
15 -> 2
20 -> 2
50 -> 1

Does the Horse Speak Anything But English?

The horse is really smart and really old (perhaps many centuries old) and came from Europe. It probably can understand any European language. So if you say fifteen in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, or Greek, it will tap its hoof 2 times in response. It has been doing the hoof-tapping trick most of its life as far as anyone can tell.

Lovely Weather

I just got the news! That's a great relief.

Me Too

Also grateful to be considered human, if only by blogger.

Relieved that I'm not a Bot!!

Just feeling lucky today that Blogger believes I am human. Whew!

They Commence

X/6.5 and units of similar size and function, in just a few hours, will replace the old crop of first graders and will themselves be replaced by those who intend to come of age sometime after September 1. This is a moment to rejoice! To hug! To clean out the cubbies! To fear the allure of summer's luxury!

It's Time for Cute

Who Scares You More - The Mothman or Tom Cruise?

Remember back in the old days when contributors to this blog used to argue about whether Mel Gibson was human or somehow connected to the Mothman? And then everyone started getting weird phone calls where a guy would whistle and then croak about how we should shut up already about the Mothman before something really bad happened to us? Well, we think it did happen. We are suspicious that Wacky Tom is really Mothy coming around to punish for blowing his cover. Look at them side by side and think - could it be?

Rumours

They say Old Blogger is dead and Long Live New Blogger and such things. Where have we heard THAT before? I spotted Old Blogger dashing from boulder to sand dune just the other day. Tune in, turn on, baby!

Happy Birthday to the Raven!

She's been gone since the first day of spring 2006, but we still celebrate her birthday around here. She'd have been 15. "AWK," said the Raven, "I'm flying too close to the sun!"

Profound Apology

I know I have let my many faithful readers down by failing to post for such a darn long time. I also believe that you will COMPLETELY understand once I confess my whereabouts and goings-on.

Being a creature of the wild, I rarely catch the latest hip television programs, and even when all my friends are glued to the SciFi channel, I am not curious. It all changed one night while I was studying blogs which might one day settle the burning question of whether humans exist, are an elaborate hoax, or perhaps result from a mass hallucination. A comment in Sadly, No! revealed shocking details from the third season finale of Battlestar Galactica, so I've been holed up since then watching every episode in order to make sense of the spoiler and return to normalcy. One and a half episodes left, and I'll be free again. Wow, do I need a bath!

Anthropomorphism Revised

At a modestly attended conference in her bottom bunk, x.6 presented the startling results of her ongoing research into homo sapiens development. Noting that all adults have unique smells, she described a particular, but apparently common, matrilineal pattern: a 94 year old female was identified as smelling of hot cereal and strawberry, her female descendant of hot cereal and CHERRY, and the next generation female of ROSES and cherry. Interestingly, the associated but unrelated males smelled like boiled eggs and dead animals. We encourage x.6 to continue this important work as it promises to advance our own defense systems.

Happy Friday

You Are a Soy Latte

At your best, you are: free spirited, down to earth, and relaxed At your worst, you are: dogmatic and picky You drink coffee when: you need a pick me up, and green tea isn't cutting it Your caffeine addiction level: medium

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Well Look at This. I Survived the Switch!

Somehow I made it through to the New Blogger! Hard to imagine. And I haven't yet decided how to use this new lease on life but am open to suggestions.

Boo

You Are Creepy

Serial killers would run away from you in a flash.

How Scary Are You?

A Tribute to Me

I may not be around for much longer, due to inevitable changes at blogger. It's been a blast, my friends, but the party calls. And I never don't take a call.

Oh yeah! A brush with greatness:

Thanks, Whoever You Are!

From a letter posted at blackpeopleloveus.com:

"Hey, I really like your site. Along with many other themes, I particularly enjoyed the way you show that people can still be "racist" although they believe themselves not to be. In a case such as this, I put racist in quotation marks because it is not a conscious feeling of hate or ill-will but rather a subconscious set of stereotypes that are ingrained by societal norms.

"Anyway, in response to a previous letter...I don't believe the "race" or color of the people who created this site has any particular implications or significance. This, of course, is just an opinion and should be taken as such. I don't really understand how people define race or why. I am Korean, but was adopted at the age of five months and raised in a 95% white suburb of Philadelphia. Culturally, I'm "white" I suppose. I would call myself American. However, many strangers will look at me and think "Asian". Yes, physically I have the characteristics of an Asian. However, the term Asian describes only my looks. It has nothing to do with my traditions, culture, thoughts, or beliefs.

"Back to the 'implications' of the race of the creators of this site...I know that everyone has their own definition of race. Personally, I don't have one because I don't really know an accurate and fair way to categorize people while not judging them. "Race" is what you make of it. Whatever perceived implications are found by looking at the color of the people that created this site lies within your mind. These thoughts are there, most likely, because you fear or assume that other people have the same assumptions. (i.e. some sort of race dominance because white people created the site?)

"Stereotypes gain their strength from the number of people who are aware of them. By raising awareness of stereotypes you plant a seed within the minds of all who become aware. There have been many studies that show the impact of stereotypes upon the targeted group. While individuals may not consciously subscribe to them or even actively fight them, the unconscious effects are devastating. An exemplary study was done testing several black students at two times with tests of equal difficulty. One test asked the race or ethnicity beforehand while the other did not. The students did worse on the tests that asked their race. How many of these students do you think tell themselves that black people are stupid?

"The best way to fight stereotypes is by setting counter examples through your own actions. Until people see enough laundromats run by non-Asians, etc. people will only remember examples of the stereotype. I believe that in the case of stereotypes and "race", awareness is harmful because it is misleading. Culture is what separates us. Cultural awareness is the key. Color reflects nothing but light."

The Lesson (Maya Angelou)

I keep on dying again.
Veins collapse, opening like the
Small fists of sleeping
Children.
Memory of old tombs,
Rotting flesh and worms do
Not convince me against
The challenge. The years
And cold defeat live deep in
Lines along my face.
They dull my eyes, et
I keep on dying,
Because I love to live.

What a Relief!

You Passed Your Driver's Test

Congratulations, you got 7/10 correct. You're a good driver - at least, when you want to be.

Are You a Good Driver?

We See It

We toss it out there, and we admire it.

More Wise Words

"What is the point of my curing your warts if you just go home and kick the cat?" - Leon Berg, Metzoke Dragot, Israel, 2002