The Badlands National Park

After ten hours driving from St. Paul and night sleeping in the Mini Cooper in Wall, South Dakota, E's decision to take a flying leap into the canyons of Badlands National Park becomes completly rational.

Bugstorm

Before the five minutes of rain hit as we crossed South Dakota, an hour long bugstorm crossed our path. It's squeegee time.

Sisu

"Sisu" is the Finnish ideal of...well, read the cup. I've heard it described another way. A bunch of guys go out in the woods and find a bee's nest. They hit the nest with a stick. The last guy to leave the vacinity has "Sisu." Another nearly accurate English translation is the word "stupid."

St. Paul, Finland?

Who would have guessed that a random search for a roadtrip snack in St. Paul, Minn-ee-so-ta, would end in some Finnish comfort food. This place just happened to be down the block from E's Aunt's house.

Then we found another reference to the introvert capital of the world...Sisu Coffee and Tea. And, wow!

Another really goood espresso. Who would have guessed. Thought, I'd be outa luck till I hit Kerner Way.

Sheboygan Brats

After short stops in Chicago and Milwaukee (where I had a Kick *ss double espresso ristretto btw), we made it to Sheboygan, the home of my midwest relatives...don'tcha know?! ; )
We "fried-out" (aka charcoal grilled) a kabillion brats (aka bratwurst) and then took the requisite family portrait. (after being yelled at by the resident squirrel.)

Touchdown Jesus

I'm a geek. Not a jock. So this was the first time I had heard of this football mecca's main attraction...the mural sub titled "Touchdown Jesus." It's painted on the wall of the University Library at Notre Dame, right across from the stadium. How could we pass up a visit when we happened to be down the street visiting friends in South Bend on our road trip out/back to California. Despite the mural's tacky brilliance, I was really much more impressed by the 1st HMCo edition Silmarillion owned by E's friend's husband.

The Boomerang Tour

So...we left Harrisburg on Sunday afternoon. 3:00pm sharp with a jammed packed mini cooper and about ten boxes in the mail. One night on Staten Island visiting a friend, and then then it was a short jaunt up to Conneticut to visit more friends. Wed. morning we visited E's boarding school and then it was back down to New Jersey and dinner with her parents.
It's now Thurs. and we're headed back to Harrisburg...ugh! We have to ship a few boxes we left behind, and maybe get rid of some of the extra stuff we packed in the car. Then it's on to Ohio.
I can't wait to get back to CA.

Sugar and Spice and...Ewwww!

I'm driving home down Imperial from Dietrich's the other day and I get stopped at a light. Like most people I assume, I take the quick tour of surrounding cars and drivers. Looking in the rear view mirror I see this girly girl. Early twenties with the fru fru purple dangling thing hanging from her own rear view mirror. I'm thinking sorority girl or something. I'm about to move on, but then I see somthing that does catch my interest. Her pinky.

It's suddenly interesting because it just made a beeline to her nose. Dig deep sugar and spice. And, now I'm laughing. Ok. I am not the only disgusting human being on the planet. But, wait! It gets better.

That twenty something girly girl pinky finger goes straight from her nose to her mouth. And this wasn't something new, let me tell you. This was common practice. No indecision. No hesitation. Straight from nose to mouth, without passing Go! and collecting her two hundred. Ok, girls. Maybe we should change the old lines from Sugar and Spice and Everything nice, to Salty Boogers! Ewww...Even I, the bachelor's bachelor (ask the munkee or Blue Canopy), was disgusted beyond the norm. Pickin' in private is one thing. Pickin' in public is another. But, EATING!?? No, na, na, na, na, nooooooooooo! Not in public or private beyond the age of I love Barney.

Ewwwww! I don't even know what to say. It's either the funniest or saddest thing I've seen in a long, long time.

Kite Flying II

It's Kite Flying Time

It's the first day of lent...clean week...and it's also kite flying season.

I think the combo is perfect, and I'm not alone.

The greeks traditionaly take their kids out to fly kites on clean monday.

It's one way to connect joy to ascetic effort.

We are looking at the positive, in order to make our repentence about real change in the right direction.

So I found a really easy kite design that takes 1 minute to make, and flies really easily.

I took a picture, but I can't find the wire that connects my camera to my computer.

----------------------------------------------------
Just a random personal factoid:

Just got back last night again from PA. Touching down at LAX completed my 18th take-off and landing since this Christmas. Crazy.

Viscosity Etching

VISCOSITY is a unique method of printing more than one color from a single etching plate. In traditional etching a separate plate is generally used for each color. The viscosity technique is based on the principle that an oily (or greasy) ink will reject a less oily (or viscous) ink. The viscosity plate (usually zinc) has to be bitten with nitric acid to many different levels. The finished plate is first inked in the traditional manner, rubbing the ink into the lower levels and then wiping the surface clean. Then a second color is selected, oil is added, and it is rolled onto the surface of the plate with a hard roller. The third color is rolled on top of this with a very soft roller. The roller, being soft, deposits the ink on the intermediate levels of the plate. The second color, on the surface, should reject most of the third color. Then the plate is printed onto damp rag paper with the tremendous pressure of an etching press. What actually happens is magical! The colors react in all sorts of strange ways and, depending on the oiliness of the inks, the thickness of the rolled ink, the pressure applied to the rollers, and any number of other conditions, each print is a little (or sometimes a lot) different from the others. The term Edition Variable (or E.V.) is often used to describe these prints .

-this article and the picture are both taken from the site of the Artist, Julita Jones, a printmaker who did her grad work at C.S.U.F. (I saw her grad exhibit when I was taking classes there, and the work has stayed with me ever since.)
check out www.julitajones.com

Calder gets a Cold

It was a cold day in Philidelphia...but, seeing a Calder sculpture
on a walk through the city during a snowstorm was really fun.
I love Calder. He's playful, and I the motion is his work
captivates me.
I want one of my own.

Amor tussisque non celantur

If one is into Blue Haiku, one might get the hint that I am engaged, but one might still not know who to. Her name is Elizabeth, and I love her. The wedding is being planned for this July.

Ignorant Bias, Reveal Thyself!

So, I'm sitting at a school assembly the other day. We were in back, because I forgot about the assembly, and didn't get the kids moving until one of my teacher friends called me from the Multi-Purpose Room and reminded me.

We arrived to the sound of music, a very tight brass quintet playing the theme from Pinky and the Brain. Just as they ended the piece, I sat the kiddies down on the floor, and plopped myself in a steel folding chair against the wall.

Overall, it was a great performance. The musicianship was super solid. But, the in between monologues by the musicians, in which they attempted to teach the kids about the details of instruments and music, left something to be desired.

One statement really stuck in my head. It was the french horn player. She was prepping the students and getting ready to describe the origins of the french horn and why there are so many tubes and valves and why it is all curled up into a big mess. So she said something like this:

"So...back in the days before playstation, and tv, and baseball, and refrigerators,....people didn't have all these cool fun things to distract them, so they invented things." At that point, I stopped listening. So basically what she was saying, was that the modern world didn't invent things anymore. And, obviously, that's not true. Everything she described about the modern world was/is and invention. We invent tons of crap!

But, that's just it. She thinks it's crap. Or at least, the implications of her thought process implies that value judgment. Old inventions like musical instruments are valuable, but modern technology is a horrid interference in her idealistic vision of the world. Let's go back to the 17th century!! But, don't forget to leave behind the novicane! And, the modern flushing toilet. And, rescue helicopters.

I used to be a bit of a luddite myself, but as I've gotten older, I've gotten used to the comforts of life. Like fleece jackets. I say, keep the old, but don't reject the new. Don't worry. The playstation you hate today, will be the cool retro record player of tomorrow. Cheers to the modern world!

Be Glad You're Not a Reptile

Heck ya! My dragon rocks! 27 eggs laid in one clatch. Yes...clatch is the word used to talk about bearded dragon eggs that are dropped in one batch. At least, that's the word the lady at Exotic Reptiles used.

She also highly recommended getting a male in the near future. It sounds like a great idea, but 27 little bearded dragons running around sounds a little overwhelming!

I guess I could sell them or give them away. It's just that bearded dragons need the right environment to stay healthy. A big cage and about 100degree temperatures with a gradient down to around 70degrees. It's rather specific. It cost me about $250 big ones for my set-up. so, these little guys are not something I can give to just anybody.

The lady at Exotic Reptiles did say that they sometimes buy the little critters. Plus, they will incubate them for a percentage of the eggs.

It's a cool idea, but not something I am going to rush into too quickly.

I Guess She IS a Girl

I came into my classroom this morning and found a surprise. There were some funny looking white oblong objects in my bearded dragon's cage that weren't there the night before.

I thought they might be dried up grapes or something. But, then it hit me! Eggs. They might be eggs. After all, Thistle Blink is a girl. Well, at least that was what the guy at the reptile shop told me. He might of been wrong. It's kind of hard to tell with lizards, or so I've been told.

So, Google images to the rescue! I typed in "Bearded dragon eggs" and pulled up some pictures that looked just like the ones in my dragon's cage. Verification!

So, yep! She's a girl all right. Now I just need to get a guy dragon. They could make some pretty cute ugly lookin' babies.

Urban Dictionary Definition of "Anablog"

"anablog"

The old fashioned journal you wrote in with crushed tree pulp, binding, and maybe some kind of lock mechanism. For some reason people used to like writing opinions only they read. It is a fad past its prime but Borders still sells them for some reason.
"What is that odd rectangular shaped device you have in your lap that appears to be filled with blue lined 2 dimensional pieces of non-digital substance?"

"Oh this is just my anablog...I write it in to remember things and keep my private thoughts"

"I see, so how do you post it when you're done?"

-Copied and Pasted from UrbanDictionary.com

Going to Graceland, Memphis Tennesee

Elvis. He is the King. The King of Rock and Roll, and the King of Tacky Interior Decorating.

There's his Mansion. A beautiful monument to southern style.

And then there's what he did to the inside.

I actually find it rather endearing. He had so much musical soul and energy. He moved the musical world. And yet his house is so normal. It felt like everything I wanted to forget about the 60's and 70's.
He had the money. Just no taste. Or at least, no good taste. Maybe it was the entire stick of butter he used to fry his bannana and peanut butter sandwiches. Maybe it was his love for his mother. Maybe it was the drugs. Or maybe, it was the bad taste of a generation gone wild. It was definately worth the one visit. Don't think I'll be returning anytime soon, though. The orange shag carpet in my own living room is enough to keep me humble.