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Friday, June 11th, 2004
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8:52 pm - WTF???? how much can I stand?
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11:12 am - HBD!
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| Thursday, June 10th, 2004
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9:42 pm
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| Wednesday, June 9th, 2004
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12:49 pm - Wrath of the Cicadas
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This will probably be my last post on those nasty things, as they ARE waning--THANK GOD! This morning coming from an appointment, I noticed some small oak trees that had been planted on the grounds, and large parts of them had turned BROWN. I'd heard that the cicadas could really devastate young trees, and especially oaks. So when I got home, I decided to look at the majestic 75ft black oak in my backyard, and sure enough large areas have turned BROWN!!!!! I sure hope the damage isn't permanent. We've lost 2 of the three old growth oaks in our back yard...I'd hate to lose the last one.
Ugly nasty vermin!!! the sidewalks are still littered with their filthy carcasses. BLECH!
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| Tuesday, June 8th, 2004
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7:53 pm
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9:39 am - Dogman
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Alas, I've become boring. I need to post more pictures, less words. But first I would have to make the pictures. Since I don't have time, I'll reference this one I took in 2000:
A street performer in Barcelona. (Cut out from surroundings because I was using him in a website)
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| Sunday, June 6th, 2004
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10:36 am - No tears for Bonzo
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PREFACE: ![[info]](http://library.vu.edu.pk/cgi-bin/nph-proxy.cgi/000100A/http/web.archive.org/web/20040612100432im_/http:/=2fstat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) poetbear has a beautiful post of direct quotes from the man who would be mourned by so many who remain so ignorant. Let the TRUTH ring out, thanks Paul.
Christ almighty! as if the news didn't bring something even more disgusting every day... now *The Great Communicator Dies*---Ronald *dumbfuck* Reagan! Don't get me wrong-- I'm not mourning that the nasty old geezer is finally going to his resting place in HELL-- it's the endless NEWS STORIES, and sound bites, and replaying of his assinine speeches--in short, a re-living of 12 yrs (including BushI) of the worst history this nation has known-- PRIOR to the current totalitarian nightmare we have been living the past 4 yrs. under Mad King George II.
Yes, in hindsight the crusty doddering old geezer Reagan looks like Mother Teresa compared to our current dictator.
It's unfortunate that most people 30 years and younger have no idea whatsoever about his Presidency. About his legacy. The effect of 8 years of Reaganomics on America. When you're a child, you have nothing to compare the present against. The now exists completely out of context.
I was 28 yrs old when Reagan was swept into office by a country that had been force fed a daily diet of pictures of the American hostages held in Iran. People with blindfolds over their faces. False statements made under duress. It was probably almost as upsetting as the Abu Ghraib prison photos are now. These were Americans being held. Being threatened.
And Jimmy Carter (who had earlier successfully conducted the ground breaking Peace Accords between Israel and Egypt) seemed powerless to bring the hostage situation to a successful ending. It went on and on.
Little did anyone know, that behind the scenes covert operatives of the Reagan Republican machine were making weapons deals with the Iranians in exchange for the hostage's release.
Well lordy be--- what a coinckydink that the day of Reagan's inauguration, the hostages are all freed! A grateful country weeps tears of thanks to our new head honcho, former host of *Death Valley Days*, a western potboiler on 1950's TV. Many flags are waved and held high-- our nation has regained its DIGNITY. We're AMERICANS, and Reagan made us damn proud of it. (ack ack)
But that was just the first DAY of his Presidency. Over the next 8 years he systematically dismantled every government regulatory commission he could get his hands on--
(The FAA? air travel was incredible before Reagan!, the FCC--commercials were actually LIMITED in number per hour) *Get the Government OFF the backs of the people!!*--sounds like a good idea? less bureacracy? that would save a lot of money wouldn't it? he even gave us a tax cut to show us!! (I believe my tax cut amounted to about $2.--no joking)--in the meantime, mental health facilities (which admittedly had fallen into bad repair) were shut down. People who couldn't function in society but at least had a roof over their head and meals everyday--were flushed out into the streets where they formed a whole new class of Americans-- the homeless. Not since the Great Depression, when unemployed men would camp together in makeshift shelters called *Hoovervilles* (named after Pres. Hoover, also a bloodless Republican) had the nation seen so many homeless, unemployed people. Only now, there was no FDR to create programs to get them on their feet. Now agencies to care for them. Nobody to care at ALL.
Now there was deepening recession in the early 80's and some of the worst unemployment in years. *Trickle down economics* meant that when the wealthy benefited from their tax break gains, those gains would stimulate the economy and *trickle down*, like piss, on the poor. And EVERYONE would be better off. For some reason it took the stupid working class Americans 12 years to figure out that THAT didn't work. That their plight just kept getting worse and worse. They kept re-electing the guy, because gosh darn it Reagan made them FEEL GOOD-- he was an ACTOR (and not a good one either)-- but good enough to read the phoney impassioned speeches and bring a tear to their uneducated eyes. Sniff Sniff-- let's win one for the Gipper.
By gutting the legacy of FDR, a government that was intended to SERVE the people, you would think Reagan could have completely balanced the budget (for the first time since WWII)--wipe out the deficit. But instead-- Reagan left a THREE TRILLION DOLLAR deficit--the largest known in history! Where did all that money go? All the bureacrats who were canned, salaries saved, agencies closed down, where? where?-- oh right-- the military with the $700. toilet seats, and the *Star Wars Defense Initiative*-- building some kind of deflecting sheild in outer space (complete idiocy)---- Oh-- and lets not forget that CLINTON BALANCED that 3 trillion or more deficit before he left office, and left a SURPLUS. Which in 4 short years Bush has already run right back up again to the tune of $500 BILLION.
Today we'll hear his glorious speeches about the WWII veterans who stormed the beaches of Normandy (Reagan served his country as an ACTOR making instructional films!) but you'd think he was right there with his buddies climbing the cliffs. What you won't hear is his touching speech at Bitburg--the cemetery of the highest ranking Nazi SS commandos--where he says it's time to heal all these wounds and realize that the Nazis were just people like us, just all caught up in this crazy thing called war. Oh yes----he was there. Laying the concilliatory wreath of forgiveness on the graves of mass murderers and wagers of genocide.
And then there were the slaughters in El Salvador, that WE backed, and funded, and gave weapons and ammo for. And in the mid-80's a little thing called AIDS came along, and the Republican administration had thought their prayers had been answered!! finally, a biblical plague that would wipe out the filthiest element of society--- GAY MEN. All they had to do was do NOTHING. And that was a big CAN DO!
I could go on writing chapter and verse of the outrageous indignities thinking Americans suffered under the rule of Ronald Reagan--but the worst thing of all--is that he paved the way for conservative power to truly take root in America-- to become mainstream-- to become identified AS BEING AMERICAN...greed, corruption, hatred of your fellow man, spoiling of the planet's resources, and now military force used indiscriminantly around the globe, holier than though Christian superiority--in fact, every nasty dirty thing about our country is now held up high as a Conservative PATRIOTIC ideal.
You can thank Ronald Reagan for George W. Bush being in the White House. Because without him, and his legacy, G. W. would no doubt be running some kind of flim flam scam as a Texas businessman.
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| Wednesday, June 2nd, 2004
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8:43 pm - The big nothing
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I just watched Farewell, My Concubine, the costumes were great, the acting was great, the story had much suffering and too much suicide but that's Chinese Opera for you.
I don't mean to be flip about it, it really was a good film. I guess I'm just feeling kind of --nothing. Whenever I finish some work, I feel the *nothing* after--I hate it. It's like being a junkie.
So what I've got here is a big ball of nothing.
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| Tuesday, June 1st, 2004
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8:20 pm - Satan's Short List finished
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8:17 pm - Cupman finished
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The polyurethane spray did NOT dull the colors or make them bleed into the darker ones. I was very happy about that!
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9:26 am - Imagine the mentality
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Sunday night Ben had a gig at the Recher Theater in Towson. He told me of this ugly incident yesterday.
Before the show, he had been rehearsing backstage. When he finished, he took his horn out to the car to put it away. Two burly staffers of the Recher (guys in their early 20's with buzz cuts) come up to Ben and say--"So that's YOUR car! What a piece of shit! I'd like to rip off every one of those stickers. That is seriously FUCKED up!"---etc etc
FYI the stickers on my car are as follows:
3 small *Bush Lies - Who Dies?*
*War is Not the Answer*
*We can create life without war*
a small Bob Marley sticker
*Got Jiboo?* (Phish)
So these ignoramuses were giving Ben a hard time about it. Then he said they gave him dirty looks the rest of the night.
This just twists my brain into a pretzel. I cannot fathom the kind of stupidity, especially of a young person, who must still (at THIS point) be all rah rah for George Bush and his heinous war. If I'd been there I would have asked why the hell they weren't over there getting killed if they supported it so much? Dick brains. They should be signing up to go instead of shooting off their stupid mouths.
Ignorance is so damned scary. And there's just SO much of it.
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| Monday, May 31st, 2004
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12:58 pm - My Letter to John Kerry
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Mr. Kerry,
I will support you to see Bush defeated. But I'm telling you now, and I think I speak for many Americans, we want our military OUT of IRAQ now. If you do not come out decisively for this action-- if you continue to support extending the troops' stay in a hostile country out of some need to "bring an honorable conclusion" to the war, then I, and many many Americans are going to be sorely disappointed in you. We do not need an *honorable conclusion*--that was what they kept telling us in VietNam. We need to get OUT OF IRAQ now, without one more American casualty. Please have the courage to support the immediate withdrawal of our troops. Send a message to the world that this war was Bush's mistake, and NOT the American People's. Only by doing this, can we begin to feel a little more secure from the impending domestic terrorism that will inevitably be carried out by an angry people that we continue to oppress.
sally mericle
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| Sunday, May 30th, 2004
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4:48 pm - Painted ceramics
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The one on the right is a cup (shape), not that I'd ever use it as such. The satan will have a fanned book on top surrounded by leaping flames (made of glassine paper). Both these pieces are very much influenced by the man who gave the workshop, as he demonstrated what *he does* and I pretty much followed. Being a total beginner, I thought it safer that way. My mother-in-law will no doubt be horrified by their ugliness. Maybe I'll serve nuts out of the one on the right.
(these have not been sealed yet)
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10:40 am - A Slipping Down Life
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I saw A Slipping Down Life last night. And I think this review says it better than I could--besides, my head is cement and I can't think.
Anne Tyler, not set in Baltimore? fuggedaboudit!
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| Saturday, May 29th, 2004
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9:32 pm - Oh yeeeeaaaahhh!
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12:46 pm - A wreck
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The Harvard MBAs are torturing me again. I touched on it here in the mtvd, when I delved into Food Shopping in the 21st Century.
Well, this morning I went to Target, despite feeling I'd been pummeled by a bag of bricks overnight, despite the banging sinus headache, and persistent nausea and just basically feeling worse than dirt.
My mission was to load up on 94tablet boxes of Sudafed, Target's version of Claritin, many boxes of Kleenex, a giant sized bottle of Ultra Tums--and while I was there remembered we needed Bandaids (excuse me *bandages*).
Herein lay the torture for the day. With head pounding, wracked by fits of coughing, a head like cement--I confronted the *bandage* section. Do you know how many varieties there are of *bandages*??? Used to be you just bought a fucking box of bandaids. If you wanted you could get assorted or all one size.
Now there are:
•opaque plastic
•sheer plastic
•clear plastic
•flexible fabric
•waterproof fabric
•ones with antiseptic ointment on them
•ones with antiseptic ointment PLUS pain relief!
as if that weren't enough-- there are SIZE varieties, Assortment Varieties, number of bandages in a box. And none of them were put on the shelf in any kind of systematic order that might help you sort through them. No, I had to look at each box to determine how many, and size (which was printed very tiny at the bottom) and most of the boxes were 3/4" wide! What is THAT for, HANGNAILS??? I just wanted to get the hell out of the store, I was feeling really light headed and sick. Finally, through the grace of God I think, I found a box of 1"wide, fabric ones and grabbed two. (boxes of 20 each) I don't want 20 God damned bandaids!!! I want a box of a hundred so I don't have to come back for a few years! --but of course, the Harvard MBA's would never allow that. The more times they get you in the store, and the more confused they can make you, the more money you end up spending (known proven fact) -- who cares if the public is so pushed to the edge by the stress they're creating that they want to get a machine gun, hunt down every Harvard MBA and blow his head off?
Jeezuz! I can't take the torture.
Current Mood:  sick
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| Friday, May 28th, 2004
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3:37 pm - MTVD update
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More new stuff at the mtvd
He Who Hesitates is Lost
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| Thursday, May 27th, 2004
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6:38 pm - MTVD
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New work at the mtvd
I hate Madonna
and
Mom used to say...
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2:10 pm - Abelard and Heloise
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I set aside Gravity's Rainbow for the time being, and have just finished reading the The Letters of Abelard and Heloise.
Abelard and Heloise were 12th century lovers who corresponded throughout their lives. Their's is a tragic tale. Peter Abelard, a much noted philospher and scholar, at age 36, became enamoured with a bright young pupil, Heloise, age 17. They embarked upon a torrid and scandalous affair. Upon being *found out* by her uncle (upon her pregnancy at age 19), Abelard attempted to legitimize it by marrying her. (Something Heloise ardently opposed!--she cited quotes from St. Jerome, and Paul opposing marriage as being ruinous to couples). She has the baby boy, names him Astrolabe (?) and they turf him at his sister's for the rest of his life.
Subsequently, Abelard takes Heloise to a convent to live as a nun. The uncle, hearing about their continuing trysts within the convent walls, and thinking A. was being less than a proper husband to his niece, he stormed A.'s apartment with a band of thugs one night, and castrated him. That was the end of the torrid love affair. At least for Abelard.
What followed was a long life of separation. Heloise reluctantly becomes a nun, then a Prioress, and finally an Abess of her convent. She never feels truly commited in her heart to the vocation, or to Christ. But she spends a lifetime trying, in an effort to please Abelard.
A. on the other hand, becomes a monk, continues to teach, and philosophize, be somewhat of a radical thinker in the times, and makes enemies (due I'm sure in no small part to his enormous ego!)
Their correspondence is at times desperate from Heloise, confessing her tormenting memories of their shared passion, admitting that she feels like a hypocrit living as a nun commited to Christ when she's only commited to him (A.)--Abelard responds in controlled measure--telling her what he felt for her was only lust, not love, and that his castration saved him from a life of mortal sin, and that they are both better off for it. (nice-- real romantic)...
That's the general gist of the story. I found it not at all the *romantic tale of star crossed lovers* that it's always held up to be. I didn't find it to even be a passionate correspondence. What I found was the passionately rich soul of a woman who spends her life suffering depravations at the hands of a rather callous self-involved man. Really, she pours out her soul to him and he responds with cold calculation. His correspondence is all about HIM. What a pompous ass.
In the intellectual side of the letters (which is the bulk of the correspondence) Heloise clearly outshines Abelard as the superior human. I think he somewhat acknowledges this to her, but she rejects the compliment. (Too little, too late.)
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| Wednesday, May 26th, 2004
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10:36 am - Together
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Last night I watched Together (I believe on the recommendation of eve_l_incarnate) -- it was a beautiful chinese film about a young violin prodigy, his father, and his relationship with his teachers. It's been a long time since I've seen a movie so filled with emotion and love. Thank you *eve*!
( remembering China )
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