Skinless

Emily Dickinson: Truth Trapper

Darge Pénthia, Private Dick

Photo: Darge Pénthia, Private Dick (2006). Origin unknown.

Diverse Aircraft

It’s always always. The present, past and future are one. There is only now; memory and forethought are opposite sides of the imagination.
Photo: Dragonfly. Liberty Corner, New Jersey USA. September 2005.

Bet on Your Fellows, Jack.

Photo: Smog--Denver, Colorado. February, 2007.

month of crying moons

Ha-Ha. After my post on "the," blogmeister asked if winter was getting a little long up here in vacationland. Not at all. As this ditty shows, everything is cool, no screws loose up here--and only three months left till spring!
Photo: Portland, Maine. Feb 2007.

Colors of Guatemala

Photo: Antigua, Guatemala. January 2006.

One Weird Word

Is there a word in our language stranger than the? I don’t mean in its meaning—for all would agree it’s the definite, the genuine article. I mean in its shape, and in the sound its letters cause our brains to generate in our vocal chords. I mean in the way its sound changes depending upon whether it precedes a vowel or not: in front of “asparagus,” it’s thee; yet before "potato," it’s thuh. Look it over closely, as if you were someone who'd never seen it before. I think you'll agree it's one weird word, weirder even than little old "a." And if you still think it's just a perfectly fine old thing, say it out loud 15 times and listen to the the's coming out of your mouth. Next, stare at the the above for 30 seconds and watch its meaning fade. Finally, click on it and read my compelling essay "The The of The." You may never look at the in the same way again.

It Was Love He Was After

Here's a closer look. The illusion of multiple moons was minimized by the photographer's steady hand. Small red disturbance to right of moon is debris from dysfunctional spy satellite shot down by U.S. Navy before its toxic fuel could endanger all mankind. Thanks, guys.

if I could touch you simply

Photo: Pepperrell Cove, Maine. USA. August 2006.

Dental Artifice

Photo: Son, minus 4 teeth, in recovery room. February, 2008.

Say NO to NO

Negativity got you down? Tired of the same old no? Put some YES in your life. All across the nation, it’s the new affirmation. Out with the neg, in with the pos. Click the NO and off you go. Yay.

Triptych: Porkerblob

Photos: Abbondanza Americana. 2006-2007.

Hard Ride for Ghoosh

Photo: Sign in Old Town courthouse, San Diego, CA USA. January, 2008.

Beautiful, Spacious Skies

Photo: Masspike rest stop at dawn. Charlton, MA. USA. April, 2005.

For Valentine's Day: Love Polyp

Photo: Love polyp (pliptis amorosi, magnification 400x) on the heart of a 58-year-old discalced nun. Love polyps are said to grow most prolifically on hearts debilitated by the pangs of unrequited love. Thanks to El Laboratorio de Los Corazónes Tristes, Hospital Fuente de Piedad, Campos, España, (July, 2003) for the use of their X-1-A digital micrographer. Click polyp for big. Be still and you can feel it throbbing.

Dark Design

As I tossed and turned last night, the Washington, DC chapter of the Nattering Nabobs of Nihilism, headed up by the Sleepless Knight himself, Dick "Dick" Cheney, entered my bedroom on little cat's feet without disturbing my trusty watchdog, Gus. They threatened to stay in Iraq for another 100 years unless I put this ad for existential despair and cosmic purposelessness on my blog. Being something of a wuss, I agreed. They left snickering and slapping Cheney on the butt. I assume they all made it back to their holes before the sun came up.
Photo: Skull on beach stones. Seapoint Beach, Maine USA. 2004.

Frog Dinner

Photo: Backtracking on beach. June 2002. Maine USA.

The Story of Stuff

The Story of Stuff shows where all our stuff comes from, where it goes after we throw it away, and how the throw-away economy has screwed us up. A good look at connections between environmental and social issues and the pursuit of sustainability. Requires 20 minutes to watch.
Click image or here to view video.
Photo: Courtesy James Hunt Studios, Rancho Santa Fe, CA USA. January 2008.

Grave Uncertainties

Photo: Philadelphia, PA. August, 2007.

Solly Was Ticked

A poignant photogram depicting the alienation and violence inherent in a rural society that values domestic fowl over good grammar.

Photo: Hangin Hens. Maine, USA. October, 2005.

Goodbye, Willard...

Gee, it was a shame to see old Willard “Mitt” Romney go down yesterday. The consummate pol: a good looking, articulate, filthy rich, liar. Ain’t that America. Wish I had $10 million to drop on a presidential run, or even just 5 mil like poor l'il Hil. Anyway, true American that he is, Mitt’s doing the country a favor. He’s stepping aside so stormin’ Grampa McCain can take the fight to the terrorists. Thanks, Mitt. As your pal Codpiece George showed us, you get those Islamo-fascist bastards to bring it on and then right when they’re really bringin’ it, you spend half a trillion dollars and kill half a million people to almost win. Good strategy. Kay, now, everyone wave g’bye to Mitt. One more blowhard who just couldn’t blow hard enough.

Composition from 4/16/2007: On that date at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, Seung-Hui Cho, a student with diagnosed mental disorders, used a legally purchased 9mm Glock (and other legally purchased firearms), to snuff 33 people, including himself.
Glock photo: copped from some gun website or another. There are thousands.

Triptych: Professorial Paranoia

Photos:
Kissing trees. Maine, USA. July 2004.
Copped TV image, ©"Lost" 2007.
Detail: padlock/hasp on derelict caboose. Unity, Maine, USA, 2007

4 Guys from Teakettle

Photo: Students at Edmund Campion RC School,
Teakettle Village, Cayo District, Belize. April 2004.

Strange Rumblins

Photo: Dead squirrel on a wire. Maine, USA. January, 2008.

Recipe for Chicken Boats

This recipe came to me from a little old lady in North Carolina whose greatest thrill was cooking Chicken Boats at NASCAR tailgating parties. I haven't made no boats yet, mainly because I can't get no Duke's Mayo. She claimed Duke's was the absolutely essential ingredient in the perfect Chicken Boat. Anybody seen Duke's around?

Photo: Notebook page. July, 1994.

Serious Questions

Photo: Painting on the door of a German grandfather clock. June, 2007.
The clock resides in Das Deutsches Museum von Meisterwerken der Naturwissenschaft und Technik in Munich, Germany.

Jellyfish

Photo: Bathroom grafitti Portland, Maine. July 2003

A word from our sponsor

This was supposedly the only paid endorsement the great man ever made. What do you suppose was coursing through his head when he wrote this letter? Probably a gallon and a half of free product. But did he work hard enough to deserve to drink it?
I mean, keeping it iced in the bait box with chunks of ice packed around it. That’s redundant. A guy who won a Pulitzer and a Nobel for literature should know that. And how about ale tasting as good after it’s swallowed as it does going down. What, you got taste buds in your tummy, Papa? This from the guy who said “The best ammunition against lies is the truth.”
Maybe old Ernie had just landed a big one when he wrote this and was tired all the way through. Or maybe he failed to heed his own first commandment: "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."
Photo: Vintage booze ad taped in a store window. Key West, Florida. April, 2007