27/02/2015

Whatever alternate universe you travel, be well Mr. Spock


Back in the acid days, I held out hope that Mr. Spock

Photo source: Emmy TV Legends

 would beam me up so I could apprentice with him.
Who knows? Perhaps he will yet. 


25/02/2015

Remember Sunder?

If you love happy endings, you're going to love this one.



If you were one of the thousands of people who signed the petitions and/or donated to Sunder's legal expenses.... thank you, thank you. He is now free and lives in India's first ever free-roaming, forested, elephant sanctuary established by PETA India, Bannerghata Biological Park. Petitions work. Keep caring. Keep signing!


23/02/2015

Me and Dali

They say the camera doesn't lie....
but does it?

MOCA (Museum of Modern Art), Bangkok

19/02/2015

Happy dark of the moon and Lunar New Year, 2015

Dark of the moon & Lunar New Year

I really like the Google sky map app. I use others as well but, for a quick look at the heavens, sky map works just fine. This image is from last night about 6:30, but what the hell? As you can see, the sun, moon and Neptune are conjunct in Aquarius and have just disappeared below the Western horizon. Happy dreamy New Age Lunar New Year!

12/02/2015

Archive update

I just added a poem to my poetry archive, AnnaSadhorse. It's one I wrote in 2004 and published here at Language Barrier on August 30, 2005, the day after hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. Anyway, I just got around to adding it to AnnaSadhorse. The imagery is violent, but necessarily so, as it describes a time when light must find us because we cannot find it. It's called Spirit Barrier.

10/02/2015

Sometimes life's a bitch

Friday's wild storm had gusts up to 90 miles an hour and, between the valley and Lake Tahoe, left 21,000 people without power, some until Sunday. And that night, after the wind knocked down sections of the fence between our houses, it also brought Roxie crying to our door. She's my neighbor's so-called "outside" dog. I realize she's a hardy mix but he left after the storm began and left her out in it, as usual. Don't get me started on "outside" dogs. I will never agree with people who think dogs should live outside, whatever the weather. Fine. Wolves do it but they live in packs and have dens. Dogs are domesticated creatures who also need a pack and a den. Anyone sitting warm and cozy in their fat while their dog huddles alone outside in the rain and cold is an asshole. So, even though her paws were caked with mud, we let her in.

Uninvited guest and the magpies are pissed

And about 2 am we let her back back out again. We had to. She was pacing and whining and beginning to howl. Her "owner" barely interacts with her, so she's basically feral. She doesn't even wag. We felt bad but didn't lose any sleep over it. It's just the way it had to be.

Morning guest. Roxie at the door

Five sections of fence are down and Roxie is still wandering around the three yards that are now open to each other. Fine by me but the birds don't like it. Yesterday morning, she ate most of their kibble and was back at the sliding door begging to come in, even throwing herself at the glass, I handed her some dog treats through the door then closed it again. Sometimes, life's a bitch.

08/02/2015

Day in the life of Flat Eric

It's Sunday, my least favorite day of the week. At least it's not as bad as Swami's cousin, Flat Eric. Poor fellow.


04/02/2015

Wednesday 12:10 update

Nobody's at the Bird Park at the moment. A hawk scared everybody off so it's just an empty gray day here in Nevada, this after Tuesday's lovely, though unseasonable, spring day. I was immediately out in the yard preparing a new flower bed. After my neighbor Dwayne and his wife were rousted out of their house last year by their son Tom, there have been a lot of changes next door and, in my opinion, some for the better. For one thing, Tom cut down the poorly aspens along the property line and pulled out the rangy juniper that hogged all the morning light leaving me with a new, thin strip of space to plant. I feel rich. It not only gets morning light but all day light.


Invisible Theatre conference
Yellow Swami is back after a grueling year
in Cambodia and here at Invisible Theater
we couldn't be happier.

Don't get me wrong, we all miss Dwayne. He was a great guy,  a true bon vivant. The first year we moved here he was trying out sobriety. It was his finest hour. After he went back to drinking we watched his light slowly go out. There were still a few good years when he and Clarence the cat continued to hold their garage court. When the door was up, we'd stroll over. Clarence would meow a cheery hello and Dwayne held forth. It was always fun to visit them. When he went back to drinking the bitterness set in like a final night, then came the cancer, then the horrible years of chemo and booze before his son Tom finally forced the two of them out of the house and into senior care, where they belonged. It got tricky. When Tom mentioned moving, Dwayne threatened to shoot him. They had always had a horrible relationship. That's when Tom came over and asked me to help distract his dad while he removed all the weapons from the house, which I did. When Dwayne saw his guns go out the door, he turned to me like a growling wolf and said, "Traitor. Get out of my house". Those are the last words he ever spoke to me. Within the year he was dead.


Chiang Mai at night
Andre Govia, one of my favorite photographers
"liked" this on my flickr account so I am stoked.


The birds just returned to the Bird Park so I guess the coast is clear. Maggie Magpie is out there too. She and her mate basically hang around all day. The rest of the tiding leave right after gobbling breakfast. And to our delight, the quail, finch, sparrows, a few mourning doves, some blackbirds and even a few crows (probably Minerva and friends) showed up about a day after we returned. I suspect that at least the quail stayed even after we left in October. Seems Suki, Dwayne's cat after Clarence died, disappeared sometime in the fall. I like to think some kindly person, sick of seeing her huddling all winter in the cold and snow, gave her a home. Other than Tom, those of us in Suki's little support group, miss her but the upshot is that the Bird Park has returned to sanctuary status. Other than the occasional passing hawk but, of course, they don't stay long.


02/02/2015

Home again!

back in the valley
We got back to Nevada this afternoon, we meaning yellow Swami, coral Swami, Andy, Minerva, M. Lee and I. We're all back. It's been five months. Everyone here at the Invisible Theatre is ecstatic that Swami is home! Who would have guessed he'd be returning with us? He's a little battered and rumpled. The way he says, "Cambodia! Woo!" gives me the shivers. Who wouldn't be a little rumpled after that? But still, wonders really do never cease.