Fellowship results

The Nevada Arts Council met today to select the winners for this year's fellowship grants. I didn't even make it past the first cut. Oh well. My poems are rather...mmmm....odd, not tidy little narratives that are so popular these days. Four other poets from the Ash Canyon were there as well so it was fun in spite of the fact that I got the lowest score in the bunch. I did draw about 150 birds though. You may be seeing some of them here from time to time. They are friends of mine from Birdland...of course.
Ps. Happy Birthday Mark! :-)

The American Taliban

Ever wonder what the evangelicals are really up to? They are the Christian equivalent of the Muslim fundamentalists, complete with their own Jihad. Don't believe it? Read what these leaders of the Christian right have to say.

LA in spring

Here's a few more photos from our recent trip to Los Angeles. The baby bird and mother were a block off of La Cienega Blvd, a horribly busy street in LA. The rest of the photos come from either the Getty Museum, Venice beach, Santa Monica beach or near LAX.

Los Angeles...worlds within worlds

I should be tired. I am tired but I can't sleep so here's a few pics from my trip to Los Angeles. We got back this afternoon. Yes, the signature is from a photograph of van Gogh's original Irises. We saw it at the Getty. Fabulous museum. It's free. Go there. I'll post more pics later. Hope you like them.

Lift off; Minerva, Hank and other old friends

Lift off, with the goods.

We're going to Los Angeles for a few days. I should be trying to sleep. We're leaving early. I always seem to do this, stay up late before a trip and have a lot of trouble getting up in the morning. Whywhy? Oh well. No deep thoughts after 9 pm. I left Delicata and Nugget slices of avocado, orange and banana plus the usual dry food and Minerva has a new block of suet. I think she may be a raven rather than a crow. She travels alone which is typical of ravens not crows. Mr. Lee mentioned it the other day and I was only too happy to agree. I like the idea. Ravens are cool and then I get to say, "she travels alone, not in a ......... murrrrrrrrrrrrderrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" (of crows). The legend of crows murdering one another isn't even true, as the FAQ points out, but it makes a good story therefore persists. And I am always up for a bit of drama. Minerva, on the other hand, is more into stuffing her beak, although she did fight off a couple of intruder crows the other day.


A few personal deities and friends of mine.


Hank is not in this happy group shot. He's taken to sitting on the top of my monitor, smoking cigars and talking tough. Ducks are like that, especially black ducks.

Feast

Delicata loves sweet oranges.

Heaven on earth
I gave the cockroaches a slice of a sweet, juicy orange the other day. It was a treat after I cleaned their terrarium. Nugget couldn't have cared less. She shot straight back into the dark safe hut. Delicata, on the other hand, loves sweet oranges. If it's not sweet, forget it. She stayed out and feasted, in spite of the fact that it was her first day out in a long time. The two of them have been laying low in the hot hut and we've hardly seen them all winter. I guess this is a sure sign it's spring. Well, and the fact that Delicata really loves oranges.

I liked the photo even though it was blurry so I slapped a couple of filters on it. The glow in the orange reflects the way Delicata feels about oranges, as does the way she is straddling it. All in all, it "captures the mood"... ecstasy. Ever think a cockroach could feel such happiness?