Don't fawn over them . . . .

I spotted some new additions to our backyard preserve.

Mother . . . .

 . . . . with child.

They were actually pretty tolerent of me and my nosiness, but they finally departed. The fawns looked very small, and at first I thought they were dogs. Now, if we can just keep them out of the garden.

Quote for the Day (Literary Icon Division)

(I hadn't posted for a while, so here's something to mull over.)

All men should strive to learn before they die, what they are running from, and to and why. - Humorist, James Thurber

State sanctioned torture and murder

The story (via ABC News) is disturbingly familiar:

An inmate's execution with lethal drugs in Arizona today took almost two hours as the man gasped and snorted, prompting his lawyers to request an emergency halt to the procedure.

"The execution of Joseph Wood commenced at 1:57 p.m. at the Arizona State Prison Complex (ASPC)-Florence and he was pronounced dead at 3:49 p.m.," Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said in a statement.

Wood's attorneys filed a motion for emergency stay of the execution after Wood was reported “gasping and snorting for more than an hour,” according to court documents they filed. Justice Anthony Kennedy denied the appeal about a half hour after Wood's death, the Associated Press reported. An AP reporter who witnessed the execution saw Wood gasp more than 600 times before he died. 

But Stephanie Grisham, the press secretary for state's AG, said the claims being made by the media witnesses and defense attorneys are not accurate. "He went to sleep, and looked to be snoring. This was my first execution and I was surprised by how peaceful it was. There was absolutely no snorting or gasping for air." 

"The experiment using midazolam combined with hydromorphone to carry out an execution failed today in Arizona. It took Joseph Wood two hours to die, and he gasped and struggled to breath for about an hour and forty minutes," said Dale Baich, one of Joseph Wood’s attorneys.

Is this what we have become? Regardless of the nature of the man's crime, which was brutal, does anyone deserve to die like this? More importantly, are we willing to torture a person to death under the guise of "justice"? This is part of the insanity that seems to infect our country---that there are those who may be treated as shabbily as we can manage, while we claim a moral high ground. This is horrible, and no amount of rationalization can change that. Capital punishment must stop!

Quote for the Day (Hello Dali Division)

"Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it."

Painter, Salvador Dali

Change of seasons

After a bout of much needed rain, we are getting an early preview of Spring here in Northern California. There is change and growth all around us, and a sunny day like today yields an opportunity to see what's going on in nature's theater.

There is something so poetic about a rose growing through the deer fence around our garden---is it escape, or merely the symbol of a blossom doomed to become deer food?

The transition between the Winter and Spring is time for a burn pile to dispose of debris from previous years.

The wood stack is showing the diminishment of a Winter's need for wood stove warmth.

A neighbor's offer of free wood in return for removing the results of a felled tree awaits the wood splitter.

Quote for the Day (Inspirational Poetry Division)

The best way out is always through. 

Robert Frost

Shane Koyczan and Hannah Epperson - Remember How We Forgot

Remember . . . . Wow . . . . .

Quote for the Day (Playful Division)

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." ~ George Bernard Shaw

This is water. . . .

I don't know about you, but I needed this today:

Yes, this is true:

(via Mark Morford)

Your terrifying word of the day is "microtasking" and it comes by way of a relatively humble, ostensibly helpful article I read via one of those perky little DIY blogs that exist to tell you a million ways to tweak and hack your entire existence to gain maximum productivity, efficiency and improved overall time management, because, well, if that's not the true meaning of this manic American life, what is?The advice was horrifyingly simple: When you find yourself pausing in between normal projects and work tasks for anything more than, say, 30 seconds, why not take those tiny moments and, well, do more things? I mean, you're just sort of sitting there, right? 

What sort of things? Fast things, little things, otherwise inconsequential things you don't care about otherwise, like clearing your junk mail, refilling the stapler, changing your voicemail message, retweeting someone's Twitter blip or giving a momentary damn about something you need not give a damn about otherwise but hey, what else are you gonna do, breathe? Feel? Merely... exist? What are you, a hippie?

This is so right on. We have become a nation that seems to abhor leisure or even relaxation, where people have to be able to go online wherever they go and work on their time off at every moment.

Ain't it a shame? Don't ideas like microtasking speak directly to the toxic, Puritanical American work ethic that tells us if you're not spending pretty much every waking moment in some manner of chore, well, your value as a human is more than a little bit diminished? Is it not the idea that a given month, week, day or hour is nothing more than a giant, blank To Do list in need of a some items?

Yes, we're Americans. We are, by and large, utterly terrified of silence, stillness, spaciousness, the doing of nothing so as to feel the totality of everything. Meditation, for most, is disquieting and strange. Deep quiet feels weird and dangerous, a void aching to be filled. The Internet has us convinced that the world is a roaring fire hose of urgent information, and if you can't swallow it all, well, something must be wrong with you.

Warren Zevon sang "I'll sleep when I'm dead" many years ago, but I'll relax when I'm dead seems to be the new philosophy of our culture.

And which is more important? Microtasking or macromeaning?

Quote for the Day (Gonzo Division)

Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously. ― Hunter S. Thompson

Quote for the Day (Recently Deceased Visionary Division)

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. ... Stay hungry. Stay foolish." - Steve Jobs, Stanford University commencement address, June 2005.


Created on a Mac. R.I.P., Steve.

16 years is a long time without a drink (or drug) for a drunk

Sixteen years ago today I committed myself to living a clean and sober life, and I have to say it has been a time full of ups and downs, but I don't regret a moment of it. I have learned and continue to learn that this life is a "dark ride" as John Larroquette might say, but it is also full of incredible light and joy. Sixteen years ago I had no idea where I would be today, BUT, here I am.

I have immense gratitude that I have been able to make it this far. And I have immense faith that the future holds more blessings and wonder ahead. I give thanks to all the people who have been there along the way to offer help or just a friendly ear, and I hope that if you are in need, I can be there for you.

The gift I have is so precious, and yet I must give it away if I wish to keep it. Ain't that amazing?

Here's a little song from the late great SRV that is relevant, to say the least:

The choice:

 Okay, so here's the choice. Which of these would you rather have in this country? This:

Or this:

And if you have to think longer than a heartbeat, you probably need to search your own heart a little harder. If you can find it.

Out with the old, in with the new:

Okay, one more chance to post in 2010, so here it is:

I gotta say this year on balance sucked, both personally and in general. I am willing to admit that acceptance is the key to being satisfied in this life, but it felt like the more I would accept, the more that was doled out. But it wasn't ALL bad.

DADT got shit canned (about time!), and some other morsels were thrown to the masses. But we seem to have a President who spends more time negotiating with the pols who hate him than listening to the ones who supported him. I mean, I'm all for compromise when it is necessary, but aren't there SOME principles that shouldn't be bargained away?

I lost a job after being employed almost two years (after being unemployed for two years.) Then, almost immediately, I found another job in the midst of some of the highest unemployment this country has seen in a long time. So yes, I am grateful.

Banks and the people who own them seem to be in charge of the country now, though think that probably wasn't what the Founders had in mind when they started this Republic (just the opposite, actually.)

I hope to see some more positive stuff happening this year. Hell, I'd like to be prosperous enough to tell my credit card companies to go fuck themselves, too. We'll see.

Anyway, Happy New Year. Let's stay optomistic until we learn otherwise, eh?

Springing forth

I certainly enjoy the fruits (and flowers) of my wife's labors as Spring is rearing its lovely head in our neck of the woods. The myriad colors and beautiful shapes are so vivid as the season comes into full bloom . . . literally! It's enough to make a fella grab his camera and snap some shots:

It is a wonderful time of the year, and the closer you look, the more amazing it is!

Is this really Spring, or did we slip right into next winter?

There has been an incredible amount of rain here lately, which is very out of character for a Northern California coastal Spring. This is, I understand, a function of the El Niño effect, which is causing more precipitation across the country. After so much moisture, I was able to take advantage of a let up, and here are some of the things I saw:

The calla lilies drink up the rainy offerings.

This rhodie is getting ready to burst forth in bloom.

There is quite a symbiotic relationship between the lilies and the spiders.

This chipmunk checks out the bird seed soaking atop a stump.

The cycle of life is really awe inspiring, and I am humbled to be able to document some of its manifestations here.

The first day of Spring, 2010

So, no matter what happens with healthcare or the political craziness in this country, some things still march on (pun intended!), such as Spring. And, on this first day thereof, I got out my camera and documented this day of new beginnings:

Okay, a wee bit of drama there at the end, but it's all a part of the cycle of life. Enjoy this new start, wherever you may be.

Leggo my ego!

For the nearly two years I was out of work, I thought that I'd been given this chance to begin living the dream I've had for most of my life. I have been going to voice over school, gotten an agent, and begun auditioning like mad. Surely, this is a gift from the Universe to clear the decks for my big break, right?

Well, now that I've returned to work to keep my head above water (no mean feat in these days of unemployment, downsizing, and dozens of applicants for each job), I'm reassessing my thoughts a bit. Oh, I'm grateful to have work, and at a good job with nice people. But that niggling little ego voice at the back of my head wants to jump up and down and scream "You'll never make it! I knew it wasn't going to happen!"

Well, shucks and pshaw! I'm not going to stop heading down the path of realized dreams, nor am I getting off at the exit of lowered expectations. But, I'm having to dredge a little deeper in the energy pool to work and make the dream happen. And that dream is going to come.

And my ego can just kiss my ass.

Where are the posts?

Yes, my infrequent posts are a symptom of aligning myself with my new status as a working stiff. It was so long I had no employment that the chunk of time I now devote to a job is almost unbelievably different. I have worked much more during my life than I have been out of work, but it was very easy to grow accustomed to having most of my time to myself.

Anyway, posts will still be coming. I'm trying to figure out a way to change the format a bit and get a little more personal (now that's scary!!!) We'll see where this all winds up.