tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181232872012-01-26T00:22:17.914-06:00"Sometimes a scream is better than a thesis." Ralph Waldo Emersonelliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.comBlogger4721100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-37911714341839678752010-12-03T09:40:00.001-06:002010-12-03T09:40:00.264-06:00

Sometimes I see the most amazing beauty and wisdom in the faces of our greatest gift, Children. Praise Baby Jebus for these gifts which we are about to receive, and pass the steak sauce, hallelujah!

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-22841857440104300252010-12-02T11:02:00.001-06:002010-12-02T11:02:00.463-06:00

To say he was intense would be gross understatement. He was 50 when I was born, and restless and full of what he called "piss and vinegar". He was what I'd call a human dynamo. He worked a ton of different jobs in his life, from house painter to building the Alk-Can Highway during World War 2, to owning a string of small businesses ranging from Surplus Furniture to a giant Supper Club/Ballroom

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-37795038773309078972010-12-01T09:16:00.000-06:002010-12-01T09:16:00.256-06:00

Sometimes if you get close enough to the ground, you see amazing creatures.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-642334209639484422010-11-30T09:09:00.000-06:002010-11-30T09:09:01.008-06:00

Children are the bestest and most perfect creatures on earth, and I am honored to be able to document the stunning elegance they embody.We should all have babies, starting NOW. I'll take mine with the honey chipotle BBQ sauce.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-84039144424333270752010-11-29T16:59:00.005-06:002010-11-29T18:06:59.984-06:00

The motorhome from hell looked nice... And when we left, it was running nice. Yeah. right.Last winter I offered to drive my pal Owen out to DC when he wanted to move there.He's damn sexy and damn smart, two good attributes in a road trip partner.So I decided to to the first road trip with my newly rebuilt motorhome with him, with Kori meeting me for the ride home. A vacation!Owen and I pulled

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-1112531790897765322010-11-20T10:17:00.001-06:002010-11-20T10:17:00.270-06:00

I didn't stop carving heads this year. But I did embrace chainsaws and bigger chunks of wood.Here's three from August. I have another dozen done with salvaged cedar fenceposts I still need to take photos of. And Kori and I set up an etsy store, although it's going to take a while before we get enough mental clarity and sanity and wits to do that.One of these days I fear: my sanity and wits, they

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-82204640661404371672010-11-19T11:28:00.004-06:002010-11-19T12:11:36.543-06:00

We're headed for some seriously ugly shit. Saying this makes one unpopular, or at least makes people who don't or can't think ahead squirm. We have a mostly useless hopey-changey President who is rapidly moving further to the right, regardless of how much the hate mongers and big money manipulators scream he's a socialist.A guy who put the people who inflated the real estate bubble and broke our

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-86580092911012832642010-11-17T21:31:00.004-06:002010-11-17T21:41:50.419-06:00

A year and some change later, it occurs to me that Facebook is amusing but too limited and I stopped posting here. A year that had two bouts of the flu, another incredibly bad ear infection, and a whole bunch of stuff ranging from Croakerfest to The Motorhome Trip From Hell, filled with unwritten observations and a lack of good rants on my part.But I'm back, for now anyway, with more missives

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-4668574891579936842009-11-16T21:59:00.004-06:002009-11-16T22:23:56.229-06:00

Some dreams stick around all day. Some of them make you question reality. You wake up and think, "where did I bury that body?" or "somebody's gonna find them and think I killed them".Your whole day turns into one of those creepy fugue states where you start to question reality, wondering if you're another one of those creepy rural serial killers/grave robbers until about five o'clock in the

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-72368891827390612912009-11-05T06:16:00.000-06:002009-11-04T11:22:40.431-06:00

Got a show coming up at EVP coffee soon. Here's some of what's going up later this week.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-59077587379165744522009-11-04T09:57:00.005-06:002009-11-04T11:16:49.181-06:00

It seems the majority of Maine voters are much like the majority of Wisconsin voters, thick minded homophobes who talk about freedom and how great we are as a country, but can't stand the idea of icky folks like Kori and I having equal rights.To that 52 percent of Maine voters, I say, in the words of Dick Cheney, Go Fuck Yourself. But I'd add, please do it with a shovel handle wrapped in barb

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-55740276323277671712009-11-03T15:49:00.004-06:002009-11-03T16:46:00.668-06:00

This is not a photo of the meat department at Woodman's. I went to the new HyVee grocery store today. I was out to shave some big monkeys at Menard's, the home of obnoxious ads, cheap crappy lumber and odd semi-worthless crap and decided to hang a right into the giant parking lot in front of the new store that used to be K-Mart.It's impressive. But sort of the way a beached whale is the first few

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-43893444416477009702009-11-02T20:17:00.004-06:002009-11-02T20:29:34.810-06:00

Random Thought of the day: The difference between reading apocalyptic fiction when you're fifty two and when you're 32 is that you realize that you've gotten old enough to be one of those geezers who croaks off from some unexpected stroke or heart attack, or you're just too old and physically worn out to do as much work as it would take to survive.But I think I'd want to stick around as long as

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-5165965236533270582009-11-01T10:00:00.000-06:002009-11-01T10:00:00.922-06:00

If I wasn't already grown up, I'd want to be this amazing when I grew up.Ellyn with flower, on her parent's land near Sparta in September.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-67713089392058962752009-10-31T20:45:00.004-05:002009-10-31T21:31:38.213-05:00

Not my actual family. But pretty close.My mother's oldest child somehow got the impression he's an only child. He's a prickly curmudgeon with an undercurrent of contempt and disdain for the rest of us. A 62 year old little boy who drinks, smokes, rides his fancy Harley Davidson around with an aging boomer crowd of contractors and other middle class creeps up in the Fox Valley. There's something

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-57970712587949644692009-10-29T21:37:00.003-05:002009-10-29T22:09:58.970-05:00

There's something about a grey late October day filled with rain and mud that really tweaks my moods. The way the daylight shrinks, that blizzard of leaves and the rustling wind blowing the last skeletons of my garden around, the sound of the tarp covering our nightmare motor home project flapping in the wind, (and I swear, I can hear that pile of shit yearning to start rotting again where I've

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-25755278729477447192009-10-28T16:19:00.003-05:002009-10-28T16:34:38.199-05:00

I got the swine flu. It sucks. It takes three weeks to get over the worst of it, and it leaves you feeling like you ran a marathon for six months while living on canned corn and speed while a fat man sits on your chest and a tiny midget has taken up residence in your skull, used a heat gun to cook your eyes into hard boiled eggs, then plants both feet on the back of your eyes as he shits two

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-90477981477952057132009-07-26T20:34:00.001-05:002009-07-26T20:36:12.889-05:00

Just go watch it. Words fail me.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-83319440626991880072009-07-15T00:18:00.001-05:002009-07-15T10:27:42.368-05:00

Tired of working on the motorhome, I returned to carving heads and did my first head with a torso included.Many people ask me why I like to carve cyclops and pinhead figures.Some surmise it's a deep internal weirdness, others think because my twin sister had multiple birth defects, I am obsessed.Others offer conjecture that that traumatic childhood event with the Jehovah's Witness Circus clown

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-32221744798095508492009-07-14T00:14:00.000-05:002009-07-14T00:14:00.585-05:00

I picked this a week and a half ago, and it was damn tasty.My cabbages are really, really happy this year.My tomatoes are too, although they're coming on slow.My potato towers look great too, I hope they work out. You're supposed to be able to grow 30 to 40 pounds in one three foot round by three foot tall wire tower, and it sure looks like it's working.Might be a record year for hops and grapes

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-25494544032079838232009-07-13T12:12:00.001-05:002009-07-13T12:13:41.303-05:00

A rare baby photo of the young Gollum, before he went on to infamy, shame, wretched despair and death.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-81864485725042721832009-06-25T10:41:00.003-05:002009-06-25T11:03:51.725-05:00

For the first time in a long time, this summer seems boring, hot and sort of empty.Maybe I need a new crop of musician pals, a lot of the old ones are moving on. But it seems like a lot of work and I think it might be time to take a break from it. We ended the MF7 on a high note at least, although I suspect we'd have had a good long run if Michael wasn't being pulled west.Fry and I might work

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-61979218463305796902009-06-22T22:28:00.003-05:002009-06-22T22:32:13.624-05:00

I want to be Fiona when I grow up. Really.I tend to find most TV pretty stupefying. I never loved Raymond, no matter how much they said everybody did, and never found much to connect with with Sienfield, and missed whole decades of pop culture references after I ditched my cable and started wasting huge chunks of my time on the internet or playing sloppy music on my noisy guitar.But I tried out

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-50636705034338389712009-06-18T11:21:00.002-05:002009-06-18T12:19:15.214-05:00

Things are getting weird. Anybody paying attention sees it. There are a lot of people out there in the media blowing smoke up our collective asses, saying the green shoots of a new growth in the old economy are on the way.But record numbers of people are losing their jobs each month, the auto manufacturer's wave of shit has yet to really hit, and California's about to go bankrupt, yet still we

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-4016900411110256942009-06-16T16:28:00.002-05:002009-06-16T16:39:53.063-05:00

We really did tear the roof off and burn it down to the waterline.The club is sort of lame, a former Mexican Restaurant made into a generic lounge, bad acoustics and an indifferent crowd of regulars, but I got 22 of my pals to show up for our last blowout.Mikey hit it hard right out of the first song, his amp and his head cranked up. We didn't slow down until the third set, and even that set,

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-2102863615264407982009-06-16T14:09:00.003-05:002009-06-16T14:39:33.999-05:00

Me n' Sweetie riding the Ferry to Bremerton a few months after we met. Some days I miss Seattle. In that photo I look like a cross between Janis Joplin, Ozzy Osborne and a demented elf. Kori looks like a red haired goddess with a dash of Joni Mitchell thrown in. She walked into a room full of people, sat down behind me and that was all she wrote. Quiet, long red hair, strong and with a low voice

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-90558694514207830022009-06-11T11:30:00.003-05:002009-06-11T11:37:37.088-05:00

Mikey showed me this the other day. He's a sick fucker, in the best sort of way one can be twisted. Watch it, my pretties.And come to our gig this Saturday, or I'll never make you another sandwich again, or fix your piece of crap guitar for free again, as I will tear out my Mr.Nice Girl roots and pour salt and cesium on them and become a full time curmudgeon capitalist money grubbing every body's

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-65969029556894731522009-06-10T16:55:00.002-05:002009-06-10T16:58:40.817-05:00

Not bad for a fifty one year old.Yesterday whilst buying parts for the RV project at Menards, a cute little girl of about eight with her dad looked at me and said, "Daddy, she's strong".I found this amusing, and almost accurate.Speaking of the motorhome, I need to stop muckin' about here and get back to it. 'nuff said for now.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-74798169147496405022009-06-09T13:36:00.000-05:002009-06-09T13:36:00.913-05:00

Some fine tips here on how to be a creep and a jerk.While I don't pretend to be a first rate asshole, I do enjoy someone who is good at it. Until they're better at it than me, anyway.http://www.corrupt.org/blogs/martin_regnenBe prepared to face the consequences. Someone might punch you or you might have to go looking for another job. Always be ready. The life of an asshole is always interesting

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-66824295608775581732009-06-08T12:55:00.003-05:002009-06-08T12:59:39.579-05:00

Too soon our musical freakshow is ending, with our combo's gristly beating musical heart motoring off to San Diego next month. But we have one more gig this Saturday at The Lazy Oaf up on Stoughton Road near East Washington.Michael, Fry, Jonathan and I have had a short but insane and throbbing time, making a four backed musical beast that has left me amazed at what can happen when four people who

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-71237329938661938882009-06-03T05:32:00.000-05:002009-06-03T05:32:01.361-05:00

Pregnant Women are Smug from Erika Lindhome on Vimeo.Somebody else thinks almost the same thing as I do.But babies are wonderful!So is composted manure, though.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-9231612480911569622009-06-01T16:01:00.002-05:002009-06-01T16:03:48.716-05:00

Somehow I don't think this is what Jim Henson thought his muppets would be doing.I like Peaches. She's rude.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-48418312459899961122009-05-31T00:21:00.003-05:002009-05-31T00:26:51.548-05:00

Isn't she a lovely little baby?Finley is her name. I actually like her, she's a hoot. And with eyes that stunning, she's going to go far as an actress. I bet she gets a lot of roles in Science Fiction and space operas like the Star Wars movies or the next Star Trek Movie.By the way, GO SEE THE NEW STAR TREK MOVIE IN THE THEATER.That is all, now needs must I drift into the arms of Morpheous, or

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-16686871835822212362009-05-29T09:26:00.003-05:002009-05-29T09:40:03.190-05:00

My mom's fine, and pretty amazingly tough. She called 911 on Monday morning, pretty much collapsed from passing blood due to a tiny ulcer, went into the hospital in Rhinelander and by Wednesday was home and looking pretty good.They did an endoscopy and found the ulcer, then put her on prilosec and pumped her full of fluids with an IV for a few days. By yesterday morning she was working with me

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-23699985230919083802009-05-26T12:01:00.000-05:002009-05-26T12:01:01.295-05:00

Via Boing Boing:Mary Roach's TED Talk, "10 things you didn't know about orgasm," will have you scratching your, um, head, in amazement as you learn the particulars of pig-wanking, the delicate matter of explaining foreplay to royalty, and the business of measuring the human penis's muzzle-velocity.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-33354731729161129762009-05-25T07:57:00.003-05:002009-05-25T08:06:37.379-05:00

Has made a repeat performance, landing her in the hospital after a long spell of being not a problem. So I'm off to the Rhinelander hospital to check in on her, hopefully to take her home and take care of her for a few days.For being 82 years old, she's in damn good shape, so I hope this one is quick and simple to fix. But she's going to be really bummed out if she doesn't get to go on her tour

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-72066053284867365022009-05-23T21:17:00.000-05:002009-05-23T21:17:00.213-05:00

A Nepalese Sherpa guide has once again broken his own record, scaling Mount Everest for the 19th time, mountaineering officials said Thursday.Apa, who like most Sherpas goes by one name, reached the 29,035-foot (8,850-meter) peak early Thursday, guiding foreign clients and accompanied by several other fellow guides, said Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.Tshering said Apa and

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-40570341697110410402009-05-22T09:46:00.001-05:002009-05-22T09:46:01.624-05:00

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/v-print/story/68456.html Via Digby at Hullabaloo.Speaks volumes about rich folks, doesn't it?Money is a lubricant, a way to keep or get things moving. A paper promise that sooner or later reverts to the value of what it's printed on once enough rich people start pulling the levers of government.Somewhere in the last thirty years the money cult become it's own mega

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-74420683679779151232009-05-21T10:17:00.001-05:002009-05-21T10:17:01.539-05:00

“(Christianity) …the belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree…”

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-79240991014555387592009-05-20T13:47:00.001-05:002009-05-20T13:48:57.487-05:00

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-50600257068591722362009-05-20T10:12:00.000-05:002009-05-20T10:12:01.061-05:00

The lovely and Talented Bess sent me this. Her roommates are going to Vet school.Her roommate's dog seems nervous these days.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-30605184329170364792009-05-19T10:02:00.002-05:002009-05-19T10:06:06.450-05:00

Via RiotClitShave's fine photo page. Her page is in my links. I have no idea who took the photo.Folks, never, ever use a microwave to cook something this large.I prefer a large grill for something this big and tender.Slow roast it, and be sure to remove any flammable objects first, because you don't want to be eating fireproof clothing residue. That would be wrong.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-1034148127861707232009-05-16T07:57:00.002-05:002009-05-16T07:59:48.896-05:00

Quote of the Day:"Whole nations depends on technology. Stop the wheels for two days and you'd have riots. No place is more than two meals from a revolution. Think of Los Angeles or New York with no electricity. Or a longer view, fertilizer plants stop. Or a longer view yet, no new technology for ten years. What happens to our standard of living?... Yet the damned fools won't pay ten minutes'

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-51594891322597014882009-05-16T06:42:00.000-05:002009-05-16T06:42:01.880-05:00

I'm gonna be busy as hell.Lisa offered up her backyard, which was trashed by trucks this spring, so we decided to till it into a garden plot.Then a pal of hers on a mission showed up and tilled the whole damn thing.I'm gonna plant a ton of flowers, a ton of veggies and share the booty with Lisa. And I'm doubling the number of tomatoes. I'm puttin' in fifty five!Gonna make so much salsa and

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-34148504868970346922009-05-15T06:25:00.000-05:002009-05-15T06:25:00.511-05:00

Photo by the amazing Dorthea Lange from the WPA projects of the great depression."I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and cause me to tremble for safety of my country; corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in High Places will follow, and the Money Power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the People,

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-32612889580151722192009-05-14T07:18:00.000-05:002009-05-14T07:18:01.420-05:00

The rebuilding effort just goes deeper and deeper into a complete gutting.We ripped out the seats and carpet, then the cabover sleeping area, now I'm finding myself rebuilding the walls and part of the cieling.One thing I have noticed, it doesn't smell as baaaaad as it was, all smoke and musty 1987 vintage carpet.I'm regluing the panels, some in situ, some like this side piece out in the shop. I

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-54517757081986544342009-05-13T18:15:00.001-05:002009-05-13T18:17:28.906-05:00

This is not made from baby humans. Imagine my disappointment.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-8855602290112478732009-05-13T09:23:00.000-05:002009-05-13T09:23:01.678-05:00

So, I'm 51 years old, and finally, I get to be in a rock video.They say the camera adds five to ten pounds, but I swear I look a lot more glam and skinny here.Must be the lovely Mr. MikeF-7'd camera work.He really busted buttocks to finish and film this one.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-53738388196612033672009-05-12T20:50:00.005-05:002009-05-12T21:07:12.546-05:00

One of the drawbacks of being nearsighted is that when you take your glasses off, things that are very close to your eyes become very, very sharply focused.Like that dentist in the mask with the needle leaning over you. You know, the one who's giving you your fifth or sixth crown.Today I realized how skinny my dentist is, and how many wrinkles are in his neck.He's a handsome dude, though, for a

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-49611966969325447322009-04-21T22:15:00.004-05:002009-04-21T22:35:23.126-05:00

We just got back from the open mic at Brocach downtown. It was packed. Mikey broke two strings, Fry played with his usual subtle weird grace, and I gnarled and twanged the crap out of that hacked cheap Les Paul copy my old band mate Doug left here when he split for the west coast of England.Open mics are weird. They turn me into more of an asshole than I usually am. I get bored and restless and a

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-91743542410954553952009-04-21T18:13:00.004-05:002009-04-21T18:23:49.524-05:00

"A declaration by the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine that Reiki is based on superstition and incompatible with Christian faith could force scores of U.S. congregations of women religious who run Catholic retreat centers to reevaluate programs that teach or use Reiki therapy.[snip]It says that “a Catholic who puts his or her trust in Reiki would be operating in the realm of superstition, the

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-54664346160704909202009-04-19T17:19:00.002-05:002009-04-19T17:24:05.741-05:00

Nassim Taleb suggests ways to make economic life closer to our biological environment: smaller companies, richer ecology, no leverage. The risk takers of the economy should be entrepreneurs, not bankers; Companies shouls be born and die every day, without making the news.Ten principles for a Black Swan-proof world1. What is fragile should break early while it is still small. Nothing should ever

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-31375387790658760122009-04-17T15:48:00.003-05:002009-04-17T15:57:50.911-05:00

My old bandmate, transformed a few years back.We had dinner the other night at Dexter's, a place on the corner of North and Johnson streets you should check out. Their beer selection rocks.He even picked up the tab for Kori and I. And we didn't even get in fight like we used to.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-84981233849472703462009-04-16T20:09:00.002-05:002009-04-16T20:14:24.326-05:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/richu/3196188065/Shot in india by RedEyeRex , via BoingBoing Slouched over, contemplative, naked, funny how much I feel like this folicle free primate sometimes. Today I made another downpayment on the future. I planted lettuce, spinach, chard, marigolds, four kinds of sunflowers, cosmos, nastursuims and mesclun lettuce, whatever the hell that is. One row of the

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-45394019144653817512009-04-13T11:13:00.000-05:002009-04-13T11:14:54.990-05:00

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-54855940654940895242009-04-09T20:00:00.005-05:002009-04-09T20:30:30.725-05:00

There's some big set of changes in the wind, I can feel it coming. Not huge changes like TEOTWAWKI, otherwise known as The End Of The World As We Know It, but this really feels like one of those years where the cosmos decides to rearrange my life.I've had a few like that. 1975, when I went off to college, leaving that tiny little township where I grew up a mile off the road, when I gave up

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-54350817708868314312009-04-09T07:29:00.000-05:002009-04-09T07:29:01.159-05:00

“Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I will understand.”-Confucius

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-68998296827980950362009-04-08T14:36:00.002-05:002009-04-08T14:46:56.954-05:00

Me and sweetie, not long after we met. We're the kind of people this law makes almost equal in Iowa. This is not an abstract concept. It's our lives, and at least some folks in Iowa have the sense to realize us being married is no threat to hetero marriage.And to my brother who claimed that the anti gay marriage amendment wouldn't effect Kori and I when it passed, I have to offer the immortal

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-32499612750219395102009-04-07T20:18:00.009-05:002009-04-07T20:57:23.918-05:00

Grandma's fatgrandpa's drunkprobably got bodiesin his trunkgrandma cheats at soltiaregramps says nothingstares into the airsmoke drifts upthrough his silver grey hairlooking out at thingsthat just aren't theregramps drove his carinto the lakegrandma was home bakin' a cakeskeeter and woodtickpulled gramps outhe didn't say nothing as he drove awayGrandma sits in the kitchenall afternoondrinking

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-7390880943249118262009-04-06T11:14:00.003-05:002009-04-06T11:22:21.676-05:00

Ian's a great writer with whip smart observations. He blogs at Firedoglake and there's a link at the bottom to his own site.He's one of the folks I wish I could write like. He rocks, go read his stuff."Short of the Soviet Union I wonder if there has ever been a population as saturated with propaganda and lies as the American one. Wonder how long it’ll be before such things happen in the US.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-66281937580061877192009-04-04T05:32:00.000-05:002009-04-04T05:32:00.333-05:00

Here's some photos of our midlife crisis chariot.We bought it from a nice guy who chain smoked over on the south west side of Madison for a couple thousand bucks.It's a1987 Toyota based Seabreeze RV. It's only got 60 thousand miles on it, not much for a Toyota, but damn, I pulled at one soft spot and found an ogry of rot.The Bob we bought it from also had imbued it with a giant ashtray atmosphere

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-74853520497292031162009-04-03T05:24:00.000-05:002009-04-03T05:24:01.016-05:00

More trip photos. I found the sheer number of Mary and Jesus items down there in New Mexico rather creepifying. I thought this statue looked like it had gotten locked up by a bunch of anti-Virgin Mary thugs.What a fucked up concept, that Mary was a virgin, and the baby Jesus broke her hymen on the way out. Sooooo Catholic, do the time, but don't get to do the crime, and the only person good

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-58233787215393804462009-04-02T15:42:00.003-05:002009-04-02T15:52:59.357-05:00

Random thought of the day:I wonder what all the mid 20's to mid 30 year olds are going to do when they find out that not only can they not move back into mom's basement when they lose their jobs and house, but that Mom and Dad are fucked out of a pension and 401 K and they're all going to have to all live together in that single wide trailer grandma left behind? The one with the mouse problem and

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-4802354222671468372009-04-02T13:17:00.002-05:002009-04-02T13:23:23.454-05:00

Miller: A lot o' people don't realize what's really going on. They view life as a bunch o' unconnected incidents 'n things. They don't realize that there's this, like, lattice o' coincidence that lays on top o' everything. Give you an example; show you what I mean: suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-11621094565916037732009-03-29T16:40:00.004-05:002009-03-29T16:48:45.684-05:00

"I've tried psychotherapy, TV and beer, but most days I still feel like VanGough's left ear"The HorsefliesToday we brew a belgian abbey ale, a dopplebock, we've made two batches of Atomic Fire Ginger Snaps and cornbread.And I broke another small toe on the amplifier that got left out in the sunroom. It's turning a lovely shade of purple and swelling up like Brittany Spear's boobs did a few years

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-23331292378890474152009-03-27T11:01:00.005-05:002009-03-27T11:25:09.820-05:00

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-28983691512870750682009-03-25T16:53:00.002-05:002009-03-25T17:05:37.605-05:00

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26793903/the_big_takeover"It's over — we're officially, royally fucked. no empire can survive being rendered a permanent laughingstock, which is what happened as of a few weeks ago, when the buffoons who have been running things in this country finally went one step too far. It happened when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was forced to admit that he

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-48798948341794394252009-03-25T14:21:00.003-05:002009-03-25T14:33:33.508-05:00

March 25 (Bloomberg) -- California home prices dropped 41 percent last month from a year earlier, more than double the U.S. decline, as surging foreclosures drove down values, the state Association of Realtors said today.The median price for an existing, single-family detached home in California sank to $247,590 in February from $418,260 a year earlier, the Los Angeles-based group said in a

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-66596946674544895882009-03-24T21:49:00.004-05:002009-03-24T22:15:17.778-05:00

FOR EVERYMANEverybody I talk to is ready to leaveWith the light of the morningThey've seen the end coming down long enough to believeThat they've heard their last warningStanding aloneEach has his own ticket in his handAnd as the evening descendsI sit thinking 'bout EverymanSeems like I've always been looking for some other placeTo get it togetherWhere with a few of my friends I could give up the

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-12119270966864984802009-03-24T18:34:00.003-05:002009-03-24T18:38:31.877-05:00

"That is why to attain something desired is to discover how vain it is; and why, though we live all our lives in expectation of better things, we often at the same time long regretfully for what is past. The present, on the other hand, is regarded as something quite temporary and serving only as the road to our goal. That is why most men discover when they look back on their life that they have

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-24404626719959898182009-03-22T11:52:00.000-05:002009-03-22T11:54:07.614-05:00

A firefighter was working on the engine outside the station, when he noticed a little girl nearby in a little red wagon with little ladders hung off the sides and a garden hose tightly coiled in the middle.The girl was wearing a firefighters helmet.The wagon was beingpulled by her dog and her cat.The firefighter walked over to take a closer look.That sure is a nice fire truck,' the firefighter

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-87144899725313953592009-03-20T04:43:00.000-05:002009-03-20T04:43:06.577-05:00

One of my all time favorite novels is by Alfred Bester, called "The Stars My Destination".It's a fast moving sharply written novel about a lazy common man who finds himself being pushed into being something trancendent.The opening paragraph would fit this freaky time we're living in.This was a Golden Age, a time of high adventure, rich living, and hard dying…but nobody thought so. This was a

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-65744915708952747672009-03-19T20:53:00.002-05:002009-03-19T21:34:37.972-05:00

Saw this heavy metal guitar in a window in downtown Truth Or Consequences.The lovely and talented old coot David. I made him black and white and added film grain because he's a bit of an analog film snob sort of guy.I'm not complaining, he did by most of my old Nikon stuff from me.I just never want to set foot in a darkroom again after ten years of being a commercial photographer and five or six

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-9625351765037770692009-03-19T09:04:00.001-05:002009-03-19T09:04:05.401-05:00

Fry, Michael and I opened up for a few bands at the High Noon Monday. We rocked the joint, although it was a poor night to play there, being A: Monday night when everybody stays home, andB: The night before St. Patty's Day, when the joint is crowded.The Sharp and Hawkins band played after us. I liked them, they had a good vibe and a fun percussionist and one of the two guitar players had some

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-87862161755081871862009-03-18T21:01:00.002-05:002009-03-18T21:03:58.908-05:00

The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you. Rita Mae BrownThe animal above is a naked mole rat. Not that it has anything to do with sanity or Rita Mae Brown, I just liked the photo. It reminds me of somebody I don't like even a little bit I used to know in when I

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-22699962633360849372009-03-17T09:09:00.001-05:002009-03-17T11:13:28.290-05:00

Great TED talk by Aimee Mullins: "How my legs give me super-powers."Athlete, actor and activist Aimee Mullins talks about her prosthetic legs -- she's got a dozen amazing pairs -- and the superpowers they grant her: speed, beauty, an extra 6 inches of height ... Quite simply, she redefines what the body can be. About Aimee Mullins A record-breaker at the Paralympic Games in 1996, Aimee Mullins

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-162523730897669472009-03-16T08:53:00.004-05:002009-03-16T09:06:09.789-05:00

Last week my computer once again got a virus. I shut it off and walked away to work on the motorhome Kori bought two weeks ago. The motorhome has been gutted since then, but this damn computer still has issues, although we have so damn many virus scanners and killers on it they aren't doing much but pissing me off.People who write computer viruses for fun should be lobotomized and given jobs

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-6121797561613762272009-03-02T14:59:00.001-06:002009-03-02T15:03:03.358-06:00

We are involved now in a profound failure of imagination. Most of us cannot imagine the wheat beyond the bread, or the farmer beyond the wheat, or the farm beyond the farmer, or the history beyond the farm. Most people cannot imagine the forest and the forest economy that produced their houses and furniture and paper, or the landscapes, the streams and the weather that fill their pitchers and

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-30544801920861107652009-02-27T10:24:00.000-06:002009-02-27T10:24:00.775-06:00

Soaking at Indian Springs No. 1After three days of driving and this brutal Wisconsin Winter, this was the sign pointing to bliss. Martye's little adobe house. Soaking in the mineral water baths in TorC rocks my cranky middle aged many times broken boned body. In a good way.We soaked every day we were there but for the last, and Indian Springs was my favorite. It's a run down old hotel with the

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-36914831760384588412009-02-26T12:59:00.004-06:002009-02-26T13:48:35.028-06:00

The sign in Martye's yard Truth or Consequences, from the south side at night, looking towards the hot springs district.The second and third days of the trip out were pretty flat, filled with tumbleweeds that kept rolling into the car and vast stretches of scruffy looking over grazed land.We rolled through Dodge City, Elkart, and a bunch of towns that mostly consisted of big grain silos

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-83260597472695026682009-02-21T21:28:00.002-06:002009-02-21T21:46:07.849-06:00

My my my it’s a beautiful worldI like swimming in the seaI like to go out beyond the white breakersWhere a man can still be free (or a woman if you are one)I like swimming in the sea.My my my it’s a beautiful worldI like drinking Irish teaWith a little bit of lapsang souchongI like making my own tea.My my my it’s a beautiful worldI like driving in my carRoll the top down sometimes I travel quite

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-27492130585327554182009-02-21T10:17:00.008-06:002009-02-21T22:08:56.168-06:00

We got a slow start, rolling out mid day after making three days worth of sandwiches, roasted pork on good Italian bread with cheese and horseradish sauce and lots of lettuce. About the only way I can stay awake on long drives is to spend them gnawing on something every once and a while, dragging along a cooler full of food. We drove the first day on mostly two lane roads from home across Iowa,

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-58479293507094138642009-02-20T15:40:00.002-06:002009-02-20T15:43:00.653-06:00

Two weeks in New Mexico gone. We're back, but fried. Photos and sick observations to come soon.....

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-66152084113260970802009-02-04T12:12:00.002-06:002009-02-04T12:17:02.668-06:00

Kori takes almost our band photos. She also comes to almost all our gigs, built my amp, wired most of my guitars, bakes killer bread, writes some powerful computer code, invents and writes whole worlds with her writing, and is beyond a shadow of a doubt the best pal/sweetheart/co-pilot/cellmate/sentient creature I ever fell in love with.She's my rock star heroine. And in case you didn't know, if

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-63915182643823120452009-02-04T12:06:00.003-06:002009-02-04T12:12:09.735-06:00

Everybody thinks the MF in our band name is short for a crude expression involving having sex with your mother.It's really because Mikey is the 7th Fairchild boy to carry that name.While I am glad they're consistent, it shows a serious lack of imagination to keep using the same damn name over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.And then they named their little girl Luna

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-60880038434397764272009-02-03T13:31:00.003-06:002009-02-03T14:12:35.037-06:00

NEW YORK – General Motors Corp. will offer buyouts to all of its hourly employees, a spokesman confirmed Tuesday, as the troubled automaker continues to slash costs.GM spokesman Tony Sapienza said the buyouts will mainly target GM's 22,000 retirement-eligible hourly employees, though any union employee can take the offer.News of the buyouts first broke on Monday. A union official told The

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-9998116180749063082009-02-02T10:49:00.002-06:002009-02-02T10:49:02.351-06:00

Luna.I suspect she will not lack for a sense of dramatic projection when she becomes an adult. She's already a show off for cameras.

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-27322495768913363542009-02-01T20:37:00.004-06:002009-02-01T20:45:23.881-06:00

We had a rockin' good timeMichael sang in rhymeJonathon pounded the skinsat just the right timeand C. Scott Fry wasspinning his bass with a grin on his faceand I was bashing out notesall over the placethe joint was rockin' and the beer was flowingand for once it actually stopped fucking snowingThey liked us again. Gave us an extra fifty bucks and booked us for March 21st. And I got to watch Ellyn

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-32536286158328445372009-01-30T21:19:00.003-06:002009-01-30T21:50:07.208-06:00

2009 Will Be a Year of Panichttp://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2009/01/2009_will_be_a_year_of_panic.phpFrom the fevered mind of Bruce Sterling and his alter-ego, Bruno Argento, a consideration of things ahead."As 2009 opens, our financial institutions are deep in massive, irrational panic. That's bad, but it gets worse: Many other respected institutions have rational underpinnings at least as

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-7479176407126068392009-01-29T10:27:00.002-06:002009-01-29T10:39:13.454-06:00

With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg If there's a bigger bunch of thieves out there in the world than the godbags, I can't figure out who. Since the first shaman conned a tribe into buying into the angry gods idea and suckered power and money out of

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-294459504166049502009-01-28T13:43:00.002-06:002009-01-28T13:50:55.830-06:00

A young girl is given a pile of manure for her birthdayby her cruel parents.She's over joyed, and starts digging in it.When asked why, she says, if there's this much shit, there's got to be a pony here somewhere.Here's the pony making my month better, on the last day of it, we're playing a gig this Saturday night at The Alchemy bar.And it's free, and starts and nine pm, and goes all night.You'll

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-11829912156591380802009-01-26T20:37:00.004-06:002009-01-27T12:20:04.530-06:00

Aside from the backyard on the bike trail, Cafe Zoma sucked. Not serious suck, like a chest wound from a hollow point .45 slug or having to go to one of the snotty coffee shops down on the square where the barristas are all bored shallow young creeps, but it sucked.Here's my take on why:The layout was terrible. You walk in the front door, and you're shoved right into a cattle chute. The coffee

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-89904778185032469442009-01-24T21:34:00.001-06:002009-01-24T21:34:00.777-06:00

Bell's Hopslam beer is without a shred, a micron, a jot, dash or smidgeon of doubt my new favorite mind altering chemical.Thick, slightly sweet, packed with high alpha acid hops like Cascades that work like a valium, and what must be a barley wine level of ethanol, it's both dangerous and sublime. Worthy of the five dollar a glass price tag.And I have to say that my new favorite bar is Dexters

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-58116581797999188752009-01-22T16:50:00.005-06:002009-01-22T17:24:49.001-06:00

This winter sucks. And I'm starting to think about what I want on a purely selfish personal level, because I am one truck repair from getting in my truck and leaving it all behind until my credit card maxes out. Maybe take a long a pile of guitars to use as firewood along the way. I want somebody to make me supper for a change. Somebody besides me or Kori to cook. I want somebody to say, "damn,

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-84503701101496726702009-01-21T21:44:00.003-06:002009-01-21T21:50:52.951-06:00

In any country where talent and virtue produce no advancement, money will be the national god. Its inhabitants will either have to possess money or make others believe that they do. Wealth will be the highest virtue, poverty the greatest vice. Those who have money will display it in every imaginable way. If their ostentation does not exceed their fortune, all will be well.But if their ostentation

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-40670138042507675682009-01-20T21:44:00.006-06:002009-01-20T22:06:13.344-06:00

Pacing the CageBruce Cockburn, 1997 Sunset is an angel weepingHolding out a bloody swordNo matter how I squintI cannot make out what it's pointing towardSometimes you feel like you live too long Days drip slowly on the pageYou catch yourselfPacing the cageI've proven who I am so many timesThe magnetic strip's worn thinAnd each time I was someone elseAnd every one was taken inPowers chatter in

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-17565141936582008542008-12-28T21:03:00.003-06:002008-12-28T21:31:34.473-06:00

Wandering in a vast forest at night, I have only a faint light to guide me. A stranger appears and says to me: "My friend, you should blow out your candle in order to find your way more clearly." This stranger is a theologian. Denis Diderot, Addition aux Pensees philosophiques, from John Daintith, et al, eds. The Macmillan Dictionary of Quotations (2000) p. 34Mankind shall not be free until the

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-20072198421114868312008-12-17T10:05:00.001-06:002008-12-17T10:09:33.313-06:00

Forget trying to pass for normal. Follow your geekdom. Embrace your nerditude. In the immortal words of Lafcadio Hearn, a geek of incredible obscurity whose work is still in print after a hundred years, "Woo the muse of the odd." . . . You may be a geek. You may have geek written all over you. You should aim to be one geek they'll never forget. Don't aim to be civilized. Don't hope that straight

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-16910031731267577992008-12-15T10:23:00.004-06:002008-12-15T10:43:11.493-06:00

Things here at Hint of Dementia Research Labs have been rather bleeech. A rhinovirus of disturbing effectiveness has given Kori, Kate, and I a great deal of creeping crud, making our ears clogged and our heads woogly, turning our brains into semi-dyslex-ick muck and making our eyeballs feel like onions boiled in rancid corn oil.Me anyway, that's how I feel. Sweetie's just coming down with it, and

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18123287.post-21259804554866283082008-12-15T10:17:00.002-06:002008-12-15T10:22:17.897-06:00

He';s good today, go read him.http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/The economy we're moving into will have to be one of real work, producing real things of value, at a scale consistent with energy resource reality. I'm convinced that farming will come much closer to the center of economic life, as the death of petro-agribusiness makes food production a matter of life and death in America -- as

elliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16525818580068532479noreply@blogger.com0