The Who:"Young Man Blues"

"Young Man Blues" by The Who at the Isle of Wight 1970

Shouldn't

I know what your going to say, I've heard it all before
"So what!" That's my response.
I mean really, so what.
In the end it won't matter anyway. The Earth will continue on. Time won't stop. There will be more of the same long after we are gone.
And when we get to the end will you think back on the parts you enjoyed, or the parts you regret.
That's the real question
That's the real answer

Coldness

Sometimes I know, even before I wake up, that the world will be cold
The air, the earth, the people
It can be as if the thermostat was set too low and everything is withdrawn and everyone is keeping to themselves

Even when this is how the day starts, even on the coldest of days, there can be surprises, little secrets that are revealed to show how things aren't as cold as they seem
That maybe coldness is just one flavor of day
One flavor of many

Like hot chocolate, or frosty breath, or the giggles of children when they speak of silly things among themselves

I prefer warm days, the way sunshine feels on my skin and the way the days are long
But even in the dark of winter, there are things that bring me joy

the smallest poem ever written

if you can read this
small letters do not reveal
small ideas unknown

BINO
If Bukowski were in New Orleans, I mean if I were Bukowski in New Orleans, I mean if at this time while I am in New Orleans I were to be Charles Bukowski, I think that I/he would most certainly be drunk. Me, I'm standing on a street corner at 5PM local time watching the end of the work-a-day traffic. Its finally cooled off enough to not be staggeringly humid and hot. The streets, mostly "one ways", are bumper to bumper. The sidewalks full too. Not LA or NY bumper to bumper, less sidewalk traffic than NY and
WAY more than LA, but bumper to bumper for these folks.

Here for business. Work that is meaningless to me but that I am good at.
I look at peoples faces, their clothes and cars and shoes. I see people who look smart, dumb, attractive and ugly. I see people that look so full of life that it is just spilling out of them. I see people so devoid of any signs of life that they are likely to be zombies.
I look at all this from the corner, thinking about Bukowski.
Thinking about the gray place between the living and the walking dead. About how that gray space is just a thread between hope and giving up, between creativity and follow the leader, between not needing a reason and having no reasons at all.
I'd like to propose a toast,"TO ALL MY FRIENDS!"

uber-superviser

Hon. Rev Krogar:
 
my friend is responsible for supervising most of the workers within his department, but his superviser (the uber-superviser) takes all the credit.  what should my friend do to rectify this inequity?
 
sincerley,
a working man

message from the Alamo

WE ARE SURROUNDED.
I believe the Mexican Army will attack at any moment.
Please send troops!
-DAVEY CROCKET

whatever happened to...

Dear Reverand Krogar:
 
My 21 year High School reunion is approaching this fall...should I attend?
 
inquiring minds would like to know,
Dr. Awanalaya
 

Adventure

I turned the wheel, up another curve on the long road up into the mountains, and as I thought about the next curve ahead I caught a glimpse of something in the corner of my eye
I slowed down quickly and turned off the road
There were tree trunks laid out lengthwise, put there as barriers in order to keep people from driving off the edge
The edge
It was easily 1,000 feet above the forest floor below
Looking out, over the edge, we could see for 100 miles.
Trees forever, tall and green and seemingly untouched
It was beautiful
I didn't want to leave

Standing on water
 
walking on styrofoam
moving through time and space
like a Bach Sonata
in a wetsuit
 
reverberation echoes
inside water tubes
like
old-time laughter
that I long-ago
forgot all about

Misery

Cold and shivering, I woke with a headache, and one eyelide stuck shut.
There was no coffee, or time for some if it were to be had.
I managed to find clothes that were clean enough to wear, and as I opened the door to leave the sunlight forced my eyes shut. Shut so that I could not see the hose, and tripping on that, dropping the case that carries my burdon.When I made it to the car, still half asleep and not able to remember if I brushed my teeth, I could see that the trash from the ride home the night before still littered the seats and floor of my car. I got in anyway.
The roadway was filled to capacity and I continud on.

Coffee

When I get the shakes in the afternoon, and the funky breath.
I can feel the worry build up inside of me.
I know that coffee won't make it better. But I am at work, and work requires coffee.
In a few hours I'll be home.
No work. No worries.
Then I'll see the smiles and smell the smells.
I'll sit down and enjoy the moment, cafein free...

Poetry

You know it when you hear it, it often does not rhyme.
Your senses let you feel it, although not every time.
"Leaves of grass" and Bukowski, Kerouac and Rumi,
Lincoln on an envelope, that guy was no dummy.
We all had it in school, for some both pre and post,
Young girls in summer convertibles seem to dig it the most.

Only

In this world, the way I see it, every man must find his own way.
There must be time enough to sit and wonder.
To sit and think things through.
To simply enjoy the moments as they slip away.

Nightlife

Don't be afraid little girl, the night is only just beginning.
Soon the stars will shine and the air will become sweet and moist.
Our hearts will fill with love and lightness, our minds will warm to the thoughts of love and the closeness of our mouths.
We'll walk in the moonlight holding hands and telling each other secret thoughts.
Your eyes and hips, lips and touch will make me drunk with ecstacy..
Don't go to sleep.

Why I hate Computers

Many years ago I lived in a cabin by a river
The river was dry most of the year, but that's not the point
The cabin had been built in the 1920's by Clark Gable and the husband of my landlady
It was a simple building, rectangular, red, one main room and one bathroom
in the late 1920's Mary Pickfords house in Hollywood was torn down to make room for her new house. Clark and my landladie's husband used the wood from the torn down house to build the cabin.
When we moved in there was no phone. When the phone company ran the line to the house they ended their work just at the side of the cabin. "There you go."
I had an old phone from the fifties that my Dad had saved in his garage. I used regular "bell wire" and hooked up the old phone.
It worked great. When we called people they would sometimes ask "where are you? You sound so far away."
I'd tell them, "I'm here. Where are you." It was so cool.
That old cabin, that old phone, the old cars we drove. They were really kind of junky.

My computer was state of the art three years ago. It became obsolete just after I bought it, and started acting up the very first day.
Clark Gable didn't have to put up with this.

Today, and Yesterday

If we sit together, on a bench in the park or on a blanket at the beach,
And the air isn't too hot or too cold, and the sun isn't right in our eyes,
And its not too crowded or too empty,
And we're not too hungry, but we haven't eaten yet, and we've been talking about what might be good to eat, off and on, for ten minutes or so,
And you rest your head in my lap, or I rest mine in yours,
And when we kiss it's soft like ice cream, but warm like pancakes,
And I hear music coming from somewhere close, but I can't tell if it's the radio or someone REALLY playing,
And for that moment I'm not thinking anything, I'm just feeling good, kind of like I'm dreaming or maybe just so relaxed that I forgot to be uncomfortable,
Then, OK.

...the curve

Re: He-3

Reverand:

I believe you are about 25 years "ahead-of-the-curve" on the politivcal/economioc/social issues surrounding the use/exploitation of He-3.

I will check back with you at that time for your full analysis.

'til then, I remain

Dr. Awanalaya

Helium Schmelium

I think I get it.
We spend billions, maybe trillions, of dollars plus the mind power of our smartest people, developing the technology required to be able to use Helium 3 in a fusion reactor.
Then (or concurrently) we spend billions, maybe trillions, on the infrastructure (including the spacecraft) that will be required to get to the moon and back with the lunar Helium 3.
Then (or concurrently) we spend billions (maybe trillions) figuring out how to militarize space so that we (the good guys) can protect our investment in Helium 3.
I am sure that ExxonMobile or Haliburton will be the best choice to manage these resources for us too.
That sounds like a way better idea than making sure we all have enough to eat (spread around what we already have) or teaching the illiterate to read (reading is fundamental) or making a decent T.V. show instead of American Idol.
Or maybe it is a good idea.........

the Helium-3 Imperative

read about it here:


http://fti.neep.wisc.edu/FTI/pdf/wcsar9304-1.pdf


signed,
Dr. Awanalaya

The Story of How the Giant Gold Cat Became Bell Mountain

There once was a Giant Gold Cat that sat on it's hind-quarters all day in the middle of a dry lake. Camels arrived carrying wine and dates and the belly dancers who beckoned seductively; however, the Giant Gold Cat remained motionless. One paw raised, eyes like rice-tiny-slits-squinting in the blazing desert sun. The belly dancers stopped and clapped three times. The sun reversed its course for a moment and the ghost of Dick Dale appeared as a larger-than-life mirage-pirate playing "Miserlou" and "Let's go Trippin'" in the sky...when he finished he said,"Hup! Ho!..." and disapeared forever. The belly dancers stopped belly dancing and walked silently away in single file, their many veils shrouding their mystery. The last belly dancer in line turned around and saw that the Giant Gold Cat had turned to stone, an ediface that resembled a large bell. The belly dancer who looked back dropped her finger cymbals and instantly turned into a screaming cholla cactus.

And, that's the story of How the Giant Gold Cat Became Bell Mountain.

I wish I had a $

every time I think about Helium-3
or the Wright Brothers
or Hawaian holidays in the sun
eating rice in Bangkok

I wish I had a $
everytime Spanish guitars play
and grass grows
and I think about Helium-3