Still Life

Yep, it's still life. Or a reasonable semblance of it. I have another camera and am increasingly unafraid to use it. Anybody still out there... six months or so later? If so, hello!



"How often do the dead wake~ we thought were safely buried?" Robert Hunter

Gravedigger

Speaking of love and death... have you seen this video ? Maybe it's my half-century thing, but it doesn't creep me out at all. Plus, I love Willie's crazy-long hair! Originally written and recorded by Dave Matthews. This has been your macabre moment for today.

As for your upbeat moment, here is Dick Cavett's take on the current "star search for the next president". A pretty accurate description, thus far.

Loma Prieta Memories

The Pacific Garden Mall, Santa Cruz

When The Earth Moves Again, My Friend

That link is a post about the Loma Prieta Quake(7.1), some eighteen years back. It was written in June 2005... not long after I "built" the Cozy Shack blog. I repost it today because there was a pretty good-sized (5.6) quake last night, centered in San Jose.(On the Calaveras fault) It was the strongest earthquake since the 1989 shake-up. We did not feel it up here. (About 200 miles north) I won't be forgetting what an earthquake does to one's sense of safeness. Not ever. It's very good to know that a few fellow bloggers in that region handled last night's excitement, and are safe


*A fun fact: The photo I use in my header is an earthquake photo. The shacks on San Francisco's Ocean Beach were built by victims of the 1906 earthquake.

Every Picture Tells A Story, Don't It?

Code Pink protester Desiree Farooz confronts Condoleeza Rice with blood-stained hands, calling the Secretary of State a war criminal who should be tried at the Hague.

Love Is The Seventh Wave

Taken at Big River Beach/Mendocino Coast/Thanks again to my trusty co-worker.

It's Cloud Illusions I Recall

Another one from my co-worker. He takes lots of cloud photos.

I know - no ones going to show me everything


We all come and go unknown


Each so deep and superficial


Between the forceps and the stone

For Choochie

Photo By AikoJim

Winter rain, now tell me why
Summers fade and roses die
The answer came, the wind and rain

Golden hills now veiled in gray
Summer leaves have blown away
Now what remains, the wind and rain

And like a desert spring my lover comes and spreads her wings
(Knowing)
Like a song that's born to soar the sky
(Flowing)
Till the waters all are dry
(Growing)
The loving in her eyes

Circle songs and sands of time
And seasons will end in tumbled rhyme
And little change, the wind and rain

And like a desert spring my lover comes and spreads her wings
(Knowing)
Like a song that's born to soar the sky
(Flowing)
Till the rivers all are dry
(Growing)
The loving in her eyes

Winter gray and falling rain
We'll see summer come again
Darkness fall and seasons change
(Gonna happen every time)
Same old friends the wind and rain
(We'll see summer by and by)
Winter gray and falling rain
(Summers fade and roses die)
We'll see summer come again
(Like a song that's born to soar the sky)

Weather Report Suite ~ Eric Anderson/Bob Weir

Aquatic Park

On the softness of her laugh

I could almost make my bed


This is a line in a song. I found it written on a scrap of paper on the desk, in my youngest child's writing. I often find things like this, since she is always learning new songs on her guitar or keyboard. It's by a band called Copeland. I know nothing about them. Just that I appreciate the beauty of that little string of words together.

The picture was taken at Aquatic Park, San Francisco in 1964. From the library archives. Dig the radio! Alcatraz in the background.

Just Another Brick In The Wall

Berlin and Beyond

Kopi... the Berlin club where California Love played today.


Fragments of the Berlin Wall



Here is yet another fact-packed link.

amelia

on this date in 1937, amelia earhart vanished from the sky. when we discussed that fact today, i was reminded that her navigator was a man. (maybe he wouldn't ask for directions?) i love joni's song, "amelia", and it has been in my head all day, appropriately. as usual, the lyrics are there to read if you so desire.

the days and nights are full of familial fun. my son is a joy to spend time with again. i admit to unabashed pride where he is concerned. to see a child from birth to adulthood is one of life's most generous gifts.

my podcast interview was posted yesterday... http://www.closetdeadhead.com is the web address, and then just click on the "listen" button for podcast # 35. (my 15 minutes of *streaming* fame?)

other thoughts-a-swirling in my head today... the future of the supreme court, karl rove/valerie plame, salmon filets and broiled portabella mushrooms. and better days.

beautiful boy*

*check out the song lyrics*


my firstborn arrived last night

it felt like a holiday today

to me especially


an amazing man, my baby boy

his two sisters... so proud

he is big brother


(not like george orwell, although

orwell's birthday was today)


our cozy shack

now even cozier and

complete

if i had the world to give

on this "hallmark holiday"

i thought throughout the day

about you and i

how when things fell apart

and i lost her~ five months before baby aaron arrived

and there was only you, my divorced-and-single dad

left to parent and grandparent

you have done a splendid job, father-of-mine

so steadfast and loving to the children and i

from beatnik to patriarch

in one lifetime

wow

the sky is crying

(lately i think stevie ray vaughan was right)

maybe it really is crying. weeping is more accurate. up here on the north coast it's been raining most of the day today. last week there were three all-day-rainy days. lots of folks have been complaining. the thing is, lots of precipitation is an automatic up here. it always has been. however, we have had more rainfall this season than in a long, long time. gardening is a challenge so far. maybe we will have some warm weeks in september and october, and recoup some growing-time. who knows. the weather patterns have been chaotic here in the golden state over the last week or so. several earthquakes in the far-north and far-south. a tsunami north of us a few days back. one thing for sure... all of the rain has made everything just perfectly GREEN. my favorite. the tips of the redwood tree branches are nearly flourescent, and all of the ferns are curly and lush. me? i really do like the rain, and i always have. it is somehow appropriate right about now. however, it may be a rough year for tomatoes and peppers around here.

when the earth moves again, my friend

tsunamis... underwater earthquakes. earthquakes have been present in my life for all of my life. that's part of being a california native, i suppose. there was only one(so far) that really made a BIG impression on me. 7.5, to be concise. it happened to be my 2nd child's 3rd birthday, october 17, 1989. i was employed in downtown santa cruz on the pacific garden mall, which isn't a mall at all, just a long street with lots of shops, restaurants, hippies, jazz trios, that sort of thing. it was almost closing time, and an "old mistake" happened into the place. long-ass story, not now. this was a bit uncomfortable, to say the least. he attempted to talk to me, and i kept busy with my work, trying like hell to avoid any conversation. there were a few other people in the place. then, at 5:04 p.m., things got crazy. all of the glass in the place began to shake, as did the floors, walls, everything. the rumble was unreal. like a roar. people were looking into each others faces, hoping to find an easy answer for what was happening. but there was no time for eye contact. the walls and roof were coming down fast. i remember yelling "im outta here!" i barely remember the mad dash for the door, but everyone made it out to the streets, which were insane-beyond-belief. buildings crumbling, sidewalks literally cracking open. up and down the street, fire alarms, sprinkler systems, sirens, screaming and yelling. panic. i stood on the hemorrhaging sidewalk, next to the last person i ever wanted to see, and i told him i wasn't gonna die with him, goddamn it! we surfed the cement amid the total mayhem, and i really wondered if i'd be getting out of this one alive.
then it stopped. but the noise was unending. then, the crowds of people that were downtown ... just walking around in absolute shock. hardly anyone driving. just wandering around the streets, aimlessly. like night of the living dead or something. i managed to slip away from that person i desperately needed to be away from. since i ran out of my work in a bit of a hurry that day, i lost my purse, as well as my daughter's birthday gifts. i had picked them up at lunch that day.(at "cotton tales"-just down the street.) my car keys were in my purse. there was nothing left of the building i worked in, or countless of the other buildings downtown. i finally got a ride with a friend out to my kids later that night. luckily, they were both safe with their dad. that was the greatest mother-and-child-reunion ever, i think. i recall laying on the ground outside that night, just feeling grateful that things were calmer. somewhat calmer. the aftershocks lasted for weeks though. i gained immense respect for "our mother" that day. the tsunami warning last night brought back some of that familiar feeling in me. But it was short-lived. just a reminder, that mother earth is always in control. no matter how powerful we may think we are, we are no match. respect your mother!

don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows

if i were mj i would go all howard hughes and live out my days on a private atoll somewhere in the south pacific. away from everything and everyone, forever. far away from all that created and destroyed him in one short lifetime. to me, it is all fucking sad. every aspect of it.

in other news: arnold will be toast soon, in my opinion. maybe then he will go away and leave "cullifornia" alone. i can dream, right? howard dean crazy? you bet your ass he is---crazy like a fox. watch and learn. i have a glimmer of hope, i swear i do.

what is the actual deal with "blog cliques?" not sure i can grasp the concept. are these people who were maybe NOT popular or whatever in (real-time) life? i am quite curious about this phenomenon. me? i was born a misfit, been one all my life. fitting into anything too terribly mainstream makes me nervous. needless to say, i don't think i fit into the mainstream blogosphere very well. oh well. i tried to be social, post a comment here-and-there and introduce myself. maybe i'm still not cool. and that, dear friends is why i'm a deadhead!

i write here because i like to put my thoughts down somewhere. the thoughts vary. sometimes weird, or incredibly boring. other days they're rebellious and angry.
or just plain sad. i want to be honest in my writing. true-to-me, you know? so much cheaper than therapy.

time to listen to diana krall and let my college girl brush my hair. a rare delight.

(good night moon!)

don't interrupt the sorrow

love is always there

even when happiness is absent

that's a good thing to keep in mind

i have decided to stop expecting happiness to be ever-present

i read somewhere today that americans are "in a bad mood" politically speaking

~his~ approval rating is at 43% now and i wonder-

how can there even be 43% of people still believing in this guy (anywhere?)

1,700 americans have died in this war (as of today)

the number of iraqi people killed is an ongoing mystery

but rest assured, it is monumental

these are the things that mess with my mind some days

and embracing the sorrow i feel seems like the least i can do

for the thousands who have lost their lives

in this war-with-no-clear-exit-strategy

that is why i have a sticker on my bumper that reads:

F U G W B

i never wanted to feel that way about my president

but alas, i most certainly do...






truth goes up in vapors
the steeples lean
winds of change patriarchs
snug in your bible belt dreams
god goes up the chimney
like childhood santa claus
the good slaves love the good book
a rebel loves a cause

(joni mitchell)

attics of my life

a comfortable sort of melancholy occupies me today.

what's it all mean?

my children are not children anymore.

my ex's do not live in texas, unfortunately.

i don't care if g and i ever marry. i like it just like this.

my country is not the place i thought it was, nor is this state.

my friends and i are aging rapidly. it happened with lightning speed.

i love falling asleep to the sound of the chilly winds swirling outside.

another post will follow this tomorrow, with any luck.


"in the attics of my life, full of cloudy dreams unreal"