Double Negative

I don't resolve nuthing 'cept
to reduce the not too inor -
dinate use of the do -
uble negative.

No unhapi
nu
yur

School
4
every1

Flowering Tea

Now I see it wiggle.

Uneventful

We had an uneventful
trip back.

Ocean Land

Dorothy's Coming Bday

Dorothy will soon
be 88, then 89, then 90
We'll have a party 4
her
2.

Happy Birthday Del

Ninety Yrs.
Happy Birthday Del
90
We love you.

Is it "me?"

I asked why he says
that a photo of him is "me."
He then asked his parents,
"what is grandpa doing?

Jasper is Watching

Jasper is watching m-
e do a drawing.

Crash

I'm going to fly today
as is Santa. I hope we
don't crash, as it would
delay his proceedings.
_______________________
Merry Xmas
2 all & 2 all
a good
nite.

Bad Weather

So sometimes we say "bad weather" just meaning that it was not as good as yesterday. This is "bad weather" in the relative sense. We compare two things and make a judgment based on the contrast between the two. On the other hand, I tried to imagine "bad weather" in the absolute sense. It might be the raining of arrows, as happened to Buddha (in his mind) the night of his enlightenment. Luckily he put up a Buddha shield and the arrows turned to flowers. If he hadn't done that, he would have experience truly "bad weather."

Read more about the middle way.

Too Close

Sometimes they got a
little too close . . .

Go Figure

Go figure. I sold a box of
books for $19 to the 1/2
price bookstore. So I took
a second box of better
books (I was hooked) and
only got $4!!!

Books

Buddhism and Intimacy

You can't
be far
away

&
still have
intimacy.

Before a Buddhist talk this am we were asked to move closer to the front of the room. Then the priest said that intimacy is important to Buddhism. Here's an excellent article "The Intimacy of Engaging with Suffering" by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel (http://tinyurl.com/98f6xq) which explains the importance of intimacy.

Batteries aren't Forever

Some toys use batt-
eries. They run out of
steam
too.

Coffee Now!

Some toys drink coff-
ee. My daughter said the
words shouldn't tell e-
verything so you'll need 2
look @ the picture.

Give
me my
coffee now!

Wired

Totally Lost

Some haven't found their
keyhole. They have lots
to learn.

Clueless in Texas. The sun
(sic) as a
spiderweb.

Unfortunately, for these
folks, school may not
be the right answer.

Stretch

Wrong Key

Sometimes we use some-
one else's key because
we can't find our own. It
doesn't fit right & som-
etimes gets stuck.

Lost Key

Some toys would be
ok except they have
lost their keys. So
they just stand there
praying that someone
or something will turn
them on.

Thumb
Twiddling

Give me key

keyhole

Nada

How do you draw nothing?
I'm thinking of a toy that
doesn't exist because the
factory closed BECAUSE of
the dismal economy.

“Nada” and the Nature of the Universe

For Hemingway, man is born into a completely naturalistic and totally indifferent universe: a universe without supernatural sanction, and thus without purpose, order, meaning, or value. The “nada” (or “nothing”) then focuses on man’s confrontation with the absence of God, the indifference and seeming hostility of the universe, and thus with the absence of purpose, order, meaning, and value in the universe and in human life. (From Mel Miles: http://www.elcamino.edu/Faculty/sdonnell/hemingway.htm)

Nada certainly could make one throw up one's hands. It's fighting against an unbeatable foe. Hard to get in the ring when you know you're foredefeated. However, it's not what Nada is or what it can do to us that is important; rather, it is how we react to it that makes the difference. We cannot control the vagaries of chance and accident in a world full of nothing, but we can control how we react to it. Hemingway's Code is, simply put, an attempt to redefine how we handle unwinnable situations against unbeatable foes, in this case, Nada. Throwing up one's hands is defeatist. Standing up with dignity and saying I can, even when one can't, that's the Code! Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea said it best: "A man can be utterly destroyed, but not defeated." By man, I'm sure he meant one who follows the Code. Of course, Hemingway did blow his head off. . . . (Sean M. Donnell)

Perhaps I should.

Some toys never make it
out of the factory. They
are not up to snuff. I
do not grieve for these
lost souls. Perhaps I should.

Misfit Bad

Sedentary Lifestyle

Sometimes the toy will
be broken or even the key
is lost. You can either see
this as death or as just a
more sedentary lifestyle.

Not a Metaphor?

I realized today that
there are many other
states for a wind up
toy besides wound & un-
wound. One such state
is "over wound" where the
spring is uselessly too
tight. It will go nowhere
and it is not a metaphor
or is it?

Weatherman

The weather always ch-
anges, from hot to cold, from
wet to dry, from gentle to
monstrous. Sometimes we
act surprised when she br-
eaks a record. Sometimes
we blame god, sometimes hu-
mans& sometimes we just
throw up our hands &
take what is given to us.

Life

I realized that I"m a
windup toy. Everyday I wind-
up, but I don't go as far
as the day before. When I
was born I had the maj-
or windup, giving me so
many breathes until I ex-
pire. Each breath is unique
& leaves as easily as it
comes.

To Hell in a Handbasket

When I asked my wife
for 1/2 of her cappuc-
ino, she said, "your
mom was right—you R
going to Hell in a ha-
nd basket.

Kim 2 He-
ll

Uninspired

He could not find any
inspiration in the greatest
ever Oklahoma sunset, w/
lavish abundant textures
and spectrum expanding
colors from
the heavens.

Dead Flies and Dust Bunnies

I swept up 35 dead fli-
es & as many dust bun-
nies hoping someone
would notice the clean-
liness of our abode.

Float

Andy Warhol stopped
walking and used a
wheelchair. After many
days up & down stairs
I'm going to do some-
thing extreme like just
float yogi-style. Start-
ing tomorrow -- maybe.

Float away

No more stair-
s!!!

Elixir Returns

My wife said that sometimes I
do studid things -- like buying eli-
xir. I found out my insurance
will get me the real McCoy so
I returned it & got all my
money back & fodder 4 2
drawings.

Walmar

Elixir
Returns
Here

$ $ $

Elixar

I got taken by the smooth
talking man selling an elixir
for aches & pains. We'll see
what damages it does. He
said a CEO for Walmart who
has his own jet swears by it.

Fruitcake

Every night she ate her
fruitcake and I salivated. I
paid over & over again for
the fruitcake I stole from a
roommate in college — one thin
slice every day.

An Animated Comment

Jeff Ashbaugh

More Open Book

Digging deeper he found
his open book was
written in ob-
scure code.

They said they could read
him like an open book.

No More Words

My
pic-
tures
have 2
many wo-
rds, mak-
ing my
life an

op-
en
bo-
ok.

NO
MO-RE
WORDS.

Kim & Teacher

Tonight I went to my tea-
cher's 80th bday party. It was
[a] great celebration of a won-
derful life. I've had a #
of spectacular teachers. But
I discovered something tonight.
I was responsible for fin-
ding and connecting with these
teachers.

Some teachers appear
bigger than
life. They are
&
they
aren't.

1928*
Mickey Mouse's bday

Kim & Teacher

Paths

I sorted thru almost 50
yrs of art, see ing paths that
went no where & paths that
were "right." If only
I knew then what I hope
I know now!

Holier than Thou

I ate a piece of Tom tonight. I
didn't want to be holier than thou.

Tom

Kim eats Tom

India's 911

"War on Terrorism is an
oxymoran"(CNN) "Make love
not war" (60s) India's 911

Peace Now

Peace Pipe
30% of cancer deaths from smoking (Surgeon General)

Ear Shatterin' Noise

He told me more than 40
years ago that I shou-
ld get the words out
of my art. I think it was
good advice, for without
his pleas 4 silence there
would have been ear
shatterin' noise.

Neon Tube

Ben asked if anyone would
like to make a twisted neon
tube so I volunteered. He
showed me how to keep the
glass moving & told me to
do it in a zen way. I asked
him what that meant & he
said "be aware."

See Ben's work: http://www.beneon.com/
See Ben's blog: http://spirithousesafari.blogspot.com/

I'm Rite

I asked my son a question
if I was right or if the guy
I argued with was right.

Viewer Art Artist

Does the
viewer talk to the art or the artist?

He said it just
depends on the art, the ar-
test, and the viewer. My next
son will say I'm rite.

Soul Mate

I have quite a few socks
that have no partner. If I
was wreckless with my money
I'd throw them all away &
start anew. But, Alas, I live
in hope that even an old
sock from college will
find its soul mate.

Socks
of a feather
don't flock together.

Dad U R insane!

I sometimes do things over &
over to get them "right"
only to realize that nothin-
g is other than what it is.

Just one more time . . .

Dad U R insane!

Renunciation

Ok, but how do I renu-
nciate by urges?

Massage?

I decided to get a massage
2 day so I asked 4 recomme-
ndations**. I got many. Some
were too far away or 2 busy.
Finally I found one but she
spent the whole time curing
my aches. She gave me an
exercise to do that I can't
remember. We ran out of
time to do a massage.

*=aches

**=I hyphenate things
incorrectly to keep my deceased
English teachers on their toes.

My Back

I could tell you about
the x-ray of my back, but
I found out today that a
friend lost his favorite
uncle which is much sadder
than my back which has
functioned pretty well for
most of my 62 & some years.

Dedicated to E.W. (also
the initials of one of
the greatest of artists.)

Crooked Hypochondriac

So I'm at the local chiro-
practor (I'm skeptical) who was
voted best in Austin (2002) so
he sees how crooked I
am so he straightens me
out & wants xrays
so I insist on
MD qual-ity
rays &
(these panes are spring loaded 4 auto-adjusts BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE)
went to get those. Now at another doc.
who specializes in crooked hypocondriacs (sic) but he makes
me wait so I have time to draw.

Mom"s Stocking

My sisters and I had a
phone conf. 2 see who was
adopted. My yoga teacher
SAID it was my hamstrings
that were problematic. We
ended up laughing about
my dad wanting to give
his maid my mom's stockings
with runs.

Fire in Calif

Austin

Conf.
call to
determine
pamaternity

DNA Testing Indicated

My older sister said she
could never touch her toes
so I decided it was a family
trait [and hence I should give up].
Then my other sister
SAID she had no problems
toe touching. Stay tuned 4
the DNA results.

Ouch!
Good DNA
12
DNA
SUS-
PE-
ct

Sister 1 / Sister 2

A nice Buddhist story below:

Is That So?

A beautiful girl in the village was pregnant. Her angry parents demanded to know who was the father. At first resistant to confess, the anxious and embarrassed girl finally pointed to Hakuin, the Zen master whom everyone previously revered for living such a pure life. When the outraged parents confronted Hakuin with their daughter's accusation, he simply replied "Is that so?"

When the child was born, the parents brought it to the Hakuin, who now was viewed as a pariah by the whole village. They demanded that he take care of the child since it was his responsibility. "Is that so?" Hakuin said calmly as he accepted the child.

For many months he took very good care of the child until the daughter could no longer withstand the lie she had told. She confessed that the real father was a young man in the village whom she had tried to protect. The parents immediately went to Hakuin to see if he would return the baby. With profuse apologies they explained what had happened. "Is that so?" Hakuin said as he handed them the child.

A Waste of Time?

I tried again to bend
at the waist and touch
my toes to no avail. I could
n't find my waist & my
fingers couldn't get
near my toes.

Waist?

A waste of time?

Gremlin Merit

A gremlin broke into my
house and put my lost hat in
a paper bag with my oryoki
kit. I was so glad to find
it there (especially there). Thanks
gremlin. You'll hopefully get
lots of merit for this deed.

3 oryoki bowls
star gremlin
bag
X hat
lost hat from San Deigo

I need some . . .

I need some inspiration.