Monday, May 26, 2008

Sunday, May 25, 2008

We Passed . . .



We did pass by one rest stop as we got close to Tulsa. Still, some of the cars that we passed had toll passes and we had to pass them again. It is hard to get ahead in this world!

Friday, May 23, 2008

Teddy Bear



I forgot to mention that the teddy bear had clothes and Jasper took them all off.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Dried Up



Couldn't figure out what to do today, so decided to attack an old theme for me of a man (me, in a previous life) and his dog, standing like a totem pole, as one.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Send Him Back?



Return policies abound in stores from L.L. Bean to Target. Individuality is not appreciated.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Selling Bridges



Moving involves buying and selling. Sometimes it is hard to give things away, even to thrift stores. I had to go to three thrift stores to give away one of my favorite chairs. I had found it in 1969 on a street corner. It was waiting for the garbage truck.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Waiting to Sit



It struck me funny all the things "sitting" enthusiasts do to sit...like rushing somewhere to sit (a contradiction?). Or better yet, to arrive early and then to wait to sit...where waiting is a skill that the Buddha acquired.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Me & My Palm Pilot



Worked on polishing the old rusted parts of the 1946 medicine chest (my age), and then went to get some expensive potting soil for my wife.
Off to an opening where I had some artwork. Afterward a party. Booze isn't a good thing when you don't drink...but it was fun to seen some people whom I hadn't see for awhile.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

I Painted Today


What a day, touching up all the doors with paint. And various other home activites.

Then the dog chip company called and asked if we indeed had given out dog away. Yes I said.

They now have a good home.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Bad Yoga



Crawling and twisting around window wells to put some paint on the window trim is not my idea of fun. But they sure look better than they did with the peeling paint.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Sliver of Truth



I might think I don't have a sliver,
but then I touch my finger just so...and ouch.

I know that there is some biblical reference
to having a splinter in one's eye.

This is not a metaphor. It is merely
the event that occupied much of my day,
living from one ouch to the next.

Monday, May 12, 2008

In the Can



My job today was to cut and break up branches from the branch pile and put them in garbage cans for pickup. It took hours to fill 6 cans, two of which held 96 gallons. I wore gloves, but my forearms bled from scratches.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day



I asked my son this evening if something bad is ok if you make good art out of it. He said, what about Goya? I said I agreed. War is still bad even if Goya can make such good art out of it.

Happy Mother's Day.

Kim

Saturday, May 10, 2008

An Accident?



He said his kid was an accident. I thought smuggly that I'm glad that I was planned (or so I was led to believe).

Then I started to imagine a continuum from deliberate to accidental.

Imagine someone getting off a train because it breaks down. Then a cyclone comes (an unpredicted cyclone, of course) and drives a tube through his private parts (ouch!) into the vicinity of her fertile egg. And one hefty little critter fertilizes the egg. Will, that kid was truly an accident.

On the other extreme, imagine a DNA expert sorting through a bunch of critters, picking a very special one to fertilize an egg. Well, that's the other end of the continuum.

A product of a hot roll in the hay is not an accident any more than is a gun going off in a bank robbery. It is called "conditioned causality." The condition made it possible for something to occur, though other outcomes are possible (unlike cause and effect scenarios).

Friday, May 9, 2008

Connected in Strange Ways



Knowing that we'd have a person look at our house (to buy), we worked all day to clean it up. Then we went to dinner and a bunch of errands while they were looking.

This evening we weighed 300 magazines that we are practically giving away. Someone is going to have to pay lots of shipping.

Our daughter called, and she and my wife talked for what seemed like hours.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Elbow Grease Rocks



Another long long day.
First did my income tax extension, then went out with my friend to an Indian lunch and a cheap plastic camera photo exhibit in St. Charles.
Came home and prepared the house for a showing tomorrow, then a party.
After an hour of so, went home to make a drawing, but first talked to my son for a while on the phone.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

A Minute Early



Woke up very early. Decided I was tired, so went back to sleep. I dreamt that I saved my sister who had put on a bathing suit and drowned herself in the bathtub.

Later in the morning talked to the guy who was putting some new parts on my wife's pottery wheel. Then we gave him lots of stuff--wood, welding equipment, shelves, etc.

I had an appt. on the other side of town. Went in what seemed to be plenty of time, but there was lots of rain and traffic. Just made it by a minute. Lots of impatient waiting for lights to change...and to stay changed long enough so that I could get through the multitude of intersections.

Then a nice dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant, reading the paper about the crazed woman who runs the public radio station.

After which a trip to the library to see a high school art exhibit and check email.

In the evening went to meditate with a group of people, followed with a Quaker-like discussion on a variety of topics.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

On Strike



We scrubbed gutters yesterday. We used ivory soap (it floats) because a neighbor said it was as good as anything. I think it was the elbow grease that did the trick.

Today I woke hunched back and crippled. Finally eight hours and two Aleves later I recuperated.

And now, after a cerebral evening, I'm ready for another day tomorrow of physical labor.

Kim

Monday, May 5, 2008

Truth



I met a man who was full of the truth. His wisdom was only skin deep.

Boyfriend

Rhinoceros Fan (an infamous koan) One day Yanguan called to his attendant, "Bring me the rhinoceros fan." The attendant said, ...