Monday, August 31, 2009
Wake Up Call At The Hotel Rastafarian
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Adventures of The Good Lil' Consumer
Friday, August 28, 2009
Fab Vocab
highball minx fracus beanbag rumpus room
teeter totter perpetual motion machine
fisticuffs haberdashy egg cream
gargoyle tongue-lashing welts washstand
isthmus jerry-rig wiseacre addlepated
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tubes And Transistors
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Random Acts Of Canineness
I know that if I look down right now, I'm likely to see a large slug sliming its way across our hardwood floor. They come in through the sliding glass door. I have never figured out how they do it without getting squashed, because staking out a slug portal to learn their ways is not something I'm keen on doing. We tried stuffing foil into the cracks of the sliding glass door, and that seemed to "foil" the slugs ---yuk yuk --- and keep em out. But Cheri just comes along and rips out the foil like she's doing us some big favor. One of the goals I set for myself each summer is to make sure that no matter how many times I run out to the driveway after dark in bare feet, to retrieve something from the car or put a bike away before it rains, I will never ever set foot on a slug. Well now my new goal is to make sure that no matter what, I will never have to watch Cheri eat a slug.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Cheeses Of My Life
I can’t explain it -- I’m giving Frampton Comes Alive! heavy rotation on the cd player. I wanna go to the sun. I don’t know what he means, yet I know exactly what he means. Put me down for one sun trip, dude. The dog knows the cd inside and out. She rides around with me. We steam down the highway while the thunderheads gather and the piano tries to gain dominance over the guitar. Oh the comfort of 70’s rock concerts. Last night it was time for my listening enhancement exercises. For lighting I chose the dark of night. I had no idea that Beck’s Sea Change cd is full of colors and vibrating patterns. I saw them with my own mind’s eyes. It was like a firehose of wonder. I wept. The summer bugs were deafening. It’s like that song, “You’ll never walk alone.” You really won’t, not with that racket all around you. I went inside and licked the last bits of cheese off the plate. I put imaginary flowers in a blue vase. The house was modest, but well-scrubbed. I always liked reading that in books—that something was a bit shabby, but well-scrubbed. Or that the cup was chipped, but was full of gleaming tea. Or the fabric was worn, but had been pressed to look neat. Simple humble things that sound good because someone has tried to get the most out of them. Always milk objects for all their charm if you can. Put them to work for you. It’s easier to do this with old, worn things, as there is no charm in plastic. I really had scrubbed the kitchen floor. Like a crazy woman I scrubbed it. Found out those specks were not part of the original design. So now I could say it. Our place was modest, but well-scrubbed. A good place for thinking. And for indoor picnics with wine and cheese.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Hobo In The Sun
So I slipped over to the Dharma Bums, and read about a man who chose the hobo lifestyle. Partly influenced by the time he was a little boy, when a hobo stopped by the house and his mom gave the hobo a piece of pie. And the little boy asked his mom, "What is he?" and the mom said, "Why, he's a hobo." And the boy said, "I want to be a hobo someday."
That reminds me of a line in a Partridge family song that always cracks me and the kids up. The song is about someone who was a wanderer, until they found love, of course:
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Strip Tease
Sunday, August 2, 2009
I fantasize that train travel will make a comeback. That trains powered with alternative fuels will criss-cross the nation, so that you can hop on and off easily, see the country flashing by your window, as you delve into a Kerouac novel. The rock and sway of a train on the track is surely more soothing than the tossed-around-like-loose-change-in-the-dryer sensation of flying.
Update:
My kids made it back down from the sky, but their flight was very turbulent. Lots of thunderstorms in the NYC area. So now their 2nd flight is cancelled, and they'll be spending the night in N Y C.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Beatnik Cave
"Exploding from alleyways and ivory towers! Living by their code of rebellion and mutiny!" That was the blurb on an old movie poster I saw, for a movie titled "The Beatniks". I especially like the part about exploding from ivory towers.
Maybe beatniks culture will make a comeback. We have William Shatner doing interpretive readings of Sarah Palin's tweets, accompanied by bongos, on the Tonight Show. This is not the first time Shatner has shown up unexpectedly for Conan O'Brien. One of the best moments on TV in the last decade has to be the time that John Tesh, Abe Vigoda and William Shatner suddenly rode across the stage on a bicycle built for three on Conan O'Brien's 10th anniversary special. The choice of Abe Vigoda to round out the trio was pure genius, is all I can say.