2009-01-03 night vigil | night vigilwe’ve been staying up late, and kristin has likened this to vampirism, but really this is more like a night vigil for smiley. i’ve spent the last fortnight up late with him, crushing pills and vitamins, slathering them with peanut butter and placing them at the back of his tongue with some resistance. it’s not the easiest task i’ve undertaken.
now that smiley has taken more to the floor, splayed out with a distant look in his eyes, handsome has taken to staying close to me, the way smiley has for the past 5.7 years. it’s a changing of the guard, of sorts. now that i think about it, smiley was only a few years older than him when he took to me like glue, so i don’t see why handsome won’t be just as great a number one in time. he’s just still a little neurotic to take the helm. i suppose this can be trained out of him. or maybe it’s what he’ll bring to me as a lesson to learn. smiley’s brought wisdom and that quiet unspokenness that breeds confidence. maybe it’s time for that confidence to pass on to a new breed.
i understand that australian cattle dogs need the right kind of attention or they become so set in their obstinate ways that the only way to break them of it by really breaking them of it in a camp in alabama. crazy. well, this is a chance to ensure that handsome gets what he needs.
he’s already been helping out on the caretaking front, something he was known to do when he was brought in from a farm over two years ago, where he was taking care of a puppy not much younger than himself. that’s why he’ll make a great number one.
make it so.
Here’s the recent draft of a poem to take us to dawn:
Graves of ashes
My father has never been laid to rest,
His name left upon no tombstone,
There is no memorial to remember him by,
Or marble to weather the ages.
More than seven years have passed,
An entire body’s rebirth,
And his ashes remain in a box on the mantle.
This obstinate stance is pitiful,
Though this vigil deserves memorial.
My shadow dog lies in the hallway
With a tumor in his spleen,
His sleeping body trembling
With the cold grasp of what is imminent.
He’s stopped eating,
And since we cannot let him starve,
Soon Smiley will join my father
In a grave of ashes.
We’ve already decided it will be cremation,
To spread him in his favorite park.
He will die, then, and not die,
Every time we take the others to Walnut Creek.
Handsome rests his head between my akimbo arm
And hip. It’s as if we’re both
Refusing to let him die alone.
As evening grows quieter,
With only the scratching on the dogs and shaking of tags to break it,
He is not letting his allergies interfere with the mourning.
We sit like this until morning.
| | |
| |
2009-01-02 new year’s jam |  | Currently
Ladyhawke
By Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Leo McKern, John Wood
see related |
new year’s jamgreat to get together with some musicians on the first night of the year. covered a few of their tunes and put together a rought recording of one of mine, then a blues jam. nice to have easy access to multiple drum mics, various guitar amps, and a decent vocal mic. i think i’ll need to take advantage of the studio more often. downside is it’s southside, 17 or more miles from the house. but i think it’s worth the trek to get more ideas down. i expect to have a few recordings down by the next visit.
night before had a great time with a few close friends, also a good time. a great way to ring in the new year with grilled pizza, homebrew, and a midnight toast to the new year. it’s like giving birth to yourself all over, if you believe in such things. i’m just glad i didn’t have to hear those t.v. people’s voices or that lameass new year’s song. that’s one thing i can’t get into.
all these events have left me mostly recharged; now i just need to get myself on a normal sleep schedule. with our late night schedule of late, kristin’s been joking that we’re inching closer to becoming vampires.
i walked with a zombie... last night
hmm... 2009 - year of the vampire? let’s hope not. i’m all for vitamin d... really! and i like garlic too much to convert...
ps - ladyhawke director/producers - avoid using a synthesized soundtrack for a film that’s supposed to take place in the middle ages. irrevocably dates the piece to the 80s. this makes it hard to watch 25 years later. young movie makers also take note of this. | | |
| |
2008-12-27 shadow boxing early in the day | shadow boxing early in the dayfigured i was ready for cassius clay.
i said fee fie foe fum, cassius clay here i come.
99,100,101,102 your ma won’t even recognize you
14,15,16,17,18,19, gonna knock him clean right out of his spleen!
progress on many things -- baseline results on school project, read a paper for work, set up inverspace press website, typeset the space ace merchants rules and wrote a poem.
playtested space ace merchants and a game of the old 2-player robin hood from back in 1979. seems the two player version of sam needs a little work, but i stand by the 3-4 player version. i think the trade dynamic will carry the game. sure it needs more playtesting, but for now i think it’ll work as is. crazy to think that a two-page rules sheet could convey such a complex game. i suppose hat say a lot about language. also about using standard playing cards and poker chips; there’s so much that’s already encoded - suits, numbers, face cards, aces, relationships between them, etc.
kristin was also very productive on multiple creative projects, including her most recent play. can’t wait to see it produced one day. sounds very intriguing, but i’ll let her describe it elsewhere when she’s ready to share it.
we’ll see if we can’t eek out more days like this between now and the end of the year. and more days with smiley, poor guy. | | |
| |
|
 | Enchanted Tree Upon Enchanted Rock
Enchanted Rock State Park, TX
2002-12-27 |
|
|
