it's fun for a girl and a boy

i love the simple graphics on this package. the colors are really soothing and of course it's a classic toy. the text here is great as well. the promise of "lots of fun" and a device that needs no accessory pieces or an energy source other than the interaction you give it. refreshing. but i must take issue with the "nothing to wear out" statement, having been on one end of these with my brother on the other end, stretching it beyond its intended design. i've found you don't have to stretch them quite that far to still get that cool star wars laser sound by flicking one end. now if i only had a physics professor around to explain all of the relevant lessons i've been unconciously learning from this thing. hmmm...minimum input - maximum output.

hurt so bad i ache
you play me still can't let go

locked like part of you

i flash LED
pro 1 pro 2 which are you
listen hear the charge

eeting

found this in the parking lot at my old job. guess i missed it. the eeting. i wonder what it was all about. whatever it was the guy looks pretty unhappy about it.

so the good news is after being out of work for ten months i started my new job today at the local radio station. the bad news is i'm on the graveyard shift...

bored on sunday, looking at cars...

small houses 01

location: auburn folsom rd, auburn, ca
funny how you don't really see these anymore. growing up they were everywhere. so much a part of my conciousness. now it's hard to imagine that time existed when everyone has a star trek communicator clipped to their belt. technology always brings this promise of a better tomorrow, and yeah, sure i guess it's better to not have to walk for miles and try to find one of these late at night after your car's broken down. but so goes part of the adventure too. this one doesn't even have a door. remember the folding glass door? sometimes closing it would activate an overhead dome light inside. i guess the door encouraged "homeless motel" traffic. still, on a rainy night while you waited for the AAA tow truck to meet you and take you back the three miles to your poor old car, it was a pretty civilized temporary shelter. (they even gave you something to read) when i was a bike messenger i used to carry a pocketful of change around the city on my bike. after every drop off i'd have to find one of these and check in. salesman's office. reporters's desk. superman's changing room.

4 wheelin' fun

my son was outside the other day and created these little scenes. it's like a little story. three friends set out on a clear morning to do some back country driving. the baja bug guy, the rav 4 guy and the scout guy. the day started off well, the baja and scout guys leaving the rav 4 guy well behind. later however, baja guy would run into a little trouble at one of the deeper crossings as rav 4 guy zoomed ahead. but finally at the end of the day it was baja guy out in front with rav 4 guy deep in the stuff and scout guy looking on. yet another victory for volkswagen...

glastron kicking ass
sawed in half not a problem
still floats hope secure

faces part 02

more faces :^)

faces part 01

if you haven't seen robert francois' book "faces", you should definitely check it out. like george nelson's book "how to see" the reader steps into a world where the familiar and everyday gets a second look with surprising results. it's inspired me to look with different eyes as i travel about. so here are some of my own faces.

storm clouds hang in the air. it’s getting late now. there aren’t many riders left out there. most folks are already heading for their cars. and the rodeo folks are starting to pack up. still, charlie remains. damn leg’s hurting again. he slowly stands. his eyes follow the action in the arena. “team ropers”, he thinks. “they look awful good out here, but i wouldn’t bet any of of ‘em could do any real ranch roping.” memories parade through a steady stream of bright daylight in his mind. days. days gone by. and the nights too. charlie twists slightly in his standing position. leg’s stiffening up. he takes a last look into the arena with a critical eye before turning to leave. tomorrow he’ll be back at work fixing broken fences. and the rodeo will have moved on...

i've been all over man
sleeping in your backyard
life through this window

criss cross in california

so i woke up yesterday up in the mountains near bear valley. doing a little painting for my father in law. after lunch i drove down to discovery bay and dropped off my brother. then headed back to rocklin. after a quick shower my neighbor came knocking on my door asking if i wanted to make a quick hop to the bay area and back. my neighbor is a private pilot and needed to trade out planes. so hugs and kisses and we were up in the air. i even got to do a little flying. a quick turnanround and we were back in rocklin. almost 500 miles. sadly the first 250 took about 6 hours by car, and the next 250 took less than a third that time. flying. it's a way to go.

thrift store finds

went to our local "hospice" thrift store today and found some real gems. janis joplin's greatest hits on 8-track (nope, i don't have a player) tiki playing cards (perfect for my tiki bar) a myron floren album (come on, don't tell me you can't dig on accordian) and finally a near mint in the box early 60's canon "canonet junior" 35mm camera complete with instructions, warranty card and everything. it's like somebody bought it, and then stored it away for 40+ years just for me! so needless to say i've got stuff to do this weekend. that's right, i'll be partying down listening to accordian music and playing tiki cards. so come on by!

summer reading

as i was walking by my dresser this morning i glanced at the stack of books i had sitting on top and it occurred to me that a theme was emerging in my summer reading. trip books. and then i realized that this summer marks the twentieth anniversarry of a personal odyssey for me. back in 1989 i set out with four friends in a 1977 volkswagen westfalia from california and crossed all the way to the east coast and back. (though the vw died somewhere near waterbury, vt) i guess i've been subconciously remembering that trip and continuing to bookmark future ones in my mind. anyway, for someone who isn't really going anywhere this summer i'm enjoying the trip.

final resting place
sitting off the main highway
consider my name

lost stories from hwy 40-part 1

in newcastle on old hwy 40 there is a little cemetery off the main road. i'd always see it riding by, and was struck by these monoliths with chinese or japanese characters (not sure which) and so i decided to stop and check it out the other day. i love walking around in old cemeteries, not because i'm really into death or anything, i just dig all the historic implications of all these people's lives and lineage and place and time in history and well it's also really peaceful there. i can sit down and listen to the thoughts in my head and just kind of process.
as i was walking around i noticed this old tree whose limb had grown out laterally and been supported by this huge 4x4 post like an old man's arm on a crutch. the birds kept calling to each other jumping from tree to tree as if warning against a potential predator. i guess they don't see a lot of people each day.
there are markers here dating back to before the civil war and like most other cemeteries all manner of elaborate and ornate stone of different sizes and shape. in death people can still show by what means they lived. but my favorite ones are these simple ones in the (I think) japanese section with ink calligraphy markings. not even cut characters in the stone. amazing if they have preserved all of these years.
maybe i am into death. anyway, it seems to make life taste sweeter.

firecracker blows up
everybody turns to look
went off in my hand

rd

record scratches
an aging turntable
we all go around
one more time
impressions of the groove
cut deep on our souls
the man labors
and bends to his work
a bottle of beer
on the work bench
it’s getting late now
and all are sleeping
upstairs
wrench in hand
he moans with the record
it’s the blues man
and he digs it
the sacrificial saint
turns his head upward
and closes his eyes
to feel the pain
of one note
pierces his heart
sweat rolls down
dirty hands
he drops the wrench
and picks up bottle
pulls back
free hand directing music
he stands to survey
old iron
but not as old as he
waiting for life
the spark to explode
in this promethean lab
someday
soon
and it shall rumble and growl
and clear it’s throat
and the man
he will mount the beast
and throttle it screaming
forward through terrified
neighborhoods
the dance of nine thousand
rpm
spinning like the record
inside his head
burning the distilled
prehistoric fire
from within
it is life
and life stretched out
on another spin
around the turntable.

plastic hut

i saw this little toy at a really cool toy store in sacramento and was intrigued by the packaging. it looks as if inside this little box you're going to find all the pieces you'll need to build a plastic chicken house that would comfortably house a toddler. a kind of pre-fab quick-build temporary shelter that fits in the palm of your hand. but as the box also says this an "educational" and "funny" toy. ha ha.
anyhow, still a lot of fun. this is exactly the kind of toy that would have been perfect to have when i was a kid at my grandma's house to pass the time while my parents visited and i counted the minutes until we could go home. (but i still like the toddler kennel idea)
it will fit in well with our collection of lincoln logs and army men as a kind of passing farm scene for the soldiers trudging through the french countryside of ww2.

do you come rock hard
we are incomplete need you
boy or girl just rage

Free Couch

Needed a free couch and so went looking for one on Craigslist.
So many to choose from, not all with a picture.
It made me kind of sad.
So many couches that soon would be homeless.
Droopy and stained and outdated and worn, and sometimes torn.
There is a world out there of rotating couches going from one house to another through ads like these.
Moving silently in back of pick-up trucks or hanging out the end of minivans.
or left by side of road or tossed in woods.
That plaid one kind of worries me.
I’m not sure it will find a proper home.
So many.
What will happen?
The world no longer needs new couches, we can’t take care of the ones we already have. Sleeper, recliner, loveseat needs a cover.
Just stop by, don’t bother knocking.
Just help yourself.
Can’t take it with us.
Free Couch.

i shouldn’t be here.
i should be walking through golden fields, the sun warming my smiling face.
i should be surveying valleys and mountain streams instead of sitting here in a dimly lit fluorescent conference room listening to the dry conversation of engineer minded individuals discussing the merits of programs to grow sales in the electrical wholesale business.
i should be listening to the sounds of the woods and the voice of the hawk.
where there is no spreadsheet and the bottom line is now.
here.
there is so much i miss everyday and i am so ill equipped to do what is right in front of me.

wrens fly seeking nest
i make a little bird house
peace fits to make home

favorite things 01

as i was enjoying the celebrations yesterday i took hold in my hand one of my very favorite things. anchor steam liberty ale. it's a favorite for a number of reasons. first, i dig the word liberty. like freedom.


it sums up one of the precepts our country is founded on. secondly, it, as i hails from san francisco. and finally it just tastes good! bold. sweet. like liberty. i try to make it a part of every independence day celebration. viva.

more photos from my double exposed warehouse prom roll. happy independence day!

warehouse prom

so here's the story: back in the early 90's i was working at tower records. one day walking through the store i looked down and spotted a roll of film. i picked it up and looked around to see if anyone had dropped it. there was no one nearby so i held on to it. not knowing whether the roll had been shot or not i loaded it in my camera and shot the whole roll.
i was living in a warehouse with a bunch of friends and as it turns out this is the only record i have of that time. when i developed the roll i discovered i had shot a second series of exposures and the above are the result. apparently someone dropped their prom roll and their recorded memories of that night vanished forever. until now. i call the two guys smooth and eric.
the first shot is pretty normal, but as the night dragged on it got a little more surreal...