Por Fin!

My debut post from abroad! South of the border, once more. We both shifted a little south, didn't we? Let's start this off with a visually appealing post, and then I can play storyteller later on.

These lovely flowers grow all over the land around here.

Sunset from up in Soledad Grande, "The Grand Solitude"

The ever-present view of volcanoes in the distance.

Steiff: Knopf im Ohr

GERMANY. I had an amazing time. Wonderful food, wonderful people, wonderful setting...and the wonderful Steiff Museum of Giengen: home of the original teddy bear. I am the proud owner of two Steiff bears and left the museum wanting to add to my bear family. I am a such a sucker when it comes to stuffed animals. Im sitting here with my stuffed wombat Wally, happy with him, but wishing I had bought a bear at that museum. Sigh. Next time.

I never have to worry, because you're always here with me

five seven fine

maters and mayo
oh how much I will miss thee
southern snack delight

oh cornelia
how I long for you to be
in modern times, please

thunderheads roll by
floating pristine white mountains
but never a drop. dry.

trailer parks sprawling
red dirt roads wind down hollers
where hopeless hope reigns

good-bye georgia, dear
another summer has past
and I’m free at last

Memories fade, like looking through a fogged mirror

The old that is strong does not wither

As I enter a nostalgic mood, I am appreciating some nouns that have maintained their integrity throughout my short lifetime, and the history of mankind.

Insects are very old.I have been afraid of cicadas for a very long time. Thanks, Dad.

Chickens are decedents of velociraptors. Very old. This is also a very old picture of Midge, before she grew in all her beautiful feathers.



I was probably about this old when I suffered a traumatic incident with cicadas.
Also traumatic, how crooked this photo is. Sorry.



My mother's faithful dog is also quite old.
Sweet boy has survived two cats and two corgis. What a trooper.



Polaroids are old. These trees in the Polaroid are old.
They are gone now. And one day I will be too.
But that's alright.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

Addicted to Spuds

I'm sure you have been chomping at the bit to find out where i was Monday night. Or maybe not...but I am going to tell you anyway. Besides getting googly eyes from creepy white guys with horrible braids, I was...

...at a WEIRD AL CONCERT!!!

Yes, you read that right. Whether you like Weird Al or not, that concert was amazing. I was skeptical at first. I mean, I love his music, but would those songs really translate well on stage? Would Weird Al really be Weird Al? The answer to both questions is YES. Without rambling on about how great the show was, lets take a look at a couple of his wardrobe changes. The guy had a different outfit for every song.

First up, we have the classic Weird Al look. Bright, colorful, Hawaiian-like shirt with black pants. And lets not forget the signature accordion. And crazy hair.

Wait, is that Kurt Cobain? Grungy, double layered, overly large shirt, jeans, hair that could use a wash...nope, its just Al during his parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

Nosferatu!!

Now Al takes a quick trip to the 80's. The sweatband should be a key indicator in this outfit, but if not, the keytar is a dead giveaway.

Weird Al's red carpet attire. Spongebob Squarepants T-shirt, heart boxers, and a pink frilly tutu to bring the whole look together. He will definitely make the top ten best dressed list in this getup.

It is widely known that Weird Al is, in fact, Amish.

After a quick stop at Ponderosa in between songs, and 300 lbs later, Al is ready to keep rockin' it. The double (triple?) chin adds to the allure of this outfit.

Al takes a religious break while dressed as a Jedi. He vaguely resembles someone I know, but I just cant put a name to him...

And finally, we are back once again with the accordion, but this time it's paired with a karate uniform. Like a redhead, his hair is the ultimate accessory.

Mirror Mirror

It started out as a trip to the bathroom. Simple enough, right? Well for me, never. Especially when there is a reflective surface involved. As vain as it is, I can spend hours goofing in front of a mirror: playing with my hair, making faces, tweezing my eye brows. Ok, enough. But today I was stopped in my tracks when I noticed a red blotch on my jaw line. Upon closer examination, I found fang marks. How I did not notice something digging its fangs into my jaw is beyond me (well, I was pretty wrapped up in making awesome spring rolls).

So it started with a simple photo of my life threatening wound.

And then, I started to get a little carried away.Nothing out of the ordinary here.

Oh my gosh, who is that creep?

Look at all those Eiffel Towers.Slight obsession with Paris, yes.

I am going to refrain from putting up any more, especially since the passage of time on the clock is rather incriminating. And just as an update, my jaw has not fallen off yet. I think I am going to pull through this one alive.

I saw something nasty in the woodshed!

If you haven’t yet, you must read the book Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. Since it is one of my favorite books, I own not one but two copies (one of which is full of great illustrations by Quentin Blake). I don’t need to give you a complete review of the book (which is GREAT), or tell you what the book is all about (but if you want to find out, go here). There was also a pretty good movie adaptation made with Kate Beckinsale as Flora and Ian McKellen as Amos (I love you, Ian McKellen! You were great in King Lear!).

So this week when I was trying to come up with a post topic, I was rereading Cold Comfort and realized that if I open the book to any random page, I almost always find a great quote. So i did just that! Below are a sampling of quotes I found (with page numbers).

• My idea of hell is a very large party in a cold room where everybody has to play hockey properly (p. 13).

• At this moment the trap came to a halt outside a public-house...and Flora was relieved, for the conversation seemed to have entered one of those vicious circles to which only death or collapse from exhaustion of one of the participants can put an end (p. 79).

• A strange film passed over Adam's eyes, giving him the lifeless privaeval look that a lizard has, basking in the swooning Southern heat (p. 32).

• She liked Victorian novels. They were the only kind of novel you could read while you were eating an apple (p. 46).

Sue Dough Nim

So after a wonderful weekend, I am back below the Bible Belt. The trip took half a day by plane, during which I was able to sink deep into thought (akin to a sleep deprivation induced stupor). In this state of mind, I tapped into what little literary creativity I possess and came up with a few ballin' Roller Derby names. They are as follows:

Scarlett O'Horror. Mother Noose. Malice in Wonderland. Cat Plower. Bob Villain. The Beat-Alls. Johnny Smash. Shades of Pain. Tic-Tac-Hoe. Shoots & Splatters. Lucy in the Sky with Dynamite. Rot & Roll. Noogies & Scream. Curl-up & Dye. Florence Night-in-Jail. Catch-her and YouDie. Napoleon Blownapart. Margaret Thrasher. Marie Fury. Elizabeth CanWe StabThem. Rachel Arson. Allison Chains. Laura Imthe Wildest. Dora the Exploder.

Some of these are pretty dang lame, but that's all I could come up with for the time being. Now I just need to practice my skate skills.

I thought of just your face, relaxed, and floated into space.

I came to a point in my painting where i was no longer inspired by my subjects. As you may know, when you are not inspired you tend to move slower, to procrastinate, to get bored easily, and to look for any kind of a distraction to take you away from your task. Now, seeing as how i hope to have 8-9 paintings done by the end of the month, i thought i would be proactive. Instead of sitting around waiting for inspiration to hit me, i went out to find it. With my trusty camera in its old holey glove, my bicycle, and a beautiful morning, i set out.

My camera is my best friend.

It's been one week

since you've looked at me. Great Song. And not far from the truth when it comes to me updating the blog. My apologies. But in that week, I have done many things. And consumed many things. With 108 weeks to pack for, I am putting into perspective what I burn through in a week:

Two avocados. At least six eggs. 1.5 cartons of chocolate & vanilla silk. 7 bananas. 8 oz peanut butter. Two heads of romaine. 1 stalk of celery. 12 t-shirts. 4 pairs of pants. 7 pairs of undies. At least 40 text messages. A full charge on my iPod. At least 28 emails.

That's a lot, and it doesn't even touch the surface. Fractions of bottles of shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, face soap, hours on the Internet, pages in my journal, and an array of make up products.

Putting this all into perspective will be quite an adjustment. But luckily, there is a silver lining in every cloud, and always

The Jungle Fowl

I hear a quiet rustle,
and a gentle scratching sound
The bush before me quivers,
a few leaves fall to the ground.

'What creature could be moving,
among the ferns and clover?'
'What lurks beneath the shady elm?'
Are questions i mull over.


A sudden flash of feathers,
a small beady little eye,
and then pops out a chicken
with a startled chicken cry.

Nine chickens then surround me,
wondering if some food will come.
They quickly find, however
that I haven't got a crumb.

With indignant clucking,
the chickens all turn 'round
they march back to the jungle,
leaving feathers on the ground.

The Ozarks

The Ozarks. An American landscape: rolling hills, big red barns, picket fences and double wides. It's a beautiful country. I have lots of kin folk deeply rooted in the Ozark, and while I gripe about it I treasure the time spent out there. My eyes have never met a landscape more pristine and unaltered than the hollers and hills north of Springfield.

When hunting down my Grandmas old farm, we drove over Little Sac Creek and Dry Sac Creek by a highway (MO K) that looked as out of place in the hills as my MK bag & oversized bright purple shades. We drove around in a maroon King Ranch diesel that was as deafening as a garbage truck backfiring. But as we trucked on into the rolling hills, leaving the highway and turning onto Farm Roads, the truck and its occupants (save me) felt at home driving through towns that had a handful of inhabitants, like Hog Eye. There were no post offices, fire stations, or stop signs. A 4 bedroom 2 bath home for sale, with 10+ acres, a well, and a classic bing red barn was listed at $25, 000. In my mind its not that the land isn't valuable, its just the American life out in these parts is a little different. This is the closest location I can find to representing my Grandmothers old 200+ acre homestead on google maps. When I searched for the address, google maps could not find the location.

With the movie Winter's Bone opening soon (which undoubtedly will not come to these parts of American life), I am curious to see what and how the director portrays life in the Ozarks, especially surrounding the troubled characters of the book & movie. I am not by any means a historian or expert of any sort about life in the Ozarks, but from all my family from the area and my visits there it will be interesting to see a comparison.

The only thing I do know is that on an aesthetic level, there is no countryside as peaceful as the sunny wooded hillsides in the Ozarks.

Electrocute the Sound

There is nothing like a good electro/techno beat to spice up your exercise routine. The repetitiveness of the song gives you such a great tempo to work with and really helps keep you motivated. I was thinking about this the other day while I was biking up a pretty steep hill. I was so concentrated on the beat of the music (and breathing!!) that I made it to the top without realizing it.
So, i have scrounged up a couple of the tracks i like (and some of them happen to come with pretty awesome music videos as well). They are in no particular order.

1.) The Chemical Brothers - The Salmon Dance

• Not only informative, this music video also comes with a beatboxing puffer fish and a seriously high kid. I love the creativity and the beat in this one.

2.) Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor

• I wonder how long it took them to wash off all that paint... The chorus is the best.

3.) Bomfunk MC's - Freestyler

• I first heard this song on MTV in a hotel room in Florence, Italy, and man, is it great to dance to! There is no way you can sit still for this one.

4.) DJ Antoine - Work

• Ok, if you ignore what the song is actually talking about for a second, you will find that this is one GREAT workout song! Unfortunately there is no official music video for this, so just sit back and enjoy the music.

5.) Fatboy Slim - Weapon Of Choice

• Christopher Walken dancing. Enough said.

6.) MSTRKRFT - Easy Love

• Gross music video. I actually had never seen it before this posting. Strawberry milkshake aside, what is up with the dentist office?? Anyway...great song. Very similar to Daft Punk.