Category: Arts and Aesthetics
All things creative. All things beautiful, profound, and moving.
Since December of 1989, I’ve walked my dogs (anywhere from one to six of them) a mile or so every morning and every afternoon. Every day unless I’ve been too sick or the weather has been downright dangerous. Yesterday we had our first frost. I bundled up, but the breeze was just stiff enough to pierce my clothes, redden my cheeks, and set my nose dripping. Ava seemed to enjoy herself, but all I could think was, “I can’t face another long winter of bone-chilling morning walks.” Ava, even at 14, has boundless walkie energy and will stare at me…
11 CommentsOne recent Saturday I slumped under a cloud of doom. “You have nothing left to say. You’re a failure. You might as well close up shop and slink away.” I felt capable only of staring at the walls or losing myself in a Downton Abbey marathon. Even lying down to take a nap seemed like too much effort. Nearly all writers know this mood. It’s often the precursor to a burst of productivity; but when we’re in it, we never see that. When we’re in it, it’s always The End. Sure enough, the next morning I snapped awake at 4:21…
25 CommentsWith company gone, life back to normal, and too many rainy July days, I finally decided to haul out, assemble, and learn something about those knitting machines I scored early last month. The days I discovered, researched, and bought the machines, I was hot to try them out. By the time they’d sat for weeks, my attitude was merely dutiful. Sigh. I already told the blog I have these machines. Somebody’s going to ask what I did with them. I better do soooooomething even if I don’t feel like it. So Thursday morning the Toyota KS650 knitter wasn’t the only…
9 CommentsFor anybody who wonders why I live here … … that’s 12 feet from my back door. Of course, sometimes the vegetation does get carried away. Between morning glory, ivy, alder saplings, and the omnipresent blackberry vines, you can almost watch the grow-y things growing. Summer may not be sunny, but it’s one long struggle to keep plants from taking over plants. This is what that big fern in the right foreground looked like 10 minutes before I took the above shot, being strangled and consumed by morning glory tendrils: Beautiful, cannibalistic vegetation. We have everything a rain forest has.…
6 CommentsOne day last week, I couldn’t bear being inside my house or inside my own skin. Normally, solitude is joy, but there are certain days — and I’ve had a lot of them, this gloomy spring and summer. I wish I could tell you I get through such times by meditating or some other spiritual practice worthy of a true hermit. Ha. Truth is, at the itchiest of those moments the only cure is to escape from the hermitage. And usually to shop. Oh, not for designer shoes or fancy clothes, unless I can get them from a thrift store.…
10 CommentsNo, not a commercial announcement on my behalf; I have NFI in any of the following. I just think they’re all worthy causes and items you might be interested in. 1. Liberty Under Attack Publications, aka the very young men who are reviving Rayo’s old freedom strategy of VONU, now have more books online. In addition to books on the vonulife, they’ve got volumes on bitcoin investing, subversion, strategy, and sedition. Who could ask for more? 2. A brief reminder that friend-of-liberty Elias Alias has expanded his Silver Seeds of Liberty line. When he’s not agitating for freedom, Elias is…
3 CommentsWritten Sunday evening; posted Monday morning from my car, grabbing a few minutes wifi. —– I’ve beat my brains this weekend trying to come up with something brilliant for you. I’ve got nothing. But aside from feeling guilty for the nothingness between my ears, having nothing is a blessedly pleasant state. I’ve been sewing. And cleaning junk out of the laundry room in preparation for the next round of serious minioning for The Wandering Monk. And buying fabrics for $1 a yard from one of the local thrift stores, which just inherited 20 boxes of sewing supplies from some woman’s…
5 CommentsRealizing my readership is mostly male, I hesitate to post the following. But don’t tune out on me, guys. Or at least not instantly. Don’t assume from the topic that this post is too girly for your macho selves. Think of this like finding a box of old gun or car parts or fishing tackle, all from one guy’s garage. —– Behind one of the local thrift stores are boxes of freebies — loaded up every morning, then tossed out at the end of every day. These are newly donated items that are almost trash, but Chris the manager hopes…
28 CommentsMy “guardian” dream from late last month continues to haunt and puzzle me. Though I’m no closer to understanding it (and it demands understanding and perhaps action), I’ve had some help along the way. I’ve already mentioned Commentariat member Shel leading me to Jung — actually two Jungs, Carl and his wife Emma. Then yesterday I found an unexpected gift in a locker at the post office. That up there at the top of this blog is a framed and bejeweled print of a 15th-century Russian icon of a (or perhaps the) guardian angel. Or as the handy translation sheet…
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