Front Window

My bedroom window faced north, due north, towards the mountains. I could be certain of the directions because my town was founded by Mormons looking for an outlet to the sea for their theocratic democracy of Deseret.

Broken Arm

That's the spot. That's where you fell. You broke your arm on the sidewalk. You must tell that to Mom or else we'll both be in trouble.

A Wide Open Letter to Leftist Bloggers

I think many of you are spending too much time and focusing too exclusively on politics.

Another Open Letter to Jeanne d'Arc

I respect the right of news organizations to function as units and to act as centralized distributors of information. But every center point needs forces on the edges controlling its spin.

Why I Write and Read Blog

One editor is not an adequate test of the value of an idea. A trained corp of journalists is still not enough.

Dream
I'm walking down the street, out of a factory and past several places where I used to work, including a...

Snowballing

Whispery grunts and then I stammer "Lynn. We don't share those secrets, what we did before we married."

Bare Butt Face at Byte Back

I presume from this that Andrew feels the need to keep his face as hairless as his hind end, perhaps to justify the fact that he uses toilet paper to both wipe his nose and that other orifice.

Baby Killers?

I still maintain that I while I do not support "our boys" as they ransack Iraq, I also will not fling nasty epithets at them when they return home.

In Defense of Quarantine

When I opened my eyes, my mother looked at me strangely and started unbuttoning my shirt. She gasped and buttoned it up again straight-away.

Gratitude

In addition to my thanks to all who have linked, to all who will link, and all who will sign my guestmap on the left, let me say that after typing all that, my arm is sore as fuck. Good night and peace to all.

New Blog at notfrisco2
All those people who loved Alice's responses to my recent blogs will be pleased to know that she now has...

Virginia Mew Goes to the Vet

She forgave me for all that she suffered.

Birthdays

Now: humiliate me. Tell me who else I missed

Who Was It?

Feral. Feral was the sound I made in response. A groan, a scream, a screech, and something with claws. Claws to defend and protect a soft place of secrecy and privilege, a burrow lined with rags torn from t-shirts where I kept truths untold, things she didn't need to know.

Jake the Roach

Here's Jake's info: 68.51.68.42

Another Writing quiz

Psssst. Crazy Tracy is a virgin!

Dreaded Hill

Dreaded Hill rises like a great panther paw between two canyons.

Piracy on the High Bandwidth!

JJ's two weeks behind the rest of the blog world and I'm behind JJ.

Like Controlling Rabbits

The statement's like one pregnant rabbit.

Sunburn

I burned myself out on the hike yesterday. My right arm more than my left which is odd because it was midday and both were equally naked.

Do You Agree?
Three questions is all you need to answer. Came closer than many quizzes that I have taken! You are a...

Whiting Ranch Wilderness 2003

"I've been telling him about 'the mountain lion'," he winked. "Tell him about the mountain lion."

Sistine Chapel 1979

Who will buy this wonderful religion? I thought I heard them saying to each other.

Declaration of Choice

The men who lust have pornography, the employers a large job pool, the salesman other opportunities to make their case. The Wingnuts are free to blog and comment elsewhere. I am under no obligation to bend the course of my life and my convictions to argue with them.

Phillip Glass

Phillip Glass. The name suggests transparency. His music sets tones between you and the things that lie within finger reach and past that.

Facing Peace

This may turn into nothing more than a way for the American Stasi to compile an enemies list, but I added myself to the Faces for Peace site.

Vincent Had My Eyes

My friend alina is back from her visit to Holland. She said that she saw my eyes in a self portrait of Vincent Van Gogh.

I stank

A year ago, I stank.

Put this on your blog 4....

Rah Rah Doesn't Make for Change

The Republicans promise me "War and Oppression" and the Democrats, it seems, offer me "A Little Less War and Oppression".

Boring Spod?

I'm an apparently intelligent, liberal, tight as fuck, seizure-inducingly boring spod!

Screaming Meme

...the Truth Sucks.

Put this on your blog 3....

Put this on your blog 2....

A voice is more powerful than any bullet because once uttered, words can be repeated over and over, whispered, shouted, or painted on walls. They cost nothing, you don't need to buy in. This is real liberty.

Put this on your blog....

GUNS DON'T MAKE FREEDOM.
PEOPLE DO.

Nineteen Ninety Two

Now the Wimpocrats don't want to raise health care as an issue because they say "it's a loser cause". They're right.

Premature Monuments

When the present American system of government falls (and is replaced by a more democratic one), one of the first act of the new must be to erase all the names that were bought by wealthy lobbyists, especially of these living devils who set the stage with their appointments and their policies for the present era of war and terrorism.

No Subject at All(?)

It's no subject at all. It is silence. It's the distraction and the illusion of content.

Cynicism's True Nature

[20:46] [Songbird] Hey!!!!! you are cynical

Crop Rotation

Call this a time for crop rotation, a change of topics or just a rest.

Critique on Critiques

I think it reflects a certain insecurity, an amateurishness, to raise a critique against a story to the effect that "it is too long to be a short story and too short to be a novel".

The Courage of a Cat

As my wife crouched for the snatch of the cat, Virginia mewed and whimpered. "How," she asked in her feline tongue, "how can you make me eat that stuff?"

Politically Correct Easter

Lynn and I suggested that instead of spewing out "Happy Resurrection Sunday", they just say like the Orthodox do "Christ is Risen".

Whistle....

Saddam Hussein's Minister of Information declares war to be won.

Road Rage 2

The instructor gave me a blank, "thank you for sharing" look. As I sat back, I muttered to my seat mates "Well, there I've gone and upset all the Fundamentalists."

The Neighbor in Zagreb

The soldiers and others who carried guns openly never looked at me as I passed them. They could stop and hold a civilized chat. Not this man. His voice murdered us as we scurried across the courtyard....

Windmills and Tugboats

Mom liked to sneak up on me and spray me with one of the sample bottles. "Now you smell like a girl," she'd sneer. And I know that she secretly feared that I'd become one.

Not Getting It

I wanted to stand up, point to the guy, and cry to the instructor: "Flunk that man! He's not getting it!"

One Trick Pony

Where I come from, there's a word for people who can only harp on one thing: a one trick pony.

Icon

A white marble-monument, a pyramid with a gigantic bead perched on it, ten feet past the last twisted stand of manzanita.

Sermon on the March:
Beatitudes for the American "Christian"

For a contrary view on the meaning of Christianity, read Matthew 5: 3-11.

A Date Passed

I don't consider myself an expert on married life. I do, however, recommend it when you choose carefully and thoughtfully.

Deep Down

The habitable part of our condominium ends its fall from the sky at a long seam separating its concrete foundation from the tarred over asphalt of our cul de sac.

Crazy Tracy Under the Knife
Keep your hearts open for the success of Crazy Tracy's surgery....

Free to Criticize?

A very clear case that the guns of our government aren't being pointed in defense of our freedoms but in direct assault against them.

Falling from Grace

I only learned what a dick was because boys drew graphic pictures of the things all the time -- hair, urine, and wrinkled skin -- and pointed.

Personality as a Casualty of War

It's dead stuff, lifeless, removed, experience that isn't experience at all.

New Goddess Proclaimed

Someone has to protect the bitches.

Blast from the Recent Past
Conversation got hot in the comments for my Open Letter to Jeanne d'Arc....

Stop Signs

Someone went around my home town of San Bernardino, California, carrying a stencil and a can of silver spray paint in about 1970.

Whoa Joel?

If liberals won't treat people like me as human beings and talk seriously about our grievances, it will not be our fault if we vote our consciences. That's what a thoughtful and informed voter is supposed to do.

End of the War?

It's arrogance of the highest order, suggesting that if news of an Afghani or Iraqi death doesn't reach us in our comfortable homes it doesn't happen.

A Prediction

You can rest assured that if Bush wants his war against Syria badly enough, he'll get it.

Tax Time Power Dive

Today, all we Americans are expected to put in the forms that document that we've helped to pay for the everlasting war that most of us don't want.

Velveteen Rabbit

Someone tell me: what happened to the skin horse?

Missing in Action
The following bloggers are missing in action: Artichoke Heart (since March 15) Cycling Dude (since April 7) Dear Raed (since...

Virginia Mew

She's a changed cat in the small particulars.

Tomorrow
Tomorrow I hope to blog about the world and not just the war. I'm so sick of the war. It...

No More an Apology than Deserved

Two weeks ago, I mentioned comments by an unnamed American to the effect that John Komyakevich "got shot because he was an idiot". In fairness now, I must face up to the fact that this war supporter was actually referring to the gun man.

Teohuacan 1

A Rebuttal to Post-War(?) McCarthyism

Pardon me, but I am an American and I am exercising my right of free speech to criticize this adventure. No, it is not preserved by force of arms. It is preserved by using it fearlessly.

On Contempt for Semantics

War is the thing we're trying to prevent here. It is in all our best interests to use the right word(s) that zeroes in on what we're trying to do.

Inclarity and Paranoia

But I deserve neither the flak, the silence or the uncertainty that many of my readers have given me. Clarity is a responsibility that no one who writes should shirk. The reader is not always the one to blame.

Faux News Reports

Almost Flattering....

I suspect I was close to being the French in the castle, though.

Anorexic Actresses

We, the popcorn eating masses, are indirectly responsible for this, because of the reward we grant to those movies in which the actresses appear. It's not that we think sickingly thin is a good thing: we want people on the screen to look normal.

Things in the Head

Many things start in the head. Books, plays, films, paintings, sculptures are all things which everyone will agree proceeds from the mind of the artist through the hand and into the world. But we don't like to think about other things that start in the head: wars, the decision to pull a trigger, to point the barrel of a tank cannon at a civilian hotel, etc.

The Wishy Washy Middle

The pacifists tend to praise me, but the worst flak I take are from the wishy-washy middles who have dropped me like a hot potato for, crime of crimes, disagreeing with them!

Guadalupe 2

Psssst
I'm also posting stuff at Acts of Conscience!...

Wednesday Writing: Of Monks and Tobacco Allotments

How could a crew of nonviolent monks sleep knowing that their land produced warring cancer cells in the lungs?

Taxpayer Dollars for Propaganda

If my brother, who works for the Department of Labor, cannot work on political campaigns or promote causes using his government email account, then neither can Sgt. Dupree.

The Third Week of the Three Day War

It's hitting people that war isn't a football game.

Choke and Wheeze

My poor friend winnie showed up at the IRC #travel channel yesterday and immediately got teased about being a ghost because we hadn't seen her for days.

Guadalupe 1

Tracy Comes Home

Tracy came home yesterday, via UPS.

War Blogging
This feature has been moved to Acts of Conscience....

An Open Letter to the Virgin Mary

She is with us.

Lies, Damn Lies, and IRC

I never stated that I lit fireworks when Americans die. I want our boys home, not in Iraq. Whoever is spreading that rumor is not to be trusted.

A Film for Our Times

A Lead Balloon at A Pity Party

Tonight, part of me is thinking "if such people didn't come around when I was alive to say those things, fuck them. I don't want them at my funeral."

Catch 22

This isn't dilemna: this is despair.

A couple of quotes

I think I'm already there.

Double Talk

When the sounds of the word "liberation" and bomb explosions coalesce, I cannot sleep: How can you liberate the dead?

In the Asteroid Belt

I suffer all this -- the sneezing, the itching, the doubts about my longevity --this because of the promiscuous, uninhibited sex life of weeds, trees, and shrubs.

What is a Pacifist 2?

"I'm a pacifist," an NRA enthusiast once told me. "That's why I carry a gun."

New Weblog at this Site
We're pleased to announce the addition of Acts of Conscience to our fleet of weblogs. Acts of Conscience is written...

Tracy's Bum

"Tracy!", I'd hear them cry as if I'd committed a heinious offense such as blowing in their face, "I'm not going to clean your bum!"

George W. Bush: Servant of Satan or Servant of God?

"I'm glad we have a Christian president," said "big_jizo" and I said "We don't."

War Blogging
This feature has been moved to Acts of Conscience, a new group blog focusing on issues of conscience, especially peace,...

Beggar Queen

Virginia Mew is still getting over the shock of becoming Top Cat after being Bottom Cat ever since she moved into this household as a pocket-sized kitten.

Tuesday
Tuesday's father passed away suddenly in his sleep on Wednesday morning. She writes "This Girl Thinks" which is hosted at...

Dream
I'm getting on the freeway, driving to see my brother. The ramp is unusually long and it runs alongside the...

You Are A Military Target

The moral of the story is think, think very hard about the line of propaganda that you're being fed.

But I don't want to beat Donna up!

That's the kind of sausage you buy at the grocery, folks. As for the other choice, give me tuna fish any day.

Conscience: A New Web Ring

This ring is not for the uncertain or the undecided. You must be ready to affirm that people -- all people -- matter.

Crematory

"Oh, my poor baby!" I cried, as if she could still feel it. "I'm so sorry!"

Scene at the Soup and Salad Bar

I'm going to come down hard on you, so hard on you," she yelled.

Open Letter to Jeanne d'Arc

I felt very much alone in the world, an odd duck bleeding from thousands of shotgun pellets and waiting for still more to come from all quarters.

Thanks

Thank you to everyone who responded so quickly to my news of Tracy's death last night. And thank you to those who will offer their comfort.

Joel 101

Two things you should know about me

Why no comments for War Blogging?

Someone asked this via email.

Tracy Tu Tu Wa Wa (1986 to 2003)

She died as I said, in my lap, crying only once, near the end.

War Blogging

I'd like to confront an erroneous view that is going around in some circles, one that is epitomized by the folksy saying that there are three positions on every issue: yours, mine, and the Truth. I feel that this is a cop out, a way of avoiding adjusting your take on events when the facts don't support it.

Death Watch

I don't know what is passing through her eyes as she lays there.

Definition for Our Time

America: the one country in the world where running with the herd is considered -- nay, touted and extolled -- as an act of individualism.

Remember John Komyakevich.

Face it: Americans are now in the habit of rushing to judgement about anyone or anything who makes this war effort look bad. Some shoot to kill.

State of Caring
Old news, but in this time of war, it's worth a second look. Do you live in a stingy state?...

April Foolery

I've been threatened with shooting by right wingers for my views enough that I suspect the story about killing the peace activist for his views just might be the truth. If not, it's a sick joke.

A Confession

APRIL FOOL!