Thwarted

Well, so much for that.

Insanely Awesome

Image from Shackleton Antarctica expedition, 1915
(Courtesy Retronaut.co)

Thanks to Khoi over at Subtraction, I just got hip to the wonders of Retronaut. The site features collections of vintage images, including rare, antique photography, covering a wide range of topics. My first intro to the site was a collection of photographs--in color, no less--from Shackleton's expedition to the Antarctic, almost one hundred years ago. As a storehouse of encapsulated historical imagery, Retronaut must be considered a resource of inestimable value--not to mention a dynamite, terrific idea for a website. That is so much the case that I am adding the site's home page to my Sausage Factory over there at the right. If you have any interest at all in history, photography, visual arts, or the intersection of any of those, do yourself a favor and check Retronaut out.

Psychic Ability

I've been thumping this drum for about a week and a half now, so I figured I'd cowboy up (pun intended) and set it down with a date and time stamp so everyone will be wildly impressed when I prove right: I think the Eagles are going to win the NFC East. I see them winning their last two games, the Cowboys losing their last two games, and the Jets putting the Giants out of our misery this coming Saturday. A long shot, I know, but I think it's more probable than some might imagine, and I want to get out in front of it. So there--I set my prediction down in black and white (or whatever colors you monitor is showing right now). We'll see how it goes...

Calls of the Wild

The children of the night...
such music they make.
(Photo courtesy wikipedia.org)

So here I am, staying at my Mom's place in the old folks' village of Rossmoor, and every night about 1 or 1:30 I get to hear a brief symphony from the local coyotes.

This is not exactly new to me; I heard the coyotes howling plenty of times during my residence at my apartment in nearby Lafayette. But these late episodes bring something special to the scene: a certain wonderfully ominous character to them that strikes my ironic funny bone in a most peculiar way.

You see, it's basically winter out there (not by the calendar, but for the Bay Area, this is pretty much it as far as that season goes). And you have all these old people holed up in their boxy little apartments, while outside a band of mini-wolves is howling at the door. It's like a theater in the round version of a very odd Russian play. Next thing you know an army will march through and seize everyone's grain.

Yeah, I know it's not much, but in these trying times I have to amuse myself with what I've got. Check back in next week when I'll be house-sitting and enjoying more leisure time with myself for something more entertaining.

Mobility

Once again, for the second time in three years, the Heavily Fortified Bunker has been broken down into Lego sized boxes and stored away, leaving me temporarily homeless for an undisclosed amount of time. This is an unfortunate circumstance, to be sure, but yours truly will endure. And maybe, now that the move is accomplished, I will have more time to dedicate to posting items here on my cyber-home. Selah.