a smile all the way from bloomington

these cars are stacked up
somewhere in bloomington
abrahamland
where a smile
brought rainy skies
in a way
that was as good as it gets
for telephones
anyway


a bronze of abraham
sits on a bench
unprotected
outside the museum
waiting for
a photo op.

let's hope a descendant
of john wilkes somebody
doesn't get
the grafitti bug
or worse,

a terrorist itch.

Mickey Spillane Passes

One of Americas foremost racy private-eye novel writers of post WW2 era fame will write no mo.

never read a Mickey Spillane novel, but he was the toast of many of my friends. he was one of the bestselling authors of the 20th century, so there must have been something there.

he died peacefully with his family - it doesn't get much better than that.

op art revisted

this is a print entitled "turtles" by ritsumei.

similar to some of the optical art (opart) of the late 60's and early 70's and somewhat parallel to Escherian tradition of printmaking.

the niftiest thing about this design is that the turtles are assembled in straight lines like azimuths from the center of the design to the outer edge in concentric groups - there is no spiral, it's just an optical illusion.

good work risumei!

thought this was funny

this would be the perfect t-shirt for a particular computer oriented person somewhere in the great prairies of these united states.

and dang, it's even green.

over and out,

abe lincoln and bloomington-normal IL

Visitors to the McLean County Museum of History in Bloomington, IL now encounter a statue of Abraham Lincoln on the east lawn.

The Lincoln Bench by sculptor Rick Harney offers great photo opportunities to pose beside a likeness of Illinois' favorite son.

Lincoln knew this location well, because he tried many cases in the second McLean County Courthouse which stood here from 1836 to 1868.
The bronze statue was unveiled in July 2000 during the 150th anniversary of Bloomington's incorporation. Mayor Judy Markowitz donated it to the city in honor of the Stern family.

picture and info from: http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/art/bench.htm

Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States. A 2006 special census indicated that the population was 74,975 [2], and it is predicted that the city's population will reach 100,000 by 2020.

It is the county seat of McLean CountyGR6. It is the host of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, which is nationally known as one of the top Shakespearean festivals in the country (held at Ewing Manor).[3]

It is adjacent to Normal, Illinois, and when mentioned together they are known as the "Twin Cities, "Bloomington-Normal," or simply abbreviated "B-N."

Useless Trivia? Maybe, but this might be one of the most important cities in America. Who would have thought it?

I'll leave you with my favorite Abe Lincoln quote:

"Nearly all people can stand adversity, but if you want to test a persons character, give them power."

birthdays, can't live without them

time to schedule a trip to the optometrist for some stronger glasses or to find out about laser surgery to eliminate them altogether.

thinking of going with bifocals of the smooth no line type. don't have a clue what style will grab me but might go with one of the faddy new thin line types like all the trendies are sporting. thinking about some john lennon types as well. only time will tell.

this weekend was interesting. spent the morning saturday climbing the east ridge trail at armstrong woods state park. met a couple of nice people at the trail top and walked back down to parkinglot land with them with some difficulty. one of us had a sprained ankle.

saturday night after a phone call with a special person, on a wild mission I drove to Robert Louis Stevenson State Park. (he spent his honeymoon in a cabin that was once there and site marked - that was 1880) parked on a dirt road near the park (out of sight) since the park is posted only for day use and rangers patrol regularly.

about 5 miles up to the top gave me a view of sonoma county that must be one of the best. did a little remembrance ceremony for an old friend named chevy chaser, whose ashes are there on the summit. that way I can see the place where he is from anywhere in the county. there's the ashes of another dog that was before him also there who was a doberman named Missy. eventually went out like a light and only woke to the sounds of some small varmints crawling around in the undergrowth once or twice. before I lapsed into unconsciousness I watched the stars and that big old moon and thought about all the campouts that I've enjoyed and what a strange place this is.

woke at 5am ish and hiked down before the rangers were making their first rounds and wanted to call somebody but didn't.

while driving down the mountain, decided to drive up to cloverdale to pick up my canoe which has been stored at a friends place. gave it a good washing and then transported it to santa rosa. then went over to terry's to watch the giants game and barbeque turkey burgers done in the garlic and italian spice tradition with grilled green onion, celery and green bean packets done up with basil, grape oil, sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

first hiking in awhile but not the last. hiking to the high spots is something that really moves me and must be a throwback to something in deep cellular memory. guess I may have to say goodbye to all these places sometime around the bend. time to visit them all and take a few last looks. this is the first place that ever felt like home and it will be missed.

believe it or not

Ripleys grave is here in Santa Rosa. from now on it will remind me how strange things really are.

spent some time on the phone last night with the most amazing person on planet earth - believe it or not.

long weekend. spent one day at the coast, one day at the river, one day with some friends goofing off in sebastopol and one day watching baseball and the nathans hot dog eating contest. tekaru kobayashi put down 54 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes. heck of a way to get your 15 minutes of fame that leads to fortune.

now, beyond the mundane and commonplace - time to begin rethinking reality and my part in it. time to bury some things, exhume others and figure out this believe it or not life.