One Poem, One Tune, Three Photos and Several Turtles
Are we headed 'Hellward' or do watermelon-loving turtles show a better way. Plus, my new band plays one of the saddest songs ever written.
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From good guys in bad wars, to birds on a wire, butterflies, bees & baby band tunes
Looking back on 'When Earl Went to War,' plus glimpses of some birds, butterflies, bees, and an old song by a new band
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MONASTERY NIGHTS: Again I lay me down to sleep in the hoot-owl monastery woods
Standing near a fallen oak tree in the middle dark — is it 1, 2 or 3 a.m.? — all I hear besides myself is wind whooshing through millions of leaves, an intermittent chorus of whistling tree frogs, and the eternal hoot of a night owl on the hunt. I am very much in need of a night of woodland…
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It’s a Jonas Brothers Thing (‘You wouldn’t understand, Dad …’)
The Jonas Brothers have been stars for awhile. Their music and drama have been the soundtrack to my daughter's life. She just turned 30. So, how could I resist an offer to go to a JoBros show together and witness the ardour of it all?
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Saying goodbye to Earl one last time
Earl Goodall, my neighbor, friend, and an amiable human being, passed on at age 93 on July 5, 2024. Earl was the subject of my 2021 16-minute documentary, "When Earl Went to War", about his Korean War service, while also portraying the man's sweet, down-home character. Here's a look back at the kind of guy who never gets lifted up…
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Categories
Photography
Fireworks imagined as iPhone artworks, instead
While the country careens towards an election that will determine everything, your webguy takes a mental health break to look at Fourth of July fireworks as an art form.
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‘CRAZY DAYS’: Hieroglyphic turtles considered as Nature’s telegram
I have found a turtle in the tall grass in the back yard, lounging beneath a stately weeping willow. It is a box turtle, with odd orange and brown hieroglyphs adorning its shell. I have never seen one in the flesh, much less held one, although I have seen drawings in the dictionary. Captivated by the enigmatic artwork on the…
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Categories
Sorta Memoir
Catching up on a sprawling space opera, societal collapse, and other ambitious proceedings
Between fretting about the cat peeing outside her litter box and fearing a Reign of Retribution if Donald the Dark Heart returns to the White Throne, I try to keep up with long-simmering, perhaps too ambitious, projects like my sprawling, speculative fiction, multimedia space opera. An update!
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Five Photogenic Thoughts (While Trekking Here to There)
The road goes ever, ever on, even as / we trek, head downward before the dusk, / following the tips of our black shoes. / Wondering who did this to us or that / to us. And how did I get here?!? / And where, O where, will I wash up next …
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Categories
Photography
Knitting as America smolders and other distractions from potential political Armageddon
As we move toward an election in November that could ring down the curtain on the American experiment — not a republic, not a monarchy, how about an autocracy overseen by a malignant narcissist? — I find myself needing to knit to calm my nerves.
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Bringing some ‘Lights’ in answer to the darkness
‘Lights’ by Rebecca Skeen-Webb encodes her spiritual DNA and deeply observant self. It is an honor to sing it every time I am up for it, seeking to channel its worthiness, heartfulness, and truthfulness. Here is a music video homage to the song of a much-missed human being.
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Categories
Music
PROSE-POEM: ‘Lost Girl Elegy’
He digs into his wallet. Hands over a $20 bill. God bless you, she says. But where's the god for lost girls in a squalling storm? She turns to go back into the Taco Bell. He shuts off his car. Gets out. Do you have a phone? No. She says. Anyone at all to call?
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POST-ECLIPSED: Some final notations on a cosmic experience
Post-eclipse, thrilling with fellow humans at what we had just witnessed, it was a stark reminder of how few and precious are the sweet collective experiences we now share in an America riven by engineered dispute. And how utterly important it is to be reminded of the significance of shared wonder.
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PRE-ECLIPSED: When it all does not add up, and yet it still all goes on
And, so, we light up our smokes. Then, ponder the / shape and proximity to clouds of what escapes / our lips. Passing the time between the next / befuddlement, the fresh intoxicating despair, / the blindside moment of sublime wonder ...
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5 QUESTIONS: Susan Werner on going long, Texas tuneage, and the art of the song
For folks who know the upper echelons of songwriting, 'No Depression' magazine once awarded Susan Werner some high praise indeed: “When it comes to crafting a song, Ms. Werner’s only peers are Jimmy Webb and Paul Simon.” Study up on her songcraft in our '5 Questions' with her in advance of an April 6, 2024 show in Charleston. W.Va.
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Categories
Music
