A shower will be mandatory

I found all my poems from my old and obscure myspace account. Most of these poems are very strange and many have visuals and language that are ..... hmmm let's just say I'm not sure if I'm comfortable putting these back out there. But I can put this one out. The title of this post is the title of this poem, and I still like it.

They are sitting around moving in slow motion, drunk and clumsy
being slothy and purposefully dramatic in eveything they do
is there some blanket of heat causing them to conserve every last bit of energy?
Sometimes a large grouping of THE committee makes eye contact
I've seen it happen before, but many times it just moves into nowhere
but today, the seemingly listless cruise control separates itself
kinda like waking up suddenly when dozing off
Rise up

now wide eyed, they all look at each other as if some noise did not make sense, putting them on edge
everyone is alert now
even the old creaky man holds his cigarette at his waist and exhales completely so he can listen properly

someone is wrestless and their doodling has turned into something more
something much more
instead of shouting eureka, the energy from his self elightenment
gives off a pressure shockwave and purple ring of light
slowly standing with arms running through the hair and raised into space
there is a definitive statement of status
a growling bullhorn that throws a large knife into everyones hands

I can't hear what's being said though
it's muddled...something about the need for a prophecy
that culture cannot survive without the hope of a saviour
and that preparations must be made? some kind of invitation and sacrifice?
They are getting louder cheering and shouting
A cloud of debri that smells of manic aggression starts to form
A rarity to have hot bright sunlight and thunder with no lightning

I feel a sense, a need, to squeeze and tighten every muscle
It's like an elixir of courage, a shout of rage, a speech that empowers you to die before accepting failure
To stand before all that is painful and crush it with truth
To destroy that which is cancerous and stare it into oblivion
It smells of some irrational emotional genocide and for a second
I shudder
And yet I can't hide from the visions of my hands violently scooping away
from life what I want to devour
Can pleasure walk in the hands of righteousness or is this the devil's rationalization...

EAS and dreams

Today the Emergency action service message system came on the tv. It sounded like the devil was talking through my tv. It was kinda freaky.

Couple nights ago I had a very potent dream. Ssince I've been reading about Freud a lot, I've been contemplating it more. Here's the dream.

It's at night and I'm in a gym. It's not your normal gym though, the ceiling is prolly 40 ft high. I'm in the basketball court area and it's not lit very well. I'm also near urinals that are very big. Not 40 ft big, but maybe 10 ft tall. There are other people in the gym, but I can't see them too well. I'm anxious because I feel like these people might harm me. And finally, there's this rumor? or fact? in my head that an alien spacecraft would land tonight at any moment.

Now that sounds silly of course, but in a dream, things can seem very real and if you think about the idea that everything in our culture would change if a Day The Earth Stood still moment took place, it's kind of scary. So more fear of the unknown is brooding. I hear voices, but nothing specific, the squeaks of shoes on the gym floor, and then I hear it!

A bolt of bluish lighting outside that is so loud, so intense, it feels as if I'm a mouse in a can and Thor himself is shaking the can. It feels like every light in the living world was put out by this bolt of lightning and that God's hand at any second would encompass me and rip me out of this dimension into a void of somethingness. In short , it scared the living shit out of me, and I felt like a child that needed to run for his life.

I woke up, not quite like they do in the movies where your upper half is flung forward in a pool of gasps and sweat, but like my body was trying to jump out of bed. I threw the covers over me and squeezed my eyes as tight as I could, shivering and feeling that child like wimper that can overpower you no matter. Thank goodness I was able to sleep after that as I calmed down.

Swezicuz

A self portrait, a dumpster, a broken window, a sidewalk in mobile, and something else.

Got bugs

I've got earwigs in my house. Haven't seen these little guys in a long time. It seems I kill at least 1 a day since I've been here. Well tonight one ended up in my salad somehow. Luckily I didn't take a bite of it. So I guess its time for some pest control to make a visit.



I bought a couple bottles of Smart Water. I liked the size of the bottle to keep in each vehicle, plus I was sucked in with their 'pure as clouds' marketing. They vaporize the water and then distill it so it's uber pure. Anyway, I did a blind taste test with my Culligan osmosis filter. Couldn't tell a difference at all. I thought, haha you're a sucker. But if Jen drinks it, then it's all good. (kiddin!)



The new Tron trailer is out and it looks so awesome. I will be happy if the script is ok. It doesn't have to be amazing. This is one movie that I will let substance go, but if it did that would be great. I won't get my hopes up though. One point of interest is that Jeff Bridges younger self is digitally placed on another actor. Looks decent enough. I think they did similar effects on Benjamin Butter Bean or whatever movie that was called.

And finally I invite you to peruse Tom Sachs's website. He's an artist that I found out about while watching The Neistat Brothers on hbo. His work is interesting.

TOM SACHS

Spring Mts. b&w pics

First I must say that my dinner tonight was so frakkin good. It was simple and perhaps a combination of timings, hunger, and simplicity, but... grilled 4oz sirloin on the bloody side, microwaved ( I don't turn my nose up at the wave) sweet potato with just a tad of smart butter and seal hahaha not seal, but sea salt, and a salad. Ok some leftover avacado dip and left over chips from Cafe Rio. Was sooooooo tasty, so succulent. It reminds me how far I'm willing to go to turn a blind eye to inhumane animal slaughter.

Turns out I've eaten a good bit of naughty food the past few days. Also consumed today is the left over split desert portions from Cafe Rio, that of coconut carmel flan and tres leches. The flan was decent. I could've done without the coconut, but it wasn't so sweet like other flans I've had, so it was different/good. The Tres Leches was very goood. If you get a chance, I recommend.

Ok now the last pics from the mountain. ( btw you can make these bigger if you click on them)


This one is perhaps my favorite



This pic wasn't doing it for me so much, but the red dot makes it much more interesting.


I'm thinking I should've burned the corners on this more, but oh well


And the log that makes Maximillian when mirrored. The smallish cluster at about 5oclock looks like something from a Guillermo del Toro film, like it would just ooze alive and waddle over to you, produce gruesome eyes and then shriek.

More Spring Mt. Pics

The coolest sap oozing ever!


This next picture is really interesting to me. Coming down the mountain you get this vista of other mountains, but the range is so far and huge, you actually see them on another large rolling hill. The Grand Canyon is deep, but this view really struck me for it's length and span.


This is a mirror image of a log that I'll post tomorrow in a b&w series of pics. It reminds me of some mutant wood Maximillian. Bonus points if you know the movie that name referes to.

Spring Mountains

This past Sunday, the family went about 40 minutes west to the Spring Mountains. It's kinda cool to drive a short bit and have the landscape and temperature change dramatically. It felt soo much cooler in the mountains. Lots of juniper and pinyon, with lots of trails and camping sites. We just did a little hiking, but you know what I was thinking about.

Here are a couple of pics of Mummy mountain seen during our walk. The horse just came out of nowhere. Snuck up on me like a carrot ninja.



Lightning perhaps?


Close up of burned wood from another tree

Radiator blues

My 10 year old car is in the garage today. Suddenly started overheating. My friend suggested that I have the radiator flushed going on the logic that one, I can't remember when was the last time that was done, and two that the hot temps here are making the need to have it flushed evident. I certainly hope this is the case. A google search brought me all sorts of gloomy stories about overheating in Celica's that just doesn't go away.

The funny thing ..if I had researched the car before I bought it, I prolly wouldn't have bought it, for fear of the gear shifter messing up. The car has been great to me though. Sometimes, the internet is not a good resource. A better example is when you look up a weird pain in your body online and you come to the insane conclusion that you have scabies.

Got to sample some downtown rush hour traffic today. Vegas continues to present some of the dumbest intersection designs I have seen. The traffic wasn't too bad though. A good thing is on some merge ramps to the freeway, they have stop lights in each lane, making one car stop so the other one can go, essentially spacing out cars that are merging. DC could use these.

And finally, a picture just sitting around. The story goes something like, no I said I wanted 3 stars not a 3 of stars on my face!

Mirror 071710

Here's a mirror image overlay that I thought was cool. I can kinda see what looks like a very old scarecrow looking at me.

Elk Moutain

Here's a pic from Liz's phone of my crew on our drive over. It was very windy here at Elk Mountain. This tiny gas station saved our butt though, so I was very happy. Asa found a copy of People and decided it was her new precious.


Walking today just across the street, Liz peeked in on a spider web and saw a big spider. Upon closer inspection we decided it was a black widow. WOW! That mama was huuuuge. Yeeesh! I thought they were smaller than that. Turns out there's a bunch of them out there. Man spiders can creep me out sometimes.

Sheep Range

There's a grip in the tires I haven't felt in years. It's all I can do to hold back the rpms as I rip around a corner. The dust is contagious implanting some leathery dream about driving cross the desert in a beater late 70's mustang while I listen to led zepplin and feel the scortching heat of the leather seats underneath. With mountains in the distance and the seed of dirty last chance adventures, it's me defying my adult constraints, running away in a day dream thrilling to the unknown. Then the phone rings and it all stops.

Whoooooooooooo- On my way home - yup - no just ate - ok - bye

Asa says to me, "Dad....turn the music back up!" That's my girl! And we rocked the rest of the way home.

With a high of 112 and higher than normal humidity today , I still went for a run a bit later than I even planned. I ran towards the north mountain range here, or sheep range. Running in the desert after sunset is a bit creepy. I'm not sure why, maybe it's all those horror movies that take place in the desert. Like Wolf Creek. Man that movie was harsh. But it's a 180 from running on a paved trail through corn country and I'm diggin it. It was damn hot today though. It was 121 in Death Valley today and while I'm running I like to think of Scott Jurek in his first ever Badwater run. I won't tell his story here, but let's just say it's awe inspiring.

Road pics

This was a pic of Elk Mountain in Wyoming. You can see the wind breaks on the left. Ton of those things there. Almost ran out of gas right around here. Phew!


I think this is really just a pimped out Jawa transport, but who knows.


My first look at the strip in the day driving in. I jokingly say it looks like a big truckstop. I know I know, wait till I get close and at night.

Bellevue Medical Center

Before I left Aksarben ( which was a real company btw) I got to wander through the brand spankin new hospital. I wasn't even approached by security and asked for for my drivers lic and why I'm taking pics. The power of a little girl at my side makes me very innocent!

This is looking out the non denomination chapel inside the building.


The cafeteria. The chairs were really heavy, not sure I dig that.


Ooooh fancy bathroom!


Carpet is kinda ugly no?


Some guy got all this weather photos in the hospital. I wonder how much he got paid or did he just donate them? I'll take weather pics over motivational posters any day even if the pics are just ok.

Yah my eyes are that bright!


Please don't stuff food in the center of your table.


Comfy but cluttered?


You see all those glass panes in the stairs? My ocd committee member puckers and shakes his head saying noooo.
This pic needs a quote bubble. If only she'd chose the chair next to her. :)

Oh that Dyson

You know him and his vacuum! Well now he has a fan with no blades. I'll be honest, I want one. They cost way too much though. (a pic from the website)

Asparagus Soup

Had some for dinner. Not bad. In fact, it went really well with the cheeseburgers I grilled to absolute perfection, dripping with hot succulent juice and meaty meatness. Alongside that we had some rosemary, garlic bread that Liz made and that just jived with everything as well. Finally, the strawberrys we got from this place called Fresh & Easy were just amazing. I'm not bonkers for strawberrys, but these bad boys made me recognize. hahaha ok I'm insane. And yes my pee still smelled funky from the soup.

This new house is pretty nice in many ways. It's bigger, newer, and the fixtures are very modern. But ya know, in many ways I miss my old house. After 3yrs I think I really kinda got attached to the place. I had my movements down, knew what switch did what, and was used to the space of the rooms even down to the ambiance. It's all different now. Kinda makes me a little sad.

A last look at my crazy neighbors who will have up to 10 kids at once in a showered trampoline.

Zombie Moon

A week in the heat! It almost started to rain the other day. You could really smell it too. Today I took a ton of cardboard and paper to the recycling center. I drove with the windows down and just let the heat wash over me. It's not so bad. At least you can do things outside in this weather, even if you have to do them in the morning or evening. In the harsh winter of Nebraska, it's flat ass cold 24-7 with dangerous driving conditions.

I got Stars free for a month so I decided to sit down with the new living room setup and enjoy a couple of movies.

First up is Moon. A decent movie overall. I really like Sam Rockwell and he continues to show how good of an actor he is in this film. The set design was very well done too, looking dirty and clean in realistic ways and with instrumentation that seems authentic. I appreciate those small details especially in a lower budget film. The film is a bit slow at points though, and explores a really depressing scenario with a justice that leaves one a little flat. But the middle portions are juicy enough.



I finally got around to watching Zombieland. It's what I expected, a fun and cool comedy...uhh with zombies. Got to love the opening scene with soccer mom getting thrown out the front window of her van and sliding to a stop. Ouch! Loved the Bill Murray stuff. Too funny. To think they were going to make that into a TV series or something.

Dry Heat

Are you excited about moving to Vegas? That was a question I was asked a lot. Honestly, I wasn't. I was too concerned about other things like selling our house and packing. I had no expectations either of what it would be like to live here. Even the house we moved into, I'd only ever seen a few pics of it online. That was really weird to do that.

I am curious about desert living though. I can finally say I know what this 'dry heat' business is. It's like standing by an oven basically. The lack of humidity here does make it more comfortable in many ways, especially at night or in the shade. But I've only been here less than a week, so we'll see how that opinion shapes up.

I'd say about 80% of the plants here ...I have no idea what the hell they are. It's like an alien planet. But it's cool to learn some new plants. We got this killer used tiled patio table, that I want to put a cool cactus on. It sits in my small yard that's half stone, half astroturf. It's a big change going from a yard that's about 5000 sq feet to one that's 500 sq ft. At least I don't have to mow.

Good news is our VA appraisal came early and is thumbs up, so now we are just waiting on a final walk through.

Oh yah and the streets and parking lots here are designed by the drunks from downtown apparently. You know every town has it's traffic quirks and such, but my neighborhood has a ton of WTF driving moments. Keeps ya alert for sure.

Finally, I'll end this post with saying my run tonight was very cool. Gotta wait for the sun to get low first of course. Right thigh was feeling a bit stiff, but warmed up nicely. I basically live right near a mountain range now, so I decided to run towards it. There's a road which I'm not even sure how far one can go, but it appears to go right up to the base of the range. Looks grueling!

I didn't go far enough to go up that road, but I ended up quickly getting off road running on hills and little valleys alongside the main road. There are these huge mega power poles all around too, emitting a buzzing noise here and there. With the hot wind, desert mounds, and gravel crunching under my feet, I ran about a mile into this wasteland. It was kinda creepy like a pack of dogs might be hiding in there or even worse those pesky movie mutants could've been hiding somehwere. Coming back I could see the orange glow of the sun behind the mountains which was a nice contrast to their mostly hazy appearance. Just a big contrast to my runs through the cornfields in Nebraska. I wore my Frees today too, and got a ton of rocks all stuck in the soles, but they felt really good even off road.

Provo

The pollen in Provo is making my nose itch. ugghh

Today was not the boring drive through Nebraska. The first half of Wyoming is very scenic. Driving through the Rockies, the sky opens up big, and you can see a whole town or train all at once. You see well pumps chugging along, lots of EAT USA BEEF stickers, lots of cattle and sheep, windmill farms, and the most amount of wind breaks along the highway I've ever seen.

Wyoming is a windy son of a bitch. The latter half of the drive was fairly intense as my fully loaded 4 cylinder hybrid Escape struggled to get up hills. The head wind was strong enough to slam the truck door and the gusts were shaking my truck all over the place. Throw in some really long 5% grade downhills and it gets even crazier when the left lane is purposefully filled with small bumps to remind semis to stay out of that lane.

At one point, Asa informs me that she has to use the potty. So I pull over on a little side road right next to a huge windmill farm. Liz pulls behind in the car. I pretend to be blown away by the wind, which wasn't too far from the truth, and my cell phone flew out of my pocket tumbling on the pavement. Then the back plate caught a gust and just flew away! Asa made a huge poop which I flung into the wind. It didn't fly very far though. Liz retrieved my phone plate thank goodness. That's the second time I've dropped it recently. I must really want a new phone, but the damn thing won't break.

I had to laugh though when I saw an exit for Black Butte Road.

Finally, Salt Lake City has some mean ass traffic. You know the 6 lanes of stop and go and 30 minutes later you've gone 5 miles. I already miss the 'nice' traffic from Omaha.

Tomorrow we will finally be in Las Vegas. I won't have internet for a few days either. The final drive will bring us through some very scenic portions of Utah. I should've brought a Steve Roach cd!

Westerly Westerson

Ohhhh my goodness! A belly full of pizza! (rubbing my bulge) That's what happens when I drive all day and then swim in an ice cold pool.

I never ever leave for vaca or trips on time, unless it's a plane ride. So it was no surprise today when we left at 11:30am for our 8hr drive. It's weird to walk through the house and see nothing in it. But it's all packed up man. It's all on its way. Whoooooo!!

We're just outside Cheyenne, Wyoming. We literally drove across Nebraska today. We drove into Iowa to get the vehicles weighed, and then came back across. I won't lie either, driving through Nebraska is about as fun as folding cardboard boxes. The funny thing though..you know those big long sprinklers they use to water crops? I always see them, but rarely do I see them on. Well today everyone I saw, about 10 of them was on.

Other odd sights. A old bus that was refitted with steel plating on the sides like it came from a Madmax movie and was towing a small boat that looked like Gilligan's boat. Finally, there was guy walking in dress clothes on his cell phone down the highway away from a car that looked like it ran into a telephone pole. The thing is, there didn't appear to be anything he could've ran into. Maybe an animal? I think I better call Scully on this one.

Tomorrow I hope we get to see some grand landscape as we continue through WY and down into Utah through Salt Lake and ending at Provo. I also hope that hotel is as nice as this one. bed bugs scare me!