jigga what jigga who?

2012-01-28T18:00:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago, we had a cookie exchange party at our place.

We had much left over and I ate a lot of cookies.

2012-01-26T17:10:00.001-08:00

2012-01-26T11:44:00.000-08:00

Maybe because I just got back.

3.

Letters.

Then I could do the dishes.

2012-01-24T18:31:00.000-08:00

2012-01-19T15:48:00.000-08:00

Fair

Do we forget that

no one can continue

The same way unending

Though everyone loves the embroidery

it isn’t what she wants

The lady’s lips curled serene

Eyes closed

Hands open with palms up

She was entering the light

with all of us around

Certain outfits, certain times

and then shed

Door was unlocked, but we didn’t try

I looked at the call box instead

I am unswayed

You sing

for the people who’ve put

Their own stories to the song

It has its own life

A new story, a new name

I have the story

that is mine

Sometimes to be told

I never seem to bring a pear home

unscathed

The perfect coinciding of time

For where I am

I’m afraid to ask of that memory

for the disappointment you may still have

2012-01-19T09:44:00.000-08:00

Some holiday seasons ago.

2012-01-17T12:15:00.000-08:00

Ebenezer

[eb-uh-nee-zer] noun

a male given name: from a hebrew word meaning “stone of help.”

2012-01-15T19:25:00.000-08:00

Fox, wolf, the two

So false, so true

All as one

I listened to the recording and it sounded

just so normal.

Laughing,

recounting your perversions

Your killings were gruesome

I couldn’t listen all the way through

What turned

in your heart

where

where evil became normal truth

A part

I cannot understand

Another portion I can

How my heart is like you

We are both from dust

You turn, you turn

Harder, harder

spinning high

Calloused

All good for your harms

An open expanse, the horizon

for you to conquer

Fearful I am
Those you take and wound

Do not demolish

You, a good businessman

A clown for kids

A leader of Jaycees

Bodies

In the crawlspace

beneath your house

Bodies abandoned in the river

when the crawlspace was filled

Your picture gives me shivers

That night red murder crept into my dreams

In the dawn

a woman’s loud cries broke my sleep

My mind thought of victims

Was it just my mind?

Christ

Oh he wanted you

In a way I never could,

Never love you

Crimes and whole

He loved you

2012-01-14T18:33:00.000-08:00

Pea sized brussel sprouts.

2012-01-11T13:29:00.000-08:00

There's been but one true love
In my baby's arms, in my baby's arms
And I got the hands to hold onto them

I get sick a just about everyone
And I hide in my baby's arms
Hide in my baby's arms
'Cause except for her you know
As I've implied

I would never, ever, ever be alone
'Cause it's all in my baby's hands
Shining, shining secret stones
In my baby's hands, in my baby's hands

I get sick a just about everyone
And I hide in my baby's arms
Treat myself just like a tom thumb
I hide in my baby's hands
I hide in my baby's hand

'Cause except for her
There's just ain't nothing to latch onto
Yeah, yeah, yeah

There's been but one true love
In my baby's arms, in my baby's arms
In my baby's arms, in my baby's arms
My baby's arms, in my baby's arms

"Baby's Arms" | Kurt Vile

2012-01-10T10:04:00.001-08:00

The Land

It was the trees that spoke to me

When you were not here

I cried out

knowing You would hear

I needed help

Mist

White to black, black to white

Playing the tones,

every key of eighty eight

What withstood as art

is seared into memory

I write letters

Thinking of the words long

before they reach the paper

Words and words,

I think upon you.

They say the world is going to pieces

They only want the rocks and trees

I want it to capture

The light, the air, the time

What I feel inside

The land

The trees don’t move

Just the mist and clouds

moving through and out

Dodging and burning

is the real labor

Not the taking

Patsy and Virginia,

The music and the art

The mountains saved me

The mountains saved him

So differently.

I don’t know if I answered your question

Though I understand better.

2012-01-09T21:00:00.000-08:00

2012-01-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

Hymn

An ode to the songs we feel

For the child that finally comes

To the glory of the waiting groom

To the feast where King is declared

To the star the Magi knew

2012-01-05T21:16:00.000-08:00

Would I recognize the stinging nettles or poison oak?

2012-01-05T17:50:00.000-08:00

I like to dance

I don't know how many know
and I don't know how many it would surprise

but I don't deem it a secret at all

2012-01-03T19:54:00.000-08:00

Colander

Your body is riddled with bullets

Alive and walking

You are living.

I hold you up to the light

All the pinholes in the page

Shine little beams

in front of me

Isn’t it pretty?

Isn’t it fancy?

Water passes through,

Nothing stays in

Ants come in for winter shelter

The two way road

Smoke in and water pours out

How do you live

But we all live life this way

Some plugs

You and me

We will fill these holes in

He gave us

mud to place in the cracks

Wind won’t come in to chill

The boat will float again.

I see!

I can see!

The charted course

the design

the enveloping light

A hand on top of myheart

I am free

I was always free

It pierces me

to within

2012-01-03T19:37:00.000-08:00

Mama Dada

The more I understand

She cannot take care of herself

There are childish things

with us always

Baby cries, whimpers, and tears

A face so contorted

So quick

Just a flash

Baby, here’s a rattle

Baby, let me rock you back and forth

Baby, can you speak

I want to be angry

I want to be justified

He scowls

I want for me

Only just because

I know me and what I need

Baby, look at me

Look at yourself

I can let you crawl.

Over here, don’t cross the line

2012-01-02T19:32:00.000-08:00

Leung 梁

=
a beam
a bridge
an elevation

2011-12-29T09:55:00.000-08:00

Tumbling bubbles.

2011-12-27T21:19:00.000-08:00

New news: my dad would go to each of the kids (me and my bro) and read a book and pray with us before we went to sleep.

I have never had this memory.

!

According to my mother, my dad did this from when we were 2 or 3 till maybe 2nd or 3rd grade. And we liked Dr. Seuss.

I can't believe I didn't know this!

2011-12-24T18:55:00.000-08:00

You are Honey

These are your lies

They live on Level One

Entering through your mouth,

your nostrils, your open eyes

They have found their warm hearth

a receiving home

There to be your belief

Your hopeless guide

Flailing for something just torelieve

No real home,

No grounding

Roots shrunk back and retreated

No longer did they want their water,

No longer did they want their food.

Shirking from all truth

Lies had cast their shadows

Long and dark

Larger than the reality

For you, larger than Truth

Choice was yours

Still is

Choice is ours.

Be very brave, My friend

Be very brave, My love

An actor, a good Actor

is unnecessary

for this real life

Stall no more,

stall no longer

2011-12-24T11:59:00.000-08:00

When I was young
Coach called me the tiger
Oh America how I owe you one
I always had
A knack with the danger
Oh America how I owe you one

Living in fear of the year of the tiger
Living in fear of the year of the tiger

Italian shoes
Like these rubes know the difference
Suitcase of cash
In the back of my stick shift
I had to be the best of the bourgeoisie
Now my kingdom for a cup of coffee

Living in fear of the year of the tiger
Living in fear of the year of the tiger
Living in fear of the year of the tiger
Living in fear of the year of the tiger

Oh America can I owe you one
Oh America can I owe you one
Oh America can I owe you one
Oh America can I owe you one

Living in fear of the year of the tiger

"Year of the Tiger" | St.Vincent

2011-12-22T13:39:00.001-08:00

I know what I'm fighting for.

I know it's not about you, or you, or you, or you

Me, the heart, God.

2011-12-20T18:41:00.000-08:00

2011-12-20T18:25:00.000-08:00

2011-12-18T21:58:00.000-08:00

Star.

2011-12-18T11:57:00.000-08:00

Smiley one.

Smiley two.

It's been serious.

2011-12-16T15:02:00.000-08:00

Sounds and songs and fun.

1. Win
2. I Saw The Light
3. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
4. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
5. Red Ceremony
6. Amazing Grace

"To Give" | Free

.

2011-12-14T17:45:00.000-08:00

I got rid of the shackles that bound me
and the guards that were always around me
There were tears on the mail mother wrote me in jail
But I'm free from the chain gang now

All the years I was known and respected
'Til one day I was wrongly suspected
I was shackled in chains in the cold freezin' rain
But I'm free from the chain gang now

All the years I was known by a number
How I kept my mind is a wonder
But like a bird in a tree I got my liberty
And I'm free from the chain gang now

I got rid of the shackles that bound me
and the guards that were always around me
There were tears on the mail mother sent me in jail
But I'm free from the chain gang now
There were tears on the mail mother wrote me in jail
But I'm free from the chain gang now

"I'm Free From The Chain Gang Now" | Johnny Cash
American V: A Hundred Highways

2011-12-14T14:54:00.000-08:00

Picked up from the ground.

2011-12-14T14:52:00.000-08:00

2011-12-10T09:36:00.000-08:00

Two trees.

2011-12-06T21:03:00.001-08:00

It's all temporary

except what's eternal.

2011-12-06T10:07:00.001-08:00

All the trees clap your hands!
A baby is born!

The names.

Gail.
Means a father's joy. Father in rejoicing.

Kairos.
Means right or opportune moment, the supreme moment. The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. While the former refers to chronological or sequential time, the latter signifies a time in between, a moment of indeterminate time in which something special happens.

Ephraim.
"Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh (sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for forget) and said, 'It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household.' The second son he named Ephraim (sounds like the Hebrew for twice fruitful) and said, 'It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."
[Genesis 41:51-52]

Jesus. Immanuel.
"But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus (the Greek form of Joshua which means the the Lord saves), because he will save his people from their sins.'

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord has said through the prophet (Isaiah 7:14): 'The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel- which means, 'God with us.'
[Matthew 1:20-23]

2011-11-28T20:32:00.001-08:00

Photo sent to me from my lovely Kelley

There is no better time.
You know how much people give unto you?
How much is spoken unto you?
And unto each other?

Yet that is if you want to listen.
For if you do not want to hear, you will not hear.
If you do not want to see, you will not see.

All this, especially with those who we share
the seeking of holinessand of truth.

And there is a time when everything can speak to you. Everything.
How good it is.
I am in Love.
In Love and out of it I will not go.

2011-11-28T20:31:00.000-08:00

2011-11-27T14:03:00.001-08:00

Bay Bridge & city.

City & Golden Gate Bridge & boats.

One hill, two hill, gradient of sky.

The water.

2011-11-27T13:55:00.000-08:00

Princess.

2011-11-24T11:49:00.000-08:00

2011-11-21T12:45:00.001-08:00

3/12, 1/4

Are your feet wet?

Yea, me too.

Oh, well.

Let's get something to eat and this kombucha tea. What is this kom-bu-cha?

2011-11-21T10:17:00.001-08:00

1. "Patterns"

The night sets softly
With the hush of falling leaves
Casting shivering shadows
On the houses through the trees
And the light from a street lamp
Paints a pattern on my wall
Like the pieces of a puzzle
Or a child's uneven scrawl

Up a narrow flight of stairs
In a narrow little room
As I lie upon my bed
In the early evening gloom
Impaled on my wall
My eyes can dimly see
The pattern of my life
And the puzzle that is me

From the moment of my birth
To the instant of my death
There are patterns I must follow
Just as I must breathe each breath
Like a rat in a maze
The path before me lies
And the pattern never alters
Until the rat dies

And the pattern still remains
On the wall where darkness fell
And it's fitting that it should
For in darkness I must dwell
Like the color of my skin
Or the day that I grow old
My life is made of patterns
That can scarcely be controlled

2. "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)"

Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobble stones
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy

Feelin' groovy

Hello lamppost,
What cha knowin'?
I've come to watch your flowers growin'
Ain't cha got no rhymes for me?
Doot-in' doo-doo
Feelin' groovy

I've got no deeds to do
No promises to keep
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me
Life, I love you
All is groovy

3. "Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall"

Through the corridors of sleep
Past shadows dark and deep
My mind dances and leaps in confusion.
I don't know what is real
I can't touch what I feel
And I hide behind the shield of my illusion

So I'll continue to continue to pretend
My life will never end
And flowers never bend
With the rainfall

The mirror on my wall
Casts an image dark and small
But I'm not sure at all it's my reflection
I am blinded by the light
Of God and truth and right
And I wander in the night without direction

So I'll continue to continue to pretend
My life will never end
And flowers never bend
With the rainfall

It's no matter if you're born
To play the king or pawn
For the line is thinly drawn 'tween joy and sorrow
So my fantasy
Becomes reality
And I must be what I must be and face tomorrow

So I'll continue to continue to pretend
My life will never end
And flowers never bend
With the rainfall

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme | Simon & Garfunkel

2011-11-17T08:37:00.001-08:00

She does not know the fruit of her labor
She does not rest ‘til late each evening
She does not know her beauty grows with age
She does not brave the war, but she saves the day

She does not hear words to flatter
She does not take much ease or pleasure
She does not wait to love
She does not bend or break or run away
She does not brave the war, but she saves the day

She does not build the fortresses or touch the farthest moon
She does not climb the ladder, nor hold the silver spoon
She does not make the history lists, nor do monuments portray
She does not brave the war, but she saves the day

"She Does Not Brave the War" | My Brightest Diamond

2011-11-17T08:29:00.000-08:00

Light.

It was said that you will be blessed with flowers.
As honor as beauty as a recognition as an act

2011-11-15T10:34:00.001-08:00

"People are really good at self-deception. We attend to the facts we like and suppress the ones we don’t. We inflate our own virtues and predict we will behave more nobly than we actually do. As Max H. Bazerman and Ann E. Tenbrunsel write in their book, 'Blind Spots,' 'When it comes time to make a decision, our thoughts are dominated by thoughts of how we want to behave; thoughts of how we should behave disappear.'

In centuries past, people built moral systems that acknowledged this weakness. These systems emphasized our sinfulness. They reminded people of the evil within themselves. Life was seen as an inner struggle against the selfish forces inside. These vocabularies made people aware of how their weaknesses manifested themselves and how to exercise discipline over them. These systems gave people categories with which to process savagery and scripts to follow when they confronted it. They helped people make moral judgments and hold people responsible amidst our frailties.

But we’re not Puritans anymore. We live in a society oriented around our inner wonderfulness. So when something atrocious happens, people look for some artificial, outside force that must have caused it — like the culture of college football, or some other favorite bogey. People look for laws that can be changed so it never happens again.

Commentators ruthlessly vilify all involved from the island of their own innocence. Everyone gets to proudly ask: 'How could they have let this happen?'

The proper question is: How can we ourselves overcome our natural tendency to evade and self-deceive. That was the proper question after Abu Ghraib, Madoff, the Wall Street follies and a thousand other scandals. But it’s a question this society has a hard time asking because the most seductive evasion is the one that leads us to deny the underside of our own nature."

excerpted from "Let's All Feel Superior," David Brooks, nytimes

2011-11-12T19:11:00.001-08:00

2011-11-09T18:11:00.000-08:00

2011-11-08T11:11:00.000-08:00

2011-11-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

2011-11-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

sweet sweet lips

2011-11-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

2011-11-02T12:13:00.000-07:00

Our new pots for new plantings.

That day I met 94 year old Arnold who walks down the hill, slowly and surely with his cane.Hey Arnold!

2011-11-01T21:57:00.000-07:00

Adventures of Gumby and Pokey

2011-10-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Top photo, full drawing
Bottom photo, detail

For: Archipelago Books (Florence works here) auction

For the Giver
25.5" x 20"
graphite pencil on paper

2011-10-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

When the ghosts of me refuse to speak
And in my dreams I watch tv
I'm blue inside, I'm the blue light
I'm blue inside, I'm the blue light
I'm blue inside, I'm the blue light
I'm blue inside, I'm the blue light

And I need this town, oh this white town
And I'm the red blood of this white town
Parade in someone else's crown
Parade in someone else's crown
Parade in someone else's crown
Parade in

From the back of my head
Tied to the back of my head
Tied to the back of my head

A braid of voices:
David, David

Braid of Voices | DM Stith

2011-10-23T17:15:00.000-07:00

I cannot be destroyed.
I will not destroy.

An installation and combination of many artist's work.
Carved firewood by Elaine McIntyre, hollowed wood boxes, wrapped wood with string, and found wood are mine, and the two wood boxes with drawings/mixed media on it are by Colleen Flaherty.

2011-10-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

I know.

2011-10-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

The heart with its fat, labored on by Zach.Top of car.

I forgive.

Photos taken by Nate VanNortwick. This is his car.
And this was one of my summer projects.

"From Death to Life"

Artists, laborers, cohorts, collaborators:
Nate Van Nortwick, Zach Cotham, Kayla Taron,Stephanie Leung, Dave Kim, Tammie Chen,Samantha McCooey, Joshua McCooey, Max Swensen,Elaine McIntyre, and Israel Mejia

2011-10-15T18:21:00.000-07:00

A destroyer will come
a sword
shatter
destroyed
Run
Desolate place forever
no one will live there
They will sleep and not wake up

Great compassion.

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.
I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel."

2011-10-10T10:39:00.000-07:00

For: Sara

thread and marker on cloth

The first image is embroidery that my mom started on this embroidery design template. I found the kit in her drawer a couple years back. The date of the embroidery design template was 1981.

For awhile I thought I might do something with it. Then, I was actually going to send it to Sara to see if she could do something with it. It was folded up and put away in an envelope.

Well, with Sara's birthday upcoming, I just went for the markers. A year later, and I'm still working on the markers. So, can I say it was a collaboration with my mom? Maybe.

"It's enough to keep the cobwebs clear" excerpted from "Champagne Year" by St. Vincent

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven" excerpted either from both "Turn! Turn! Turn!" by the Byrds or the Book of Ecclesiastes.

2011-10-10T10:19:00.000-07:00

These two albums are released this month.
I like relating the covers to each other.

My Brightest Diamond- "All Things Will Unwind"
Bjork-"Biophilia"

They're both incredibly captivating with what they do musically and visually in their art. I love studying them. Hopefully, I'll see them some time...fingers crossed.

Theatrically
Purposefully new
With depth, dimensional
or that is what you could hope for

2011-10-09T16:20:00.001-07:00

Our side garden.

I watch you grow.
I tend to your leaves, combing them over
Peering closely
Wondering how you will be
Feeding the water

There will be that time
To cut
To look closely and prepare
I watched you for so longand it will feed

2011-10-06T09:33:00.001-07:00

2011-10-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

waves crash crush pound
lap it up

2011-09-30T10:21:00.000-07:00

Ivy asks, "You've heard of that song by the Velvet Underground about a girl named Stephanie that people call Alaska?"

"No, but I was just listening to the Velvet Underground today... " I said.
I realized later I had the song in my musac collection as part of the Royal Tenenbaums soundtrack.

Stephanie says that she wants to know
Why she's given half her life, to people she hates now
Stephanie says when answering the phone
What country shall I say is calling, from across the world

But she's not afraid to die, the people all call her Alaska
Between worlds so the people ask her
'Cause it's all in her mind
It's all in her mind

Stephanie says that she wants to know
Why it is though she's the door
She can't be the room

Stephanie says but doesn't hang up the phone
What sea shell she is calling, from across the world

But she's not afraid to die, the people all call her Alaska
Between worlds so the people ask her
'Cause it's all in her mind
It's all in her mind

They asking is it good or bad
It's such an icy feeling
It's so cold in Alaska
It's so cold in Alaska
It's so cold in Alaska

"Stephanie Says" | The Velvet Underground

2011-09-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

FALCON ONE

Isaiah 34
Judgment Against the Nations

¹ Come near, you nations, and listen;
   pay attention, you peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
   the world, and all that comes out of it!
² The LORD is angry with all nations;
   his wrath is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy^[a] them,
   he will give them over to slaughter.
³ Their slain will be thrown out,
   their dead bodies will stink;
   the mountains will be soaked with their blood.
⁴ All the stars in the sky will be dissolved
   and the heavens rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall
   like withered leaves from the vine,
   like shriveled figs from the fig tree.

⁵ My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
   see, it descends in judgment on Edom,
   the people I have totally destroyed.
⁶ The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood,
   it is covered with fat—
the blood of lambs and goats,
   fat from the kidneys of rams.
For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah
   and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
⁷ And the wild oxen will fall with them,
   the bull calves and the great bulls.
Their land will be drenched with blood,
   and the dust will be soaked with fat.

⁸ For the LORD has a day of vengeance,
   a year of retribution, to uphold Zion’s cause.
⁹ Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
   her dust into burning sulfur;
   her land will become blazing pitch!
¹⁰ It will not be quenched night or day;
   its smoke will rise forever.
From generation to generation it will lie desolate;
   no one will ever pass through it again.
¹¹ The desert owl and screech owl will possess it;
   the great owl and the raven will nest there.
God will stretch out over Edom
   the measuring line of chaos
   and the plumb line of desolation.
¹² Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
   all her princes will vanish away.
¹³ Thorns will overrun her citadels,
   nettles and brambles her strongholds.
She will become a haunt for jackals,
   a home for owls.
¹⁴ Desert creatures will meet with hyenas,
   and wild goats will bleat to each other;
there the night creatures will also lie down
   and find for themselves places of rest.
¹⁵ The owl will nest there and lay eggs,
   she will hatch them, and care for her young
   under the shadow of her wings;
there also the falcons will gather,
   each with its mate.

¹⁶ Look in the scroll of the LORD and read:

   None of these will be missing,
   not one will lack her mate.
For it is his mouth that has given the order,
   and his Spirit will gather them together.
¹⁷ He allots their portions;
   his hand distributes them by measure.
They will possess it forever
   and dwell there from generation to generation.

a) Isaiah 34:2 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the LORD, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 5.

2011-09-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

FALCON TWO

Job 28

Interlude: Where Wisdom Is Found

¹ There is a mine for silver
   and a place where gold is refined.
² Iron is taken from the earth,
   and copper is smelted from ore.
³ Mortals put an end to the darkness;
   they search out the farthest recesses
   for ore in the blackest darkness.
⁴ Far from human dwellings they cut a shaft,
   in places untouched by human feet;
   far from other people they dangle and sway.
⁵ The earth, from which food comes,
   is transformed below as by fire;
⁶ lapis lazuli comes from its rocks,
   and its dust contains nuggets of gold.
⁷ No bird of prey knows that hidden path,
   no falcon’s eye has seen it.
⁸ Proud beasts do not set foot on it,
   and no lion prowls there.
⁹ People assault the flinty rock with their hands
   and lay bare the roots of the mountains.
¹⁰ They tunnel through the rock;
   their eyes see all its treasures.
¹¹ They search the sources of the rivers
   and bring hidden things to light.

¹² But where can wisdom be found?
   Where does understanding dwell?
¹³ No mortal comprehends its worth;
   it cannot be found in the land of the living.
¹⁴ The deep says, “It is not in me”;
   the sea says, “It is not with me.”
¹⁵ It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
   nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
¹⁶ It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
   with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.
¹⁷ Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,
   nor can it be had for jewels of gold.
¹⁸ Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
   the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
¹⁹ The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;
   it cannot be bought with pure gold.

²⁰ Where then does wisdom come from?
   Where does understanding dwell?
²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
   concealed even from the birds in the sky.
²² Destruction and Death say,
   “Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”
²³ God understands the way to it
   and he alone knows where it dwells,
²⁴ for he views the ends of the earth
   and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ When he established the force of the wind
   and measured out the waters,
²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain
   and a path for the thunderstorm,
²⁷ then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
   he confirmed it and tested it.
²⁸ And he said to the human race,
   “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
   and to shun evil is understanding.”

2011-09-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

BALTIMORE ARTS

Best Art Web Site

Brown Paper Bag

PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

brwnpaperbag.com

Brown Paper Bag, a deservedly popular art blog, boasts a wide variety of coverage, including favorite contemporary artists, Time Travel Tuesdays (art from the past!), show announcements, and local studio visits. Curated by Sara Barnes, an artist with a keen eye and an admirable dedication to arts reporting, the site focuses on Baltimore’s community while contextualizing local work with artists and art trends in other cities. Enthusiastic write-ups and excellent photography make Brown Paper Bag comprehensive, fun, and one of very few sites providing extensive documentation of Baltimore’s diverse art scene.

via Baltimore City Paper

Congrats, Barnes!

2011-09-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about the richness of time.

Depth change newness.
It is so good, so good.

Each relationship courses a new tide. I'm watching people get to the places that make so much sense about them, to the things that they're passionate about. I was there to see the things that lead before. I'm seeing people grow and become parents. Babies are being incubated, born and grown. The wonderful, conspicuous growth in kids to observe.

I see people growing in how they honor and care for the people around them. I see the change to what is true and good.

Time.
I know some become embittered to time, seeing time as an enemy that comes and takes life by. But, time is not my enemy. If time was the enemy, then regret would live hand in hand with it, too.

fully fully.

I'm one for growing things deep. I like seeing the growth and depth that come out of time and commitment. Yet sometimes commitment can't be forever strong, even when you desire it. And that's commitment of self to a thing- work, school, community, a passion; and then there's commitment in any kind of relationship, be it family, friend, lover, acquaintance. Why can't it be? Sometimes it just doesn't look like how you want it. Sometimes time is needed, sometimes you have only your expectations when you need both sides. Commitment itself grows and changes.

There are times to go, or you letting go and coming back later. There's grace. The grace to do it right, the grace to let go, and the grace for when you return.

You think that some things or people can't change, but then it's really you. You always had the choices and full capabilities to make a decision. And when I did, yes, things really did change.

Change and newness.

2011-09-16T16:23:00.000-07:00

U.S. History in high school.Posterboard and printing on tracing paper. I had fun.

2011-09-13T10:07:00.000-07:00

2011-09-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

Until you look in the archives, you forget what you took pictures of, what you wrote down. How you edited life- choosing words for here or privately in your notebook. I forgot the pictures I took.

"Oh yeah, that picture, I remember that." And "Hey, I still like that image! That's nice."

What you share

what you choose to remember

How you choose to say

How you choose to be

I started writing things down when I first moved here almost four years ago.

It was probably that Rita gave me a nice notebook for my birthday and I was here all on my own. Lots of time to think and I couldn't not use that nice looking book. And plenty of people had touted writing things down to look back upon.

All before, I had given half-hearted attempts to record things down. Even as a kid with the diary and lock.

I would make efforts for stretches of times and then scrap it.

What was it? Writing out of confusion and thinking the writing would give me clarity immediately. It didn't.

Writing out of rashness of emotion.

"I'M SO ANGRY AT MY MOM!"

That was an entry I scrawled heavily in pencil, all capital letters, in my kid diary. I found it years later; I was so ashamed. I ripped out all the pages into bits and threw them in the recycle bin.

It was writing that was scared to be found or kept as actual records of times. It was writing that wasn't taking the time to simply enjoy arranging and putting down words in whatever way I fancied.

It's so strange to have important people in your life and the times you see them are infrequent. They live far away. Was it really a year that I last saw them? I miss them. But you make the best. As time passes, you have different ways of keeping them a part of your life.

That remarkable tiger and flamingo- Sara and I stopped to look at them on our drive to Philly? at a garden ornament store. Very large garden ornaments, you would say.

The pictures below Sara sent to me this weekend while she made her first visit to Missy and Mark at their new home. I was glad to be included in the visit with these pictures.

2011-09-10T09:02:00.000-07:00

Another word because I think I'm always going to forget the meaning of this word. Tricky one.

trea·cle [tree-kuhl]
-noun

1.contrived or unrestrained sentimentality: a movie plot of the most shameless treacle.
2.British.
a.molasses, especially that which is drained from the vats used in sugar refining.
b.Also called golden syrup. a mild mixture of molasses, corn syrup, etc., used in cooking or as a table syrup.
3.Pharmacology Obsolete. any of various medicinal compounds, formerly used as antidotes for poison.

2011-09-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

for·mi·da·ble [fawr-mi-duh-buhl]

-adjective

1. causing fear, apprehension, or dread: a formidable opponent.

2. of discouraging or awesome strength, size, difficulty, etc.; intimidating: a formidable problem.

3. arousing feelings of awe or admiration because of grandeur, strength, etc.

4. of great strength; forceful; powerful: formidable opposition to the proposal.

2011-09-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

The things of the desert

Michael McMillen piece.

2011-09-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

hello!

2011-09-04T14:40:00.000-07:00

For: Tara & Eric

2011-09-03T10:06:00.000-07:00

The bounty of Christine's garden. Sarah's organization.

We've started growing things, too.

Brussels, broccoli, carrots, and beets.

2011-09-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

And there was a booming above you
That night, black airplanes flew over the sea
And they were lowing and shifting like
Beached whales
Shelled snails
As you strained and you squinted to see
The retreat of their hairless and blind cavalry

You froze in your sand shoal
Prayed for your poor soul
Sky was a bread roll, soaking in a milk-bowl
And when the bread broke, fell in bricks of wet smoke
My sleeping heart woke, and my waking heart spoke

Then there was a silence you took to mean something:
Mean, run, sing
For alive you will evermore be
And the plague of the greasy black engines a-skulkin'
Has gone east
While you're left to explain them to me
Released from their hairless and blind cavalry

With your hands in your pockets, stubbily running
To where I'm unfresh, undressed and yawning
Well, what is this craziness? This crazy talking?
You caught some small death when you were sleepwalking

It was a dark dream, darlin', it's over
The firebreather is beneath the clover
Beneath his breathing there is cold clay, forever
A toothless hound-dog choking on a feather

But I took my fishingpole (fearing your fever)
Down to the swimminghole, where there grows bitter herb
That blooms but one day a year by the riverside - I'd bring it here:
Apply it gently
To the love you've lent me

While the river was twisting and braiding, the bait bobbed
And the string sobbed, as it cut through the hustling breeze
And I watched how the water was kneading so neatly
Gone treacly
Nearly slowed to a stop in this heat
Frenzy coiling flush along the muscles beneath

Press on me: we are restless things
Webs of seaweed are swaddling
You call upon the dusk
Of the musk of a squid
Shot full of ink, until you sink into your crib

Rowing along, among the reeds, among the rushes
I heard your song, before my heart had time to hush it!
Smell of a stone fruit being cut and being opened
Smell of a low and of a lazy cinder smoking

And when the fire moves away
Fire moves away, son
Why would you say
I was the last one?

Scrape your knee; it is only skin
Makes the sound of violins
When I cut your hair, and leave the birds the trimmings
I am the happiest woman among all women

And the shallow
Water
Stretches as far as I can see
Knee-deep, trudging along
A seagull weeps; "So long"

I'm humming a threshing song
Until the night is over
Hold on!
Hold on!
Hold your horses back from the fickle dawn

I have got some business out at the edge of town
Candy weighing both of my pockets down
'Til I can hardly stay afloat, from the weight of them
(And knowing how the common-folk condemn
What it is I do, to you, to keep you warm
Being a woman, being a woman)

But always up the mountainside you're clambering
Groping blindly, hungry for anything:
Picking through your pocket linings - well, what is this?
Scrap of sassafras, eh sisyphus?

I see the blossoms broke and wet after the rain
Little sister, he will be back again
I have washed a thousand spiders down the drain
Spiders ghosts hang soaked and dangelin'
Silently from all the blooming cherry trees
In tiny nooses, safe from everyone
Nothing but a nuisance; gone now, dead and done
Be a woman, be a woman!

Though we felt the spray of the waves
We decided to stay till the tide rose too far
We weren't afraid, cause we know what you are
And you know that we know what you are

Awful atoll
O, incalculable indiscreetness and sorrow!
Bawl, bellow:
Sibyl sea-cow, all done up in a bow

Toddle and roll;
Teeth an impalpable bit of leather
While yarrow, heather and hollyhock
Awkwardly molt along the shore

Are you mine?
My heart?
Mine anymore?

Stay with me for awhile
That's an awfully real gun
I know life will lay you down
As the lightning has lately done

Failing this, failing this,
Follow me, my sweetest friend
To see what you anointed in pointing your gun there

Lay it down! Nice and slow!
There is nowhere to go, save up
Up where the light, undiluted, is weaving in a drunk dream
At the sight of my baby, out back:
Back on the patio watching the bats bring night in
While, elsewhere, estuaries of wax-white
Wend, endlessly, towards seashores unmapped

Last week our picture window produced a half-word
Heavy and hollow, hit by a brown bird
We stood and watched her gape like a rattlesnake
And pant and labour over every intake

I said a sort of prayer for some rare grace
Then thought I ought to take her to a higher place
Said: "Dog nor vulture nor cat shall toy with you
And though you die, bird, you will have a fine view"

Then in my hot hand
She slumped her sick weight
We tramped through the poison oak
Heartbroken in her wake

The dogs were snapping
And you cuffed their collars
While I climbed the tree-house
Then how I hollered!
Cause she'd lain, as still as a stone, in my palm, for a lifetime or two

Then, saw the treetops, cocked her head and up and flew
(While, back in the world that moves, often
According to the hoarding of these clues
Dogs still run roughly around
Little tufts of finch-down)

And the cities we passed were a flickering wasteland
But his hand in my hand made them hale and harmless
While down in the lowlands the crops are all coming;
We have everything
Life is thundering blissful towards death
In a stampede of his fumbling green gentleness

You stopped by, I was all alive
In my doorway, we shucked and jived
And when you wept, I was gone:
See, I got gone when I got wise
But I can't with certainty say we survived

Then down, and down
And down, and down
And down, and deeper
Stoke without sound
The blameless flames
You endless sleeper

Through fire below, and fire above, and fire within
Sleeped through the things that couldn't have been if you had nothing

And when the fire moves away
Fire moves away, son
Why would you say
I was the last one?

All my bones they are gone, gone, gone
Take my bones, I don't need none
Cold, cold cupboard, lord, nothing to chew on!
Suck all day on a cherry stone

Dig a little hole, not three inches round
Spit your pit in the hole in the ground
Weep upon the spot for the starving of me!
Till up grow a fine young cherry tree

When the bough breaks, what'll you make for me?
A little willow cabin to rest on your knee
What'll I do with a trinket such as this?
Think of your woman, who's gone to the west

But I'm starving and freezing in my measly old bed!
Then I'll crawl across the salt flats to stroke your sweet head
Come across the desert with no shoes on!
I love you truly, or I love no-one

Fire
Moves
Away

Fire moves away, son
Why would you say
That I was the last one?

The last one

Clear the room! There's a fire, a fire, a fire
Get going, and I'm going to be right behind you
And if the love of a woman or two, dear,
Couldn't move you to such heights, then all I can do
Is do, my darling, right by you

"Only Skin" | Joanna Newsom

2011-08-31T09:38:00.000-07:00

Brian's Lake Merritt Nessie Monster.

Remember.

2011-08-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

Took a walk alone last night
Slept inside your head
It was raining hard again
Crawled back into bed
Tried to catch up to you
But you moved too fast
Thought about a million things
Fell asleep at last

Got up again last night
Tore all over town
Skidding tires screeching brakes
Barely make a sound
We were on a winding road
Going 65
Slid along an icy stretch, made it back alive

Little eyes are open but they don't see very far
You can only hurt the ones you love
Not the ones you're thinking of
Little eyes are open but they're sinking back again
Don't you know you're sleeping much too long
Wake up, little eyes
Little eyes

Moving but not gaining any ground
Climbing up the escalator as it takes you down

Last night I heard this sound
Echoed everywhere
Like a buzzing amplifier
Burning through the air
It's still raining hard, you said
Have you any clue?
Is it ever gonna stop?
I guess that's up to you

Little eyes are open, but they don't see very far
You can only hurt the ones you love
Not the ones you're thinking of
Little eyes are open, but they're sinking back again
Don't you know you're sleeping much too long
Wake up, little eyes
Little eyes
Little eyes
Little eyes
Wake up, little eyes

"Little Eyes" | Yo la tengo- Georgia singing!

2011-08-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

At Creativity Explored.

2011-08-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

I love my mother
I love my father
I love my sisters, too
I bought this guitar
To pledge my love
To pledge my love to you

I am a rock bottom riser
And I owe it all, I owe it all to you
I am a rock bottom riser
And I owe it all, I owe it all to you

I saw a gold ring
On the bottom of the river
Glinting at my foolish heart
Oh my foolish heart
Had to go diving
Diving, diving, diving
Into the murk

And from the bottom of the river
I looked up for the sun
Which had shattered in the water
And the pieces were raining down
Like gold rings
That passed through my hands
As I thrashed and I grabbed
I started rising, rising, rising

I left my mother
I left my father
I left my sisters, too
I left them standing on the banks
And they pulled me out
Of this mighty, mighty, mighty river

I am a rock bottom riser
And I owe it all, I owe it all to you
I am a rock bottom riser
And I owe it all, I owe it all to you

I love my mother
I love my father
I love my sisters, too
I bought this guitar
To pledge my love
To pledge my love to you

"Rock Bottom Riser" | Bill Callahan/Smog

2011-08-18T08:37:00.000-07:00

2011-08-18T08:10:00.000-07:00

:-Jess,
I am so glad you were all here.

2011-08-15T11:03:00.000-07:00

Black Crowned Night Heron, but they seem more blue
One of my favorites at the lake. They hunch.

pretzel cord.

2011-08-13T17:46:00.000-07:00

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | | | | | | |||||| |||||||||| |||||||

It's got to feel like that some time.

2011-08-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

Ritual union has got me in trouble again
I was wonderin’ of a white dress
And a mistress
And her spirit – holding my hand!

Love sinking in the sand
Petals falling on demand
My feet are running like the wind
I’m sorry, boy – that we sinned
Love is not like they say
I lied, it’s hard to make it stay
I drown my feelings in the sea
Then dried out over on the beach

Ritual union has got me in trouble again
I was wonderin’ of a white dress
And the mistress
And a spirit – holding my hand!

Mother, tell me how it is
I know you’ve been through all of this
You ran away so many times
Your kids, your heart, a couple of dimes
Love is not like they say
I lied, it’s hard to make it stay
It drowns my feelings in the sea
I dried up over on the beach

"Ritual Union" | Little Dragon

2011-08-03T20:05:00.000-07:00

similar state
similar path

- 2.5 ago

pillars of sand resting on my fingers
pan the view

2011-08-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

budding strawberry from a flower, on the left and right.
In the middle, a white strawberry, not yet ready to clothe itself in red.

2011-07-29T15:00:00.000-07:00

There were so many of those finger type trees in LA. Such an abundance while it's more of a rarity to come across up here. That one in the second picture is the first I've seen that grows in a geometric star pattern. So majestic; it knows where it is going.

Maybe I'm in need of more research on trees and plants. For the library next time?

I got this plant that makes spirals not so long ago. I realized it grows in bogs! Its name is Juncus Spiralis or Japanese Mat Rush.

I showed it to Sarah and Missy on video chat.

A find. Huge tropical lily pad. They look so nice, like nice floating containers.

Could I stand in one and be like a frog perhaps?!

2011-07-24T11:46:00.000-07:00

hope of all hope.

2011-07-17T14:29:00.001-07:00

2011-07-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

days at the water of the past

Jen. Torrey Pines, SD.
Me. Stinson, taken by A-ron.

2011-07-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

Face it.
let's face it.

Oh

2011-06-28T10:54:00.001-07:00

Didn't you know had so many possibilities?
So much freedom?

That I held it, closed it in my palm, and you were free?

Sovereign.

2011-06-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

at ritual coffee.
the lions are touching fists. Or paws.

2011-06-13T22:45:00.000-07:00

I flew kites today with Nate and Aaron. It was the first time that I can remember flying a kite.
I was able to get it all the way in the sky till the very end of the rope.
It is a wonderful and peaceful feeling to be holding onto something so high in the sky. A tiny triangle in the wind attached to a string held in your hand.

Pie!!

2011-06-11T17:52:00.000-07:00

2011-06-06T11:22:00.000-07:00

Hark, you there

backing away

2011-05-31T22:56:00.001-07:00