23 December 2011

Crater Lake pics

'Tis only a cell-phone camera, but 'tis not bad....

I have tons more pics of Crater Lake to look at, but these two stood out right away....

Crater Lake & Wizard Island (left)



Crater Lake & Wizard Island (right)



More once the Holidays calm down...?

10 December 2011

A Morning... (... For Remembrance!!!)!

When I decided the title of this post, I imagined my wife---(dr. e-z)---singing "Oh, What A Beautiful Morning...."

(And, it was definitely that...!)

I woke up before dawn & watched the end of a total lunar eclipse....

(The intent of waking was---(eventually)---to write....)

But---(first)---I made breakfast & grabbed my laptop; up in the studio, I got the heater running....

When I opened the studio window to check on the eclipse---(from a higher vantage point than the yard, where I'd previously been watching)---dawn was presenting more... (... as was light cloud-cover...,)... all along the Western horizon...).

(...(... but...,)... still visible was the mostly red, partially-eclipsed Moon... (... so, I put Disc I of Pulse into the CD player...).)

... one more magical experience with that album... (... like Carlsonian Residue* on the disc...).

(For more on Carlsonian Residue, open the Post-Notes in a New Tab/Window....)

And, then...?
The eclipse became spotty in the clouds... (... which were now slightly more front-lit by sunlight...).

(In the gathering clouds, "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" took shape... (... & a slice of Moon shone through the clouds...).)

When the section of Moon-sliver burst through the edge of the clouds, a distant sea bird appeared... (... as if from the Moon jewel...).

(... or... (... rather...,)... the bird came to My more immediate attention... (... like those first few stars of dusk that suddenly become visible... (... despite having been there all along!!!))!)

As a few more---(or the same)---birds (re-)appeared in that spot, I was compelled to study the moment....

(... birds circling... (... between Me & the lunar eclipse...).)

Come on---(you target for faraway laughter)---& shine!!!**

(If necessary, re-open the Post-Notes....)

The clouds did some more eclipsing of the still-red Moon... (... & I doubted if this lunar eclipse would remain visible for much longer... (... before the Sun would dilute its power... (... & the eventual turn of the Earth would wash it from view...))).

. . . .

I have been wanting to post an update on the book... (... which I first mentioned so long ago now...).

The author---(c.d.zim)---is still writing... (... & developing the first draft...). But---(now)---the book has so-much-more shape than it did before....

(For this, the author is deeply grateful to a writerly friend, Ian McCarthy... (... who came up with the idea of starting a writer's group...).)

Thus---(in trading chapters with a writer)---the author received constructive comments on the first half of The (Eventual) Case...!

(In exchange, I offered comments on chapters from Ian's work-in-progress... (... a pulp-fiction novel called Bloody Money...).)

The only problem is---(since August)---the author's fellow workshopper has been absent from Tacoma....

(In August, Ian moved halfway across the country; nevertheless, the author solaces in this absence....)

Luckily, we live in a technological age that permits collaboration via e-mail....

(Also of note: I am currently on holiday break from tutoring... (... which means the author is hard at work, prepping chapters for Ian to read... (... in 2012!!!)).)

My hope is that a full draft of the book exists by March... (... & My dream-of-dreams is that it will then quickly be revised... (... & published!!!)?)

We---(Me included)---are forced to wait-&-see what true cases will be....

(In the meantime...,)
(Pulse is there... (... coating me like a warm blanket...).)

Happy surfin', y'all!!!

Post-Notes: "A Morning...(... For Remembrance!!!)!"

*---{Carlsonian Residue....}---{(... a concept brought to my attention by Su Carlson... [... & written down---(for further review)---in her master's thesis: Residue...])}---{[... but, paraphrased here as: the natural residue of sentiment & experience that we apply to the objects in our lives....]}

**---{Pink Floyd}---{("Shine On You Crazy Diamond" [written by: Waters/Wright/Gilmour])}---{[Pulse (Disc I)]}---{(1995 [Pink Floyd Music (1987) Ltd.])}

05 November 2011

Jesus-as-Commodity

I couldn't believe what I saw in Ross today: the Lord-&-Savior Jesus Christ in the form of a talking action figure....



That is the Lord's Prayer you hear (en Espan~ol)!

In other news---(regarding shameless capitalizms)---I checked every pair of shoes at Ross -- to see where they were made. Of course, every pair was made in China. So, I bought the pair that I saw as being "Most Ironically Made-in-China...."

(Perry Ellis: America....)

Happy shopping, y'all!

31 October 2011

Hemp for Liberty (a petition)

(in case it gets pulled from the site, I'm posting it here:)

This petition pertains to so many issues---(most of them, in fact)---but the main issue seems to be the right of self-sustenance that is being denied by the unconstitutional Federal prohibition of one of Nature's most versatile industrial resource: hemp....

The prohibition of hemp began in 1937, when marijuana was outlawed (after years & years of bad press). The common misconception about this Federal prohibition is that We, the People, were somehow being protected by these laws. This drug prohibition was, however, just a cover for the "dirty" business being done behind the scenes....

As we continue seeing today, the will of the People was "decided" by special interests that did not wish to continue competing with the very competitive, very versatile hemp plant. Thus---(via its close relationship with its propagandized cousin plant, marijuana)---hemp ceased to be a viable option for the People of the United States of America to use in their endeavors of making paper, textiles, diesel fuels, etc....

Before the People's trade in hemp was unnecessarily outlawed, major U.S. companies---(i.e. Ford Motor Company)---began researching & developing technologies that would utilize byproducts of the readily available, versatile plant: Cannabis sativa (hence the need for competitors of hemp to squash the competition in any way they could).

There is no easy way around it: if We wish to continue reducing Our dependence on foreign oil & foreign goods, We need to find Our own ways of producing energy & goods made here in the U.S.A.

This nation once shared a valuable relationship with hemp & marijuana. While the People may not be ready to reconsider marijuana, We can safely consider hemp as We once did: a vegetable with many, many uses!

With so much talk in recent years about stimulating the economy, it seems only logical for the People of this nation to begin investing in resources that will localize Our nation's ability to create sustainable energy. This is why the re-legalization of hemp as an industrial resource seems primarily to be an issue of civil rights. Initially, the prohibition of the plant was done not in the interests of the People, but in the interests of corporations that stood to lose out to a plant that had proven its worth in so many ways.

06 September 2011

behold the Breakfast Beast (Redux)!



Folks, that's three kinds of animal on one sandwich....

(But, this ain't no club sandwich, fool...!)

The Breakfast Beast (Redux) is:

grilled slices of roast beef (3);
sliced Swiss cheese (melted on the roast beef, after flipping);
two strips of bacon (pan-fried);
one egg (pan-fried in bacon juice);
grilled slices of tomato (3);
on toasted dark sourdough rye;

(The Original Breakfast Beast excludes the bacon, swaps Monty Jack for the Swiss, & comes on toasted white sourdough....)

21 August 2011

a yummy scrap for the zimdog's bowl

---
{futuristic thoughts about Kennedy Space Center}
---

Before space travel became widespread, there was only one U.S. port to the cosmos....

(Kennedy Space Center....)

Located on Cape Canaveral, Kennedy Space Center was established in 1962....

(A year later, the spaceport was named for President John F. Kennedy....)

---
{from NASA, "Kennedy Space Center"}
---

Kennedy Space Center has served as the departure gate for every American manned mission and hundreds of advanced scientific spacecraft....

Project Mercury....

The space shuttle & International Space Station....

The Hubble Space Telescope....

The Mars Exploration Rovers...


---
{author's note}
---

I just couldn't find room for this information in the latest planetarium script....

(But...,)
(That's a good thing... (... right???)!)

27 May 2011

Russell Lloyd Zimmerman

(July 04, 1922 - May 27, 2011)

I felt strangely calm after reading Ryan's text that Pop had collapsed while doing yard-work....

(Wasn't I supposed to feel more shock than I felt; wasn't I supposed to cry...?)
(...(... you know...,) those sorts of thoughts....)

After all, Pop was my grandfather... (... my own kin!!!).
... someone I've known since I grew old enough to recognize the importance of people other than myself....

Growing up, I always thought it was so neat to celebrate my grandfather's birthday & the 4th of July together....

But---(as I grew older)---my 4th-of-July plans didn't always include Pop....

In later years, I attached other experiences to the holiday... (... & to Pop...).

For example...,
... the life of Henry David Thoreau....

In 2002, I celebrated our nation's independence at Walden Pond... (... where Thoreau moved on July 4th, 1845...).

So, even though I didn't always celebrate the 4th directly with Pop, but---(because of his birthday)---he was with me in spirit... (... wherever I was, or whatever I was doing...).
... & then---(whenever I did get back to PA)---he was there....

(Same-old house; same-old Pop....)

... like Thoreau, a man who shared some connection with a plot of land... (... &, by proxy, the Earth...).

On the day of Pop's death, my dad told me Pop had recently done some work on the mower & was back to mowing the yard himself....

He loved taking care of that yard... (... something I always remember about him...).

Also like Thoreau, Pop was a man of his own....
... a man of deep rational thought....
... an inventor....
... a hard worker....
... & a man who enjoyed Life's simple pleasures....

In Pop, I also recognize a military man....
... a soldier born on the Fourth of July....

He was someone who served his nation in a time of darkness...,
... & who---(afterward)---enjoyed living peacefully in the post-World War II era....

However, it's the earlier recognitions of Pop that I miss the most now....

For me, Pop was always the gentle giant standing quietly at family functions....

(... that is, until I joined him up there in the stratosphere....)

... but, that's another topic altogether....

(... an essay about the genetic inheritance of lanky legs....)

... & big ears....

(... relevant here only as cosmic connections shared between the two of us....)

... physical reasons for receiving the cosmic news of his death....

For me, this happened as I climbed the steps to go in my front door....

The strange Pacific-Northwestern weather had issued one of its occasional sun-showers....
For some reason, the meteorological moment reminded me of Pop....
... understandably so, considering the text Ryan sent about his collapse earlier that morning....

That day, I had already thought about Pop more often than I might have on any other day....

But, something felt different about this thought... (... a moment of realization in the mist & sunshine...).

As I opened the front door, my cell-phone began ringing... (... Ryan calling...).

I stepped inside to answer it... (... & entered a world in which my grandfather had ceased to live...).

Immediately, the calmness of earlier began cracking....

I began considering how everyone else would take the news....
... Pop's children....
... his other grandchildren....
... even his great-grandchildren....

I cried as I told Emily... (... something akin to Grandma's sadness of a missed mate...).

I cried later when my dad answered Grandma & Pop's phone... (... & he told me about the heart attack that struck Pop to the ground...).

A day or so later, I cried some more while writing in a sympathy card... (... to mail to Grandma...).

A few more days later, I called Grandma to wish her a Happy-as-could-be Birthday... (... & had one more cry for the spirit of her missing soul-mate...).

Really, the only consolation I have taken along the way is...,
Pop died doing something he loved... (... tending to his own patch of the Earth...).

He died trimming the grass along the edge of the driveway... (... one aspect of his death that I had no problem accepting...).

The coroner said Pop probably died quickly too... (... another acceptable aspect of his death, considering the long, good life he lived before that death...).

And now---(pretending to cram scattered thoughts into one simple piece of writing)---I find myself strangely compelled to talk about Pop in elemental ways....

In his frequent silence, he often seemed like a wise man... (... his wisdom broken only by the occasional moment of clumsiness...).

(... another quality we share through genetic inheritance....)

However, Pop's clumsiness was of the innocent kind....
... underestimated words... (... the intelligent thoughts of simple man living in a complicated world...).
... or, the occasional moment of physical entropy... (... like the memory I have of him leaning his back against a wall, only to knock some decorative kitchen gadget from its perch...).

I am usually young in my memories of Pop...,
... but---(despite being youthful memories)---I still manage to recognize the honest innocence of those clumsy moments....

... which is why---(now that I'm older & mentally more like Pop than I was in my early years)---I understand more fully the power of his ways....

(... & how that mental power must've eased his return to a silent state of wisdom....)

... yet one more reason why Russell Lloyd Zimmerman is, was, & will continue to be the grandfather I remember so dearly....

(May you rest in peace, Pop!!!!)

19 May 2011

cunctipotence

For years, I've been wanting to read this article again....

Well---(tonight)---I finally did the 5 seconds of work necessary to find it....

Cunctipotence: Elemental Female Potency


Enjoy!

14 May 2011

Saturday the 14th

Yesterday the 13th was not particularly un-lucky for me....


Sure, I encountered some forces that were stacked against me---(forces which did spark strong feelings of frustration)---but because it happened on a Friday the 13th, I was eventually able to overcome the negativity of a "holiday" (& consider the situation from a rational, self-respecting point of view).


... nor do I wish to promote the omnipresence of rational thought....


(In fact, quite often, I consider the ways We---(as a nation )---realize the lasting effects of Our emotional ignorance....


(... Us having the wires crossed in many, many ways....)


... rationalized bullets-&-bombs when We want to be positive... (... & territoriality when We want to be negative...).


What's wrong with emotions when We want to be positive... (... & rationality when We want to be negative...)?


Creativity seems like better company for positivity... (... & solitude for negativity...).


(... as opposed to thoughtless obedience....)

(... on both counts....)


But, that's beside the point....


(... or is it...?)


Dun...,

... dun...,

... daaahhhh!!!!


03 May 2011

r.i.f. osama bin laden (1957-2011)

After hearing Jon Stewart's commentary, I agree that---(if there's a Hell)---Osama Bin Laden is roasting in it....

(Doesn't mean I have to agree with how he was sent there....)

I simply don't understand life in an uber-militarized nation....
(I grew up in England... (... where people choose to be polite...).)

As Stewart moved from the funny first five minutes into the emotion-laden material, I even found myself beginning to justify the personal nature of the killing....
(... that the U.S. government had---(at least)---killed Bin Laden with a personal touch....)
(... with a bullet instead of a bomb....)

By the end of the show, Jon Stewart's demeanor had fully embodied itself in two of his closing words: "Pure id."
(I wasn't disappointed or surprised though....)

... because, I'm sure---(without experiencing the same)---that the human id is gravely affected by skyscrapers collapsing in a nearby neighborhood....
(... not that I can relate....)

When the events of September 11, 2001 reached me in Australia, I had just gone to bed....
(... having already lived most of my September 11th....)

Em & I were near sleep when her mom called to tell us what was---(at that very moment)---happening on the other side of the world....

(Thus, my id cannot properly relate to that of a contemporary New Yorker....)
(... nor the People who lost loved-ones on that day....)

Having said that, I can't seem to get past the point that Our own militarized nation was partly responsible for creating Osama Bin Laden... (... to commit systematic murder...).

... & that Our own militarized nation has now destroyed Osama Bin Laden... (... with more systematic murder...).

...which means the People should share in the blame... (... for permitting a government that creates monsters...).

(But, hey....)
(If it helps to pretend....)
(Go on & pretend that Bin Laden wasn't once human....)

I see the murder of Osama Bin Laden---(& the resulting celebration)---as confirmation of what Jon Stewart admitted to:

Pure id....
... proof that U.S. Americans have officially known the id-rattling effects of terrorism....
(...giving them reason to forget the destruction that their own nation has created elsewhere....)

(... & maybe now---(with the eventual closure of 9/11 in motion)---We can begin to reconsider some of those bombs we drop on other Peoples...?)

Stewart's wise-crack about the erect State of Florida was more accurate than he realized....
(... the unconscious, sexual nature of Our nation's military phallus....)

After tonight's Daily Show, I wonder---(even more than before)---if the killing of Bin Laden will offer any more closure than an unsatisfactory prison execution....

(Or...,)
(Maybe We'll continue thinking with our erect inventions...?)

I do not wish to imply that Jon Stewart was off his game tonight....
(... nor that he was unjustified....)

In fact, his thoughtful interview with the guest would suggest surprising rational function....
(... despite his id-charged emotional state...).

I only wish to admit that---(having been disappointed last night by Obama's predictable victory speech)---I merely wanted Jon Stewart to give me some hope tonight....

I wanted him to ponder the life & death of Osama Bin Laden as I do....
(... namely, one more reason to reconsider the military-industrial complex....)

(Then again...,)
(I wasn't even in the country for 9/11....)

Luckily---(for my sake)---I had underestimated the fool that remained....

(Thank you, Mr. Colbert....)

... which leaves only the matter of Osama Bin Laden's remains....

...

And so---(to you)---Osama Bin Laden... (... currently roasting in flames...),
I say this:

May you soon be cleansed of your human nonsense....
(... & the human nonsense inflicted upon you & your neighbors....)

... so that the U.S. American People may sooner move on....

(... & discover the errors in Our own practices....)


Cheers,

da zimdog


29 April 2011

da zimdog goes (... flies kite...)

The other day, I did something I haven't done in years & years... (... more than a decade...).


If you can't see it in detail, it's Griffin's Lightning McQueen kite. (I think I enjoyed it more than he did.) I must've flown it for nearly two hours....

Today, it wasn't windy enough to fly a kite, so Griffin just jumped in a puddle.


I'm so proud of his dadaist nature....

26 April 2011

the last medical update...?

So...,
Patricia Tison's CT scan came back with results normal....

In other medical news...,
I've been eating the prescribed breakfast cereal each morning & like the flavor... (... so I decided to share the recipe...).



... & another interesting doc-ument... (... hyuck, hyuck...).


Bon voyage!

21 April 2011

another day of medicine

Today, I ventured farther into the world of modern medicine....

I established a relationship with a naturopathic doctor. His suspicion is that my GI tract is asking for more fiber... (... so he prescribed me some probiotics & a particular cereal recipe for my breakfasts...).

After leaving the doctor's office, I went down the road for a CAT scan. (What a strange sensation... (... feeling the warmth of that contrast solution in my body...)!)

When the CT was finished, the male nurse said I could remove the wristband from my wrist. I didn't think much of it at the time... (... replying that I thought I was going to get blood drawn as well...).

Later in the day---(while washing my hands)---I decided I didn't need to wear the wristband any longer, so I ripped it off... (... & by chance, checked the name on it...).

So, I say to you, Patricia Tison---(wherever you are out there)---may the results of your CAT scan show a healthy GI tract....

16 April 2011

this blog post is so meta-



I went to see multiple doctors today. Lately, I've been having a weird, warm pressure in the left-side of my gut (& more recently, some nausea & closed sinuses). Today, I finally mustered the courage to go to Urgent Care... (... & begin the process of finding out what's goin' on inside me...).

Nothing conclusive from that visit yet... (... except for finally finishing Orwell's 1984 while waiting for the doctor... (... & the nurse... (... & then the doctor again...))).

After two hours at home (hangin' wit da G-dawg), I skated to an eye doctor appointment & got my eyes checked.... (That's right; 20/15 vision, suckas!!!!) Woot woot...!




Then---(later in the day)---I decided to blog about it....

(This blog post is so meta-!)