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...?

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.])}

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!

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.

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....)

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???)!)