Here are the little dudes in front of the Christmas tree... they look like angels but I see coal in their future. And Benji... well he was smart enough to watch from a distance.

The Columbia Tusculum House Tour

and well... I wouldn't be showing if the Villita was not on it!

Fargo, ND

Hotel Donaldson - pretty groovy joint...

Outside HoDo... there is a women's clinic that these people who have no lives stand out in front of - all day and night -praying- and harassing anyone who goes in there --- god's message... give me a god damn break.

the guys

Little Raymond the East Ender, who was sold for beer and now resides at the Villita

for in the dew of little things, the heart finds its morning and is refreshed

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

When I went to your town on the wide open shore,
Oh I must confess, I was drawn, I was drawn to the ocean,
I thought it spoke to me, it said, "Look at us,
We're not churches, not schools, not skating ponds, swimming pools,
And we have lost people, haven't we though?"
Oh, that's what the ocean can know of a body,
And that's when I came back to town, this town is a song about you.
You don't know how lucky you are, you don't know how much I adore you,
You are the welcoming back from the ocean.

I went back to the ocean today,
With my books and my papers I went to the rocks by the ocean,
But the weather changed quickly, oh the ocean said,
"What are you trying to find, i dont' care, I'm not kind,
I've bludgeoned your sailors, I've spat out their keepsakes,
Oh it's ashes to ashes, but always the ocean,"
But the ocean can't come to this town, this town is a song about you.
You don't know how lucky you are, you don't know how much I adore you,
You are the welcoming back from the ocean.

And the ones that can know you so well are the ones that can swallow you whole.
I have a good and I have an evil, I thought the ocean, the ocean thought nothing,
You are the welcoming back from the ocean.

I didn't go back today,
I wanted to show you that I was more land than water,
I went to pick flowers. I brought them to you,
Look at me, look at them, with their salt up the stem,
But you frowned when I smiled and I tried to arrange them,
You said, "Let me tell you the song of this town,"
You said, "Everything closes at five. After that, well, you just got the bars,
You don't know how precious you are, walking around with your little shoes dangling,
I am the one who lives with the ocean,

It's where we came from, you know, and sometimes I just want to go back,
After a day, we drink 'til we're drowning, walk to the ocean, wade in with our workboots,
Wade in our workboots, try to finish the job.
You don't know how precious you are, I am the one who lives with the ocean.
You don't know how I am the one. You don't know how I am the one."

I do know that it has been awhile. Actually, a long while. I was gunna post some pictures of my new porch... but I just had not had the time - and now... well, i have to find them. The catalogue is nearly done with just some editing to do... and well, I guess that's about it, really. Steady as she goes - across the great plains, over the mountains, into the valley... panning for gold.

if i could move the villita to the land of possum lodge - i would take a handful of my neighbors and put them on possum lodge-like land too - so everyone has enough room to breathe - (this is obviously excluding the urchins directly across the street) - with a market and a bar within close striking distance - preferably walking. where the only sounds you hear is the whistling and creaking of the trees, the crunch when you walk down the driveway, the crickets through the window as you sleep, the rain slapping against the shingles of the house, the birds yapping at each other, and the occasional cat caterwauling at the "annoying" birds ... or the moon - and the moon usually has nothing to say.



this picture has been stolen from it's rightful owner without consent.

ha - and one of the little brats is squatting topless (he is a boy) but squatting on the sidewalk like he is taking a dump. i see the army or boarding school in the near future.

another evening with children in the front yard and a dog who hates them. oh wait... i hate them too. who allows their children to beat on the front porch and the side of the house with sticks. lets them scream and drag their plastic wheeled toys across the sidewalk. all the while there is a back yard large enough to contain all of them and their .. mmm... 10 closest little creepy kid friends. HENRY EAT THEM. Kid - i don't care to hear your imaginary conversation with the wall through the walls of my own place - and my windows are shut. will you shut up. isn't it bedtime? or dinner time? or big bird time?

in texas...

i was just told by a ... mmm... "cowboy"? oh about - 65yrs... "ya know - in texas - a guy will say to a good looking woman - you look like a $1500 cow and smell like a new saddle". thank you? yeah - girl from rochester enters the world of texas. i hope a $1500 cow is a good price.

don't the sun look angry through the trees

It has been awhile since we last checked in with our heroine. Last heard, she had been bogged down in the quagmires of the jungle. Armed only with her machette, she hacked through the treacherous weeds - only to find that once hacked through, they immediately regenerated themselves in not only 1 but 4. Hacking her way - trying to catch a glimpse of sunlight. And ultimately she did. And when she escaped the forest of tendrilous arms she rested. She was tired.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP" went her radio... and a heavy sigh was pushed out from the bottom of her lungs. "You will need to head back into the jungle next week -- danger lurks on the other side. I will allow you these next couple days to refresh yourself."

And so she tried. Early in the morning when the air was still cool and the sun it's brightest glow she climbed out of her cave and onto her small stretch of land and there she worked. She planted flowers and built walls. And as she did she noticed that this one really the one thing that gave her the most pleasure. Most of the nonsense from the week before slowly drifted away. She was happy to be alone in her world. Sometimes that is for the best. Relay only on your machette...

a trellis i made from the bushes i ripped out

morning glories and moon flowers ... lets see if they like this construction better...

another wall... with wildflowers

tore this apart yesterday and rebuilt it

yeah - i know that i am ranting. and yeah i know that i have a few beers in my blood. maybe i am an unbelieveablly guarded person. i don't know- but i hang out with people - and basically - there is no one who does it for me. i am not sure if it is me - that i am being picky - or if i am unexcepting - or my expectiations are too high - or if i am looking for that dream cowboy - - i really don't know. i am frustrated as all hell and it makes me really mad. because when i do find someone - someone i feel is safe enough for me to deal with -- i don't know - well - at the end of the day they go away - for one reason or another. and so - i start over again. i wonder if i went to a co-ed highschool if i would be any different... i don't know. maybe encorporate more male behavior - or understand the jist of their retardedness... i would not give up the all girl thing - but shit. boys suck - and they are retards - and i really don't care for them. they are gross. all parts of them. maybe if i was interested in hooking up with a jock - or a frat guy - or a hick -- well... no problem. hey - ya know - i could have a lot of dudes. i'm finding that painfully obvious. i don't want them. i really am not sure what i am looking for - except someone that i understand and someone who understands and accepts me -and is kinda cute. i don't know. i feel like i'm getting too old for this shit. a little board by the whole thing. it's actually pretty dumb.

well, it is march. i shouldn't be complaining. but it has been raining for 48 hours straight. i hope that by the time the weekend is here the sun will be warm. i have a clematis to plant - and my daffodils are rearing to go - and there are other little guys showing their heads... COME ON! But - i know that as soon as i say that - the weather will be 100 degrees and i will be wishing for fall.

Winter to Spring

Two days later...

well, another catalogue is gone and my brain is fried. nice relaxing evening - long shower ... maybe a bath is in store. and of course - a beer.

yes, i have a bad dog -- a loud barking dog who hates children. BUT inconsiderate neighbors with 10 children screaming in their front yard - and it's not like they don't have a good size backyard ... - a minivan in the middle of the street blaring some ridiculous music with the kids popping out of the sun roof -- GET CONTROL OF YOUR FUCKING KIDS! I have things I need to do without listing to my idiot dog barking at your retarded children.

San Francisco

well, i forgot to take a picture of the booth... but i did take these.