gravity asylum

Experiments in Unemployment: Hour Swap Project Results!

2011-03-16T09:27:00.000-05:00

Experiments in Unemployment: Hour Swap Project Results!: "Yesterdays HOUR SWAP winner is Danielle Ellis! Congratulations Danielle! Dani is a fellow artist and crafty woman who I hope to be doing a ..."

From the Files

2011-02-28T10:15:00.000-06:00

Allison V. Smith is one of my favorite photogrpahers.

From the Files

Experiments in Unemployment: Hour Swap Project Results!

2011-02-21T09:45:00.000-06:00

I won!!!

Experiments in Unemployment: Hour Swap Project Results!: "The Crazy Honey Badger will be going to live with Tempest Thompson, who won the Honey Badger at $25! Congrats Tempest! Now let's do a quick..."

Brene Brown: The power of vulnerability | Video on TED.com

2011-02-15T11:09:00.000-06:00

Brene Brown: The power of vulnerability | Video on TED.com

I'm Back and with Added Ferver

2011-02-14T09:51:00.006-06:00

Stick around. Read my goodness.

Experiments in Unemployment: HOUR SWAP FAQs

2011-02-14T09:51:00.000-06:00

Experiments in Unemployment: HOUR SWAP FAQs: "Since we have some new followers and new interest I wanted to post some FAQs and make HOUR SWAP as smooth as possible. FAQs Q: When do th..."

stinkinghand: Wide Open Spaces (graphite on three illustration ...

2011-02-14T09:47:00.000-06:00

stinkinghand:
Wide Open Spaces (graphite on three illustration ...: "Wide Open Spaces (graphite on three illustration boards)"

Pics and Gab

2010-08-03T15:22:00.003-05:00

http://tempestsaidit.tumblr.com/
Photos

I come and go from this blog. You can find me there.

Too Easy

2010-02-15T13:58:00.001-06:00

I've been a very poor blogger!

Facebook makes it too easy... I will try to be better. Come back, I have a yummy garlicy recipe to post!

hearts and stars,
T

Impromptu Austin Halloween Weekend

2009-11-05T09:33:00.004-06:00

(Bride of Frankenstein)

(Two turtles, you know...)

Control That Nosy Brat

2009-10-13T16:30:00.002-05:00

Interesting child restraining device I saw in a public toilet.

James Expounds

2009-09-06T18:15:00.003-05:00

James thinks I'm awesome and a lot of other things are gratuitous.

hawaii_-1711

2009-07-15T21:27:00.001-05:00

hawaii_-1711, originally uploaded by sam_lens.

Go Hawaii!

2009-07-15T18:46:00.001-05:00

hawaii_-1712, originally uploaded by sam_lens.

Me and Tricia whooping it up at The Lollipop Shoppe goes Hawaii party.

Just Plain Greatness

2009-07-12T12:46:00.002-05:00

Daddy/daughter day play?

No one dies without a tear falling somewhere

2009-07-09T23:46:00.003-05:00

With all the MJ drama. I started to wonder which celebrities will I shed a tear for? The first person to come to mind:

When Gene Wilder passes, I will cry a river.

Hitler and M. Jackson

2009-07-03T23:23:00.001-05:00

Dan Dyer Band at the Granada

2009-06-29T23:21:00.002-05:00

Intaglio

2009-06-21T11:03:00.003-05:00

My plates are coming along nicely. I'm I a weirdo or is okay to think soft ground smells good on a hot steel plate?

1960's Belly Dance

2009-06-20T14:54:00.003-05:00

Trying to talk Tricia into The Lollipop Shoppe going sultan.

Jim Bianco

2009-06-19T18:57:00.002-05:00

Jim Bianco - You Don't Come Around - Luxury Wafers Sessions from Luxury Wafers on Vimeo.

2009-06-17T14:46:00.003-05:00

http://www.20x200.com/art/2009/06/no-one-can-live-outside-of-history.html

Trail Trekking!

2009-06-14T19:23:00.003-05:00

Cedar Hill State Park

Paper Fortune Teller

2009-06-10T21:15:00.002-05:00

When I was a kid at White Rock North Elementary, a redheaded, skinny, sweet boy named Stephen taught me how to make these. I still randomly fold one up and leave it wherever I got the urge to make it. I hope it makes whoever finds them happy.

Quote = Mantra

2009-06-08T21:17:00.000-05:00

"Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness."
-Bertrand Russell

Park Day!

2009-06-08T14:58:00.001-05:00

I go to the park at lunch.

(Does anyone know this artist? Tell me please.)

Joshua Tree

2009-06-04T16:16:00.003-05:00

More Memorial Day Weekend

2009-06-01T20:07:00.006-05:00

I got in trouble with the docent at the LACMA for taking this photo. :) Whatev, it is an awesome shot of Erik in a Richard Serra sculpture!

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-06-01T19:52:00.005-05:00

Went to Los Angeles to visit Bo and her beau, Shane.

Erik came with me and there was much fun to be had. Sailing. Joshua Tree. Art - outsider and educated. Friends. Clients. Exploring. Getting lost. Finding ourselves.

More photos to come!

Cool People I Met at D Mag Art Slam

2009-05-30T15:05:00.002-05:00

Blake Wright

Bob Poe

Todd Camplin

James E. Hastings

Francy Renz

Lynda (who does cool printmaking, but didn't get her card)

Sunny Jacquet

Igor Khunteyev

Gosh

2009-04-28T16:25:00.003-05:00

Where does the time go? Let me get home and settled and I'll post what's new and a few things I've been thinking about... Facebook does a lot of this for me these days, maybe that's why I haven't been here in so long.

I've been goofing off with this guy a lot.

High Fructose Corn Syrup

2009-02-02T17:54:00.002-06:00

I'm offended by the commercials I'm seeing about High Fructose Corn Syrup fine in moderation.

The worst offense:
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) turns off your brain's ability to know the body is full. It blocks that hormone relay. When you intake HFCS at a meal, you will eat 15% - 30% more at that meal than you normally would eating that same meal without HFCS. Its also in the sneakiest of places, like Campbell's Tomato Soup. Since you eat more, you intake more HFCS, ingesting more sugar product, makes higher insulin production, and a higher risk of many popular diseases.

Hey You Toyota

2009-02-01T16:41:00.004-06:00

Hey you, Toyota truck who nearly ran over the motorcyclist while exiting 75N onto Northwest Highway east. Fuck you! I hope you die.

I'm a Short Hair People Now

2009-01-09T19:57:00.001-06:00

The hair-cutting event happened yesterday! More photos as I download. Bo took some during the cutting. Bag of hair was sent to Locks of Love and I'm playing with my new short hair.

What's Coming Up

2009-01-03T16:06:00.005-06:00

Thursday, January 8th, in honor of Tempest needing to shake some shit up - a hair cutting event will take place at 5:30pm.

Here's a before (it is a roughly 2" longer than this today):

Here is what it will look like after (but brunette, of course):

I will post finished product photos after the event. Check back!

Happy Christmas Eve Goodies

2008-12-24T23:36:00.007-06:00

I like the Christmas season. I like my family, cooking, eating, and feeding others. I really enjoy being in the midst of IT: people I love, old stories, gossip over the stove, babies tugging on me, normally sullen teenagers who just can't keep it up around all the frivolity, and sleepy daddies snoozing in the den.

Today I stepped out of the IT and went to work for awhile...

Gift wrapping with Zee. Note the multi-use laptop standing in for a tabletop surface.

Then I baked with Mama. I know, I never remember to take photos of the finished product. We made Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Sinful Fudge, and these little strawberry cream cheese 'refrigerator cookies' which are fabuloso. (I will post the recipe later.)

Finally, Christmas with the maternal side of the family. This is us after spaghetti dinner and desserts - sacked out on the couch. Even the Wii was too much for us when this photo was taken.

Heirloom Recipes

2008-12-14T12:09:00.008-06:00

Great-Grandma Robbie's After Dinner Coffee Bars

Wet team:
1/4 cup of shortening (room temperature butter)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg (two eggs + vanilla)
1/2 cup of fresh hot coffee
-cream together and stir in coffee

Dry team:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (1 teaspoon)
1/4 cup of hacked walnuts
1/2 cup raisins (golden raisins)
-sift together flour, powder, soda
-add salt, cinnamon

-Bring the two teams together with a mixer; I prefer a hand mixer.
-Fold in the raisins and nuts.
-Spread in a 13x9 baking pan, metal.
-Bake for 18-20 minutes.
-Let stand to cool.
-Cut into bar shapes.
-(Sift top with confectioner's sugar to finish.)

I was going to put a photo up of the end result, but it was eaten too quickly.

I am adjusting this recipe for a more flavorful bite. I'll post newer versions as they manifest. (The first revisions are in parenthesis above.)

Dallas Cinemania Film Society: STRAW DOGS - It's On!

2008-12-06T17:54:00.000-06:00

Dallas Cinemania Film Society: STRAW DOGS - It's On!

Dec-18, be there.

Let the Right One In

2008-11-30T21:35:00.000-06:00

Come on y'all, we've got to go to the movies this week.

In Honor of Thanksgiving Shopping

2008-11-28T17:24:00.000-06:00

Mockingbird Lane ReOpening

2008-11-26T18:21:00.004-06:00

Mockingbird Lane ReOpened Saturday, November 22, 2008... 3 months in advance and within budget. Woo-hoo!

Ballet Grande

2008-11-23T20:07:00.002-06:00

An Enchanted Moment

2008-11-16T20:31:00.000-06:00

Thinking About Food

2008-11-16T16:51:00.002-06:00

I'm getting excited for Thanksgiving time. The weather has finally changed. The chill in the air triggers my kitchen instincts. I'm watching a lot of Good Eats episodes to find good festive recipes. My usual food blogs are full of tantalizing like gleaming pumpkin pies, spice cakes, croissants stuffed with Nutella, cookie exchanges, dog biscuits, and jam canning extravaganzas. I don't know where to start, but the interest is stewing up inside me. Soon my lovelies, soon the goodies will pour forth from my kitchen. Keep a nose out so you'll know when to come a running.

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-11-01T21:40:00.000-05:00

Barefoot at the Belmont

2008-10-19T18:23:00.006-05:00

Belmont Hotel Fall Series
presented by Bend Studio
901 Ft. Worth Ave., Dallas, TX 75208.
www.bendstudio.com/belmont
tickets and info

My Phone is On Its Last Legs

2008-10-11T15:57:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, as I was getting ready to go out with friends and see 1100 Springs at the Granada, my dear kitty, Zee, threw up on my phone... effectively killing the phone. I can still text and see that there is a voicemail, but if I try to make a call or listen to voicemail, I can only hear on speakerphone- if I'm lucky. I am very much not in the mood to take care of it this weekend. I wanted to buy myself the Google phone for an early Christmas gift when it comes out. Now I have to scramble to get something new... any suggestions are welcome. (I'm a T-Mobile girl and under contract, so no iphone.)
----------------------------------------
My horoscope yesterday:
Taurus Friday, October 10

You will be getting a lot of truly unusual phone calls, emails, faxes or letters today. Don't be surprised if people confess all sorts of strange things. You may find that there are changes in how you communicate with a family member or loved one. Someone may finally buy themselves a new cell phone.

Lucky Numbers: 15, 20, 28, 31, 39, 45
Compatible Sign: Virgo

my scant goodie drawer

2008-10-02T17:54:00.002-05:00

note, vitamins... ibprophen... hot chocolate...

it is pretty empty of the delisiously good stuff. its thursday. i'll take another one tuesday, it'll be much more well stocked.

send me ideas of really goos stuff to have in the goodie drawer!

Contemplating the Flying Spaghetti Monster

2008-09-21T23:29:00.005-05:00

i was walking down my local grocery store aisle and had to document this... for science or religion, i can decide which. is it an ode to the flying spaghetti monster?

all hail the flying spaghetti monster! (just in case.)

research:
http://www.venganza.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

Happy Lane

2008-09-14T19:29:00.003-05:00

Got caught in 635 traffic the other day. (Happens all the time.) Anyway, I hopped off and drove around a random neighborhood. Look what I found!

Wonder what it would be like to live on Happy Lane. I always thought it was more of a state of mind, but nope here it is, in the flesh... or the concrete.

Caught a Cold

2008-09-11T17:18:00.004-05:00

above: Splendid cuddled me while I was bed/couch bound.

Yep, I caught a cold, that I ignored until it turned into a deep sinus and respiretory infection. I was out of it for a couple of weeks. To all the unreturned calls and unanswered email, I'm very sorry - just had to check out and get better for a bit.

I'm much better now. ...bored out of my wits. ...dying to be asked to go do things. My brain has gone stupid from minimal human interaction. Had it not been for Jonathan Hooker, David Tarcy and Kris Youmans iming me, my brain would have gone to complete mush. Thank you guys so much, I owe you.

2008-08-24T17:03:00.003-05:00

A beautiful day at the Women's Expo.

Exceptional Douchbaggery

2008-08-08T01:39:00.002-05:00

holy toledo, would you listen to this guy?!

http://view.break.com/527579 - Watch more free videos

Halloween's a Comin'

2008-08-06T22:05:00.003-05:00

Halloween's a comin'. Who should I be, Wonder Woman or Cher?

Bob rocks Rock House with Bend

2008-08-01T20:11:00.009-05:00

Bend Studio hosted Bob Schneider at Rock House last night and rocked the house and took names, okay not names but requests. Why is AssKnockin' always the #1 requested song? Doesn't anyone want to hear (my faves) Ooey Gooey Chocolate or the one about Jimmy the Trucker?

The topic of the evening was something (can't remember what) feeling like a cock up his ass. Not that he know what a cock up his ass would feel like." His guitar was being unfriendly to the Rock House sound system. He was able to abide in Rocky's extensive guitar collection.

Have you only ever seen Bob and the band at Granada or any other large venue, I suggest a night at Bend Studio. Rarely are there more than 80 people in the space. Bob has an opportunity to speak softly, engage the audience more intimately, and work on music in a way you'll never see at another venue. Not to mention Bend Studio's sound system kicks musical ass and often the shows are recorded for sale.

TWU, SLIS & FUZZY TACOS

2008-07-27T22:07:00.006-05:00

I sit here contemplating my brand-spankin-new livestrong-style TWU School of Library and Information Studies wristband. Saturday, Fuzzy Tacos (thanks James for turning me on to it.) Tempura fish tacos, sweet tea, mexican rice, enchiladas, black beans and I don't know what else I stuffed my belly with.

Happy 9th of July!

2008-07-09T00:15:00.004-05:00

Garlic, and what I love about you.

2008-06-29T12:44:00.006-05:00

I love garlic. Its taste and smell. The way it looks carmellized and soft after roasting. My mouth waters at the thought.

There's tons of garlic lore out there. Good food... heart and immune health food, aphrodesiac, insect and vampire repellent. Bad food... some people are offended by the odor (wierdos.)

In 13th century France, ailee (a soupy sauce made of garlic, almonds and breadcrumbs ponded together with chicken broth) was benificial health aide. Chicken soup, almonds and garlic together - that's my kind of super food.

Hardneck/softneck: hardneck (rocambole) have a hard central stem and more robust flavor vs. softnecks which obviously have a shy flavor and thin grassy stems.

Buying garlic: only purchase firm, plump cloves. When garlic ages, it shrivels and sprouts green shoots. Common pink skinned = spanish garlic, thinner skin and (imho) is more forgiving in cooking and less bitter flavor in general. Elephant garlic = mild flavor, big bulbs. Green garlic = never even seen it. I hear it is very rare and delicate in flavor.

I could go on and on - this could easily be a garlic blog, there is so much to say about garlic. Check out this site for even more info: http://www.hoodrivergarlic.com/variety.htm = garlic of the month club. + Great garlic information resouce.

Moon Illusion

2008-06-18T15:40:00.003-05:00

See a Huge Moon Illusion Wednesday

Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
SPACE.comTue Jun 17, 11:15 AM ET

As the full moon rises this Wednesday evening, June 18, many people will be tricked into thinking it's unusually large

The moon illusion, as it's known, is a trick in our minds that makes the moon seem bigger when it's near the horizon. The effect is most pronounced at full moon. Many people swear it's real, suggesting that perhaps Earth's atmosphere magnifies the moon.

But it really is all in our minds. The moon is not bigger at the horizon than when overhead.

The illusion will be particularly noticeable at this "solstice moon," coming just two days before summer starts in the Northern Hemisphere. The reason, according to NASA, lies in lunar mechanics: The sun and full moon are like kids on a see-saw; when one is high, the other is low. This week's high solstice sun gives us a low, horizon-hugging moon and a strong, long-lasting version of the illusion.

If it's any consolation, space station astronauts report the same effect.

Here's how it works: Your mind believes things on the horizon are farther away than things overhead, because you are used to seeing clouds just a few miles above, but the clouds on the horizon can indeed be hundreds of miles away. So if we think something (such as the moon) is farther away, and it's not, then it seems larger.

If you remain doubtful, test the idea yourself. Go out at moonrise with a small object, perhaps a pencil eraser. Hold it at arm's length as the moon rises and compare the sizes of the moon and the eraser, then repeat the experiment an hour or two later when the moon is high in the sky. A rolled up tube of paper works well, too.

Moonrise times vary by location. On Wednesday, it will come up at these local times at these locations, according to NASA: New York City, 8:58 p.m.; Miami, 8:35 p.m.; Seattle, 9:51 p.m.

The moon rises about 50 minutes earlier Tuesday night, when the effect will also be noticeable because the moon will be nearly full. Oh, and that raises another fallacy: There's no such thing as a full moon.

Additional moonrise times for your location are available from the U.S. Naval Observatory Web site.

Key to All Optical Illusions Discovered Top 10 Cool Moon Facts Moon Image Gallery Original Story: See a Huge Moon Illusion Wednesday

2008-06-06T17:32:00.002-05:00

Everyone knows it takes quite a lot of chocolate to maintain a magnificent bosom like hers.

This is a great (fast, easy, tasty) recipe. I shared it with a friend today and thought I might share it with all y'all too. I do shave down the sugar a bit b/c I think semi-sweet morsels are perfectly sweet just the way they are.

http://crackinggoodegg.blogspot.com/http://crackinggoodegg.blogspot.com/2008/02/choco-hoto-pots.html
This is a great food blog with many other delicious recipes.

Choco Hoto Pots
(adapted from Nigella's Feast TV show)

Melt 175gm of dark chocolate with 125gm of unsalted butter in a double boiler. Leave to cool.

Whisk together 2 eggs and 3/4 cup caster sugar. Mix in 3 tbspn of plain flour.

Fold egg, sugar and flour mix into the chocolate butter mix.

Spoon the mix into small buttered ramekins (less than a cup in size) or little teacups. Only fill to about 2/3 full. You should have enough for 4.

Place ramekins onto a baking tray. Bake in a 200C oven for 20 minutes. The pots will be piping hots so leave to cool down a bit. Expect the tops to sink down. Serve warm.

This Girl is Amazing!

2008-06-04T00:39:00.001-05:00

I like bellydancing. I've taken bellydancing. This girl has stunning control. Watch in awe and wonder.

In Dallas - June 14 - Lisa Loeb

2008-05-31T00:59:00.001-05:00

Telephone Book

2008-05-31T00:50:00.000-05:00

World's First Telephone Book Surfaces
Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News

May 29, 2008 -- The only known edition of the world's first telephone book has just surfaced in Connecticut.

It will be auctioned along with a collection of noteworthy books and documents covering technology, science, math and philosophy over six centuries.

The 20-page directory was issued in November of 1878, just two years after Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. The phone book contained information useful to 391 subscribers within the New Haven, Conn., area who were obviously still learning their way around the new communication device.

"Should you wish to speak to another subscriber you should commence the conversation by saying, 'Hulloa!'" it instructs.

Tom Lecky, who is head of books and manuscripts at Christie's auction house, which is handling the sale, told Discovery News, "The directions start off by amusingly saying, 'Never take the telephone off the hook unless you wish to use it...When you are done talking say, 'That is all,' and the person spoken to should say, 'O.K.'"

The book goes on to tell readers they should leave the "lower lip and jaw free." They were also warned never to "use the wire more than three minutes at a time, or more than twice an hour" without first "obtaining permission from the main office."

Lecky said Bell was granted a patent for the telephone in 1876. He then demonstrated it to visitors of the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition that same year. In early 1878, he installed the first telephone exchange in New Haven.

No phone numbers were printed in the Connecticut city's milestone book -- just the names of subscribers. It did, however, list businesses in a separate section at the end, making it the world's first yellow pages too. The businesses included local newspapers, grocers, physicians and manufacturers.

For decades, the phone book was in the hands of private collector Richard Green, a physician and amateur astronomer whose library will be auctioned by Christie's New York on June 17.

The phone book is not the most valuable work in the collection. Appraisers gave that honor to a first edition of Nicolaus Copernicus' De revolutionibus, a book believed by many to be the most important scientific publication of the 16th century.

"Copernicus' work displaced man from the center of the universe," Lecky said. "By placing the sun at the center of the universe, and not the earth, Copernicus' heliocentric model was revolutionary in shifting the human perception of itself."

Jeremy Norman, a California appraiser and noted expert on scientific works, believes that "Richard Green's copy of the original edition of Copernicus, in its original binding of limp vellum, with the largest margins of any copy recorded, may be the finest copy remaining in private hands."

Norman told Discovery News that it is one of the most desired books for collectors of science publications.

Green's library also includes a richly illustrated 1660 Dutch atlas, Galileo's Dialogo, a first edition of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, as well as important works by Sigmund Freud, Benjamin Franklin, Sir Isaac Newton and Karl Marx.

The collection additionally features 130 of Albert Einstein's reference copies of his own works, complete with scribbled additions and corrections, illustrating how Einstein frequently changed and perfected his calculations concerning special and general relativity, unified theory and quantum theory.

While Einstein kept his own writings, it does not appear that Bell kept a copy of the first phone book. In fact, Sharon Morrow, a heritage preservation officer at the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site of Canada, said no telephone or phone book was found at Bell's Nova Scotia residence, where he and his wife were buried, and many of his ancestors still reside today.

"There is a legend, however, that the area had one telephone in the town of Baddeck," Morrow told Discovery News. "When Bell tried to use the phone, it was broken. He supposedly fixed it by removing the back and taking out a dead fly that had disrupted the system."

The public may view the first phone book, along with the rest of Green's collection, at Christie's Rockefeller Galleries in New York from June 13 to 16.

Jim Bianco

2008-05-23T17:58:00.004-05:00

I adore Jim Bianco. His lyrics are thoughtful, his charisma and appeal are irresistible . He plays at The Belmont Hotel in Oak Cliff, TX on June 12th and at Bend Studio in Dallas, Texas on June 13.

http://www.myspace.com/jimbianco

Jim Bianco - Sorry

Net Neutrality

2008-05-19T19:01:00.000-05:00

Save the Internet | Rock the Vote

DVT gangsta

2008-05-17T00:44:00.002-05:00

My mama might have a blood clot in her leg and has to go in for testing tomorrow. ACK! She took a big tumble in the backyard last week and it may have come from that. Crazy. So I'm doing what I do when posed with some scary thing, research! If anyone has any interesting links/sites/stories let me have 'em. Thanks!

Manos: Hands of Fate

2008-05-15T02:41:00.004-05:00

I bought a dvd of this production for my Dad for a holiday. (This clip is not from the dvd.) Its a fabulous stage play of Manos: Hands of Fate. Anyone remember that horrible film MST3000 made fun of? Well, this is a great, easy to understand version with a fantastically wonderful portrayal of Torgo.

You can buy a copy of the dvd: http://www.lastritesproductions.org/dvd.html

Shiftless Lay-Abouts

2008-05-13T22:54:00.002-05:00

Some mornings I want to stay in bed all day. Some days I am afforded that luxury and Zee loves it when its one of those days.

Roller Disco Anyone?

2008-05-12T16:41:00.001-05:00

I'm planning a roller disco skatin party. Everybody get your skates out!

Its My Bday!

2008-05-10T15:47:00.002-05:00

Opening

2008-05-09T12:33:00.005-05:00

My opening was a blast!

Jer and Mychele.

Photographer, Dave Hudson.

me and James

Texan I Am, Born and Bred.

2008-05-09T11:56:00.001-05:00

You Are 92% Texas

Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit. This ain't your first rodeo!

How Texas Are You?

I'm not 100% b/c I believe Austinites are Texans and there are more than 5 spices.

Sugarbush Revisited

2008-04-09T22:56:00.003-05:00

I'm having a show at The Mitchell Building 3800 Commerce, Deep Ellum, TX on 03-May in the evening... more details to come. Everyone's invited!

Eduardo Valdivieso

2008-03-04T11:37:00.005-06:00

http://www.introzo.com/

While doing cool website research, I found an artist that I can't get enough of. When I get a new place with an open floor plan, I see this piece in my space. Go enjoy and buy his stuff.

Gotta Love a Fart Joke

2008-03-02T17:15:00.004-06:00

Farting Preacher 5

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Don't that Bobby Tilton just talk like an angel? I remember seeing this guy as a kid. Makes me wonder whatever happen to Bob Larson. My dad used to listen to him for musical suggestions - whatever Bob was denouncing, usually sounded pretty good. Ah, bonding with Daddy in the car after school. What sweet memories.

France pics Uploaded

2008-02-21T14:22:00.003-06:00

Bonjour les amis! I want to tell you every story that goes with these pics. So, if anything peaks your interest, just ask me for the full story.

A link to see the photos full size:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dogs4paws/

Paris slideshow:

Down south slideshow:

Grody to the Max

2008-02-18T13:05:00.006-06:00

I'm not a vegetarian, but I find the USDA, the FDA, the industrial processing of food-destined animals, and the quality of life of those animals to be questionable and embarrassing unethical at the very least. A simple suggestion for beef growers: don't feed cows to cows - its an abomination. If you want to calfs to grow up big and strong, invest in good nutrition, which obviously doesn't include force feeding cow blood to said calfs... then no more mad cow disease. A simple suggestion for beef processors: when dressing out a cow, don't put meat that you want to sell in the cows poo - then no more E-coli. Strange how something so common sensical is such a novel idea.

I ate a Jack in the Box not long ago and within hours was uncontrollable projectile vomiting... could it have been linked to this recall? Don't know, but if the tainted bulk product is part of a sale dating back to Feb 2006, how many people have been affected? It must unfathomable. So, when all of our food stuffs are genetically modified, inorganically grown, processed or otherwise controlled by agencies that have seemingly bent over and grabbed their ankles for the lobbists of corporate entities that only focus on their bottom line, what happens? Thank you republicans... this kind of crap was never a problem before Reagan deconstructed and deregulated.

Capitalism is bad.

I gott go.

Going to France

2008-01-31T16:46:00.000-06:00

I'm off to France for two weeks with Michelle of Flower Road. We fly into Paris and then straight down to Toulouse. Hopefully a Sunday trip down to Corrcisone if its sunny and we're not to jet-lagged. Many days of study and then back to Paris for 4 days of exploring and sighseeing. Maybe even a day in London if I can catch the Chunnel. :) Come back soon - photos, stories, etc coming soon.

http://www.flowerroad.net

Top 10 Songs of 2007

2007-12-29T23:50:00.000-06:00

Faves this year... and just plain listened to a lot this year:

1. Leo and Leona - Butch Hancock
2. Badder Badder Schwing (featuring Fatboy Slim) Freddy Fresh
3. Think - Aretha Franklin
4. Spanish Grease - Willie Bobo
5. The World is on Fire - Billy Harvey
6. 23 Minutes in Brussels - Luna
7. Namaste - Beastie Boys
8. Kapt'n Kirk - Bob Schneider
9. Gymnopedie No. 1 - Erik Satie
10. Higher Ground - Red Hot Chili Peppers (Stevie Wonder cover)

Happy New Year!

This one is funny with the bad counting and after the drop chatter.

Writer's Strike Link

2007-12-17T11:04:00.000-06:00

Help a writer. Help someone escape the crush of big business. Help a union.

http://firedoglake.com/wga/index.php/write/compose/

Got run...

Babies gravitate toward Good Samaritans

2007-12-13T22:38:00.000-06:00

Today I studied two topics... 'why humans are wired to deceive both themselves and others' and 'baby social behaviors.' When I stumbled on to this new baby study it made me happy, so that's what we're going with today. (I also studied the theory that all emotions boil down to happy/sad/scared/mad and I'm trying to apply it to daily life to help get to the heart of things and cut through the noise.)

So, babies are like totally smart… it’s a survival thing. (Also, I read an article on cooperation that states that humans and apes have 'happy' hormone releases from cooperating and helping others, but I can't find it again. If anyone has read it, link it to me please.)

Six- and 10-month-old babies are much more capable judges of character than previously thought. Not only can infants pick out a Good Samaritan, they tend to identify with them, according to a Yale University study published in the journal Nature.

The study released last month presented babies with a diorama-like display of an anthropomorphic circle struggling to make it up a hill. Just when it appeared that all hope was lost, a heroic triangle appeared, and pushed the circle to the top. The round climber bounces, clearly elated to have reached the summit. The same scenario is played out again, only this time a square appears at the top of the hill and pushes the circle to the bottom.

The babies were then asked to pick a toy – the helper or the hinderer, as scientists called them. One hundred percent of 6-month-olds and 87.5 percent of 10-month-olds chose the helper. The results were consistent even when the triangle and the square swapped places as good guy and bad guy. In several other iterations of the experiment, the helper, regardless of shape or color, won out.

"Babies are very competent socially," says Kiley Hamlin, lead author of the study. "They can figure this kind of stuff out without people explicitly teaching what's nice and not nice and who's nice and who's not nice."

In another component of the study, researchers showed the circle choosing to sit with the helper or the hinderer. In this instance they found that 10-month-old babies were far more adept at noticing something seemed strange when the circle decided to sit with the hinderer. (They figured this out by how long the baby watched the helper or hinderer pair up with the circle, working under the assumption that babies, like adults, study something that appears out of the ordinary.)

While other research has shown that babies make assessments about people based on their physical appearance – they gravitate toward attractive people – these new findings show more complex levels of judgment.

"In any species that needs to cooperate as much as humans do … we always need to know who might be a good cooperator and who might not," says Ms. Hamlin.

Thank you Tom A. Peter.

Why Do You Keep This Hideous Photograph?

2007-12-11T00:13:00.000-06:00

"Look at those women. Those stupid cows, those slaves! They love, honor and obey authority. They endow authority with the primordial power of sex. Thanks to them, this inhuman, this beastial force can be made to seem humane. With their blind allegiance, their irrationality, women espouse every ideological delusion on earth."

I'm in the middle of a film, WR: Mysteries of the Organism. This is my favorite scene so far and my favorite quote from the film. Its a somewhat documentary of Wilhelm Reich... see below for a link to him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich

Childhood fancies

2007-12-09T23:50:00.000-06:00

When I was a child one of my fantasies was to move to nyc, marry Mikhail Baryshnikov and be tutored by Twyla Tharp and Diane Von Furstenberg on moving gracefully from girlhood to ladyhood to womanhood all the while being incredibly sexy and smart.

I still desire to transition from one frame of my life to the next with grace and elegance. I still look to strong older women for guidance and inspiration.

Mikhail Baryshnikov

Twyla Tharp

Diane Von Furstenberg

Very Short Novels

2007-12-06T22:58:00.000-06:00

A blog has caught my interest. I've read it with fervor... I'm a bit addicted even and try to only read one story per day. It is hard. The stories are compelling and only 299 words long. I submit to you, Very Short Novels. It is not unlike organizing a small space; only the essentials, but with style and aesthetic.

http://davidbdale.wordpress.com

Micheal Moschen

2007-11-23T19:15:00.000-06:00

Listen to this in a quiet space... just zone on the rhythm and the movement.

Happy Thanksgiving. Today I'm thankful for ritual and tradition.

Sweeping the Clouds Away

2007-11-20T13:40:00.000-06:00

An astonishing revelation of the child-proofing of our nation. We should be ashamed of ourselves.

---------
Sweeping the Clouds Away
By VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN
NY Times
Published: November 18, 2007
Sunny days! The earliest episodes of “Sesame Street” are available on digital video! Break out some Keebler products, fire up the DVD player and prepare for the exquisite pleasure-pain of top-shelf nostalgia.

For the complete article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/magazine/18wwln-medium-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin

I am me always

2007-11-19T21:28:00.000-06:00

You'll see here in Top Dog's frontal lobe... this shadow, its the silly indicator and she's got a big one.

I adore the silly. I respect the absurd. The off the wall and easy to make fun of. Everything has merit if you have the right perspective. So don't freak out if I say Constantine played a good show or I want to see Hitman. I'm still my normal pondering, observant self. The me that I am can appreciate... period. Why does everything have to be taken so seriously? Love the sudden attention for what was described by someone as a possible aneurysm, but its just me. Love y'all and keep reading! Thanks.

Flocking Starlings

2007-11-18T10:41:00.000-06:00

The way Starlings flock is amazing. I thought for sure there would be a treasure trove of myths about them, but I haven't found one.

While unrelated to the starling, this is an interesting tidbit I found in my searches: - The kingfisher, called halcyon, was believed to be able to make the oceans calm while incubating. This legend is thought to be the origin of the saying "Halcyon Days."

Constantine Maroulis and Jim Boggia Rock Bend Studio

2007-11-18T00:41:00.000-06:00

Constantine can sing, is a showman and has incredibly devoted fans. Jim Boggia fab guitarist, fab vocalist, compliments Constantine well and is hilariously uncensored. Constantine does do a lot of covers and he does them well. With that, there may not be a cd made of the evening b/c of licensing and such. Keep an ear out.

She's So Hot She's Making Me Sexist

2007-11-16T14:16:00.000-06:00

God Bless: A Political/Poetic Discourse Mediated by H.L. Hix

2007-11-15T02:33:00.000-06:00

Review: "H. L. Hix is one of the most distinctive writers of our time."

Review: "...untroubled authority..., and the talent to make us weep."

In poems at once playful and grave, National Book Award finalist H. L. Hix pits excerpts from the speeches of George W. Bush against arguments from Osama bin Laden in a poetic dialogue embracing politics, literature, language, and culture. Reframing Beltway sound-bites and Islamic fundamentalist rhetoric, God Bless delves into the minds of two men whose intransigence has had global consequences. To break the stalemate, this original sequence of poems plucks the antagonists from their bunkers in Oval Office and Afghani cave and presents them for the first time face to face. Hix then opens the conversation to a diverse panel of experts, including the Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations, CNN s terrorism analyst, distinguished professors of Arabic and Islamic studies, and other prominent writers and authorities, who shed light on the issues raised by the poems.

H. L. Hix teaches in and directs the creative writing MFA at the University of Wyoming. In addition to his books from Etruscan Press - two poetry collections, Chromatic and Shadows of Houses a collection of essays on poetry entitled As Easy As Lying, and an anthology, Wild and Whirling Words - he has published a number of other books of poetry, poetry in translation, and criticism. His poetry has been recognized with the Grolier Prize, the T. S. Eliot Prize, the Peregrine Smith Award, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Chromatic was a finalist for the 2006 National Book Award in Poetry.

A link to a couple of podcasts from a recent radio interview: http://www.soundauthors.com/

bend studio + constantine = controversy

2007-11-14T02:35:00.000-06:00

Tonight, I got my Lakewood Newsletter from The Advocate there is a link to their blog covering the controversy of Constantine coming to Bend Studio. wow - that's controversy worthy, really with everything going on in Dallas music these days? Cool, let's sell out the venue. Go see how Constantine will make an intimate acoustic venue work. (7:30 doors open/ 8:00pm start. $15 adv.-$20 at the door. Tickets = www.bendstudio.com under music.)

Here's a direct link to the blog:
http://backtalkeastdallas.typepad.com/back_talk/2007/11/a-bit-of-dubya-.html

Enjoy the drama, I did. *gasp*