Insouciant and unflapped, the 28-year-old father of two, too sexy for his shirt (and shoes!), does his little turn on the catwalk.
The shirt was chocolate. The tie was garish.
The suit, of blessed memory, was lemon and taupe.
Nuff sed.
Irrepressibly True Tales
One man's squint at the metaphorical signposts, songbirds, soapboxes, street musicians, and hot dog stands of life. Criticism, lyricism, polemics, performance, and making change…all with mustard.
Sea Ranch Chapel
Less than a mile from the Pacific, unmanned and open to all, the Sea Ranch Chapel appears to be protected by its own beauty, for vandals neither spray-can nor gouge it. A non-denominational sanctuary for prayer, meditation, and spiritual renewal, it is an architectural wave on a sea of grass just off California’s Route 1, 110 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge and a few miles south of tiny Gualala (“wa-LA-la”), Mendocino County‘s southernmost city.
A gift from locals Robert and Betty Buffum, the chapel was designed by San Diego artist and architect James T. Hubbell and built in 1985.
Among the many beauties of the California coast, the Sea Ranch Chapel is unique.
Me and Miss Jones–Gee Whiz!
It was 1953. I was eight. I had known California for over five years and knew bits of New York and Pennsylvania through my parents’ stories.
Miss Jones was from someplace between the coasts. I’ve forgotten her first name, and I’ve forgotten the state. Iowa, maybe Nebraska. She was my fourth grade teacher, and as I recreate her image, she was light-haired, pale-skinned, bird-like, under 25, and orderly. She did not laugh aloud. She was a first-year teacher. She was a Christian.
We studied California history in fourth grade. I remember the map on the bulletin board that charted Junipero Serra‘s missions, each so logically a day’s ride from the next on El Camino Real. Continue reading “Me and Miss Jones–Gee Whiz!”
On the Bull’s Back
America, in skin and shorts, sleeps
on Wall Street’s back
the beast
appetite and direction, ignores
flies
It is five a.m. and raining
–
–
Cell phone photo: Anonymous, July 2009. Look closely. A man lies supine upon the statue.
Obama on Blagojevich Relationship–A Bogus Quote
In a recent post, I exposed a quote attributed to John Maynard Keynes as a fraud. Such villainy, which is an unfortunate artifact of a free society and a free internet, demands a squinty eye and a Missourian’s “show me” attitude.
Today, an email that has been circulating for several months came to me. It included a statement purportedly made by Barack Obama about his relationship to ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich:
“I only saw Rod Blagojevich one time …. And that was in the stands and from a distance at a Chicago Bears Football Game.”
Just like the Keynes quote, it is bogus.
Continue reading “Obama on Blagojevich Relationship–A Bogus Quote”
Buzz Numbers
Buzz is a old and well-known car travel game.
Here’s the simplest variation. The players begin counting upwards, speaking consecutive integers aloud. If, however, the number is evenly divisible by seven or has a seven in it, you say “buzz” instead of the number. If you make a mistake or hesitate too long, you lose.
The first several buzz numbers are 7, 14, 17, 21, 27, and 28. The game gets tricky Continue reading “Buzz Numbers”