guns, guns, guns

javier manzano just won a pulitzer for this image of snipers in allepo --- and yes those are bullet holes

thug vegan

thugkitchen.com, whose motto is "eat like you give a fuck," was voted best food blog by saveur  --- surprisingly good recipes actually --- oh, and it's vegan!!!

"taxes are what we pay for civilized society … "

a lovely weekend doing my share --- following turbotax through the process is very much a rube-goldbergian experience --- (oliver wendell holmes jr. used that line in several of his supreme court opinions in the early 20th century)

friday!

mojitos and a little food at cruzado, which incidentally has an above-average men's room --- a-ron, mary, the davids, b & r, robt, and turducken!

changing the scene at juniper and sixth

and an exceptional display of wisteria on myrtle street

spring greens

cousin angela wanted to know if the green was coming on quickly in atlanner --- it is indeed

razing/raising midtown

work continues on construction of twenty-first century midtown --- they have been working dawn to dusk at the second viewpoint tower on sixth at juniper --- a little faster than a story a week, i think ---

meanwhile the granite rubble from the excellent early-20th c retaining walls and the limestone ashlar that  faced the first floor of the neel reid apartment building on 7th, a ll of which the viewpoint developers demolished, remain stockpiled or something in the rear of the bulldogs block --- i'll bet they're going to put that to some bullshit use and call it "preservation" ---

spring bloom

 orchid season is fully underway --- there's nothing special about phalenopsis in a way, except for the profusity and general longevity of the bloom ---

 now this oncidium is kinda special --- besides the sparky little blossoms (1" diam) they give off a pleasantly strong aroma of coconut ----

"apropos of very little . . . "

Apropos of very little, meanwhile, and more or less dispensing with plausibility, it would be interesting to see if the same sort of thing—that is, passive radar, using pre-existing signals—could somehow be used to turn the human nervous system itself into a kind of distributed, passively electric object-detection device on an urban scale. Nervous systems of the city as sensor network: a neuro-operative technology always scanning, sometimes dreaming, interacting with itself on all scales.

pollen weather

april sunshine

clearing skies and a spectacularly beautiful afternoon --- the tree canopy is popping

the wetlands restoration is quite small, relatively speaking, but it's really a great addition to the park

home grown company

lunch with cousin patti at a great little place on memorial drive in the wilds of reynoldstown --- breakfast (all day) and lunch --- 

grilled salmon on a bed of sauteed spinach, topped with a fried green tomato, with melted pimento cheese slathered over it --- my arteries perked right up

and the old dude in the parking lot who looked like a homeless person turned out to be shady, shady lane, who was purty great on the xylophone throughout the meal --- he's there fri - sun, i think ---

maxillaria tenuifolia

first blossom opened yesterday, and for the next month, the bedroom will smell like coconuts!

when i'm 64 .....

and sixty-four years ago today, iris was down the street about three hours away from having me --- i remember listening to that beatle's song way back when and thinking how very old that age seemed --- now, not so much --- but as cmcc noted, had you rather be 19 and dumb or dead instead? neither of those is a decent alternative ---

cherries, orchids and narcissus

kitteh

hear, hear

Daniel Dennett is a philosopher and cognitive scientist who applies Darwinian evolutionary theory not just to species, but to ideas, and specifically religious belief. He believes religion hampers rational thought and ultimately damages our species. Professor Dennett told Stephen Sackur religion is a drug human beings need to give up. He also described it as being like "the common cold" and said humans need to be cured of it.

falling down drunk

the hedge on ninth st takes a beating from the drunks from taco mac --- somebody else fell over into it --- they usually wait  until the light pole on the corner to throw up

i can still see the imprint of a bush drunk from late 2011

sidewalk bonsai

a whole little garden in about nine square inches, and pavement all around ---

good friday meditation

Don't go to church on Sunday

Don't get on my knees to pray

Don't memorize the books of the Bible

I got my own special way

Bit I know Jesus loves me

Maybe just a little bit more

I fall on my knees every Sunday

At Zerelda Lee's candy store

Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus

Make me feel good inside

Got to be a chocolate Jesus

Keep me satisfied

Well I don't want no Anna Zabba

Don't want no Almond Joy

There ain't nothing better

Suitable for this boy

Well it's the only thing

That can pick me up

Better than a cup of gold

See only a chocolate Jesus

Can satisfy my soul

[Solo]

When the weather gets rough

And it's whiskey in the shade

It's best to wrap your savior

Up in cellophane

He flows like the big muddy

But that's ok

Pour him over ice cream

For a nice parfait

Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus

Good enough for me

Got to be a chocolate Jesus

Good enough for me

Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus

Make me feel good inside

Got to be a chocolate Jesus

Keep me satisfied

a walk in the park

just loving the spring color