Oso Vista Canyon Road

Red light flickered across the bedroom wall, outlining the arthritic shadow of the live oak that had stood in the Fever's front yard for centuries, before the government surveyors came up this canyon with their yellow transits to set benchmarks to show that the land was no longer wild, that it was partible into number quadrants.

Revitalizing the Blog
I've been slowly going through the old blog entries and recategorizing stuff. When I started this blog, my aim was...

On Solitude

fred titles his blog bit "Are you alone(r)?" I would answer "No. I'm just a human being with a rare perspective."

Not Tonight

What if -- the age old question -- is a rust-calloused heavy bolt key that I prefer not to pick up.

More Family Photos

Ain't that the darndest thing, Boadicea?

Guestbook Gratitude

If you want to sign in, just find the appropriate button on the right. I love hearing from friendly, thoughtful people!

Gratitude

I appreciate your links and I appreciate reciprocity. If I have missed someone, please speak up.

"Open" Shop and the Public Rise of Oligarchy

I think the beginning of the end of the last round of true democracy in America began when the open shop laws were passed in several states.

Before I was Born

Before I was born,

Before I was a curl in my mother's womb,

Before I was a shrimp swimming in her uterine sea,

there was nothing.

Uppity Kittens

The scarey part isn't when she walks out beyond the rail and trots back and forth. It's when Boadicea starts to play with a rattly thing down in the living room and Fiona leans over the edge, trying to decide if she should jump down to join us.

O'Neill Regional Park 5

Flag Washing

Americans see the flag as themselves. Do something to the flag and it is done to them. This is why they become so irate when you destroy it

Don't Crown Kings

This is a dire move against American freedom and I urge all true patriots to read about what they can do at Acts of Conscience

Saying Yes to a Liar

I did not want to be shaking hands on my wedding day and saying, when they asked what I did, "I'm unemployed".

O'Neill Regional Park 4

Sharp Little Kitten Claws

I intervene and she thanks me with pricks from her needle sharp little kitten claws. All four paws. Mewing pathetically until I lay her gently on the floor.

The Terrorist Inside

Our best defense against terrorism is to first confront the terrorist within ourselves so that we are no threat to those who might be tempted to employ it.

It's NOT Snowing

Balls of cotton halved and quartered dropping from the sky allude to the warmth of red clay fields, fat for the harvest, under the sun of late summer.

State Terrorism

The word to George W. Bush and the Republican dominators is this: We're watching you back.

Inherit the Wind

NO president in my lifetime (born 1958) has done more to divide the people against themselves as George W. Bush.

Family Photos

    

Ms. Mew Meets the Kids

Fiona Phosphor and Boadicea "She-Who-Stands-Up-To-Dogs" came home this afternoon in a cat carrier that stank of Ambrose and Virginia.

About the DLC
If you're wondering what the Democratic Leadership Council is, how it got into power, and why it is so dangerous,...

O'Neill Regional Park 3

Ages of Joel

And it was at that age,

thirty five,

that it all started to cloud into a deeper clarity.

When I stopped advancing against the thunderhead

let the rain fall

and stopped expecting rainbows in every pearl prism

that rushed to smash itself against the ground.

O'Neill Regional Park 2

Stacking the Deck Against Affirmative Action

The Bell Curve couldn't be allowed to have a kink in it.

Coming at You Live and Past

I create radio.

Morning Person
I'm a morning person. Until about 9 or 10 am. Then I need to let the night catch up with...

O'Neill Regional Park 1

Mount Modjeska

Sometimes, though, I make myself go out on the deck to look at the dark golden pyramid of Mount Modjeska which I can see between the condos across the street.

Sulky

While making a crossing on the trail back from Holy Jim Falls, I chose to travel by means of the cemented stones on the right rather than the unsteady line of stones on the left.

Everybody point....

Unless liberals and progressives unite for a new vision and say no to the DLC, Bush will be succeeded by a Democratic Nixon who will give us new My Lais and new child casualties

Road Maps

Road maps give me a way of stretching my arms beyond the front door, a set of wheels that travel faster than the eye.

Crystal Cove 10

A Real Howl

My cat doesn't think this is true.

Insect Names

The lives of these insects is a matter beyond their names that deserves personal study

Gandhi

It's time to focus on our objectives, to state our objectives clearly, to stand like human beings for our conscientious objectives, and to shame the powerful into ceding their power over us to us.

Crystal Cove 9

Weekend Forecast

It will not be a good weekend to go to the beach.

Common Dreams Sells Out

I am beginning to wonder just who finances Common Dreams? Who paid for this piece whose purpose is obviously to calm liberal fears about the implications of this media takeover?

Casualties of My Pounding Fingers

My keyboard is a mess, particularly on the left side. The letter "e" has completely worn through.

My Silence in the Thread
I'm keeping my silence in the thread (here and here) about Democrats and the 2004 election for now, not because...

F-f-f-f

Fergus is a girl.

Ebb Tide

Smoky rocks turned ashen as the sun scraped the water off their granitic shellbacks.

Crystal Cove 8

Sucking the Teat of A Volcano

I'm prepared to walk if the Democrats don't get a clue and start campaigning against the Patriot Act and for things like the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq and national health care for all.

Fifty Dollars A Day!

"Fifty dollars!" cried I. "Why Bin Laden is heavily in your debt!"

A Question for Democrats

Is it Democrat at any cost?

Field Guide To Democratic Elites

Here's a trackback since no one else will do it.

Dream
My relatives led by my cousin Steve are planning some event that includes me as a person of honor. I'm...

Leap Frogging

One day, a leap frog leaped to his death.

From A Nature Guide

This is an actual article from Peterson's Field Guide to Venomous Animals and Poisonous Plants.

Crystal Cove 7

Whiting Ranch Wilderness 6

Something for the Activist Elite

Where do men who wear four thousand dollar suits get off calling middle class people who put their consciences where their mouths out and who work to get out the vote "elites"?

Kitty Buffalo

"Where are they? I've been so bored!"

Kalamata

I'd actually been through it twice on a bus filled with American college students.

Word Search 5
I'm still looking for good words! Always will be, in fact.... phophorescentcrumblyflutedclastabrogatelustrousflaccidstriatedshellabdicatemutedsoapyfleckedadventuretensordeltagremlindaffodilriotoushemchrevronmucilagebuffsepiamanciplefleur-de-liscorkchartreuseironicfrankincenseserratepebbledalabasterzigurratmyrrhrabbetedporticospawnwoefulmuslinfriablefacadefoliatedspikeyorgandyarguewraparoundaggrievedhalcyonperiodotestiflehadalmenstruatemorosejadebroachabyssslapentropyundulatebreachweirgroinintrepidarrythmiamerkinrillboatvantagehospicegalwaysclawedwildlandabbatoirgroaningwheatenprehensileperipateticoverturepoppyauburnmaple-facedzanjacranberryattritionhennaedbeehiveirrigationlancetmelon...

A Visit to the Future Family

Best of Pax Nortona
I've compiled a "The Best of Pax Nortona" for my new readers and older readers who are out for a...

Local Hikes Link

To better serve you, I've added the link to the list of them on the right.

J. Alfred Prufrock Politics

Or is it going to be more J. Alfred Prufrock politics: "Do I dare? Or Do I dare disturb the Universe?"

Hotel Lobbies

Desk clerks have no gender as far as I am concerned.

Destiny! Destiny! Can't Escape Destiny!

I could deal with it.

Authorial Ego

"I inspired you. How thrilling."

Blankness Unto Death

A exhausted blankness unto death, worse, it seemed, than anything Kierkegaard had ever imagined.

Word Search 4

I know that among you silent masticators there are other word fans.

Whiting Ranch Wilderness 5

A Watch on the Fringe of BDSM

Living in a county where power plays and BDSM are common, I remain wary of the art of whips and chains.

Dream
This is one of those "movie dreams" where I am not an actual character, but watching. A secret agent has...

Vinman: Eyewitness to Disaster

Hear about that dam burst in Michigan? Of course, you didn't.

Mirage

Even the Old Woman Mountains need to see that they are pretty

Whiting Ranch Wilderness 4

Under Attack

I am for ZERO TOLERANCE when it comes to spamming others for disagreements or harassment.

Another Blogger Undergoes Tests

The news is not dire, but the neurologist did discover two lesions in his brain.

Totalitarianism in Texas

Texas is a fine example of how the Right works.

Word Search 3

Just because you haven't weighed in yet doesn't mean that you have nothing to offer.

What was left

He wanted to explore the house, not eat it.

Oh Fuck.

For another exercise in the group, I had members draw three cards from a deck I'd prepared in advance.

Root Canal Surgery

The needle's the part I hate the most.

Whiting Ranch Wilderness 3

Rename Yourself

I renamed myself "Windblown Papers", Cheral called herself "Unread Books", Bob rechristened himself as "Robin", and Nannette insisted on calling herself "Nannette".

The Eyes of Texas -- AND the Department of Homeland Security

The mouths of Texas school teachers may be gagged and the voice of the national corporate media deliberately silent, but the eyes of Texas newspapers are open wide and the people of Texas are seeing a new kind of heroism acted out before their very eyes.

Death of The Gingerbread Man

Even after my death I sweetened.

Whiting Ranch Wilderness 2

Squaring Off and Circling

I wonder, though, if there are others --women who register "masculine" or men who register "feminine" -- who don't feel a need to change their bodies and/or who aren't the attracted to their own sex yet fighting the fight to be themselves against all preconceptions out there?

My X-Rating

Is this a good guy or a bad guy?

Soliloquy of a Survivor

Memory's like -- like an iron cockroach. An iron cockroach stuck in a tube of toothpaste.

Whiting Ranch Wilderness 1

Roadkill

Crickets clicked constantly wherever we went in the grassland. They went silent only if I stopped too near them or if that other sound -- the sound of the wheeled locusts who are death to the mice, the snakes, the lizards, and the gleaming oil black bombadier beetles who try to cross these roads.

Word Search 2

A brief glance suggests that I am short on verbs and adjectives for touch, taste, smell, and hearing.

Statistics
Entries: 1107 Comments: 1280...

The Gift of The Grunge Guy

"But I love you!," she cried and I bought it.

LocalHikes.Com reporter

So far I have two hikes that I have covered.

Mother's Day

I didn't pay for the gift, but the best presents are often the ones you select for yourself. Few others share your taste.

Bryce Canyon

Bryce is the scream of the altitude sick
swirled at the Dairy Queen.

Word Search

I've set myself the task of writing down forty words each day on five index cards for the next ten to twenty days.

Investments Later in the Day
Despite the collapse of Tanya's stock and Tammy's sellout which brought the price of Pax Nortona down after a stock...

I'm Talented, I'm Republican, and I Won the Swimsuit Contest, too

How sad that they make the price of a woman's activism contempt for her looks if they don't toe the party line.

Attempted Poetry

I shall rest easy tonight knowing that my writer friends will not be replaced by machines at any time soon

Investments
Tonight, I invested in Peter Anderson, Cloudstrife, Quixtar, and Madame Fabulous. All are going up in price except for Madame...

Redwood Forest

Not even the rain has as small hands as a premonition.

Some say....

I write about both of them because if I don't, the one dark angel will silence the other and there will be no light.

Grinning Cheshirely

But when you need them, cats are there with an impertinent bit of advice or an observation which will have you thinking from the back side of your brain, your eyes staring at the inside of your skull and noticing that it's criss-crossed with craters and cracks like the moon.

Backbone

Those who have stood up to those they don't agree with have no idea of the pain and the price you pay for standing up to those who are your friends and allies in the struggle against oppression.

Baghdad Museum Project

Will Ashcroft seek warrants to search the houses of the millionaires who are part of the market for these relics?

Missing in Blog!

I was prepared to settle down to an evening of uninterrupted blog-surfing. But, alas!

Snow Fall

Three days of enclosure started my heart to strum a dull, jabbing beat on my rib cage. My legs protested "We want to move!" Thus, I came to the moment when I knew I could not sit through another minute of that listless white noise.

Dream
Lynn and I are helping a fortyish woman who has seldom been outside of her house. Many years ago, she...

Halo Lights

They glow off the maroon streaks in the hair of a girl with dark brown hair; they glow off the tall barriste with short monkey hair, big ears, acne on his chin, and an annoying silver ring in his lip.

The Land of Cancer

It was an alien place for a California bred in the lands of aqueducts, tract houses, and earnest, frequent waterings of the front lawns....

Stoned

You know, I was saying to myself that I was doing too many of these quizzes.

Raed Returns
Raed is not dead. He writes of the occupation of his city....

Trudeau Translates

Trudeau fails to note that France's aid at the at the Battle of Yorktown secured our liberty. Never once has it gone to war with us.

Guestbook
Thanks to those who signed (and posted pictures) to my new guestbook and thanks to those who stuck a pin...

Ethnic Heritage

I do it in the spirit that I love what my French heritage has given to me, what my grandparents brought to this country from the Old World and passed to me through my mother.

Stop Bashing France Campaign

Pax Nortona throws its support to Marc's efforts against the hatred of the Right, led by the Occupier of the White House.

Critiquing Poetry

They get to the line that says "Truth is Beauty and Beauty is Truth" and they cry 'Aha! This is the meaning of the poem!' But that line's bullshit.

Working Title

I wrote the first, confused draft. Plenty of lousy stuff to cut with a single, scintillating core complete with inner conflict, frustrated desires, and a dramatic finish.

Are You French-American?

Are the politically correct of the age ready to change the name of Mark Twain's book to avoid French overtones?

Virginia Mews
Virginia sits in the hallway. Mews. Just once. A single soft-spoken, terse call. I ask her what she wants and...

The Grey Bird Squawks

I could just pull her feathers!

Seal of Approval

Let's take up a collection to bring him here and drop him on I-5 during rush hour

Wedding Band

"Does nobody see this?" "What is it?" "It's a wedding ring!" "It's a wedding ring? Why are you wearing it there?"

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is a holiday for all Americans, we feel in this household, because it marks the day when an American army (Mexico's) defeated an invading European Imperialist Force which had taken advantage of the U.S. Civil War to try a little territory grab.

Investments
I'm getting as bad as Sinister Sister about this. My fantasy blog shares purchases for the day are: Fluxcore, sharp's...

Bottom Side Now
I went outside for a short time in the early evening. The clouds looked like the unfinished bottoms of dinnerware...

Cain and Seth Discuss Abel

The one that I call Cain spoke and asked the question of all the years: "Why don't we kill one another?"

Crazy For Both the Red White and Blues

Dream
From a few days ago, a dream that haunts me. I'm in the Air Force, a member of an academy...

Diddling Around
I've added a few new features to the left sidebar. A new guestbook and more.... Be sure to stick a...

Untouchable

Sometimes after I write, I just don't feel like being touched.

Demurring

I've left many children out to be judged by the world since I started this blog. This one I choose to abort.

Acts of Conscience
Be sure to check Acts of Conscience for two recent articles that I wrote: Cotton Dumping and Mickey Mouse Law...

Racket Quiz

Every question in it, I've noted, is calculated to get you looking at the dark side of your personality, to wonder if there's something wrong with you.

Investments
Today in the fantasy share market, I invested in Tripping on Reality, Lavashak's Blog, and The Realm of Chadness....

Butt Up and Hands Down

I hate stairways, especially steep unprotected ones like those you must manage to reach the tops of Mexican pyramids or certain parts of the turtleback ridge that is Alcatraz.

Definition of Religious Fanaticism
A religious fanatic is someone who insists that when a person of another faith says "Do unto others as you...

Debate vs. Abuse at Conniptions

These are the kind of people who put signs on your butt that say "Kick me" or who drop banana peels in your path or who pick the wings off of flies or blow up frogs for the Death Star special effect. It's not debate that they are after, but anti-intellectual thrills.

Thinking Styles, Antisocialness, and Where in Hell I Belong

What the fuck do poets and salesmen have in common?

Recent Investments
The great Blogshares race is on! I've invested in rulecam, Scott Mace's Weblog, and bit.Persianblog as speculations....

Illusions

These things only confuse me if I think about them. So I don't. Not often.

Yeah, OK....

I look nothing like this guy. Who is that? Drew Carey or Howard Colson?

Manroots and Cheeseweed

If we're going to write about California, we should know our native plant life. And the names -- the names alone -- should startle and excite the imagination.

May Day

Americans don't get drunk on May Day. They hold off until Memorial Day when the object appears to be to fill the graves with new corpses so that their relatives will have a reason to visit them next Memorial Day.

On Open Mindedness: A Pacifist Manifesto

To my pacifist friends: Keep the faith!

Beer Drinking Characters

The angst-ridden beer drinking louse is becoming a cliche.

Some Might Dispute This....

I took my Effexor before I took this quiz