More Literature

Another misleading title. Not a bad book, but if you were hoping to learn a thing or two about swans you'll be disappointed.

Philosopher's question time

Would you rather people hate you because you are beautiful or hate you because you are rich?

Not about birds

Which I should have guessed by the quote on the back:

Because no one hits birds.

Cover Design

This is the cover for my special, limited edition 4cd box set of songs that have something to do with photography. The image of the cassette is an authentic photogram made from a cassette tape placed on a sheet of black and white photo paper, and then exposed and developed like a normal photographic print. Some time later I will post a list of the songs. You now many of them like Girls on Film and Photograph (Def Leopard).

Now we have a choice

LP of the Week

Alphabetized to the letter M

Tucson

Last night we ate at El Charro , the oldest (1922 - same age as Berkeley Camp) family owned, continuously run Mexican Restaurant in the U.S.A. We watched the lunar eclipse while we waited.

LP of the week

I've started to alphabetize my records

Nicknames

Ivy Parker, Keen Kid, CC Newton, Billy Peru, Curly Monroe: people had good names back when photos were brown and cracked.

Letter (that never made it) From Camp

Click images to read.
Also, she did not leave. In fact, she came back year after year.

Yesterday actually

Today I went looking for somewhere to cross-country ski up near Idaho City. I picked up Steve who was hitchhiking up Centerville Road. He invited me to follow his snowshoe tracks up to his cabin. He said I should go ahead because I’ll “get real tired” of waiting for him as he has to rest every few feet. He also told me to call Leanne’s name when I get to the cabin and tell her that Steve is on his way and that I would like a cup of coffee. Before I had a chance to yell for Leanne, she came out and said, “Talk about catching me in the middle of a haircut…” I told her what Steve had said and she invited me in. She said, “I’m in the middle of getting a haircut.” It turned out that she was also giving a haircut. I drank my good, sweet cup of coffee while she stood over a bucket that was catching the drips from the leaking ceiling, and dropped locks of hair into it. She’d been cutting her own hair since she was ten years old. She also told me that she’d been taking cases to court since she was 15 years old. She grew up in a children’s home and sued said home for abuse. Some people do not take long to get to know. A good thing to know about Steve and Leanne is that there is always a pot of coffee brewing. I learned about Don, her ex-husband, Dotty, whose cabin was taken by the forest service, and what's-his-name who shot himself.
Steve and Leanne live in a hundred dollar house with a million dollar view. They are on top of a ridge with views of mountains and valleys and, on this afternoon, a beautiful snowstorm heading east. They share this house and view with five dogs, three little and two big. Two of the little dogs begged me for pets while the other stayed in a kennel and growled. One of the dogs was a Border terrier mix. I told Leanne that my friend Jon in Milwaukee was about to head to Tennessee to get a Border terrier. She looked disappointed and told me that her dog was just coming into heat. The big dogs were wolf mixes. The cabin was decorated with antelope heads, half a mountain goat and coyote pelts. Apparently Steve got them when he worked at Idaho Youth Ranch, a local chain of thrift stores. Leanne told me that taxidermy does not sell well so Steve had rescued it from the trash.
Oh yeah, one of the first things Leanne showed me was her portfolio of photographs on her cell phone. There were pictures of the dogs, Steve shoveling snow off the roof, the million-dollar view, etc. After I put her phone on the table she said with a knowing air, “So what do you think, could I make it in your class?” She’d been taking pictures since she was a kid. In fact her daughter took a photo class at Boise State and would take some of Leanne’s photographs in and claim them as her own – you know, to guarantee a good grade. I told her she would do fine in my class. She might have to get a phone with more pixels though.

I don't remember if I showed you this

Yet Another Look Alike

I keep seeing this guy when I see my reflection. Especially when I wear a stocking cap. Not quite a turban, but close enough in my office window.

Religion

I would like to hear something positive about religion, particularly the Muslim one.

The Star Apartments

I took Diego out for a bathroom brake in Reno in front of the Star Apartments. The Star Apartments look like an abandoned motel complete with “no trespassing” signs. A couple walked out of what looked to be the only livable room. The woman-half of the couple spoke in sign language to a woman who walked into the parking lot. Then the woman in the parking lot said to me, “Let me see that little dog.” I let her hold him and he, showing his complete lack of discrimination, started licking her all over including her scarred and tattooed neck. The tattoos were made of thin, yellow and red lines and had a very home (prison) made look to them. She wore dark glasses covering two of the blackest black eyes I never saw. Probably. She had one yellowy-brown dead incisor on the bottom right side of her foul mouth. I suddenly got this idea that she was not going to give me back my undiscerning dog. Then, in a voice like a quarry, she said, “Can I have him?” I smiled and said, “no” as I took him out of her arms. She turned to walk away and so did I. Then she said, “Fuck you.” I turned back and she was still walking away. Diego and I quickly got in the car and drove to Lovelock.

I saw someone wearing a t-shirt that said "Hate Free Zone," but someone had crossed-out "Hate," and replaced it with "Dairy."

Snoop Patrol

Tired of waiting to be interviewed by major newspapers and magazines I decided to take half of this questionnaire given to a famous person I never heard of.

1. Most luxurious feature in your home: Heating
2. One thing on a wall in your living room: An Owl
3. One thing you have in your house from your childhood: Me, but a grown up version.
4. Oldest thing in your fridge or freezer: Ice.
5. One thing on your nightstand: A Lamp
6. If we came unexpectedly, would we find your bed made: Only if I knew you were coming.
7. Favorite household chore: Cooking
8. Most high-tech gadget or appliance in your home: Computer
9. Best furniture bargain you ever got: Free bed
10. Fill in the blank: I can’t live without: Water
11. If you had to save one “thing” from your home, what would it be? My dog and if a dog does not count as a “thing” then I'll take his collar (with him inside it).
12. What is the biggest collection you have in your home: Records
13. Messiest room in the house: It varies between the living room, kitchen and bedroom – not the bathroom which is sometimes dirty but never messy.
14. What reading material would we find in your bathroom: None.
15. Biggest surprise we’d find in your closet: I thought about saying “Your wife,” but that’s lame.
16. Do you do any friendly snooping when visiting the homes of others? Friendly? No.
17. What is your decorating nightmare? OK, it's not very interesting but I am in a house in LA and I think it is a rapper’s house and there are red velvet curtains, lots of gaudy statues and mirrors on the ceiling but it looks like no one really lives there and there are jet skis in the swimming pool.
18. Do you close your window curtains blinds at night or keep them open most of the time? My curtains are closed to hide the secret stuff I do.
19. Opinion of TVs in the bedroom? I do not have an opinion of TV no matter where it is.
20. Weirdest thing about (or in) your home: It smells like a shower curtain that I bought at Target.
21. What’s on your coffee table right now? I do not have a coffee table.
22. What aspect of your home is the epitome of your personality? The ring around the bathtub.

The Final Guest Post from the 1950s

I like the font the Steve uses and the wrinkled/yellowed paper look he achieves.