Dog

This is my dog, Diego, and he is a Chihuahua. There, I said it. He tends to have wet eyes and that's what that dark crescent shape under his eye is.

Olden Days

I was doing a scanning demo for my class so I grabbed a bunch of old slides from my collection of old slides that I keep in a drawer marked, "Old Slides." This is our old dock.

My Home: a cabin it ain't

My new shower curtain makes my entire apartment smell like freshly finished floors. I believe that is what is referred to as "off gassing."

Haiku

In the cicada's cry
No sign can foretell
How soon it must die.

Basho, Matsuo. (1644-1694).

I assume this was originally written in Japanese but it rhymes in English.

This was sent to me from Rob Thurlow.

Western Idaho Fair

Here we have a young bison trying to nurse from billy goat. For those of you who do not know, a billy goat is a male goat, also called a buck. Only occasionally did he let his frustration with the bison bother him enough to butt the calf with his horns.
This activity raises quite a few questions, non of which will I address here. This is not that kind of blog.

Loaded Landscape

Here is a review from a show that Luke and I are in at the Museum of Contemporary Photography.
We are only named as "New Catalogue."

America Me

As a fifth generation Californian, I have a tendency to defend the state when people make fun of it for its hippy/mellow/earthy population. But today I went into a store in South Lake Tahoe and overheard two co-workers’ conversation. One of them asked, “What are you?” There must be dozens of possible answers to that question: a woman, a human, a girl, an American, a Democrat. But she knew the answer, a Virgo. He was an Aries. They agreed that those two signs are not meant for each other - romantically speaking. He said, “I need to find a Sag,” (short for Sagittarius). So all of your preconceived notions about Californians are correct: always warm, earthquakes, hippies. We’ve got it all.

But I don’t live in California. I live in Boise, Idaho. My current mailing address is in Chicago, Illinois, my car is registered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I have a Massachusetts drivers license, and my area code is New Mexican.

This is the picture I meant to post

Pete on Letterman

Apparently David Letterman also just read Dishwasher. My apologies to Pete - the TV I watched this on stretches people out a bit. Pete did a great job on television. He was funny and he even told people to turn off their TVs - Pete does not watch TV.

Practice Run

This truck/trailer combo seemed big until we parked it next to the big boys.
Luke and I drove this thing from Albuquerque to Chicago over the weekend. Next weekend we are driving a similar but smaller truck to Boise. See you there.

Tomorrow I am giving my computer back to the institution that owns it. I’ll get a new one in about a month from another institution, so I’ll be blogging with a typewriter like in the olden days.

New Residence

One of these is my new home in Boise. Next time your in Boise stop by.

Boise

Boise is pronounced with a hard 's,' as in Boy C. This is what I saw more than anything else during my four days in Boise - it's called "Rufus."

Waukegan

Today I went for a walk and found half a muskrat, (I don't recommend opening that link), a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, a Yellow Warbler, an Indigo Bunting, a Common Yellowthroat and a bunch of large, orange and black wasps digging holes.
It is safe to click on the other links. I can only take responsibility for one of the photos but unfortunately it is the first and grossest link.

Winner

Wow, you really went the extra mile, Matthew L. Warren of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Scientific Discovery

While walking along the Illinois River this morning, I heard a grunting noise. The grunting noise was coming from some logs and boards in the river. I decided to investigate. At first I thought the boards and logs rubbing against each other caused the sound. Upon closer inspection I discovered the source of the sound: carp sucking (eating algae?) or chewing the underside of the wood. I have included photographic evidence of my findings. Unfortunately, I did not bring my fancy recording device so I cannot offer audible evidence.
In the bottom photograph the carp is upside down so it can mouth the wood.

Shortcake

Dessert, breakfast and dinner in that order.

Sadler Drawing Contest

Well, the cicadas are dead and with them goes the Cicada Drawing Contest. Congratulations to all who won. For those of you itching to make a drawing I offer this challenge: draw me.

Bird ID

Can someone tell me what species these swans are?