Miss Lilly is so Pretty

Mating Flight

The American Kestrel is sometimes called the most colorful raptor in the world. They are also the most common falcon in North and South America. The are most often heard first with their distinctive “Klee-Klee-Klee” that can be heard at any time from dawn to dusk.

This particular male I heard Saturday morning when I was outside taking pictures of flowers in my garden. I looked across the street and directly above a large oak tree, this bird was trying to attract the attention of a nearby female. He would swoop in a graceful arc down to about thirty feet above the ground and then back up to about eighty feet where he would hover in place calling loudly for about twenty seconds before swooping down once more. The amazing thing was that his body was perfectly still while his wings were beating rapidly hovering in place. I only have a 4X zoom pocket camera and I’ve enlarged the pictures so much they are a bit blurry, but all three pictures show him hovering and the angle the wings and tail take to remain still.

Black Holes and a Ship called “Desire”

This week for Read~Write~Poem the prompt is to write a Sci-Fi themed poem. I really like this prompt as I enjoy reading science fiction books. If you ever have a chance to travel to the deep space mining colonies, maybe you’ll hear this drinking song that astroid miners sometimes sing when they return after a tour of duty.

Black Hole-Powered Jet of Electrons and Sub-Atomic Particles Streams From Center of Galaxy M87

I was lucky enough to find a miner to record this song, hope you enjoy his deep and husky voice.

out past the halo
where the comets
do roam
out past the halo
where the cold
froze your bones
radiation will fry you
when the light
fades away
so come through the door
take your helmet
off here

so raise your glass high boys
for black holes
and beer
raise your glass high
for a ship
called desire
drink down that liquor
before you return
to that ship
called desire
and the black holes
of home

out past the belt
where the rocks
do tumble
out past the belt
where the ice
breaks in shards
gravity will grab you
when the astroids
spin by
so come through the door
take your helmet
off here

so raise your glass high boys
for black holes
and beer
raise your glass high
for a ship
called desire
drink down that liquor
before you return
to that ship
called desire
and the black holes
of home

Going Bananas…. Groan!

How to answer a Meme as a multiple personality.

Nita in India tagged me for this meme. I don’t normally do them, but I thought this one looked fun. Rose has been so active lately writing her book that I’m sure a few of these answers will be hers.

1. Last movie you saw in a theater?
“Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day”. Great movie.

Hi everyone this is Rose. I’ll answer some of these questions as well. I liked the movie too.

2. What book are you reading?
Too many to mention, I usually read at least three at a time. Some of my favorite books out of the 10,000+ I’ve read in my life.

3. Favorite board game?
None, don’t play games.

4. Favorite magazine?

My magazine is ESPN. Little Brian and Sable like TRAINS.
This is Rose, my favorite magazine is Marie Claire.

5. Favorite smells?

Lavender, cinnamon, hot asphalt, low tide

Rose again. So he’s weird.

6. Favorite sounds?

An orgasm.

Rose says, amen.

7. Worst feeling in the world?

Feeling helpless

Rose here. Thinking you’ve upset a close friend.

8. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?

What time is it?

Rose again. Where’s my breakfast in bed?

9. Favorite fast food place?

None, I don’t eat rot gut food. Yuck!

10. Future child’s name?

None, We have no children and will have no children.

11. Finish this statement. “If I had lot of money I’d….?

“… I’d create a foundation that helped victims of abuse heal and become productive survivors. I’d also give money to causes that mean something to me.”

This is Rose again. “… keep writing more books, because that’s where the money would come from. I’d also donate a percentage of each book sold to help others recover from abuse. But more than that, I’d use my money to help other multiple personalities get help if they needed it.”

12. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?

No.

13. Storms - cool or scary?

Cool unless there is lots of lightning.

14. Favorite drink?

Water.

Rose again. I wouldn’t know. He won’t let me drink alcohol. Like I’d dance on the tables or anything. Err… never mind.

15. Finish this statement, “If I had the time I would….”?

“… I would visit as many countries as I could.”

Hi, Rose again. Oh please Brian. “… I would make him quit his job and we’d write as Hemingway did.”

16. Do you eat the stems on broccoli?

No.

17. If you could dye your hair any color, what would be your choice?

Hair? What hair? I’ll be bald soon.

Rose here. My hair is long and flowing. I think I’d try a nice chestnut brown.

18. Name all the different cities/towns you’ve lived in?

Madison, Reston, Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Great Barrington, Branford, East Haven and central Florida.

19. Favorite sports to watch?

All of the above.

Rose here. You think he’s kidding? Not! Always with the sports he is. Flicking back and forth from two or three sports at the same time. Drives me crazy.

20. One nice thing about the person who sent this to you?

Well I don’t know Nita other than as a blogger, but she writes with passion and anger and wants an India that is equal and free.

21. What’s under your bed?

Dust Rhinos. And an occasional cat.

22. Would you like to be born as yourself again?

Of course… but without all the extras.

Rose again, yes I would like to be born as myself again, but only if I get a body the next time around.

23. Morning person, or night owl?

Morning for work at 5:15 am. Night owl by nature.

Rose here, I’m a night owl and it’s very frustrating to be writing and have to go to bed.

24. Over easy, or sunny side up?

Scrambled always.

25. Favorite place to relax?

On the futon watching sports.

From Rose. Phttttttttt!!!!

26. Favorite pie?

Key Lime Pie.

Rose lurvs CHEESECAKE!!!!

27. Favorite ice cream flavor?

Vanilla, but I’m lactose intolerant. I like citrus sherbert though.

28. Of all the people you tagged this to, who’s most likely to respond first?

Don’t know, cause I’m not tagging anyone.

Your DPFE is showing

It’s all ‘Jargon’ at Read~Write~Poem this week as the prompt wants a poem written with specialized words you use at work. For the last seven years I’ve worked at an automotive dealer in the service department. I don’t particularly like cars and I certainly don’t love them, but some people do. So this is a love/lust poem about a car using the terms we use in service.

To read about some of the terms used in this poem, you can go to these two posts. “Automotive Self-Diagnosis 101″ and “Automotive Self-Diagnosis 101 Part Two”

“Drooling I watch her skirt”

from the distance far she comes
a vision in red headers popping
as I drink in her contours and
vibrate in her exhaust she idles
rough and I stroke her skin
her ground effects skirts hide
her aggressive camber and her
gleaming chrome spokes reveal
painted calipers gripping ceramic
pads and polished steel rotors
I grip her handle and slid slowly
down inside the soft leather seat
Her cluster shows the needles that
flick up and down as I play footsie
with her custom pedals and pop
her clutch as her engine moans
the revs whine when the blower
opens the IAC and air is sucked
hard into her chamber and the fluid
is injected and sparked by platinum
fire the combustion throws me
back into her upright caress and
belted straps and I ride her fast
and deep into the corner her
rubber contact patch squealing
and smoking as the transaxle
converts torque to thrust and
by the ABS/TRAC keeps rotating
forward as I slide to a stop and
pop the hood latch to stare into
the heart of my love beating
three thousand times a minute
controlled by the PCM that takes
the input from the MAF and the
DPFE and O2 sensors to turn her
from a violent explosion into a
purring satisfied machine men
and women find so hot that love them.

Weekend Photos

Project Green picture posts, a daily posting picture project.

A Southern Black Racer snake in hunting pose.

Spiderwort blooming daily above dwarf juniper.

Honeybee collecting pollen from spiderwort.

Lizard posed on glass mushroom surrounded by red geranium and impatiens.

Future Looks Bright

Check out the Writers Island for the weekly prompts now posted. This week over at Sunday Scribblings ‘The Future of the Planet’ is at stake. What follows are some poems about prophecy and the futility of trying to see the future.

“After the feast!”

Bring forth the soothsayer, in these dark days,
we command thee now no more a deep haze,
speak up, tell us of events yet to come
from me to you shall receive a tidy sum
I have seen the future and it looks bright,
repeat after me, might makes right,
seven hundred years Your Majesty will pass
and all that gold will go towards gas
in the coming centuries lost is your name,
but who cares, life is but a game,
so says the soothsayer Sony!

Another cry across the land,
let the sibyl stand forth
and give her course
for it is said if a woman doth vow
to obey her master
without having a cow
then harmony reigns
and all will sleep tight
his firm hand tonight
What a load of crap, this ruler doth spout
truth be told he is a lout
for in distant years
another shall rise
a woman it seems
grasping a prize
the vote to the people
so says Hillary Sibyl

Tell me a saga oh wise auspex
I have heard you know
why the cock crows
for many a moon
I’ve thrust most lustily
but none of my
nightingales have
stomachs grown
I find it hard
to maintain my desire
so tell the truth
else it’s the fire
Oh great one with
lance so keen
of birds I’ve seen
what you must do
take this blue dropping
when you are drooping
soon you’ll be popping
are my name’s not
Viagra

Where hides the seer I have much to ask
the God above has laid forth my task
my enemies I must smite
and with great delight
send them all to hell
women and children as well
none left alive
for we shall strive
to crush and maim
it’s always the same
victory is ours
or my name’s not Lars
Yes great leader
it is very true
off to war you go
and very soon
but the God is fickle
and the deaths
you cause
shall haunt you ever
so says best-selling author of your biography who calls you Lars the Idiot

All rise for the Divine Ruler, all make obsequence to the
almighty Emperor, the mind and heart of our country,
the one, the only
Give it up for Marius the Magnificent
as always, a truly brilliant introduction, now
utter your findings haruspex
and you’d better show a return
on my investments
my market research of the goat entrails
some names to keep in mind
in far off barbarian lands
there will arise
a market called bull
where vast hoards
of cash reside
so with your wisdom
see so clear
buy IBM and Apple
Exxon too
for the future is clear
buy stocks and hold
that is the ticket
to wealth
so speaks the
goat entrails
(please read the prospectus before investing and don’t cut the head off your haruspex when a recession happens on his watch)

Poem for my soul

Surfing to the Writers Island this week, I noted that one of the prompts is ‘Survivor’. Then at Read~Write~Poem the weekly prompt is ‘Oil and Vinegar’ meaning two opposite things. The specific instructions state to write two poems that are opposite and then combine them with alternate lines. Finally there is Blog Carnival against Child Abuse for April, 2008 and it is a very worthy endeavor.

Thus when combining all three themes, I decided to go with ‘Love/Hate’. For those of you new to my blog Little Brian and Sable are boys that live inside me. They wanted to draw a picture and write a poem for this prompt. The pictures are drawn by Little Brian and are of a train, a horse and an otter. The poem is written by both, Little Brian writes about love and Sable writes about hate.

I love trains because they go really fast

I hate that people hurt me and told me lies

Horses too, they can run far away

My horse is black and he hates to touched by strangers

And otters have fun sliding in the mud

Life sucks when mean grown ups take away what they want

Sometimes I remember things that make me cry

I may be only a kid, but I know right from wrong

Ignorance is a lifestyle choice

When is too much information too much? If you have unlimited access to information and choose to ignore reality, is that wrong? Caring about an issue, a single issue that is important to you but not caring as much about anything else is not being selfish. If you or a loved one has cancer, then that will be your primary focus, not diabetes or heart disease. If you love horses then they will be the animals you care for the most, not whales or orangutans. We are shaped by both external forces and internal desires in the lifestyle choices we make. Ignorance may be bliss, but your cause is not my cause. But to compose a piece like this means I am composed … or not. A composition should be from the heart and there are many behaviors that should not be condoned.

But there are also standards to human behavior that should not have labels. Compassion, empathy, love, grace, all serve to create a sense of connection to a larger community. These are not liberal or conservative virtues, nor are they solely religious creeds or dogmas. Human beings seek to reach a comfort level within themselves, their families and their societies. Once reached, that level may never fluctuate unless forcibly changed through outside influences. Which is where the hyper-media world crashes violently into that comfort zone. If you live in an area with internet access, the entire world is available for viewing. Births, deaths, beauty, desolation; every action from every corner of the globe can be seen in brilliant clarity and color. But does it change anyone’s mind?

There is much evidence that repeated viewing of similar scenes, whether it be sex or violence, sports or disasters, creates a disconnect within and the hardening of emotions. This seems to be a natural function of the mind that protects the self from drifting loose from reality. The anchor that holds each of us to the human connection varies from person to person. But what that anchor is depends on a vast number of attributes. It would be highly subjective to state that there is a single anchor that every human being has, because environment trumps any similarity between individual people. If you are raised in a garbage dump you have nothing in common with someone raised in a high rise. These divisions are what we all see every day, not only on the far side of the world, but in our very own backyards.

To try to reach across these divisions by yourself and change the world is as impossible as trying to halt the tide with a plastic pail and shovel. It may feel good and you may in fact make someone else’s life better, but for every one person you lift up, a hundred more fall into the mud. Can you help every single person in need throughout the entire planet? How much time and money would you need? If you could change the world for the better what would it look like? Would it be all Christian, all Muslim, all Jewish, all atheist? All white or all black or perhaps all Chinese or all Australian. Would you force people to obey or else? Would you allow any free will at all?

If you want a world free of violence and drugs and pornography; if your world is peaceful and tranquil, then you must also banish free will and thoughts. If killing in the name of passion or greed is forbidden then so to must killing in the name of freedom or the King be forbidden. If there is to be no crime whatsoever and no rehabilitation, then you must have detailed lists of what is illegal and the death penalty to those that stray. And if everyone in your utopia is to be healthy, then no alcohol, no smoking, no fats and most of all no red meat. There can be no room for heresy in your perfect world and since humans have conclusively proven they cannot be trusted to do the right thing, then in your world, they will all do what they’re told.

What is missing in our ignorant world is the simple fact that nothing about you or how you live your life is special or unique in any way. You do not have the right to dictate to anyone on how to live their lives in the right way. There is a reason that every treatise mentions that to help others, first you must remove the prejudice from your own eyes. If you wish to be ignorant then that is your choice of free will. If you are ignorant because you have no free will of choice, then should others with more be morally obligated to help? If you eat while others starve, should you feel guilt? If not, then all of us are together. If you live while others die, should you feel pain? If not, then all of us are together. If you are ignorant of another’s reality, then all of us are together.