Work continues to be oppressive on this end. Like that old saw goes: it's not the DATA, it's the HUMANITY.

Quality of employment measurements should include the 'frequency-of-quitting'-rumination scale. If you never think it, you're in a good situation there pod'ner. If you think it once a month, you are pretty damn fortunate compared to most of the world. If you think it once a week, you ought to count your blessings you're not out mining coal or cleaning toilets. If you think it several times a day, you need a new job.

So no time for the Alpaca Burger Forum. Maybe one of the other authors will deign to step in for once SINCE I'VE BEEN THE ONLY ONE POSTING HERE SINCE WHO KNOWS WHEN AND I'VE GOT A LIFE TO LIVE TOO, Y'KNOW.

Ah I suppose the stress level could be getting to a dangerous reading again. And we all know what happens then. Either Climacus dies or he disappears for a long time. Mostly I've chosen the disappearance route in the past.

Anyway, in this little stolen moment we have together, I'm thinking it would be very mildly amusing to think up variations on the 'It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken' maxim.

How about 'It takes a real moron to complain about the same job for months on end'? Well?

Or maybe this: 'It takes a strong hand to ensure a happy society'? That's the Republican in me coming out, I guess.

What about: 'It takes a 12-high stack of dollars to obtain an intoxible quantity of tonic at the local grocer's'? I think I'll stick with that one. It has the ring of truth to it.

Posted by John Climacus at 07:46 | Permalink

This is sort of a 'time out' post.

We've written and howled about many topics here in the past 15 or so months. Personally, I tend to see a half-assed quality to most of it, and that's fine because it fits with the original concept: a rant-outlet for when we don't have the discipline to think things through and just feel like expostulating spur-of-the-moment-style. We have to think seriously too much in real life and see no reason to continue doing so during the off-hours.

This blog is the digital equivalent of our late night sessions with friends and strong beverages in smoky rooms and last call approaching. Except there are no friends present, smoking is strictly verboten and this bar never closes, so it's more like 'late night sessions on the couch at home throwing shoes at the television set.'

Ruminating about it all, I sometimes ask myself 'what issues would you really care about - enough to write something from the heart and deserving of totally focused concentration?'

In truth, the answer would be: not national security, not politics, not the islamofascists, not much really. All that stuff is important conceptually, and emotionally at times, but in my day-to-day life I don't spend hours obsessing about any of it. I follow those issues of the day like I read the sports section or the local news. That's why what is written here is ultimately inconsequential compared to the thinking done by the true smart guys writing the columns and at the blogs that get thousands of hits a day.

In my own personal existence, the stories that hit home and linger in my conscious mind all through the day are the ones like this one:

The body of a 9-year-old Florida girl was found Saturday, more than three weeks after she disappeared from her bedroom.

Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy said Jessica Lunsford's body was found during an overnight search in a densely wooded area, only about 150 yards away from the home the girl shared with her father and grandparents.

The discovery comes a day after officials said a registered sex offender confessed to kidnapping and killing the girl.

Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford, visited the area Saturday morning. He told reporters his daughter is "home now."

News like this has sucker-punched me as long as I've been following the news seriously, which goes back to about 1977. I can't process it like the other stuff.

It's because these stories challenge my basic organizational principles. I'm as quick with a rationalization as the next guy - war is hell, life is fragile, the world is cruel, you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone - but I believe in God and I don't understand how an experience like what this kid went through, or Adam Walsh, Polly Klaas, or many others' makes any sense in the grand scheme of things.

To put the finest point on it: There is a doubtful place in the back of my mind that makes it hard to accept the Gospel, because I can't figure out how you can have 100% faith when such bad things might come into your life at any time. I have kids and nieces and nephews.

I am a philosophical guy and long ago signed onto the Gospel philosophically: After reading Kierkegaard's Philosophical Fragments I decided if there ever was going to be an explanation of existence Christianity was the answer. And in that sense - in the sense of a set of propositions about man's position in the universe - Christianity is the only system that has made any sense to me at all. So there's that; which has at least given me a grounding for interpreting the relative value of the diverse claims you tend to hear about the Big Questions.

I know there are respected theodicies out there. I've read a bunch of them. In my philosophical moments I've had my own speculative theories on how it all fits together: Some conception of purgatory might be relevant here.

But propositions are not the stuff of daily life. My thinking is more consistently affected by events that frighten me or give me hope.

So if I was really going to write about the things that I really care about, I guess all I'd produce would be questions about the harshness of life. At this point, anyway.

Posted by John Climacus at 02:47 | Permalink

Sort of putting the arguments of the day in context: There's a sick little girl over at Pink Flamingo. Just some freak accident happened and now she's hooked up to a bunch of equipment. I've been through this a couple times myself: It breaks your heart but as I've seen the young female of the species can be amazingly resilient.

Posted by John Climacus at 01:07 | Permalink

The lightning bolts are probably already on their way:

Doctors removed the feeding tube that has kept a brain-damaged Florida woman alive for 15 years on Friday after U.S. lawmakers tried to prolong her life by subpoenaing her to appear before Congress.

The feeding tube was removed from Terri Schiavo, the woman at the heart of a long and furious right-to-die battle, at 1:45 p.m. (1845 GMT) and she was expected to die in seven to 14 days.

Let's just stipulate one point at the outset: Removing a feeding tube is not the same as removing a ventilator. Remove the ventilator and the patient just dies. It's like putting a pillow over the face and pressing hard.

Removing the feeding tube is like putting the patient in a locked closet and leaving them there for two weeks or until the stench becomes noticeable.

One is quick death, one is slow death. As Michael Graham said this morning on WMAL, it would be far better to just let one of Shiavo's relatives blow her away with a shotgun.

Terry Shiavo is not a vegetable. She cannot feed herself or control her movements but she is definitely a sentient being.

Remove the feeding tube by court order? If there is truly no consensus to prevent this from happening, if this is how the U.S. legal system takes its course, we have even bigger problems than the people of the book. Much bigger problems.

Well, you and I can put this issue aside and move on to the next topic of the day, or go to the store, or turn on the tv. File this information away for future deliberation. One thing is for sure, though: Some woman in a hospital bed in Florida will be having a really bad day every day, for the next two weeks if she's unlucky, because of the whim of a rat bastard probate judge named George Greer, who says 'if society is going to err, let it err on the side of unspeakable suffering.'

Posted by John Climacus at 08:30 | Permalink

(...or "Take my wife - please!")

Those who forget history, some British guy once said, are condemned to repeat it, and with today's news that lesson is driven forcefully into our skulls once again.

It wasn't so long ago that a similarly dumbfounding criminal act gripped the nation, a murder so surprising and, in the final analysis, so ingeniusly telegraphed:

MERCY SEAT BAPTIST CHURCH PASTOR:

He was a loner, and a quiet young man. He attended church, and Sunday school. I remember he was always very polite.

TED KOPPEL: (off camera)

Do you believe he killed Buckwheat?

MERCY SEAT BAPTIST CHURCH PASTOR: (without hesitation)

Oh, yes. Definitely. That's all he talked about....

TEXXON STATION OWNER:

Sure, I remember Stutts. He was a loner, but a real hard worker. I mean, he pumped the gas, checked the oil, he washed the windows. Nice kid.

TED KOPPEL: (off camera)

Do you believe he killed Buckwheat?

TEXXON STATION OWNER:

Oh, yes, definitely. That's all he talked about. I remember one day, I says, uh, "Stutts, why're you working so hard?" He says, "'Cause I'm saving up to buy a gun, so I can kill Buckwheat." (he shrugs his shoulders)

SAUL THE TAILOR:

John was a quiet boy, a kind of a loner. But real polite. He always stood still when I hemmed his cuffs. Nice kid.

TED KOPPEL: (off camera)

Do you believe he killed Buckwheat?

SAUL THE TAILOR:

Oh, yes, definitely. That's all he ever talked about. Why, just the other day, he comes in and he says, "Saul, make me a new suit. I'm going to kill Buckwheat and I want to look good on television...

Well, here we go again. Sure, 20-20 hindsight is keen, but who is the Sherlock Holmes among us who would have seen this one coming:

Oct. 1999

"We're going to hire a doctor, we're going to abort her, and if that doesn't work, we're going to whack her," Blake allegedly said, according to Welch's testimony.

March 11, 2001

"One of the scenarios was she could be snuffed sitting in the car or when she first got out or when they got back from having dinner at the restaurant," Ronald "Duffy" Hambleton testified. Blake and Hambleton allegedly drove past Vitello's and discussed two nearby parking lots that could be used.

March 19, 2001

"He started showing me where one might come in at night and bump her off...He said go upstairs and pop her," McLarty testified...

Blake would take Bakley for a walk behind a casino in Laughin, Nev. "Someone could be waiting by the river," Blake allegedly said....

On the way back from Laughlin, Nev., Blake would pull over to urinate, while someone in a following car could get out and whack Bakley...

If I recall correctly, John David Stutts was acquitted in 1983, and now Robert Blake has also scooted clear of the long arm of the law. The lesson, one must suppose, is that straightforwardness can still be considered a virtue. Whether one's purpose is to make the world safe for sharia law or simply offload an inconvenient grifter wife, honesty may indeed be it's own reward.

Posted by John Climacus at 12:26 | Permalink

More Bush-mire news, this time from the Kingdom Itself:

A survey conducted by an independent agency in Jeddah showed 87 percent Saudis backing women’s participation in elections. It also reflected the greater role of media in educating the public on the polls...

Some women were actually happy to hear the survey report, no matter how small the number polled was. For them it indicated that there is a change in the way people perceive the matter and some saw it as a result of the media’s influence. But a considerable number of women also expressed their doubts on the credibility of the poll.

Nawal Hamed, a physician, said that the number mentioned in the survey, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, is not representative of the Saudi population. 'I have my doubts on the significance of this number and I think the people polled belong to a certain educated class, that is why they seem supportive of women voting...'

So the poor Saudi dope-ettes support the status quo? I don't buy it, but I have no better information.

In any case, in light of other good ideological news lately from the Kingdom, this might be viewed as a trend. The simple statement that 'women rights activists were not happy' with recent Saudi elections, in the Arab news, is a phrase that gives one hope just to read it.

The ball is already rolling: Keep giving 'em hell, ladies.

Posted by John Climacus at 10:08 | Permalink

...is up at Techno Gypsy. The theme? Here's a hint: There's seven of them and they are deadly...No, wait: there's eight of them and they are vices...um, forget the hint I'm too fragile-minded today for high allusions. Just go read it.

Posted by John Climacus at 10:38 | Permalink

Just in the past couple hours:

First is at Skyline office complex in Bailey's Crossroads (I got an e-mail from someone who said buildings 4, 5, 6 marked off with police tape and everyone is locked in for '4-5 hours')

Hazmat Teams at Defense Department Mailroom

Updated: Monday, Mar. 14, 2005 - 5:42 PM

BAILEYS CROSSROADS, Va. - A tense situation Monday inside Skyline Towers near Baileys Crossroads.

Hazardous materials teams are in an office building that handles the mail for the Department of Defense inside Five Skyline Drive.

An alarm that indicates a biological or chemical agent went off inside the mailroom.

The ventilation system has been shut down, and everyone has been told to stay in the building while the Fairfax County Fire Department conducts air tests.

A Fairfax County Fire Department spokesman says no one is hurt. But as a precaution, no one is being allowed to leave the facility.

A similar alarm went off this morning inside a Pentagon mailroom, but it's unclear whether the incidents are connected.

Also at the Pentagon:

Material at Pentagon Mail Facility Tests Positive for Anthrax

An alarm triggered by sensors detected the presence of a chemical or biological agent at the mail delivery building around 10:30 a.m. EST, a spokesman told reporters in the morning. Officials shut down the facility, which is in a separate structure on the northwest side of the Pentagon (search) grounds. It is to remain closed for at least another day.

About 175 people who work in the Pentagon's mail facility are being offered the option of antibiotics but defense officials said that by late afternoon, no one had experienced any signs or symptoms of exposure...

UPDATE: Guy on the inside now says (8:30 pm tonight): 'they've requested that we wash our faces and now all three buildings have to leave by the floor numbers - so it will be before midnight!'

That's gotta be an inconvenience. I worked at Skyline for 5 years and it's a wonderful facility because of the mall, restaurants, etc. under the office complex. Locked upstairs in your offices, it's not so great.

On the 10:00 news they showed about 3,000 people lined up in the lobbies waiting to be interviewed by Fairfax County police, one at a time, to get out.

UPDATE II: Now they are saying all three of the Skyline buildings will be closed indefinitely and employees should call their companies each day to find out when and if they can return to work. That's REALLY gotta suck: There are a sh*tload of companies in those buildings. Our modest little enterprise would have been devastated if they wrapped up the office in yellow tape and said, 'ya'll just stay away for awhile.' At certain times of year it would have been nearly life-threatening.

Posted by John Climacus at 07:11 | Permalink

Cool. One of the grandaddy's of this whole shebang has stepped back in for a moment. This was a March 2005 post at USS Clueless (although it may be outdated or gone by the time you see this link.)

Den Beste's site is worth a thorough drilling down if you are new to the medium. This is a start but there is much more. There's more to Steven's deal than can be easily communicated. The entire story is pretty intense. (scroll down). One of the good guys.

Also, we wait with bated breath for each new utterance from the Creator of Worlds. What? Huh? One of the best blogs of all becomes the equivalent of a community yard sale sign?

Well, thank goodness for the wayback machine. Enjoy while you can. Allah may not be around for long.

Posted by John Climacus at 03:30 | Permalink

I've seen the future of eternal punishment, and its name is 'On The Record With Greta Van Susteren.'

Now please don't get me wrong: On the whole I love Fox News Channel. If I can go to bed every night watching Iron Chef, and wake up every morning to Fox and Friends, well, I just can't imagine what more life on this Earth could have to offer. Could you?

And most of those who carp about Fox News Channel have obviously never watched it - or present a blatantly deceitful case which depends on their listeners' never having done so - which is sort of amusing because their arguments end up hinging on straw men and are therefore singularly impotent when it comes to affecting public opinion.

The bozos keep yelling 'shut up' and the FNC audience keeps growing by leaps and bounds. 'Smart guys' in the progressive camp made to look silly over and over: You've got to like that.

But all that having been said, this Scott Peterson nightmare is growing to ominous proportions. It's embedding in the collective unconscious. It's stickin' around too long. It's gratin' on my nerves.

Yes, yes: Greta has too much time on her hands. This much is obvious. But it's more than that.

The bottom line is this: Scott Peterson will have a special place in Hell, and those of us unfortunate enough to end up there will share it with him. But it won't be hellish because we will be bunked with a guy who might kill you and dump you in the bay. It will be hellish because we will be forced to watch the coverage of and opinionating on his crimes for eternity. Greta, Bernie, Gloria, Amber Frey and all the rest will be our sole entertainment forever and ever and ever. We'll want to put a billion bullets in our brain but we'll be dead already.

Watching television tonight, I get a foretaste of what it would be like. No exit, indeed.

Posted by John Climacus at 01:22 | Permalink

When we're not out questing for political confrontation, sailing the ocean blue, delving into the intricacies of commerce, reporting on the glamorous world of high culture or parrying the assaults of fearsome creatures, you can bet we'll always be up to something like sitting in front of a terminal for five or ten hours straight inputting and cleaning up data.

That's right, buckaroo, DATA! Ah, there's nothing quite like it.

(And you can thank me later for the little foray down comment-spam lane...)

You see, when you get to the top as I have, you often find yourself committing to projects that seem exciting and possibly remunerative at the time, but months down the road when all must be delivered, you realize you work for a very small organization in many respects, and when the chips are down the support staff is found wanting. And when the going gets tough, the tough - or maybe 'thick' would be a better word - roll up their sleeves and camp in the office for days on end, because if you want it done right, you must do it yourself.

Oh the bracing sting of massive piles of information that must be analyzed and typed out with extraordinary exactness! Oh the wondrous auditory hallucinations that tend to start singing and whirring after the second day of little sleep and many, many numbers! Oh the smug sense of accomplishment when you say things to yourself like 'hey I type pretty fast for a hunt-and-pecker!'

[There's probably a good joke there - unfortunately I'm not such a funny-joke-guy like some people. I think Gertrude Stein said 'a writer is someone who thinks of the great comeback while driving home from the party.' I don't know what that makes me because I don't think of the comeback until days after the party, and even then it tends to be sort of nuanced and tedious.]

Anyways, I put in 20 hours last weekend and 20 hours this weekend, with a regular old spiffy full-time work week wedged in between, and like they say, that which does not kill us makes us stronger, and that which bores the bejeezus out of us makes us drink. So I'm going to leave this delicious little remaining pile of unfinished data for tomorrow, and head for the door.

Beam me up scotchy - I mean, 'scottie' - our work here is done.

Posted by John Climacus at 07:56 | Permalink

From today's MEMRI (read all of it):

One day after the events of September 11, my son, who was then in fifth grade, came in from school. He entered my office as I was reading, [sat down and] crossed his legs, and said to me: 'Mother, did you know that Osama bin Laden is a hero who left the entire world behind him and went to the mountains to fight for the sake of Allah?....

If [children] are surrounded like this by the terrorist ideology, whether on the computer screen or in the newspapers, where can fathers take their children to rescue them from those who act with hypocrisy, identify with [the terrorist ideology], justify it, and think that we must first liberate Palestine before we condemn terror?...

The terrorist ideology was always present, and we [did] sense it. But we called it by different names, not its [true] name, out of fear that it would be exposed and would destroy us. [This ideology] has taken control of us in full force, and has threatened all who disagree with it – to the point where we have become weak against it…

This ideology is discussed in full in Lee Harris' important essay from August 2002:

...It is from the ideology that the roles, the setting, the props are drawn, just as for the earlier pursuers of millennium, the relevant roles, setting, and props arose out of the biblical corpus of symbolism.

But the symbols by themselves do not create the fantasy. There must first be a preexisting collective need for this fantasy; this need comes from a conflict between a set of collective aspirations and desires, on one hand, and the stern dictates of brutal reality, on the other — a conflict in which a lack of realism is gradually transformed into a penchant for fantasy. History is replete with groups that seem to lack the capability of seeing themselves as others see them, differing in this respect much as individuals do.

A fantasy ideology is one that seizes the opportunity offered by such a lack of realism in a political group and makes the most of it. This it is able to do through symbols and rituals, all of which are designed to permit the members of the political group to indulge in a kind of fantasy role-playing. Classic examples of this are easy to find: the Jacobin fantasy of reviving the Roman Republic, Mussolini’s fantasy of reviving the Roman Empire, Hitler’s fantasy of reviving German paganism in the thousand-year Reich...

Harris later makes the point that if the root cause of terrorism is not economic or political, but psychological, then the current war is not a 'Clausewitzian war.' It is more akin to a battle against a fatal epidemic. The enemy is not to be reasoned with, but simply vanquished.

It's easy to slip into fantasy when one's run-ins with reality do not go well. This is how alternate realities come into being.

But the answer is not simply that one's opponents must be defeated. Kill the terrorists, yes, but it is also necessary to combat the false ideologies with one borne out by real-life events. It's not an easy task, but it's necessary to persist in it. It's also necessary to 'share the truth with love' which, admittedly, is not my strongest point, but one I'm trying to learn.

Posted by John Climacus at 05:50 | Permalink

Fred Blassie died a couple years ago, but his spot-on observations live on, today more than ever.

Dr. Demento would have been proud.

This is from the Good Guy place

Pencil Neck Geek

(Freddie Blassie)

Back when I was a kid, life was going swell.

Till something happened, blew every thing to hell.

That night my daddy stumbled in, all pale and weak,

Said "A woman up the block just gave birth to a geek."

Mom said, "Sell it to the circus, what the heck."

Dad said, "Nope, this one's a pencil neck.

And if there's one thing lower than a side show freak,

It's a grit eatin', scum suckin', pencil neck geek."

You see if you take a pencil that won't hold lead,

Looks like a pipe cleaner atached to a head,

Add a buggy whip body with a brain that leaks,

You got yourself a grit eatin', pencil neck geek.

(chorus)

Pencil neck geek, grit eatin' freak,

scum suckin', pea head with a lousy physique.

He's a one man, no gut, loosing streak.

Nothin' but a pencil neck geek.

Soon the geeks were poppin' up all over town.

You couldn't hardly sneeze without knockin' one down.

After a nice juicy steak, if you need a toothpick,

Just reach for a geek, they'll do the trick.

One day we cut one up for fish bait.

Learned our lesson just a little bit late.

Soon as the geek hit the drink, the water turned red.

Next day, sure enough, all the fish were dead.

chorus

Most any night you know where I can be found.

Yeah, stomping some geek's head into the ground.

So keep the faith 'cause in Blassie you can trust,

I won't give up 'til the last geek bites the dust.

chorus

They say, "these geeks come a dime a dozen."

I'm lookin' for the guy who's supplin' the dimes.

Its gonna be real hard times for all of these

grit eatin',

scum suckin',

boot lickin',

drop kickin',

gut grindin',

nail bitin',

glue sniffin',

scab pickin',

butt scratchin',

egg hatchin',

sleezy,

smelly,

pepper bellied,

dirty, lousy, rotten, stinkin', freaks.

Nothing but a pencil neck geek.

--

available on:

King of Men, Raunchy Tolk 7" EP, 1977

I Bite the Songs, Rhino picture disc LP, 1977

Dr. Demento's Dementia Royale, Rhino RNLP 010, 1980

[this record contains an extended section after the song]

Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty Records of All Time, Vol. 4:

the

1970's, Rhino LP/cassette 823, 1985

Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty CD of All Time, Rhino 75768,

1988

Dr. Demento - 20th Anniversary Collection, Rhino CD/cassette 70743, 1991

If they'd let him, he might be a decent fellow. Of course, the dogs and generals have a say in this, and that Assad boy's got some 'splainin' to do.

Posted by John Climacus at 01:41 | Permalink

An important new development, as reported at the main site:

Fair Hits Offer Knowledge (FHOK), a bloggers' rights organization, maintains that early-to-market Web sites such as Instapundit have developed an unfair advantage totally disproportionate to the intrinsic value of their content. And the built-in audience these 'Old Internet' sites attract is held up as evidence that the blogosphere is hardly a democratic environment...

'What you've got in the Instapundit case is interesting: an off-puttingly folksy, politically nebulous professor somewhere in Tennessee who managed to get himself ensconced in everybody's Bookmarks and Favorites folders before anyone knew what else the Internet might offer,' says FHOK Chairman John Climacus. 'Frankly, he's got little to say, but he spends a modicum of time each day linking to the most obvious news stories and blog entries, followed by oblique, often condescending comments such as 'Great Caesars Ghost!' and 'indeed.' He's doing pretty much what every other blogger is doing, only he does far less of it...'

'Oh, on the face of it the Reynolds numbers are good all right. People on our side work hard; people on his side work hard; and when we step back and compare the stats, sometimes our side just has to say 'FHOK!' - no pun intended,' Climacus explains. 'But there are a whole, WHOLE lot of us little guys writing every day, reading each others' posts, linking, weeping, whining and commiserating. Taken together, our numbers are pretty darn impressive, too...'

As they say, read the whole thing.

Posted by John Climacus at 10:27 | Permalink

(Forgot to do this the other night)

One of the classic moments in TV history took place this past Thursday, and it deserves to be repeated, circulated and savored.

I was crying and convulsing right along with her.

Posted by John Climacus at 10:14 | Permalink

'Muslim world,' that is:

Based on a survey conducted Feb. 1-6 of 1,200 adults in Indonesia — the world's largest Muslim country — the poll found that 40 percent favored U.S.-led efforts against global terrorism — up from 23 percent in 2003.

Another 36 percent said they opposed those efforts; the figure stood at 72 percent two years ago.

Confidence in Osama bin Laden has dropped. When asked if they thought the terrorist leader could "do the right thing regarding world affairs," 23 percent agreed.

In 2003, that figure was 58 percent.

"The support base that empowers global terrorists has significantly eroded. ... This is a major blow to al Qaeda and other terrorists," the poll stated.

American response to the tsunami that ravaged the region last December has inspired good feelings...

About time.

Posted by John Climacus at 05:49 | Permalink

We're not nearly as impressive or interesting on the score as certain other folks, but we get our share of lookups. Bottom line: Google likes blogs.

Actually all the search engines do, with an almost unnatural affinity. Evidence: They like ours. Heh.

Some recent front page favorites:

sweaty kossites

sexysexpert

"aaa trash" (sweet!)

phetermine scum

jeff gannon plush carpet

democratic crackup

exploding head liberals

"jacques fellow"

marinated loin pickle bucket

alpaca cat

ronin tynan

solitary confinement in Hanoi Hilton, insanity

white trash wedding cake

controversy john pope ending career

"Lowell Weicher" 2004

party of weasels

And of course, yours truly

Hoo doggy! We're showing up everywhar, dammit! I don't want to sound too bold, but at the rate we are spreading, the next time you visit your grandmother she will be wearing one of these.

She, and an army of grandmas.

Posted by John Climacus at 11:24 | Permalink

The latest Bonfire is up.

Best enjoyed on a blanket in a meadow or under a tall shade tree, on a peaceful spring day, where the enchanting phrase and illuminating thought can be savored amidst the soothing hum of creation itself. Or right now at your desk, whichever is more convenient.

Posted by John Climacus at 11:03 | Permalink