I lied. Who knew that I am a rat bastard? My awesome wife likes to remind of such. I think I do a pretty good job of beating myself up about such things. Not as much these days. I can be quite good at defining myself through my flaws, both perceived and real. I'll probably keep doing so even though a the scent of better habits helps me through. Just jotting some silly notes down here is the baby step to getting serious about writing everyday. I lost the drive a coupld of months ago. I feel that is a natural stage in the process and one in which the successful define themselves by overcoming stagnated spiritual motivation with developed need. What am I talking about, I haven't finished one big story and wonder if I ever will. The motivation to write has dwindled and no I must work on rebuilding it. Standard Issue needs a good role model, right?
Before I forget, the strip of black on the right of the picture is a few curls of Jasmin's hair. She refuses pictures and that's the way of that. One of the twusts of hair fell out last night and I have kept it in my pocket all day. It was my charm for the for today and I hope to carry it forever.
Oh that note, sleep well and that's this..

4.20.09...part ii

Check it out folks. That there is Daniel James Wallace. I'll try to not put ten million pictures of him up here. He was born today. Earth day. 420. As far as I'm concerned, it's his day.. I'm kinda tired and feel like watching some movies and sleeping. Enjoy yourselves and smile well.

4-20-09. part i

So..my wife is in labor and I'm at work waiting and teaching. I don't know what all to jot and I am praying that the next post will be of pure joy. Worry doesn't suit me well. Maybe it does since no one knows when I'm stressed and anxious. This boring veneer of mine is getting a little better made everyday.
I thank the gods that I have a beautiful and loving wife and that my brother is so dedicated to his fraternal bonds that he is on his way to the waiting room to keep a post for me. Those that know him, speak dearly of his benevolent nature while swearing of his funky ways. He is a frustrating lad but that's just part of the fun.
Know not what else to say but I do say that I have been too long from writing. Rock on and send strength to those fighting through the pain and joy to those seeing light in the rain.

is it getting hot in here

I started studying global warming and a host of other environmental problems many years ago. Since then, I have had enough interesting conversation to develop my own views to a lot of confusion. I think one that stuck was when I was talking with this crazy fellow, Brian Jordan, about evolution. He's a punk as funk type of soul and a hellified artist. We got into the chat as he was giving me a tattoo for six hours and I needed to do something to get past the building ache and burn. I'm a strong believer of natural selection and evolution. It made sense when I first heard about it and books like Beak of the Finch firmed up my belief. Brian's response was "None of us where there to see it so how the hell do we know it's real?" Throw evidence all you want in the face of that argument but it a simple power to it. It allowed me to question what I thought I knew and that has led me to wonder about "global warming". Why is it easier to believe that Carbon Dioxide is the culprit rather than solar cycles? Maybe we just put out more heat by doing more work. That motor under the hood likes to be around 270 and it discharges excess heat through exhaust and fans. What happens when you air condition a civilization? You don't pump cold air into a building, if you want a hint. Silly ideas, sure, but could emissions be just as so? How did that start, anyway? Usually scientists start with the clean and logical theaory and work to prove or disprove it. Someone said, "gases" and it has been an evil debate to maybe prove it since. That doesn't follow the scientific method but we all follow the theory. Solar cycles seem pretty strong. I just read an interesting article at Discover by a Dutch scientist who figured that cosmic rays change cloud formations. It's all how the experiments are done and how the results are written. The carbon dioxide argument gets weird because folks want to charge a big ole CO2 tax. We could use alternate energy but we should also be focusing on efficiency. I'm about to give up on the political debate. I was happier not knowing and just as useless.
In other news, I see that the Boston Globe is teetering. That ain't good. Profit margins, not profits. It's the dumb problem with public trading. A loss is not making as much as you did. If you can pay the bills and keep the journalists fed and all that, the rest is gravy. Bastard owners just don't want to skimp on their gravy. What do they have to do with a newspaper? Be happy you got a dollar when you should get jack for doing just that. To top it off, the papers are all to ready to lobotomize themselves, forgetting that they have a big stick of power, to stay afloat. It might be best for some of them to grown a pair and start swatting back. Go out with a fight, not like a sideshow whore. What do I know.

more pictures of some of the same stuff.

I don't have any new fiction to add. Shame on me. I figured I should add some better pictures of this last table since I am trying to sell it and the others don't show it off too well. It's sitting in the kid-to-be's room. That would be why everything is in technicolor. I can also say that I am starting to see first hand how silly the schools are. I've been tutoring and it is wrong to see what some kids don't know. How could you graduate from high school and not know how to add two negative numbers or read a simple(albeit boring) twenty line story? It is an obvious commentary on schools and straight ridiculous. I have believed for a long time that undervaluing a demanding education is like shooting yourself in the foot. I don't get it. Hire more cops, lay off teachers. This must be a diabolical plan or the great deciders are f'n inept. People aren't stupid but they are fools and we're all getting played. I guess that's why we talk all day about basketball and suck down some cheap beer or pop pills or whatever it is we do to avoid the deception. They're all busy worrying about the wheels falling off on the great society while the motor is blown. "A nice candy coat will fix her right up." They say as a rat makes another nest under the hood. Most of us know this but what can we do? Bills are piling up and life demands attention. I have some faith in the mission of hope. I really do but it is tough to keep when banks are given money and schools are crumbling and we are still in a war. I forgot about that. We are in a two front war and the front page of the paper is about the sweet sixteen. The same paper that fired some of its best writers while sending three reporters to Kansas for sports. The media makes the news and it has decided sports is more important because it is easily profitable. This is leading me down a path of anger. Idiots leading a house of fools. That's the title of my American play. Enjoy the sun and have an awesome day.

it's another table.

The first two pictures are of a coffee table. Jasmine really likes it but she isn't a material girl so it is available. I might make another similar to it. I won't be able to recreate that scroll without some big equipment. Maybe it's just the end of an era.
The next picture is from a sweet corvette. Doesn't that make you want to get some whiskey and haul. The final one is me attempting to be artistic.