A Dog and Its Bone; a Cat and Its Mouse - Is it Just Random or Does it Have a Purpose?

A big storm has been predicted for tonight – the campground hostess made a special trip in her golf cart to inform me. No one was here when I went by before, she said. The dog and I were probably out hiking, I replied. I had already heard about the weather forecast from the neighbor in the handicap site. I was busy tying down the rain fly. This would be the first big test of the storm capacity of my new tent (and it failed). That’s when I discovered that I needed a beach ball.

Walk // All the way, you’ll / get there, poor, poor dog – Robert Creeley – The Collected Poems, 1945-1975, 1982 p501

I refill my coffee cup. I try a sample of their caramel apple muffin. I am tempted, but no I shall pass. Today’s question – What is the only mammal which does not jump? I guessed a bat but I was wrong. The answer is the elephant. I was on the wrong end of the scale.

You wouldn’t expect actors to feel shame on behalf of their characters would you? Mediated people who identify themselves with attitude are similarly immune – Thomas De Zengotita – Mediated: How the media shapes the world and the way you live in it, 2006 p100

The lie is a public statement; the truth is always a private matter

There might be / an imaginary / place to be / there might be – Robert Creeley – The Collected Poems, 1945-1975, 1982 p427

Redamaks for lunch – the working man’s lunch – cheeseburger w/fires and a Bell’s Two Hearted to drink. Redamaks, New Buffalo, Michigan – Bite into a Legend – You have a great afternoon hon!

Waiting for a bus / the bus, vehicle get me / home to something / where dinner // is prepared with care, / love is found in the icebox – Robert Creeley – The Collected Poems, 1945-1975, 1982 p503

Partially as a result of global warming, Canada may be the next global power. This is according to Laurence Smith’s “The World in 2050: Four Forces Shaping Civilizatron’s Northern Future” – The Polar Tigers supplant the Asian Tigers.

Having mistakenly thought that Bebe Daniels was in “I Cover the Waterfront” / instead of Claudette Colbert it has begun to rain softer and I walk / slowly thinking of becoming a stalk of asparagus for Halloween – Frank O’Hara – The Collected Poems, 1971 p346

Bluegill and sunfish
A half dozen markup a fry
While the sumac turns red
Over a wood fire by the creek bed
And the blue jays squawk
       Never content

I cannot change it, / the weather / occurs, the mind / is not its only witness – Robert Creeley – The Collected Poems, 1945-1975, 1982 p337

One in four Americans trust their national government to do what is right most of the time. 66% only trust the government some of the time. The lowest point of trust was in 1994 with 17% trusting the government most of the time. The high point was right after 9/11.

Previously, the conditions under which two thirds of the people of the world lived were approximately the same as now. The degree of exploitation and enslavement was as great. The suffering involved was as intense and as widespread. The waste was as colossal. But it was not intolerable because the full measure of the truth about these conditions was unknown – even by those who suffered it. Truths are not constantly evident or the circumstances to which they refer… Previously it [imperialism] had demanded cheap raw materials, exploited labour and a controlled world market. Today it demands a mankind that counts for nothing – John Berger – Selected Essays, 2001 p110

Like a rainbow, I grow old
Not unlike a dog and its bone
As if I were not here
As if I were someone else
Similar to what had not been said
As alike as a cat and its mouse

The heart of the matter is knowing whether evil (sin or crime or whatever you want to call it) is random or purposeful. If it’s purposeful, we can fight it, it’s hard to defeat, but we have a chance, like two boxers in the same weight class, more or less, and we’ll just have to hope that God, if he exists, has mercy on us. And that’s what it all come down to – Roberto Bolańo – The Savage Detective, 1998 p420