roadtrip to armadillo - IV, random pictures

i know...this post is way too fucking long, too convoluted and too full of my screwed up sense of humor. suck it, trebek. it's my blog.

on our roadtrip to and from amarillo, we took several sidetrips down obscure farm roads to see what we could see*. on one of the more profitable of those meandering excursions we saw the coolest thing. this low flying barn cresting a hill just the barest bit above the ground as it skimmed, star wars style, over a hay field.

who knew barns could fly?**

i took over 300 pictures on the trip to and from amarillo. i won't bore you with all of them, or all of my silly ramblings about them, but here are a few.


these next 3 were taken at a roadside strip mall just outside of henrietta, texas. it was a sunday and the place was closed, so i have no idea how much they wanted for the steel and tin sculptures, but they were kinda cool. they'd make good yard art or beer garden decorations. the store name in the background is "cadillac cowgirl." i can't help but wonder if it's owned by the same person who lives about 50 miles back, here.



this headless cowboy is next to a coral with a couple of horses that awol didn't exactly make friends with. when one of them came out to take a leak awol's jaw went slack at the size of it. (oh wait, maybe that was terri's jaw...) anyway, much barking ensued. (i'm pretty sure it awol doing the barking.)



this is my favorite piece they had. being near the town of henrietta it reminded me of a chicken i once had named henrietta. when my ex and i first moved to dallas back in 1975 we brought our one remaining chicken with us. one day soon after the move she got out of her pen. the next thing we knew she was chasing our cat down the middle of velasco street in broad daylight! it was a sight to see. ahahahahaha. henrietta. she was a real hoot, but i don't think she ever totally made the transition from free range country chicken to being an illegal city-chicken.




these here are 19th century saloon doors in Saint Jo, texas.

(did ya notice how i hit the shift key there? that's because Saint Jo is an extremely awesome name for a town. it's a shout out to all you Jos out there!)

there's also a bit of irony in those swingin' doors still being there. it seems the name of the town is due to a town founder guy named joe, nicknamed SAINT JO, being such a zealous prohibitionist.



later on in the trip, while stopped to check out a historical marker, (it's about charles goodnight and will be featured in a later post about all the historical markers we saw and might just bore most of you to sleep)...

awol found these 2 dung beetles moving their goods across the plains of the panhandle of texas. actually only one of them was doing the moving. the other one just hung on for the free ride.

hmmm...come to think of it, that sounds kinda like me on our roadtrip. just along for a free ride, no real responsibility, other than acting as navigator/tour guide.

would you believe we spent at least 30 minutes watching them do their thing?(pun intended) well, we did.


now this is a pretty famous roadside attraction. it's called cadillac ranch. i will have to admit i consider it the most boring/least interesting thing i saw on our trip aside from an ill-advised stop at a sonic drive-in in some podunk town. and even there we saw a guy hauling a freaking airplane*** behind his truck with the plane's wings tucked back like a downhill racer.

this is what it looked liked when stanley marsh 3 installed it back in the day...

and this is what it looks like now. well, almost. that was 2-3 weeks ago and in the single hour we were there, about 5 cans of spray paint were unloaded on the cars by the visitors. sure, it was still kinda cool and the artist doesn't seem to mind the graffiti, but i give it about a 2 on a scale of 10 compared to other stuff we saw.



for instance, palo duro canyon at sunset is very, very cool. it's a 9, at least. (ok, so i got camera happy and took too many dopey pictures here, but if you looked at that web album...did you see all the hoards of wild indians on the ridgetops? i sure did.) we only stayed an hour, but i would very much like to camp out there for a few days. you should check it out some time if you ever have the chance.



i know i'm rambling on too long to be showing this next one. it's just a car we saw on the highway. it's a "versa." i'd never heard of that model car and was just wondering if they shouldn't have a bumper sticker made that says, "my other car is a vice."

but then, they'd probably never be able able to decide which car to take, would they? "vice?, versa? - vice? versa? - vice?..."




*to see what we could see... ****

**if you believe that, i've got a flying pig i'd like to sell you.

*** ****also one of the funniest novels you'll ever read.

Read more!

free haircuts

i heard it was 108 here today. hah! take this, you dickhead weather man, you...

haircut

did you click on the pics to view the videos? did they make you want one of my free haircuts? if so, be forewarned - i only know how to give one kind, but it's very, very cool. Read more!

free food

speaking of free food, check out the fun we had today...


the news was on at mom's when i was there yesterday or i would never have known about this, but it seems today is cow appreciation day. (that's according to fast food restaurant, chick-fil-a, the guys with the funny *eat more chiken* ads.)
this was the deal: dress up like a cow, head to toe, and receive a free, full meal; just wear a cow hat or whatever and receive a free sandwich.

informed that i could get a free sandwich just for acting up a little, and... well, what do YOU think???

note: the following link to a web album will be replaced with on-site pics when i get to a connection that will allow me to upload to blogger. (my home connection is sooo lame.) in the meantime, check these pictures out.

terri had the most creative idea. she had me cut some holes in an old, white, rally, t-shirt and wore it over a black t-shirt for the "cow look." then she painted a black circle around one eye, painted big red lips on herself, put her hair in pig tails for "cow ears" and voila!

i'm pretty sure chick-fil-a should hire her for their next ad campaign.
(she had another really funny idea, but i'm not allowed to talk about it... and i deleted those pics, anyway.)

me, i strung an old cow skull i happened to have lying around and wore it as a necklace.

and awol?...he just went as himself, of course. (black spots on white dog = fake cow in my book.)



now you may be asking yourself, "did they buy that shit?"

they sure did = 3 free sandwiches and a whole lotta fun.
hahahahahahahaha, i bet you thought we'd get 2 sandwiches at best.

(so did we.)

Read more!

V(ideo) O. T. D.

i haven't checked out the rest of it yet, but i have a feeling it's all pretty goddam cool and worth a look-see. click on "her morning elegance" after going to this website.

(thanks, chrissy).

...in other news, i found what i suspect are the rest of the cars needed for my *cartable* today. i'm pretty excited about that.

so far i've made 5 different *veggie-tables*, and once helped sean make a *fishtable.* (there may be pics somewhere in here. and then again, maybe not.)

-------------------------------------------

the cartable (pronounced with a short a in the table part) is going to add to the goodness of the coffee table world & the betterment of the world in general by leaps and bounds. i might even try to sell this one. i could use the bucks.

these are all mechanized and will go on the carved limestone legs of the table and will be easily accessed to play with on said glass top.

vroom, vroom, vrooooom!!!

and yes, that's a penguin. pretty cool, huh? i am so easily amused.

(please feel free to click to enlarge any of these pictures.)


these will be on the sandstone tabletop under a sheet of 3/8" or 1/2" glass, depending on the funds available.


oh, wait. the 2 airplanes on the left are also mechanical and will be on the legs...&...i found all of those today to add to my already formidable collection of potentially cartable cars!

.........................................................................

the following little numbers have all been collected over the past few months & are mostly roadkill:


these "mini machines" were my son's and salvaged from the house fire:


(these broken ones are all road kill & will probably not be incorporated into the cartable.)
i call it my "junkyard." complete w/ junkyard dog:


& finally...
the Dog picture Of The Day...

"keepin' watch at the window"

Read more!

a mom update and some cool miscellaneous stuff...

mom's doing great. she never got sore or achy from the fall. isn't that weird? and her face bruises are healing nicely. she never once even remembered the fall or the hospital visit. that's normal. she claims to remember the ambulance ride, but i have my doubts. i think she remembers us talking about it. you know, like when you "remember" early childhood memories, but really you're remembering photos of them?

i took the camera over to get a shot of her and the dog together, but the battery was dead. doh! maybe tomorrow. in the meantime...

...here's a picture of awol and his girlfriend, gigi, on my bed.


more miscellaneous crap:

this video may not interest you all that much, but it appeals to me because i have actually used all but the 1st technique to manipulate large limestone blocks. (i've never moved a barn, though.)



and i think this is very, very cool. “You’ve done a great job with the dirt. But what about the water?”, dr. sylvia earle. (check out the video in the article. dr. earle rocks!)

after the camera battery charges i'll take some pics of some of the greatest road kill in months, but for now it's just more doggy-love.

both of 'em ready for the POUNCE!

"sheeit...who you think yer callin' a dick licker? dawg, have you even seen my girlfriend??? she is sooo Hot." (((pant, pant, pant.)))



update:
add this to the misc schitt (thanks, terri.)


i think i must live upstairs to some of their cousins... The Fuckin' Schitts.

Read more!

M.O.T.D.

Metaphor Of The Day: 

[edit - see picture above and link below for a metaphor (this post), via the following Brilliant simile.]

"Building a fire is like playing jenga backwards." (jtb)

ok, so i haven't felt like posting much lately. 

i have a feeling that may change in the near future. i may even post pictures of my new dog. he's a pretty cool dude...mom kinda likes him.

she's always been a pretty hard sell for change. of any kind. 

(puns intended. and she's never been too fond of pets before now.)

Read more!

the dog song

thanks, terri. it's awesome. and pretty much right on... Read more!

guess what i'm giving everyone for christmas...

The Day of Judgement

from the center panel of the

Memling Triptych in Gdańsk.

come judgement day, i'm pretty sure i'll be headed straight to hell for that one.  and for trying so dang hard to get out of christmas this year. only to be over ruled, i might add.

[phone call]

"are you serious? do you have a reason?"

"i've got half a dozen reasons."

"good."

before i even got to the 3rd one i was interrupted and the rest was never spoken.

as rodney daingerfield used to say, "i don't get no respect."

sometimes i hate being loved.

nothing personal, but...

bah fucking humbug.

------------------------------

this is unrelated, but it brought a much needed smile to my face. it's highly addictive, loads of fun...and very civilized, if you ask me.

and if you watch the 2nd video here you'll see my xmas offering at exactly the 2:57-2:58 mark.

(and if you watch the 1st video, tell me if you were as surprised as i was that there was no adolescent-boy-breast-poking involved.)

merry christmas, y'all

p.s.

Juste judex ultionis,
donum fac remissionis
ante diem rationis.

 

Read more!

cleaning out the camera

this is a view out my bedroom window. later that same evening i went out for a stroll (without the camera) and saw jupiter and venus very near that same crescent moon. it was a very cool thing to witness.

for a view of some of the other things i found on my walks last week...

i live a couple of blocks from a hopping night-life district. the bills and jewelry were found in the early morning hours. the bracelet (anklet?) was broken into many pieces and lying in the street near the single ear ring. i wonder what happened? a drunken lover's quarrel, perhaps?

the bills i imagine falling out of pockets while inebriated fools fish for car keys.

i found this interesting little goodie on my way to mom's the other day. it's plastic and slightly padded. there are 4 metallic contact points on the front.

this is the back of the cowboy hat. that's like a tiny speaker in the center and 4 tiny electrical contacts(?) at bottom left.

any idea what it used to say? or sing?


yes, i know... it's an odd thing that i do, but i almost never come home empty handed. it's usually less interesting stuff than last week's bumper crop of a haul (at least to most people), and rarely as lucrative. ($6.07 woot!)

Read more!

what is wrong with this picture?

"The only countries that seem to have enough sperm are those that pay - like the U.S. and Spain - or the countries that retain anonymity..."



hahahahah. taken out of context that's downright hilarious. taken in context...it's still pretty damn funny if you ask me.


call me crass, but i think this is a Much bigger pollination problem.

Read more!

classy. Very classy.

this is my new toaster oven. i paid 2 bucks for it at a yard sale and used at least 2 bucks of soap and water to clean it up.

it works like a charm.

let's just say rick's been in toast heaven all week...


and this is my front door.


i'll paint the front door green tomorrow. and maybe change the decoration...or not...(click pic to enlarge for your viewing Pleasure.)



this is my kitchen. check out the toaster. 

did i mention i have a freakinG TOASTER?!!!!

you're jealous, aren't you?

Read more!

random stuff. with lists! & a WOTD.

why are these my two favorite answers in today's syndicated nyt x-word puzzle?

17A - hero/giant created by rabelais = gargantua.
39A - menacing = sinister.

a. because they're lots cooler than synchronized swimming?
b. because i'm a total dork?
c. some other reasons i'll try to explain after the jump?
d. all of the above?


d., of course, is the correct answer. but you already knew that, didn't you?



ok, lets deal with *gargantua* 1st.

a. because it's so much fun to say. try it.
gar-GAN-tua. hahahahaha.

b. because this is a cool picture of him:


c. and because this is even awesomer. (yep, i read the whooole thing. i told you i was a dork...)


but why in the cornbread hell would i like *sinister* so much??

a. because i got it with just the n. (from the parmesaN crossing.)

b. just because.

c. and really because...(this is where i think it gets a little bit whacky)
the actual word of the day from wordsmith.org is *ambisinister.* coincidence? (duh. of course it is you gullible, ambisinister oafs.)


maybe that's too small to read, but here's the salient text:

ambisinister

MEANING:
adjective: Clumsy with both hands. (Literally, with two left hands.)

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin ambi- (both) + sinister (on the left side).

wha? "sinister" comes from "the left side" ????
oh those crazy latins...

all you left handed people out there oughta start aclamorin' asap. that sounds like prejudicism (sic) to me.

---------------------

bonus random stuff in case you can't read the screenshot above):

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
It is impossible to imagine Goethe or Beethoven being good at billiards or golf. -H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956)

---------------------

hey. if you didn't learn anything new today, don't blame me.


Read more!

the view from my window(s) - III

it's kinda like living in a tree house. but with windows. it's pretty small, but doesn't seem so because there are 24 double-sash windows. and virtually no blank wall space. very little furniture, too. i like it.

i did notice one drawback last weekend when my kids brought gifts.

my daughter brought one of her paintings. it wasn't easy to find a place to hang it. (josephine, i moved it to the "hall" closet door. so now i see it every time i exit the bedroom. so much better to see it. thanks.)

my son gave me a zapotec weaving he brought back from his latest adventure. the natural dyes and fixatives are all made from native plants and insects from the weaver's garden. the reds, of which there are many, are made of ground cochineal beetles. (he has pictures of the entire process at tides.sfasu.edu, or will soon.*)

it is currently hanging in the kitchen, but i'm afraid it's gonna start to smell like bacon, so am thinking of moving it to...the bedroom ceiling?

but wait. this post wasn't meant to be about my awesome and talented kids, was it? no.
it's s'posed to be about more of the views from my windows...


if the wind is even slightly blowing i can see it in the treetops. at eye level. and if it's below 96 degrees, i can feel it. (otherwise the air conditioner is on and the windows are closed, ok?.) at ground level it may be miserably still and hot. there is a not so sublime difference. tree house-living fucking rocks.

if i were a better photographer, or quicker maybe, i'd show you pictures of the young red tail hawk who recently visited. or the brown squirrel with the albino-white tail. or maybe i wouldn't have resorted to using the internet image of the ladder-backed woodpecker at the beginning of this post.

as it is, i'll just share these pics - these views from these bedroom windows:


i watched this guy hop around and 'round the trunk and peck, peck, peck for a long while before attempting a photo.



can't see it? oh it's there. left branch, 1/2 way down. (click on this or any of the window view I-III pics to see a huge version.)

i think it's a ladder-backed woodpecker. listed as "fairly uncommon" to "rare" in these parts. and i see it pretty often now that the red heads are gone. (the red headed woodpecker is "listed" as uncommon to rare, but i see them here and in austin. who are the peckerwoods who classify these beautiful critters? (hey, look it up. peckerwood is in the dictionary...)

can you see it now?








and then there are the trees. mostly pecan. but here on this property are quite a few china berries. (or at least a cousin of. they're not lavender, but otherwise they are just like a china berry...invasive, fast growing and damn good lookin'.)

in late spring they make these yellow blooms:



in mid summer the blooms turn to puffy balls. (are they male or female??)

same vantage point. same branch...


later on in the fall i think they turn into hard balls. i'll try to remember to report back on that...

-------------------------------

other birds - and even a bat:

the mourning doves and cow birds are plentiful. not to mention delightful. here's a dove warily looking at me from her perch not 3 feet away.




the feeder is a very cool goodwill plate with holes around the perimeter that i hung with twine. any bird that can get the food is an accomplished acrobat. or a stunt double. when they hit the plate most birds freak out from the twisting and spinning. (bad design flaw on my part.) but the ones that can handle the thrill are my buddies.

like mr and mrs dove:





and mr cowbird. he's so cool:





wait. i promised you bat, didn't i?

as seen from my window...........check out the hood of this tow truck.



i call it the bat-tow-bile.
Read more!