Thoughts

February 4th

2005-02-06T10:27:00.000-05:00

I took a walk up the street to ease the pain in my lower back. I hobbled two blocks up north oak street to the dead-end where I used to waste away the summer afternoons of my childhood. I would take that plywood skateboard, that I got for seven dollars at a yard sale, all the way to the top and ride it, sitting down, all the way to the intersection. It was February forth, and I strained my mind to think of the last time I had mounted the crest of that little hill.

It certainly felt like February forth. It was cold enough that I required the old brown coat that I purchased at the Clock Tower Thrift Store on Arlington boulevard. The zipper fell to pieces last week, and that store closed six months ago. It snowed yesterday and now the bright afternoon sun was melting it all away rendering the roads wet and glistening. The water caused the the gravel dust to stick to my leather shoes and it gritted loudly as I walked. I could smell the cold musk of the damp leaves, and the drab colors of the sun on the tree branches made me think of fall again. The water from the snow gathered in pools on either side of the road. I stopped and looked at my haggard face in one of them. I could see my breath in the still winter air, and I could see the wild tufts of hair that begged for a shower. It was cold but pleasant; February.

Lusternia Family

2005-02-01T17:07:00.000-05:00

Ahh yes... in the wide world of Lusternia... my other life. Well, I like the interface here at blogspot, so I created one for my lusternia family. Check it out.

Springfield Highway

2005-01-14T17:36:00.000-05:00

For every fog in August, there will be a snow in December. This was just such an August fog, dense and clammy, it clung fiercly to the shallow valleys between hills. As the road rose and fell over country farms, my car slid in and out of this gray soup. 67 miles lay between me and Lexington; 20 until I got on the Blue Grass parkway. For those few miles, I rolled over God's country, savoring every sunrise view.

Springfield highway is a two-lane, 55 mph country dream road. From its start in the twisted shade of dense woods, it opens up to panoramas of dairy farms on Kentucky knobs. When I was a young boy, tall tobacco plants lined either side of the road. These days, with farmers bowing to vice taxes, the ground gives forth corn and soy instead. I don't miss the tobacco, I will miss Springfield highway.

Picture

2005-01-14T07:07:00.000-05:00

Well, I got my picture up. I like this one of me. Lili is off camera leaning on my shoulder, but we cropped it to just show myself. I won't be doing as much here for a few weeks because the FIRST robotics season has started. Here is our team website. That fist logo is my design. I made it to be a stencil so that we can just spray paint it on anything. We have painted a huge version of the fist on the wall outside the robotics lab.

Poem: Tangerine

2005-01-06T17:56:00.000-05:00

Mellowed,
he sucks on a tangerine.
Casting away
the shreds of outer skin.

Opiate juices
eject from a bite
to trickle down his chin.
Savoring the citrus,
he doesn’t even see
the young blond smiling his way.

But why should he?
When the tangerine
is ever so tangy.

Poem: Sparrow

2005-01-04T21:17:00.000-05:00

Coal black jot against slate gray clouds
Darting, flitting, plunging on.
Perhaps a swallow?
No, a sparrow,
still too far off yet to say.
Its course straight and solitary,
choosing not to fly with the flock.
Yes sparrow,
we have commonality, you and I,
our paths lead us on; daring and alone.

Words of the Year

2005-01-03T18:47:00.000-05:00

You know how much of a word junkie I am. Well, Webster just put out a list of the most looked up words of 2004. I asume this was through their website. Here's the list:

1. blog
2. incumbent
3. electoral
4. insurgent
5. hurricane
6. cicada
7. peloton : noun (1951) : the main body of riders in a bicycle race.
8. partisan
9. sovereignty
10. defenestration

And if you want to check out the whole scoop, here is the link.
This is all as much for my own record as to inform you.

My Life Today: Jan 3

2005-01-03T17:54:00.000-05:00

Ahh to be an introvert. I don't think extroverts will ever understand. I'm feeling a bit down right now. No, don't take me for some angsty teenage blogger that wants to write about his woes. No, I am not depressed and even if I was I wouldn't trouble you with it. No, I am just being honest, I don't feel very energetic today. My sleep cycle is readjusting to school and I know the greatest remedy:

-3 parts tea
-1 part milk
-Brew strong mint tea for 13 minutes
-mix tea with milk
-add lots (3-4 tablespoons) of honey
-add a little (1-2 teaspoons) vanilla extract

This always works to comfort my soul. I think there is something in honey and tea that renew and refresh the spirit.

My Life Today: Jan 2

2005-01-02T21:32:00.000-05:00

After lunch at a mom and pop Greek place I was glad to get home and be alone. I finished the section of Gulliver's Travels that I had to read last night and I was able to spend a lot of time reading Moby Dick. I'm about half way through it now. When I finish Moby Dick, I want to read Picture of Dorian Grey. It should be a relatively short read. Then I think I'll move on to Anna Karenina. Here's a quote from Moby Dick that I liked:

"[he was] Gnawed within and scorched without, with the infixed, unrelenting fangs of some incurable idea;"

Put that in your pipe and smoke it for a while.

My Life Today: Jan 1

2005-01-01T20:42:00.000-05:00

Most of the day I have been reading Gulliver's Travels and making my rounds on-line. I just need to finish the first section of the book so that I can continue o read Moby Dick. I woke up about 12:00 this morning because I was out until 2:00. I bought several classics at the bookstore because there was a sale. They included: Wuthering Heights, The Prince, Last of the Mohicans, Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina, and I also bought a fairy-tale collection that was edited by W.B. Yeats. In my opinion Yeats was the finest literary mind of our time. Music wise I listened to a couple Bach CDs then moved onto so Mozart Concertos. I hope to finish Gulliver's Travels and get on with Moby Dick, I love Melvill's writing style.

Poem: My Fathers Woodshed

2005-01-01T16:58:00.000-05:00

Our tired shed is stained now
from years of drenching storms.
With yellow paint flaked off the backboard
of the nailed-on ball goal.
I used to play one-on-one with my father;
I haven't played in years.
The net rotted away years ago,
with just a tatter hanging,
clinging by a single strand.
the roof is cluttered
with years of leaves,
fallen from the poplar
that my grandfather planted.
How different it seems in the winter;
not like the spring of my boyhood.
The door with the broken hinge,
droops open like a lazy mouth,
forever yawning.
Like the shed,
the house is empty now.
My hands are getting cold
even through the mittens.
I can't remember why I came back here.
This shed can never be fixed.
The north side is covered with ivy,
creeping more with every year.
And the corner beams are tilting,
I hope they never fall.

First Post

2005-01-01T15:52:00.000-05:00

Hopefully this will be the first in a long line of posts. I think a lot, and I like to share what I think. Unfortunatly, when I do, most people don't like to listen. By writing my ideas down in this fasion I will acomplish several things. First and foremost, I will preserve my thoughts for myself. Second I make them available to those who care. I think it is rather selfish to keep all your thoughts to yourself. Third, the only people who will read them will be those with enough motivation to come and read. Therefore, if you feel like reading, than read on. If not, thats fine, but at least I will cease telling people who don't care.