Ok, I haven't posted since my birthday and so I think I need to report all the cool things Sue did for me and got me on my birthday. 

First, she got me this cool dragon fluted cup. It's kind of pinkish with a kind of blue dragon on it. Kaitlyn got me a red dragon cause, well, she likes red. I also got the 6 pack of socks I requested (as you can see, I am not very good at giving people ideas for birthday presents). I also got the SIMS 2 (we immediately went out and got the college expansion pack so that Sue can play too).

But the best and coolest thing was this demim shirt with Ozark Lock and Key embroidered on the back with a Schlage Sc1 key in the middle. It's so cool I have worn it nearly every day since I got it despite the heat.

I think today is the first day I actually haven't worn it.

I know I already thanked you honey, but thanks again anyway. You made my birthday pretty cool despite all the shit that went down with work that day.

I love you baby........ and yes, you were the cutest paper boy ever today honey <smoochin ya>. I'm off to bed now.

Well, hello there friends and neighbors. I am waiting for something to get out of the washer so that I can throw it in the dryer and then go to bed. Does that sound sexy or what? You know, in many ways I am glad that nothing seems sexy to me anymore. I don't waste any energy thinking about sex or if something or someone is sexy. Think of all the spare energy I have to do other things now. Like bake cookies. Which I have in fact been doing a lot of recently.

Anyway, remember Eureka Kids, our youth program here in town? Of course you do. Eureka Kids lives in the community building in Harmon Park. Harmon Park is administered by Parks and Recreation, a governing commission of the City of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Harmon Park actually is owned by some group started by a guy named Harmon a really long time ago. They allow the City of Eureka Springs Arkansas to use it as long as it is used as a place that serves the recreational needs of children. Or something to that effect anyway.

So the community building is this old double wide sitting on a concrete basement. It's in sore need of repairs, major repairs.

Every year the city gets state money for upkeep and repairs on it's community building. For several years now that money has not been given to Parks to make needed repairs. I am not sure why, it just hasn't. At any rate, the city requested a list of needed repairs and upgrades from Parks stating they would pay up to $20,000 for the needed repairs and upgrades. So Parks goes to the current tenant (Eureka Kids, follow along here now) and asks for a list of things that need repairing and upgrading. Barb, the director of Eureka Kids gives them an itemized list. The Parks Commission approves it at their last meeting.

Fast forward to Monday night's Parks commission meeting. Suddenly the director of Parks (a fellow in a paid position, just for the record) decides he wants that list reviewed, he's not sure everything is necessary that's on the list. He chose to do this while Barb is off in Washington DC meeting with the likes of Hiliary Clinton to discuss youth funding and after school programs.

So then yesterday Kaye Millier starts a thread on Geekfest about that particular meeting (which of course as a board member I had to attend).  Here's the thread: http://www.geekfest.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/009286.html 

Now here's the deal.... there's a lot of good old fashion Eureka Springs style political bullshit going on right about around this whole repairs issue. There is a whole fucking hell of a lot of bullshit. It's so deep that I am past my waders deep in it right now.

I am not going to tell the whole story, that would take too long and would only send my blood pressure up higher than it already is at the moment. What I want to do is post here what I cannot post on the thread. I cannot post it because of my position as a board member, but just in case Bruce Levine should for some unknown reason read my blog, I want him to know I know what he is doing, how it's connected and to whom it's connected. And I am just a lowly little board member, imagine who else knows all this shit too. You best watch who you are politically bed hopping with Brucie boy.

But I digress, here's the post I cannot post:

 

I hope everyone who saw the televised meeting understands that the money that the city has to make the needed repairs to the community building is money that the state gave the city for their community building upkeep and repairs. It is money specifically designated by the state for community building repairs and upkeep. It cannot legally be used for any other function other than community building repairs and upkeep. Period. They have been sitting on it for some time now and were prepared to release it for these repairs once Parks submitted a request. Parks approved a list of requested repairs at the last commission meeting.   Suddenly, two commission members and Bruce Levine have decided those repairs and improvements are not needed. And it appears it is because they do not believe the current tenant of the community building should be making the list of  those needed repairs, even though they requested that list of the current tenant.

In fact, they have spent $400 (don't know where that money came from, hope it was Bruce's own wallet) for a legal opinion in some twisted attempt in what appears to be a way to figure out how to remove what they see as their main obstical to getting control of the money for those repairs. The sad part is that they already do have control of that money and it was they who requested a list of needed repairs and upgrades from the current tenant. I'm scratching my head on this one.  

This Parks meeting you observed on TV effectively pulled back the list for needed repairs and bringing the building up to ADA requirements and put them all on hold until the commission was through with their workshop to decide what repairs they believe are necessary. They (they would be Bruce Levine, Joel Taylor and Haley Tomlinson) believe that they need to reassess the list for repairs to the building. No one else believes that, but the above mentioned commissioners and Bruce Levine do. Everyone else sees it as a direct attack on Eureka Kids. Which amazingly, they chose to pull off while Barb was in Washington DC meeting with and speaking to Senators (Hiliary Clinton among them) and Congressmen.

Mr. Cris Dunnam attempted to answer all their questions to the best of his ability as Chairman of the Board of Eureka Kids. But he is not Barb and he does not handle the day to day operations of Eureka Kids. Barb would have been the person to ask those kinds of questions of. But amazingly, she was in DC meeting with our governmental representatives about youth programs. Amazing that the agenda was set up to discuss all this while the one person who could have answered all questions was going to be out of town. I am sure they (see list of above commissioners and Bruce Levine) feel it was a stunning piece of political cunning on their part. From the smirk on Bruce's face I would say at least he felt this way.  

I believe it was Mr. Taylor who made the statement that he never sees more than one or two kids there when he is at Eureka Kids. That's funny Mr. Taylor, I see tons of kids when I am there. Of all ages too. From 17 year olds all the way down to 5 year olds. I don't know about you Mr. Taylor, but I enjoy spending time with the teenagers, talking with them and watching them interact and mentor the younger children. It actually does my heart good to see all this. It also does my heart good to see Shalom out there with the kids, talking with them and watching them play.  My guess is that Mr. Taylor is seldom at Eureka Kids during it's hours of operation. My guess is that he has never spent any time there during the summer program.

My guess is that Mr. Taylor is sadly out of touch with the actually usage of any of Parks run facilities other than what is told to him by Bruce Levine. If he had a job and did something for a living that occupied his time he would have an excuse for being out of touch with reality. But he has all the time in the world to learn first hand what goes on at all of the Parks run facilities. Your ignorance and total lack of a grasp on what really is happening at Eureka Kids is showing Mr. Taylor. Your total lack of care or concern for the children of this community is sadly apparent.  

And Ms. Haley Tomlinson? Eureka Kids is not a day care center. They do not babysit children. It is a youth program, for children ranging in age from 5 to 17. I dare say a 14 year old boy would appreciate your insinuation that he is in a day care center being babysat. All you have done is prove the extent of your ignorance and your prejudice against the children of our community. Your complete lack of understanding of what youth programing is and does for a community was astonishing.  

Oh and btw MJ, a board of directors does not run the day to day operations of any given 501c3. Or even a church. They either hire a director (or pastor) to run the day to day operations or find a volunteer to head it and that person reports back to them how the program (or church) is going and makes needed budget requests. Period.  Find me one that does run the day to day operations of the 501c3 they sit on the board of and I will give you credit for attacking Cris Dunnam as he was leaving the Parks meeting. I am not sure what your "agenda" is/was, but other than attempting to harm Eureka Kids or make it's board and director look like fools, but what you did served no purpose to further the needs of the children of this community being met. Perhaps your ignorance of how a 501c3 operates needs to be educated as to the actual facts of the way a 501c3 is required to legally operate.

Or perhaps you are yet just another one of the multitude of citizens in this community who don't give a damn about the children of this community and you are willing to sacrifice Eureka Kids out of god knows what coming from your head and heart.  So yeah, go ahead and write you flaming story on how stupid Cris Dunnam is and misquote him to death. Have fun with your yellow journalism.  

 

Ok, so that was it, I got that off my chest now. I feel so much better. NOT!   All I can do is send this shit they are spewing at Barb and Eureka Kids back in their faces. So that's what I am doing. In the name of Eureka Kids, I refuse their attacks and send them back on their own heads.   There we go, now I feel a little better.  

While I ponder weak and weary

This is my brain. This is my brain on tomes. (grin)

Does that constitute a paragraph? No? Ok, let me try this then:

Tomes at the drop of a hat my ass! That requires time and energy. Most of which I lack 90% of the time. Often I am able to squirt out volumnous drivel, but tomes implies substance (at least in my mind anyway). True substance is something I desparately lack most of the time.

To me tomes implies that I have taken the time to actually think a thought through from beginning to end and then was able to place that in written form for the world to see (or not). I dare say I have that ability in me anymore. When you don't use something, it withers and dies. My ability to put pen to page and create a logical epic has long since passed me by.

That isn't anything a quick English 101 refresher course couldn't fix in a semester or two. Unfortunately for me at this exact moment, that ain't gonna happen. So until then, I shall continue to write drivel. Until the day I have the time and energy to go back and relearn the English language once again.

Tomes, ha! It's more like tombs.

Caio baby!

This is going to be a mighty quick post. I am in enormous pain in my back right now (same problem I always have, it just has been hurting like a futher mucker lately).

I really have nothing to say tonight. I kind of vegged all day at work. What little of it I had. I think what I need right now is to go check the moon phases for tonight and then go to bed.

Btw, we had one baby goat born today. A little girl. She is all sweet and cute and as adorable as all get out.

That's my day.

 

A hermit in his hermitage

I have the song Let's Go Fly a Kite by Richard and Robert Sherman from the Disney film score of Mary Poppins stuck in my head right now. I haven't got a clue as to why either. I just suddenly became very aware that my inner dialog was actually singing Let's Go Fly a Kite, rather than talking with its self. Maybe I am trying to tell myself something. Or maybe I have a synaptic leak that allowed that to ooze out of the recesses of my subconscious mind. Who the fuck knows.

Tomorrow I will be spending my work day alone. Bill is off to have some tests run at the doctor's. I actually am kind of looking forward to spending the day alone. Not that I don't like spending the day with Bill, it's just, well, rather than Bill actually annoying me, it's more the other way around. I actually annoy him with my incessant chatter about life in general and the ills of the world from my perspective.

Bill is like this living sounding board for me. I bounce ideas off him. If we were married I would drive him insane I know. I have far to many esoteric off the wall thoughts and way out there, creative ideas for him to handle in a 4 to 6 hour work day. More than anything, I bore him to tears.

So getting to be alone tomorrow I will have the opportunity to be alone with my own thoughts. Which is actually a rather pleasant experience on occassion. Part of the reason I enjoy blogging is because I get that alone time with my thoughts. The only real problem I have with blogging at this time of night (which really is the only time I truly have alone) is that I am usually exhausted by the time I sit down and attempt to collect my thoughts.

The problem with being alone tomorrow while I am out working is that eventually ideas and thoughts will come to me that I would probably like to put down on paper. Unfortunately, I will be driving or working on a lock or something and I will have to live with making mental notes to write about it when I have some alone time in front of this computer.

When I lived in LA I would carry a pad and pen with me in the car and jot notes as I drove in rush hour traffic. For those who have not experienced LA rush hour traffic, you are probably agast with horror. However, for those of you who have driven in LA's rush hour traffic you know that you could actually prepare a 9 course dinner and actually serve it while driving to or from work. Creeping along at 5 to 10 miles an hour gives one plenty of time to actually jot down thoughts.

I actually wrote an entire poem (one of my better ones in my opinion) while driving from Studio City to Ventura one stormy winter's evening. Here in the Ozark Mountains, it's pretty difficult to attempt to write even a phone number down while driving.

So tomorrow I shall most likely come home with a thousand mental notes. Very few will ever see the page. My thoughts are like that one lonely sperm that finally makes it to the egg after beating out 10 million other sperm rushing toward the same destination. One out of 10 million will finally hit pay dirt. I can almost guarantee you that it won't be the one I think the most poignant. But it will suffice because, well, because I have no other choice in the matter.

Picture this: Someday, in the not too terribly distant future, on an empty and stark white beach, crystal pure sand wrapping warmth around my toes, I sit. The sea an emerald blue, transparent gem, glissening off into the horizon's end. The sky a robin's egg, sailing endlessly through lofty cummulous circus animals. With pen in hand (ok it will probably be a laptop, but who's counting?) creativity flowing from my finger tips, I write (or paint or compose, or whatever).

It's a dream, we all need a dream. That's mine. Time, solitude, health is good, I'll take health at this point too, a dream. Alone, a hermit in his hermitage. A monk in his tower. Alone with nothing but time to just be in the moment. To reach out (or in) to the infinate.

Sounds like heaven to me.

 

 

A day that will live in infamy

As usual it's late and I am tired. I finally finished my email and after chasing after Disney World vacation packages online, I now am ready to write.

I made this deal with my friend Cheri White 2 days ago. It goes something like this: I will write everyday if she will. She wants and needs to write, so here's her opportunity. I will ride her ass and she mine. So ok Cheri, here's the beginning of my part of the deal. I shall be awaiting yours.

Cheri's part of the deal was that we were to write at least one paragraph a day. I had to laugh. As you all know, I am incapable of writing anything less than a doctoral dissertation in one sitting. If she bothers to read my blog she will learn this quickly. Another thing she will learn is that I am incapable of ending a sentance in anything less than a preposition, cause that's where I'm at. (I had to add that last part so that I could end the sentance in a preposition) If she reads far enough back she will discover that I am also a very bad poet. It also won't take her long to figure out that I have no concept of proper sentance structure. She'll also note my hideous spelling, gramatical errors, punctuation and of course the proverbial typos that I never double check for. (see that was a hard one getting the preposition at the end of that sentance, but I managed, it just takes a little work sometimes)

In other news, I think Jesse the goat is going to give birth any day now. Y'all may recall that we named all the goats after a Toy Story theme (Buzz is the proud father, he was brought in to replace Woody who was killed by a pack of dogs). Well, everyone except Wanda who was named after a Fairy Odd Parents theme. I'll keep you posted as to when and how many Jesse drops when she gives birth.

Alrighty (which, btw, is not really a word) then, my paragraph is written and it's time for me to toddle off to bed after the nightly brushing of the teeth and emptying of the bladder rituals (not necessarily conducted at the same time, but yes, they do occur in the same room, albeit in different locations.. at, is, to, from, it... see how easy it is? Two for the price of one there! I am so on a roll now <grin>).

P.S.

I am sorry Ky that I am not a good bad punster. I so want to make bad puns for you, but none will come out of my head. It's as they don't exist in me anymore. It's as if my Groan-O-Meter is broken. Do know, however, that I think of you and bad punning often. I think the problem is that I became obsessed with double ententres' of a sexual nature at some point in my career and lost the more innocent sport of the bad pun. Perhaps the problem is that I need Viagra for Puns. Then every once in a while I can get one up for you. I shall work on it diligently O' Majestic Mistress o' the Bay.