Glitter and Doom

A trip through the world of Tom Waits can be disorienting. His ramshackle story-songs, with their creaky instrumentation and dusty poetry, usually leave listeners with more questions than answers, and his persona outside of his music revolves around a playful but guarded mix of fiction and reality...read more

Everything You Can Think Of...

is True

2) No One Knows I'm Gone

3) Flower's Grave

Tom Waits - Alice

Camera Critters # 25

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We completed our Monarch life cycle science unit with the kids today. Here are the caterpillars on their milkweed leaves. These were found by teachers on our team and brought into school.

It was difficult to get a good photo of the chrysalises because of the way they suspend themselves from the cover on the fish tank. They're a beautiful green, with little dots that look like gold trimming the top.

The monarch sheds its now thin chrysalis and begins to prepare for its life as a butterfly.

Several small fingers invite the monarch to sit a while.

Time to lay this beauty gently on the butterfly bush to stretch its wings and begin to prepare for flight.

Please check out the many fine entries at the Camera Critters site.
And a huge thanks to our hosts there!

The Friday Evening Nudes

Modigliani

The myths that masked Modigliani

"A ravishing new show demonstrates why the Italian romantic deserves to be plucked from his bohemian backwater, says Sarah Crompton."

Read more...

Reclining Nude With Blue Cushion
1917

Reclining Nude with Arms Open

(red nude)

Seated Nude
1916

Reclining Nude 1917

Seated Nude 1917

Sky Watch Friday

This is my first Sky Watch post.

New England Peace Pagoda
Leverett, Massachusetts

Bowing Deeply With Palms Together

Autumnal Equinox

This maple in our front yard always begins to change color before any other tree in these parts. This was taken early this week.

This early-turning maple helps me to not be caught off-guard when those chilly Autumn mornings begin to nip my toes. I wear sandals or go without shoes entirely, until it's absolutely too cold to do so.

~~ A joyous Autumnal Equinox to all. A few days late ~~

Protest The Bail Out!

Protest, learn, meet others, network, be counted but don't behave!

Go on, then!

The Pagan Sphinx Fridge Gallery

The fabulous DCup recently started this meme-like thing where she posted pictures of her fridge Gallery and tagged a few bloggers to do the same. Well, I wasn't tagged but I like these little ideas of hers that can be so fun and distracting and so I am doing it too. What a copycat, huh? Except I won't tag anyone. I do invite you to play too, if you would like. Let me know if you did so I can gaze at your Fridge Gallery.

A lovely but mysterious note that I found behind a bureau a few weeks ago. I don't know who left it but it's very dear. I hazard a few guesses. Supergirl Two has lovely-dovey friends, a couple of whom I've known and loved since they were babies. They're like the nieces I wish I had, I love them still .

An old photo of the Super Little Girls at around 2 and 1/2 and 18 months
(life is the red wagon)

Old news: from the winter of 2007, a news clipping of a photo that I purposely moved to the front so you could take a look; just as you would if you were breathlessly checking out my Fridge Gallery. It's of a paper mache gorilla we threw out in the yard. We gave it its last hurrah before disposing of it in the spring. It was a big hit around the neighborhood with kids and dogs. And, apparently, news photographers with nothing else too exciting to photograph.

A birthday card from my best friend; picture of Supergirl One and a little calendar - one of those where they've made fruit and vegetables into animals and photographed them. You can see how busy my social calendar is ;-)

Then there is my new hair cutter guy's business card. I just found these two great guys that run this salon in a little basement storefront in my town. It's kind of cute and I feel right at home with all the blue-haired old ladies who go for a cut and perm. Except that I only get a cut. No perm. No way. Never.

Magnet holding a very important business card: The Pagan Sphinx's nueromuscular massage therapist. A very kind man with amazing hands that heal my neck, shoulders and back. If I go too long without seeing him, my neck starts to feel like a hard, dry twig that it will snap in half if I look up, down or sideways.

Okay. Your turn!

Ruby Tuesday

I've had a lot of fun with the little digi-cam my daughters gave me for my 49th birthday this past July. I started participating in Camera Critters, which is a lot of fun and now I'm making a submission to Ruby Tuesday; a photo meme that involves a "little bit of red". How could I resist?

My entry is a photo of an old ship's anchor located at Ship's Company Theater in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia. In the beginning days of this theater company, the plays were held in the ship. The outfit has grown and the venue now consists of a rustic building and surrounding amenities. The ship is sort of sliced up now, with a deck in the center. I would have liked to have seen a play inside the ship but I guess those are the good ol' days.

The Foes of Liberty & Justice For All

This, folks, is what the bigots have for propaganda to undo marriage equality in California. It's really hard not to be snarky. Thoughts please!

Prop 8 and The New Cohen Brothers Film

The Thorons’ story not only speaks to all of us, but it also reaches out to the 20 percent of voters who still haven’t made up their minds about Prop 8.

Right now, the other side is out-raising us by a wide margin. Soon, their ads – undoubtedly filled with lies and distortions about Prop 8, about us and about our families – will be on the air. Our ads will tell the real story — how real families will be affected if Prop 8 passes. Their ads won’t. We need to keep our messages on the air as much as we can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N99kv6ojn48


My note: Incidentally, I read somewhere that Brad Pitt had donated $100,000 to the effort to keep marriage legal for everyone in California. I was impressed by this and also by Brad Pitt's role in the new Cohen brothers movie Burn After Reading. The excellent Francis McDormand gives another great performance in this film as well.

Building Solidarity With A Blog Award

Who is Godless Liberal Homo?

He's a tireless, righteious blogger for peace and justice. One of his efforts was the Iraqi Blogswarm back in March, which was a very broad and hugely successful effort to mobilize bloggers who want withdrawal from the illegal war in Iraq.

He keeps a very focused blog with news and opinions about issues that left-of-center bloggers need to keep informed about. I know that I look to his blog for not only information but his take on it, as I trust his judgment and look to his leadership frequently. I don't know about you, but I need to feel that there are people out there whom I can look to for structure and organization. In essence, I look at Libhomo as a blog community organizer.

So when I received a comment from Libhomo that he'd given me a blog award, I wasn't surprised by his goal for doing so: he hopes that passing around this award will build solidarity between left-of-center bloggers. I've already received this award and passed it on to five bloggers. But now I have an opportunity to choose more for the sake of political and social solidarity. How cool is that?

Dianne of Forks Off The Moment
Word-wizzleler, liberal, open-minded, wonderful woman

Sherry at After The Bridge -
the sweetest Blue Collar Democrat on the web!

Homeyra at Forever Under Construction
A kind, creatively minded Iranian blogger

This photo connects to a fascinating post
Check it out!

Ben Heine

Click on the photo to connect to this stunning blog

Ben is a political cartoonist, artist and photographer blogging from Belgium

Betmo of Life's Journey
Beyond progressive into radical enough to tell the truth. Thoughtful and kind, too.

The Peace Tree

(Poetryman's blog with contributions from many tireless bloggers; in my case tired blogger ;-)

Here's the top post over at the Peace Tree
Trying to Have Hope
from the excellent blog The Intrepid Liberal Journal by Robert Ellman

Bobbie at Almost There
Family, nature, life, and paying attention to what's going on in the world
I love the photo below

Bobbie, her late husband Ralph and three of their four children. The fourth was to arrive later.

These blog recommendations represent people very different from each other in many ways but all of them having in common a desire for peace and justice for all.