The next beauty salon show, this one featuring "Way to Sea" will be presented this coming weekend.  It's a benefit for somebody's kid's preschool.  Details here.

Today's Verse: 8 August 2008

I know many stories
(Neither true or false)
Whose people search the padding
Of the guilt and justice trap
For an escape hatch
Squeezing wriggling writhing through little cracks
Deeper ever deeper in a dark pocket
Binding themselves tighter
With each effort
To the sickening ends
- Transfixed, impotent, immobile -
They struggle to avoid

Kosmos: World as Adornment

One day last spring, when Cosmo was still fairly spherical, he was lying on the bed and I started thinking about what it would be like if the Kosmos were like our Cosmo.  I didn't get very far, but I'll probably never finish this, so I offer it as a tribute to our sorely missed friend:

Cosmo is big and round.  Cosmo is a prefect sphere.  The sphere is a perfect shape.  The sphere is all points a certain distance from one point and so it is perfect. The points are on the surface of the sphere, so you can see them whenever you want.

Cosmo never answers any questions.  Cosmo doesn't like to answer questions.  Cosmo doesn't need to answer any questions because the answers are all on the surface.  They are all on the outside where they can be seen so there is no need to answer any questions.

Someone wanted to spell it with a k and a z.  She said otherwise it would be too heavy.  Cosmo is a little heavy but that’s no reason why not to spell his name correctly.

Cosmo is very watchful, but he includes all things in himself.  You just have to calculate the distance from the center and you realize that it’s all there.

Cosmo’s unity delights us.  Cosmo cannot be divided, even in perception, without sorrow.

Farewell to Cosmo Lemurstein

Last night we said goodbye to Cosmo, our dear friend for fifteen years. Mira had it right when she said, "It's very unusual to have a space alien for a housepet."

Holiday in Berlin: Full Blown (Reprise)

Back in Berlin after 30 years or so. Been traveling with Indi across Germany over the past week, picking up Mira and Jai in Rot-an-der-Rot and Leipzig respectively, with a stop-over with friends in Hamburg in between. Never really thought of this as a holiday destination, but it is interesting and you know plus ca change ...

I had a Spartans dream, and a nice one: we were driving in James's old 88 and he was singing a song he'd made up, a Beefheart howl called, "I Can't Couple" and Stephen was riding shotgun, gentle as a lamb and Jimmy had a bunch of new songs he wanted to teach me. I had my ukulele with me and I couldn't wait to learn the new songs.  I was happy that we were all together.

Weekending

My blind and disabled friend Pat the Peacewalker and I brought our message of large pink tricycles and happy smiles to Takoma Park, Maryland's annual fourth of July parade. The weather was nice. Jessie marched with the swim team, and Ellen and Annie helped fill out the audience.