What's Real (fun)

One has to be careful of how they sleep and sometimes, more importantly, how they awaken. I slept alright, like a baby, in fact, but I was careless in my awakening. So careless that I awoke in another dimension

Fortunately for me, it was a diagonal rather than a parallel universe. It is quite well established that parallels travel infinitely without intersecting, while a diagonal slants and though being at a slant can put one off balance, the saving grace is that you will eventually slide safely back to your home reality.











This reality wasn’t so bad as alternate realities go. Despite some inconsistency in physical and other laws, the occupants were mostly polite and good natured, though a bit odd.







Besides the occasional shepherdess, who didn’t seem at all put out by the absence of her sheep, there were entities seemingly dumped here from across the megaverse . Perhaps some cosmic singularity was responsible for skewed awakenings across several dimensions.

After coming to similar conclusions as I, this demon from a Rasta based universe managed to affect a most excellent “chill”.

It quickly became apparent that this “Eeyore” entity was the focal point of the cosmic disturbance. Beings from distant reaches of the megaverse were compelled to pay obeisance or some other ritual intended to give his some cheer.

I wasn’t the only visitor intent on chronicling the phenomena for posterity.

An otherworldly elf stopped to chat

A stag not partying stag

A troll with a pole

A swashbuckler just in case a swash needed buckling

A “universal” health care system – it was all beginning to seem so much more civilized than “reality”

even "uni"versal transportation -- no emissions

pixies and sprites

of all ages and sizes but of the same sweetness

And so many had wings

flight must be a common place in many of their worlds

A little disgruntlement over lost wings

walking flowers, witches

and a tigger or two

Even a swine flu in

It was such a colorful gathering and so noble a cause that it was almost a shame to eventually slide back down my diagonal slide to a universe where things are more predictable but I wonder sometimes just how far off these worlds are and how much magic remains in each at all times
all in all

a good day

more dancing

Wizards,

Dieties

Why not fools

?

We are a little of each whenever we shake it

well, lookie here, I've found the dance floor

Irie Study

Lest I be accused of misanthropy, given my penchant for exploring and recounting Gaia’s non-human natural wonders -- behold, a post devoted to one of the most norml wonders of nature

Camera in one hand brew in the other I set out to chronicle Homo Sapien We be Jamminus in their natural habitat:

Reggae fest!

I could claim that this was a purely Anthropological adventure
But like one of my idols Margaret Mead I tended toward going native.
I do love me some reggae and the illusion of regression to a more tribal past --
perhaps there was even a bit of nostalgia for portions of my misspent youth)

One of the wonders of Austin and of Reggae is its ability to bridge divides -- young in body / young at heart black with white and brown

And red

The seemed to be a lot of red perhaps red just stands out when it stands up.

As I said, natural "what could be more NORML"

I stuck with beer but there were more exotic liquid libations in silly containers. I meant to snag one to use as a vase for my gladiolas

And food – OMG there was food you could see the primal beast in many exhibited through their choice of snacks

a manly fistful

Oh well, primal hunger knows no gender

There were symbols of support
of worthy causes

And just plain old support

And of course
No spiritual festival
Can be consider complete

Until

The wizard dances
and dance he did

(Apparently performing the horizontal bop)

A Voyeur in His/Her Foyer

Overwhelming without overpowering
the perfect essence

The delicate beauty of the blossoms
the only competition to their alluring scent

I recently learned that

Texas Ruby Red Grapefruits are hermaphrodites

Standing within his/her boughs

I witnessed the ultimate act of self-love and procreation

How sensually tender!
Giving the gift of nourishment
in exchange for assistance in the
most intimate of expressions

I would ordinarily have identified with the bee
working diligently in service to a queen
but for some reason, perhaps because

of my new found knowledge
of Ruby Red biology,
I became for a moment
the tree

It's future, its security it's libido
self-contained
self-sufficient
except for

a little help
from a friend

Tenacity

life just wants to live

in any nook or cranny

it can wedge into

Still In the Dark...

This post is as much an observation about the observer as it is of the observed, but then again, doesn’t everything we do and describe reflect a bit of us?

It was intended to be a sequel to the “in the dark post” below. I have become quite enamored of crawling around on hands and knees in the yard at night with a flashlight and my camera. A benevolent voyeur attempting to glimpse beneath Gaia’s cloak of darkness to ferret out a few mysteries hidden thereunder.

I started my adventure where the other post ended, head at ground level, gazing at Gaia’s Gastropods as they chomped away at decay, unfortunately sometimes not stopping at rot but continuing their feasts on perfectly healthy and sometimes prized flora.

I watched for a while between shots, my flash didn’t seem to interrupt the snails, they went on about their business and as I am want to do, I dizzed out connecting whatever image was before me with catalogued thoughts. The type neatly tucked away awaiting whatever unlikely triggers are needed to pull them from the library – in this case the unsuspecting trigger person was a snail.

This is the point where observers of the observer will note how easily and readily impressed with small wonders he is. Of course that would be a pleasant euphemism for noticing the observer has the attention span of a gnat suffering from ADD. But I would have it no other way – it’s what makes me susceptible to capture by beauties unseen by most regardless of how unusual, how unlikely, how small, how hidden, unbidden, or hard ridden the beauty – you get the point.


So where was I? Oh yeah, how easily distracted I can be sometimes. While on hands and knees spying on snails in the dark, I was reminded of when my son (who is celebrating his 18th birthday today), was in middle school. My son, quite the entrepreneur, responded to his science teacher's request for large garden snails. He immediately saw the win-win between my ongoing battles against the snails eating my garden and his science teacher's offer of a bounty of 25 cents per snail.
Among other things, you should be asking yourself, “What market phenomena could lead to such an inflated price for garden snails.” Duh! The answer is so obvious – 911 – not so obvious you say? Well let me back up a step or two and explain why the science teacher wanted the snails. It seems large garden snails are in fairly high demand in science class rooms across the country. The snail’s cerebral ganglion is a rudimentary precursor to mammal, bird and reptile brains. Despite its simple level of function, snails are capable of certain types of associative learning and their abilities are readily tested with the most basic lab equipment. This makes snails a great subject of research and a relatively non controversial subject for cognitive and other experiments that scientists, children, science minded children and childish scientists can all understand.
Middle school experiments range from determining if a snail can learn from experience to avoid obstacles or other dangers. One experiment sought to determine if a snail could figure out that crawling across a certain texture, sandpaper in this case, would always lead to food while crawling across smooth tile led toward deadly salt. The dumber snails didn’t learn as salt tends to dissolve the snail.

Another experiment tried to determine if a controlled calcium enriched diet could result in stronger snails – strength determined by how much weight the snail could tow up an incline board. (Lab equipment needed: one incline board, string, weights and super glue – to attach the weighted string to the snail. The more humane labs also keep fingernail polish remover on hand to dissolve the glue after the experiment is complete)

But what of 911? So as it turns out the science teachers acquired their snails from a distributor in Oklahoma. But part of the Patriot Act prohibited the interstate transport of certain biological forms. Somehow snails made it on the list, probably because they resided on a list of potential implements of agricultural terrorism along with fundamentalist boll weevils and extremist sects of thrips.

Overnight the supply of large garden snails dried up. My son not only made a killing on the local snail to scientist market and reduced the snail pest problem in my yard, he also asked me to draft a contract for him. The contract would have prohibited any purchasers of his snails from breeding the snails – he also asked me if I knew how to sterilize a snail in a way that wouldn’t diminish the value of the snail in science experiments. I blame the music industry for developing the concept of prohibiting the reproduction of CD’s -- my son readily adopted their tactics. Nevertheless and needless to say, my son can make me nervous at times.

I refused to draw up the contract and also declined to neuter any snails – this being a particularly difficult task given the fact that land snails are hermaphroditic – what would one cut???

It’s a bit cool out today, so I doubt I will crawl around tonight, but I’m sure I will again quite soon. Stay tuned to coming attractions and my next distractions .

Accessibility

I just changed my comment setting to make it easier to leave comments. I still have the verification setting to stop spam, but that shouldn't be much of a hurdle.

Here's a gratuitous vision of the evening sky a few days ago. Has nothing to do with my note, but it did seem like something to insire an equally gratutitous out of context comment.