This festival is near Lake Cachuma, about an hour south of here, so easy to get to. It was a little weird this year because some guys on one of the work crews set up in our standard spot before we set up on Wednesday, and they messed with the feng shui and the karma, but what can you do? I suggested paying them off. We kind of horn in on Dana’s sister’s good friends, so what can we say? Anyways, 3 days and 2 nights of no showers, lots of dust, porta-potty challenges, and pretty good music. The music was not as good as last year, too mellow, but there were some standouts – Bettye Lavette, Eric Bibb, Joe Craven. The porta-potties were better than ever, with hand sanitizer even!
Young John disappeared as soon as we got there; he loves the freedom he gets at Live Oak. Young Mike had a couple of girls hanging around, but he ditched them ASAP. We only cooked breakfast on Sunday, and otherwise ate from the concessions, so not too much work. Mikey left his suitcase sitting on his bed, so he didn’t worry about changing into clean clothes. Saturday morning I went over to the Chumash Indian Casino and played in a Texas Hold’em poker tournament. I was doing alright; got spanked with AQ suited by pocket As, came right back and won large with pocket Ks, then got taken out with AK suited by another pocket AA! Grrrr. Gotta learn how to smell those pocket As. Lost $40. Stopped at a stupid nickel slot machine and won $40 in 3 minutes. Go figure.
I had my last spinal tap on Thursday, and that went pretty smooth, no click. My lower back is finally protesting all this abuse though. No more cranial radiation headaches either, so all in all I feel pretty damn good. I ran into a few people at Live Oak that didn’t know I was sick (with leukemia), and they were pretty surprised when I told them because I don’t look sick. Then again, I didn’t spend any time dancing with Fabio and the other beautiful people. I was going to try hula hooping this year, but never did.
The Rancho San Marcos golf course is right next to the camp, so I went over on Sunday to see if I could use their driving range. This is a great course, really tough – Fred Couples loves to play here. Not that expensive at $75, greens like lightning, pretty tight, I played it back in ’99 or so, got spanked. They wouldn’t let me practice though, as I forgot my collared shirt. $20 all-inclusive fee to practice, and that included driving area, chipping area, huge putting area. Really not pricey if you want to practice for a few hours, and have a collared shirt. I putted anyway, but decided it was going to ruin me for Morro Bay and Dairy Creek, way too fast, so me and my t-shirt left before anyone was offended.
School is finally out here. The boys are computer gaming heaven, but tomorrow they start guitar and basketball, and John might have some kind of job lined up. I know I have work in the yard for him, but I am waiting for the right moment. Tomorrow is Mike’s birthday, 14, and he is getting a new 30 watt amp, so it will be louder around here this summer.
I do have some photos to get up here that people have sent, but I have some kind of glitch. Let’s see what happens.
Jeanne and Pat
Lesbian Couple 1 plus Alan M.
Pat is astonished at Randy's new 'do
Earl and Kris with Jeanne
Paul and Maurice
Mac with some Ho-spice
i been thinking about cycles, not bicycles or unicycles, icycles and or popcycles. yep, rabbit cycles. luna cycles. seasonal cycles and bigger cycles, like Haley's comet what's that , every seventy years oe so?So let"s back up maybe thirty years. back to rabbits, not like the chinese year of the rabbit. but back to that year that i hunted rabbits at least once. couple of beagles set running and howling thrashing through the brush. we waited, gil and i with rifles loaded, we waited as the howling moved away and then circled, cycled back and the bang! bang again!! icould of fallen from the sky a rabbit instead i am a blackbird my wings are broken , i can not return to my nest. do we go back to go foward, do the themes in my life repeat themself endlessly? which cycle is the true measure of time, of a man's life?
ReplyDeleteMaybe they aren't cycles, they only look like cycles from where we are. What if they are like mobius strips in the time/space continuum, and we can jump from one to another if we want? If they aren't cycles, then we don't have to repeat them, we can just change places in the universe and we start anew.
ReplyDeleteI was watching some bugs and birds the other day, and I was thinking we are one of the few creatures bound to earth, almost all the other living things are airborne or waterborne, or can be if they want (all insects have wings). They all live in this dimension we don't tap into without a machine. Seemed like maybe we are the beginning point, and we don't get measured until we learn to fly; we have to evolve, become as advanced as the insects.
I hope we aren't measured by how much we screw this planet up, or if we ever killed something. I ran over a squirrel the other day, he faked left and went right, and so did I. Put a hole in my karma for a while, and I been thinking about it. Told God I was sorry, it's all you can do. It's not a question of whether we screw up, it's a question of how much, and whether we felt it.
john-
ReplyDeleteconsidering the size of those photos maybe it is a good thing i cannot see them....last time you had photos i couldn't see them either. can other people??
on the cycle topic, i am planting flowers every day and soon will start to harvest them and make fun arrangements for people to bring home and brighten up their spirits. i commune with all kinds of insects and lately dragonflys have been visiting me daily and they are "doing it" "making it"
right in front of me as they fly around. now that would be a trick to pull off, flying and copulating. there is lots we can't do yet!
farming has always kept me on the seasonal calendar of cycles, when the months seem to go by too fast i just stick with the season, they last three months and that is easier for me to relate to. so happy first day of summer, we'll be here until it is fall.
Whoa!
ReplyDeleteIn reference to the pictures. Are Jeanne and I the only ones that can't see them? And if so, why? I mean, they are right there, and yet....not...just can't quite make them out.... almost visible, yet..empty....damn, i better get some new reading glasses. Glad you had fun at Live Oak. Looking forward to seeing ya at the BBQ!
Deb G.
oh my god
ReplyDeletei think someone i know has leukemia too!!!!
omg omg omg
he has no hair does that mean he has it lol????
pls reply
He has no hair, does that mean he has it too? You have to check his bum to be sure. Look for soreness and lesions. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteAs for not seeing pics, for some reason, Yahoo storage is changing the address of the photos, daily. I am trying to work that out with Yahoo before I fire their asses. I have 2 gigs of storage there, but what good is it to know where my giant house was yesterday but not today? Grrrrrrr.
ReplyDeleteDeb, John, Jeanne,
ReplyDeleteI can’t see the pics either and I have new glasses! So is this a case of the IP address changing? Curious, because we just moved our offices and Verizon totally screwed up our internet because they did not give us a static IP line. After two weeks of f#*%king around with them, I switched to Cox digital cable. This tech stuff always throws me for a loop and I wish I had kids so I could ask them how it works.
Lisa
Y'all are so, so deep. I mean heeell, sometimes y'all are talkin about shit that just confuses us plain folk.
ReplyDeleteActually, I think we need a lot more Jeannes and Mos in the world. They make ya think reeeeal good.
And Mo, was that poemry, or did you really miss that rabbit and hit that poor blackbird in both wings? Was that you at my Army bootcamp rifle range when the drill sergeant was hit in the butt with an M-16 round?
Some conclusions I come to:
1. Mobius strips in the time/space continuum.
Often happens to me on about the 15th hole.
2. Old hippies who are not completely wasted.
Must be some kind of mistake.
3. Communing with insects.
That's where itchy testicles come from.
4. Copulating while in flight.
Ever heard of The Mile High Club?
5. Two gigs of storage.
Now that would make The Little Woman reeeeeal happy.
6. Going back to go forward.
I have in the past, but I understand it can make you go blind.
7. Dancing with Fabio.
Again, watch for that blindness thing and get outa there as soon as you need glasses.
8. We need to learn how to fly in order to even advance to the level of an insect.
That one really BUGS the hell out of me.
9. Which cycle is a true measure of time?
April 15th.
10. Bad feng shui.
It just occurred to me that all of the holes at our golf club are probably facing the wrong direction. So, my crappy game is probably not my fault afterall.
And Holy Cow, what the hell do I have? Even though I'm bald, I guess it's not leukemia because I do not yet have soreness or lesions on my ass. I'm gonna have The Little Woman check tonight though - just in case. Any excuse to get her that close to the body is welcome. Plus, it will give me an opportunity to try that old line: "And hey Babe, so long as you're back there . . . ."
John, don't sweat the squirrel thingy. If your theory is correct, the carcass will help many flying insects morph into something new and advance to yet an even higher level. And megagreat news on no more spinal taps or cranial frying. Ya see, shit really does happen. And it's never too late to hula hoop. In fact, I understand that virtually any undulating movement is good for the soul (and the marriage).
No pics on my end either.
Happy Birthday to Mikey.
Mac
Mac,
ReplyDeleteWe will all be waiting to hear the outcome of the lil woman’s journey to the other side. Hope she doesn’t find Michael Jackson inhabiting your Neverland.
As for which cycle is a true measure of time???? Most of us women can answer that one, especially after waiting for the cycles that came late or never came and now have children named after them.
Who's got a child named after their cycle? Man, I'll bet that poor kid gets teased on a regular basis!
ReplyDeleteok
ReplyDeleteit had to happen someday. I am joining the poemry club.
I do not make fun of April,
May, Jan or June,
but You who sign as "anonymous"--
are you some kind of a Toon?
pat i can see they have pushed you over the edge to poemry...who knows what will happen now.
ReplyDeletejohn- looks like alex may not go through slo on his way to san diego but says he will definitely head up the coast during his time out there. he just left yesterday, first road trip....i can feel the open road.
jeanne
I found a poem by Anonymous, from the 17th century.
ReplyDeleteThe Twa Corbies
AS I was walking all alane
I heard twa corbies making a mane:
The tane unto the tither did say,
'Whar sall we gang and dine the day?'
'—In behint yon auld fail dyke 5
I wot there lies a new-slain knight;
And naebody kens that he lies there
But his hawk, his hound, and his lady fair.
'His hound is to the hunting gane,
His hawk to fetch the wild-fowl hame, 10
His lady 's ta'en anither mate,
So we may mak our dinner sweet.
'Ye'll sit on his white hause-bane,
And I'll pike out his bonny blue e'en:
Wi' ae lock o' his gowden hair 15
We'll theek our nest when it grows bare.
'Mony a one for him maks mane,
But nane sall ken whar he is gane:
O'er his white banes, when they are bare,
The wind sall blaw for evermair.'
ohwow
ReplyDeletewish Alex had a blog--should be quite a trip! maybe he could d.j. John's party?