I really want to post, but there just aren't enough hours in the day

The hazy clouds filter all but the hottest part of the sun
She parches the earth with her piercing tongue
The washed sky
bleached blue
The white sands
lifted high on the wind
I ride along
all alone in this deserted land
all their bones lying on the ground
meanwhile
been a while
Since I heard the sound of rain fall
Still thunder calls off in the distance
But it never rains here

The hazy clouds hide all but the brightest spot of the sun
Still she parches me with her piercing tongue
The washed sky
bleached blue
The hot sands
burning in the wind
I drift along
all alone in these desert lands
all their homes lying in ruins
meanwhile
it's been a while
since I saw her smile
Still the thunder echoes off in the distance
but it never seems to rain 'round here

The haze burns into the clouds
It is hard to spot the sun
She parches my tongue
the washed sky
bleached blue
the hot sand
burning me
I drift on the wind
all alone in this forsaken land
my home lying in ruin
meanwhile
it's been a while
since I saw the smiles
of children playing in the rain
as the thunder echoes off in the distance

I received this email today -

European Union
Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
EU/UN High Commission Plaza, Washington DC, USA
Our Ref: EU/UN/OCHA-WA/511

Ref: Your Unpaid Lottery/Contract/Inheritance Fund

Dear Sir/Madam,

Consequent to the clamoring appeals and petitions leveled against the Federal Government by the esteemed lottery, contract, and Inheritance fund claimants due to the non-payment of their overdue fund; the European Union High Commission has been conferred the sole responsibility to carry out a thorough and satisfactory scrutiny of the issue affected beneficiaries, and thus we discovered with dismay that your payment sum of $10.5m has also been unnecessarily delayed by the corrupt officials.

However, we are unaware that most unpaid and affected beneficiaries harbors some odd sentiment, disenchantment and discontentment about the Federal Government, but you are to be re-assured that in every adversity carries its proportional advantage.

Nevertheless, our discovery during our Investigation is that you have been scammed and mis-led by some syndicates in Government offices, especially in Africa. So many of these corrupt officials have been sacked, probe and detained in jail custody, after they were found guilt of the petition written on them by fund beneficiaries. Be advised to desist from further communication with every offices/Authorities/Banks you have been dealing with in regards to your fund to avoid anything that will jeopardize our efforts towards your payment.

Yours faithfully,

Mr. Frank Thomas

To my dear readers,

Do I Have A Deal For You!

The first five of you to send me $10,000 in bearer bonds will receive $1.25 million from me as soon as I collect my lottery/contract/inheritance funds!

Very Truly Yours

Aloysius_son

Today I took a short Xanga walkabout.

It started with the last person who commented on my site and then I visited a person who commented on their site, and then a person who commented on that site and so on. Back in Xanga's golden age a walkabout would take me all around the globe to meet dozens of people I hadn't met before. Now it just seems to take me in a small circle around to see the few friends who have survived the great fall and were left behind.

The transition of Xanga seems more reminiscent of the fall of the Roman Empire than of the golden upgrade we were promised. I am not certain if Facebook's role is more akin to the Barbarian Invasion or the Battle of Adrianapoli , but in either case, Xanga isn't the center of the blogging universe anymore. I remember when we had epic gladiator like battles between Xangalebrities in our Xangassium and Emperor Dan Theologianicus would host orgies of the flesh.

Ahhh yes. Those were the good old days.

I guess it was just a matter of time before the Tribe of Wordpress crossed over and sacked Xanga, making off with most of our priceless writers and poets. I wonder if a thousand years from now archeologists will unearth the old Xanga and discover it's lost treasures.

In the hour before
daylight breaks
the trees start to wake
robins test the score

From here in my dream
something shakes
the earth starts to quake
bats exit the scene

We are alone here
you and I
asleep not alive
hibernating bears

Slowly light seeps in
eyes open
is this world more real
than the other feels?

Colorless colored dawn
odorless scent
silent music plays
untouching touched souls

It is time to rise
breath the air
her life fills the skies
nature everywhere

We are up again
recycling
to lie down again
we keep recycling

Dragon Modeling: I admit I am quite uncertain as to how a proper dragon ought to look. Exploring all of nature as I have yet to see one in person it is a challenge to imagine how one might look.

Three weeks ago I bought a new commercial building to convert into an art studio and gallery. I am calling the enterprise "The Artists Cave" and have registered the business. I moved my wood working tools, my art supplies, tables, shelves and benches in and have been remodeling, painting, rewiring the electrical etc etc etc... I still have my roofing job, and will probably continue to work for the company for a few more years, but my retirement from this 35 year roofing career is close at hand and I will need something to keep me going. I believe this adventure in art is the perfect plan.

By the time I am ready to retire from roofing the studio gallery should be in full operation.

We have room for small classes in art, several guest artists to work, a large and small gallery space, a wood shop, a restoration and preservation area, a small office, a break room and a small store to sell prints t-shirts note cards etc. I had to beg, borrow and steal the money to pay for it, well not steal, but I did beg and borrow though.

The funny thing is my wife and I were financially all set, I could have retired any time and just sat around watching grass grow, but that isn't me. I have to be contributing and fulfilling my inner artistic spirit. Now we are as deep in debt as I have ever been in my life and I am loving it. I am not afraid and I have no reservation, only drive and ambition.

Now I only have to figure out how to best deal with government bureaucracy. As I see it, the state is the biggest obstacle between every entrepreneur and success. Our local gov't is fine and easy to work with, but I live in New York State and historically New York, despite all the PR to the contrary is relatively unfriendly towards small business owners, or any business owners for that matter. New York loves to tax and fine it's businesses.

Maybe time will prove my impressions of the state wrong. I can only hope so.

So that is one thing keeping me very busy, on top of building a new fireplace and finishing the loft and shower in the log cabin, preparing the gardens, my regular job and practicing my piano. Did I mention that I see my wife ever few days in passing?

Actually I sleep an average of 7 hours a night and deeply. So I feel very good right now. The key is to not waste time, nor try too hard. One must maintain balance, each day setting goals and establishing the priorities for the day. It is good to have goals, and be able to strive toward achieving them.

SO why am I writing this blog and visiting my Xanga friends when I have so much to do? Because I have reviewed my priorities and my friends are still a top priority. All seven of you. I love you all...

In 1975 I earned my Eagle Scout badge. I have always admired the American bald eagle, even more so since I became bald myself! In the 70's the American bald eagle was endangered. You were lucky to see one. I saw my first eagle in the wild in 1990. I was taken by surprise as I came across it unexpectedly. Over the years efforts by The Bald Eagle Restoration Project in NYS has restored over 80 nesting pairs.

The once commonly used pesticide DDT was a major reason the eagles were vanishing. DDT entered the ecosystem via water run off and contaminated the lakes and streams. The eagles preyed on fish and the accumulation of DDT in their systems caused their egg shells to become fragile and break when the parents would sit on them, killing the undeveloped chicks. DDT was banned in 1972 and it took decades for the residual contamination to be effectively reduced to safe levels for the eagles to be able to effectively reproduce.

I saw an eagle from the rooftop the other day hunting along a wooded creek in a highly populated urban area. I saw it again today following the ravine. I have seen quite a few eagles in the past two or three years. They are amazing birds to watch.

I made a quick sketch of the bird. I am working on a new painting, of a dragon, but I want the face to bear the same expression, to convey the same feeling that one gets when it gazes upon an eagle. There is something I can not describe with words, but I think you sense it in the drawing.

Soar like an eagle.

SOAR - Save Our American Resources. We need to respect the earth and use it wisely.

There is only God

We live in a world filled with many questions, many beliefs, many unexplained phenomena and many undiscovered secrets.

There are as many diverse approaches to solving life's riddles as there are riddles to be solved. Ultimately though, there are only two questions that we constantly seek answers to. Why? and How? How, begets scientific inquiry  with our analytical minds conducting experiments, making observations, surveying the compiled data and arriving at conclusions. Why, on the other hand opens a philosophical can of worms.

The mundane experiences of life are often overlooked by those inquisitive individuals. Their higher intellectual functions are focused on matters of greater relevance, to them. I contend that it is the mundane experiences in fact that truly define the nature of all that exists in the universe. What matters to matter, matters to all. Without common elements, engaged in common interactions there could be no uncommon experiences to be in awe at.

And so I ponder this thought, "Does thought itself exist without the biological construct of the brain." If so, how can it exist? Are my thoughts, that I have written here still thoughts after I have deceased and my brain ceases to function? Do the thoughts still exist if no other being is capable of reading them? How is thought itself related to the existence of God?

Do other animals think? What else is capable of thought besides animals? What is self awareness? Is a cat self aware? Are all people self aware? Is a tree self aware? How do we know if something is self aware, if it can not communicate? Can we assume that self awareness does not exist if there is no ability to communicate?

I was taught that we have 4 taste sensations; sweet, salty, bitter and sour. A cat can not taste sweetness. Which leads to the question, What other flavors exist that we can not taste? If there is a flavor we cannot taste what else can we not know? How limited then is our consciousness? How can we say there is no God? How can we say that there is or is not a God merely because we can not sense One? If there is a God, how can there be anything else but God? Perhaps our definition of God is inaccurate.

Yet there are those who cannot sense God. So in their perception there is no God, just as to the cat there is no sweetness. What else exists beyond our perception that which we can not know yet that still exists and is good? How do we come to know these things?

This answer I know.

By never giving up. By never stopping seeking to answer the two great questions, How? and Why?