Jim Daniels

Writer's Almanac published this today and it floored me.

Cosmetic
by Jim Daniels

Last week my mother had eyebrows tattooed on.
She asks how they look. She's legally blind--
I could tell her anything.

It's been raining all day, shame's mad swirl
circling the house. No more cigarettes, coffee.
No more booze. You've got to keep going, I tell her.

I could be Annie in her cute red curls. You can
bet your bottom dollar. Pretty soon I'll be
tap-dancing on the coffee table, or up in my old room

crying. She's fingering the earphones of her books-
on-tape machine. She's been saving up things
to tell me. She ticks them off like the giant

grocery list graffitied to her fridge. I've collected
scraps of her old handwriting, the graceful swirls

of confidence. 75 years of good vision. She's rounding
everything off into simple shapes. I'm staring

at the all-weather eyebrows. A cartoon looking
for the punch line. I run my finger over them.

She startles, then relaxes. It made her sneeze,
my father offers up from the kitchen

where he's spending a lot more time. Your father
stopped saying 'Bless you' pretty fast.

Good. Great. Fantastic. Exquisite. The eyebrows
to top all eyebrows. The king and queen of eyebrow.

Listen to the rain, she says.
Just listen to it coming down.


Jim Daniels, "Cosmetic" from Birth Marks. Copyright © 2013 by Jim Daniels. Used by permission of The Permissions Company LLC on behalf of BOA Editions, Ltd., www.boaeditions.org.

Macaroni n' Cheese with fresh Tomatoes

Yes it's hot out and I am making macaroni and cheese! I am using olive oil and multigrain macaroni and three cheeses; provolone, Romano and cheddar. I did not start with a recipe. I improvised and then read a recipe after I put it in the oven. Emily style. Then I made a roux and added it and sprinkled Italian breadcrumbs on top.

Next time I'll grease the pan first! and next time I'll ad olive oil to the breadcrumbs. Other than that it was delicious.

I'm also washing my clothes and cleaning up around the house. Clouds are rolling in and it's a relief. Sometimes the constant sunshine is just too much.

My next goal is to start vacuuming. I always crave vacuuming when I am happy.

Patience is Everything!

Being an artist means, not reckoning and counting, but ripening like the tree which does not force its sap and stands confident in the storms of spring without the fear that after them may come no summer. It does come. But it comes only to the patient, who are there as though eternity lay before them, so unconcernedly still and wide. I learn it daily, learn it with pain to which I am grateful: patience is everything!

RAINER MARIA RILKE

$4

The dollar store is selling $4 blue plastic kiddy pools. I am tempted to spend my band money on half a dozen and have a personal pool party during the next heat wave. But I don't like parties. So maybe just one more so my husband can hang out with me.

Curtains

I am obsessed with curtains. As an introvert curtains are a metaphor for my personal boundaries. My body being the house I require special curtains for letting in or shutting out the world.

Waffles & Goldfish & Sewing

You know when my mood has been up because I start thinking about making waffles and setting up a fish tank and sewing projects. Seemingly unrelated topics but it's true.

My dream is to use my heavy duty blue extension cord and set up the waffle iron in the yard. I'd make waffles at the picnic table under the umbrella.

My dream is to find a metal fish tank stand for a 45 gallon tank and set up the goldfish tank in the living room.


...and sew some dinner napkins from the fabric I found.

Kerrys Food Thymes Blog

When joy of life leads the way...

https://kerrysfoodthymes.blog/
https://kerrysfoodthymes.blog/welcome/
Published by kerryjoynt6201

Husband, Father, Grandfather, foodie. I have worked in various capacities of food service for 50 years. Baker, cook, manager, restaurant owner, personal chef and food sales / consulting. Recently retired. I love to cook and photograph food. My other hobbies include organic gardening, fishing, bicycling, reading, music and golf. View all posts by kerryjoynt6201

Slumlords Take Down a City

It has always been true that slumlords destroy a city. My sweet new neighbors have a toddler and a gaping hole in the floor of their porch, a hole big enough for the leg of a toddler to fall thru. Luckily the person who can remedy the situation has been notified and injury has been prevented. The same landlord has not replaced screens or locks that don't work but the tenants age 21 are too afraid to speak up especially when their landlord is an officer of the law.

Ezekiel Bread

What is Ezekiel bread and how to make it.

(pronounced luh-VELL)

James Leavelle, Dallas detective handcuffed to history, dies at 99

He believed Oswald acted alone out of a twisted sense of personal vainglory and had little patience with the myriad conspiracy theories that have sprung up in the wake of the assassination, including in Oliver Stone’s 1991 film “JFK,” for which Mr. Leavelle was a technical adviser.

“The only person they haven’t accused yet of pulling the trigger has been Jackie Kennedy,” he told the Dallas Morning News in 2002. “If you had asked me in ’63, I would have said that all this would blow over by about ’64. I’m as amazed as anyone that 40 years later, there is still this interest.”

One of the reasons Mr. Leavelle’s presence in the Oswald shooting was so memorable was that, alone of all the people gathered in the basement of the Dallas police building, he was wearing an off-white Stetson and light tan suit from Neiman Marcus. Both are now in the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, along with the handcuffs he used with Oswald.

“On my salary of $300 a month, I couldn’t buy a Neiman Marcus suit,” Mr. Leavelle told the Morning News. “It was given to me by a friend who had gained too much weight and couldn’t wear it anymore . . . I owned three suits and I wore this one because it came up next in the rotation.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jim-leavelle-dallas-detective-handcuffed-to-history-dies-at-99/2019/08/30/18909df0-cb26-11e9-a1fe-ca46e8d573c0_story.html

Veterans Affairs pathologist in Arkansas

Former V.A. Doctor Charged in Deaths of 3 Veterans

Prosecutors said that Robert Morris Levy was responsible for the deaths through incorrect and misleading diagnoses and that he had used a mind-altering substance while working.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/21/us/veterans-affairs-doctor-deaths-trial.html

Former V.A. Doctor Charged in Deaths of 3 Veterans

Prosecutors said that Robert Morris Levy was responsible for the deaths through incorrect and misleading diagnoses and that he had used a mind-altering substance while working.
Daniel Victor

By Daniel Victor

Aug. 21, 2019

The federal authorities have charged a Department of Veterans Affairs pathologist in Arkansas with three counts of involuntary manslaughter, accusing him of intentionally botching diagnoses, falsifying records to cover his tracks and working under the influence of an intoxicating substance.

The authorities said Tuesday that Robert Morris Levy, 53, was responsible for the deaths of three veterans through incorrect and misleading diagnoses, and, in two of the cases, for falsely reporting that a second opinion had confirmed his judgment. Prosecutors also said he concealed his use of a mind-altering substance while working, in defiance of his commitment to abstain from drugs after he was found to be drunk at work in 2016.

Lungs are Fragile!

“Inhaling oil into your lungs is extremely dangerous behavior that could result in death,” said Thomas Eissenberg, who studies vaping at Virginia Commonwealth University. “That is probably the biggest message we can get out of this.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/31/health/vaping-marijuana-ecigarettes-sickness.html

September

September and February are my favorite months due to the light and the resulting good mood.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_(1987_film)

Staying Home

I loathe holidays family gatherings and parties. It's true. Curmudgeon indeed. Sometimes if I am feeling jolly it's not as painful but as a card-carrying introvert I'd rather swim read write bake cook walk anything than socialize in a group.

I fantasize about doing the simplest thing at major holidays: staying home, reading and making soup. A day with humans requires four days to find my center.

The Present Moment

“Throughout the day, practise bringing your attention back to the present moment, rather than allowing it to wander off into daydreams, rumination about the past, or worry about the future. ✽ If you have to think about something else, that’s okay, but try to keep one eye on the present moment, by noticing how you’re using your body and mind – try to be aware of each second that passes. ✽ If it helps, imagine that you’re seeing the world for the first time, or that this is your last day of life, and concentrate your attention on how you actually think and act, from moment to moment. ✽ Remind yourself that the past and future are ‘indifferent’ to you, and that the supreme good, and eudaimonia, can only exist within you, right now, in the present moment.”
― Donald J. Robertson, Stoicism and the Art of Happiness: Ancient Tips for Modern Challenges

The Stoics

“The Stoics can teach you how to find a sense of purpose in life, how to face adversity, how to conquer anger within yourself, moderate your desires, experience healthy sources of joy, endure pain and illness patiently and with dignity, exhibit courage in the face of your anxieties, cope with loss, and perhaps even confront your own mortality while remaining as unperturbed as Socrates.”
― Donald J. Robertson, How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius

Socrates

“Socrates used to say that death is like some prankster in a scary mask, dressed as a bogeyman to frighten small children. The wise man carefully removes the mask and, looking behind it, he finds nothing worth fearing.”
― Donald J. Robertson, How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius

Ancient Tips for Modern Challenges

“The wise man needs nothing and yet he can make good use of anything, whereas the fool ‘needs’ countless things but can make good use of none of them.”
― Donald J. Robertson, Stoicism and the Art of Happiness: Ancient Tips for Modern Challenges

How to Think Like a Roman Emperor

“Most men are eager to point out their neighbors’ flaws, he said, whether we ask them to or not. So instead of resenting it, we should welcome criticism from others as one of life’s inevitabilities and turn it to our advantage by making all men into our teachers. Galen therefore says that if we desire to learn wisdom, we must be ready to listen to anyone we encounter and show gratitude “not to those who flatter us but to those who rebuke us.”14”
― Donald J. Robertson, How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius

Nancy Wyllie film in Paris Exhibition

We are hammered every moment that we must win, work without end, become owner, make money, and contribute. In this frantic race towards the end,
some flounder, become followers of the Lose, leave their work, and forget the money and external appearances of success.
At end of the cliff and without the objective of profitability, they begin to read, to create, to live differently, to live merely.

Exposition : Marcos Carrasquer, Dominique Forest, Marine Luszpinski, Ingrid Maillard, Baptiste Roux.
Sélection de films courts Brigade des Images 2019 : Ana Apostolska, Boris du Boullay, Fanny Gosse, Pierre Merejkowsky, Emilie Moutsis, Thierry Théolier & Laurent Carlier & Human Koala, Olivier Bribri, Alexei Dmitriev, Fernando Martín Borlán, Karine Portal, Nancy Wyllie.

La question de "La Lose" semble évidente tant les symboles de la réussite, du pouvoir et de l’argent sont agités comme la queue de Mickey que l’on devait attraper dans nos manèges d’enfants pour gagner un tour gratuit.
Sur les bords de la Lose, on y pêche le temps qui passe. C’est une rivière aux courants profonds qui vous entraine vers des rivages incertains, imprévisibles. On y croise Ophélie et tout ceux que l’angoisse a mis de côté, mais aussi ceux qui se sont amusés de leurs ratages, en ont joué parfois, sont allés jusqu'à le provoquer et se sont parés de leurs échecs tant la réussite isole. On nous martèle à chaque instant qu’il faut gagner, travailler sans fin, devenir propriétaire, faire du fric, cotiser. Dans cette course effrénée vers la fin, certains pataugent, deviennent des adeptes de la Lose, quittent leur travail, oublient l’argent et les apparences extérieures de réussite. Au pied du mur et sans objectif de rentabilité, ils se mettent à lire, à créer, à vivre autrement, à vivre tout simplement.Â
LQ.

Exposition du 5 au 15 septembre 2019 au CP5, espace du Shakirail, collectif d’artistes Curry Vavart. 72, rue Riquet, 75018 Paris.Â
Vernissage le jeudi 5 septembre à partir de 17h.

"The Lose" seemed obvious as the symbols of success, power and money are waved like Mickey's tail that we had to catch in our children's rides to win a free ride.
But one may ask: what for?
On the banks of the Lose, one catches the passing time. It is a river with deep currents that takes you to uncertain, unpredictable shores.
We meet Ophelia and all those who have been cast away by anguish, but also those who have amused themselves with their failures,
have played with it sometimes, have gone so far as to provoke it and adorned themselves with their failures because success isolates.
We are hammered every moment that we must win, work without end, become owner, make money, and contribute. In this frantic race towards the end,
some flounder, become followers of the Lose, leave their work, and forget the money and external appearances of success.
At end of the cliff and without the objective of profitability, they begin to read, to create, to live differently, to live merely.