QUOTED BY DOGS

WIRE DOWN

The drawing is getting too big to scan; and we had a Hallowe'en party. Jessica Barnes' pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/misssockmonkey/sets/72157594350813278/

THE LEAST OF THESE

Coming soon: that "scope" by which everything for which we hunt is seen with the utmost clarity, dispelling our misconceptions, cherished delusions and sense of individuality in one blinding stroke. Will all be revealed? Never! But at least that terrible itch in the bones will finally be scratched... scratched until the bones themselves are destroyed and nothing remains but the distorted memories of our surviving friends.

THE BLESSED MOLESKINE

This interlocking series of embryonic events is brought to you by the peculiar qualities of red latex housepaint, which springs to the plank like a homing dove and dries like a greasy hippopotamus.

A LIFE'S WORK

This summer I applied wood preservative to our large weatherbeaten deck which is on our garage and which juts out into the neighborhood like a ship coming into harbor. It smelled bad, but I assumed that this was temporary and that the smell would dissipate over time.

Well, it didn't; the smell got worse and worse until a horrible chemical stench like a heap of smouldering piss-soaked matteresses filled the nieghborhood. I still hoped it would go away, but it actually increased.

So I scrubbed the whole deck with TSP; did it again; rented a powerwasher and blasted the upper 1/8" of wood off the surface of the deck; washed and scrubbed it repeatedly with deck wash, the toxic runoff of which I had of course to collect in a wheelbarrow and schlep to the house to be poured down the proper drain.

Now the formerly handsome red cedar deck is so white and ravaged-looking it could lure Andrew Wyeth out of his grave and it still smells like roasting gumboots.

GRIM REALITY

Along with many other people, my wife Mary volunteers at Animal Talk, a no-kill animal shelter and pet shop in our neighborhood. This community service rescues, cares for and places animals that have been abandoned or otherwise let loose in the world.

Early last Saturday morning someone broke into the store, tore the place apart, stole all the reptiles, released all the cats and smaller animals, and stomped a couple dozen of the creatures to death. The whole story, with video interviews, is available here if you feel like seeing it.

http://www.komotv.com/stories/45866.htm

Animal lovers who would like to assist in rebuilding the facility can contact the shelter and donate online: http://www.animaltalkrescue.org/help.html

ANOTHER BODY OF WORK AVAILABLE AT THE IVORY TOWER ART OUTLET

http://useum.blogspot.com/

FOSSIL IN TRAINING

It takes a wonderful attitude to supplant a wonderful culture, and nowhere is this more evident than in the disgruntled soul of the failing, uninspired artist.