Inspiration

The New Four Seasons

Up Right Atlanta

Nick Cave and Flux Projects at Ponce City Market

Running

Running along the cherry trees on the Westside Riverwalk in Portland, Oregon. That's the Steel Bridge
over the Williamette River if you're a fan of PORTLANDIA.                 3/16/2015

Art with sharpies

http://www.buzzfeed.com/pippa/34-things-you-can-make-with-a-sharpie?utm_term=.feOgDgvqY&sub=1904913_740359

Breaking Fifty

So this happened a few weeks ago in March. Age ain't nothing but a number. Half a century. Fiddy.

Get out the popcorn: Science Babe vs. The Food Babe

Get out the popcorn: Science Babe vs. The Food Babe

Take Me To Church (Acoustic Cover)

Photo Composition Tips

http://designtaxi.com/news/373586/Nine-Photo-Composition-Tips-From-Steve-McCurry-For-Taking-Better-Pictures/?interstital_shown=1

Music to my mouth

If Music be the food of love, play on...

Playing with your food
Wok n Roll
Wok this way!
Wok on Chef Klimchak!

Wok on the Wild Side 

CookNotes at The Goat Farm, Saturday night 3/7/2015

Hozier-Take Me To Church live at KROQ-FM

Hozier performing "Take Me To Church" Live on KCRW

Hozier "Take Me To Church" Lyrics

My lover's got humor
She's the giggle at a funeral
Knows everybody's disapproval
I should've worshipped her sooner
If the Heavens ever did speak
She is the last true mouthpiece
Every Sunday's getting more bleak
A fresh poison each week
'We were born sick,' you heard them say it
 My church offers no absolutes
She tells me 'worship in the bedroom'
The only heaven I'll be sent to Is when I'm alone with you
I was born sick, but I love it
Command me to be well
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
And good God, let me give you my life

If I'm a pagan of the good times
My lover's the sunlight
To keep the Goddess on my side
She demands a sacrifice
To drain the whole sea
Get something shiny
Something meaty for the main course
That's a fine looking high horse
What you got in the stable?
We've a lot of starving faithful
That looks tasty
That looks plenty
This is hungry work
Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
And good God, let me give you my life

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life.

No masters or kings when the ritual begins
There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin
In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene
Only then I am human
Only then I am clean
Oh. Amen. Amen. Amen

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life
Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

Songwriters: BYRNE, ANDREW HOZIER

Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Birdman is the best movie I've seen since in a long long time. We watched it a few hours before the Oscars on Amazon Instant Videos/ Prime. This film hit all the right notes for me, starting with the first drum beat from the jazzy score by Antonio Sanchez. And the first image of Michael Keaton levitating while doing a yoga pose. Cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki was exquisitely captivating. Beautifully done as a one take long shot made effortlessly smoothy seamlessly from beginning to end. Didn't blink once or took a break or even got up to get a drink or snack. Expertly well-acted by the whole ensemble. Of course I could relate to and appreciate all the backstage behind-the-scenes work of a Broadway theater having worked as a theatrical sound technician for over 12 years.

It is a retelling of the Icarus myth. At the beginning of the movie, there's a shot of a flaming comet (Birdman) falling through the sky. Icarus (Riggan) has flown to close to the sun (Fame), and plummets back to earth (has-been career-wise). By the end of the movie, Riggan (Icarus) becomes famous again (but not too famous), and re-discovers his ability to fly, both figuratively (as an actor) and literally. In a nutshell, the entire film is an exploration of Man's ego.

I totally did not expect it to win the Oscar for Best Picture of 2015. I also saw Boyhood and The Grand Budapest Hotel and thought that either one of those two would win for sure. I guess this is one of those love or hate it film. Like Titanic was for me the year it won Best Picture, or Brokeback Mountain, still can't stand those 2 movies. This year's Oscar was the usual SnoozeFest, I went to bed when Jennifer Hudson started singing yet another sappy sentimental ballad. So many musical numbers this year and as it often is the case, the best ones never get nominated.

Ice-mageddon, Snow-pocalypse 2015

The aftermath of SnowJam 2015 in Atlanta. Total devastation & destruction by .25 inch of  H2O.

Happy Hangover Day AKA New Year!

It is the first day of the new year. As we say Adios, Sayonara, Au Revoir, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Ciao, Zai Jian, Totsiens, Shalom, Namaste and Aloha to 2014, please join me in celebrating 2015 and the upcoming 50th anniversary of:

1. The University of California at Santa Cruz, my alma mater.
2. The film The Sound of Music.
3. Gatorade.
4. The maple leaf on the Canadian flag.
5. The Voting Rights Act of 1965.
6. The Social Security Act establishing Medicaid and Medicare.
7. The Grateful Dead first performance in San Francisco.
8. The first Ford Mustang
9. Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant
10. The births of Robert Downey Jr., Dr. Dre, Chris Rock, Brooke Shields, Bjork & yours truly.

I will start this photo*a*day project on my Facebook page.  (DailyPic: Day 1)

Wishes for a new year

"Be kind to yourself in the year ahead. 

Remember to forgive yourself, and to forgive others. It's too easy to be outraged these days, so much harder to change things, to reach out, to understand.

Try to make your time matter: minutes and hours and days and weeks can blow away like dead leaves, with nothing to show but time you spent not quite ever doing things, or time you spent waiting to begin.

Meet new people and talk to them. Make new things and show them to people who might enjoy them. 

Hug too much. Smile too much. And, when you can, love."   

                                                                                       New Year's wishes from Neil Gaiman

OK, maybe not so much with the meeting new people and hugging them. 
I'm more than fine with the rest.

Nu Year's Eva

Reason for the Season

Say hello to my little family in Union City, CA

The interwebs

Funniest thing I've read on the internet today:

bob gresham • 5 hours ago

come to think of it, I've never ever met an atheist at a funeral. 

I've also never been to a funeral where the dead person was going to hell.

Merry Little XMas

Happy Jewish Baby Birthday!

People Are Strange

While eating lunch in the Cafeteria today I jotted down a list of Types of teachers that I see walking around the school:

1. The Show-off
2. The Sick Puppy
3. The Whiner
4. The Zombie
5. The Know-it-all
6. The Clueless
7. The I-Don't-Give-a-Flying-Fig Veteran
8. The Smiler
9. The Boss Wanna-Be 
10. The Neat Freak
11. The Fashionista
12. The Robot
13. The Whisperer
14. The Ol' Yeller/ Screamer
15. The Sheep
16. The Debbie Downer
17. The Brown Noser
18. The Geekster
19. The Hipster
20. The Stalker
21. The Multi-tasker
22. The Sharp-Dresser
23. The Slob
24. The Roller Coaster
25. The BadAss
26. The Zen Master  

Of course you can be more than one single type of teacher. I am a hybrid of types number 19 & 26.  Maybe #25 too, but definitely not 20.  No, not a stalker at all!  Although one of my hobbies is observing and listening to people around me. I pay attention and watch them to see what they might do next when they think no one is looking.

Heathen's Greetings

I do not come to work at school on Saturdays because:

a) It's against my religion.
b) I'm allergic to nonsense.
c) I'm busy with reading homework.
d) I have to attend a Professional Learning Seminar in Maine.
e) I am going to Breakfast with Satan instead.
f) All of the above.
g) None of your business.

Black-ish Friday. Blackout Friday.

African-American Friday?  Buy Nothing Day!

Hands Up!

Hands up!  Don't Shoot!

Schadenfreude

Slick Billy, Doctor of Education

For years and years I couldn't stand that phony holier-than-thou Yuppy faux-intellectual clean-cut white-washed bland so-called witty comedy shtick of the Coz, Bill Cosby. I could sense some creepy dirty perversion beneath all the B.S. of Dr. Huxtable, America's Dad.  Isn't it ironic that while Doctor Bill was busy telling young African-Americans to pull their pants up that he did not have control over his own Fat Albert? Hey hey hey!

But anyways, rape is not a joke and it was never funny. Especially to those women. Dr. Cosby does not seem to know to definition of "innuendo."  It really is about the abuse of power and the hypocrisy of it all.  You got to practice what you preach young man.

People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something? Or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up? Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles going through her body? 

We as black folks have to do a better job. Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us. We have to start holding each other to a higher standard. 

We cannot blame the white people any longer.

 Dr. Bill Cosby
Ph.D. in Education

Frozen - "Let It Go" Sing-Along

Silver Comet Half

Kathy at the finish line last week.

Stop the Gun Nuts!

Yesterday was the 87th school shooting incident since Newtown. It was the 75th time since Sandy Hook and the 39th shooting this year.   It's sad that we just recognize and thank our school teachers during "Teacher Appreciation Week" and when something like this happens.

          I propose we do these things instead of praying:

• Spend more time creating art, writing and making music.
• Get a pet and take care of it.
• Read.
• Go play outside.
• Start charging $99.99 for each bullet. Guns are still allowed everywhere but you got to wear a ten-gallon cowboy hat whenever you carry a weapon. If you don't you go straight to jail.  It's the law!
• Stop glorifying and obsessing over these death machines AKA guns.

ART

B Creative & Stay Creative

My cat from hell (Georgia)

Apology letter

9/25/2014

Dear Mr. N,

Sorry that we were acting up in your Art class room. We are sorry we always got you mad.
We will not do that again. So sorry!

Sincerely,

Daniel G.

Fat Free Flavor Free

We had dinner at Golden Corral tonight.  

This is the only thing that they didn't have.

Running through the years

My Ten Essential Books

1. The Catcher in the Rye- J.D. Salinger
2. Fight Club- Chuck Palahniuk
3. 1984- George Orwell
4. Slaughterhouse-Five- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
5. Born To Run- Christopher McDougal
6. Generation X- Douglas Coupland
7. Brain Droppings- George Carlin
8. Tenth of December- George Saunders
9. Walden- Henry David Thoreau
10. American Gods- Neil Gaiman                

The secret to a happy life: revealed!

The secret to a happy life: revealed!

A Message from Your Kids' Teachers

Professionalism

These are my Ten Commandments of Teaching.

Thou shall...
1. First Do No Harm.
2. Be passionate & enthusiastic.
3. Enjoy your time with the kids.
4. Make it fun.
5. Lighten the eff up!
6. Be prepared.
7. Be flexible.
8. Get over yourself and not take it personally.
9. Embrace the suck.
10. Be Kind.

Be professional isn't even in my top 10 priorities.
Why are we so overly concerned and obsessed with professionalism? Our job is one of the roughest jobs anywhere. Every day many of us go do it to the best of your ability with a smile and a positive attitude. To me "professionalism" is a corporate code word for compliance and blind allegiance to a business model of operation. We direct, you follow. Must resist this mindless one size fits all stupid conformity.

In other news, tonight was RunStreak Day 291.
Ran under a beautiful big bright shiny full moon at 10 PM. Much cooler and less humid.

Dream house