They Kill and Roam

 

Go Bruce!

~

 

It's Much Bigger Than This Thing...

 

"Just A Little White-head"

[Reworked Screen Scrape From Some Fascist Site]

iColorama

Snapseed

Brushstroke Pro

Elasticam

Mextures

Remember this.

This little pustule,

This adjudicated rapist,

This convicted felon,

This bully,

This grotesquerie, is not the disease.

This -- thing -- is a mere symptom.

A symptom of the vast dysfunction of a shithole Christian nation.

~

Meanwhile In Gridland...

 

"Gridland"

Snapseed

Decim8

Brushstroke

~

When A Fascist Government Invades A State -

Screen Scrape - UnRetouched

When a fascist government invades a state,

how do you not call it a civil war??

~

Remember This Above All About Christian Nazis

 

"Oberführer Slob Blowmann"

ReWorked ScreenScrape From Some
Piece-Of-Shit Fascist Website

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Stackables
Elasticam
Oilist
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Remember this above all:

It's not about removing criminal immigrants

from this shithole country... 

It's about making people afraid,

and not only people of color,

E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E.

Don't be afraid.

Resist.

They can only kill you once.

~

When A Christian Tells You Who They Are, Believe Them

 

Onward Christian Bigots

ReWorked Screen Scrape

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Tangled F/X
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~

Masked Christian Pigs Murder a Mother

 

"RIP Renee"

- Not My Image - reworked screen grab - 

In this self-declared Christian Nation

a masked Christian Pig shot

a mother in the face and

then denied her medical attention - 

all because he knew he

could get away

with it.

She died as a result of her wounds

No doubt there will be more murders

to come at the hands of masked

Christian Pigs, because cruelty

is the point, after all... 

~

Success - Whatever That Is..

 

"Small Pinch"

Nikon D800

Lensbaby Double Glass Optic

Lightroom

Silver Efex

I was gifted MemoryGram for Christmas. It's a online thingy where you write down memories of your life for your survivors to savor after you're been reduced to ash. The MemoryGram people start you out with a helpful starter question, in my case the ironic "What makes for a successful life?" The irony comes from the fact that I've been thinking back on my life and have been feeling so much regret for how I spent my time.  First - my choice of employment - Hi-Tech - a joint I was completely unsuited to.. AND Tech has turned out to be an existential threat to the species, both in terms of dangerous unregulated software and the spreading surveillance / subjugation of the Empire's citizenry.  I used to be so critical of people who worked for Big Tobacco.  Big Tobacco has nothing on Big Tech.. Nothing..  And then there is the complete waste of time pursuing a Christian path, spending hours and hours making thousands of rosaries, going to church, reading Christian books.  This is as bad as working in Tech. Christianity is the source of so much ignorance and cruelty. They've essentially taken over the Empire now and are doing what they have done throughout the ages - block progress - step on women - step on gay people - undermine democratic principles and strive to make everyone just like them. What a horrifying mistake I made. I aided and abetted the cruelty that has now blossomed in the country.  Deep regrets like these are not for MemoryGram books though. I'm pretty sure what is wanted is some sunnier version of events. Good Bones Life is short, though I keep this from my children. Life is short, and I've shortened mine in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways, a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways I'll keep from my children. The world is at least fifty percent terrible, and that's a conservative estimate, though I keep this from my children. For every bird there is a stone thrown at a bird. For every loved child, a child broken, bagged, sunk in a lake. Life is short and the world is at least half terrible, and for every kind stranger, there is one who would break you, though I keep this from my children. I am trying to sell them the world. Any decent realtor, walking you through a real shithole, chirps on about good bones: This place could be beautiful, right? You could make this place beautiful.   ~ Maggie Smith ~ The other bit of irony is this: I've been writing about my life and what I think about things for twenty years.. Thousands and thousands of posts and had hardly any interest from those who will live long after I'm (finally) gone.  Perhaps they shy away for the unvarnished/raw prose.  Who knows?  Life is funny that way..  ~

Hello There, My Name Is Nausea

 

"Gas Giant"

Nikon F7200

Nikkor 18.0-105.0mm Lens

Lightroom

As predicted - the stomach virus that was brought home by a member of our pack made its way to my digestive system.  This meant 36 hours of nausea, headache, and dizziness.  Yum. I'm better now. I ate a regular breakfast this morning. This is only the beginning. I foresee that the coming year (or however long we are together with our transitioning pack) will be my sickest in recent memory..  DoubleYum. You're not gonna believe this - but the thing that got me through the seemingly-endless hours of nausea was chanting the "Om Mani Padme Hum"  mantra.  ~

A Small Taste

 

"Snow Squall In Bradley Palmer State Park"

Canon G7x Mark II
Lightroom
Silver Efex

~

Plague House

 

"Plague House"

Procreate

Snapseed

Brushstroke Pro

And so it begins... a long winter of disease in my cozy little plague house..  Son-In-Law contracted the flu. Daughter and Wife have (probably) contracted it as well.  All of the sick adults have had the flu shot as have I. Forgive me when I predict that it's only a matter of time before it makes its way to me and the children. Yay. ~

Hippage

 

"North Esker Trail - Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary - Ipswich MA"

Canon G7x Mark II

Lightroom

Silver Efex

Yesterday was the first long-ish walk after nearly splitting my head open in Ravenswood Park. I wanted to test out my good, un-operated-on hip to see if it could take the exertion. It's been painful since the Ravenswood jaunt - enough so that I got imaging done on it to see what's what..  The "good" hip did ok mostly although the walk was not pain-free.. I can't tell (yet) whether the pain is soft-tissue based or if it's the joint itself.  The x-ray showed a good news / bad news view of the hips. On the good news side of the ledger, the hip with the titanium joint showed only mild deterioration despite being 14 years old. The bad news is the "good" hip - the un-operated-on hip - showed severe deterioration and significant narrowing in the spaces between the hip bone and the head of the femur.  So - I contacted my PCP and asked for an ortho cutter recommendation. This time around I want a minimally invasive, anterior approach to what amounts to carpentry on this broken-down body..  The anterior approach yields less trauma to the surrounding soft tissue as well as unrestricted movement post-surgery.. A minimally invasive approach should yield a lower risk of infection.. The first hip replacement I had done in 2010/2011 resulted in a galloping deep infection in the joint which necessitated a redo operation and then a year of antibiotics (seven weeks of which was at-home IV antibiotics..).  Besides dying of infection - my other concern is the cost of the procedure.. I seem to recall that the first one cost me ~ $7000.00 out of pocket.. That was 14 years ago though.. when my then-shitty medical benefits from JBAC were way better than the now-shitty Medicare benefits..  I'm sure it will be several hundred percent more expensive this time around.

 

~

Rock Me On The Water

 

"Parker River Wildlife Refuge"

Canon G7x Mark II

Lightroom

Silver Efex

~

One Must Have Goals

 

"Into The Woods"

Therapy is expensive.
Getting lost in the forest and
becoming the thing that
terrifies the townspeople is free.

~

Fuck The Obedient

 

"Business Friendly"

Canon G7x Mark II

Snapseed

Diana App

Glaze App

Brushstroke Pro

“As soon as you say the topic is civil disobedience, you are saying our problem is civil disobedience. That is not our problem…. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is the numbers of people all over the world who have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience. And our problem is that scene in All Quiet on the Western Front where the schoolboys march off dutifully in a line to war. Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world, in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.” ~ Howard Zinn ~

~

A Wider Portfolio

 

"Gorgon"

(reworked internet image)
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Tangled F/X

She started out by shooting her dog and then

went on to a wider, more impactful,

portfolio of performative

cruelty

~

For Everyone...

 

"Deafness Is Fun!"

Canon G7x Mark II

Snapsees

Stackables

~

The First Dharma Seal

 

"Deer Skull"

Canon G7x Mark II

Lightroom

~

Orderly And Free

 

"Order"

Canon G7x Mark II

Lightroom

In the midst of raucous chaos

I have found that is very helpful to have

spaces that are orderly and free

of clutter - even if those 

spaces are only the top of my desk and

the top of my dresser.. 

~

Once Again To The Rescue

 

Walking Stick

Carved Maple Sapling

Canon G7x Mark II
Lightroom
Silver Efex

Yesterday I did the longish, arduous, stone-filled, perimeter hike around Ravenswood Park in Gloucester.  On the return leg of the hike, I was going down a pretty steep grade and I stepped out onto what I thought was exposed dry bedrock.  It wasn't dry. It was slippery as fuck.  I felt myself slipping and in an instant, my left leg shot out to try for counterbalance while my right hand (holding walking stick) swung in the opposite direction to plant walking stick behind me. It worked. I didn't fall. It was close though.. And it could have been bad - really bad.  But - once again, the now 53 year-old walking stick saved me from cracking my skull open while alone in the woods. On that same hike he also helped with walking through clutching and grabbing underbrush as well as with helping me traverse boulders and stones in a particularly wet and boggy area..  Thanks Walking Stick..

~

Nope

 

"They Can't Kill Us All"

Procreate

Snapseed

~

Amerikkkan Ethos

 

"Shithole Country"

Nikon D800

Nikkor 50.0mm Lens

Lightroom

~

Updated Signage For The Statue of Liberty Fascism

 

Nikon D7200

Nikkor 10.0mm-24.0mm Lens

Lightroom

~

Yep

~ Not My Image ~

from: counterpunch.org

~

 

Never Together, But Close Sometimes

 

"deCordova Sculpture Park"

Canon G7x Mark II

Lightroom

Silver Efex Pro

~

A Sea of Vowels

 

"Deafness is Fun and Entertaining"

Canon G7x Mark II

Lightroom

Silver Efex Pro

As it must, my deafness has progressed now to the point where, without my expensive, annoying, tinny, hearing aids, I exist in a sonic soup of vowels. Without hearing aids (and many times even WITH them..) I strain to hear and understand what is said to me.  It's fucking exhausting. Music doesn't sound the same, which kills me. I've lost the high end, so unless the volume is turned way up, music sounds like it is being played through a mattress. Sound cancelling headphones help with this - but they're not perfect by any stretch.   And of course - let's not forget my faithful friend, Tinnitus. A constant ~8000Hz whine plays in my head 24/7. Like the deafness, the Tinnitus is getting worse.. Stress seems to be able to make it even worse some days..  It's not all bad though - as much as my deafness is a terrible burden to those around me because they have to repeat themselves, it is often a source of amusement to them as well as I "creatively mis-hear" what is spoken to me..    ~

Back Yard Visitor

 

"Barred Owl"

Nikon D800
Nikkor 70.0mm-300mm Lens
Lightroom
Snapseed
Brushstroke Pro

~

Well - This And The Natural World...

 

"Blue Coat" - Yayoi Kusama
On Display Now at the Rose Art Museum

Canon G7x Mark II
Lightroom

"I fight pain, anxiety and fear every day, and the only method I've found that relieves my illness is to keep creating art."  ~ Yayoi Kusama

"They Can't Kill Us All"

Procreate

Snapseed

~

Can't Stop. Won't Stop

 

"Endlessly Creative" 

Sister Wind and The Sea Queen

Ongoing Display at Parker River Wildlife Refuge 

Canon G7x Mark II
Lightroom

~

Outside of The Scriptures

 

"Mind-To-Mind Transmission"

Canon G7x Mark II
Lightroom

From Wikipedia: In the story, the Buddha gives a wordless sermon to his disciples (sangha) by holding up a white flower. No one in the audience understands the Flower Sermon except Mahākāśyapa, who smiles. Within Zen, the Flower Sermon communicates the ineffable nature of tathātā (suchness) and Mahākāśyapa's smile signifies the direct transmission of wisdom without words. The Buddha affirmed this by saying: I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle dharma gate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa.[1]

~