Photos, travels, good food, cooking, meandering, birds, and oh yeah, a bike.
Shawn Kielty Photography. All images and content are Copyright © 1982-2015, Shawn Kielty with all rights reserved, unless noted otherwise.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Moonlight Ride
Ohhh-la-la. My new Brooks™ saddle came in the post (how British can I make this sound?). It's very firm and I am sure it's really going to hurt to break in. A masochist, I must be. I took it for a spin around the gravel circle (my driveway), and it already feels better than the stock Bianchi™ saddle.
I bought some additional lights. So now I have a redundant system. I rode over to the friendly guy's bike place for them and rode home in the moonlight.
The light I got was a Cat Eye rechargeble halogen. It seems very bright. Hopefully I can see better than tonight when I was coming up my driveway with the Cat Eye LED headlamp and my streamlight LED headlamp strapped to my helmet (I haven't decided if this is a good idea yet -- but it works ok). I added an additional tailight so I can have one flashing and one solid.
Date: Feb.10
Mileage: 20.5
February mileage:86.5
Today's average: 12.2
Temperature on arrival: 62
I only had one small indication I was going to cramp up the way I did yesterday -- and it passed after a few minutes. Today's average speed was higher than yesterday's. I find this surprising, because the return trip in the dark was for the most part less than 10 miles an hour.
Thursday, February 9, 2006
Something Wrong Here.
UPDATE
I just read a bunch of the comments on the link referenced above. That article has been viewed 365954 times in the last 2 weeks, so there are a lot. The story goes something like this, according to the photographer. Driver throws some trash out the window of his vehicle. Courier picks it up and throws it back in the open window. Driver throws a cup of coffee onto courier. Courier assaults vehicle with key or something else. Driver gets out and grabs courier. From here the pictures are somewhat explanatory. After that the photographer follows driver back to car to photograph the license plate. Driver pulls a base ball bat out of vehicle and chases photographer -- who -- wisely -- flees.
So where's the line? The line gets crossed when you actually intend to physically harm another person. In a civilized society that's a crime. Her throwing his trash into his car might be defined as a political statement -- in the crafty mind this could be protected by the first amendment, perhaps not. Damaging his property (keying his car) may be both insulting and vandalism (also a crime). But it doesn't compare to trying to hurt some one.
Attempting to cause physical damage to another person is bad. Pouring coffee on someone -- maybe. It is absolutely assualt, if it is scalding hot. Throwing someone to the ground against a car -- is definitely assault. It's clearly a life threatening attack. In Arizona ... you could easily (and quickly) die for much less. Were a man like that to attack me, I would want to disable him very quickly, in a way that he would remember. Stepping on his running gear comes to mind.
Where I grew up -- Men didn't beat up on women. It is just wrong. It's bad -- I hope that guy never gets on a bike. There's a lot of instant karma that might show up there.
Road Rage Kindness
Date: Feb. 9
Mileage: 11.0
February mileage: 65.8
Temperature on departure: ~68
For some reason today (so that I would bring the bike in to work) my riding/hiking buddy decided, at about 6 in the morning, to call and change today's hike plan to a ride plan. I am better that it was a ride.
Today's ride wasn't exactly uneventful. I rode up past Red Mountain and into the Salt River canyon for a round trip total of 11 miles. I think this is the spot where the water mongers hijack the entire Salt River and put it into a canal. On the way up to Red Mountain I seriously cramped up, but I tried to just ignore it and push on. The cruise down into the Salt River went okay, but the trip back up out of there was tougher. On the way up the cramps in my calves were so bad I had to stop and walk for fear of just falling over.What the heck causes this to happen? I didn't think Tums™ were a required part of my diet. Maybe I could combine Tums™ and dried papaya to make an interesting gorp for riding. This is the first time I have been stopped from riding by this. On a more positive note the average speed for the ride was 11 miles an hour, up slightly from the other day.
Despite a somewhat painless day, I did order a Brooks™ saddle, which I hope will arrive soon. The promised pain from breaking it in will make me feel like I am riding a bike again, which seems good. There should be some measure of paradise immediately following.
Wednesday, February 8, 2006
Grumble - More from the Archive
Mohave Desert. Digital Photograph. © 2005 Shawn Kielty. All rights reserved.
Mileage today: 0. I've been asked to go for a three mile uphill there and back hike tomorrow. I am a little nervous; I haven't been up a hill since the hike of the serious downhill pounding aka the hike of the injury. I was just starting to feel comfortable that hauling my (sore) tail around on a bike wasn't going to damage my knee. I'd prefer it if it was downhill first ... but there ain't much of that around here.
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
Lights.
Mileage: 4.0
February mileage: 55.2
Temperature on departure: 65
All my lights work! It's just now dark so I really didn't need them to see. I think I'll be buying that Brook's Saddle.
Monday, February 6, 2006
A Century to Ride
TNF
Mileage: 2.3
February mileage: 51.2
Temperature on departure: 68
Total, not far, Tonto National Forest, or tushy ... Today's ride went ok -- I had to struggle a bit to bring myself to Saddle up. A short ride helps to get my sitter in better shape.
Sunday, February 5, 2006
Push Myself
Mileage: 25.6
February mileage: 47.9
Temperature on departure: 62
So today's ride was supposed to include pictures of an overcast day here (maybe tomorrow I can figure that out). I thought I could do something like this woman with the pictures. I could be like her if I was tough enough to ride 60 some odd miles through the snow. That's almost unbelievable after my little ride today. I am impressed.
Today was our first real overcast
I stopped for a sandwich and made a stop at the cafe of the beautiful people. The regular aged road bike crowd at the cafe looked at me so overly thoughtfully when I said "Hi", perhaps because of my ugly old bike and ever so bleu jean grundgy appearance. Not exactly road racer chic. I just think they were suprised to see me on a bike. I didn't much mind; I had just ridden 18 awesome miles. My friend was there and his gf bought me a coffee. We laughed at my old ugly bike -- and enjoyed the coffee.
Everything worked really well, except my seat, which needs a bit more of a break in period, or I need one of those donut shaped butt pillows to sit on. Rumours that a hard day in the saddle might make me impotent are probably a bit far fetched, but nevertherless a possible good excuse for some. I'll be ok in a couple of days, I reckon; I shouldn't need to sit down 'til then anyway. I'll be dreamily admiring those BrooksTM saddles over at the friendly guy's bike place, and hope that the ongoing pain of breaking one in won't damage my virility.
Saddle recommendations are more than welcome.
Saturday, February 4, 2006
Google Saturday Morning Coffee
Date: Feb. 4
Mileage: 19
February mileage: 22.2
Temperature on departure: 60
That's right -- I am contemplating riding 8.5 miles in to get the morning cup at the cafe of the beautiful people. I need a rack I suppose so I can carry the newspaper home, and cart my camera around.
Where I went to school, at the College of Arts and Letters, we put two spaces after a period, unlike Google's blogger, which for some reason thinks that it's wiser to strip them down to one. They are very smart over there, so they must know better than I. Another possibilty is that they think they are doing me a favor. I'm very happy that they haven't decided to edit any of the other characters in my text.
Does a <pre> tag help. Look, it does. And in a most
attractive way, too.
Friday, February 3, 2006
Short ride tonight
Date: Feb. 3
Mileage: 2.3
February mileage: 3.3
Temperature on departure: 73
I squeezed in a short ride tonight, just before dark, out in the saguaros. If a groundhog came up here - he would say, whoa -- I think I overslept, summer has already started. It may seem a bit crazy to talk about the temperature on a ride when it is a splendid 73, but it will start wearing like a badge of honor when the milege is 20 and the temperature is 120. Like I could do that ...
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Bike Friendly Beautiful Mesa ... Mesa, AZ
In making my plan to commute to work I found that there are 9.0 miles of bike lanes in my trip, with the only stretch without being the one from my driveway to the pavement. Some areas the bike path is very narrow, but it's still there. In the morning ther are commuters in cars traveling at high speed, in a rush trying to get to work. and they aren't very polite to other motorists. There are a lot of roadside memorials, too. I'll need to be careful because I am thinking they won't be expecting a bicycle.
One particular
Frankly, this is Arizona, the state with the stupid driver law; it might be smarter to try to stay out of the way. "Bicyclist Wilbert Ulmer, 85, of Mesa died Tuesday (Jan. 10, 2006) when a pickup truck struck him as he crossed the street in the 9200 block of East Southern Avenue in Mesa. He was not in a crosswalk." East Valley Tribune Article. That's an 85 year old cyclist. Shame really, there aren't too many of those.
If you don't think this is serious -- try this google search and see just how many news stories there are about cyclists being run down by cars or killed. I89 since Boxing Day. That's a lot.
Bikes belong on the road here in Mesa, so you don't have to be a Dick. We should be trying to enjoy it, because there are a lot more hostile places than this.
Friday, January 27, 2006
I Blog ...
I am an old beat up 4WD truck.
I'm a classic - powerful, athletic, and competitive. I am all about surviving and getting the job done in a memorable way. While I have a practical everyday side, I get wild when anyone pushes my pedals, or yanks my chain. I hate to lose traction (or just track). I have a
If you are jealous, take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz for yourself and see if you can get the answer I got.
Good luck there.
I unabashedly stole the image of the Dodge Power Wagon from here.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
The Rubber Hits the Road -- Literally
I took the bike to the shop to have it fixed. When it comes back -- I think I will just go out and ride 25. After that maybe I will try to ride here from Flagstaff after a snowstorm (I am not really serious folks). That is if it ever snows.
After that I picked up some take out Basil Beef from the Thai Corner in Mesa and devoured it in minutes, so maybe I did manage to burn a few calories. I hear that ordering the food "Thai hot" helps maintain one's intestinal health. It was good -- and the rice helps too after a bit of effort. The satisfaction index for this meal was very high. Shortly after that I also ate a dagwood, which is a bit like dessert only bigger.
You know what they say about riding a bike? It's all true.
Protection for the Roadless Areas.
Picture stolen from here.
This, I don't much care for. I am astonished that it is possible for a single person in an un-elected position to have the power to make this sort of decision. How is it possible that a Forest Service Supervisor can single handedly destroy a roadless area, by deciding that it is in the best interest of a balanced forest management plan. Because he never asked me I guess. Once they build the roads -- I guess they can take that area out of the inventoried roadless areas. That should make it a lot easier to run the bulldozers.Ketchikan, Alaska - Tongass National Forest Supervisor Forrest Cole recently signed the Emerald Bay Record of Decision, approving the harvest of approximately 16 million board feet of timber from 600 acres on the Cleveland Peninsula to provide nearly 90 jobs in Southeast Alaska. The proposed project area is located approximately 40 air miles north of Ketchikan within the Ketchikan-Misty Fiords Ranger District.
The Emerald Bay project includes the construction of approximately 6 miles of new low-impact road within the Cleveland Inventoried Roadless Area.
The inventoried roadless areas, for those that don't know, represent the areas determined to be wilderness -- meaning free of evidence of human improvements. These are areas that have been set aside during the Clinton presidency with the intent of conservation, and the policies of the Bush administration and the Forest Service intend to undermine that intent of protection (http://www.lcv.org/president-and-congress/issues/page.jsp?itemID=28176181) despite the desire of the American public to the contrary. This q&a page claims that there are over 50 projects pending in roadless areas in the Tongass NF alone.
This appears to be a
This is what looks to be hope for the Cleveland Roadless area.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Whoa ... not.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
To Philly, From Alaska, w/love
To Philly, From Alaska, w/love
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Monday, January 2, 2006
Monday, December 26, 2005
Shoreline Park
Friday, December 16, 2005
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Pick of the Week, too.
Mono Lake Winter, Photograph, Silver Gelatin Print, Copyright ©2005 Per Volquartz
It's the Christmas season after all.
Per Volquartz' image of Mono Lake is really nice. Splendid, in fact.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Pick of the Week
Lisa with Scorpion, Photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe. Silver Gelatin Print with graphite. 1981-1983.
Over this past week I have looked at hundreds of Mapplethorpe images. This is a superb, stunning image, unique and interesting, and among my favorites. Lisa Lyon was the first women's body builder champion and one of Mapplethorpe's favorite models.
This is available through: Vered Gallery (631) 324-3303 Janet Lehr Inc., NY.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Elephant Arch
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Hide Your Nuts
The witnesses said the squirrels fiercely eviscerated the dog (One could have seen a top model "eviscerate" a dog, too). When the people rushed to rescue the dog it was too late. The fight between the dog and the squirrels lasted for not longer than a minute. When the triumphant squirrels saw the humans approaching, they scattered carrying pieces of the prey in their mouths.
The incident made locals incredibly cautious and people now prefer to pass the park by and do not let children play there (Be really careful should you decide to put them to sleep instead). People fear that savage squirrels may attack someone again. One of the locals says that if another accident occured there it would make sense to fix traps in the forest to catch squirrels.
Mikhail Tiunov from the Far East Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences says he has never heard about squirrel attacking other animals before. "This sounds nonsensical that squirrels attacked a stray dog and tore it to pieces. If this actually happened, the life of squirrels in the forest seems to be really hard this year. It is typical of squirrels to feed on nuts, seeds and mushrooms. And it is unlikely that squirrels have become so aggressive as a result of some mutation," Newsru quoted the expert as saying (From Pravda.ru).
I have to say at this point -- that the picture I get of carniverous squirrrels feeding on nuts is more than a bit disheartening, but then when I looked at the deadly peanutbutter kiss story linked to that -- it became clear that either someone is a bit nutty, or there is no correlation whatsoever between the words "feed on nuts" and the story linked to it.
After I had followed the links for a while I found myself reading this story about what I would call a disaster:
A top environmental protection official urged residents of Russia's Far East city of Khabarovsk on Tuesday not to panic over a toxic soup headed their way on the Amur River, drinking a glass of water as television cameras rolled to demonstrate uthorities had the situation under control. But a spokesman for the World Wide Fund for Nature said the river faced "ecological catastrophe" as an 80-kilometer (50-mile) long slick of chemicals floated toward the Russian border from China, where a Nov. 13 explosion at a chemical plant spewed it into the Songhua River.
Again -- it is astonishing -- what the links hook to -- And I really thought that this blogperson might want to know that the Pravda story has linked to his article. Let's keep in mind that I don't really agree with any of this -- but just want to point out the sanity of the links in the Pravda Article.
I think I am going to start making links like this -- which I will hereinafter call "Pravda Style" linking. This could be very interesting -- when defined as having anything even vaguely related to the story. It could be much more entertaining than the other options.
Have a great Saturday -- enjoy your coffee and steer clear of the nuts.
Thursday, December 8, 2005
Sunday, December 4, 2005
The Wood Shop is Open
Saturday, December 3, 2005
Finished Kestral Box
Kestrel Nest Box
It appears that the state of Iowa has an American Kestral Trail along one of it's highway coridors, with a nestbox every mile:
In 1983 Ron Andrews of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources originated the interstate nest box program for American Kestrels. Working in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Transportation, nest boxes were attached to the backs of information signs along the interstate rights-of-way. Twenty nest boxes were placed on signs along I-35 in Northern Iowa that first year as an Eagle Scout project, and eight were used by kestrels. Nest boxes now occur nearly every mile of I-35 from Missouri to Minnesota. This corridor represents the nation's first statewide kestrel trail along an interstate system. These efforts have been coordinated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Nongame Wildlife Program and implemented at the local level by state nongame personnel, county conservation personnel, and a host of volunteers. Hundreds of nest boxes have been attached to highway signs elsewhere in Iowa. Many other states, including Rhode Island, Nebraska, and Idaho, have adopted the kestrel box program.
Information about programs like this can be found here. It says to hang the box from 10-30 feet in height. I prefer personally to stay below 20 ft, and given that the only two things in this desert that are 30 feet tall, saguaros and power poles, I think I'll just put it about ten feet up on a pole near the house.
I found this great plan here.
Friday, December 2, 2005
Zebra Problem -- No one has the Zebra
Statements
1 5 different colored houses on a street, with five men of different nationalities living in them. Each man has a different profession. Each man likes a different drink. Each man has a different pet animal.
2 The Englishman lives in the red house.
3 The Spaniard has a dog.
4 The Japanese is a painter.
5 The Italian drinks tea.
6 The Norwegian lives in the first house on the left.
7 The owner of the green house drinks coffee.
8 The green house is on the right of the white house.
9 The sculptor breeds snails.
10 The diplomat lives in the yellow house.
11 They drink milk in the middle house.
12 The Norwegian lives next door to the blue house.
13 The violinist drinks fruit juice.
14 The fox is in the house next to the doctor's.
15 The horse is in the house next to the diplomat's.
The question? Who has the zebra and who drinks water ?
I believe the solution will be the same as the Einstein Riddle (see this).
Since zebra and the water are in the question only and not in the rules -- it is possible that the 5th animal is cranes -- and the fifth beverage is soda - and therefore no one has any fish, nor drinks any water. This doesn't constitute the answer, but determines that the answer is a set of possible solutions that includes no water drinker and no zebra owner, and no water drinker or no zebra owner.
Thursday, December 1, 2005
Oh Gosh -- Pop -- Have a look.
Einstein's Riddle.
1. On a street there are five houses, painted five different colors.
2. In each house lives a person of a different nationality.
3. These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke a
different brand of cigar and have a different pet.
The question? Who owns the fish?
The Clues
1. The Brit lives in a red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The Green house is on the left of the White house.
5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The man living in the centre house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.
Please don't tell me the answer -- OK? Yeah right. The real beauty of this is the simple truth of it. If I tell you that I know who is the owner of the fish and who it is, it doesn't really spoil it for you -- because you won't believe me. First -- it requires verification against a complex set of rules, and second -- knowing that won't even come close to helping find the solution. Finding the solution allows for some assumptions, so there are several different matrices that arrive at the conclusion which -- once discovered will just mean you write in the word fish.
What is a more interesting question to me is how to solve it. Any sort of brute force algorithm seems out of the question. Trail and error combined with intuition and and logic was very fruitful. I expected this to be harder to solve. Stochastic hillclimbing could be an interesting way to solve this. I wonder if I can figure out what that means exactly.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Camera Toss
Despite the apparent randomness of the images, author Ryan Gallagher (clickykbd on flickr) clearly proves in these instructions that it is possible to control elements in the image. Go figure -- now it's looking like an art form.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Sheephole Valley
Sunday, November 20, 2005
"Do You Want Room?"
All of this is going on in the cafe -- as I reel from the strange dreams I had last night. I was the star of some obscure screen chase scene which involved a sophisticated James Bond style hit, complete with special flying rideable objects, and a chance to meet an tremendously asshole version of Tom Cruise, all backed up with a cowboy junkies soundtrack, all of which I wrote in my sleep. It seems to have taken place in a post Rita New Orleans -- with the final scenes taking place in a newly rebuilt floating city -- perhaps on lake Ponchantrain. Our star screams "I'm free," as he falls over backwards into the abyss.
So I am thinking ... as I grab my coffee, that I want to photograph the Cowboy Junkies when they are here in Phoenix -- and that I want to negotiate their album deal with the beautiful people.
"MURDER, TONIGHT, IN THE TRAILER PARK
(Michael Timmins)
Murder tonight in the trailer park
Mrs. Annabelle Evans found
with her throat cut after dark
Her pockets turned inside out
her dresser drawers turned upside down
Anna's neighbour, Peg, identifies the body
lets out a hollow kind of sound
Homicide is tying yellow ribbons
around her silver Airstream
Red cherries slashing up the night
cutting through that cordoned crime scene
There's been a murder
in the trailer park tonight
Murder tonight in the trailer park
Pack your things Ann Marie,
we're heading west
we're going to make a fresh start
I've been saving pennies,
been looking forward to this day
No time for questions are you coming
or are you going to stay?"
The Cowboy Junkies.
OK, maybe not then.
There is some evidence that the word ventiTM is indeed a registered trade mark of Starbucks.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Cool shots of a hot deal
It Sleeps 'til Noon
A song about Tuesday morning creaks out of the radio -- "I admit there are times when I miss you, especially right now when I need someone to hold me, ... but there are some things that can never be forgiven." The rabbit and the doves feasting in the predawn light -- just a few feet from me -- I believe the rabbit is in the same pecking order as the doves. They seem to get along pretty well.
I daydream about sleeping till noon. It's hard to sleep till noon in the desert -- the workday is over by then. What I long for I can't describe -- it's not really sleeping till noon -- but rather the lazy morning shared. Alas. there was a girl at the Cafe yesterday -- I didn't actually meet her -- but there was something, a familiarity was there. That thing that promises to deliver emergency late night sex later. Or that lazy morning shared. I think I will make some coffee, and see just what shows up at the feeder.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Free From Impunity
im·pu·ni·ty ( P ) Pronunciation Key (m-pyn-t)n. pl. im·pu·ni·ties
Exemption from punishment, penalty, or harm.
[Latin impnits, from impne, without punishment : in-, not; see in-1 + poena, penalty (from Greek poin. See kwei-1 in Indo-European Roots).]
from the American Heritage Dictionary -- thanks to http://www.dictionary.com
I have none actually. I want to talk about the people around me today. This morning. I can't actually. I can't mention the woman with tattoos who appears to no longer work here (we could call her "tattoo girl" if we were so inclined). Nor even mention the woman here that I would love to flirt with. I can't mention these people. Other people I work with and know will see this, and there will be consequences. They will know I am talking about them on my blog and I will be punished repeatedly.
The person sitting across from me is Ron Burgundy, Anchorman (you know -- he was also in that movie). I can talk about him, because he's not a real person, he's a Dilbertism. He's a wholly ficticious character (in this context) created by one of my co-workers through the simple act of adding a nameplate to an empty cube. His cube has gotten cleaned up -- his trash gets emptied (more frequently than mine, it seems) -- and an assortment of appropriate desktop items has shown up, including an "easy" button, calculator, glasses, etc. People are starting to ask for him. Apperently he already has some responsibilities.
Yesterday he actually showed up, laptop in hand, and sat down and did some work. We were all pretty surprised.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Superstition Ridgeline
Sunday, November 6, 2005
My Life's a Book
You're Lolita!
by Vladimir Nabokov
Considered by most to be depraved and immoral, you are obsessed with
sex. What really tantalizes you is that which deviates from societal standards in every
way, though you admit that this probably isn't the best and you're not sure what causes
this desire. Nonetheless, you've done some pretty nefarious things in your life, and
probably gotten caught for them. The names have been changed, but the problems are real.
Please stay away from children.
Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.
Co-opted from here
Saturday, November 5, 2005
It's Wednesday Morning, August 10
The internet changes the way get the world, and I find that I am more in control. I have always enjoyed Adair Lara, so I set out to find what she has written lately. On an earlier day I would have went out and bought a copy of the chronicle and sat in my favorite local cafe, and leafed through it. Since she is not in it on Saturday, I would have been stuck with Jon Carroll, which would have been ok, but not what I wanted.
In looking up Adair Lara I found out that she is 51 and find myself daydreaming about dating her, since I now know what she looks like, and that she is basically my age, and probably helps to explain why her candid prose has resonated with me. Never mind that though, I am sure she is busy. In my search the most recent article I found was August 10, and it's a story about birdnesters (I never knew), and about a guy who got a restraining order for sneaking into his house to make his kids pancakes on a Saturday morning (I should try that). Birdnesters are folks that both move out and leave the kids in the house when they split. Nice idea.
I miss the pink section too. This leads me to take on Kenneth Baker's latest scribbling, which reminds that art is mostly a reference to other art these days. What could we possibly be as artists if not for Jasper Johns and Franz Kline giving us something to talk about. I'd like to hear Robert Hughes take on that, the thought of which leaves me thinking something like this (to quote Orwell): "You have to be an intellectual to believe such nonsense."
Living here in the desert has it's moments -- and Saturday morning is indeed one of them. The rabbits are nourising themselves on the flowers outside and the quail are eating rocks in their morning spot. Maybe I should make some art that isn't about Georgia O'Keefe. I think I will warm up my coffee first.
Friday, November 4, 2005
Tortured Conceptual Postmodernist?
You are a Tortured Conceptual Artist. Your fellow
postmodernists call you an anachronism, but
you've never cared much about the opinions of
others. After all, most of them are far too
simple-minded to appreciate the nuances of your
work. They talk, while you are part of a lived
tradition.
What kind of postmodernist are you!?
brought to you by Quizilla
Stolen from Not Exactly Rocket Science. I did, however, take the quiz to come to this result.
Your Junk
Thursday, November 3, 2005
I QUIT
I thought the surgeon general was probably a fairly bright person, Guess what -- probably not. Ok -- so you can use nicotine to kll bugs -- aphids for example. Make a solution out of water and a few cigarettes -- spray it on your roses - poooffft -- aphids die. Leave this out for your toddlers to drink -- they could die too. Why? Nicotine is a poison.
Let's go back to the Surgeon General. The cigarette package should say -- "This is a poison, do not drink swallow or eat these, or ingest the contents in any way, including smoking. If ingested seek immediate medical attention. Call 911." Anyone in their right mind knows today that smoking kills people, the people who smoke, and some people who don't. So -- what is the Surgeon General thinking?
Shawn's garlic and hot pepper pasta
3 cheese tortellini
6 cloves Garlic
2 hot italian sausage
Bell pepper
1 small jalapeno chopped
parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper
Cook the crumbled sausage to brown while starting the water for the pasta. Start the sauce in a seperate sauce pan. Crush and chop the Garlic and chop the peppers and onion and add to the sausage after the sausage is brown. When the onions turn translucent turn the whole mess into the sauce. Add about 2 T of grated Parmesan to the sauce and pepper to taste. Add the pasta to the water after it boils and keep it at a rolling boil until it is al dente.
Combine the pasta and the sauce ont the plate and top with parmesan cheese. Enjoy with french bread.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Unqualified
Saturday, October 29, 2005
The Cat Owl.
© 2005, Shawn Kielty. All rights reserved.
PearltheCat is mighty upset right now and a bit bemused at the apparent loss of her sister Bamboo -- and her subsequent grounding (No more late nights out for that girl) -- what is a cat if not free? According to this article the horned owl can and will kill domestic cats. It seems that the site is ambiguous about the benefit and value of the domestic cat to humans, but really clear about the value of the wild birds the domestic cats kill. Despite the appearance of a large amount of credibility -- i.e. "The Raptor Center", the quality of the writing seems to defy that. To wit:
"Economic Importance for Humans
Positive
The great horned owl controls harmful rat and mice populations throughout the United States. They kill domestic cats which in turn would have killed wild birds that humans value.
Negative
The great horned owl is capable of destroying game birds and animals. Poultry is also a favorite of the owls because they are easily captured. The occasional domestic cat can also fall victim to the great horned owl."
Get out the
He (the cat eating owl) is right in the yard -- every night except tonight. Maybe the rock band next door is interfering with his ability to hunt cats . Maybe the cat he ate the other night is keeping him so full he can share with the vultures and doesn't have to hunt. Perhaps he has died from indigestion.
Pearl the Cat was reading over my shoulder and suggested I post her picture on this man's map. I think that she thought that might make me feel better. I think maybe she is bored because I won't let her go out and play tease the coyotes.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Out of touch for a bit
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Coyotes
... my cats are getting nervous. They don't know that they are in danger -- they are just nervous because the normal stuff in their home is leaving. They don't know that they are about to displace a family of coyotes. They don't realize that thier outdoor world is going to include real predators -- like great horned owls, racoons and coyotes. But they are nervous. I fear for them. I know that when they lived in the junkyard in Hayward, CA that they were in danger. Their psycho mother -- the black attack cat bitch -- protected them.