small wonders

engine heat and a dizzy head
first thing in the morning
radio fuzz
shaking off
the dust of night
sun
in my eyes
from a distance it looked
like a dog lying 
in the street
but as my tires
spun and the world spun
and my head
spun
upon closer inspection 
it was a dead
t-shirt
the kind of road-kill
one can enjoy
and only wonder
who's shirt?  why?
the kind that
will sort of
make my day
a brown shirt
dead center in the street
not a dog
thank god !
not you
if it hurt
i didn't feel it
a shirt
maybe his
maybe hers
under my wheel
then forgotten
bright day
ahead

We, Us, Them , You and Me

Not long ago i read a book Cheap: The High-Cost-Discount-Culture
I'm not sure why, i saw it on the shelf at the library and like most books i pick up I'm drawn to the cover or something.  It's that or something that usually gets me in trouble.
 Anyway, the book was about how companies like Walmart and other Big Box stores are ruining America with cheaply made products, employing cheap labor and on top of that forcing manufacturers (mostly in China, Vietnam, and India) to build these items at the cost THEY want to pay for it. 
For instance, one of the guys named Gunnar at IKEA designs a sleek new chair.  The design spec is sent to a plant in China and is ordered to build it: and make it wood, come in these 3 colors, weigh a certain amount, and we need so many shipped by such and such a date. AND  we are going to pay you you this SET amount for it) - Build it or we will go somewhere else. So most China ends up having to cut down vast forests in protected parts of Russia or other places to meet pricing and shipping deadlines. All this so we can purchase a 20 dollar -kick it to the curb when it breaks (which is sooner than later) Chair.  Essentially a waste in every way you look at it.  Had you purchased a 300 dollar Herman Miller chair..its likely not to break , you wont kick a 300 dollar chair to the curb, and it might even be handed down to someone else to enjoy. How's that for conserve, re-cycle, re-claim.  

I can't afford quality so i went for design instead. I needed a cheap desk chair but wanted something that looked cool. I took a 30 minute drive to our South Florida IKEA, my first time ever. And hey, they didn't seem like such bad people. helpful, friendly, attendants helped direct my Honda into a parking space. It was like a theme park like atmosphere. A theme park of spiffy designed sofas, lighting pendants, chairs, billy book cases, and 3 dollar Swedish meatballs for lunch.

Found my chair (pictured above). You pick it out in the showroom (which i pretend to live in each room) then write down the aisle and bin # on a provided sheet of paper with provided mini pencil, then when you re done - head to the warehouse area and pick it out yourself. It's so hands on. My girl fell in love with the hot pink version of mine so we now sorta match. Yes, they were 20 bucks each. I had to assemble them. Easy. It feels pretty good, rolls around great, swivel action works, and i think they look great too. I bought a few other things that need assembling, that were CHEAP, but look good. and isn't that what this was all about?
Yes. Yes it was.

when crush turns to like

A puff smoke of cloud floating against a  summer blue sky.  Power-lines, high wires crisscrossed . engagement. pavement. easement. houses. brick driveways. garage doors. opening and closing. I decided to take off work. I'm deciding if i should get in my truck and just drive. a bird  catches my eye in the back yard. I get a false sense of security there. fenced in. surrounded by ficus hedges. camouflage the coming and goings. the victories and heart aches.

Sitting by the pool. 3 books, i-pod, note- book, pen. Sun screen rubbed into the sleeve of ink covering my arm. all those hours. all the pain. art. life. worth it.
the sunscreen smells like coconuts. birds in a palm tree. coconuts. they are wild green parrots. noisy. random thoughts. i tear a page from my note-book and make a paper airplane. she's gone. I'm not sure who, or which one, i just know she is.

Film for the 35mm camera. I keep forgetting the thrift-store camera i bought. I'm anxious to try out all the different lens it came with. I borrowed a  book from the library - William Eggleston photography. i have it next to me. its heavy and reflected in the morning sun. inspiration. the mundane and ordinary find life. you just have to open your eyes. you just have to look.

Sparrow

   All thanks to the magical I-pad I've been geeking out on comic books lately. or is that nerding out? do you geek out if youre a gamer? (which i am not) and nerd out if you're bookish and comic booky, like me? I don't know but it's been super swell getting back into comics again.
   I purchased the app ComicZeal4   ,  its pricey for an app 7.99 but worth every penny as it' s changed the way i will forever view comics. I still enjoy supporting my local comic-shop, check out all the latest vinyl toys, low-brow art, the racks and racks of colorful books, and scope out hot geek girls.
   I have to say IMO, comics were made to be viewed on I-pad or other reader type device. This is exactly what comics needed. You have to see it for yourself to understand,  and this coming from someone who prefers "real" books to ebooks. though i do have my fair share..I use Calibre ( I highly recommend this free program if you have a reader of any kind., It converts most files into the type you're reader can read then lets you transfer the book to your device). Yes, Its one of those things that can be used for good (you may purchase ebooks from various sources direct for the best price it finds for you on the net) but It is essentially for bad, as you can also easily pirate ebooks from sharing sites (such as piratebay, eebookee, etc.)  download them to Calibre, convert and transfer, in all of 3 minutes time.  With the Comic App you can do the same, only you transfer to the app through I-tunes. But, again, i do still support comic shops in purchasing other items and graphic novels. What i think most people owning reader devices find troubling is that book publishers want 10 or more dollars for books, which are only file transfers of text. no production, binding, or trees destroyed. and that seems very little discount. You get a no frills book, music, comic...(all items of which in the real world you can share, copy, borrow from library, whatever)  yet they aren't willing to cut you a break.
    Why do apps sell so well? people love them because they are .99 cents, maybe 2.99 and  you get much more bang for the buck, not to mention they improve and update them constantly free. I'm not trying to justify piracy, I'm just saying.