Scatterings One for Easter A stone rolled out will never return Nor linen be used again, Nor wise men prove From cave to cave That Christ was only One of them; For tunnel life is narrow life And walls were meant to be despised, And only those of candle strength Are truly wise. from Bare Roots and Ragged Limbs - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-08-09
Thinking Lizard
About Me
- brian (baj) salchert
- Rhodingeedaddee is my node blog. See my other blogs and recent posts.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
sw00966s-poem8
Friday, August 8, 2008
sw00965s-poem7
Scatterings Sir Thomas and the Marsh Mallow Sir Thomas took a walk one day Along a Scottish fen And there he met a little boy And said he'd come again. Sir Thomas took a walk one day But found the boy was gone. Is he at home, Sir Thomas thought, Or on the town square's lawn? O I guess I cannot bother now With boys that disappear. But o the mallow that he held; So early in the year! If only I might find that globe And turn it once myself. Yet, how could anything replace Its turning by an elf? Sir Thomas, you're a goodly man; You pay your monthly debts. Perhaps if you get close enough He'll let you touch, perhaps. Sir Thomas, a goodly man you are, But do you really care To touch the spotted marsh mallow, Though it be round and fair? The fen is such a swampy place-- So full of mud and weeds-- That any wandering through such muck An idiot it needs. Sir Thomas, you're a goodly man, But surely not a nut. You'd better let the elf alone Get cold and wet: tut, tut. from Bare Roots and Ragged Limbs - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-08-08
sw00964s-poem6
Scatterings In Honor of Beethoven Resist the rainful cumuli of nine Eternities? It were as much a sin To chain the bee, or once to undermine The winter artistry of wind that's been Delighting God, and men who bend enough. Why, even streets that always shadow boys, Since concrete hives eclipse the light they love, Believe those clouds sufficient cause for joys. Then let us run the measures of them; feel That cool commotion their approach pursues, Those grey toboggans sprayed with billowed snow. Let us inhale the augur-air and keel Against it, children touched by happy news, Children wet with the full symphonic flow. from Bare Roots and Ragged Limbs - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-08-08
sw00963s-poem5
Scatterings Cinquain Movement So strange, so real, All bound by hands and squares, Free as autumn milkweed flights-- Human. from Bare Roots and Ragged Limbs - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-08-08
Monday, August 4, 2008
sw00962s-poem4
Scatterings To a Water Strider Surface walker Conqueror of where we drown, How you burn in me; yet, How your momentary glide and flash Corral a hostile eye! . . . damn it, Thin frustrator, Leveler of while we're proud, I would cripple you, you, Could my transitory god and flesh Undo a foreign art. --But you are less and less to me, And I am glad humanity walks in depth.-- from Bare Roots and Ragged Limbs - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-08-04
sw00961sl26-warning
Warning Don't swim in the water. Don't swim in the wah-ahter. Don't swim in the water. The dump. The dump. The dump. Don't swim in the water. Don't swim in the wah-ahter. Don't swim in the water. The dump. The dump. The dump. Look what's in the water. Look what's in the water. Look what's in the water. The dump. The dump. The dump. Look what's in the water. Look what's in the water. Look what's in the water. The dump. The dump. The dump. Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-08-04
sw00960s-poem3
Scatterings Song "If you can't think, at least sing." Theodore Roethke And let the flowers die. And let the webs unloosen to a ball. There is no reason to abjure the sky-- There is no reason, son, at all. If thinking makes your brook run dry, Go spin your feelings through the eyes of wit; Go spin the lily pads against the fly. A song will/ make at least/ a stream of it. from Bare Roots and Ragged Limbs - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-08-04
Sunday, August 3, 2008
sw00959s-poem2
Scatterings Io The summer elves are caves away, All land and sea in fire play, Cool earth accepts the sleepy toad; The swallows now are mourned a day. Determined here to curse or pray, I can't deny a quiet road, Though loath to leave my plot, unhoed. Much better so to ease this load And save my spirit from despair Than stand much moved by autumn's goad, Still: someone Charon has not rowed Across the Styx for lack of fare. A robin shivers through the air To marshy warmth, and I'm aware Twice over now that I must set Aside these tools and make my care Revolve no more around a spare, Restricted world; but quickly get Beyond these furrows--out, and let My will explore from debt to debt The trail the swallows took last night, And how those people I have met Will differ from those coming yet, And how a year of green turns white. from Bare Roots and Ragged Limbs - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-08-03
sw00958sc-links.entry21
Scatterings [ Last modified: 2009-07-28 ] [ This is a work-in-progress. ] [ This book's first poem is already online in this journal. Therefore, the initial link will be to that entry, an entry which includes an image of the chapbook it is in. ] The Rueful Soldier poem 1 - Io poem 2 - Song poem 3 - To a Water Strider poem 4 - Cinquain poem 5 - In Honor of Beethoven poem 6 - Sir Thomas and the Marsh Mallow poem 7 - One for Easter poem 8 - Vision poem 9 - Lines poem 10 - Early FdL Fragment poem 11 - The Eye of God poem 12 - Accepting Intelligent Beings poem 13 - Nuclear Weapons poem 14 - Breakfast Lunch Supper Snack poem 15 - Chess poem 16 - Comfort poem 17 - Praise for Solzhenitsyn poem 18 - Milwaukee poem 19 - Preface poem 20 - Reflection .5 poem 21 - Parable poem 22 - The air poem 23 - To ____ poem 24 - Emptiness poem 25 - Recognition and Resolve poem 26 - Pattern poem 27 - March 1, 1972 poem 28 - Repetitions poem 29 - Repetitions 2 poem 30 - Wells Mfg. Corp. Plastics Department poem 31 - The New Seasons poem 32 - Name This River: Longhorn poem 33 - Untitled poem 34 - Pavan poem 35 - After Bar Closing poem 36 - Cautionary poem 37 - With Apologies poem 38 - The Purple Fox poem 39 - Three poem 40 - Glints of the Sun poem 41 - The Owl-Man's Response poem 42 - Interlude poem 43 - - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-08-03 see shdiary-d49 for poem1
sw00957d57--books-note
Have been finding more old poems of mine. Am going to begin a new book: Scatterings. Will be using an "s" after the sw##### for it. If my verses do not interest you, let the "s" stand for skip. Since it's already up and has no home, "The Rueful Soldier" will be the first one, and then the others from the chapbook it's in which are not yet up. Limiting this book to old works, however, is not likely. Since it will have a link in it, the first Scatterings entry will be: sw00958sc-links.entry21. Yesterday I changed the title of my sonnet opus to 1976 Today because I put back one of the deleted poems and expect to be putting all back. There are 13 left. I've placed them in an offline folder along with the original versions of the 2 which have been returned. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-08-03
Saturday, August 2, 2008
sw00956d56--birds-of-the-world
Here is a link to www.earthlife.net birds section in which there is information about extinct birds. - Here is one to www.bsc-eoc.org where there are links to other bird sites. Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-08-02
Thursday, July 31, 2008
sw00955d55--birds-by-state-or-bird
From www.50states.com/ } } } } } } } find out which bird has the most states Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-31
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
sw00953d53--automobile-history
There's a better place, but it is under construction. So for now, this inventors.about.com site: Car History Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-27
Friday, July 25, 2008
sw00952d52--America's-library
~ The link here is to the about/welcome/ page of the Library of Congress of the United States of America. LofC ~ Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-25
Thursday, July 24, 2008
sw00951sl25--when-you-want-him
[ Note: "him" can be changed to, for example, "her" or "it" or "them" and "he" can likewise be changed to "she" or "it" or "they" ] When You Want Him When you want him, he will be there, he will be there, be and for. When you want him, he will be there, he will be there, be and for. When you want him, really really want him, he will be there, be and for. When you want him, really really want him he will be there, be and for. (repeat stanzas one and two) (repeat stanzas three and four) He will be there, be and for. He will be there, be and for. Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-24
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
sw00950d51--d-tour
} } }
Not sure where future entries are headed, and not sure if each will address a single topic or single aspect of a topic; but am sure the direction of each will be away from me. - Today will be introductory. Might try doing this alphabetically since that would make it easier all around. Some of the topics will be ones I have long had an interest in; some will be topics I know little to nothing about. Diverse destinations. My hope is this will be both enjoyable and useful. - As you know, there are many excellent sites online, and rank is not a true measure. So, while I have links in S H's sidebar sections, you are welcome to mention one you favor. - Most of us in this nation hunger for changes that will benefit every citizen, from the poorest to the wealthiest. AlterNet: www.alternet.org current issues articles Read specifically Matt Taibbi's class war article: "Economic Realities . . .". { { { Brian A J Salchert 2008-07-23
Monday, July 21, 2008
sw00949a--about-me-links
human poet 2006/11/05/sw00007a-human.poet/748 . . . . . 2006-09-06 about me 2006/11/19/sw00028a-about.me/793 . . . . . sexuality 2007/02/22/sw00227a-sexuality/1190 . . . . . June 9, 1984 Graduate Record Exam / and 2007/03/11/sw00258a-gre1984june09uf/1238 . . . . . about me #2 2007/09/19/sw00617a-bio.me2/2222 . . . . . Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-21
Sunday, July 20, 2008
sw00948d50-FDIC
Herein are links to information about your money and the instituions holding it. The first link goes to a WalletPop article by Sarah Gilbert from 15jul08: How safe is your money? ..... The second link goes to a page provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation where private companies which rate banks and related institutions are alphabetically listed. If you need to, or are just curious, browse this list. ..... - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-20
Saturday, July 19, 2008
sw00947d49--cover-image-and-poem
My guess is I put together this handmade wee chapbook in 1965, but it may have been 1964. The blue edge in this image is beyond the cover. Seventeen poems are in it and a never-used fragment of another poem. That fragment/ and ten of the poems are not online. Some use rhyme. Here is one of those. ~ ~ ~ The Rueful Soldier I have walked these miles before Here on McClosky's dusty road, Kicked the dying leaves aside And thrown a pebble at a toad. Once I even caught a child Who fell down milkweed Martin's hill; Stumbled silly, as it were. You see these scars? They prove it, Will. There I stooped to tear the flower Adele could weave among her curls; Held a rifle near my hip, As we do now, though then for squirrels. from Bare Roots and Ragged Limbs by Brian Arthur Salchert - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-19
Friday, July 18, 2008
sw00946d48--debt-and-diligence
Thursday, July 17, 2008
sw00945d47--YouTube-and-Viacom-news
from Times Online July 15, 2008 article by Jonathan Richards "YouTube gets reprieve in Viacom piracy case" ..... - Brian A J Salchert 2008-07-17
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
sw00944d46-disclosures
I do a lot of research when online. When I go to a site I am particularly interested in, I often read not only the post before me, but also all or most of the comments beneath that post. Sometimes I read other posts and investigate links from posts. Have many times found information of value to me through this habit. If something in a post triggers thoughts in me I think are worth sharing, I leave a comment; but, if others have commented, and one or more of those comments already covered the topic in my head, I don't comment. I regularly go to Wikipedia first when I am seeking general knowledge. Doing so is not always worth the effort, but there are some excellent postings there, such as the long Led Zeppelin one. As I have said elsewhere: The Internet is my house of learning. Much of what is usually on the AOL Welcome screen does not interest me, but I seldom just pass it by. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-15
sw00943d45--link-to-participatory-democracy-talk
The link here is to Douglas Rushkoff's "The Next Renaissance" keynote address available at Edge (www.edge.org). .....
- Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-15
Monday, July 14, 2008
sw00942ekua-page23
Edges of Knowledge 2006-02-04 Saturday 10:40pm dc est - The turtling minutes only prolong my tattetale agonies. 2006-02-05 Sunday 11:44am cc est - Have been thinking about/ and trying to figure how to phrase: I believe/ there is a God-- call Him Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah,/ or as I have at times: Rune God;/ or as you prefer-- and that this God is/ a Three-Person God: Father Creator Sustainer, Son Redeemer Sustainer, Love Enlightener Sustainer;/ and that each of these Persons is always active. ~ I also believe/ this Supreme Being has granted each human a free will-- the freedom to/ consider and choose/ at each moment: Heaven, Purgatory, Hell; and that (for the most part) each of us knows/ which state of spirituality/ is being chosen. ~ I do not believe/ we *humans are (for the most part, or most of the time, because of some illness or other defect) automatons. * [Shortly before 4pm as I was about to type the asterisked word above, there was a knock on the door, and a request I decided not to fulfill, giving a reason which was definitely true/ but wasn't--which I didn't even think of--the primary reason impeding me at that time. (I am purposely not revealing--and may not ever--certain salient aspects of that incident.) I will say it may have been a test I failed, but whether or not, it absolutely was a dilemma event. I am still in a quandary over it.] It is now 8:50pm dc est. 2006-02-06 Monday 10:40am dc est - All my life I have made errors, have chosen poorly, have made mistakes, if for no reason/ other than that: my mind's not right. And why? That I have yet/ to/ understand. Perhaps is totally in my genes for me to be/ as I am. Perhaps a certain hurt to my head (or/ to my spirit) is the prime reason. Perhaps my babyhood impetigo--. Perhaps perhaps--. . Often (in part) it was ignorance; often again (also in part) the angers inside me were the catalysts. So, yes, some of my actions were unintentional; some not. * 7:44pm dc est ~ Now begin/ my long-thought-about/ hermit hibernations. Oh, I know one could say I have ever been/ often and often/ sleeping so. Certainly, solitudes and silences and dreams-in-dreams are/ an imaginer's, a thinker's, without-which-naught/ sacred/ I-b-n-a-r Ring Caverns. Still, now begin/ my hermit vibrations. 10:32pm dc est * 10:41pm dc est * 2006-02-07 Tuesday evening - About Love: ~ Are you (meaning: Am I) able to fully/ love another? Probably not. Are you (meaning: Am I) able to fully/ love yourself? No. Are you (meaning: Am I) able to fully/ love the/ God you say you believe in? Fully enough, I "think", with the graces from Him I would need/ to be able to die/ for that belief. * About Being Born Again: ~ When (while I was a baby) I/ was Baptized, I/ was born again. When (while I was a sub-teen or early-teen) I/ was Confirmed, I/ was born again/ a second time. When (when I was 21, and was walking/ in a closed cloister/ just outside of where/ Mass was being celebrated/ in a Jesuit Seminary in Minnesota; and Fr. Purcell came up to me, and asked: Whither/ goest thou?: and I told him: This day/ [It was a Pentecost Sunday.] I am leaving.: and he bid me kneel, and gave me his blessing. I-- being as I was, and as I am--took it as a direct sign from the Holy Spirit Himself/ that another mission [one which did not include/ being a Jesuit] awaited me, and that I was/ at that moment/ being born again/ a third time. - And what did I do, once back in the/ unordered? And what have I done? I did and have done all manner of things. I have not been, and am not yet, and may not ever be/ a holy man, no matter my hermit/ intonations. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-14 ekua23
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Edges of Knowledge 2005-12-26 Monday 4:55pm dc - Though I, because of my eclectic ways, even though I/ have made comments (over my almost 65 years) in response to various situations or direct questions, do not ever expect to be/ among those who/ are able to be online bloggers, I, in early Decenber of 2000, did begin an online journal--which continues to be sporadically maintained--here at ThirdAge. 2005-12-31 Saturday 8:06pm dc - About my insanities: . 1) Paranoia Yes, but targeted. Right now, the 2 new residents in the home just west of mine. Though they have not been directly/ nasty to me, I do not trust them: especially the shorter one. ~ [01.01.06 2:02pm dc Sunday ~ Also, they have [a] light-brown puppy with partially-asymmetrical white markings, making it exceptional enough/ it seems to me it could be a show dog. It is a pit bull. I have not seen a leash for it.] . 2) Narcissism Yes, but usually not overtly. Without it, my INFP(?) personality would be some other. It is what drives me to consistently create: with words and number in particular. . 3) Passive/Perfectionist-Aggressive Yes, but situationally. I am an epileptic: frontal lobe and generalized. However, I also have a low testosterone malady, the cause of which is yet to be determined. My GP decided I should be examined by some endorinologists. I have visited them once, have had blood drawn to test certain relevant activities in my body, and have been scheduled to visit them again. I am pleased my doctor directed me to them, and I am pleased the lead doctor I am seeing wants to know what is causing my malady. [ 2008-07-14 note: It turned out I apparently did not have low testosterone. ] . 4) Anger Yes, but it is a seething "I rate" condition, mostly. I know I was not born with the natural intelligence-- unless my early head injuries, along with whatever else, took such intelligence away from me-- to easily achieve, or achieve at all, what I wish to. So persistence has become/ a must for me: which may not be a bad condition. If you feel moved to, see what President Coolidge had to say about persistence. See also my read Tripod page about anger, about being irate. Not surprisingly, though, numerous other lackings/ rouse angers in me. . 5) Inferiority complex Yes, but if it is found my emotional immaturity is largely due to something wrong physically, I would accept it, and go from there. [01-01-06 12:09pm dc ~ Example: ~ Otherwise, here are three Britishers: Shakespeare, Newton, Keats. Millions of others then, from every place on Earth. See next. ~] . 6) Delusions of Grandeur Yes, but I do possess a sense of humor, quirky as it is, and perhaps at times too self-degrading. [01.01.06 11:55am dc ~ Example: ~ Sometimes when reading through an explanation of an abstract idea, i will suddenly say to myself: "Don't confuse me." To which I will answer myself: "With what?" ~] 2006-01-01 Sunday 10:48am dc - It is, yes, a new year; but I am still an all-too-easily-agaitated dreaming spirit. . 1) Empathy Yes, though both less and more than pleases me. ~ On the less end, it is my straight-out sins of omission which/ are my most egregious acts. ~ On the more end, it is my over-the-top acts of-- perceived by me--kindness// which are among my stupidest. . 2) [2008-07-14: If there is a "2", I know not where it is.] 2006-01-03 Tuesday 10:27pm dc - This night I learned of/ an old copyright law with devastating consequences: a law which is a perfect example of why so many governmental decisions are not for the common good. Do I overstate? Perhaps. . This morning I learned from a certain Case Manager of mine: I am in the "pipeline". Such a/ glorious gift/ it seems to be; and yet I wonder: Can God possibly be in there/ with me? . It is closing in on 11pm. . Nothing. Just the Penn State / Florida State football game. . As I am not feeling well, I am going to bed. 2006-01-30 Monday 12:55am cc - If we cannot have an atrium, perhaps we can have an exedra. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-14 ekua22
Saturday, July 12, 2008
sw00940ekua-page21
Edges of Knowledge 2005-11-03 Thursday 11:17pm dc - ~~~~~~~ 2005-11-13 Sunday 11:33pm dc - It's tough: being/ a nuh/thing; yet/ feeling filled/ because of/ my Creator; yet believing I/ can do many good things/ because of my/ Redeemer; yet/ quietly having/ endless insights/ because of my/ Enlightener. * * * 2005-11-14 Monday - What follows here within the brackets/ I attempted to put at "briansbrain2005cont", but the general web site there was not responding. [ Yesterday 2:22 2:32 2:33 2:34 pm. Today so far 11:11 11:22 11:32 11:33 am and 2:51--with that minute time I had told Mr. C (during our one o'clock meeting today) was highly unlikely to become the first minute time I would see in a given hour, this very day was--and then 2:55 pm. ] Partial explanation: I had an MV ride set for 3pm, but I was done early and (even after buying & eating a candy bar, was still early), and then my ride came early. Only God knows. 2005-11-15 Tuesday 8:51pm dc - At 8:11pm wc, looking out my sleeping room's . . . [east] window, above the trees, finally, the gibbous moon, and a bit higher, off to its right, orangey Mars. 2005-11-18 Friday 6:39pm dc - Changes. 2005-11-25 Friday 9:18pm dc - Yesterday I worked in the yard for about an hour. . A little after 1pm today I was out again when my weekly woman arrived. She decided to help me. By 2:30 we had 3 large black bags filled/ and placed near the street for removal. 2005-11-29 Tuesday 10:38am dc - Boy does it take me a long time to think of things: to figure out how to (do something) (arrange something)! You know how most wall sockets are designed: they have both a lower plug-in and an upper plug-in. For several months now I have not been using/ one in this crazy den to my best advantage, not until this morning. I have three nite lights I had laid aside, and then one night I decided to plug one in/ in a socket whose upper/ connection space had long been occupied by my den clock's (dc's) connector. So, even though that meant--if I didn't want to disturb the status quo--I would need to press the nite light into the lower connector, where it would be both some- what behind a corner of a large box/ and upsidedown, that is what I have been doing/ until 10:21am this morning. As you also likely know, most (if not all) nite lights/ simply have two smaller prongs. There- fore it was not a problem (in and of itself) for me to use it as I did. Nonetheless, thearrangement I now have is much better, no matter it meant I had to/ re- set the clock. ~ ~ ~ Monday 12.19.05 8:58am - I am just a/ minor mind/ in a major universe, trying to discover one salvatory truth/ or another/ outside those which are already known; and while I pray for myself and for billions beyond me, I have decided I (or Someone Else has decided for me) must do my searching/ intensely alone. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-12 ekua21
Friday, July 11, 2008
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Edges of Knowledge 2005-11-02 Wednesday 4:55pm dc - Obituary 2 (All Souls' Day) And now the last of the generation before us-- in our family-- our father/ has passed: At noon today, and while he was sleeping, Sister Jean told me, phoning from Mobile this afternoon. His next birthday, later this November, would have brought him to/ 97. We were hoping he'd make it; but, as always, God had other plans; and we were pleased he left here, it seemed, peacefully. Nescio, nescio. It is difficult for one to who is sometimes holy and at other times evil, who is a worthy son some moments/ and at other moments a prodigal, to write the truth, or to write at all, in a period so ruled by vacancy as this is. . . . Due to his health, most times when I attempted to have (necessarily) phone conversations with dad, they went uneasily; so I wrote things I mailed over to Jean to share with him. I am here in Gator Gainesville and they are in Katrina Mobile. What I last sent was a poem I had written some years ago about a certain Sunday when he was still living in Colony Cove near Palmetto and Bradenton, and Janice and I, visiting him, went to church with him. Do not know how much of it Jean read to him, but she told me he smiled when she finished. For all his strengths, and all my weaknesses, hearing her say that made me smile. I was, and yet am, ever glad. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-11 ekua20
Thursday, July 10, 2008
sw00938ekua-page19
Edges of Knowledge 2005-07-25 Monday 11:05pm cc - As aggravated as I can get at my least mistake; as sharply as my inability to be perfect/ irks me, I would not want to have a chip implanted in me that would make me "perfect". Where there is no challenge when it comes to improving one's ways of doing, there is no joy. . However, because I have so many ailments, I might accept the implantation of a medical chip. 2005-07-26 Tuesday 7:51pm cc - Most significant time today: 7:32pm dc. Had gone to drr, and shortly thereafter the phone rang. I would not have answered it, but it is easy to get to now because a while back I found a way to get it closer to the drr. The caller was J. D., whom I have been thinking of nearly every day for an even longer while. I wanted to call him, but I could not summon/ his last name. During our conversation, I revealed something about me which moved him to say . . . in parting. . . . . . --after 9pm-- On the radio the Milwaukee Symphony is playing Brahm's Symphony #4. It is one of those works I relate to right from its first notes, even if I do not have the musical memory that would allow me to remember them. 2005-07-27 Wednesday 11:49pm cc - Yesterday I meant to mention that it was ADA day, meaning that on July 26th, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed; but I never quite got to it. . Today was a busy enough day, but the next 2 days are likely to be busier. Tomorrow I will be getting a third bone density scan. It's been a while since the second scan. Friday I need to see one of my case managers regarding an upcoming [see new day] --12:00am cc-- 2005-07-28 Thursday 12:02am cc - sanity session with a clinical psychologist. . Last had a bone density scan (bds) as Shands Main on 19FEB04. Today at Shands Main I had another. 2008-08-01 Monday 9:45am cc - I began my computer day at 0:32am dc. . Decided about a year ago--I'm not really sure--to place all my writings in one large volume, but have been finding it difficult to decide on a title for that volume. This morning-- while slowly thinking through my major daily prayer--my thoughts opened to my last night with Janice, and my one contact, and my last words. Just as I did not know I would be visiting her twice that day, I did not know she would pass that night, nor did I know I would inexplicably be gently moving my cursor from the bottom left of its screen to the middle top/ close upon/ the time she passed. Placing my left hand on her forehead was my one attempt-to-communicate touch, and saying "good night, Janice" concurrently/ my last words. As to my volume, among the titles I have considered are: Who Am I? and Everything Wants to Fall on the Floor. This morning I decided I would name my mysterious opus: Good Night, Janice. 2005-08-06 Friday 9:47pm cc - 9:41pm dc - This is the day that Janice made/ what with my coming to read "Bridge Over Troubled Water" because of Bill Beckett and his closing his program, "The Caravan". with Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir", which I found and read at SongFacts.com, and which led me to their "Stairway to Heaven" which I also read there; and then to S & G's "Bridge . . ." which I also read there; and understood why/ Janice so loved it/ as I, for the first time, really read it, my life otherwise being usually too noisy for me to care to really read/ any song. . You know, Forty-One, if the numbers tonight are trying to communicate, 9 means September, the month . . . Janice [and I] got engaged. . [ 2008-07-10 note: US Highway 41 is the major north-south highway that passes just west of my hometown. ] 2005-08-11 Thursday 10:26pm dc - Am revising Rooted Sky offline. 2005-08-19 Friday 12:51pm dc - At last I am becoming the hermit I have always wanted to be. 2005-08-27 Saturday 11"58pm cc - Thank You, Lord, for having the tallow tree's dead limb be ready for plucking. It was/ as You know/ a bit tricky, but I did manage to pull it down without causing too much damage. 2005-08-29 Monday 11:11pm dc - At 64, I am a self-displaced Wisconsin poet. 2005-09-05 Monday Labor Day 9:41pm dc - While looking for something else over the last several days, I came across--in a school notebook-- an essay I apparently began on 04SEP1985. I do not have the time to enter it here now, but I will give its title: (Poetry): "Some Thoughts About Poetry from a Fledgling Seeker of Word Magic" 2005-09-09 Friday 11:01pm dc - "Hermetics" definition today. 2005-0-15 Thursday 8:11pm dc - Over at Tripod, my year-to-year "Brian's Brain" is my . . . [journal]. Here, my "Edges of Knowledge" unplanned autobiography is. [ 2008-07-10 note: Here is ThirdAge. ] . I am abruptly again, however, leaving here. My mind has been--by tonight's StarDate.org program--made curious about the life of Sol and of other stars. 2005-09-16 Friday 11:31pm cc - Goin'nuts agin as I usually do when I get too stressed. This spirit of mine is just too wound up, too like a knotted ball of yarn, too like a spinning beast of yearning. . . . 2005-09-18 Sunday 9:53pm cc - If every little thing that isn't perfect gets to you, then the only way to find peace is summoning up the courage to: kill perfection. 2005-09-20 Tuesday 8:06pm dc - For the last 2 days now I've not gone out into the yard. Perhaps tomorrow. I am sure that meanwhile the weeds are laughing. 2005-09-27 Tuesday 4:00pm dc - To hell with time; to hell with perfection. They have done more to keep me stressed than anything else I can think of; and yet, not being a natural genius, yea, dumb as I am-- nay, perhaps because dumb as I am-- I find it is not possible for me to cease battling with unyielding time; for me to cease wanting untouchable perfection. 2005-10-14 Friday 9:38pm dc - Hadn't had a mosquito in here for quite some while, but yesterday--one at a time as usual--got in here, the last one when my lunch arrived. I killed each of the first 3, but I do not know if I ever killed the 4th one. . I don't know if it's the Keppra I'm taking, or what, but all of a sudden I have been consistently hitting the wrong keys on my keyboard, especially the specialized ones. . [ 2008-07-10 note: That Keppra remark is interesting in that I am still on Keppra and that this year I seem to be having more problems/ hitting the/ right keys. ] 2005-10-23 Sunday 7:54pm - The other day I found a small but scary spider spinning a web in this drr's sink. . [ 2008-07-10 note: Recently I have killed at least six different kinds of spiders in this apartment. ] - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-10 ekua19
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
sw00937ekua-page18
Edges of Knowledge 2005-06-11 Saturday 9:49pm cc/dc - Listened to "The Caravan"/ tonight. It was another special: this time a Tom Russell CD. Charles Bukowski and Little Jack Horton were at the center of it, but there were several others also, one of whom was the American Music Maverick, Harry Parch. Near the CD's end, the program (I think) also included a commentary on the CD. When the last track was playing, 2005-06-12 Sunday 9:08pm -- Happy Anniversary -- - (continuing from yesterday) That commentary apprised the listener he/she might experience an emotional ambivalence at the CD's end. One of the possibilities was: the listener might begin crying. As I am one quite prone to such a response, I bolstered myself. I had no idea, of course, what I might actually do. When the last track began, I realized it was being sung by a female, and that is was: "America, The Beautiful"; and that soft tears were forming behind my eyes. Obviously, Tom Russell loves this country; and as harsh as much of what he presents on his CD is, his choosing to have its final track be what it is/ certifies that every track on his CD is there because he loves this country, as his own commentaries through/out do make clear. . 11:41pm cc - At 11:32pm dc I was at an About.com firewall info page. I ex[ect I will go back there tomorrow. Am still not sure, and I may run into the same block as I did with the Zone product. 2008-06-13 Monday 1:11pm cc/dc - Good afternoon, God. - Yesterday I finally changed my wall calendar from May to June. The calendar's hole for hanging is too small for the head of the nail in the wall, and I have always had a problem switching months because of that, but yesterday I decided to use one of my cuticle scissors to make a wee cut from the hole's top-- which is the hole's bottom when the page is turned up--in the June page. I also have an eight-inch metal crucifix hanging in front of the calendar. Because there are two storage boxes (which originally held packets of ketchup for a Chick-fil-A I had been employed at for a few months) along the wall there, and I am now around 4'11", the nail holding the calendar and crucifix is almost beyond my reach. So, I got the June page up; but I needed to get the crucifix back up, and I found that trying to get its big-enough ring to settle around the nail while I was holding that crucifix upright/ was only going to frustrate me. Luckily, I also found I still could reach high enough to turn the crucifix upside down. It took some patient doing, but with its ring hanging free, I was just able to get my left hand's index finger's nail-edge on that ring solidly enough to hold it back toward the wall so I could then slowly swing the crucifix clockwise down with my right hand. 2005-06-19 Sunday 9:15am cc/dc Father's Day - My obsession with numbers, and particularly my fetish with certain of them, seems to be holding a part of my brain in a maze trap. This morning I exited from the drr at 7:11am dc, and first looked at the wc at 7:41am; and when I looked a second time, it was 7:51am. It was 7:59am when I left the k, but 8:00am when I got back into the d. And then it was 8:17am dc, and later 8:50am; but it was 8:51am on the sbc and the wc. And then, moments ago, it was 9:32am on the dc. The current core fetish minutes are: 00, 16, 17, 32, 41 & 51. 2005-06-21 Tuesday 7:53pm cc/dc - And what number did I forget?: 11, of course. - Immediate karma. Two stories. 1. Some minutes ago I was in the kitchen eating a banana while--as I usually do there-- standing at the counter, and when I finished, I went about wrapping the remains up in the paper towelling I had placed it on; only, another section of paper towelling which was under that one began to come up with it; and the lizard in me popped up its head, its tongue flicking; and I began venting, spouting little nasties, as I untangled the two . . . sections and, talking to myself, settled down. But at the back edge of another sheet of towelling off to my left stood an 8 oz. plastic tumbler I had nearly filled with water and grape juice. As I turned to take the wrapped banana leavings over to the garbage basket, my left hand--because it was too free and I was not standing as straight as I ought to have been--tumbled/ my drink. Stunned, yet quite aware, I kept silent, thinking: Well, Jesus, I know You're trying to change me, but I--at which point I have Him interject: Yes, you dumb shit, but you just don't get it. I begin the long cleanup, which happened to involve 2 holy cards. Immediate Karma. [2. ???] 2005-06-25 Sunday 11:37pm cc - Such a strange person I am: so easily do I get aggravated; so relentlessly do I push on. 2005-06-27 Monday 12:02am cc - It was just midnight on the dc, or 00:00am (as I prefer to show it). I had been up at Sunday 19jun05 where I listed my signal numbers, but missed one (so I thought). I am now going to go back there to check again because I now suspect I missed two. I did! Not only did I miss 11, but also . . . missed 14, my nemesis #. . 7:11, 7:14, 7:16pm wc & 7:17pm dc yesterday. . . . . Big A-A yellow shirt #33 cell phone smooth white car? . A C. W. called regarding my epilepsy. We conversed for a fair while. . White car still directly outside my den window. It is 1:17pm dc. Chevrolet? . Because I had a hard thirst, I was at my shelving where my mostly water drinks rest. It was 3:52pm dc./ 4:11pm/ At 4:51pm I was watching through hard rain to see what the garbage guys would do with my garbage. They skipped it. I began wondering if they knew something I didn't: there is a bomb in it. That maybe on the other side a message reads: Do not open. I knew that perhaps they skipped it only because it was not obviously full. . After they left, I unplugged my computer, phone line, and TV. 5:11pm dc . 6:01pm - white car returned again - possibly for a third time, but parked in a different location. Perhaps it was a different car. 2005-06-29 Wednesday 9:24pm dc - It's incredible. After a long, tiring day, I--in the end--had to take a taxi home from Publix as MV ceased to oblige me. I do not know what I am going to do about them. And then there was the tall bloated elderly shopper who insisted I was sleeping (all the while he was shopping) in the chair I had been sitting on: a chair which was brought to me by one W-- for my comfort since there was no way of knowing how long I might have to wait for my ride. That accuser was, yes, partly right, but since I quickly realized there was no possibility of reasoning with him, I said, "Goodbye"; and went back into the store proper while he had his "mom"--unnecessarily--move the chair out of their way. . It's incredible. I arrived home at 5:55pm dc. Who knows. It is now 11:41pm cc. During all those minutes/ a set of phone rings occurred only one time: yes/ when I was sitting on the/ toilet. [. . .] 2005-06-30 Thursday 12:30 (or 00:30) am cc. - I won't be going to the peer group session at CIL twelve hours from now. . For the second day in a row/ the phone has rung while I was on the toilet. The time was around 4:23pm dc. . Aboust 8pm a white car stopped in front of my home. A fairly big A-A wearing an orange and black shirt with the number 27 on it/ got out. He placed an un- lit cigarette between his lips. He was carrying two filled plastic shopping bags. (One would guess/ food was in them.) The white car? It was an Acura. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-08 ekua18
Monday, July 7, 2008
sw00936ekua-page17
Edges of Knowledge 2004-09-18 Saturday 3:59pm - ---from the 9-18-04 entries of my Capricorn Journal--- 3:13pm dc through 11:38pm dc . So you're gonna die. Everyone's gonna die. But is that really why ev'ry little thing/ upsets you/ . Why coldn't I stop? I don't know. Why couldn't I change course? I don't know that either. . 63; thus passing through my 64th year, I yet can often innovate, and re-innovate. Therefore, why sometimes . [do] I get mired in a/ harmful way of doing/ I can only attribute to/ a deranged self-awareness? . Those times when reason/ permeates my self-awareness regarding a particular, I can cease [doing] that which is harmful. . At least begin to. 2004-10-09 Saturday 10:40pm - In an offline place, today I took a first step toward outlining my life's oeuvres, if I am given the time to do so; and eventually toward presenting the extant majority of my writings under one title, if I am given the time to do so. 2004-10-21 Thursday 10:11pm - Deleted two screen names today. . . . [Three] remain. 2004-10-29 Friday 10:11pm - There are preliminary stories to what I am being moved to say here, but I am going to elide them. * What I wish to do is give a little sermon on the word "as" in The Lord's Parayer. That word, to me, has these meanings: 1. to the degree in which 2. in the manner of how. [ 2008-07-07: The "as" I was speaking of occurs in the passage: "And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." ] * Further, "Vengeance is mine," saith the Lord; and "Whatsoever you shall do unto these, the least of My brethren, you do unto Me," Jesus said; and also, "Love your enemy." 2004-10-31 Sunday 10:06am - Further, do not forget Jesus's word's: "Father, forgive them; (for) they do not know what (it is) they do." 2005-01-05 Wednesday 12:41am - It may well be the bloggers rule the net, but just as they were becoming the power in online journalizing/ I was taking my journalizing powers into the offline. 2005-02-11 Friday 5:26pm dc / 5:30pm cc - Am considering opening a . . . [site] on which I will present a different creation of mine each day. I may, for instance, for all the seeming senselessness of it/ from certain vantage places, begin by presenting each of the 366 sonnets in my 1976. 2005-03-13 Sunday 7:20pm dc - Offline Capricorn Journal I was keeping is full. The hardbound notebook was, I believe, a gift from Janice years back.I am writing a short poem on an unlined page at the rear of the notebook. 2005-03-20 Sunday 10:54pm cc - An outline (a listing of titles) of my works which I've begun on some legal size yellow/ lined paper/ I am now intending to place here, but not tonight. 2005-03-23 Wednesday 1:43pm cc/dc - Am considering beginning a new page. I want to make an annotated outline of my writings. I know I will probably miss some, but I can always add them when I happen upon them. I any case, it seems appropriate to have them all on the same page. Besides, there continue to be new ones, and I think I will need the space. I know it will look cleaner. As to SAPLINGS, I may reveal exactly what I have, if I can find it. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-07 ekua17
Sunday, July 6, 2008
sw00935ekua-page16
Edges of Knowledge Wednesday 2004-05-05 9:49pm - In a manilla folder I entitled "SAPLINGS" is a year-ordered list of my early poems, quite a number of which I--unhappily-- long ago lost. Thursday 2004-05-06 5:42pm - Since my self-confidence is often weak, relying on my willingness to learn and my need to persist (is)are the best I can do. Since the words I use and the order I use them in are often not for me alone, the best I can do in that regard is all that can be/ expected of me: A, B, C, D, F, Z. Tuesday 2004-06-01 5:08pm - Brian, do not keep rehearsing/ in your tetched mind how you screwed up when you failed to support that Ben Jonson poem in that Iowa literature class where the professor's testing put- down of it was so well voiced not a single student could properly voice a counter. It does not matter that the counter--which he himself in the end presented--was in your head. You simply lacked the "guts" to reveal it. That is the way you had always been, and that is the way you would likely be now, and that is the way you will be in the future, probably. Personalities stronger than yours (and there are many such) consistently intimidate you, and your knowing this is one of the root reasons you often feel you do not belong/ in this world. * As a sister-in-law of your used to say: "Throw him a fish." Friday 2004-06-04 5:35pm - Excerpt from 6-3-04 of Capricorn Journal: "The final doze seemed the longest/ and I did wake from it with my forehead in my food; and I thought: Oh no! I wonder what time it is: 9:41pm wc Aeh!!! One thing, though: the buzzing outside the door had stopt. Back in the den I hit 10:11pm. At 10:41pm dc I powered up. There's no use in fighting it anymore. All these events are unintentional, consciously." * Today has not been--we had our hard rains at noon, and it didn't help my body any. Nonetheless, about 4:50pm I decided to try going to Publix at noon tomorrow. Thursday 2004-06-10 7:38pm - Competition: As many times as I have embraced it, [it] has nearly always been a bane to me. I prefer to avoid it. Stop! Modulation, intonation, poetic risk. If I do not compete openly, I nonetheless do compete: against my priors, against present preferences, & (most importantly) against myself. Saturday 2004-07-17 2:07pm - COPD. Since I do not quite know where to start passing on to you--. I had some snail mail to get out. About 10am I did that. I also picked up another full box of mail, and another book. Returning home, a weakness flowed through my body, a weakness like none I had--COPD(?). On the way over there, a young girl with a much younger boy and their chips in their bags happened behind me, and she asked--as I was about to head up the mail station frontage--me if I was okay, if I needed help. Told her I had several diseases, and that because of one of them I was no longer able to stand straight. She said I almost fell over that bump (that bump being a yellow speed bump) back there. I told her I would be okay, and thanked her. She said I was welcome. * Spiders. (Thuncer, Rain, Lightning . . . 2:48pm cc) When I got to my door there was a thin longish unplain spider coursing up to the right of my door. As there are 1000+ species of USA spiders, and as there are moltings which sometimes involve color changes, and as I am not schooled in spider identification, I found a small but sustantial item of mail, and smashed it. For whatever reasons, I have been having more spider problems recently in and around this place than ever before. I am getting help controlling them, and that help appears to have actually helped/ especially by poisoning what spiders feed on. * Shortly after I was back in, I began feeling better. (It is cooler--a little--and drier; and, I suspect, a lot less polluted in here. I am using good filters with my heat pump.) So, I only partially sorted my mail. What did I do--or perhaps I should say what I found myself doing--was a sweep-through of the main bedroom and bathroom, the hallway connecting them to the kitchen, and the kitchen. I did see 2 spiders, maybe 3, along the way, but I didn't go after them. They seemed to be like ones I'd seen many times before in this place/ and had never had trouble from. They are usually on the floor near where they can hide. So far as I know, they do not make webs, at least not (if they do make webs) inconvenient ones. 2004-07-23 Friday 8:54pm - 7 bananas I had purchased, and now I was going to eat one; but when I turned I immediately saw/ one had acquired a black band on its cover. I went to my silverware box and pulled out--even though I knew I shouldn't be using it-- my paring knife (the one with wooden handle we had had for unknown sentimental years). An inch near beyond the band I severed that banana after I had with unusual difficulty separated it from its bunch. I found the skin supremely tough/ while the fruit within--while it seemed fine--lacked firmness. I thought I ought to check another, but with my spirit mate's paring knife (the longer sharper one with the red plastic handle we had had for fewer unknown sentimental years). I found it too did not fare well. So 7 bananas and 2 knives I wrapped together and sealed in a plastic storage bag, and placed in the kitchen garbage container. 2004-08-24 Tuesday 3:29pm dc - ...In the quiet of the Lord/ ...one is open to/ ...the wisdom in/ ...persistence. ...In the quiet of the Lord. 2004-08-31 Tuesday 8:50pm - In my early 30's I officially came out, but during the course of the public years of it I did things I had told myself I would never do, and in so doing/ fiercely mocked my profession. I would tell you what they were, but I do not believe you would care to know them. Just let it be said I have often found it difficult to supress my emotions; and now my house is rotting away. And Frances is coming. And a rabid rat is gnawing at me. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-06 ekua16
Saturday, July 5, 2008
sw00934sl24--against-despair
Against Despair Who can now forgive what I have done? Who can now forgive what I have done? Who can now forgive what I have done? He Whose Suh-un sent He Who is Love. He Whose Suh-un sent He Who is Love. He Whose Suh-un sent He Who is Love. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-05
Friday, July 4, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
sw00932d43-economics
Am providing a link in this entry to a lengthy article about money which I just finished reading. The author of it is Dick Eastman, and the title of it is "Fed Is Just One Part Of Much Bigger Scam". [ Note: I am not a supporter of the candidate he prefers. ] This article is at www.rense.com. The gist of what is in it/ you may know, but if you haven't read it, the valuable particulars in it you may not know. Those particulars are what make it worth reading. ..... - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-07-02
Sunday, June 29, 2008
sw00931sl23-forces
Forces Tic toc tic toc once around then once again Tic toc tic toc once around once more The faster the spin the faster the spin the stronger the force that's pulling out The faster the spin the faster the spin the easier it is to soar - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-29
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
sw00930sl22--time-2
Time 2 There goes, there goes, there goes eternity. There goes, there goes, there goes my love. (repeat however often you wish to) Wait and see, wait and see, wait and see tomorrow. Wait and see, wait and see, wait and see today. (repeat however often you wish to) There goes, there goes, there goes eternity. There goes, there goes, there goes my love. (repeat however often you wish to) - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-25
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
sw00929d42--AOL-health-vitamin-cautions
For a period in the 1990s I took 50000 IU of A each day. Do not recall why I started, but I soon saw something was wrong. Went to a skin clinic but did not tell the doctors there--and they never asked--what supplements I was taking. What I went through with them--. When they wanted me to step into their UV chamber, I declined, and never went back. One night I showed a co-worker how bad my legs had gotten. He said they looked like raw meat, and indeed they did. I stopped taking the A, and slowly my legs got better. Today I learned from AOL Health that too much A can cause osteoporosis. I have osteoporosis, and have had it since the mid 1990s; but I am genetically predisposed to it. Also, after my first adult-onset seizure in 1999, and after I was no longer able to afford the Neurontin I was intially given, my then doctor though I should wait to see if I would have another seizure. I did, and I did. That doctor prescribed a medication which I later learned/ can cause osteoporosis: phenytoin. Was eventually weaned off it by another doctor, a neurologist, when I was eased into taking Keppra. Have been on it since. So far/ it is working. Also learned today from the AOL Health article* that the daily limit for E is 400 IU. E is a blood thinner and, among other things, can be be bad for one's heart. The E supplement I use I will not be using from today on as it has 400 IU. There is a site: ConsumerLab.com which is an independent tester of some vitamins; but it is a member site, and it costs $29.95 per year or $49.50 for two years. * Article author is Caroline Howard. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-24
Monday, June 23, 2008
sw00928sl21-time
Time [ melody one ] Where is the past? Here comes today. Why does tomorrow seem far away? All that we've done. All that we do. All that might yet come depends on you. Where is the past? Here comes today. Why does tomorrow seem far away? All that we've done. All that we do. All that might yet come depends on you. [ melody two ] Through the years and through the moments; through what we can see. Through our works and through our tendings; through the prayer we share. Through the years and through the moments; through what we can see. Through our works and through our tendings; through the prayer we share. [ repeat all verses above, and then add ] Where is the past? Here comes today. Why does tomorrow seem far away? - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-23
Sunday, June 22, 2008
sw00927d41--done-done
Now, if the broccoli florets I ate before 5 PM digest peaceably—I haven't had broccoli since ???—this day will be. . . . Fudge squares. Haven't had those f s things since ??? either, and I didn't have any with the broccoli. If you can figure out what I am tapping about, let me know. Finished the Rhodingeedaddee part of my massive project today. In the process, I learned new facts about Blogger that were and will be of value. AOL Journals and Google Blogger live in continents that are quite unlike each other. Am tempted to rattle about the differences, but am not up to it. Put flat: I had (as has been the usual most of my days) to experiment. Am concluding that FAQ are not the way to help users. It would be better if those who program a service/ could clearly provide a list of FYSK (facts you should know) Rarely is a question I want answered/ in a FAQ. Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1300 - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-22
Friday, June 20, 2008
sw00926d40-done
If I didn't miss any entries, my massive SH project is done. Now I need to work on Rho--. Am trying to prepare for what may be some harsh days ahead. Such preparing is something I too often failed to do during most of my years. Work hard. Use the gifts you have been given as fully as you can. Squander nothing. Be frugal. Position yourself so that if all around you crumbles, you will--God willing--be able to survive. I am an elder, a thankful yet sad elder. Over at Rho-- I may post a hard opinion regarding this nation of my birth. I have several turnaround ideas, but I have my own life to turn around. Astronomer Anthony Ayiomamitis's captivating "Solstice Moonrise, Cape Sounion" photo - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-20
sw00925sl20--strange-prophecy
Strange Prophecy When we go down to the wa-ater When we go down to the sound When we go down to the wa-ater The angels will be The angels will be The angels will be arou-ound us The angels will be The angels will be The angels will be You'll see you'll see The angels will be The angels will be The angels will be You'll see you'll see (repeat all above and then add) The angels will be The angels will be The angels will be arou-ound us - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-20
Thursday, June 19, 2008
sw00924d39-danger
Around PM 3:15 severe storm/tornado sirens. Since I was online, I went to the weather service I use. Map showed a red in northern Springfield. Darkening sky. Thunder. Shut down and unplugged computer system. Rain. Heavy rain. Intermittently for the next half hour, ice pellets zipizapzutted against my windows. Water droplets seeped onto the sills inside. Wiped them with towling sheets. Nearing PM 4, when it seemed the storm was passing, sirens again for about the fifth time. At 4 I turned on the one radio I use for weather, and while I was listening/ the National Weather Service discontinued the storm warnings for this area. Later this evening, though, and all day tomorrow, more chances of severe weather. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-19
sw00923d38-density
Build Bone: nutrition slideshow WebMD article 2005-04-27 bone density article 10 foods that build bones - Also, do a fighting osteoporosis search and choose the sponsored Johns Hopkins option in the list to the right. That's what I did; but, of course, you do as you need to. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-19
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
sw00922sl19-exercise
Exercise You're up you're down you're in you're out you're round and round today You're up you're down you're in you're out you're gal- axies away Look up look down look in look out look round and round survey Look up look down look in look out adjust your dark to pay We had a place we did adid did did we had a place to stay We had a place we did adid did did we had a place to pray (chorus) There was a ball called Earth I'm told it swung about a star "Twas green 'twas blue 'twas brown 'twas white 'twas shat- tered by a bar (chorus) - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-17
Monday, June 16, 2008
sw00921a-determinations
from 1972 photo by Mr. John Poulter * As of today no in-progress books of poems remain in this journal. See "All About Me". Of the 13 books, one is a double chapbook: Autobio Poems; three: This Day's Poem, Prayers in December, Seminary are chapbooks; and one: my hometown lyric narrative Fond du Lac could be a chapbook if it were published on paper. Rooted Sky 2007, originally published in 1972 as Rooted Sky, is some places called a chapbook but I've always thought of it as a book. - Other books are Justan Tamarind, Postures 2007, June 2007, Sets, The Undulant Trees, and Venturings. - Then there is the opus: 1976: in 2006, originally published as 1976--366 sonnets and 12 reflections-- in the cassette medium. Presently 352 sonnets and no reflections, even if it were published with two sonnets on each page, would be a substantial traditional book. - * John Poulter was an inmate at the Wisconsin Men's Penitentiary in Waupun, Wisconsin that year. - Brian A. J. Salchert
Saturday, June 14, 2008
sw00920d37-drenched
Yesterday was an extremely heavy rain day here in Springfield, drowning the old record of 1.67 inches set in 1964 by around 2 inches.
Friday, June 13, 2008
sw00919sl18--For-You
For You All through the nights All through the days My heart will never Turn away All through the months All through the years My heart will ever Conquer fear Come follow Me Come follow Me I give you true Eternity Come follow Me Come follow Me I give you true Eternity [ The lyrics I write, as well as the melodies I sense beneath them, come from the Ether. This being so, out there may be other or more verses for this. Therefore, anyone is welcome to extend this song. And where is God? God is in and beyond the neutrino streams. ] Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-13
Thursday, June 12, 2008
sw00918sl17-So
So We went around the block. We went around the schoolyard. We went around the block, and then we went back home. My daddy had a garden. My daddy had a hoe. My daddy had a shovel, and it was full of coal. We used to eat at Arby's. We used to eat at Mick's. We used to eat at Wendy's, but now we just eat sticks. We went around the block. We went around the schoolyard. We went around the block, and then we went back home. Our home is in the city. Our home is in the dump. Our home, it isn't pretty because it's filled with junk. If we had had a ladder; if we had had an oak, we could have built a treehouse, and painted it like smoke. We went around the block. We went around the schoolyard. We went around the block, and then we went too far. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-12
sw00917d36--state-of-being
Awake at 6:16, I was pondering a lucid dream I'd just had. In it I had been trying to deal with a tray of food in a space which was too small. Immediately realized/ that as small as I am physically, complaining about never having enough space is likely the major voiced negative in my life. Later after completing my usual bed-centered routine, my major unvoiced negative revealed itself: frustration. Then while I was in the kitchen with my multivitamin and potassium supplements, I fell to considering again that neither hell nor heaven may be actual places in the sense we here on Earth recognize actual places, but may well be the state-of-being one has chosen as representative of who one is. It is not that I haven't experienced many moments of peace and happiness. I have. Even so, for reasons I to this day do not fully understand, it seems frustration (and the unhappiness which flows therefrom) is the dominant state-of-being I persist in. - Back to the massive project begun yesterday. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-12
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
sw00916d35-deployed
Am engaged in a massive project. Have no idea when I'll return; but I must attend the labors at hand, for if I do not, they will not get done; and they must get done. Brian Salchert 2008-06-11
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
sw00915sl16--go-into-the-water
Go into the water Go into the water Down & up and round & round Go into the water Go into the water Go into the water Down & up and round & round Go into the water - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-10
Monday, June 9, 2008
sw00914d34--Rooted-Sky-cover
= cover of original 1972 book of poems and one letter published by Tom Montag's Monday Morning Press Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-09
sw00913d33-disturbances
Erratic sleep night. Was awakened just before 1 by a small storm. After that my sleep was interrupted four more times, the last by the resident above me who was uncharacteristically up and active at 5:44; but I remained atop my bed (warm night due to temperatures around 90 Sunday) for another hour. 100% chance of rain all day, but we are sweetly passing through a mild trough with the heaviest rain to our east and a large area of moderate rain to our west. Finished reading The Mathematical Experience shortly before midnight. This morning I peeked into Math Without Tears by Roy Hartkopf. It was published in 1985 by G. K. Hall & Co. out of Boston, Massachusetts. My brain has been rather helter-skelter, seeking information from sites which have no relation to each other. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-09
Friday, June 6, 2008
sw00912sl15-whistle
There goes the whistle. There goes the whi-i-stle. It blows and blows. It blows and blows. It blows and blows. The whistle. There goes the whistle. There goes the whi-i-stle. It blows and blows. It blows and blows. It blows and blows. The whistle. There blows the whistle. There blows the whi-i-stle. There blows the whistle. There it blows again. There blows the whistle. There blows the whi-i-stle. There blows the whistle. There it blows again. Repeat until tired of repeating. Someday I'll learn how to show the melodies for my song lyrics. [ Hint: sing each of first two lines like "pop goes the weasel" ] revised 2008-06-26 Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-06
Thursday, June 5, 2008
sw00911d32-ditty
Sure Mary had an estuary; the estuary had a ferry (fairy?); and everywhere the ferry (fairy?) went, the estuary got all bent. - Brian A. J. Salchert 2008-06-05
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
sw00910d31--daynote
On what was predicted to be a clear day, the leading edge of a thunderstorm at 9 AM, with clouds moving mostly north and a tad east. To the south clear sky was visible. At 9:15 a moment of heavy rain, and cloudiness to the south. By 9:25 the satellite showed the storm had passed east and to the north. It is now 9:37 and I am hearing thunder again. About 9:40 the thunder ceased. 2008-06-04
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
sw00909piks--Saltillo-cover
For some years I have not been able to find the actual magazine. It could be I left it behind after copying its cover. My "Tonight" poem—which in this blog is in Postures 2007—was published in it. Kansas-born Nebraska poet, William Kloefkorn, was Saltillo's editor.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
sw00908v-55.poem53
Venturings The Poem for Galway Kinnell " . . . by the light from the joined hemispheres of the spider's eyes," I make my meeter, old peppermint fate / barber pole; and there is no way I go he does not guide me, sweet & sure. Whatever ringlets grow on the planes of the common, the innocence and violence of this child will never fade: constantly/ he calls me in, bids me taste, and believe he offers absolute support. Oh all the elms are carrot tops; the oaks/ trained tomatoes. In the bleariest jungles of my dreams, he shows. Sense, nonsense, void, he sings me a phrase to discover from: My grandmother washed her sins on rocks (or) Tra-la-la in a quaint, merry town (or) I know what I've felt & the shadows cry. There is never an end; the images tumble as though they were in a turning cage, and are bright as/ an island of stars. Though I cower in the shadows of emerald and jade, in the steam born of leaf-eaten sun, thump, there are only beginnings. And the beginnings/ come from me because I'm awake, and the beginnings come from he who meets because he/ owns my heart; and all the endings that ever come are fashioned/ by the mind. I am wrapped in linen; I am wrapped in blood. Take care. Take care. Take care. 6-18-71 Brian A. J. Salchert
Saturday, May 31, 2008
sw00907v-54.poem52
Venturings Angle of Vision Ready to travel the miles north, we two, about to part another time, twice kiss; i do not walk her to the door; but from the bedroom watch until she's back in view three stories below and sits upon her red suitcase so placed on the main walk the patio's post eclipses them, and with her await the maroon taxi & move the suitcase back a little & pace & check the time and open its door & lift onto its back seat the troubling case & get in & look up & smile & wave & wave & smile because we want to because we can. circa 1986 Brian Salchert
sw00906d30-offline
What is it that suddenly motivates a person to do something that's been put off for years? Have not a thimble of evidence. Was offline most of today organizing my documents. Still need to clean up certain files, but that space looks 90% happier. 2008-05-31
Monday, May 26, 2008
sw00905math--find-c-with-straight-line
36 r = radius c = circumference Not expecting to finish this entry today, but have gotten into the substance of it far enough to show the confusion therein. This search had its origin in March of 1966. Shortly thereafter I abandoned it. Yesterday I began addressing it again. Circumference = 2 x pi x radius. Therefore, if the radius is 1/2 inch, the circumference = pi = 3.14159265, which is the pi value being used here. My project in 1966 was to see if the circumference of a circle could be determined without pi. This led me to considering the 90° arc with the notion that with the aid of a protractor I could draw interlocking circles and so establish a straight line that equalled the length of a circle's circumference divided by "4", or approximately did. I may scan my original calculations (which I uncovered several days back while looking for something else) and show them here, even though upon inspecting them then I became uneasy about my conclusions in 1966. Could be my conclusions were correct and I simply no longer understand them. Moot, moot. I now have new conclusions. Let r = one inch. [ Spotty storms are meandering in. ] c = 6.28318530 /4 = 1.57079633 = pi/2 I then found that 4/7 = .57142857 Today I found that 1.57079633 divided by 11 = .14279967 and that 7 x .14279967 = .99959766 which is quite close to one inch. However, I then proceeded to r = 2 (two inches) where c = 12.56637060 and /4 = pi but pi/11 = .28559933 and 7 x that = 1.99919532 which comes to a loss of .00040234 And so I then proceeded to r = 3 where c = 18.84955590 and /4 = 4.712388898 and 4.71238898/11 = .42839900 and 7 x that = 2.99879298 which comes to loss of .00080468 from the r = 1 result, meaning that there is a loss of .00040234 per inch and consequently a loss of .00005748 per 1/7 of an inch, and of .00063225 at 11/7. 5:50 PM - The .00040234 per-inch loss bothered me; so I ventured on. 1/7 = .14285714 1/56 = .01785714 whereat I tried x 9 and got .16071429 At this juncture I returned to my trial-by-error habit because I knew what I was seeking was far off. Finally upon dividing .16071429 by 399.45 (oh, yes) I got .00040234. So, I needed to know what 56 x 399.45 equalled. Hmmph!: how does 22369.2 strike you? Indeed it was far off. 1/22369.2 = .00004470 Next question: How important is the .2? Turns out that at eight out, not seemingly significant. 1/22369 = .00004470 But still I ventured, as I wanted to know how 22369 related to 7. It doesn't. I then tried 3, and it didn't either. This made me wonder if 22369 was either a prime number or a square; so I minused 1 from it and divided by 8. Result: 2796. At that point I stopped. And now I need to look at my earlier entry regarding terms in the natural number summation sequence. Hiatus. 8:47 PM - Fact: The remainder of an odd square - 1 into which 4 is divided always equals an even integer which is the product of two adjacent integers, and the sum of those two adjacent integers always equals the square root of the odd square. Example: 17 x 17 = 289 288/4 = 72 and 8 x 9 = 72 and 8 + 9 = 17 - Given this fact, 22369 is not an odd square/ because 4 divided into 22368 equals 699, which is not an even integer. It is still possible 22369 is a prime number since 22368 is evenly divisible by both "3" and "6" but I think that does not matter. 1/22370 also equals .00004470. 22370/2 = 11185. 1/22372 also equals .00004470. 22372/7 = 3196. 22372/4 = 5593. 3196 x 4 = 12784 and 12784 + 22372 = 35156 and 35156/11 = 3196. - .00040234/.00004470 = 9.00089486. .00004470 x 9 = .00040230 which puts the result off by .00000004. But what the heck is 1/22372 of an inch? The closest unimaginable ruler number is 1/16384. Then again, rulers don't bother with sevenths of an inch either. Whatever, 12784 + 9 = 12793 or 9/22372 more than 4/7 of an inch. Now what? Back to 57079633. ... Wait! I should be moving lower. 11:44 PM - Just discovered "13" divides into 57079633 evenly, getting 4390741. I should be in bed. Tomorrow perhaps. May 27, 2008 7:26 AM - Other findings included 12771/22374 = .57079646, but after truncating 2506218.849 to 2506219 and dividing that integer by 4390741, .57079636 arrived/ because (I surmise) that while 13 divides evenly into 57079633 it does not divide evenly into 4390741. 13 divides evenly into 4390737. At nine out, .570796364 arrives. My calculator does not show ten zeros beyond the decimal point, and since I'm done with hunting, somewhere between .00000003 and .00000004 sits the error. 1/4390741 = .00000023 or .000000228. 2506219 + 4390741 = 6896960; 1.57079633/6896960 = .00000023; .00000023 x 4390741 = .99999998 of an inch. At .000000228 it becomes 1.001088948. 1.001088948 - .99999998 equals .001088968. Under, over, the yard north of my bedroom win- dow is happily banded with white clover, but the dandelions which banded it last week are now nowhere to be seen. 1:48 PM - Among other activities, went out to take some photos and did find several d-lions. At r = 2 inches c = 12.56637060 and c/4 = pi = 3.14159265 3.14159265/6896960 = .00000046 and 4390741 x .00000046 = 1.99999995 loss per inch of .00000003 (2.5) At r = 3 inches c = 18.8495590 and c/4 = 4.71238975 4.71238975/6896960 = .00000068 and 4390741 x .00000068 = 2.99999993 loss per inch of .00000002 (2.33) - This is much closer, but had to go into outer space to get it. - Recap: 4/7 = .57142857 2506219/4390741 = .57079636 target .57079633 Sounds like the robin is practicing a new tune. It has a falsetto finishing note. May 29, 2008 2:12 PM - Went out to 9 on my calculator. 3.141592654/2 = 1.570796327 and after some t-and-e chose to use .570796330 because two integers, both of which happened to be divisible by 15, equalled it. So 250621905/439074135 became 16708127/29271609. Now, if I use the smaller integers, I first need to divide 1.570796330 by 15 which equals .104719755; and then divide this by 45979736 (16708127 + 29271609). Either way, the result is .000000002. 250621905 + 439074135 = 689696040. 1.570796330 divided by 689696040. [ Much of today's entry is calculator-related junk. My attempt to go out nine has failed. Am unable to verify calculations. ] - See this Wikipedia page on Pi. May 30, 2008 4:06 PM - About yesterday's numbers: Dividing 45979736 by 15 was wrong. The numbers used relate to a circle with a radius of one inch, making 2 x pi the circumference and division by 4 approximately equal to 1.57079633. After the divisions by 15, the essential integers are 16708127, 29271609, and 45979736. (However close these are to 4/7, 7/7, and 11/7, the 1.57079633 straight line represented by 45979736/29271609 can only be imagined.) Found a way to get the answers I needed from my calculator. I eliminated the decimal point in 1.57079633 when I divided it by 45979736. That gave me 3.416279576 which truncating to 3.41627958 proved best. This is a deceptive number in that it looks a bit like pi, but it has nothing to do with pi. When this number is multiplied by 29271609, my c-toy displays 100,000,000.1 or 1.000000001 after the decimal point is returned to its proper location. All these calculations and the need to verify them entailed more effort than it probably was worth. If 3.14159265 is allowed to equal pi, 6.2831853 (2 x pi) equals the circle's c. If 1.57079633 is allowed to equal c/4, 6.28318532 = the circle's c. # Brian A. J. Salchert
Saturday, May 24, 2008
sw00903math--squares-sets-from-4-divisor
35 This entry had its birth in my fooling around with my 1966 attempt to determine the length of 1/4 of a circle's circumference without Pi. tpo = term position sqrt = square root sq = square nnss = natural number summation sequence tpo0 0/4 = 0 (0/4 = 0) + 1 = 1 - tpo1 4/4= 1 8/4 = 2 8 + 1 = 9 2 - 1 = 1 2 x 2 3 x 3 - tpo2 16/4 = 4 24/4 = 6 24 + 1 = 25 6 - 4 = 2 4 x 4 5 x 5 - tpo3 36/4 = 9 48/4 = 12 48 + 1 = 49 12 - 9 = 3 6 x 6 7 x 7 - tpo4 64/4 = 16 80/4 = 20 80 + 1 = 81 20 - 16 = 4 8 x 8 9 x 9 - tpo5 100/4 = 25 120/4 = 30 120 + 1 = 121 30 - 25 = 5 10 x 10 11 x 11 - tpo6 144/4 = 36 168/4 = 42 168 + 1 = 169 42 - 36 = 6 12 x 12 13 x 13 - tpo7 196/4 = 49 224/4 = 56 224 + 1 = 225 56 - 49 = 7 14 x 14 15 x 15 - tpo8 256/4 = 64 288/4 = 72 288 + 1 = 289 72 - 64 = 8 16 x 16 17 x 17 - tpo9 324/4 = 81 360/4 = 90 360 + 1 = 361 90 - 81 = 9 18 x 18 19 x 19 Am letting tpo0 be compressed. Thereafter, each tpo visibly consists of two terms displaying division by "4". As can be seen, an sq results in the first term of each tpo. In an odd tpo, an odd sq; in an even tpo, an even sq. Am defining each set by the results in it: odd-even set and even-even set. General: - 1) Each set's tpo = the difference between the division-by-4 results for that set. 2) The sum of each set's results divided by its tpo = the sqrt of the square for that set's 2nd term. 3) The square for a set's 2nd term is its intial integer + 1. 4) Excluding 0, the sum of each set's results = every 2nd term in a paired natural number summation sequence. 5) Including 0, summing the division-by-4 result of the 2nd term of a set with the division-by-4 result of the following set's 1st term = every 1st term in a paired natural number summation sequence. 6) tpo times (tpo + 1) = division-by-4 result for the 2nd term in that tpo's set. 7) In each set/ the first term's division-by-4 result = the square of that set's tpo. 8) Deriving from its intial integer, the 1st sqrt in each set is always an even integer. Therefore, if dividing its square by "4" equals an even integer, it is the first square root/square term in an even- even tpo set. Therefore the difference between the (2nd sq - 1) and the first square/ will be an even integer, and that integer will be that set's tpo. 9) "2" times a tpo = the square root of that tpo's initial integer. Still, how can one know when an integer is a square. Using the above, one knows immediately that when the initial integer in the first term of a tpo is divided by "4"/ the result is also a square. One knows too that the sqrt of that sq = that set's tpo. Further, one knows that an odd sq - 1 is evenly divisible by eight, and that the resulting integer is a term in the natural number summation sequence. Here is an example I think might be helpful. I got it from the 3.14159265 expansion of Pi; so I already know the answer. 8464/4 = 2116 2116/4 = 529 528/8 = 66 Depending on how the natural number summation sequence is treated, "66" is either the 11th or 12th term in that sequence. Admittedly, it is easier to ignore 0 and see "66" as the 11th term, but what one is trying to do might not make that the best choice. 1 3 6 10 15 21 28 36 45 55 66 78 So, the squares are proved, but what is the square root of 529 and what is the square root of 2116 and what is the square root of 8464? The square root of 2116 equals the tpo where the initial integer is 8464. 2 times the sqrt of 529 = the sqrt of 2116, and 2 times the sqrt of 2116 = the sqrt of 8464. I'm taking a sabbatical. Okay, PM 8 is drawing near, and here is the setup: 1 2 3 wherein each integer is a square root in the first group. Am approaching the problem as if I do not know anything. The even square root rules, but first this: the infinite set of odd integers runs between the squares, connecting one to the next. And, yes, I am leaving 0 behind. About those odd integers: 1) the 1st one is "1" less than 2 x the even square root - 2) the 2nd one is "1" more than 2 x the even square root - 3) if an odd integer is the starting point, then that integer + 1 = a sum which when divided by "2" = the square root of the square it is connecting to - - - Back to 1 2 3: new look: 1 x 1 = 1 2 x 2 = 4 3 x 3 = 9 because 1 + 3 = 4 and 4 + 5 = 9. Note also that 3 + 5 = 8 as does 4 + 4; and 8 into 8 = 1. [nnss] Next group: 3 4 5 - the connecting odd integers here are 7 and 9 wherein (7 + 1)/2 = 4 and (9 + 1)/2 = 5. 3 x 3 = 9 4 x 4 = 16 5 x 5 = 25 because 9 + 7 = 16 and 16 + 9 = 25. Remember also (because I forgot) that (2 x the even sqrt) - 1 = the 1st connecting odd integer and (2 x the even sqrt) + 1 = the 2nd connecting odd integer. That's the method, but it still does not reveal the answer I am seeking. The odd integer connecting 9 x 9 to 100 is 19. (19 + 1)/2 = 10 and 2 x 10 = 20. Another way to look at 10 x 10 is 5 x 20, and 20 is important here in that (9 x 9) - 1 = 80 and (11 x 11) - 1 = 120. 20 + 20 = 40 = 19 + 21. [ A further point of interest which applies generally is: (2 x the lesser odd sqrt) + 1 = the connecting integer related to it, and (2 x the greater odd sqrt) - 1 = the integer related to it. ] This might be useful if only a square root is known. Back to 8464 and the paired nnss terms and 66 (term 11). That 66/6 = 11 is interesting, but that 11 x 2 = 22 may be more than just interesting: 22 + 22 = 44 = 21 + 23 44 x 2 = 88 529 - 88 = 441 440/8 = 55 (term 10 in the nnss). This says that 23 x 23 = 529, and that 46 x 46 = 2116, and that 46 is the tpo, and that 92 x 92 = 8464. By the way, 22 x 22 = 484, and 45 is the integer that connects 484 to 529, and 45 + 1 = 46, and 46/2 = 23. May 26, 2008 addenda: 10) Regarding 2nd term in each two-term set: (odd sq - 1)/tpo = 4 x (tpo + 1) and (odd sq - 1)/4 = tpo x (tpo + 1) and (odd sq - 1)/4 divided by (tpo + 1) = tpo. 11) Regarding 1st term in each two-term set: sq/4tpo = tpo. # Brian A. J. Salchert
Thursday, May 22, 2008
sw00902v-OdysseusSongs10
Venturings "Interlude" The leaf of the sea with its serrated edge and its surface roughened and cracking and its shadowy veins and veins of white locked in a dance rocks on the earth like the tormented spirit of someone dying or dead The skin of the sea with its curved horizon trembles like the head of a drum or a shook note or a frightened finger whose quaking cannot so much be seen as felt, the curious blessings of distance in our eyes. I see, my friends, though I see not; my ears challenge the ears of birds; the good and evil that ride in the winds I know as well as a teller of truth; my eager tastebuds imagine the food of gods. - Brian A. J. Salchert
sw00901v-OdysseusSongs09
Venturings "Under the Cyclops" Giant's eye: a shot in the light to put in the dark. Polyphemus, he's no genius, ho, ho, ho. O, Polyphemus, O, O, Polyphemus, ate of my men, two, four, six, ten, ho, ho, ho. Now Polyphemus cannot find us in the wool. So long, monster, we know you're glad to see us go. - Brian A. J. Salchert
sw00900v-OdysseusSongs08
Venturings "Trials" One-eyed nightmare devourer of men Island witch wander of men into swine Voices of illusion entrancers Envious men of Odysseus opening the sack from Aeolus in sight of your homeland's stubble fires my head lowers loosers of evil winds Rock whirlpool batterer anemone of water Ghosts in the land of constant dark revealers of sorrows Fair Calypso's Ogygian strander of a man - Brian A. J. Salchert
sw00899v-OdysseusSongs07
Venturings "Praying by the Sea" Swimming in the gray dawn, Telemachus, his fingers combing the waves, shifts his shaking body, crouched on a rock, and calls to Pallas Athena; (music depicting call for courage) she answers him. (music depicting the giving of courage) - Brian A. J. Salchert
sw00898v-OdysseusSongs06
Venturings "Preparing to Find Odysseus" Overhead, two eagles, fiercely fighting, Halitherses, reader of omens, warns: Though twenty years absent, Odysseus, to the sorrow of some, will return. And Telemachus, by Minerva urged and aided, makes ready to find his father, and his faithful mother, Penelope, to spite her brash suitors, leave behind. Let the sun be your food, the wind your clothes, the earth your shelter, and the water, let the water answer your heart. But the suitors, led by Eurymachus, having so long vied for this prize, this Penelope, this woman rare, are not about to go home. So Eurymachus chides Halitherses and tells him they fear no man and will continue to live off Telemachus until Penelope quits her game. Boom boom boom Eee-tool eee-ew-tool eee-tool Telemachus, then, addressing them and asking for a ship and twenty men to look here and there for his father: Sparta, Pylos, wherever his spirit leads, says that for another twelve months he will suffer their wasting if he hears his father's alive; but if not, will quickly come back. Let the sun be your food, the wind your clothes, the earth your shelter, and the water, let the water answer your heart. And will ritualize Odysseus' death as is proper and as he desires, and build to his memory a barrow, and command his mother to marry again. But the suitors, through Leiocritus, do not believe he will leave; and his Mentor, having railed the Ithacans for fearing to care, put down, as a moon that would brighten a day. Boom boom boom Eee-tool eee-ew-tool eee-tool - Brian A. J. Salchert
sw00897v-OdysseusSongs05
Venturings "His Presence" Now the mightiest gods watch and allow Odysseus trials while Telemachus, his one and glorious son, by Minerva made most comely, strides forth with his sword and dogs, and marvels all. - Brian A. J. Salchert
sw00896v-OdysseusSongs04
Venturings "Passages" Aeneas gone the dream of someone else I image how Odysseus and his foolish men foolish because they ate of the cattle Of Hyperion god of the sun and so not allowed to get back home across the proud water The Trojans gone their dreams their bloodied lives I image how Old Neptune shakes Odysseus' prows to revenge for his son Polyphemus the loss of his one eye to crack the Achaeans' hearts crack them mad across the proud water The long war gone dreams answered dreams denied I image how the gods and men twisted by fates by whims attempt to straighten to begin anew vainly strive to become better than today better than they are across the proud water dance as the moon dance as the sun dance as the fish-hunting gulls across the proud water sream in the storms weep in the winds die in the deserts of hopelessness across the proud water - Brian A. J. Salchert
sw00895v-OdysseusSongs03
Venturings "Singing the Man" Odysseus Odysseus over the war and its wounds you are the man who with this seventh rising my heart and the gods have drawn to the center of my myth you are the man protected in battle while so many died around you who bolstered every Achaean by your firm stance and the deep green of your words and whose cunning kept you well and will keep you through journeys not even I yet know who with this voice chant to any who will hear me across our Aegean and all the waters of angry Neptune as Dawn now in her saffron robes disappears from us and you Odysseus - Brian A. J. Salchert
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