How Sue "C"'s Halloween

You know, Halloween is fast approaching: the day when parents encourage little boys to dress like little girls, and little girls to dress like whores, and go to door-to-door brow beating hard working Americans into given them free food. Well, you know what western Ohio? We’ve lost the true meaning of Halloween: Fear! Halloween is the magical day of the year when a child is told that their grandmother is a demon who’s been feeding them rat casserole with a crunchy garnish of their own scabs. Children must know fear. Without it, they won’t know how to behave. They’ll try Frenching grizzly bears or consider living in Florida.

So, moms, skip trick-or-treating this year. And instead sit your little toddler down and explain that daddy’s a hungry zombie, and before he went out to sharpen his pitchfork, he whispered to mommy, that “you look delicious.”

And that’s how Sue, “C”’s it.

The Asian Collection @ The National Arboretum

The National Arboretum was established in 1927. It comprises 446 acres of land located in the extreme east-north-east quadrant of the Capital. The northern perimeter is girded by New York Avenue, the western by Blandensburg Road. To the south is a residential neighborhood and a golf course, and it's eastern border is the Anacostia river (across which is a private botanical park called Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. Once inside, its easy to forget you're surround by an urban and suburban population easily topping 1 million people.

Within it's acreage, there are 3 areas devoted to hiking: 1) The Azalea Collection, 2) Fern Valley, and 3) The Asian Collection. This past Saturday I spent time hiking the trails of the Asian Collection from which I took these photos.

The Asian Collection is actually divided into 5 separate eco-rich environments each with it's own history and purpose. From the map above: E) is the Camellia collection, D) is the Japanese Woodland, C) is the Asian Valley, B) is the China Valley, and A) is the Korean Hillside. My visit bypassed the Camellia collection and began in the Japanese Woods.

And it's here that I encountered a magnificent White Camellia in full bloom. And the best part were all of the Honey Bees that were collecting nectar from it for the hive.

Later on as I worked my way around to the Asian Valley portion of the trails, I encountered this Toad-Lily, Tricyrtis formosana, which is native to the island of Taiwan. Reminded me of the Solomon's Seal that graces my gardens in its foliage.

The Pagoda is a rest stop on the edge of the Asian Valley. You can sit in it, or you can progress to a point that was once an observation site over the Anacostia River, but is now just a dead end on an over grown trail. It could be an excellent site for a true pagoda, hint, hint....

After this I made the trek to the Anacostia and back up again to the China Valley plantings.

Here is a sea of pink anemone from that journey.

Another beautiful flower, but the name escapes me...

And finally, the end of the trail. Backlit, the foliage is like nature's version of stained-glass. Luminescent and transcendent; which is among my favorite combinations in nature!

Today's Sermon #40

Something Told the Wild Geese

Something told the wild geese
It was time to go.
Though the fields lay golden
Something whispered,--"Snow."

Leaves were green and stirring,
Berries luster-glossed,
But beneath warm feathers
Something cautioned--"Frost."

All the sagging orchards
Steamed with amber spice,
But each wild breast stiffened
At remembered ice.

Something told the wild geese
It was time to fly,--
Summer sun was on their wings,
Winter in their cry.

~ Rachel Field, 1894 - 1942

The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum @ the National Aboretum

One of the best kept secrets in the Washington, D.C. panorama of museums is the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the Naitonal Aboretum (another under utilized treasure!)

As the map shows, NBPM is not a traditional museum. It's not a sterile, climate controlled environment based on classical architectural symmetry. It's mostly an open air space, like a zoo for bonsai, if you will. And it's wonderful.

Today my first stop was the North American Pavilion. Here is one of the treasures I found there.

North American Collection #267: Foemina Juniper, Juniperus chinensis "Foemina". The plant has been in training since 1970 (for 40 years).

"In Training" is the constant status of a tree subjected to the Bonsai relationship.

From the North American Pavilion, it's a logical cross over to the Japanese Pavilion where I encountered these three Bonsai among so many others.

Japanese Collection #52: Trident Maple, Acer buergerianum. The plant has been in training since 1895 (for 115 years). This particular plant was a gift to the NBPM by Japanese Prince Takamatsu. The Trident Maple is also among the most popular/common deciduous trees for training in the art of Bonsai.

Japanese Collection #32: "Higo" Japanese Camellia, Camellia japonica "Higo". An example of a bush being Bonsai'd. This one has been in training since 1876 (for 134 years). It was simply stunning in reality. The trunk not only wraps itself around a stone, but provides a haven for a bed of bonsai'd ferns.

As you prepare to exit the Japanese Pavilion and enter into the intimate Japanese Stroll Garden, you encounter the crown jewel of the collection.

Japanese Collection #2: Japanese White Pine, Pinus Parviflora "Miyajima". This quintessential example of the art of Bonsai has been in training since 1625 (for 385 years). As a thing, this Bonsai is not overly impressive, and yet here you are; standing before a being that was alive 150 year before the found of the nation which it now calls home. Amazing is all I can think to call it.

Beautiful pink camellia blooming in the Japanese Strolling Garden.

Next I entered the Chinese pavilion through this beautiful circular entrance.

And the tree that first caught my attention was this Trident Maple, Acer buergerianum which was on display without any other pedigree--age unknown. Even the mongrels hold the power to thrill.

Chinese Elm, Ulmus parvifolia. In training since 2004 (for 6 years).

Further on in the Chinese Pavilion I encountered this absolute gem of the art of Bonsai and Penjing. Penjing is about the stone; Bonsai, the plant. They are placed on a platform that also allows for the inclusion of water. Altogether, the effect is that of an island, a miniature world in which the mind can escape.

As I continued to tour a little girl ran up to it and exclaimed, "Now, this is what I am saying is BEAUTIFUL!" How can you argue with that?

Here's a detail of the same Bonsai with a little statute of a fisherman.

My last stop was in the covered International Pavilion. This is the space in which they mount seasonal and/or topical exhibitions. Because it's an interior and the plants need natural light, the shows are usually brief and the space often empty. On the occasion of this visit, I discovered that a show was up: Fall Fruit & Foliage. And today was the actual opening!

Though only the poster let me in on this little fact. Lucky me!

Here are three of the trees in the exhibition.

North American Collection #214: English Hawthorne, crataegus oxycantha. In training since 1953 (for 57 years).

North American Collection #143: Pomegranate: Punica granatum. In training since 1963 (for 47 years).

Chinese Collection #141: Trident Maple, Acer buergerianum--age unknown.

What I'm Listening to #94

When I speak of R&B to my friends they inevitably imagine Old School music. But there's a New School out there, too! And Trey Songz is on the cutting edge of defining it. He is one hot package from toe to crown from intro to coda. Check him out.

Random Quote 118

"Mind like parachute - only function when open."

~ Charlie Chan, from "Charlie Chan at the Circus" (1936)

Modern Family Moment #01

CAMERON: While the spray-tanned starlet claims to be six months sober, sources down under say, she has been bar-hopping like a coked-up kangaroo.
MITCHELL: Aaah... What's daddy reading to you?
CAMERON: If I have to read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" one more time I will snap.
MITCHELL: Oh, it's not that bad....
CAMERON: I will SNAP!!!

Art With A Purpose

After years of unexplainable lawn slippage, the head gardener finally devised a solution that works!

DADT

Who are you going to ask? What have they to tell that matters anymore....that ever really mattered?

I would ask why a handful of shriveled up old white men who need viagra just to get a woody, and whose power leads so many of them to dump the wife/wives of their youth in favor of younger more sexy trophy brides, get to dictate policy and mores to the men and women who are willing and able to defend and possibly die for MY country?

Dante, O Dante?! Which ring of the Inferno is set aside for their ilk?

Today's Sermon #39

The Little Ghost

I knew her for a little ghost
That in my garden walked;
The wall is high—higher than most—
And the green gate was locked.

And yet I did not think of that
Till after she was gone—
I knew her by the broad white hat,
All ruffled, she had on.

By the dear ruffles round her feet,
By her small hands that hung
In their lace mitts, austere and sweet,
Her gown's white folds among.

I watched to see if she would stay,
What she would do—and oh!
She looked as if she liked the way
I let my garden grow!

She bent above my favourite mint
With conscious garden grace,
She smiled and smiled—there was no hint
Of sadness in her face.

She held her gown on either side
To let her slippers show,
And up the walk she went with pride,
The way great ladies go.

And where the wall is built in new
And is of ivy bare
She paused—then opened and passed through
A gate that once was there.

~ Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1892 - 1950

Joel Burns! -- You ROCK, Sir. You Absolutely Rock!

I Absolutely Give A DAMN, Too!

The parade of celebrities continues in this campaign to give hope to GLBTQ youth, and combat the homophobes on the religious and political right who would rather enflame their base for short term advantage than seek a future where everyone is safe and free to discover their potential.

Thank you! to: Elton John, Cyndi Lauper, Ricky Martin, Wanda Sykes, Daniel Radcliffe, Dan & Terry Savage, Chris Colfer, Tim Gunn, Lilly Tomlin, Cynthia Nixon, Idena Menzel, Judith Light, Jason Mraz, Whoopi Goldberg, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Neal Patrick Harris, Chris Aiken, Anna Paquin, Margaret Cho, Bishop Gene Robinson....

Today's Sermon #38

AUBADE

I work all day, and get half-drunk at night.
Waking at four to soundless dark, I stare.
In time the curtain-edges will grow light.
Till then I see what's really always there:
Unresting death, a whole day nearer now,
Making all thought impossible but how
And where and when I shall myself die.
Arid interrogation: yet the dread
Of dying, and being dead,
Flashes afresh to hold and horrify.

The mind blanks at the glare. Not in remorse
- The good not done, the love not given, time
Torn off unused - nor wretchedly because
An only life can take so long to climb
Clear of its wrong beginnings, and may never;
But at the total emptiness for ever,
The sure extinction that we travel to
And shall be lost in always. Not to be here,
Not to be anywhere,
And soon; nothing more terrible, nothing more true.

This is a special way of being afraid
No trick dispels. Religion used to try,
That vast, moth-eaten musical brocade
Created to pretend we never die,
And specious stuff that says No rational being
Can fear a thing it will not feel, not seeing
That this is what we fear - no sight, no sound,
No touch or taste or smell, nothing to think with,
Nothing to love or link with,
The anasthetic from which none come round.

And so it stays just on the edge of vision,
A small, unfocused blur, a standing chill
That slows each impulse down to indecision.
Most things may never happen: this one will,
And realisation of it rages out
In furnace-fear when we are caught without
People or drink. Courage is no good:
It means not scaring others. Being brave
Lets no one off the grave.
Death is no different whined at than withstood.

Slowly light strengthens, and the room takes shape.
It stands plain as a wardrobe, what we know,
Have always known, know that we can't escape,
Yet can't accept. One side will have to go.
Meanwhile telephones crouch, getting ready to ring
In locked-up offices, and all the uncaring
Intricate rented world begins to rouse.
The sky is white as clay, with no sun.
Work has to be done.
Postmen like doctors go from house to house.

~ Philip Larkin, 1932 - 1985

Canasta Anyone?

A friend sent me this image of his evening via his cell phone. It seems that R. is destined to participate in an a evening of Canasta with a group of gay men somewhere in Houston, Texas...and I'm green with envy!

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CANASTA
Canasta (Spanish for "basket"; pronounced /kəˈnæstə/ in English) is a card game of the rummy family of games believed to be a variant of 500 Rum. Although many variations exist for 2, 3, 5 or 6 players, it is most commonly played by four in two partnerships with two standard decks of cards. Players attempt to make melds of 7 cards of the same rank and "go out" by playing all cards in their hand. It is the only partnership member of the family of Rummy games to achieve the status of a classic.
The game of Canasta was devised by attorney Segundo Santos and architect Alberto Serrato in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1939.[1] In the 1940s the game quickly spread in a myriad of variations to Chile, Peru, Brazil and Argentina, where its rules were further refined before being introduced to the United States in 1948, where it was then referred to as the Argentine Rummy game by Ottilie H. Reilly in 1949 and Michael Scully of Coronet Magazine in 1953. The game quickly became a card-craze boom in the 1950s.

I embraced the game as a child under the tuterledge of my paternal grandmother. Along with her co-conspiritors: She Zola Bible (right), Pluma Teeter (back left) and Ethel Twigg (front left) taught me to play Canasta. I know that this is a painting by Grant Wood of 3 women who were members of the Daughters of the American Revolution from Cincinnati, Ohio--BUT, it has always borne an uncanny resemblance to the woman who taught me the sport of canasta on the wide porch of my grandmother's home in the little hamlet of Flintstone, Maryland in the early 70's.

All Aboard!

Tooling around the web tonight on a completely different errand, I suddenly found myself fascinated by vintage postcards. And what I found particularly interesting was the focus upon railroad stations. It seems that images of railway stations were all the rage. And why not? At the time, railroads represented the future. They took impossible distances down to size. Trips we take for granted, commutes to work, trips to shop, the movies, vacations with our families were completely off the radar of most Americans back then. And trains were like rocket ships that could transport you to places that your grandparents never imagined being able to go to.

So is it a stretch if I equate Train Stations with churches? The biggest ones were like cathedrals without the Bishop's seat! And the religion?--modernity. The postcard was the relic that not only served the same purpose of awe and remembrance, but like all things modern, was mass produced by processes and technologies that the purchaser's grandparents could have hardly comprehended either.

Here for your pleasure are 8 to appreciate!

Jacksonville, Florida

Las Vegas, Nevada

Mount Vernon, Ohio

Somerset, Kentucky

Salina, Kansas

Lawton, Oklahoma

Pocatello, Idaho

Westfield, Massachusetts

SCOTUS 2010.01 ~ Religious Hate Speech

Jacob Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday

The Supreme Court of the United States opens it new session with a case that rubs us to the core of our constitutional rights...I hate it, but I side with free speech. It's inanely ugly and horrible and this is the most extreme example I have ever seen, but it proves the adage that "sticks and stones.....but words never hurt me." Words hurt and define the speaker, not the hearer. There lies the magic!~

The Feast Day of Matthew Shepherd

In liturgical calendars saints and martyrs are given Feast Days upon which their murders are remembered. The believers use this association to create a service of remembrance and worship complete with prayers and holy writ that recalls their lives and virtues and even the grisly circumstances of their torture and murders.

October 12th is the anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepherd. A most unlikely saint. A young man who could have never imagined an afterlife of such honor or notoriety. To me, the perfect candidate for sainthood.

And to honor this memorial, I recommend the following: Read his mother's memoir, "The Meaning Of Matthew."

This is the most profound and personal way to honor his life. It takes this gentle and troubled soul off the cross of martyrdom and pedestal of icon, and presents him as real, accessible, no less beautiful. I can't recommend the book enough. Judy shows us how a profoundly intimate tragedy becomes an international cause celeb and then redeems her son from the myths of popular imagination back into a delightful, delinquent, delicate soul...i.e. real. And it's in the plain song of his true self that the full horror of his death finds it's most resonant chord. We are so quick to embrace ideas and idealize the things we embrace, this book made Matthew real for me in a way that has deepened by understanding and appreciation of all that his torture and death have come to represent. Just sayin'....

Glee Goes All God On Our Asses!

From a Jesus on toast moment to the near death heart attack of Burt Hummel; Glee goes from reprobate Britney Spears episode to help us O God in our hour of distress. Is this show eclectic? All encompassing? or Schizophrenic?

And yet, it is endearing. When Sue lets her sister win at checkers, when Emma runs down the hallway to get Will to tell Kurt about his father, even when Santana expresses her concern for Kurt's dad. What is coming next?

R.I.P. ~ ME!

We are mortal beings. Our lives will end...you can't change that. And when we are gone, what is left besides our bones for future generations to ponder? Really not that much.
But we do get a final word, if we're lucky: and that word--in the form of a tomb stone--can be rather revealing.

I certainly hope mine will.

To that end, I discovered a wonderful epitaph via a facebook comment from a friend tonight. And here it is (be it declared and forevermore my desire to be planted beneath a marker that sums up my life thusly):

"ASTOUNDING LIFE! The architect, the music, the community, and the hospitality were magnificent and well worth the journey."

What I'm Watching #253

Writer and Director Cui Zi'en brings us this story of familial estrangement from China. Sent off to live with a grandfather after the death of his mother, the now adult Ray comes to live with his father, who is to him a virtual stranger. Ray is attracted to men and his father is not amused. Within the 92 minutes of this film Ray seeks relationship and dad thwarts him in every way he can in the belief that this is "just a phase".

Sparse and monotone in its cinematography, there is still the gem of a story worth the time to experience. I found it as interesting as a story as it was also a window on a culture. For instance, why do Chinese leave their bedroom doors wide open when having gay sex so that their fathers can finally choose to walk by and see their naked bodies all akimbo on the beds in post orgasmic slumber? Anyone? Anyone?

A film with more questions than answers...

What I'm Watching #252

"Love Birds" is a Filipino movie from Ronaldo Bertubin. The story is engaging if somewhat stilted in the way that a film without an accomplished editor ends up being awkward in spots. The acting is by and large professional and the story is so sweet that it makes up for the otherwise amateurish flaws. It is the story of how the third son of a middle class family finds love and escapes the bonds of his mother's expectations. In the end, even she is made into a more whole person. Like I said, the story redeems in buckets. And there are moments when even the dialogue astounds one for the better. Need to feel good?--this is your feel good picture.

And I really want the "car" that Ton Ton drove!

True Athleticism

Is found in the ability to take the human body to a place that is uncommon, powerful, and beautiful. While the idea of the athlete is wed to our cultural obsession with sports, it's my belief that there are no greater expressions of athletic prowess among the human species than in dance. Here is dancer Yannick LeBrun performing with the Alvin Ailey dance company in the dance "Sinner Man" from the work Revelations, and he more than testifies to this simple assertion.

Today's Sermon #37

OCTOBER

O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes' sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost--
For the grapes' sake along the wall.

~ Robert Frost, 1874 -1963

Circle of Life: Ancestors #000

I have shared in the past my enjoyment of genealogy. It was a gift given to me by my great uncle Homer Bible who fancied himself as a bit of a genealogist and family archivist himself. After his death, I took his notes and eventually used them to begin my own research. His work was helpful, even inspiring, but also flawed. I soon discovered at my disposal resources that he never imagined. We build upon the Ancestors.

Early on, I decided to abandon the structure and metaphor of the "Family Tree" for a circle. The circle felt instinctively more egalitarian, and in an age of DNA, all of my ancestors are equally, by degree of separation responsible for the genes that make me ME.
This is a portion of the representation of my known ancestors that I have placed upon the walls (and ceiling) of my study. Blue blocks contain the male ancestors and yellow the female. The breakdown of my success at identifying ancestors in the direct parenting lines by generations looks like this:

ME & MY ANCESTORS
Generation-Members-Known-Percent-Relationship
0 - 1 - 1 - 100% - ME
1 - 2 - 2 - 100% - Parents
2 - 4 - 4 - 100% - Grandparents
3 - 8 - 8 - 100% - Great-Grandparents
4 - 16 - 9 - 56.25% - Greatx2-Grandparents
5 - 32 - 14 - 43.75% - Greatx3-Grandparents
6 - 64 - 18 - 28.125% - Greatx4-Grandparents
7 - 128 - 20 - 15.625% - Greatx5-Grandparents
8 - 256 - 27 - 10.547% - Greatx6-Grandparents
9 - 512 - 31 - 6.055% - Greatx7-Grandparents
10 - 1,024 - 27 - 2.367% - Greatx8-Grandparents
11 - 2,048 - 19 - 0.928% - Greatx9-Grandparents
12 - 4,096 - 17 - 0.415% - Greatx10-Grandparents
13 - 8,192 - 16 - 0.195% - Greatx11-Grandparents
14 - 16,384 - 14 - 0.085% - Greatx12-Grandparents
15 - 32,768 - 12 - 0.037% - Greatx13-Grandparents
16 - 65,536 - 7 - 0.011% - Greatx14-Grandparents
17 - 131,072 - 8 - 0.006% - Greatx15-Grandparents
18 - 262,144 - 1 - 0.0004% - Greatx16-Grandparents
19 - 542,288 - 1 - 0.0002% - Greatx17-Grandparents

What I'm Listening to #93

Is Natalie Merchant's newest project of children's verse set to music. These songs at this presentation are mostly from this album and they are amazing as is Ms. Merchant.

The Trevor Project

When you find yourself in a burning house, what do you do?

If your smart to find a way out, you seek help with every fiber of your being, you run, you jump, you shout!

There is a house burning all around us. It is the house of homophobia. A house designed to eradicate a perceived pestulence that is being gay, or lesbian, transgendered, transexual, even bi-sexual or queer. And in the past month we've seen the carnage that this fire reeks upon the lives of teenagers. I for one am angry and outraged by it. But I need more. I need to move beyond my rage and discover an avenue that is redemptive. The victims deserve no less a memorial.

Enter The Trevor Project:


As we remember the recent children who choose death over hope, let us build a way for their brothers and sisters to discover hope and discover their full potential, to experience the wonder and possibility of life beyond the dark night of their young souls.

RIP: Cody Barker age 17 of Appleton, WI; Billy Lucas age 15 of Greensburg, IN; Justin Aaberg age 15 of Anoka, MN; and Asher Brown age 13 of Houston, TX and Tyler Clementi age 18 of Ridgewood, NJ. Each teen killed themselves in the past couple of weeks after the taunts and harassments, the beatings and belittle-ings became more than they could bear. Don't let their deaths be in vain, join me in supporting The Trevor Project or some other resource committed to showing our GLBTQ children a path to a bright future.