Afganistan

My brother deployed for Afganistan this morning. There's too much to say about this. I'll try to come back to it.

Carl
Carl died. He was hit by a car while on his bicycle. Buried yesterday.
Growing up he was more than a little scary. He was fifteen or twenty years older than us and had a very limited vocabulary. A child-man.
On our bikes raceing in opposite directions we teased and provoked him by yelling, "Hee Haw!" It was terrifying and exhilarating being chased by him. He always yelled back at us, "Hee Haw, Hee Haw!"
After coming back from college I realized he'd been visiting my parents for years. As often as everyday he'd come by to cool off from biking around and have a coke or whatever my folks had for him.
Last time I saw him he was visiting my parents house as usual. My nephews playing near his feet.
I didn't know what to think of him as a boy and now I feel so sorry that his life was cut short. I wonder what he thought of us back then, and what he thinks of us now.

ninth move

Here's my move. My friend Greg told me that there is a winning move. Lucky for Mike I probably didn't make it.
Other moves: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

By the way neither of us claim any chess talent. Oh, and click on the board to see the whole postcard.

Juarez: A City on the Edge
Scott Carrier tells stories, he breathes life into events and make them occur in history. He has power in his voice and compassion.
He's doing a seires of shows for NPR's Day to Day...
Part 1: Poverty in the Global Economy
Part 2: Gangs Battle for Turf, Honor
Part 3: Life Around the Maquiladoras
Part 4: Americans Party in 'Juarez Land'
Juarez Murders Produce Few Answers, Much Grief

Feelin' Good
The good people over at Six Feet Under stole my song for their ad, but they put it to good use, and it was never my song anyway. For 3 minutes Nina Simone tells you how she's Feelin' Good. The line that gets me best:

Dragon fly out in the sun
You know what I mean
(Don't ya know)

The song reminds me that the fullness of life is free. The line reminds me that it's summer, and winter's coming. Reminds me of visitng my gradmother during summer break. Of vacation, effortless speed, running through corn, swimming in creeks, childhood, and all of it ending too soon.

Encounter with racism.
I'm just going to relate this as it happened...
Walking to the car after watching Van Helsing Saturday night I see a woman get out of the passenger side of a truck and yell, "That was our spot, you black bitch!"
Astonished, I meet my brother's bewildered eyes, both of us thinking, "Hey crazy person, what does black have to do with it?"
Perhaps because she's used to racism, somehow accustomed to ignorant hate, the spot 'thief' calmly asks, "Now you've called me a black bitch, you think I'm gonna move?"
"That's what you are! A black bitch!", says crazy lady.
"Maybe so..." she says as she walks away.
My brother and I are already in the car discussing how disturbing it is that racism exits when we hear the final rant, in a manic voice, filled with self satisfaction and fear, "Nigger!"
I could go on and on about how this encounter bothers me. Instead I hope it speaks for itself and I'll try to do something about it.

Two more defeats.

Another night of softball. 0-6, Maybe we need cheerleaders (or some skills). Eitherway it'd be funner.

This site just launched. It would be nice if it succeeds. Lets give it a try. If you read this and you want Las Vegas to be a better place, vote and list something at Las Vegas Free Classifieds.

Be Your Own Newshound

Tom Regan at the CSM argues why you should be your own newshound.
This is how I do it...In my Favorites/Bookmarks I have a Days of the week folder, each day has links for other places newspapers (and blogs and webtoons), I click through each link when I have a second. Try these news sources on for size:
Google News
BBC News
National Geographic News
Accelerating Intelligence News
albawaba
Aljazeera
Xinhuanet
The Moscow Times
Haaretz
And check just to be FAIR. I bet this would be much eaiser if I could figure out how to use those RSS feeder reader thingamajigs.

Kristin Thomas Spam Poetry

Los Angeles

I'm heading to L.A. in my Dad's BMW for a going away party. I'll send in posts from my phone and then wrap them up into a real post when i get back.

Skunkity Skunkerson

Another night of softball. It was a double skunkin'. 0-4, baby!

Check out this Kerry photo at Zenarchary

eighth move

I got the latest chess move from my friend Mike. We've been playing the same game for months now. Its a good way to keep in touch. I have his earlier moves around here somewhere. I'll scan what I can find and back post them with links or something. Maybe I could get him to scan and email me my moves.

By the way neither of us claim any chess talent. Oh, and click on the board to see the whole postcard.

A Brand New Job!

I accepted a new job today! Wish me luck.
I'm a Job Captain at Carpenter Sellers Architects. I sent out resumes, had a few interesting interviews, and was offered a job. I feel so competent. Sufficient even. Now all I need to do is give notice.
I hate to go in and give the two weeks. I get so nervous. Despite doing a great job and arriving at the right time to move on, it always feels like a betrayal. Also, I was raised to abhor quitting. In our house perfection was expected, failure was acceptable if you gave your best, and quitting was simply wrong. You don't quit. So even though I've met all my commitments and done a good job I dread quitting.

First Friday - July

I went down to the Arts Factory for First Friday tonight and among other things saw Lost and Found by Greg Segal and Ana Maria Rodriguez. I admire these two shows for their efforts at truth finding. Segal's photographs seek out the dignity and self presence in downtown slums while Ana Maria finds conformity and vacuous absence in our suburban sprawl.
My favorite from toy industries was the ultra deluxe 'i think therfore i am monster'

I saw Spiderman 2 tonight. Great movie. Lots of fun action and character development. I'd like to see more heros show up in pop culture.
Spiderman related ephemera...
Spiderman 2 site,
words at McSweeney's,
a softer world cartoon,
and David Edelstein reviews Spiderman 2