February 4th

I took a walk up the street to ease the pain in my lower back. I hobbled two blocks up north oak street to the dead-end where I used to waste away the summer afternoons of my childhood. I would take that plywood skateboard, that I got for seven dollars at a yard sale, all the way to the top and ride it, sitting down, all the way to the intersection. It was February forth, and I strained my mind to think of the last time I had mounted the crest of that little hill.

It certainly felt like February forth. It was cold enough that I required the old brown coat that I purchased at the Clock Tower Thrift Store on Arlington boulevard. The zipper fell to pieces last week, and that store closed six months ago. It snowed yesterday and now the bright afternoon sun was melting it all away rendering the roads wet and glistening. The water caused the the gravel dust to stick to my leather shoes and it gritted loudly as I walked. I could smell the cold musk of the damp leaves, and the drab colors of the sun on the tree branches made me think of fall again. The water from the snow gathered in pools on either side of the road. I stopped and looked at my haggard face in one of them. I could see my breath in the still winter air, and I could see the wild tufts of hair that begged for a shower. It was cold but pleasant; February.

Lusternia Family

Ahh yes... in the wide world of Lusternia... my other life. Well, I like the interface here at blogspot, so I created one for my lusternia family. Check it out.

Springfield Highway

For every fog in August, there will be a snow in December. This was just such an August fog, dense and clammy, it clung fiercly to the shallow valleys between hills. As the road rose and fell over country farms, my car slid in and out of this gray soup. 67 miles lay between me and Lexington; 20 until I got on the Blue Grass parkway. For those few miles, I rolled over God's country, savoring every sunrise view.

Springfield highway is a two-lane, 55 mph country dream road. From its start in the twisted shade of dense woods, it opens up to panoramas of dairy farms on Kentucky knobs. When I was a young boy, tall tobacco plants lined either side of the road. These days, with farmers bowing to vice taxes, the ground gives forth corn and soy instead. I don't miss the tobacco, I will miss Springfield highway.

Picture

Well, I got my picture up. I like this one of me. Lili is off camera leaning on my shoulder, but we cropped it to just show myself. I won't be doing as much here for a few weeks because the FIRST robotics season has started. Here is our team website. That fist logo is my design. I made it to be a stencil so that we can just spray paint it on anything. We have painted a huge version of the fist on the wall outside the robotics lab.

Poem: Tangerine

Mellowed,
he sucks on a tangerine.
Casting away
the shreds of outer skin.

Opiate juices
eject from a bite
to trickle down his chin.
Savoring the citrus,
he doesn’t even see
the young blond smiling his way.

But why should he?
When the tangerine
is ever so tangy.

Poem: Sparrow

Coal black jot against slate gray clouds
Darting, flitting, plunging on.
Perhaps a swallow?
No, a sparrow,
still too far off yet to say.
Its course straight and solitary,
choosing not to fly with the flock.
Yes sparrow,
we have commonality, you and I,
our paths lead us on; daring and alone.

Words of the Year

You know how much of a word junkie I am. Well, Webster just put out a list of the most looked up words of 2004. I asume this was through their website. Here's the list:

1. blog
2. incumbent
3. electoral
4. insurgent
5. hurricane
6. cicada
7. peloton : noun (1951) : the main body of riders in a bicycle race.
8. partisan
9. sovereignty
10. defenestration

And if you want to check out the whole scoop, here is the link.
This is all as much for my own record as to inform you.

My Life Today: Jan 3

Ahh to be an introvert. I don't think extroverts will ever understand. I'm feeling a bit down right now. No, don't take me for some angsty teenage blogger that wants to write about his woes. No, I am not depressed and even if I was I wouldn't trouble you with it. No, I am just being honest, I don't feel very energetic today. My sleep cycle is readjusting to school and I know the greatest remedy:

-3 parts tea
-1 part milk
-Brew strong mint tea for 13 minutes
-mix tea with milk
-add lots (3-4 tablespoons) of honey
-add a little (1-2 teaspoons) vanilla extract

This always works to comfort my soul. I think there is something in honey and tea that renew and refresh the spirit.

My Life Today: Jan 2

After lunch at a mom and pop Greek place I was glad to get home and be alone. I finished the section of Gulliver's Travels that I had to read last night and I was able to spend a lot of time reading Moby Dick. I'm about half way through it now. When I finish Moby Dick, I want to read Picture of Dorian Grey. It should be a relatively short read. Then I think I'll move on to Anna Karenina. Here's a quote from Moby Dick that I liked:

"[he was] Gnawed within and scorched without, with the infixed, unrelenting fangs of some incurable idea;"

Put that in your pipe and smoke it for a while.