Indeed they do.

 

The vulgarity here is imperative.

Image found here.

Education is overrated anyway.

Abandoned Junior College

Alderson, West Virginia.

Photo by Emphatic Reprieve Photography

I was just waiting for the paperwork.

and yes, yes I would like to sell my sisters soul.



Image found here.

I need to stay in more.

I learned today that glitter in still happening...

Today.

Click here

Image found here

Hollywood, West Virginia

Sometimes you just need to be in the mountains and partake of the earth...

Photo by Emphatic Reprieve Photography

Apocalyptic Sunday...

Photo by Emphatic Reprieve Photography

Road music.

Click here...

 

Image found here.

Trick or Treat.

Image found here.

Certainly.

Baby Jack

Image found here.

Cuts you up.

 Morning music...click here

Image found here

Autumn Harvest

From the 1964 edition of the book Autumn Harvest, by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by the great Roger Duvoisin. Copyright 1951.

Houses at Night

I adore the work of Todd Hido.

This photo reminds me of cool Autumn nights in Durbin, West Virginia...walking through those desolate streets and passing the lonely houses in a town that once was...

Oh, hello...

Mossy terracotta jack-o-latern that I would have to sell a kidney to purchase.

 

From At West End

As if in a dream...

 

More images here

Soliloquy Of The Solipsist

Image found here.

I?
I walk alone;
The midnight street
Spins itself from under my feet;
When my eyes shut
These dreaming houses all snuff out;
Through a whim of mine
Over gables the moon's celestial onion
Hangs high.

I
Make houses shrink
And trees diminish
By going far; my look's leash
Dangles the puppet-people
Who, unaware how they dwindle,
Laugh, kiss, get drunk,
Nor guess that if I choose to blink
They die.

I
When in good humor,
Give grass its green
Blazon sky blue, and endow the sun
With gold;
Yet, in my wintriest moods, I hold
Absolute power
To boycott any color and forbid any flower
To be.

I
Know you appear
Vivid at my side,
Denying you sprang out of my head,
Claiming you feel
Love fiery enough to prove flesh real,
Though it's quite clear
All your beauty, all your wit, is a gift, my dear,
From me.

© Sylvia Plath.

Strange things are good.

Image found here.

Mothers...

 

A very weird combination of things happen when you Google "My mother used to puke in my mouth"...

This place, I must find it.

On the north coast of British Columbia in Canada, where the Alaskan border is closer than the nearest town, lies a mysterious hidden place, accessible only by a long arduous gravel road behind a locked gate. Ninety-four homes, two hundred apartments, a hospital, shopping mall, Town & Country restaurant, movie theatre, sports centre, a Royal Bank; all the amenities you could possibly need in this remote part of the world await behind the towering mountains. The only thing missing are the people. Welcome to Kitsault, BC.

 

 

More photos here

The Devil Rides Out.

Image found here.

Take notes.

Image from HittingReset

Until We Felt Red...

Click here.

juxtaposition.

 

Image found here

Pale September.

I hope summer lets us go soon.

image by Emphatic Reprieve Photography

Part of the reason I refuse to own a smart phone.

Olfaction.

I wish I could find a clear photo of this painting...I think it's wonderful.  You can almost smell the smoke from that pile of brush and feel cold air on your cheeks.  An ideal setting for me.  My goal in life is to simply acquire land and an old farm house...and 5 million dollars.

If this print wasn't sold out, you could purchase it here.

Thanks, Mamie.

 

From the Wood smoke and Pumpkins Blog

Prisoners.

I want to see this...mostly because that kid from There Will Be Blood is so good at being a weirdo.

 

I mean, look at him.

Wilson County

I just really like everything about this.

In July of 1940, Levi Simmons, an African American student of the Menchew 4-H Club of Wilson County, was awarded the 4-H Club scholarship to A and T College. He is shown in this black and white photograph standing in front of an acre of ripe corn which was one of seven projects conducted that year. In the photograph, he is standing with his left hand on a cornstalk which towers over him. His right hand holds a thick manila envelope. He is wearing a light colored,long sleeve, open collared shirt and dungarees with a belt.

From Learn NC

Looks like all I need is a gluestick.

I'm going to start throwing 'you'ill' around a lot more...I've been meaning to do that anyway.

"With every bite, my memory of him grew stronger..."

The Cannibal of Rotenburg

If you've never read the story, click here

Dad?

I feel like if this isn't one of the Ten Commandments, it should be.

Image found at Enjoy the Random

Have I died recently...and was my name Roger Bucklesby?

Kenny and his pumpkin.

Imagery.

Bad acting and Canadian accents aside, I was a fan of Goosebumps: The Haunted Mask episode.  I'm not entirely sure why, but I think a lot of it had to do with this scene:

That little novelty shop, the leaves skipping across the the street, and of course, those kids pulling a wagon of jack-o-lanterns on an autumn evening. It's a scene that I was sure I would encounter in the coming years of my life, but now assume no longer exists.

Image from The Blood-Curdling Blog of Monster Masks

Is there no way out of the mind?

None of us seems a psychologically able to cope with the thought of our own state of death, with the idea of a permanent unconsciousness in which there is neither void nor vacuum -- in which there is simply nothing.
                                                                -Sherwin B. Nuland, excerpt from 'How We Die'

I could get into a whole metaphysical thing here, but I'm not going to

Phantom Manor

I'm not a Disneyland type...not even close.  But I was surprised at how much I adored this photo, and even more surprised to learn that there is a Disneyland in Paris. Disneylands everywhere.

Maybe this is what's wrong with the world.

 

From Fall into Autumn

We all have our place.

The Autumn Days Swung Soft Around Me...

Faces like balloons...

"Balloons"
 
I saw too many faces today
faces like balloons.

at times I felt like
lifting the skin
and asking,
"anybody under there?"

there are medical terms for
fear of height
for
fear of
enclosed spaces.

there are medical terms for
any number of
maladies

so
there must be a medical term
for:
"too many people."

I’ve been stricken with
this malady
all my life:
there has always been
"too many people."

I saw too many faces
today, hundreds of
them

with eyes, ears, lips,
mouths, chins and so
forth

and
I’ve been alone
for several hours
now

and
I feel that I am
recovering.

which is the good part
but the problem
remains
that I know I’m going to
have to go out there
among them
again

   - Charles Bukowski

Come home.

A perfect Halloween scene...

 

Purchase a print here.

waiting...

Orange and Black

I want to believe that it is possible to have a home tastefully dedicated to orange and black year 'round...and one day, I will have that home.

O, Death...

When you put it this way, it doesn't seem so bad.

The Self-Sufficient Life

I'm going to be honest, the series 'Doomsday Preppers' on the National Geographic channel irks the hell out of me.  Sure the world might end and/or become extremely horrible to live in and if that were to ever happen, why would you want to go on?  I wouldn't.  Furthermore, these 'doomsday' prophecies are all old news.  Folks stay shouting from their rooftops about 'signs, signs, signs!' Honestly, it would have been more believable when the plague was killing off thousands, or when Hilter had a death grip on humanity.  The problem is now, that every little Earth tremor or terrorist act, or rebellion again religion, or sickness is amplified and then pinged around in cyberspace or via cellphones until it becomes a looming and exaggerated terror which forces those to want to prepare and take shelter from the impending shit storm which is awaiting us in the future.   Now to get to my point, I've always admired those who have the ability and knowledge to live self-sufficiently.  Not to be confused with those who are simply preparing for catastrophe, but those who find the true beauty in living off of the land and working for their survival, passing on the knowledge to their children for the greater good.

Therefore you might find posts throughout this blog as how to go about living self-sufficiently and happily.  I didn't want anyone to confuse these posts with my wanting to 'prep' for some apocalyptic time, but I want to make this modern world a little less suffocating by learning how to live simply and beautifully.  

Enjoy.   

THE MAN AT THE PIANO

THE MAN AT THE PIANO

PLAYS A SONG
HE DIDN'T WRITE
SINGS WORDS
THAT AREN'T HIS
UPON A PIANO
HE DOESN'T OWN

WHILE
PEOPLE AT TABLES
EAT, DRINK AND TALK
THE MAN AT THE PIANO
FINISHES
TO NO APPLAUSE

THEN
BEGINS TO PLAY
A NEW SONG
HE DIDN'T WRITE
BEGINS TO SING
WORDS
THAT AREN'T HIS
UPON A PIANO
THAT ISN'T HIS

AS THE
PEOPLE AT THE TABLES
CONTINUE TO
EAT, DRINK AND TALK
WHEN
HE FINISHES
TO NO APPLAUSE
HE ANNOUNCES,
OVER THE MIKE, THAT HE IS
GOING TO TAKE
A TEN MINUTE BREAK

HE GOES
BACK TO THE MEN'S
ROOM
ENTERS
A TOILET BOOTH
BOLTS THE DOOR
SITS DOWN
PULLS OUT A JOINT
LIGHTS UP

HE'S GLAD
HE'S NOT
AT THE PIANO

AND THE
PEOPLE AT THE TABLES
EATING, DRINKING AND TALKING
ARE GLAD
HE ISN'T THERE
EITHER

THIS IS
THE WAY IT GOES
ALMOST EVERYWHERE
WITH EVERYBODY AND EVERYTHING
AS FIERCELY
IN THE HIGHLANDS
THE
BLACK SWAN BURNS

C. BUKOWSKI