The gr8ful grind: May 2007

Let go of anger; It's an acid that eats away the delicate layers of your happiness

The reverse side has also its reverse side

Thursday, May 31, 2007


Look at those sharp buggers! A cactus up close and personal. By clicking on the photo for the full sized version, you can really get a sense of how protected those things are. Scottsdale, Arizona, May, 2007.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007


Mount Hood appears to be holding back the clouds. Somewhere over Oregon. May, 2007.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007


A hanging ornament designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Much more detail in the design can be seen by clicking on the photo for the full sized version. Taliesen West, Scottsdale, AZ; May, 2007.

Monday, May 28, 2007


A old cart part of a display at Tlaquepaque, an artist village in Sedona, AZ. May, 2007.

Friday, May 25, 2007

The Wisdom of Shantideva

If I am in no way able to bear the pains of the hells, why then don't I give up anger, which is the cause of all that pain?

Late afternoon at Slide Rock State Park. Sedona, Arizona; May 2007. (As with all of the photos on this site, you get a better sense of detail by clicking on it to see the full sized version)

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Here's another one of my occassional posting of political rantings. (NOTE TO SELF: Be sure to post at least 4 compassionate quotes for every political rant).

This one is from MSNBC's Keith Oberman and something I think is worth reading:

This is, in fact, a comment about… betrayal.

Few men or women elected in our history-whether executive or legislative, state or national-have been sent into office with a mandate more obvious, nor instructions more clear: Get us out of Iraq.

Yet after six months of preparation and execution-half a year gathering the strands of public support; translating into action, the collective will of the nearly 70 percent of Americans who reject this War of Lies, the Democrats have managed only this:

* The Democratic leadership has surrendered to a president-if not the worst president, then easily the most selfish, in our history-who happily blackmails his own people, and uses his own military personnel as hostages to his asinine demand, that the Democrats "give the troops their money";

* The Democratic leadership has agreed to finance the deaths of Americans in a war that has only reduced the security of Americans;

* The Democratic leadership has given Mr. Bush all that he wanted, with the only caveat being, not merely meaningless symbolism about benchmarks for the Iraqi government, but optional meaningless symbolism about benchmarks for the Iraqi government.

* The Democratic leadership has, in sum, claimed a compromise with the Administration, in which the only things truly compromised, are the trust of the voters, the ethics of the Democrats, and the lives of our brave, and doomed, friends, and family, in Iraq.

You, the men and women elected with the simplest of directions-Stop The War-have traded your strength, your bargaining position, and the uniform support of those who elected you… for a handful of magic beans.

You may trot out every political cliché from the soft-soap, inside-the-beltway dictionary of boilerplate sound bites, about how this is the "beginning of the end" of Mr. Bush's "carte blanche" in Iraq, about how this is a "first step."
Well, Senator Reid, the only end at its beginning… is our collective hope that you and your colleagues would do what is right, what is essential, what you were each elected and re-elected to do.

Because this "first step"… is a step right off a cliff.

And this President!

How shameful it would be to watch an adult hold his breath, and threaten to continue to do so, until he turned blue.

But how horrifying it is to watch a President hold his breath and threaten to continue to do so, until innocent and patriotic Americans in harm's way, are bled white.

You lead this country, sir?

You claim to defend it?

And yet when faced with the prospect of someone calling you on your stubbornness–your stubbornness which has cost 3,431 Americans their lives and thousands more their limbs–you, Mr. Bush, imply that if the Democrats don't give you the money and give it to you entirely on your terms, the troops in Iraq will be stranded, or forced to serve longer, or have to throw bullets at the enemy with their bare hands.

How transcendentally, how historically, pathetic.

Any other president from any other moment in the panorama of our history would have, at the outset of this tawdry game of political chicken, declared that no matter what the other political side did, he would insure personally-first, last and always-that the troops would not suffer.

A President, Mr. Bush, uses the carte blanche he has already, not to manipulate an overlap of arriving and departing brigades into a ‘second surge,' but to say in unequivocal terms that if it takes every last dime of the monies already allocated, if it takes reneging on government contracts with Halliburton, he will make sure the troops are safe-even if the only safety to be found, is in getting them the hell out of there.

Well, any true President would have done that, sir.

You instead, used our troops as political pawns, then blamed the Democrats when you did so.

Not that these Democrats, who had this country's support and sympathy up until 48 hours ago, have not since earned all the blame they can carry home.

"We seem to be very near the bleak choice between war and shame," Winston Churchill wrote to Lord Moyne in the days after the British signed the Munich accords with Germany in 1938. "My feeling is that we shall choose shame, and then have war thrown in, a little later…"

That's what this is for the Democrats, isn't it?

Their "Neville Chamberlain moment" before the Second World War. All that's missing is the landing at the airport, with the blinkered leader waving a piece of paper which he naively thought would guarantee "peace in our time," but which his opponent would ignore with deceit.

The Democrats have merely streamlined the process.

Their piece of paper already says Mr. Bush can ignore it, with impugnity.

And where are the Democratic presidential hopefuls this evening? See they not, that to which the Senate and House leadership has blinded itself?

Judging these candidates based on how they voted on the original Iraq authorization, or waiting for apologies for those votes, is ancient history now.

The Democratic nomination is likely to be decided… tomorrow.

The talk of practical politics, the buying into of the President's dishonest construction "fund-the-troops-or-they-will-be-in-jeopardy," the promise of tougher action in September, is falling not on deaf ears, but rather falling on Americans who already told you what to do, and now perceive your ears as closed to practical politics.

Those who seek the Democratic nomination need to-for their own political futures and, with a thousand times more solemnity and importance, for the individual futures of our troops-denounce this betrayal, vote against it, and, if need be, unseat Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi if they continue down this path of guilty, fatal acquiescence to the tragically misguided will of a monomaniacal president.

For, ultimately, at this hour, the entire government has failed us.

* Mr. Reid, Mr. Hoyer, and the other Democrats… have failed us. They negotiated away that which they did not own, but had only been entrusted by us to protect: our collective will as the citizens of this country, that this brazen War of Lies be ended as rapidly and safely as possible.

* Mr. Bush and his government… have failed us. They have behaved venomously and without dignity-of course.
That is all at which Mr. Bush is gifted.

We are the ones providing any element of surprise or shock here.

With the exception of Senator Dodd and Senator Edwards, the Democratic presidential candidates have (so far at least) failed us.

They must now speak, and make plain how they view what has been given away to Mr. Bush, and what is yet to be given away tomorrow, and in the thousand tomorrows to come.

Because for the next fourteen months, the Democratic nominating process–indeed the whole of our political discourse until further notice–has, with the stroke of a cursed pen, become about one thing, and one thing alone.
The electorate figured this out, six months ago.

The President and the Republicans have not-doubtless will not.

The Democrats will figure it out, during the Memorial Day recess, when they go home and many of those who elected them will politely suggest they stay there-and permanently.

Because, on the subject of Iraq the people have been ahead of the media….

Ahead of the government…

Ahead of the politicians…

For the last year, or two years, or maybe three.

Our politics… is now about the answer to one briefly-worded question.

Mr. Bush has failed.

Mr. Warner has failed.

Mr. Reid has failed.

So. Who among us will stop this war-this War of Lies? To he or she, fall the figurative keys to the nation.

To all the others-presidents and majority leaders and candidates and rank-and-file Congressmen and Senators of either party-there is only blame… for this shameful, and bi-partisan, betrayal.

A flowering prickly pear cactus. Near Rimrock, Arizona. May, 2007.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007


A lizard suns itself on a hot afternoon. Camp Verde, Arizona. May, 2007.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007


An area of the dining room portion of the Grand Hotel in Jerome, Arizona. You can click on the photo to see the fullsized version for more detail. May, 2007.

Thursday, May 17, 2007


A variety of flora grow up and down a brick wall. Portland, Oregon, April, 2007.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007


Flags flutter in the the breeze on a bridge across the Deschutes River. Bend, Oregon, April, 2007.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007


Not sure what kind of tree this was, dogwood, perhaps. But it sure was pink! Portland, OR, May, 2007.

Friday, May 11, 2007


I rarely post photos I deem to be personal, perfering to let you all see the rest of the world through my eyes. However, I wanted to post an homage to the Psycho Dog/Cat/Hamster Girl, whom I don't know personally, but whose blog is listed in the Links to the Weird and Wonderful to the right over there and who occassionally graces this blog with her kitty litter. Anyway, this is my Maltese, Baby. (NOTE: I did not name her. If I had, I'm sure it would have been something like Killer, or Jane. I don't even call her Baby, I call her Puppers.) She's a huge dog--as you can tell from the cup on the right and the fact she fits on the counter so well--who believes her single charge in life is to yap at any and all who pass by the yard---especially skater dudes. For some reason she barks particularly loud at skater dudes. And as her expression, er, expresses, she was particularly non-plussed this day. March, 2007.

Thursday, May 10, 2007


Front yard Buddha surrounded by flowers. Portland, OR. May, 2007.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007


Another shot taken on my walk after a rain shower. I don't think it's as good as the last one, but you can see much more detail if you click on it to see the full sized version.Portland, OR, May, 2007.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007


Caught this scene as I was driving to work yesterday morning. Madras, Oregon, May, 2007.

Monday, May 07, 2007


Ponserosa pine pinecones. Bend, Oregon, April, 2007.

Friday, May 04, 2007


An iris after a rain. Portland, Oregon, May 2007. Click on this or any other photo on this page to see the full sized version and get a better view.

Thursday, May 03, 2007


Colorful flags on a bridge across the Deschutes River. Bend, OR, April, 2007.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007


Mom and Pop take the goslings out for a morning swim. Bend, OR, April, 2007.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007


Artwork along the Deschutes River in Bend, Oregon. April, 2007.