31/365

This picture was taken yesterday morning, sometime between 4 and 4:30. At this time, I was watching Real Live Preacher's (RLP) latest video in his "Reading the Bible" series.

What was I doing up at that obscene hour? I blame the steroids I'm taking for my tinnitus (which is getting better). One of the side-effects of steroids is extra energy and feeling good. Since I've been pretty depressed since late Nov/early Dec, this is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I appreciate the change. However, I do get anxious when I go several nights without a good rest.

Incidentally, in the above-linked video, RLP (Rev. Gordon Atkinson) recommends people reading the Bible for the first time read the book of Matthew to get a good idea of Jesus' life and message. I disagree; I find Matthew altogether too legalistic (compared to the other Gospels). For example, Matthew is the only Gospel that reports Jesus saying one commits adultery by merely looking at another with lust in his/her heart.

I would recommend Mark instead. It's short; it's practically the Reader's Digest version of Jesus' life – not only because of its brevity, but also because of the simplicity of its language. Plus, you could have a great drinking game with Mark; sip your favorite beverage every time Mark says "immediately", and you'll get pretty well hydrated.

30/365

This schoolyard is near NW 10th and Walker, about two blocks east and three blocks south of my church. I drive past this mural at least once a week, yet rarely have stopped to take a good look at it.

Our church had its annual meeting this past Sunday, which required a second trip to this side of town (~20 min. away from my house). This second trip afforded me the opportunity to take pictures of this mural. Detail shots are available at my Flickr site, beginning here.

29/365

This plaque was a Christmas gift given to Sunday School teachers at my church. It is hung in my kitchen, near the door to the dining area, and above the microwave.

DJ is a bird fan, and looks forward to the season of "Kitty TV" (which should start soon), so she approves of this decoration.

28/365

My fraternal grandfather, William (Bill) James C—. In the upper right-hand corner is the same toy guitar strapped on his guitar head. This 4" long plastic guitar was passed down to Padre, then came to me (by way of Aunt Merri).

I have no memory of Bill. I was introduced to him as a baby, but he died before I could form any significant memories. In addition to this toy, I also inherited his Epiphone guitar (by way of Brother Dave). His Epiphone was one of the first electric guitars to be manufactured (~1938), and he used it to lead music in his church (probably Nazarene).

I also have the sheet music for a song Grandpa Will wrote, "The Little Old Brush Arbor". One interesting thing about this music is that it is transcribed in shape note. With the help of a more learned musical friend, I have learned how to play this song and have often performed it.

I recently have taken to strapping objects to my guitar head, as a way of carrying on Grandpa Will's tradition and honoring him. The latest object is a "God's Eye", as pictured below.

Detail from Self Portrait

28/365, Part Two

Self Portrait, 06July04

This is just as posed as it looks. Judging from my finger position, I'm probably playing an E chord - I'm likely thinking of a blues song or Leonard Cohen's "Bird on a Wire."

27/365

Text reads:

Brother wolf, look!
Sister rabbit
studies shadows
in freshly fallen snow.

See full-size version of this card

I recently received a pack of blank note cards from Defenders of Wildlife which had various wolf pictures on the front. I sent this card, with the original version of the poem written inside, to Brother Dave.

Jack Kerouac would have called something like this poetic form an "American Haiku". I call it "automatic poetry" (as in, "automatic writing", cf. Wm B. Yeats) or a "postcard poem". I see this as an application of William Stafford's "poem a day" discipline.

According to Reverend Mother, "It is reported that when William Stafford was asked how he was able to write a poem every day, he said, 'I lowered my standards.'"

So, I write a postcard poem as if the words cannot be changed. No previous draft, no edits. Scribble away, then send it off to your wondering (or wonderful) correspondent.

I have "cheated", in that the version of the poem above is slightly altered from the original. OTOH, how can I cheat when I'm the one making the rules?

26/365: Cat Friday

Dame Julian ("DJ") is a little over a foot long, when stretched full length. Shot taken by available light with a Canon Rebel.

Night time temperatures have averaged in the teens and twenties for the past few weeks. Which has encouraged my feline companion to seek ambient warmth. She likes to sleep with me (her favorite spot seems to be in the crook of my knees). She also spends a lot of time on the comforter of my bed, even when I'm not under it.

Catch Up

Invoking a poet/author/creator's right to change his/her mind, I've decided to play catch up for the first 17 days of this year, and to up-date existing entry titles accordingly.

Because I've post-dated the catch up entries, they have already scrolled to the archive page (see the "Older Posts" link at the bottom of this page). The new entries are titled "1/365 - 10/365" and "11/365 - 17/365", and may be found in the "Blog Archive" links in the left side bar. Or, right here:

• 1/365 - 10/365


• 11/365 - 17/365

25/365: Grocery List

Chex
mix;
Pop tarts;
Baked chicken dinner;
Frozen pizza and
a six of O'Douls Amber Beer.
← Fib →

24/365

A significant portion of my hat collection. The hat tree stands in the entry way between my living room and dining room.

1. Fedora
2. Straw hat, with a hat band from Bali.*
3. Toque (cook's hat)
4. Silk scarf
5. Beret
6. Land's End snap-brim cap
7. Oakhater Baseball cap
8. First snap-brim cap, bought around 1978
   

*This is my official hat for most outdoor performances (for example), especially "peace events". A Bali peace group sent several of these scarves (which I have tied off as a hat band) to Oklahoma after a bombing in their country in 2002. These scarves were their token of unity with the people of Oklahoma, who had experienced a similar bombing on April 1995.

23/365: Natural tonsure

This picture was taken about two months ago. I doubt hair has grown in to fill that empty space. Both grandfathers had "natural halos", as it were, so I expect I'm headed that direction. My life is semi-monastic (chaste), so I think of this thin spot as a natural tonsure.

22/365

Neighborhood cat visits.

21/365

Dame Julian, Friday, 19.Jan.07. The lady seems to pose, even though she is a most reluctant (or flighty) model.

20/365

Tree of Life
Originally uploaded by jacsongs.

I bought this pottery luminario years ago, at the Norman Firehouse Art Center. This picture was taken by the light of the candle within the luminario.

19/365: Dream

I had a wild dream in the early hours. I woke somewhere between 2:30 and 3:00, and skated on the edge of sleep until the alarm went off at 5:30. At which point rising from bed was a challenge.

In the dream, I had returned to college and was living in a two story dorm. The building appeared to be as much of a house as a dorm, although it also resembled the dorm I lived in when I originally attended college.

My room was on the second floor, and appeared larger than an average dorm room. It was also somewhat rustic, with distressed wood interior. It resembled the interior of a cabin.

I stored some possessions in the room, then left.

When I returned to the dorm, I could not get to the second floor. There was a rickety stairwell on the east side of the building, but it was broken well below the door. I remembered dorms often have inner stairwells at the mid-point of the building, so I entered through the first floor and ran down the hall. There was a stairwell at the mid-point, but ingress to the second floor was blocked.

So I went to the west end of the building. I had to go back outside in order to get to the stairwell. This stairwell ended at a landing, where there was an open elevator shaft, but no call button. The elevator was an open cage.

The elevator stopped well over my head, as if between floors. I was getting frustrated.

I found my roommate, and asked him how we were supposed to get to the second floor. He told me our room was actually a sort of duplex, and could be entered through the first floor.

So, we entered through his part of the duplex, where there was a tight spiral staircase. The space was so narrow, it was almost impassable.

Later, I tried to find the downstairs entrance of this duplex, and the door seemed to be hidden. Meanwhile, some type of lecture was taking place in a meeting room at the west end of the dorm building.

The speaker was a young woman I am acquainted with in waking life. We met for a light lunch following her presentation.

All through this, in the waking world, my cat was peacefully sleeping between my knees.

18/365

An ice storm came through Oklahoma this past weekend. For me, the high point was last Friday afternoon, when there was a period of thunder sleet. There was at least one lightening strike during the storm, with thunder.

Like most Oklahomans, I stayed in my house through the weekend. Happily, I had stocked up on food and there was no need to leave the house.

Now, almost a week later, most of the major streets have been cleared. The side streets which have not yet been cleared are rut-marked sheets of ice.

My front and back yards are solid ice. Although it appears white, it is not snow. It is inch and a half thick ice.

Every news program called it “Ice Storm 2007” – as if this would be the only ice storm our state has this year. Current forecasts, however, indicate another system will be coming into the state on Sunday. Two to three inches of snow have been mentioned as a possibility.

Since temperatures have remained in the low 20s until today (it’s currently 37 degrees), little of the ice is likely to have melted by then. So, that snow will build up on top of the remaining ice. The ice will provide insulation, so the snow will take longer to melt.

Ice Storm 2007: The Return.

Should be fun.

11/365 - 17/365

Thursday evening, January 11, my left ear suddenly became congested and started ringing. Since the ears and sinuses are a linked system, I assumed this symptom was related to my cold.

I called my doctor Friday morning. Not being able to hear clearly got my attention. Wax tends to build up in my right ear (and - I later learned - was pretty severe at this point), so I was effectively deaf. When I called, I got a message that the doctor was out of the office, and gave an alternate number "in case of emergency".

At the time, I wasn't sure whether this qualified as an emergency. I thought it possible the symptom would clear up on its own over the weekend.

An ice storm was predicted for Oklahoma, and our office closed at noon on Friday. The campus was also closed Monday for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

The ice storm did hit. Most people stayed in through-out the three-day weekend. Many people in eastern Oklahoma lost power. Happily, I did not (I live in central OK).

I surfed to WebMD, and learned that ringing in the ear (tinnitus) is quite serious, and that I should have tried the alternate number. At any rate, I got an appointment for Tuesday (1/16).

She didn't see any severe problems in the ear, and prescribed an antibiotic for the cold.

My ear was still ringing on Friday of that week (1/19). At a co-worker's urging, I called the doctor back (I was near the end of the script for the antibiotic). She suggested we wait over the weekend.

My ear was still ringing on Monday. The doc referred me to an ORL specialist ("ear, nose, throat"), who I saw this Monday (1/22). Immediately, he noticed both ears were congested with wax. Although my regular doc claimed she could see my ear drum, the specialist said he couldn't see it for all the wax.

So, he lavaged both ears. Then he prescribed steroids for the swelling in the eustachian tube.

One moral to this tale of woe: I need a new primary care physician.

1/365 - 10/365

On "Winter Break" from my day job. I took off early, for the solstice (12/21), so I could make my fourth annual visit to Dr. Omed's Winter Solstice celebration. I was beginning to have cold symptoms prior to this, but they got much worse after I stood outside by the solstice fire.

We burned "Be Gones", "Be Dones", and play money.

Even prior to that journey, by about three weeks, I had begun feeling depressed. Depression plus cold (who knows which came first?).

So - my "Be Gone" was "bad attitude, depression, and feelings of worthlessness." My "Be Done" was "find purpose, seek ways to be useful, and celebrate current gifts and usefulness." I failed to bring actual play money, but burned some by proxy.

All was requested "As the Goddess wills."

I spent the week of Winter Break closed up in my house. Only left once or twice, as absolutely necessary.

Oklahoma City experienced a severe snow storm over New Year's week-end, and my job was closed for an extra day. I returned to work on January 3.

Welcome to Jonah 365

This blog is a subsidiary of my regular blog, Love During Wartime. This current space is dedicated to Project 365, "where some post word-pictures and some post photographs" (as Reverend Mommy puts it). See also Preacher Mom's 365.

I'm aware I'm coming to the party 18 days late. I don't intend to play catch-up, as Reverend Mommy says she will^*. But I do intend to post an image (digital or verbal) every day for the remainder of the year.

*Edited Jan 25: I've changed my mind; I'm going to due a few lump entries (i.e., 1/365 - 11/365, etc.), and change the subsequent numbers accordingly.