Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Beyond Normal

                      "The Kiss of the Muse"  by Paul Cezanne

Turns out there are nine Greek Muses, daughters of Zeus.  Each involved with a different aspect of inspiration as follows:   http://www.talesbeyondbelief.com/nymphs/muses.htm.  I suspect the muse depicted in the painting may be Calliope or Clio, patrons of epic poetry and writing.




Here they are frolicking about as muses are wont to do.
Sit down, stay quiet and one may visit you. 








Saturday, July 25, 2015

The Big House

C

In Jefferson City, Missouri (1836-2004) open now for tours.   Not quite escape proof:  in April  1967 James Earl Ray escaped in a leaving bread truck and went to Canada for a year.
Then in April 1968 made his way to Memphis to shoot and kill Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Caught in London shortly after ( for an escapee he seemed to have adequate traveling cash !)   Back to the Big House.





Turns out that 1/4 of the worlds prisoners are held in US jails, some 2.4 million --  38% black and 34% white.  Of course, blacks are overrepresented compared to their percentage in society.  Through the processes of  "drug wars", "tough on crime",  "three strikes and your out", and tough law directives the cells are filling up, many innocent of the crime or charged with minor drug offenses.  It used to be that rehabilitation was the goal, but  now just basic housing seems to be considered adequate especially with the privatization of  many facilities; with solitary isolation being  used on unruly or gang-suspected prisoners.  Some 25,000 are in isolated  (6ft X 9ft) cells most in super max prisons, many mentally ill.  Cruel and  unusual punishment?   The record for solitary isolation is a fellow in Louisiana (Angola prison) who has been held for some 43 years :  https://medium.com/amnesty-international/solitary-review-albert-s-treatment-should-be-confined-to-history-e01a0d95bf1a  .
  It is hard to even imagine what effect this would have on a person . . .

Seems to me that a progressive society must attend to the needs of all of its citizens ,  even those who have gone wrong in the eyes of the courts. Fair play and dignity must lead ,otherwise it's just another ineffective and uncaring system bound for failure.


Wednesday, March 04, 2015

Time is in the Way



















Exhale •

Going through it
The long duration of dark
The cold winter night
The silent day
When will I know my reason
When can I enter into peaceful solitude
Life is but a blink of the eye
A bat of the lash
If you want to know
I'm chasing the wind
And will soon be mown down
By the sharp blade
Come on spring
Make me new again
I set and wait for both

Anonymous


I wish I could attribute  the source of this 1 and 0 rendering, the magical woods, but no.  So much beauty presented in this vast digital world of possibility. .  But I appreciate the effort of whoever put finger to key for us to enjoy.