Merry Christmas!





Blogger season is going to be a little slow for the holidays, but for now, merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Robert F. Kauffmann

Here's an artist who I came across whose work I really like. It is Escheresque but also has roots in computer algorithm generated art.

Beethoven

Android

Bifurcating Fish
Celtic Dragon
Magnetic City

The Reflection

A fable written by one of my blogger groupies, hope you like it:

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There was an old man who had a house in the woods. He ate in the house. He slept in the house. And he spent his days in the house. When he was a young man he lived in the woods with his wife, but she died years earlier and now he just existed.

One day the man went to the stream by his house, as he did everyday, to get water for his porridge. The man bent over the stream and noticed that he had no reflection. He thought that he should be concerned, but he wasn’t. He thought that he should feel surprised or upset, but he didn’t. The thinking tired him so that he simply felt he could not move and he lay down by the stream and slept.

Later (he didn’t know or care how much later) a speeding squirrel ran into him and woke him up. The man was so tired that he could hardly open his eyes, but when he did he saw the squirrel running frantically in circles. He thought nothing of this, as he was too tired to think.

The squirrel said, “Man, I cannot stop running. If I run towards you will you catch me and stop me.”

The man just groaned and closed his eyes.

The squirrel who was not satisfied with this response ran toward the man and into the man and toward the man and into the man over and over again.

The man didn’t care. He groaned and started to roll over. As he did, the squirrel ran into the man’s hands and the man caught the squirrel. The man instantly felt stronger. He stood up and began to walk. He noticed that he was still holding the squirrel and he sat the squirrel on his shoulder.

The man walked and walked. He thought or felt nothing, as he was still too tired for thinking and feeling.

A fox approached the man and said “Man I think that the world might be round (it was a very long time ago and it was believed that the world was flat). And I think this because I’ve traveled far and have never fallen off. And I was looking at the flowers and I wonder what their purpose is? I wonder why we are here. I wonder why it is hot in the summer. I wonder why it is cold in the winter.” And on and on he went pondering the universe.

The fox was so deep in thought that he paid little attention to anything else. Consequently, he zigzagged in front of the man several times almost tripping him. The man was so driven to walk that he impulsively picked up the fox and tucked him under his arm in the very midst of a zig and a zag. At that moment, the man began to think.

He thought about the flowers and there purpose. He thought about the hot and the cold. He thought about his house. He thought about his wife. And on and on the man went walking and thinking.

A rabbit hobbled up to the man and said “Man” and then began crying so hard that he could not speak.

Although the man did not care that the rabbit was crying, he was intrigued by its sadness and said, “Rabbit, why are you crying?”

The rabbit sniffed and wiped his eyes with his tiny paws. In a quivering voice the rabbit said, “My house was on fire. I ran to the stream with my bucket to get water and my bucket had a hole in it. When I finally got water it was too late. But, I threw the water on what was the fire anyway. I lost my balance, slipped in the mud, and broke my leg. I have nothing—nothing, but a broken leg.” And the rabbit fell to the ground sobbing.

“Interesting,” replied the man coldly and continued walking.

The rabbit was taken aback by the man’s reply, but he could not bare the thought of being alone. So, he stood up and hobbled along side the man crying loudly as they walked.

The rabbit’s crying was distracting the man from his musings. He thought about being distracted and reasoned that if he carried the rabbit, his shirt might muffle the crying. So, he picked up the rabbit and tucked him under his other arm. He immediately began to feel.

The man thought about the flowers and their beauty filled him with a sense of awe and wonder. The man thought about his quiet house and was filled with loneliness. The man thought about his wife and cried tears of joy for his memories and tears of sorrow as he longed for her company.

Just then the man heard a beautiful melody. A bird was singing in its nest. The man said, “Bird, please come sit on my shoulder and sing.”

The bird flew down and landed on the man’s shoulder and the man began to sing. The man sang and sang. His song expressed awe and wonder, loneliness, joy, and sorrow. He sang loudly and with great passion. His song was beautiful and filled the woods.

The man sang and sang until he felt calm and at peace. The woods were growing dark and he decided to return to his quiet little home.

He walked with his shoes off as he wanted to feel the dirt, the grass, the pebbles, and the leaves. He wanted to feel everything.

Fully aware of his hunger and thirst the man stopped by the stream to gather water before going inside. He bent down and saw his reflection. From that day forward the man lived in his cozy house in the woods by the sparkling stream.

Happy Birthday to Me
As supermom pointed out, I recently had a birthday. Here is a picture of the cake which included a layer Jamocha ice cream on top of a layer of chocolate cake, YUM!

Promotion


Word on the street is that I have been promoted at work.

Goodbye Donald

All reports I've read said he is an extremely smart person. Here is what I would have done if I were HE.

Tribute to Badger Boy

No One Knows

Nice song, sing along Karaoke style by clicking here Queens of the Stone Age, No One Knows. (right click and open in new window so don't lose this screen) Could be poetry? Copyright? Oh well. (EDIT: Mp3 removed for space restrictions on my host)

We get some rules to follow
That and this
These and those
No one knows

We get these pills to swallow
How they stick
In your throat
Taste like gold

Oh, what you do to me
No one knows

And I realize you're mine
Indeed a fool am I
And I realize you're mine
Indeed a fool am I
Ahh

I journey through the desert
Of the mind
With no hope
I follow

I drift along the ocean
Dead lifeboats
in the sun
THEY come undone

Pleasently caving in
I come undone

And I realize you're mine
Indeed a fool am I
And I realize you're mine
Indeed a fool am I
Ahhh

Heaven smiles above me
What a gift HERE below
But no one knows

THE Gift that you give to me
No one knows