Eddie Arana, Rick Thibodeau, & Chris Bakunas San Diego, Ca. March 2012

Eddie Arana, Rick Thibodeau, & Chris Bakunas San Diego, Ca. March 2012
Eddie Arana, Rick Thibodeau, & Chris Bakunas at Luche Libre Taco Shop in San Diego, March 2012

Sunday, December 29, 2024

Katabatic Currents

The wind picked up 
                           Early this evening
Angry like a tone deaf frustrated cantor
          Leaves were swept 
                                          Down the sidewalks and streets
Giving the illusion that this town cares
      About appearances
Except for the tattle-telling trash 
                             That's been plastered on the fences
That sound, loud like a high-ballin' Tractor-Trailer
 Filling the air
As the zephyrs and gusts 
         Burst through the aether 
Slightly tornadic in their efforts 
To uproot trees and shrubs
Yet not nearly potent enough 
                                     To cause much damage
Failing to reach cyclonical relevance
Though the effort did 
                          Rattle a few windows

Saturday, December 28, 2024

The New Year Poem

It's the last weekend of 2024, time to shut the door
     On all our failed diets and friendly sanguinary riots
For another year has passed, time to look beyond
     Mankind conceived of these imaginary timeframes
In order to allow us all to reset, just like video games

We can write off what we didn't finish
     Or we can add another year to the tally 
                             of what we did (or did not) accomplish
We can edit and rewrite our list of things we really want to do
    Or ratchet up our goals and dreams and throw-out those we outgrew 
For as we all know, there is always ample room to improve

It's the last weekend of 2024, time to open up the door
     To new adventures and undertakings, new aspirations and beginnings
For here we are back at the starting line in a new race to be run
      So dig out that marked determination and grit you stashed away
Remember where you put it in the closet this past June (or maybe late May)
 
The new year will be upon us in a few short days
       With life enriching opportunities and chance serendipities, 
                                     unimaginable possibilities and joyous festivities
The future is ours to write and ours to create
     There are endless choices to avoid or to make
Cast aside doubts and reservations for there are new memories to generate

 

 


 


Wednesday, December 25, 2024

The Problem With Christmas

 

   The problem I've always had with Christmas (by "always" I mean since I became a thinking, rational adult, so about 4 or 5 weeks now) is that it forces you to confront two very different questions

   The first is; How much is this person (gift recipient) worth to me?

   The second is; How much am I (as a gift recipient) worth to that individual?

   It's quite the conundrum, eh?

   Should probably just stick to cards. Cards are the great Christmas equalizer.

'Tis The Season For Yard Inflatables...And Such















Monday, December 23, 2024

Three Playfully Lewd Limericks

 There once was a comely Miss from Spain
Who lifted her skirt up on the train
Though it was considered rude to stare
The old porter didn't give a single care
And asked if she would do it again

A quite homely girl from the heights
Was disregarded, even in tights
But upon their removal
She was met with joyous approval
For revealing such wonderful sights

There was a plump stripper from Glengarry
Who decided to start counting every calorie
Her fans cried it was unjust
For if she lost half her bust
There would be no point to her lingerie


Sunday, December 22, 2024

The Memory That Would Not Fade


She had a way of whispering goodbye
That made it impossible for you to deny
Everything and anything you two ever meant
Would live on in your head
Until the day you die

The Clarifying Reveal





 

Friday, December 20, 2024

More Pics From A Soldiers Pictorial Record Of His Stay In Korea, 1954

   Earlier this month I posted a number of pictures that were taken in Korea in 1954, just after the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement which pretty much ended the Korean War (a proxy war fought between North Korea (with arms and training and troops from that countries supporters, the Soviet Union and the Peoples Republic of China) and South Korea (with arms and training and troops from that countries supporters, a United Nations led coalition of 21 countries which included Belgium, France, Ethiopia, Columbia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Thailand, Greece, and of course the Untied States - heck, primarily the United States). 

   I stated "pretty much ended the Korean War" because no peace treaty has yet to be signed by either side of the conflict, which leaves it technically an open and ongoing conflict.

   Today I'm posting a few more pictures that I am assuming were taken by the same U.S. Army soldier as the first batch of pictures I posted, as they came out of the same box I'd found in a thrift store. These pics contain images of the same camp women as seen in the first batch and a few of the U.S. Army enlisted personnel who served alongside the photographer (again, I assume).















Thursday, December 19, 2024

The Type Of Patients Doctors Really Enjoy Working On

   A small group of Doctors were sitting together after a particularly long day on duty and the discussion turned to the various types of patients they had to deal with that day, and whether or not any of them were easy, trouble-free appointments

   One Doctor, a plastic surgeon, states that the easiest patient he had that day was a young up and coming actress who needed a simple rhinoplasty, and that he did such a good job he was sure he had secured her services for the rest of his life.

   Another Doctor piped up and said the easiest patient she saw was as quick and painless as it got, boasting that she was certain she had earned a lifetime of business from a young man for taking care of a small performance problem he was having in the bedroom with a simple prescription for some little blue pills.

   After a few chuckles from the gathered practitioners, one of the older, more seasoned Doctors chimed in, stating he had worked on one of, if not the single easiest patient, he had ever seen. Then simply sat back in his chair with a very contented smile on his face.

   Several of the other Doctors present looked at him curiously until one asked him to elaborate.

   The older, wiser Doctor replied in his calm steady manner that he had operated on a politician that afternoon who was experiencing chest pains, headaches and constipation, and it was both an easy and pleasurable job for him to take care of. 

   Several of the other Doctors at the gathering asked him how that could possibly be.

   The senior Doctor's smile broadened as he stated that the politician didn't have a heart or spine that he had to concern himself with, and that the politician's head and ass were completely interchangeable, so he just switched a few parts around and the patient was now resting peacefully with a 100% chance of a full recovery. 

Saturday, December 14, 2024

Not Quite The Holiday Display The Mall Was Expecting

One of the Elves has been watching a little too much Dexter

 

Handy Tip Concerning The Lifting, Carrying, & Setting Down Of Heavy Items

 Here's a bit of advice regarding the lifting, carrying, and setting down of heavy items, such as, say, a 350 pound cast iron patio umbrella base.



Let the dang thing drop if it's going to drop, your fingers are no match for gravity and a 350 lb object.

Sunday, December 8, 2024

Simple Problem, Simple Solution

Boss: "We need a rack to put all these clothes hangers on in order to sell them. A big rack that can handle everyone of 'em. I want all of these hangers sold by Monday."

Employee #1: "But boss, we don't have any clothes hanger racks to hang all of those hangers on. I mean, that's a lot of hangers to be hanging - we don't have anything close to being large enough to handle them all."

Employee #2: "Waitaminute. Didn't we just receive a shipment of tall extension ladders? And don't we have a boatload of white shower rods that haven't been selling?"

Employee #1: "Yes, yes we do - what do you have in mind?"

Boss: "Yeah, how are you going to sell clothes hangers with extension ladders and shower rods?"

Employee #2: Leave this to me Boss, I'll get it done - going to need a lot of zip ties though."

Boss: If that's all you need to get those hangers sold, get on it. Be sure to have Harold in inventory note whatever you use."

Employee #2: "Will do Boss - check back here in about two hours, I think you're going to like what you see."


 

Saturday, December 7, 2024

Today's Vague, Indeterminate Advice

   Everybody gets a little hot under the collar every once in awhile. Or maybe just disputatious if you prefer. 

   Quite possibly argumentative would be a better descriptive, or if less offputting, simply disagreeable. 

   Whatever the case may be, getting up in arms, ticked off, boiling over, incensed, fit to be tied, miffed, mad as a hornet, p.o.'d, in a tizzy, or just plain old tempestuous...there really is only one thing to do.

  The cure for being bent out of shape is learning to be flexible. 

   Now, I'm well aware that being flexible is freakin' difficult, but it is something one can learn, and once one learns to be flexible, then getting bent out of shape is much, much easier to handle.

   Literally and figuratively.

Monday, December 2, 2024

Don't Shoot The Xylophone Player

 He needed a means of coping
With the pain and suffering he had to endure
Being marred as he was by a soulless and heartless demon
So one afternoon, after watching a small parade
And for unknown reasons picking up the sounds
Created by the marching xylophone player
And then noticing the exuberant actions of said player
As he violently struck rubber-topped mallets 
Upon the small, wooden bars
That created the wonderfully 
                           Melodious interlocking tones
He found his salvation
And now he spends his days
Locked away in a small shed he built in the backyard
Practicing intricate rhythmic patterns 
With energy and enthusiasm
Rigorously and vigorously
Achieving an emotional and mental satisfaction
Beyond anything he could ever imagine