fucking pigs

that's it for today

fucking pigs

plain and simple

and this little piggy went wee wee wee

faith

faith

is the triumph of hope

over reason

like...

like a tornado

needs a trailerpark

baybee

if it makes her smile

it makes me smile...usually

you could do dad's grey - blue maybe or orange?

uncle swinghammer and the boy

a day with uncle swinghammer

step one: feed the boy

-

step two: feed the animals

-

step three: wear a baby bunny

-

step four: cuddle bunny as necessary

-

step five: play in the park lots

-

step six: ride the bike ride the bike ride the bike

---

insert nap, lunch and butt cleaning as required

repeat

dude can i take a pic of your thing for my blog

last night we're at the drive-in watching pirates 3 and the invisible

both of which we enjoyed fully but that's a story for another time

so

between movies - walking around - i'm amused to find this thing

it's a thing - the vw thing

that's what it's called - a vw thing

and it reminds me of the last time i saw a thing up close

and it reminds me of the last time i remember feeling that fierce strain of fear that accompanies a serious lack of faith in the likelihood of personal survival

i was in highschool

hurtling southward on highway 115/35 in a vw thing

like the one above except painted a bright shade of sunset orange

full of teenagers

navigated by an inexperienced and impulsive teenaged adrenaline junkie named kendal eady from kirby

kendal eady was the kind of chick that operated at humming bird speed on a slow day

and somehow despite our mistrust for this madwoman

there we were

about seven of us

with the front window down - broken speedometer - no seatbelts - no sense - no roof

headlights randomly flashing off and on

racing blindly down the highway

like being shot out of a fucking canon - a screaming laughing insane 0range glow - bouncing through the night with way more horsepower than the suspension was ever built to handle - the thing listing fore and aft with a mind of it's own - shoulder to shoulder

and i thought we were going to die

until we hit jewel road - also known as roller coaster road

at which point

i knew we were gonna die

.there would be no surviving a crash - at speed - in a vw thing

unless you're fortunate enough to fly out of it and land somwhere soft

but those are the kinda odds you don't want to have to lean on

when it comes to livin' or dyin'

nevertheless

we made it home alive and i felt invincible

even more oblivious to the precarious nature of mortality

and for reasons maybe not unrelated to this experience

i've imbibed risk like an addict most of my life

walked in many shadows

and faced many perils

but i haven't felt fear like that again

where are you now

kendal eady from kirby

we should drink some rocket fuel - fire up the thing

and take another rip down rollercoaster road

because

we all need some thing to be afraid of

and

i'm not afraid of any thing anymore

except maybe

that thing - in your thing

or this thing

doing that thing

like your thing

-

"dude can i take a picture of your thing for my blog"

what matters to you?

420 pin-up gurl

beautiful babe - beautiful blunt

that's just the way it is for sweet jimmy

dirty dirty beast

we're playing ball at the park

maya disappears over the hill to where the pseudo pond usually is

she loves water

however

it's been unusually dry lately

and the pond is a bog now

but it appears

the dog loves bogs too

what a dirty bitch

she does clean up nice though

she makes my heart smile

like never before

like that moment

when the sun

dances across water

and it's reflection shimmers

like love feels

like the laughter of a child

that you hear only in your heart
like the time we kissed

and i forgot where i was

like never before

like never again

i like you

liking me

like i've never liked anything

cool breeze

jungle cat world - orono ontario

jungle cat world

orono

peacocks and parrots and foxes and tigers and meer cats

sea otters and bunnies and chickens and guinea pigs and goddamn goats

feeding favorite monkeys

pretty gurls and panthers and lions and lynx

gaggles of geese and packs of wolves and more

there was teetering

and tottering too

lot's of fun at the jungle cat world zoo

check out their zoo camp program too

an absolutely extraordinary eco-culture experience

for the kids

jordi jordi jordi

we miss you buddy

i wish we could just dig you up

bring you home

and do it all over again for another 13 years

rest in peace - breanna's blog
jordi's gone to doggy heaven - this blog

we went to the cemetary to plant flowers at your grave
we picked physostegia virginiana roscea
because it's also known as
"obedient plant"
and it seemed like an easy choice
for the most obedient respectful dog ever

normal people

there's madness everywhere

lurking out in the open

unable to pretend anymore

normal people

dangle

on nerves jingle jangled

threadbare

and hanging on

dingle dangling

jingle jangling

there's madness everywhere

lurking out in the open

because there's nowhere to hide

to let it ride

no room inside

and normal people

dangle

on nerves jingle jangled

threadbare

and hanging on

dingle dangling

and jingle jangling

there's madness everywhere

the ice cream truck is back!!!!

happy birthday grandma!!!

my grandma turned ninety today

smiling laughing

still

after all this time

the young man on the right - matt plans on becoming a cop

me thinks some drug testing might be in order

before any more money gets spent on that education

as for uncle paul on the left

i think we can forget about the drug testing

in the 60's and 70's

he might have tested them alland speaking of drug testing

i'm not sure what "the new dave" put in my drink - but this photo looked clear to me when i took it

a swinghammer exclusive - mckayla romano

she's a beautiful gurl

and i don't think mom and dad could be more proud

amanda says give her a call

she's missing all the gossip

or is she?

where'd ya get that funky hat

-

and why?

-

she's weird and i love her.

perspective is everything

sometimes it's not what you're looking at that you see

it's what the eyes you're looking with

or the place you're looking from

will let you see

perspective is everything

chalk drawings by julian beever - click here for more

yard sailors at whitby shores

jessticle says:

there are yard sales all over my subdivision

jimmy says:

treasure hunting!!! bring it on baybee

jess lives in the whitby shores development where all the street names are sea and sailor-esque

which

by my estimation makes us

"yard sailors"

this is jimmy- crammed into the back of a backseatless dodge shadow along with all the morning's treasures

this is the full extent of the empathy you get for complaining about the seating arrangements

no matter - it was a good haul

i got a highchair, a mortar and pestle, tres kewl daquari glasses, a panaracer mountain bike tire, an astrology globe, another random painting of a woman for my collection of women, an ugly wooden head, and a t-shirt that says "penetrate discreetly"

oddly enough - no books today - "no time for books" jess says as she's flying from one sale to another - we're looking for real treasure

the piece de resistance - a most unlikely duo - first a funky yet hideous wooden tribal cd holder thing - as i'm waiting for jess to pay for it for me i point out this random looking rubber chicken

mrs. vendor tells us that the cd stand belonged to her husband and she TOLD him he was getting rid of it today - he subsequently TOLD her she was getting rid of the cherished rubber chicken - i couldn't break up the set after a story like that - so i took them both

no, the chicken is not permenantly attached to the cd rack

strength

what do you offer a friend
who needs only answers
to questions
unimagined
unfamiliar
and unexpected

there is no card, no flowers, no thoughtful trinket, or assembly of meaningful words that could bring peace to a heart consumed by unknowns

i wish you strength
and
i wish it was enough

new pets

we were at the pet store tonight

they had these incredibly cute "black bear hamsters"

breanna couldn't resist - for that matter neither could i

she calls him BEAR and though it's strange for a hamster he sort of growls

we also replenished the goldfish in our water garden

fountain pond type thing

the past two years we bought 13 fish

and both times they devoured one another

until there were only 3

this year we bought only 6

we'll see if that effects how many get cannibalized this year

and then there's "sarge"

this is sarge at 6:00am with the camera in his face - not impressed

we're dogsitting sargie

he actually lives across the road with my buddy pete and his family - yesterday this homesick pooch wandered across the street while i was gardening out front - sat down on pete's front porch and wasn't coming back

i had to carry the poor beast back to our house