I'd like to speak to the person in charge, please.....

Sometimes we just want to say, Thank you, Jesus......

Is this one of those times?

Certainly we thank those 'In Charge'.

We have the air conditioner promised;

it kept the loft bowling alley simulation

at 72 and 30% humidity in front

and back by the pins very tolerable

and much appreciated

through-out the night.

Somebody.........

Carrier, Berg Management (?)

put it all together

for us!

Graven images, part II

Another friend of artist Willis Guthrie since the 60's

Retired Chairman of the Art Department at Carroll College

and still creating at the Avalon Square at 92

Here is Guthrie's Found Object assembly called the 'Dirt God'. Made from a roaster pan, binder twine, belt loop parts for skin, vacuum cleaner brushes for eyes, scrub brushes for feet, and a raggedy zipper for his mouth, the effigy has been holding forth in our various abodes since 1965 when Wis created it and signed it with his name. See illus.

For a long time it stood atop the microwave in the kitchen. Before that it lurked in a dark corner of the basement. Intended to get the attention of our children, it did not fail. They grew up protected by its presence. Now they come home to visit it. Or, it is still visited upon them.

Wis's caveat in parting with the creation was to never ever dust or clean the Dirt God, but to allow it to continuously and uninterruptedly get dirtier and dirtier. That vow we have kept.

This is another thing that money cannot buy at the former Odd Fellows hall downtown, the Dirt God's new residence. Visitors are welcome. Call 1st.

Down the stairs and through the alley, to Grandmother's market we go......

After today's Waukesha Farmers Market, Dee returned to her reading corner in the former Odd Fellows hall high atop the Putney Building. A fresh bouquet from the Hmong lady decorates the table. Though not shown in this picture, Dee likes to sit in the gold velvet chair and put her feet up on the Bhudda step-ladder's first rung, which she has cushioned with a pillow. From there she can survey the passing scene below if she wants, or settle down with a good book, of which she has many.

Early this morning we left our recently air-conditioned dwelling (see it?) to saunter across the street to the Fox River and the bustling farmers market.

An Amish woman sells her bakery. We did not take a frontal picture of her. We bought some of her apple-sorghum cookies.

This lady had her mascot with her. Some folks have written to the Sound Off column in the local paper, complaining about the dogs at the market. Some have expressed fear of being bitten or slobbered on.

These well-cared for and leashed little animals probably aren't going to hurt anyone.

A couple taking pictures for an upcoming photo spread at the Waukesha Civic Theatre worked their multiple lenses, shooting many things, stand to stand.

A man departs with his bag of purchases.

Famed local poet, unnamed - so readily is she known - gathers items before returning to the Avalon Square where she now lives. She exclaimed when she saw us, "Well, as I live and breathe!"

We replied with an affectionate touch to her shoulder, "Yes Barbara, you live AND you breathe!"

UNIMPEACHABLE

Obama to make reassuring eye contact with every last American

June 9, 2010 ROCKLAND, ME—In an attempt to convince an anxious populace that his legislative agenda is working and that everything is going to be all right, President Barack Obama embarked on a 50-state, 30,000-town tour Monday during which he plans to gaze assuredly into the eyes of each American citizen, one at a time.
"I know a lot of people out there are nervous. They're worried about unemployment, the oil spill in the Gulf, and whether or not I am making the right choices in Washington," Obama said during a rally at Rockland District High School. "To those Americans, I offer you this inspiring, confident gaze."
Obama then stepped down from his podium, walked into the 2,000-person audience, and peered comfortingly into each person's eyes. After taking 45 minutes to methodically work his way from the front row all the way to the balcony, and punctuating each look with a gentle pat on the shoulder, Obama returned to the stage, collected himself, and addressed the silent group before him.
"There," he said. "All better."
In their announcement of the "2010 Eye-to-Eye Tour," White House officials said that Obama will first spend two weeks making eye contact with the 55 million residents of the densely populated Northeastern states, looking into their eyes and, if necessary, offering them an encouraging head nod. Obama will then continue down the East Coast before taking on the tour's biggest challenge: gazing with confidence into the eyes of a hostile Southern electorate that largely rejects his policies.
Sources said in order to convince Southerners that the $787 billion economic stimulus package is working and that the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell is necessary, Obama will stare at them with a serious yet caring squint, give them a soothing smile, and, if necessary, mouth the words "trust me."
At press time, Obama was making his way down North Calvert Street in Baltimore, where he was earnestly looking into the eyes of 42-year-old construction worker Paul Hatfield.
"This is a way for the president to get out of the Washington bubble and really reconnect with the American people," Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said during a Tuesday briefing. "To be honest, I was a little hesitant about the idea at first, but then the president called me into his office, sat me down, told me to take off my glasses, and looked at me with the most reassuring expression I have ever seen. At that point I was sold."
In the past several days, more than 60 million citizens have had similar calming encounters with the president. Patrons at the Beefside Family Restaurant in Concord, NH, many of whom expressed concern that the country was more divided than ever, were placated Tuesday when the president went from booth to booth making eye contact with every man, woman, and child present. If diners attempted to avoid his glance, Obama maneuvered his head quickly but confidently until he made direct eye contact and held their gaze.
Obama also offered a self-assured stare to more than 24,000 out-of-work autoworkers in New Jersey; all members of the Vermont teacher's union; some 500 West Virginia coal miners; Philadelphia; attorneys and clients in the law offices of Blum, Horowitz, and Mertz; and Pittsburgh native and Hollywood actor Michael Keaton.
"I was waiting for the T when I felt a tap on my shoulder," Boston resident Jarrod Tomlinson, 36, said. "I turned around and it was the president of the United States. Before I could tell him that as a small business owner, I was a little worried that the new health care bill wouldn't offer me the subsidies necessary to provide my employees with coverage, he just grabbed both of my arms, looked into my eyes for maybe five seconds, massaged my shoulder briefly, and walked away."
"And you know what?" Tomlinson continued. "I think everything's going to be okay."
Though recent poll numbers indicate that Obama is slowly earning the trust of Americans throughout the country, some positive effects of his confident glance appear to have been negated by Vice President Joe Biden, who has been busy winking at every American citizen while pretending to shoot them with imaginary finger guns.

Sooth and trinkets

Words received in today's mail

especially meaningful just now:

..............

We have a running colloquy

with son Leland now in Texas to begin his Teach for America stint.

Re trinketry:

Shown here is the Mexican cross that hangs today at our side in the Raccoon News office. It consists of small copper charms (trinkets) attached to a wood cross with small copper brads. A close view shows that there are such things as turkeys, cowboy hats, a handshake, a fish, a roaring lion, and etc. Jesus, of course, in the center......

Trinkets, yet when seen from a short distance the whole thing hands together nicely, we think. Hence we bought it from the now gone Latin America shop, The Market Place at E. North Ave and the water tower near St Mary's hospital, Milwaukee, many trinket-years ago.

swallowed

Google

puts it all together for me

The all-intrusive medium

has a new feature this morning

Now I can select the background

opening image for my internet connexion

as illustrated above;

and now I can slip even further

into their web

and be subsumed?

Never judge a person by their color

A blonde city girl named Amy marries a Colorado rancher. One morning, on his way out to check on the cows, the rancher says to Amy, 'The insemination man is coming over to impregnate one of our cows today, so I drove a nail into the 2 by 4 just above where the cow's stall is in the barn. Please show him where the cow is when he gets here, OK?'

The rancher leaves for the fields. After a while, the artificial insemination man arrives and knocks on the front door. Amy takes him down to the barn. They walk along the row of cows and when Amy sees the nail, she tells him, 'This is the one right here.'

The man, assuming he is dealing with an air head blond, asks, 'Tell me lady, 'cause I'm dying to know; how would YOU know that this is the right cow to be bred?'

'That's simple," she said. "By the nail that's over its stall,' she explains very confidently.

Laughing rudely at her, the man says, 'And what, pray tell, is the nail for?'

The blonde turns to walk away and says sweetly over her shoulder, 'I guess it's to hang your pants on.'