my tribute to hunter s.

i have talked to swans recently. oh yea. big white thing right below the st. louis arch, on the cobblestone about 8" from the mississippee river. the biggest friggin bird i've ever seen up close, well okay that would be the ostriches coming up to the car and pokin their big ole necks in lookin for a snack at this drive thru game preserve down in springfield, man are those things prehistoric or what, but back to the the bird that i'm spilling my guts out to at a cold sunday after midnight, i mean really kids could ride on this thing, it floats up to me from behind this barge and its midnight and i'm really buzzed and i'm really really, no i mean really, bummin. now not getting to do marys dream for all the investors and club owners and critics that were coming that next round of shows where the fire marshall shut us down 4 hours before show time last summer - now that sucked - but this perceived loss was almost up there with that one in total misalignment of the universe. it looked like this whole dallas deal wasn't going to go down at all.  and i have a serious jonesin for the dallas thing to happen. its a beautiful scheme, hugely potential, an old college budddy callin me kinda thing, and down i came, and here i am for a few weeks, missing the family a bit, but overall, its all for the good.

but not the 9 hours of straight drivin from kc to dallas, thanks steve, for the truckers friend, and i really didn't get to think and reflect in the car as much as i thought, mostly just listenin to a few choice compilations cd's, the aptly named texas highway, written months before david called, being my favorite. i'm not much into long drives, usually anything over 4 hours is usually flying, well, i guess the convertable in the canyonlands for hours on end was okay, but i was packin weeks worth of stuff and i needed wheels when i arrived. and i arrvied i have, for a week now.

but the giant white swan, while being a good listener, wasn't much on advice and after awhile i started to get cold and started to feel kinda silly, you know, talking to a swan .

posted by bluematrix at 02/28/05 01:44 | link | comments

'if you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you.

if you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.'

posted by bluematrix at 02/14/05 00:50 | link | comments (2)

one the coolest natural phenomenon in this country happens in austin, texas every day at sunset from march to november. right downtown, 10 blocks from the capitol, a million and half bats take off from their hangout underneath the congress avenue bridge. they literally make a black river in the sky as they leave for their nightly feeding.

in 1980, when the it was reconstructed, the engineers had no idea that the new crevices beneath the bridge would make an ideal roost for the mexican free-tailed bats. at first many in town reacted with fear and, ignorant of the fact that these critters were eating 10-30,000 pounds of insects a night, they wanted them taken out. luckily the Bat Conservation International group got thru to some key politicians and reporters and convinced them that this was indeed a good thing and destroying it would be bad. now there are 100,000 tourists that come just for the bats and pour several million dollars into the austin economy each year - funny how money changes things.

a few years ago i witnessed this nightly event first hand and was awestruck. we arrived an hour early to get a good parking spot near the the base of one of the bridge supports. looking up at the underside of the roadway, you really couldn't see anything (though looking down there was a fair amount of guano), but i remember that you could hear, and sense, that things were up there. i had no idea at the time of just how much life there was up there, crammed into the little nooks and crannies.

as the sun started creeping below the horizon a few of the early, go-getters dropped and began flying away. ok, kinda cool, but no big deal, i thought. then the floodgates opened and thousands, then tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands of small black objects poured up and out from under the bridge. it looked just like a special effect in a movie, but this was real life. i climbed up the embankment to a cement platform near the road to get a better look.

a swirling black river of bats flowed right towards my outstretched hand, and came within inches of it, before the chirping sonar bounced back to sensitive ears and each flying creature moved up and over my fingers as easy as water moves around a rock in a stream. my car stereo was playing a compilation i had made, and i had turned the sound up so we could enjoy some tunes along with the spectacle. near the height of the experience, a song called 'bliss' by jesus jones that used a high pitched blip-like noise that echoed away into a driving bass beat came on. the blips in that song mingling, with the real blips from the bats, coupled with the tequila, forever ingrained that experience (especially when i hear that song) in my brain.

posted by bluematrix at 02/13/05 12:38 | link | comments (4)

ok, rereading that last entry was not overly exciting. i think i thought enough about that day to post it here because it reflected a well-balanced day for me. a balance of old work and new prospects, a night of partying at a concert with friends then a tv nite with the fam, of maintanence on vehicles and then enjoying them. of putting money in the bank and taking it out for unforseen expenses like car batteries.

'A Human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.' Robert A. Heinlein

posted by bluematrix at 02/07/05 21:23 | link | comments (1)

a day in the life

6:30 am - Kelhan, recently turned 7, runs to the bathroom outside the master bedroom. grunting noises, pause, then "Wowww", flush, then runs back up the hallway.

7:00 am - reach for aspirin to help negate residual effects from last nights los lobos concert. barely swallowed when wife announces battery of her car dead. during the cold jumpstart procedure, wish for similar jumpstart for brain. wish not granted.

7:30 am - long hot shower to further clear still lingering residual effects.

8:00 am - drop boys off at nearby school.

8:30 am - back home to double check mac powerbook is loaded with work samples and is working properly for meeting this morning.

9:00 am - meeting with new client at einstein bagels. pumpernickel bagel is surprisingly messy with cream cheese and chai too hot to drink, but powerbook works fine. new client likes samples and asks for written proposal.

10:00 am - purchase battery and drive to wife's work to install.

11:00 am - stop at bank to deposit a check that took client 45 days to write

11:30 am - wash salt crust off sports car, then overpay for big mexican lunch.

12:30 pm - head to office to return phonecalls, emails, put out some small fires.

3:00 pm - head home with sunroof open on unseasonably warm day, tunes loud.

3:30 pm - arrive home and further clean sports car, further install battery (mounts) in wifes car, and begin to charge motorcycle battery.

4:30 pm - finish vehicle maintenance, and take favorite toy out for rare winter spin. new wetsuit-like bike jacket performs nicely on first 70mph windtest. bike and rider not only stylish in matching neon blue, but stay warm.

5:30 pm - more mexican food for dinner and hear how 7 year old did not want to complete writing assignment and knocked over file cabinet and was sent to principles office.

6:30 pm - everyone piles on to new sectional couch in newly remodeled basement and watch one of 7 year olds birthday gifts - harry potter prisoner of azkabahn dvd. all agree sony surround sound was nice christmas present for dad.

9:00 pm - tuck boys into bed. 7 year old complains his room is not as cool as 9 year olds room.

9:30 pm - check email, rip several cds into i-tunes, talk with wife about feasibility of duct taping 7 year old. decide against.

10:00 pm - consider doing work related things but decide to update neglected blog instead.

10:30 pm - update neglected blog.

posted by bluematrix at 02/04/05 22:40 | link | comments (1)