from change.org:

As of Friday morning, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s tally of dead animals collected in the Gulf area was 527 birds, 235 sea turtles (six to nine times the average rate), and 30 mammals, including dolphins. Yesterday morning, the spill washed over Queen Bess Island (called “Bird Island” by locals), which is a habitat for Louisiana brown pelicans, the state bird that was once an endangered species. Forty-one of the birds were coated with oil, and that number is expected to rise.

Have you seen the terrible pictures of all this carnage? Neither have I. And neither has anyone else.

Wonder why? The New York Daily News reported on Wednesday that BP has ordered its contractors not to share pictures or otherwise publicize the scores of dead and injured wildlife.

article: animals.change.org/blog/view/bp_tries_to_block_photos_of_dead_wildlife
photos: www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html

a safe, familiar place to come back to when the street lights hum.

rooms.

a half cup of coffee, lukewarm.

a stove, to reheat lukewarm coffee.

a quiet place to wake up slowly.

onions garlic and sweet potatoes stocked near the stove.

landlady asks to fix her lawnmower. she thinks its the spark plug.

the smell of cut grass and sunlight.

curtains to blow in the breeze.

front steps.

its good to be alone. i am in the mountains, the great smokies. i drove out of black mountain late afternoon yesterday in search of wilderness. on route 74 west i found lots of trailers and houses and private land up for sale and wondered if i’d be noticed camping out with a truck on 25 acres for sale. i kept driving until i crossed over the first mountain ridge and caught the setting sun again. bryson city seemed as good an exit as any so i headed north toward the national forest. deep creek is a tourist destination at the end of the road–cabins, tubing, cheap food spots, all nestled in this serene valley. everything was boarded up for the winter. i drove through and found the forest and a winding gravel road up a mountain. the road went on for maybe 3 miles, at the end a turn-around with a trail head. i parked and set up towards the top. sooka bear would shoot off into the woods for explorations of her own; a few times i had to call her back when i couldn’t hear the sounds of her feet crunching leaves & twigs or the jingle of her dog tags.

the sun passed below the jagged tops of distant smokies, taking details of the trees and trail around me, leaving it all in a gray wash but behind which a brilliant purple gold and orange panorama came burning through. i felt a little more alive to be up so high.

i knew it was only a matter of time before the ranger trucks i saw at the base below would be driving through to do their checks for lost hikers or trespassing teenagers, so i slept in the back of the truck between the wheel well and a couple of overstuffed duffel bags. the 21st of march marked the beginning of spring, but up in the mountains the cold still wraps itself around you at night. i pulled out an extra blanket and threw it over sooka and i.

in the morning coming down the mountain, i lost my anxiety and my worry that’s been residing in my head for the last year or so. i felt a bit of myself again. i stopped in for coffee and a biscuit in a zero calendar diner (see Blue Highways for the hint) that probably lost it’s calendars when the pizza buffet replaced the counter. i’m writing again. thinking slowly. losing myself. i feel whole.

As part of their Retooling Residencies Exhibition, Akademie Schloss Solitude is hosting Herman Wallace’s dream library until his home is built in New Orleans.

The following books are missing from Herman’s Library, if they happen to be collecting dust on a shelf in your house, or you would like to donate them to the library; jump in. Send them directly to Akademie Schloss Solitude, Solitude 3, Stuttgart Germany 70197 or contact: un at okcancel dot org.

FREDERICK DOUGLASS:
My Bondage, My Freedom
Life & Times of Frederick Douglass

MIKE MARGUESSE:
Redemption Song

KENNETH NEIL CAMERON:
Marxism, A Living Science

MARCUS GARVEY:
Africa for Africans

PETER MATTHIESSE:
The Spirit of Crazy Horse

TOM BOTTOMORE:
Marxist Thought

DONALD CARBONA:
Death at Midnight

JOAN M. CHEEVER:
Back From The Dead

ENVER HOXHA:
Proletarian Internationalism, Imperialism and the Revolution
Reflections on China

TROTSKY
In Defense of the October Revolution
On the Paris Commune

JOSEPH STALIN:
Marxism And The National Question
Anarchism Or Socialism
Collective Works 1-12

V.I. LENIN:
The Collective Works

MARX/ENGELS:
Das Capital Volumes 2&3

LINDA METCALFE, PHD
Writing the Mind Alive

J. BOSTON DEMANVILLE
Prisoner’s Self Help LItigation Manual

THOMAS S. COWAN MD
The Four-Fold Path to Reading

JENNY PHILLIPS
Letters from the Dhamma Brother’s

EDWARD REYNOLDS
The Middle Passage, A History of the Atlantic Slave Trade

SASHA ABRAMSKY
American Furies

GEORGE NOVAK
Democracy & Revolution
The Origins of Materialism
Pragmatism & Marxism

MAO TSE TUNG
Selected Military Writings

JOHN GURLEY
China’s Economy & Military Strategy

MAURICE CORNFORTH
Historical Materialism

MORTON MINTA & JERRY S. COHEN
Power Inc

BETREM GROSS
Friendly Fascism

LEONARD MOSLEY
The Reich Marshall

JOY JAMES/SOUTHEND PRESS
What Lies Beneath

OTHER:
Wall Street Journal Almanac
New Webster’s Encyclopedia
Webster’s New Spanish Dictionary
Georgetown Law Journal
Federal Rules Civil Procedure
Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure

krewe of eris: a mardi gras parade of choas in the quarter
this years theme: desire & light
valentine’s day: 14 february 2010

flic.kr/lightmotion photos:

krewe of eris parade 75 photos

creating eris + outtakes 90 photos

eris band rehersal 61 photos + 1 video!