Tesla & Faraday cage

Cool!

Thoughts on Sobriety

(photographer unknown)







(this is a shot I took a few weeks ago with my phone)

As much as I occasionally miss drinking alcohol, hanging out in bars, feeling altered, and the taste of
Lake Louie Arena Premium in particular, the benefits of having chosen to quit drinking by far outweigh the pleasure associated with partaking. Here, in case anyone needs convincing, are the benefits to not drinking, as I have discovered them first-hand, in no particular order:

- you save a shit ton of money
- you have a lot more time on your hands to do more important things
- your memory improves greatly
- no guilt
- no fear of driving
- self-respect
- better sleep
- better judgement
- rediscovering myself
- and on and on and on....

Here's what other have to say about the health advantages of not drinking:

- Brains can recover from alcoholic damage but patients should stop drinking as soon as possible

- The liver is a unique organ. It is the only organ in the body that is able to regenerate... that is completely repair the damage -- however: The long-term complications of liver disease occur when regeneration is either incomplete or prevented by progressive development of scar tissue within the liver. This occurs when the damaging agent such as a virus, a drug, alcohol, etc., continues to attack the liver and prevents complete regeneration. Once scar tissue has developed it is very difficult to reverse that process.

I drank for 30 years. 30 years! Hard to believe really. And the last 3 of those years I drank heavily as I went through my divorce. I think I explored everything drinking has to offer. Time for the alternative. I like it so far. Most of the time.

~ will

Spirit of Christmas Past

I was walking around the Capitol Square today, thinking about Christmas being only two days away and how unchristmas-like down town Madison seems. Gray sky, no snow. Blah. There is really no way of knowing just by looking that it's December 23rd. Sure, there are wreaths on the Capitol and some of the stores but generally it's nothing more than another early winter day.

So I decided to change things up and recall how things looked this time of year down town when I was a kid. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe it's being a grown-up. Maybe it's the fact that all the old shops are gone now and everyone is jammed into the malls but whatever the reason, downtown Madison was much more beautiful and exciting at Christmas time when I was a kid.

Here are some of the places I miss. Moseley's, above, was the bookstore to go to not only for books but for stationary and fancy pens -- back when letter writing was normal. Even as a small kid I found this store to be crowded and hard to get around in but that just added to the excitement for me.

Next down the block after Moseley's was Fanny Farmer's candy shop. I couldn't find a photo of this but I can describe it. I recall (I swear my over use of this word has nothing to do with Scott Walker) the outside of Fanny Farmer's was like one of her candy boxes: Brown script type on a white background with a silhouetted cameo of Fanny. Large windows and large glass cases filled with eye-popping displays of candy.

One of my three sisters used to work there and I would ride the bus down to visit her and sometimes get freebies. This was in the 60s when Madison was a focal point for political activism, you'll recall. One night my dad went to pick my sister up from work in the middle of a riot and he got tear-gassed.

Continuing down Mifflin Street, on the corner of Wisconsin Avenue, was the Manchester building. The photo above was taken while the building was being demolished. This was a real department store with an elevator complete with an attendant. It was a special thing to bring home a box with the name Manchester's  on it.

Behind Manchester's was the elevated parking garage which to me was truly wonderful. I remember us using it just once since I'm sure it was quite expensive.

Across Wiscosnin Avenue from Manchester's was Gimbel's which was kind of an upscale dime store. No photos available of this. My last memory of this building before it was torn down was an M.C. Escher exhibit which was fantastic.

Finally and most fondly, at the end of Mifflin St. at the corner of State & Carrol, was Rennebohm's Drug Store. Better known as Rennie's, it was like a Walgreen's with a lunch counter. They were nearly as ubiquitous then as Walgreens are now too.  I remember riding the bus at a very young age to get a vanilla coke from the soda fountain. The building now is home to the Wiscosnin Veteran's Museum; probably my kids' favorite museum in town.

What was it about downtown Madison at Christmas time back then that it lacks today? I can't put my finger on it. There really were shoppers rushing home with their treasures back then. Now we have people fighting for parking spots in a wilderness of mall lots. I overheard a fellow employee the other day expressing relief that Wisconsin has concealed carry now because most muggings happen in mall parking lots. Really dude? We've really come a long way.

Merry Christmas everyone. May the brightest candles of your favorite holiday memories warm you and your loved ones as we head to a new and better year.

Year's last chance to see two spaceships in the night sky

Year's last chance to see two spaceships in the night sky

At a Loss for the Perfect Christmas Gift?

How about a bumper sticker? Perfect for that red-neck uncle of yours or that pro-life, pro-capital punishment sister-in-law! Or buy some for yourself and tell the world how you feel while you are stuck in traffic!

Product details:

• Measures 10" x 3"
• Printed on 4mil vinyl using water and UV resistant inks - means no fading in the sun or bleeding in the rain.

Go to my store at Cafe Press and order a whole bunch today!

Thanks for looking

~ will

Despite Dems recall signatures, Walker says he's focused on jobs

http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/135673458.html

Actually Wisconsin has been LOSING jobs right & left since Walker took office:

Walker, Fitzgerald Attempt Smokescreens While Recall Succeeds and Job Creation Fails

Levitation Photography

Very unique niche in the world of photography. Really simple idea and mostly effective. This one is probably my favorite but check out the others and find yours here.

Super Cool!

Ayn Rand is a Zombie

Ayn Rand (pronounced Ann Rann) is a zombie. Contrary to all biographical data, she did not die in 1982, she is still alive – but  she is certainly not well. She stalks and assaults corporate CEOs. She brutally attacks radio talk show hosts, news anchors, and presidential candidates.  She feeds on the brains of unsuspecting middle-class white males who failed high school English, turning them into fellow narcissistic libertarian “undead.” They prey upon other malleable souls who, once infected, start believing in things like Reaganomics, the trickledown theory, Allan Greenspan, and the Tooth Fairy. They try to casually suggest you watch Atlas Shrugged but what they really want is to eat your brain and make you one of them and try to get you to mispronounce Ayn. If you are not even a tiny bit entrepreneurial, they will eat not only your brain but your entire being, your family, and your pets. They will try to abduct your children and make them read The Virtue of Selfishness – widely known to be a gateway drug to becoming a Republican.

Rand zombies, or “Randies,” are growing in number but they move slowly and are extremely uncoordinated. Reports of dropping numbers in Tea Party rally attendance is a reflection more of the latter than the former trait. This lack of coordination and focus can lead an entire group of Randies to spontaneously dissolved at the mere mention of something as innocent as “I wonder what’s on the History channel?” This should not however lead anyone to believe that Randies are not dangerous. Such a false sense of security can have a Randie feeding on your brains as quickly as you can say objectivist epistemology.

There is no proof of how the original infection occurred but theories abound. One popular guess is that it happened as a result of an aneurism Rand had while simultaneously smoking a cigarette,  having sex with Cecil B. DeMille, and quoting Nietzsch on the observation deck of the Empire State Building.

Because the origin of the disease is unknown, treatment, if possible at all, is equally confounding. However, there are cursory reports of some success in dealing with Randies to make them less self-centered and therefore less dangerous. Rumors of complete cures have become viral on the internet, though extreme caution in any attempts to handle Randies is strongly advised.  Such reported interventions include:

-          Physical restraint and force-fed looping video, a la A Clockwork Orange, of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood episodes for a minimum of 48 hours

-          Strict no-brain diet until they are feeling better and their mothers recognize them again

-          Subjecting them to high levels of pure disgust by holding mirrors up to their faces

In some, more advanced cases, no recourse is possible short of complete annihilation. In these tragic  cases, drastic measures have been taken. For example: Telling these creatures that their beliefs are in direct contradiction to the teachings of the one whom they call their “personal savior” has the remedial and quite shocking effect of causing the creature’s head to explode, thereby destroying them completely and everlastingly.

As to the whereabouts of Ms. Rand herself and whether these measures would work on her is anyone’s guess.  It is known for a fact however unless Rand and her followers/infectees are completely cured and/or destroyed, our very civilization is at grave risk of annihilation.  Some even speculate that Ayn Rand, in all her megalomaniacal splendor, is the anti-christ. Or would really really like to be.

~ will

Hell Yes Owl Tattoos

Hell yes owl tattoos. I made an appointment with Spike from Spike-O-Matic to get my new tattoo on January 8th. Here it is:

It's going on my right arm taking up the entire length and I'm really looking forward to getting it. Thanks to my fiance'e Just a Girl for turning me on to the wild world of ink!

I was going to have my regular ink artist from Cap City do it but he's gone for the winter and I'm going with Spike instead and I feel good about it after having met him last weekend. Check out Cap City's awesome website, and Spike-O-Matic's FB page while you're at it (Cap City's affraid of FB I guess).

And YES, there's a website I recently found called Fuck Yeah Owl Tattoos that I hope to post mine on some time -- check it out.

So why an owl? Not just any owl: It's the Great Grey owl and it's the biggest owl and I had the priveledge of seeing one while driving the logging roads up in the BWCA. And I've had a certain connection with owls since back in 1981 on the night my dad died. I was canoeing with my buddy Feen on the Wisconsin River that night and had no idea my dad had died that evening. After plenty of beer and whiskey, Feen had headed for the tent but I stayed up and sat by the fire and listened to the water. Soon, either a Barred or a Great Horned owl perched in a tree near me and just kind of hung out there and did his call routine. I genuinely believe it was my dad because I believe that when you die, you can inhabit the bodies of other creatures for a time while you are in the space between here and there. It happened with my sister Beth -- she and my nephew Andy were deer running down the street she lived on the night she died. It happened with my ex-father-in-law Roy -- he was a Bald Eagle perched  above me, my ex-wife, and the kids while we swam in Connors Lake the day after his funeral. For those of you who are materialists out there, I have one thing to tell you: there is so much more.

My son is sick today so I'm home with him. He's sleeping. I'm drinking coffee, sitting by the wood stove with Chloe:

Later

~ will

Trigger Warning: What's up with trigger warnings?

First Post on my First Blog

I suppose I should justify my existence on the blogosphere and say why I think I need to publicize myself but on the other hand this is my blog and I call the shots and I am not going to go there.

What I hope to do is be thought provoking, occasionally share my art (photography) and ideas and observations and links to others who do similar things in a way that I think is awesome.

My main areas of interest  include, in no planned order:
- art (all kinds and yes photography is art, literature is art, many things are art but not all art is good art: we'll talk)
- biking (I ride my bike to work year-round and have been doing it since 1995 -- try it you fucker in the SUV who honks at me cuz you think I'm slowing your narcisistic ass down and keeping you from some job you hate -- more on that later)
- kids (I have 2 half time -- which bring up the topic of divorce and all its discontents),
- tattoos (I'm getting a new one tomorrow! more later)
- welding (I want to learn how to do this -- it's something I should have learned decades ago and something I want to start doing before I turn 50 next year)
- politics : Scott Walker can suck it
- sex
- zombies
- grammar
- music
- philosophy (Ayn Rand was not a philosopher, or if she was, she was a shitty philosopher)
- movies (yes, that's art too)
- creativity in all aspects of life

That's it. Stay tuned and don't be affraid to comment

Willy Joe