Chipmunk Attack

... but seriously, this is not a sub-chapter of the Squirrel incident from last summer. When I looked out the back window this morning, I saw a flock of sparrow in my driveway going apeshit and tweeting their heads off; looking closer I saw they were trying to drive off a chipmunk that was roughing up -- a sparrow! I opened the window and slammed it to break up the mess, but it was too late. Has anyone ever seen chipmunks go after sparrows? Freaky.

On a less lethal note, I knew I planted blue morning glories but all summer only purple came out; but finally, just as the whole flower tower is starting to dry up and die, two appeared.

Acute Butt Sinkage

"Ugh!" says Otty. The trouble with little dogs and big fluffy chair pillows is that you can suffer from acute butt sinkage if you get into the wrong angle. Look closely at his feets. He's going down the chair drain.

Otty's Routine

1. Chase and catch tail














2. Break dance












3. Sit up and wait for the dizziness to pass.

Saturday Rant

Christ! This SMD (Selective Memory Disorder) excuse drives me off the deep end - well further off the deep end. McCain doesn't recall. Gonzales doesn't remember, can't recall. Regan had no recollection. Fibby Libby had SMD. The list is endless of these can't recall, can't remember or recollect excuses. I don't remember, can't recall, don't recollect I don't remember, can't recall, don't recollect I don't remember, can't recall, don't recollect I don't remember, can't recall, don't recollect I don't remember, can't recall, don't recollect I don't remember, can't recall, don't recollect I don't remember, can't recall, don't recollect I don't remember, can't recall, don't recollect .... I worry this failure to recollect in McCain's case simply supports those assertions that he's a bit too foggy on the uptake to be prez. Thank god someone is trying to crack this whacky memory loss nut.

Roses are Pink, My Life is Brew .... yadda yadda

Did you know, if you spend way too much money at the local ACME grocery store they send you a flirty bouquet of pink roses? Did you know we don't even do our grocery shopping at ACME but that I do do my beer shopping there? Nothing says lush like roses from the grocer. My oh my. Did you know I smiled when I wrote do do?

Dark Spider Super Grammy

Dark Knight. Spiderman. Superman. My mother.


Yes, in Whitman's mind Grammy has joined the ranks of the few, the proud, the Super Heroes. She has the uncanny ability to find INCREDIBLE, and dammit I am not afraid to say it AMAZING garage sale finds. Recently, she found three tins LOADED with Yugi-yo (spelling?) cards which Whit is in the throes of collecting these days. Ka-POW!

The first pic is just the monster cards. BOFFO! Second, is monster cards plus trap and block cards. Ker-Wop!

Columbus Zoo Pt. 3

Of course, any zoo trip is all about the kids ....












Whit could not quite reach so the bird, a "somethingkeet", grabbed the little tub of nectar and it spilled all down Whit's arm.












My little Joey.

Columbus Zoo Pt.2

... this little fella is from Asia Quest ... it's a Pallas Cat. Good Ki Ki. Looks like a cross between Seuss's Lorax and a housecat.

Columbus Zoo Pt.1

A long day yesterday. My feets are still killing me. Creaky old man that I am. From morning until evening, we were at the Columbus Zoo and water park. Here are a few photo highlights. A few of the shots are through glass and so they are fuzzed a bit. The flying foxes as they are called are not small. Manta shows his pearly whites. Num num num.

Nothing to Say But Sunflowers

Ah, these beauties tower right outside our porch. The goldfinches are slowly taking them apart, but with love, as the bees rush to get their share.

Crack that Whit

Our son Whit has a little kid iPod or some gizzmo, and one of my joys as a father is hearing him sing along to songs in that loud voice we use when we listen with headphones on.

Lately, he has been listening to a mix I made him that includes Whip It. He replaces the word whip with Whit throughout the whole song. It's pretty funny. And I learned an important lesson: "When a problem comes along you must Whit it."

Division of Labor

My wife Chessie just called from her cell phone to tell me there is a telephone line drooping dangerously low above a side street in our neighorhood and asked would I call 311 to report it.

For those of you out of towners, that's the city of Akron help line. I called, and it turns out that without knowing the exact details, the operator was not sure what to do. Could be parks department if a tree's involved. Could be ATT. Time Warner. Ohio Edison.

So much depends
on a sagging power line
above the street
glazed with rain
from last night's
storm

So who's line is it anyway? She said she'd try and get someone out to look at it to determine, hopefully, who is reponsible.

Who let the rabbits out? Woo woo woo

The picture's not great, but then neither is he/she. I call him Lepus, Peter, Bun Bun ... or "one who killed off my backyard morning glories". He's another one of the critter crew here at the house.

Creature from the Black Lagoon Remake

Laura Jensen has a nice poem about the Creature, my all time favorite Universal Studios monster. Naturally, I am looking forward to this remake. Of course, well before this comes out the Wolfman remake will have come and gone.

Zagajewski's Eternal Enemies

Adam Zagajewski's new book Eternal Enemies has been one of my bedside readers for a while. Here is my favorite poem so far. A tanka.


The Swallows of Auschwitz

In the barracks' quiet,
in the silence of summer Sunday,
the swallows' shrill cry.

Is this really all that's left
of human speech?

Otty's First Playdate

Otty has had a crush on Bailey for a long time. And whenever we encounter her while out for a walk, it turns into a major doggie playfest. Rompfest? We had Bailey (and one of her humans) over yesterday. Bailey and Otty played hard, wrestled, chased balls, drank from water-filled sandpails, then crapped out in the cool ivy out of the sun's reach. Tiny Gramps was so happy to have his friend over.

Otty's New Nickname

Because of his eyebrows, we've called him Milosz. Because of his beard, he reminds me of Wilford Brimley. However, my new favorite nickname is not Wilford or Milosz. It's .... (ta da!)

TINY GRAMPS.

Quick Ketch Up

Reading Roy Fuller ... every other poem's a sonnet.

Discovered the tickle spots on Otty that give him guitar leg.

Have observed, with a smile, that we sound just like our new neighbors who talk in that baby talk to their toddlers. "Good, Otty. Who went pee pee? Good puppy".

Saw a CCR tribute band in downtown Akron Friday night. They did both rain songs. Manthing was happy. Wish there had been more than Budweiser to drink. How $#@$$ sad.

Am likely to hear about a full time job tomorrow.

Feel like I am running out of code names for my wife, Rennie.