Knock you down.

Do you have company?
I think we have had company staying with us since Thanksgiving.
I don't remember company staying with us when I was growing up, so it is something still kind of new to me.
It is a think that I enjoy having though.
I like to provide when I can.
Help or space, tools or ideas.
Food and a bed.

We had our friends from Ham-tram-ick stay with us fro the weekend.
They are a good couple of people to know.
They show us a good time.
But they left now.

Tomorrow is work.
The truck packed with our cargo.
The lock on the door.

That is another Haiku for you.
Please forward all royalties accordingly.
lovamthw

Green Raisins.

Am I in over my head?
I thought I was not.
But lately I have felt that I am.
Lately as in, two days ago.
I made the mistake of mentioning it to Mama T.
Now it is at the forefront of our conversations.
Our imaginary conversations.
We don't actually speak, we don't have to.
It is one of the benefits of a long term monogamous relationship.
We just stare and blink.
We make our feelings felt.
Felt in the air.
I guess I would say that at our worst of times, T opens her mouth to complain.
She would say I open my mouth to yell.
Silence, complain, yell.
Three options.

Of course, I am just kidding.
There is no silence.

Again, I am just kidding.

I love my family.
I only want to do right by them.
I am old fashioned like that.

Who cares about me, what about you?
You!?
What are you up to?
Do you have faith? If so, in what?
How is your family?
How are your friends?
I made friends here in Brooklyn.
It was a slow process, but it has been worthwhile.

Speaking of work, right now I am especially frustrated with my job.
Normally it is great.
But there is always one person that needs to fuck it up.
For some reason.
It seems to be human nature.
That one person seems to change regularly, it is a brilliant offense.

I am going to go out now to eat some delicious Thai food.
Off to Thailand!!!

lovamtweh

Coughing Hammers.

Piles.
There are piles everywhere.
These are not neat stacks.
These are precariously piled piles that teeter and sway with the slightest breeze.
A yawn, a blink, a quick dart of the eyes could send these piles toppling.
I ask why there are so many piles?
What could help reduce these dangerous cairns?

Shelves.
Shelves would help.

But look at all the shelves that I have made that lay bare!
What about those shelves?
The blood and sweat I poured into their construction!
The math and splinters, the sawing and routing!
Glued and screwed and serving no purpose!

The true solution lies within you.
Only you can put an end to this madness.
Organizational containers and a little elbow grease.
Also brain grease.

Tomorrow is the big BBQ!
Terrific!
lovamtewh

Stuck Bolt.

I was walking with T to the store this morning.
I was feeling slightly sweaty, like I was going to maybe puke.
Or at the very least, sweat.
Anyways, I was thinking about a lot of things that I will now list:
-Building things
-Being responsible
-Nursing school
-Maintaing one's health
-My son's increasing demand for food
-Self sufficience
-Many other things that are beyond my memory by now and floating into the collective conscience, so if you happen to catch them, please let me know.

Anyways, I was mainly thinking about how I have to take care of business.
I have people counting on me.

But it led me to think about all of the people that won't be able to take care of themselves.
I can't be sure, I am no scientist, no statistician, but I think that is a lot of people.
And I am not talking about the elderly, the invalids, the tiny babies.
I am talking about the bulk of my fellow man.
Myself included.
I realized that there is a lot I have to learn if I want to be able to fend for myself when the shit goes down.
Because like I said, I have some people counting on me.
It was this train of thought that led me to believe that I might have to go learn how to be either a nurse, or an EMT.

I know how to cook.
I know the seven steps to square a raw piece of lumber.
I am still pretty good with math and reading.
I can type pretty quickly with a surprisingly small number of typos.
I can fix my bike.
I can build cabinets, tables and other sorts of wooden objects.
I am currently growing beans and squash although the results are a few months away.

But when I hurt myself, I rely too much on other people to help fix me.
But if I were a nurse I could probably diagnose and fix myself.
Or at least walk someone through how to fix me.
I can't be sure yet, but I think that if T doesn't end up doing it, then I should.
For the good of the land.

I have to go back to work tomorrow.
All things considered, it is not as bad as it seems the night before.
I am sure I have mentioned it, but I like my job a lot.
If I have to work, and I do, then this is pretty much as sweet as it gets.

lovamthew

The Friendly Maneuver.

The fly on the wall.

What did you do this weekend?
It is not over yet dummy, so what have you done thus far?
I helped a friend move.
Then I went to an art show.

I would have rather kept moving furniture I think.
Not that there was anything wrong with the show, but I am so out of my element.
I don't know anyone.
It is really packed and loud.
You can't even get a good view of the art.

Were you there last night?
If you were, you might remember me, I was the guy that was standing near the door.
I was slowly creeping out.
Out into the night.

There was a baby though.
A brand new little baby the size of my Burger's head.
I wanted very desperately to hold the tiny little baby.
But I had the image to maintain.
The image of the guy who is not really there.

Well, I am fighting off a feeling of being a little sick.
I am going to walk to the store.
This is how I will spend the remainder of my weekend.

lovmathwe

Keep your helpful ideas to yourself.

You know, it doesn't matter.
I am not really sure that you can help.
I want to be more like the man sitting on a mountain top.
Alone and in the wind.
Bearded.
Only opening my mouth when someone asks me to.

It is hard to keep your mouth shut when you live with someone.
You are always in each other's eye sight.
And then you are just a hop skip and a jump from talking to each other.
It is all down hill from that point on.
You are on borrowed time.

This is a photo of a piece I made.
It is four pieces of wood.
It hangs on a cleat.
It is not large, maybe 8"x13".
Do you want it?
Maybe we could trade.
I am open to all offers.

Take care, I have to wash a little person.
lovmathew

Look What Happened!

So what happened was I was down by the stream that runs about 50' from my back door.
I was fishing, like usual, and I caught this beautifully fat trout.
When I was cleaning it, I found that it was stuffed with 12 jumbo shrimp!
And some slices of lemon!
SO I fired up the grill and tossed the whole mess inside.

What a delicious, convenient miracle.

lovmatewh

Honey. Moon.

I was looking at photos of people I used to know.
I don't think I like doing that.

I am supposed to be asleep, but I am awake.
I am not in bed.
I am not dreaming.
Last night I had a dream about a big grey whale.
Also I dreamed that I was falling down stairs, but they were very large stairs.
And the stairs were made out of grass.

Do you ever feel like people are missing out by not knowing you?
Yeah, all the time.

At what point are you supposed to say enough is enough and start treating yourself better?
How am I supposed to know?

Do you say things like "Word" ?
Oh word?
Word!
Like that?
I say that stuff as a goof.
I say it because the guys at work say it and I like the way it sounds not like I think I sound.
But I would never write it.
I would never mean it.
I can't pretend that it comes natural to me.

This woman I know, one of the first people I talked to when I got to NY?
I saw her again today, but she is moving to London.
So I guess I don't know when I will see her again, but I think it is pretty cool to move like that.
It was a big deal to move to NY, but I think I can do it again.
A big move.
Eventually I will have to probably.

Otherwise I might stay like this.

lovamthew

Digging in the dirt.

Haunted?
Luckily I am not haunted by much.
There are things that I think about, things I mull.
Does this count?
I have made it so far pretty good alright.
That is a thing my Dad says.
Pretty good alright.
Am I lucky?
I think a little bit yes and a little bit no.
Things happen.
That is what life is.
A lot of things happening.
Always.

You observe.
You react.
You remember.
You forget.

I was in the garage looking at the paper I just bought.
Having a stare down with the paper.
The paper was making me question too many things.
The paints in their cups.
Brushes in water.

But you know, I thought about how I am only alive for one time, and these moments in the garage are few and far between.
The hours I spend thinking about drawing far out weigh the hours I spend drawing.
No choice there really.
But the times I have to do what I want, those times are precious and valuable.

I suppose the same could be said for many other things, in many other instances.
Life is always happening.
Until it isn't.

I posted new drawings on my website.
You can see what I am talking about.
navajothunder
lovamtewh

Chubby Grip.

Truen had to go to a doctors appointment today.
Axeman had to go to the dentist.
So Flounder had to take some time off in order to accommodate.
And as per usual when the Kirk Family wants to get some things done, the Universal Force steps in and fucks it all up.

Or it is watching out for us, who knows?

Maybe if I had been at work today, a crate would have fallen on my foot, or I would have gotten a really bad splinter.
And besides, I got to hold the boy a lot, and he was really good and took good naps and ate his whole grilled cheese.
In fact right now he is sitting on the floor rubbing the broom on the floor and laughing, perfectly content.

For Truen, things were worse and I don't know which way to shift the focus in order to make light of her day.
She is on her own journey there.
I wish that there were things to say to help her out, but I usually stick my foot in my mouth and tell her what I would have done in her situation.
I know, it sounds very helpful right?
But it makes for some bad vibes.

So I am going to try super hard to not say a word.
I will communicate with blinks and subtle sighs and grunts.

I hope all is well.
lvoamthwe